Saturday, January 21, 2012

Ti'chelle a member of the Host Team

We met Ti'chelle on her home ground and discovered that we both love dragons, some are simply beautiful others are adorable. Created by Wraithe Designs, a must future buy for us as we are very partial to mystical creatures.


We asked her how she and the team prepare hunt locations and what sort of work goes into the process. Without Ti'chelle and the teams work, and diligence there wouldn't be a hunt it is a tasking business that is vital to the cog and machine work of a good hunt.

Once the set is designed for the game a Poster is prepared, here is the one from the Peatonville Asylum Hunt. This is sent to all interested vendors and posted in many locations, then the Vendors have to apply to be prize hunt locations.

This was the last hunt Poster


Ti'chelle explained that they get far more contenders and applicants than they have room for, so not only do they have to sift through each application they have to "vet" each application. One rule is paramount. No Adult Sims are used, Mature, Moderate and PG are ok but nothing Adult. Some hunts do have Adult sims included, but Madpea Productions does not.

Virtual imagery of all those applications

After checking applications Ti'chelle and the team of host vendors visit each location, so if 100 apply and 90 are suitable each one will get a visit. There are four team members and each one will be allocated a group of shops to visit.


From a Previous Madpea Games Hunt


Ti'chelle explained the process "We visit each shop, even if they have been in a hunt before, because people do change their shops. We get a feel for what they sell.  We do groups visits to shops that none of us know about, just to be able to talk about what each of us thinks.

So how do they get the poster and information to the shops and vendors who are going to be involved in the prizes?
Ti'chelle: We send the poster and notecard to it to SLHunts blog, and other bloggers that we know.  Also hunt groups like Happy Hunters and Hunt Applications.   We also each send to shops that we like and or know. Or a shop that has been in a hunt and we liked their goods. Sometimes a vendor hears through a friend and contacts us.
From the collection they recieve every application is documented on Google spreadsheet Then we sort them into ones we know we will use , and some that we still need to decide, and then those that we cannot use at all. By doing this Ti'chelle and the team run successful hunts every time.

Virtual Imagery of Application Process

We wanted to know how do you choose shops, venues, genre and what sort of prizes can hunters expect?

Tichelle explained.  The prizes are a mix of different genre, for example full perm textures, furniture, fun, clothes and other interesting products that the hunters will enjoy finding and keeping.
Kiana likes us to get stores that we have not had in a hunt before too. Its difficult trying to decide which store is in and which ones are out. We limit them to 50 stores. If the prize is for example clothes, they have to provide unisex or male and female prize in the package. They encourage the stores to provide themes, but this is not mandatory. Most shops fit their prize to the poster which is why the call for applications don't start until the poster is ready to go.
Sample Prize Locations Peatonville


Ti'chelle and the team have to decide what is best for the hunt, theme, area, location of host vendor, store cooperation, its very difficult when they have to turn down personal friends because they didn't meet the criteria they are looking for.


We wanted to know the time scale from poster, application and selection, Ti'chelle said its about two weeks, which is a very fast turn over. They must work really fast on this application process.


Ti'chelle said "once applications are in thats when the big job starts, tracking and visiting."

We always wanted to know who hides the object, shop or the team?

Ti'chelle said "The shop hides the item, then they send us the slurl.  We visit and make the hint.  Kiana does most of the hints.  She likes them to fit the theme of the game and she is very good at rhyme. Most hunts rely on the shop to make their own hint, but we are also doing a game and we want things to flow in the storyline. Our hunts are the only ones that makes the hints.

Sample Prize Locations The Dark Room

Ti'chelle added, "Once they are chosen it becomes rather standard, send a welcome kit with poster and instructions.  And yes, we go around and check. We also go around and check their prize slurl location, and then when the hunt  item is sent and placed, we check it works, and then," she laughed
"we go around and check once prizes are in the hunt item, so yeah, we make many visits to each store.



Phew, we felt exhausted just thinking about all the work it takes to make a good hunt work. We have no doubt at all that Sanity Falls and consecutive hunts will be run just as meticulously as past hunts. So now you know what makes a good hunt tick. The inner workings of the hunt, the graphics, the art work, the building and most importantly the placing of those all important gifts that we all hunt so desperately for or do some of us just go along for the fun of it all. Just the sheer magic, and a little time to just absorb our avatars in to a unique self role play if you will as the story plays out. We guarantee there is nothing like Sanity Falls in Second Life, we have been told this by our wonderful production team.

We hope to glean some information from the Writers, but that folks is so top secret even we with our invisibility cloaks cannot prise it out of their fingers. All we can say is they are working to write and weave a little bit of second life magic that is going to drive you Insane. Now where are we going to put the Peatonville Asylum for all those poor avatars who suffer, either withdrawal, mania or euphoria when they finish or at least aim to finish Sanity Falls. We will be back with more news as we get it, for now, the wrappings are sealing around the secret location and we are bound by Madpea Games clauses of confidentiality and official secret pease acts to keep silent about the game.

The game you will all be saying "Yeah I loved Peatonville, but that Sanity Falls um yeah? who am I again" from your small cells that awaits you, on a sim near you in an asylum that was so scary it blew its self up. Be happy Peas.
By Rowanessque Whitewood.

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