I’m Mad for MadPea!

Editor’s Note: I have reported some mis-information. I received a message from the MadPea staff regarding this mystery event at their mainstore, which I incorrectly referred to as a “hunt.” And the helmet was apparently hidden in my hair, which made it look like Google glass. My apologies for mis-representing the MadPea event and the helmet at the end of the event. My only criticism of this mystery event was the lack of information, because usually on these mystery events we receive a NC with the backstory. Either I didn’t find it, or there wasn’t one.

At any event, I do not want to report wrong information, and I love MadPea and want to be sure that I am fair to them. They sent me a photo of what the helment is supposed to look like, and I found mine in my inventory and put it on, sans hair, and enlarged its size, and yes indeed, it does look like this! At any event, please forgive the inaccuracies contained herein and run don’t walk to MadPea’s latest mystery event!
~ Suzanne

MadPea helmet real one

Mad Peas Green Mire_001
As you know from previous postings, I am a huge MadPea Productions fan. I can barely contain my impatience while awaiting release of the UNIA game, coming sometime in the next few months. Meanwhile, they decided to shut down the MadPea City and have opened a MadPea Store sim, which of course has it’s own “between the games” little hunt called The Green Mire. If you’re jonesing for a MadPea fix, this will help get you over the hump!

First take the teleport to The Green Mire. I started out a little frustrated, because I “assumed” (wrongly, it turned out) that the starting point was the store, which is where you first land. This rather sneaky little trick makes people go to the store and search all around it, looking all around carefully trying to find the instructions, map, HUD….something….to get us started on The Green Mire hunt. So naturally all who land there (unless they’ve been reading blog posts and hints on the MadPea FB page) crawl all over the store searching for it.

Mad Peas Green Mire_003

Finally, out of frustration, I checked the FB page and saw a blog post which reveals that it all starts in this little fishing shack shown here.

Mad Peas Green Mire_006

From there, it was pure MadPea, with enough challenge that it was fun and exciting to figure it out, but easy enough (other than the beginning) that you didn’t hurt your brain trying to work on it. It’s a short hunt, and you come out of it with a pretty cool little headset that lets you speak with aliens (it does; really!) although it looks like they borrowed their design from Google glass, it’s pretty cool.

All in all, it was a fun and clever hunt, and now I’m sitting here impatiently awaiting the newest game to come, UNIA!

Here are some more pics. Visit and enjoy!

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I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers
ZoHa Islands Social Media Manager

MadPea Teaser…

Just a quick post before we begin the weekend!

In the MadPea group, I received a notification of something new coming this weekend, something to satisfy MadPea’ers while they await the much-anticipated UNIA. I don’t know what this “between the games” event will be, but I will keep you posted.

So excited!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers
ZoHa Islands Social Media Manager

MadPea Productions Presents UNIA!

Squeee! The newest MadPea immersive experience is almost here!! This promises to be the biggest and best game on SL. I think MadPea has outdone themselves. MadPea has been working on this game for over a year. Read more about it on their website here.

MadPea Productions Unia game nearly died an early death, causing no small amount of panic among their fans (yours truly included!). Two months into the game development they lost their sponsor, and have had to find ways to keep funding the two islands they need for UNIA. Since the CEO is in Finland there is a 24% tax added to the cost of each full island. That is $70.80 USD in addition to the usual $295.00 tier fee so the monthly cost of the two MadPea islands is $731.50 USD.  After much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth, they made the difficult decision to hold a fundraiser to raise funds so the development of UNIA could continue. They raised the funds they needed through a GoFundMe site. Hallelujah!

Check out the UNIA Facebook page here and keep your eyes peeled to this blog. I will definitely be posting about UNIA!

Here’s a sneak preview. Looks like this is MadPea at it’s finest!

And check out this wonderful interview with Kiana Madpea, the inspiration behind the games! The video is from The Drax Files. There is a whole YouTube channel of  machinima by award-winning media maker Draxtor and home of “The Drax Files World Makers” series.

I remain respectfully yours,

~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media Manager

MadPea’s Lost Mine Hunt ~ Part 3

After collecting all the crystals, I returned to the mine entrance, and as I clicked on it, it swung open, inviting me inside. I thought to myself, “Ahh this must be the end. Now I’ll be collecting my goodies!” Alas, once again I was very pleasantly surprised!

Here’s what the mine entrance looked like as the crystals activated it:
Mine entrance with crystals cropped

As I strode forward, it automatically TP’d me to deep inside the mine, and it was breathtakingly beautiful. The crystals glowed blue, and I gazed around in awe.

Lost Mine Crystals cropped

My HUD had changed once again, I smiled gleefully to myself, realizing that I was not yet done with this hunt, and it had just gotten interesting! My little pink helper had gone silent, so I knew that this third part I was on my own. I rubbed my hands gleefully and proceeded forward. Looking at my HUD, I knew I was going to have to collect seven gems, without my helper, and a rabbit’s warren of tunnels to explore. This was going to be challenging and fun! I was not disappointed.

I had to wander the tunnels, to find seven of these signs, which upon clicking would collect a gem, and when my collection was complete, I would be able to find the treasure.
Inside mine collection point cropped

When I was finished, my HUD looked like this:
Final look of hud cropped

Meanwhile, I had to hunt for and collect all seven gems. This third part of the Lost Mine Hunt is truly one of MadPea’s very best yet! It is a masterpiece of illusion, games, and puzzles. The textures were amazing, and the ambiance was haunting, as the mine whistled with eerie wind. You would occasionally hear the flap of some creature’s wings (bats, perhaps??) and the dripping of water echoing. That, combined with the half darkness of the tunnels made you feel like you were truly inside a cave.

inside mine more tunnels_001

As you wandered the tunnels, there were roadblocks in the form of puzzles. One was a door, and I had to rotate the pieces of the puzzle until they aligned, and the door opened into this, where I had to search for one of the gem signs:
Winter Wonderland in Mine cropped

At another point, I fell through the floor and landed in this cave, where I had to solve this laser puzzle, so the laser went through the mirror and opened the door. Don’t worry this isn’t a spoiler; this is definitely not the solution! You have to turn the pieces so the laser pierces the mirror.
inside mine laser maze cropped

At one point, I had to hop onto floating rocks as I searched for the gems. Several times, I got turned around, and ended up clicking on the map, which teleported me back to the mine entrance, and I began from the beginning, until I finally found that final elusive gem. For me, the hardest one to find was the silver gem.

Once my gem collection was complete, I headed for the final destination, which was blocked until I solved a water puzzle, where two tanks of water could be filled and emptied until you were able to get the right balance. The gate opened, and I ended up in this room, where I grabbed a mine car, and it rode me through the mine until it dumped me out in the treasure room, where I collected all 21 of my prizes.

Mine cart ride to the treasure cropped

I won’t show you the treasure room; you’re going to have to see it for yourself! 🙂 The prizes were wonderful and so much fun to go home and unpack.

This was my favorite MadPea hunt ever! I loved it, especially the end. Don’t miss this one; you will be disappointed if you do! I’m already looking forward to the next one! Great job, MadPea! Thanks for making our SL so much fun!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers
ZI Social Media Manager

MadPea’s Lost Mine Hunt ~ Part 2

Lost Mine Part 2 Start cropped Where was I…. Oh yes! I’d just teleported from the dark and rainy urban grunge (landing point here) to a gorgeous, forest area, with tiny little Dwarfins running around (most of them were bots; as I discovered when I accidentally stepped on one, and apologized to it. Imagine my embarrassment when a Dwarfin avi nearby wanted to know if I was talking to him. When I told him I’d apologized to the other gentleman for stepping on him, he chuckled and told me it was a bot. I was quite embarrassed).

Lost Mine Part 2 drawfins cropped.jpgAs soon as you step out into the beautiful forested sim, I discover that my map has now changed, as you can see in these pictures, to include a thing that looks like a funny shaped cribbage board. I am next to a mine entrance, and I cannot open the door. Local chat tells me that I must collect these items and come back when I’ve found them all, in order to gain entrance to the mine.

As I step out onto the sim, my faithful assistant starts telling me that there are no dirt piles nearby. I am to look for dirt piles and sift through them for these crystal-like items. As I wander the sim, my assistant tells me when I’m nearby a dirt pile, and I collect these items exactly like the map pieces, while wandering around this beautifully detailed Dwarfin sim. And, just like the map pieces, other people nearby can collect the dirt piles right from underneath you! (Quite frankly, the dirt piles looked more like cow pies, but I digress!)

Lost Mine part 2 dwarfin sword croppedThis was a lot of fun, as the dirt piles were hidden but not so hidden that you grew frustrated trying to find them, although I do have to admit that there were a couple of places that my assistant told me “OOOOH! You’re soooo close! It should be right nearby you (less than 5m)” but there were no dirt piles in sight. None. Absolutely none. I looked over and over. One was by the bridge; another by the koi pond. There was a third place, in the dining room, that was quite challenging to find. But the one by the bridge and the one by the pond did not exist.

No matter, because I found others and continued to find dirt piles until I’d filled in the cribbage board-like thing on my map. I didn’t have to worry about picking up other dirt piles I’d found before. I had to log out a couple of times during this part, and when I came back, I could find the same dirt piles, collect them and add the item to my pegboard. It was really amazing to see the detail in this Dwarfin land.

When I’d filled in my pegboard, I found my way back to the mine entrance, and since I’d completed part 2, I clicked on the door and it invited me in….

Stay tuned; Part 3 of MadPea’s Lost Mine Hunt is coming up — and this was the most convoluted part of all!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers
ZI Social Media Manager

MadPea’s Lost Mine Hunt ~ Part 1

MadPea Productions croppedI am not normally a huge fan of hunts, because they are simply a gratuitous attempt to get people to come into stores. It’s a great advertising gimmick, but I find the hunts frustrating as people crowd into a sim, pushing and shoving to try to get the prize. It reminds me of the basement sales at Macy’s and crazy women grabbing the same sweater and fighting over it. Not that I’ve ever done that. *Ahem*

However, one of the organizations in SL that takes hunts to the next level and is consistently and unfailingly over the top is MadPea Productions. I first stumbled across MadPea Productions a few years ago when I was between relationships and bored in SL and trying to find something to do. These diabolical and intricately woven, highly detailed games are way more than just a simple hunt. The point of these hunts is to showcase products by the game’s sponsors; of course. But the game is what the players come for. The rewards at the end are just icing on the cake.

MadPea Productions spends months on their productions. And productions is certainly what they are. They carefully craft a back story, and create the convoluted and fascinating journey through whatever trails led by the clues you collect along the way. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, it takes a twist and you are not quite through! I always feel a sense of exhilaration when I finish, along with a sense of disappointment that it’s over, because it is so exciting and intellectually challenging.

Lost Mine 2 entrance croppedThe Lost Mine Hunt is no exception, and it did not disappoint. At first, however, I was a bit concerned that it was not going to live up to previously held high expectations. Then, as I got deeper into the game, I realized that it was much more than the deceptively simple beginning.

Lost Mine 3 croppedThe game is divided into three parts. When you first land at the landing point, you are required to invest $150L in the HUD. The hours of entertainment you will derive from this investment is well worth the $150L, believe me. This time, you also can opt in to purchase the collecting pouch (more for show than anything) and new to this game, was an “assistant”, which, they readily admit, allows you a “huge advantage” in the game. This “assistant” (a cute round ball with arms and legs and big eyes — mine was pink) susses out where the clues are and tells you in local chat (that only you can see, so you don’t spoil it for others on the hunt who don’t want to do it with a cheat) when you’re getting close.

Lost Mine 7 helper cropped

Here I am with my faithful assistant by my side:
Lost mine 8 hud before cropped

The instructions you are given is that you are to find pieces of the map to the mine, which have been torn up, crumpled, and scattered throughout the town. Normally, I wouldn’t use a “cheat” such as the assistant in the hunt, but I was low on time as I had a blog deadline to keep, so I attached my assistant and off we went. At first, with the assistant telling me “No objects close by within 20 meters” every few seconds, I wandered the sim, waiting for my assistant to sound the alarm, which she did and I could zero in on the object with her instructions until she finally said “OOOH! You’re sooo close! It should be right next to you! (less than 5m).” At which point I would look around nearby until I found the crumpled paper. When I clicked on the pieces, my avi would bend down, swoop up the piece of paper and stuff it in her pouch. And a piece of the map would fill in on my HUD.

Lost Mine 6 rainy street croppedSounds simple, right? Especially with the assistant telling you where to zero in on. But no, not with MadPea. First of all, the sim is dark and rainy (don’t cheat and change your windlight settings!). Secondly, other people are out hunting nearby, and if they swoop in and pick up the piece of paper you just found before you do, then you’re out of luck! It disappears. My recommendation is try to go when fewer people are there, and if there are other hunters nearby, find a different area and hunt by yourself. I found myself frustrated over and over again as others picked up papers I’d just zeroed in on. (But don’t worry; come back in a few minutes and it will have reappeared).

When I picked up all the map pieces, my map transformed into a solid map, and I thought to myself, “Ahh then I must be done. The map will take me to the treasure, where I’ll pick up my prizes from the sponsors. Hmm kind of short and disappointing, but still fun,” I thought to myself.

But alas! I was hardly done. In fact, I’d just finished just part one, and little did I know that Part 2 and Part 3 were coming! When the map was finished, it said in local chat to click on the map and it would teleport me. I clicked on it, expecting to come to the end, and instead I stepped out into this beautiful forest setting, where Dwarfins live.

Stay tuned — Part 2 of 3 of MadPea’s Lost Mine Hunt!

I remain respectfully yours,

~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media Manager