Fans of computer games are seeing a lot of news coming out of the Game Developers Conference 2015 this week. Linden Lab aren’t there, as far as I know. They have been there before. However Second Life isn’t widely known for games of the interactive sort. Having said that, there are games within Second Life and MadPea Games are one of the best known developers of games within Second Life.
MadPea Games have also moved into a new home, on the Consignment sim which they share with Wavie Haller’s Consignment brand. This is a sensible arrangement as the two brands have been collaborating on recent projects such as Buried and Blood Letters.
However one very fascinating aspect of this collaboration is the introduction of a history trail on the sim. The trail contains signposts of previous MadPea Games productions, which when touched, give you a brief glimpse of a moment of MadPea Games history in local chat along with links to youTube videos of their work and a real sense that games can be developed within the virtual world of Second Life.
For a start there are a lot of signs. They are extremely informative and inform the trailblazing explorer of such matters as :
Before MadPea we were known as Beyond Imagination and brought our first game out in February 2008 called Where the Hell is Harvey Wayne? It was one of the rare grid-wide hunts back in the day, leading to a full sim with puzzles and ciphers to solve.
Since 2008 MadPea have introduced plenty more games and interactive experiences. They have also moved to different places and collaborated with plenty of other brands.
We learn a little bit about their collaboration with Orange which started with Firefly :
The first collaboration with MadPea and Orange was to create an immersive game for their Create programme. Firefly was a haunting love story of a lucid dreamer who lost the love of her life. By living the dream that has turned into a nightmare, the players would find clues and solve puzzles to discover the secrets eventually leading into an unforgettable discovery.
Orange are more famously known for their mobile phones. Eventually Orange left Second Life, but a generous benefactor stepped forward :
Dusan Writer generously sponsored two islands for us when Orange left SL.
Dusan eventually left Second Life too, which was a shame because he had a fantastic blog. Orange were not the only company with whom MadPea have collaborated over the years.
In 2009 an educational game entitled “Notes from the Voyage” was created for the Nature Publishing Group and MacMillan Publishers :
An educational game about the travels of Charles Darwin
The year 2009 marked two important landmarks in science; the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his seminal work, On The Origin of Species.
The game was released to celebrate these important milestones. MadPea Productions created a HUD that looked like Darwin’s Notebook. In addition to this HUD, the players also had a toolbag and compass to help them on their way to solve many fun puzzles.
The storyline and tasks were designed in close collaboration with the client. MadPea provided assistance on the general handling of the player’s interface.
There’s more, much more.
The trail is also scenic, to say the least. Although if you’re feeling a little hot, you can stop off for an ice cream.
MadPea Games current venture is a game called Buried, you can read more about that here. The game runs until March 31st so there’s plenty of time to get involved with that.
However if games aren’t your thing, then I have to say that Consignments designs are pretty damn impressive in their own right.
We’ve heard before how Second Life isn’t a game and of course that’s true. However games can be developed within Second Life. MadPea Games are far from the only brand developing games in Second Life, but their history trail really does make for some interesting reading as to what can be done on the game front within Second Life and that may open some people’s eyes to the possibilities.
SLURL To Consignment : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Consignment/107/127/24
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