Friday, November 1, 2013

Unia Collaborator Interview: Arduenn Schwartzman


UNIA, has not been launched yet, because its so amazing and huge.  In a previous post, “Are we there yet,” Kiana expressed that UNIA will be the most immersive game MadPea has ever created. Well, that for sure is one of the reasons, but I must also add that MadPea strives for quality, when it comes to their hunts and games. All of the components have to be great! There are many, many amazing things to look forward to, with UNIA. We will just keep your curiosities at its peak a bit longer.

In today’s UNIA collaboration blog post, we bring to you the awesome Arduenn Schwartzman, who is one of the main links to making all of the intricate parts, work harmoniously. We present to you, our very own, "Lord Bacon von Awesome," Arduenn Schwartzman.



As one of the crew members, what do you do for MadPea productions?


Lord Bacon von Awesome (arduenn.schwartzman): I'm programming the overall logic into the MadPea games. That means writing scripts in-world, as well as off-world, on a dedicated MadPea game server. This is a distant computer, far far away from Linden Lab, the nerve center of MadPea.


The MadPea games have many items to interact with, including hunt items, but also buttons and levers of the many game puzzles. These are made by a couple of talented scripters, such as Fuzz Difference, Voidheart Mistwalker, Geoffrey Xenobuilder and Indigo Lucerne. Every time you complete one of their puzzles, they have to communicate with this game server.


Subsequently, the results of you fiddling with the puzzle is reported to the server. Here, a bunch of programs will decide on the next step in the game: will a gate open up? Will a picture of a bloody face appear on your HUD? Will your avatar be pierced by a big metal spike?


Sometimes I make a HUD or a puzzle myself too, or even just a bunch of hunt items. Especially when I have been staring at computer code for too long, I stop coding and start sculpting shapes in Blender.


When did you begin working with MadPea, and also what motivated you to join second life?


Lord Bacon von Awesome (arduenn.schwartzman): I joined SL almost 7 years ago. To me, at first, it was a chat program in 3D. I joined together with a few friends, out of curiosity, and to wreak havoc, like any noob that comes to town. After a while I began to appreciate the creative aspect in SL more and started to build and script things. Just for fun. That totally escalated in WarBugs, little air combat planes that have become quite a success.

I joined MadPea about a year ago. Just to help out a little with the ending dream scene of Sanity Falls. Some MadPea veterans may remember the mirror glass pieces flying around. I quickly noticed that with a team, you can achieve bigger things and reach a bigger audience. That made me stick with MadPea ever since.


You can visit WarBugs in-world and find great things for sale by using the following slurl:




Link to Arduenn's Marketplace, where you can find All the stuff you need for sale:




What is UNIA?


Lord Bacon von Awesome (arduenn.schwartzman): Shh! UNIA is a secret! You'll just have to wait and see. It's totally not just a field with elephants and exploding gasoline barrels.


What part do you play in the making of UNIA?


Lord Bacon von Awesome (arduenn.schwartzman): I've been spending a LOT of time developing a new HUD. You may remember the Lost Treasure of the Inca Warrior game. The HUD in that game had a health meter, because we wanted the players to die! UNIA will be like that, times ten. It has a health meter, but many other things as well. Yet, everything has to run as smooth and as lag-free as possible. So the programming required for UNIA is ten times as big and complex, but has to be fast and efficient at the same time. This takes a lot of tinkering.


Apart from the HUD, all UNIA puzzles and game elements have to be glued together with pieces of script code and connect with the MadPea game server. Everything has to work in concert to have a complete game. That is my other main task. Every day, I look at the calendar and get more nervous. :-)

Anything you want to share with the sl community regarding UNIA, what should they expect to see that might cause excitement?


Lord Bacon von Awesome (arduenn.schwartzman):  You can die! But you can also kill! And that's just the beginning. Also, the last time I looked, the MadPea sims were set to Adult.



Is there something you would like to share with your fellow collaborators about their participation in this huge Project?

Lord Bacon von Awesome (arduenn.schwartzman):  To my colleagues: No, I'm not sharing my tequila! That's all mine!  As for all the collaborators: they're all big names in SL and what they have built for UNIA is really very impressive.  It's an honor to be in a team with so many skillful people.  I really hope they'll find more time for follow-up projects.

Thank you for this interview Arduenn Schwartzman!

UNIA COMING SOON!


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HOPE Leissa

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