At the Edge of Madness (Cthulhu Called 3) GC2C5FN
played
3:43 PM - FTL w/david&diana
I saw when the cartridge was listed, even before the cache. I was VERY happy to see a cartridge published within the state. I usually have to travel much farther to find Wherigo geocaches. I really wanted to be the first to find this cache, but just couldn't spare the time to make a trip down to Fayetteville. It was October, after all; after the sun goes down, I can only be found amongst the stuff of your nightmares. I photograph haunted attractions and post the pictures to SeeYouScream.com.
I had played through a few permutations of the cartridge a few days prior, trying to figure out how to use that statue (without success). Thus, when we arrived, I knew what to do, where to go, and what to expect. I'm also well-versed in Wherigo mechanics. Thus, I gave my Colorado to Diana so she could get some experience. At the first stop, I wondered what fool buys an auto-locking car and leaves his keys inside. Then again, the car door's locking could have been the result of the mystic energies released in the vicinity.
After the intro scene, I ditched the car close to the trailhead because we wouldn't have a use for it for the rest of the cartridge. I let Diana wander around and accumulate some sanity points. It seemed to me like something out of CadavEarth. After that, we followed the trail. We read the part about some sort of booming sound like a drum. Half a minute later, we heard the sound from afar. I was very pleased to see you worked that sort of thing into the cartridge's story; mucho kudos for that.
The story progressed and I led Diana through the steps and dealing with Wherigo's UI. The recent rain provided us with three tricky stream crossings on the trail, each more difficult than the last. At one crossing, a log didn't roll as I expected; my leap off left one foot in the water for a second. I was dry quickly after that, but due to my misstep, I acquiesced to the terrain rating.
I won't spoil the rest of the experience and I need to stop the story short so I can accommodate my usual cartridge review. After all, I only have 4,000 characters to write this.
CARTRIDGE REVIEW
This is one of the most meticulously-created cartridges I have had the pleasure to play. The attention to detail was amazing. I recognized the attempt at animation from other cartridges I've demoed. (It's a hit or miss thing depending upon the device and the player's attention.) The icons and attention to their employment did not escape my notice. (The Colorado, of course, does not make use of icons everywhere it could.) The story idea was excellent and, as I mentioned, I enjoyed the tie-in with the sound in the area. The occasional paths one could take on the trail was nice, though the dead end was achieved too quickly. The zones were spaced just far enough apart, though I did not like having to zero out at a few zones (I'm very particular about this). The chance to acquire an item was nice, though I just couldn't find where to use it; the item's usage command never came up the several times I checked. The two hour time limit was baffling. I wondered what would happen if I left the cartridge running for that amount of time. I would, though, suggest making a beep sound when displaying the seemingly-random message boxes as you walk along the trail (I didn't have time to check to see if it's due to invisible zones, a timer, or something random).
Overall, I enjoyed the cartridge and would recommend it to others. There are relatively few things that need to be ironed out and even less things for me to suggest. The cartridge is stable, the story interesting, and presentation superb.
Thank you for creating a Wherigo geocache in North Carolina!
--\/- Ranger Fox
Wherigo Illuminati