The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

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Caveat Lector
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#106 Post by Caveat Lector »

GAH, it happened again! This time, I made it to the white room (after getting an ominous hint saying "death awaits"), turned left, and another error message popped up:

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 823, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 816, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 823, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/se.rpy", line 866, in script
File "game/se.rpy", line 866, in python
NameError: name 'rec_list' is not defined

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
File "C:\Users\Owner\My VNs\The Madness-1.2-all\renpy\execution.py", line 288, in run
node.execute()
File "C:\Users\Owner\My VNs\The Madness-1.2-all\renpy\ast.py", line 1484, in execute
if renpy.python.py_eval(condition):
File "C:\Users\Owner\My VNs\The Madness-1.2-all\renpy\python.py", line 1331, in py_eval
return eval(py_compile(source, 'eval'), globals, locals)
File "game/se.rpy", line 866, in <module>
if not rec_list:
NameError: name 'rec_list' is not defined

Windows-post2008Server-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 6.15.7.374

Is the dude in red causing them, do you think? :lol:

EDIT: However, I did make it to the forest after turning right. And then I tried to go forward. And I got this message:

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 823, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 816, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 823, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/script.rpy", line 1200, in script call
File "game/se.rpy", line 649, in script
File "game/se.rpy", line 649, in python
NameError: name 'se_eyes' is not defined

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
File "C:\Users\Owner\My VNs\The Madness-1.2-all\renpy\execution.py", line 288, in run
node.execute()
File "C:\Users\Owner\My VNs\The Madness-1.2-all\renpy\ast.py", line 718, in execute
renpy.python.py_exec_bytecode(self.code.bytecode, self.hide, store=self.store)
File "C:\Users\Owner\My VNs\The Madness-1.2-all\renpy\python.py", line 1297, in py_exec_bytecode
exec bytecode in globals, locals
File "game/se.rpy", line 649, in <module>
$ forest_eyes.extend(se_eyes)
NameError: name 'se_eyes' is not defined

Windows-post2008Server-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 6.15.7.374
The Madness 1.0

EDIT the third: In general, the forest and white room are full of traceback errors.
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#107 Post by Greeny »

And I finally figured out why!
It would seem there's a way to reach that area without passing through the necessary... uh, formalities.
Thanks for mentioning the "death awaits" bit, that gives me an important clue as to where the secret portal is.

EDIT: Found it! Packaging the fix now. Warning to both you and Helianthus! You are in a broken part of the game, please return to a save before being warped. (In case that's unclear, you need to return to the asylum.)

EDIT2: You'll have to bear with me... Having some upload issues.
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#108 Post by Greeny »

Upload finished!

This update fixes a pretty major bug, so I would very much advise anyone who hasn't finished the game yet to get this.
Incidentally, all known bugs have now been adressed.
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#109 Post by puddingislife »

I got the code to the mini vault by accident! At first I was like, 'Achievement on my first try! Whopppeeeeee....?'

Oh.

Haha! Who am I kidding!? XD

To be honest, this is one of the many games I'd really devote myself into. I guess I would really be spending a lot of time solving this game! Thank you sauccee much! You saved me from drowning myself in biscuits and tamarind candies!

Even if I beat this game, I would always find myself replaying this! I also did the same with your first game, The Loop! But, I can't seem to even get as far as I did with the crazy difficulty! Haha! Oh well!

I already have a new game I can EpAr!!! \(^////////^)/

And if I must say, you sure work as fast as a bunny! Even if you say it took a long time, I feel like it's just been days! With that plot and atmosphere, wooooowiiie! I pledge to watch out for your future works as long as I'm still healthy, living and sane!!

Good Luck on future works!!!! More power, Gliese Productions!!!! <3

Caveat Lector
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#110 Post by Caveat Lector »

Still making my way through the second labyrinth, but in the mean time, has anyone else unlocked most of the extras? Here's what I've unlocked so far (spoilered in case someone wants to find out for themselves):
* The Loop text adventure

*A melancholic, beautiful masterpiece continuing from the saga from channel 2. (In the same way The Room is a beautiful masterpiece. Though seriously, this is, like, one of the best parts of the whole game.)

*A picture of a character from an upcoming game (I think?)
In order, I unlocked each by:
* Playing The Loop on the protagonist's laptop and pressing X when the game told me to

* Pulling the switch in the white room in the second labyrinth

* Dialing the phone number from the exercise equipment infomercial, and draining the protagonist's bank account in the process
Anything else I've missed or have yet to unlock?
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#111 Post by Hyraculon »

I finally got around to downloading and playing this!

I really loved the first half of the game. The atmosphere is amazing. I had a lot of fun goofing off in the house, and I loved to hate that
creeper mannequin
. And every screen of the
Super-ego
area was completely delightful.

Toward the end, though, the second time in the
infinity hallway
was just too frustrating even with the help of the hint guide, and I completely gave up. I know insane difficulty is part of the selling point, but at times I feel like it's a bit of a Guide Dang It.

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AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH

#112 Post by Caveat Lector »

I love this game. I really do. I even have half a good review for this typed up. But I've spent two months at that second labyrinth and after trying it again with a friend tonight...okay. I have to know. What will this alleged exit look like when I see it?
I do know at least it's not the graveyard. Or the area with the red smiley face.
Unless I'm missing something in the area with the "death awaits" hint...? (At the very least, your newest update is working well; no magical teleport after finding that hint)
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#113 Post by qirien »

You are not looking for the exit. You are looking for:
the puzzles. Solve the puzzles, and you will move on to the end of the game. There's three of them, but you may not need to solve all the puzzles depending on your difficulty level.
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#114 Post by Greeny »

What do you mean by "second labyrinth"?
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#115 Post by Caveat Lector »

The one in the asylum, sorry, should've been clearer. For now, I'll just focus on some nice, relaxing paintings.
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#116 Post by Greeny »

Sometimes, when I'm stuck in an adventure game, and I look through the walkthrough, it turns out the answer is a possibility I thought I'd ruled out.
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#117 Post by Caveat Lector »

After four months of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, I FINALLY beat the game a few days ago. Making me, maybe, the second or third person in history to beat this? :lol: I’d been holding off on posting my opinion because I re-formatted bits of what I have written into a more formal review and submitted it to my school magazine/paper, and I’m not sure if the staff would be okay with me plagiarizing myself. I have yet to hear back, so I’m just going to begin anyway and take my chances:

To begin…you know how the tagline for Last House on the Left is “To avoid fainting, keep repeating “It’s only a movie, only a movie, only a movie…” “? Yeah, if you replace “movie” with “game” that’s…pretty much the tagline I’d give for this in many, many parts. It was basically my “survival mantra” / “madness mantra”. :lol: You’re great at building atmosphere, from the cinematic opening to the music choices to the art to the overall creepiness…part of what builds up this creepiness is the protagonist themselves. Do we pity them? Fear them? Both? Or are we not entirely sure? And we never are sure, at least until the ending (oh yes…that…but I’ll get to that later).

But what makes this atmosphere really, really work in particular is your ability to place the player in the shoes of the protagonist, for the better or the worse. There were quite a few parts during the game where I dreaded going forward because I knew it would not be pretty—mainly, when the therapist makes the protagonist go downstairs to confront *him*. Or going through the second labyrinth in the asylum. And don’t get me started on the passage with the red smiley face. I felt better going through the house and trying to see if there was anything else I missed, or hanging around in the superego area listening to the peaceful music and being awestruck by the beautiful backgrounds. Sure, I knew I wasn’t making a lot of progress, but it just felt safer and more comfortable than going out to face the darkness within…and again, this places me in the mind of the protagonist. And then there was the ending, which succeeded with this a little TOO well…but I’ll get to that later.

The Madness outdoes The Loop in terms of scariness and unnerveness—The Loop was a little unnerving to work through at first until I eventually realized I was safe and that I wasn’t in danger of the clown popping up out of nowhere. But in the beginning, I was never too sure because of the voices and the mannequin. Both the mannequin and the man in the red robe are scarier than The Clown because at least the clown has a face and you know what he is even before you actually know *what* he is, whereas the mannequin…ugh. Just ugh. And the man in the red robe is just so surreal and that smile and...ugh. I also loved The Loop cookies, including the pizza number (dialed it just out of curiosity, laughed at the results), the game on the laptop and the unlockable extra resulting from it (STILL haven’t beaten it!), and the wine brand.

I can’t say I enjoyed EVERY puzzle, however. Both labyrinth sequences are far, far, FAR worse than The Loop’s train—there, you still have SOME sense of direction even on the highest difficulty level, but here there’s nothing to really indicate which direction to go in apart from trial-and-error, and a bit of good old fashioned randomization. This one part really, really frustrated me, and could’ve been better off with, at the very least, some sort of consistent layout.

However, I will say that the atmosphere and context surrounding the puzzles is brilliant. But this leaves me with one, little thing…the ending. (Note to those who haven’t finished the game yet: The spoiler-text box will, obviously, contain spoilers, but if you’re the type of person who likes to look up spoilers in the comments, I’d advise against it in this particular case so that you can experience the fullest impact of the ending as the author intended)
I had already begun to put the pieces together by the end, but having them actually put together and then made so much more unpleasant...ugh. From the fact that the protagonist is capable of killing the psychiatrist when under pressure, I figured out they weren’t entirely innocent in whatever this awful incident may have been. From the man in red’s clawed hand, I figured it had to represent molestation (at one point, I had come up with a few very, very unpleasant theories). From the fact that the protagonist referred to both himself and the man in red being “the darkness” after the telescope puzzle, I figured out that the man in red represented some unpleasant aspect of the protagonist’s personality rather than a figure who had affected the protagonist in the past (as I had first theorized). From the fact that the girl in the portrait from the painting puzzle looked just like the screamer girl, I figured she had to be involved (but I only figured this out after the last graveyard CG—and it was at this point I began to piece together what had happened and went “Oh fuck” but I hoped I was wrong). From the fact that he freaked out if you tried to call 911, I figured there had to have been some sort of crime involved. From the fact that he rants about how his hands “never stay clean” if you make him wash his hands over and over, I figured he had to be feeling guilty over something (“out, damn spot!”). From the fact that the protagonist started to refer to his telescope as his “pride and joy” (pre-Id) and then his “curse and blight” (post-Id), I figured that the telescope had played some kind of role. And from the fact that the mermaid portrait puzzle could only be solved by getting rid of the mermaid themselves, and from qirien’s innocent suggestion that the protagonist was trying to avoid thinking about young girls, I figured the protagonist probably had some sort of attraction towards girls that he knew he shouldn’t have. But to put all this together and then…just…I knew the truth was going to be ugly but I didn’t expect it to be so ugly.

Over the past four months, I had grown attached to the main character. I even gave him a name. I liked his little quirks. I knew the game probably wouldn’t have a happy ending because the goal is to find out what caused his insanity, and that the results of this would probably not have pleasant consequences for him. So you can imagine why I wasn’t too happy to have him revealed to actually be what he is. You’re still excellent at putting the player in the protagonist’s shoes, but here...if your intention was to make the player feel horrified and sickened and just want to stop and let it play out instead of…doing it…you succeeded. You definitely, most sincerely, succeeded. There are certain game ending sequences I love and could replay over and over again. This is not one of them.
So overall, I would say the rest of this game is excellent, but I’m polarized over the ending and I can’t say I’m a fan of this one element. At the very least, I do look forward to In Orbit. Maybe a nice, sweet, gentle sci-fi yuri romance will be just what I need…

Oh, and one, final thing…”Dusk”…just…”Dusk”. The other shows on the TV were awesome, too, but by God, “Dusk” was HYSTERICAL. Only two type of people could write dialogue like that—someone who truly believed in the “beauty” of what they were writing (but wasn’t influenced by Twilight AT ALL, honestly they weren’t!), or someone who knew how to emulate the style of the former. The unlockable continuation was even better (oh, and I LOVED the, ahem, double entendres: “Take my body now!” / “I could never forgive myself if you died because of my inexperience”—I took those lines out of context and then put them together :lol:). I almost died laughing. But it was still better-written than Twilight! :lol: Unless you actually did believe “Dusk” was a beautiful story. In that case…sorry. Awkward.

PS My friend’s review of this game: “I cannot believe how hard those puzzles are! Is the creator trying to drive us insane!?” Me: “Pretty much.” XD Also, she has yet to play the ending. Oh boy…never has the phrase “look before you leap” ever rang so true…

PPS The ending theme rocks. It’s on my iPod. 8)
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#118 Post by qirien »

"BETHANY!!!!"

:lol:
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#119 Post by Greeny »

I don't think I need to make any comments on the ending, aside from that the effect it gave was exactly what was intended.
Just remember this: Despite piecing it all together beforehand, you still pressed on through the special hell of the last labyrinth to see what's behind the final door.

Never go back.
There's a lot of symbolism in this game. I wonder if anyone caught any of it.
But then, that kind of thing is very open for interpretation.
Caveat Lector wrote:a nice, sweet, gentle sci-fi yuri romance
Muahahahaha... They never learn.
Kidding. Compared to The Madness, it will be a stroll through cuddlesville.
I don't want to get typecast as... well... as "there's something really wrong with that guy".
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Re: The Madness [Psychological Horror / Puzzle]

#120 Post by qirien »

RE: symbolism: I was impressed at the symbolism, not just that it was there, but that it was subtle enough that it worked even if you didn't consciously notice it.
All the mermaid paintings, for example... to me they symbolize the tendency of sexual aggressors to blame the victims (she bewitched me! it's because she was wearing that short skirt! no one can resist a mermaid, you know!), so when you have to move away from that to the journey symbolism of the ships, that makes a lot of sense. Journey symbolism also appears in the first area with the globe and the different foods.
Even small things that seemed innocent enough on first playthrough now seem more sinister - the nuts and apples you can snack on ("I can never eat just one"), the names of the songs on the ipod. Even the ego paintings seem more... pregnant with meaning, looking back on them.
I loved the meta-meta-ness of the superego, though I'm not sure what the recurring theme of constellations/planets/stars represent... I guess he refers to her as "his star" at one point...
The "awful" slideshow that plays startlingly every once in awhile seems to have as its main themes imprisonment (barbed wire), darkness (raven, misty woods), and loss of innocence (clowns, teddy bears, stone angels, etc).

Those are some of the things I remember most, anyway.
So, yeah, I'm sure I didn't catch everything, but we noticed a lot - that's part of what makes the game so immersive and makes the mystery so compelling. :-)
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