Description

Several years ago, we had a recurring event on this website where the community would come together to make a puzzle game. The event series, hosted by kentona, was called Befuddle Quest.

After a hiatus from 2012 to 2015, all seemed well again when the long awaited Befuddle Quest VII: Advent Children event was hosted. Unfortunately, the full game was never completed, (A moment of silence, please) and no 8th event was ever hosted. What followed were two dark years for the puzzle fanatics on this website, craving another puzzle event but not getting one.

Until now.

This is Stupefaction Search, a spiritual successor to/reboot of kentona's Befuddle Quest series. Depending on popularity, it may become a recurring event. The theme is Law Enforcement.

The Assignment ::..
Police Academy cadets will make a single-map puzzle in RMVX Ace using RTP OR your own supplied graphics (that mesh with RTP). The puzzles are preferred but not required to have a law enforcement theme. After the event deadline, chief Jeroen_Sol will combine the maps into a single project.

For new recruits unfamiliar with kentona's Befuddle Quest series, the games can be found here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/1101/

Important dates ::..
Start Date: 11-Nov-2017
Submission Deadline: 03-Dec-2017
Projected Release Date: 03-June-2018

Story ::..
Zeke is a cadet at the police academy. He's been partnered with the cutest girl in class, Bramelda, for a practical exam, but he's a bit clumsy and shy, especially when Bramelda's around. Can he overcome the challenges, pass the year and get the girl? Or at least two out of three? Probably not, but that won't stop him from trying.

Rules (courtesy of kentona) ::..
You must use RMVX Ace
You can submit as many puzzles as you like
Each submission must use only 1 map. If you want your puzzle to have multiple stages that's fine, but they must all be on the same map. If you submit multiple puzzles, it's preferable of they are all different submissions, because of the community voting.
No Direct designation Transfer Player events - use Designation with variables*
No battles or common events or items or pretty much most of the Database
No instant Game Overs (restart the puzzle instead)
If you aren't using the standard RTP, INCLUDE YOUR RESOURCES


*The default teleport events use the map ID of the project you create the event in, however, since I will be combining various maps from various projects, you will not know beforehand what your map ID will be, and teleport events will break. To get around this, in an autostart event, record the current Map ID in a variable, and then reference that variable when using Transfer Player. It is a little more tedious, but it ensures that your teleport events will work properly.


Notes ::..
The hero's name is Zeke. The sprite used will be the first sprite of the spritesheet below, made by hiddenone on rpgmakerweb:



The hero's partner's name is Bramelda. The sprite used will be the fifth sprite of the spritesheet above, made by hiddenone on rpgmakerweb.

The other cadets at the police academy, sprites 2 through 4 and 6 through 8 on the spritesheet above, made by hiddenone on rpgmakerweb, are called Bob, Tom, Max, Jenny, Tammy and Sam respectively.

We will use enlarged versions of the sprites for the faces:



Feel free to invent a story for your puzzle. I will work it into the storyline.
You can use Zeke or Bramelda for puzzles (or both - if that's what you want). If you want to include any of the other cadets as non-playable characters, (or even playable characters if you need more than two) that's also fine.

Do not use variable 1. It is reserved for keeping track of exam credits. Since all puzzles need to be standalone, the other variables and switches can be used by multiple participants. To make sure nothing messes up, please set all your variables back to 0 and switches back to OFF when the puzzle is completed.

Please name the tileset you use the same as your puzzle. I'll copy it along with the puzzle into the master project.

Submissions ::..
Before the submission deadline, zip or rar up your project, and submit it to the event using the commands in the upper right. Make as many puzzles as you like. Multiple submissions are allowed.

Please include with your submission:
  • The RMVXAce project

  • All non-RTP resources used

  • The coordinates of the ENTRANCE and EXIT points on the map, so that I can link it properly

  • Puzzle name

  • A brief description of the puzzle

  • A detailed walkthrough (in a PM, or a text file in the submission folder. I'll try not to look at it at first, but I do still need to be able to solve the puzzle even if it stumps me.)

  • Puzzle difficulty (out of 5)

  • Any explicit instructions, special notes or issues you think I need to know to link the map into the game.


Set up the characters in the database as follows:



This makes it easier for me when I import your map.

I will be copying the map from your project to the "master" project. If there is anything else that needs to be copied over, like resources or scripts or terrains or whatnot, please let me know.

Rewards ::..

The following badges can be won:


Police Academy Cadet: Submit 1 or more puzzles.


Police Academy Alumnus: Submit 3 or more puzzles.


Somewhat Stupefied: Submit the third best puzzle, determined by community voting.


Stupefied Silent: Submit the second best puzzle, determined by community voting.


Stupefaction Surpreme: Submit the best puzzle, determined by community voting.

The winner of Stupefaction Surpreme will also win download keys to djolnir's Time Fantasy pack!

Let's puzzle!

Credits:
  • Befuddle Quest event series by kentona

  • Police spritesheet by hiddenone

Details

  • 11/11/2017 12:00 AM
  • 12/03/2017 11:59 PM
  • 12/10/2017 11:59 PM

Achievements

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Stupefaction Search.

Posts

Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Update:

I haven't had much time to check out people's puzzles/give my thoughts/etc. these past days, but this weekend I'll try to get to all the puzzles I haven't yet.

For the voting period in December, here's what will happen:

I'm going to make a thread where everyone can submit their top three puzzles. Nobody can vote for their own puzzles, but people who haven't participated in the event are still allowed to vote as well.

If a puzzle is ranked third on someone's list, it will get 1 point. 1.5 points if it's second, 2 points if it's first. The puzzles eith top three total points win! In case of a tie, I will break it.

Also, during the voting period, Libby and I are going to do a collaborative stream! I will prepare my thoughts on all the submissions in advance (except Libby's if she submits something), while she'll be going in blind and playing all of the puzzles. (Except her own, which I will play then blindly)

I will be rating the puzzles on the following grounds:

- Ingenuity: 0-3 stars
- Fun: 0-2 stars
- Intuitiveness/Difficulty: 0-2 stars
- Polish: 0-2 stars
- Fits with law enforcement theme: 0-1 stars

This will give all submissions a score between 0 and 10 stars, and will determine my votes.
oh dang I should start my entry soon
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Yes. One more day everyone! Or alternately, if Libby doesn't mind too much, I could add the weekend? Maybe?
author=12xeV
Timezone for deadline?
The time you see on the event page is based on your own timezone hour adjustment in your user profile. The site's clock is based on UTC.

author=Jeroen_Sol
Yes. One more day everyone! Or alternately, if Libby doesn't mind too much, I could add the weekend? Maybe?

Do you want me to do that?
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Oh no, I can do it myself. I was just asking for permission.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Update:

The event has been extended until Sunday. Though you will all likely be busy finishing up the RtD event and starting RMNlympics, do make sure to get your puzzles in as well, since we now have a prize for the best puzzle!

Whoever wins Stupefaction Surpreme at the end of the voting period will also win download keys to djolnir's Time Fantasy pack!

So go! Stupefy and befuddle everyone this weekend!
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

Time Fantasy is a great resource pack, but that key would require you to own Ace on Steam to activate.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
djolnir has sent me two links to what appear to be itch.io downloads, so I don't think it has any connection to Steam whatsoever, but I don't exactly know how this stuff works, so...
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
And mine is up. You can end this, Jero!
It's possible that there's a way to break the puzzle, because I'm using too many loops.

Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Good luck this weekend everyone! Only a day and a half left to get your puzzles in!
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Only 45 more minutes to get your puzzles in everyone! There won't be any more extensions this time!
I was planning to add one more puzzle but it’s too late x)
I just put it in my locker here if anybody wants to see it :)

https://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/67094/locker/CG.rar
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

What's up with the voting option at the top?
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
It's supposed to allow you to vote for the best submission. But you can only vote for one submission, so we're not using that. Instead I'll be making a thread in a few hours where people can post their top three puzzles, and I'll tally the votes manually.

Edit: Or alternatively I guess you can also just post your top three here. Maybe that's a better idea. Let's go with that instead.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
I like that better too.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
Alright. We'll go with that. Everyone (including those who didn't participate in the event) may post their top 3 puzzles here. Next Sunday I'll tally the votes and declare the winner.

Now I just need to find a time where Libby and I can stream all the puzzles but Sunday is probably the first day I'll have any time for that... >.<
Gates is broken so please ignore it, I think i deleted the map so don't mind it.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
I'm a bit worried about the lack of votes so far. Is anyone actually planning on voting? Because if not, or if it's only like one person, then I'll just determine the winners myself.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
Ok, I managed to play all puzzles. I can't say that I was able to finish some of them too. I chose puzzles, which made me feel at least slightly clever.

Winners:
1. Psy - Saturday RMNight Fever
2. kory - teleportation
3. Psy - Who keyed Matt's car?

Ok puzzles:
bomb (BM1)
stupefaction1
chase
Hexagram

Changes needed:
Orbs - like them but better instructions are needed
bomb 2
bomb 3 -timer makes 2 and 3 too frustrating, I would consider removing it.
boulders -it's ok, but restarting is annoying. Also, The map's quite ugly.
maze - too frustrating
4782960 - I'm not an einstein