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blackjack-15 · 5 years

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Staying Tuned for a Soap Opera — Thoughts on: Stay Tuned for Danger (STFD)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: STFD, FIN, RAN.

The Intro:

Stay Tuned for Danger is another short game, though it owes its runtime more to the limitations of 1999 than anything else. Full of wacky, overwrought characters and hilariously over-the-top threats, puzzles, and ‘incidents’, STFD isn’t a smart game, but it’s a mildly fun one, and definitely improves as the second in a series.

STFD relies heavily on constantly rising action, meaning that things never calm down — the game escalates and escalates until it’s over, which encourages the player to finish the whole thing in as few parts as possible to get the full effect.

It does have its problems — way too many things to click on that are pointless, an obvious villain, frustrating and out-of-place puzzles, and the clunkiest interface known to man, but it saves itself from the scrap heap by embracing, rather than avoiding, its own campiness.

The Title:

Funnily enough, this title is actually straight-up ace. It’s a snappy take on soap opera clichés, and is the only game to have a four-letter abbreviation, lest we take Nancy into the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

Er…considering how Rick looks, make that further into the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

Plus, this game puts a heavy emphasis on the continually rising action of its events, so the “stay tuned” part works really, really well. A+ work here.

The Mystery:

Fresh off of the success of finding a killer in Miami, Aunt Eloise once again hears of trouble and sends Nancy Drew barking after it. This time, it’s off to New York to investigate some death threats that a soap opera star is being sent.

Hold the presses, I know.

With everyone working as hard as they can to be unhelpful, it’s up to Nancy to massively invade everyone’s privacy and discover who’s writing the threats (and making the bombs, and dropping the lights, and…) before Rick Arlen actually gets seriously hurt or killed.

Through a lot of snooping, after-hours sneaking, and clunky interrogations, Nancy manages to “figure out” the culprit when he presents himself at the end despite 90% of clues pointing to him, has to solve a puzzle in the nick of time, and treats the audience to a hilarious-looking “capture” of the culprit.

The Suspects:

Mattie Jensen is the one renting Aunt Eloise’s apartment, and the person Nancy first encounters. Not only is she the (co-) star of the show, but she’s also the only one who stuck with her original agent, Dwayne Powers.

Her mother is too involved in her life, she moves like a plasticine doll, and is a Horrible judge of character, employing Dwayne Powers and having dated Rick Arlen, but Mattie seems genuinely concerned for Rick’s life, asking Nancy to help by snooping around, and offering her aid to the amateur detective.

Mattie’s not short on motive, having been dumped by Rick and having her career endangered by his anticipated contract-breaking in order to get into films and out of soaps, but she’s not really a “suspect” once you’re 1/3 of the way through the game.

This is one of Her Interactive’s favorite tropes — a suspect cleared early on so that Nancy can have a helper — and it shows up for the first time here. In this case, Mattie helps Nancy go undercover as a budding young actress in order to help her investigate more fully.

Rick Arlen is the other co-star of the soap opera (“Light of Our Love”), playing the male main lead. Tired of the small soap opera notoriety he has right now, Rick longs for the big screen, leading him to try to break his contract with Bill Pappas and leave the show.

Rick is a blowhard egomaniac who’s willing to flirt with any woman he sees — even the young amateur detective Nancy Drew — but that’s pretty much all the depth that he has. He dates a lot, but he’s too shallow to keep any relationship for long, either dumping them (Mattie) or being dumped (Lillian).

There might be a moment or two where you think he might be behind his threatening notes to give him an unimpeachable reason to leave…but then you remember that this is Rick Arlen, and he has No Shame, and doesn’t see anything wrong with breaking his contract.

He does send the first few notes, signing them with an anagram of his name (which somehow Her thought was brilliant enough to use twice in one game), but that’s it as far as his involvement goes — he’s not a man with a death wish; he’s an egomaniac. Pure and simple.

The only other thing about him in the game is that he ditched Dwayne for a better agent, which is treated as, like, the Height of Disloyalty. However, knowing that Dwayne is balls-to-the-wall nuts, not a great agent, and hates Rick for dating Mattie….I’d switch to a new agent as well. Sure, it’s not super kind, but it’s not at all an immoralmove to make, and it’s the best thing he could do if he wants an actual enduring career in showbiz.

Dwayne Powersis Mattie’s agent, Rick’s ex-agent, and all around bleeding psychopath with delusions of grandeur. He’s also one of the most obvious villains in the whole series (tying with…well, RAN), blames Rick for his failing business (when the truth is that he’s just not very good at it and has stopped trying at this point), and casts his Cool Alter-Ego Owen W. Spayder as his crimesona.

Dwayne isn’t diagnosably medically insane like the culprit in FIN, but he’s crazy all the same, from his Loud Speeches about hating Rick, to his skulking around the set in a hat and beard, to his ridiculous bombs and light-droppings, etc. etc.

He’s upset that he couldn’t make it as an actor himself, and resigned himself to helping others with their natural talents. Not only does he let this turn him into an attempted murderer, but he also gives this Huge Speech at the end…which lets us see, yeah, he wouldn’t have made it as an actor (and as if RAN needed to reinforce that point, it does anyway).

Dwayne is interesting in that he’s the only suspect to escape twice and the only villain to be the villain in two games, but…quite frankly, he’s not interesting enough to deserve those distinguishing characteristics. Dwayne isn’t enough to carry one game, let alone two, and it shows.

Lillian Weiss is the snappish, cold director of “Light of Our Love”, who is suspicious of everyone and has the clout of being one of the only characters who can fire Nancy without it resulting in a second chance.

She also happens to be the smartest and most likable character in the game (except for Bill Pappas, of course), willing to accept when she’s been wrong and call Nancy to come back in, who figures out who’s pulling these “pranks” around the set, and poured a pitcher of water on Rick’s head while dumping him.

She also sent him poisoned chocolates which, knowing the guy, I fully condone. She gets to live out Rick’s dream by going to Hollywood, so that’s nice and karmic as well.

Lillian isn’t ever really nice to you, nor does she lose her snappiness, but she is a good guy, and she’s allowed to be smart and capable without being warm and fuzzy, and I personally think that makes her more multi-faceted than most early ND characters were allowed to be.

Millie Strathorn is the elderly owner and founder of WWB and prop master for “Light of Our Love”. She’s also not quite sane, mixing fantasy and reality at any given moment.

Her “motivation” is that she hates Rick and tries to keep submitting scripts to write him out of the show, and this show apparently doesn’t have a Writer (we’ve got a producer, director, and two stars + talent agent, but no writer?), but her scripts keep being rejected anyway.

Probably because, once again, she mixes fantasy and reality, and definitely wrote a scene where Rick Arlen and “Rory Danner” face off and mud-wrestle, stabbing each other in the face.

Either that or a ménage àtrois between Rick, Rory, and Yuri (Rory’s “evil twin” in the show”. Which would be Very Tricky to shoot with 1999 technology.

Anyway, Millie makes you solve a few middling riddles and then pretty much effs off for the rest of the game, making her a crazy memorable (not to mention straight-up crazy) character despite her lack of screen time (and overall pointlessness).

William Pappas is the never-seen yet always entertaining producer of “Light of Our Love”, who is super pissed about Rick trying to break his contract is “Light of Our Love” and says that he’ll kill Rick before he let him walk out on him. This threat, of course, is just Bill venting, and after Nancy defuses the bomb in Rick’s dressing room, Bill is more than happy to help her out.

As a suspect, Bill sucks, wholly and completely — to the point where he’s just not a suspect. As a character, however, he is a Delight and a Treasure, bursting with pointless personality. I aspire to be Bill Pappas.

Ralph Guardino is the twice-seen security guard at WWB who gives you access to the building, then promptly effs off until he appears to arrest Dwayne at the end. And yes, his name is just “Guard” with “-ino” added at the end. I guess Her used up all their imagination on weird and wonderful pictures to photoshop their characters into.

Ralph, like Bill, isn’t really a suspect at all; he exists because the story needed a job done, so they created a character to do it. He’s also Bill’s cousin, so there’s some added “meaning” that’s actually pointless as well. There’s nothing offensive about Ralph, per se, but there’s nothing good about him either. He’s just kind of…there.

The Favorites:

The general soapy tone of this game makes it fun, and Dwayne’s villain reveal/speech is only matched in its dramatic campiness by…well, his speech in RAN.

Bill Pappas is my Hero and I wish he’d gotten more screen time (though I love that we never see him), and Nancy’s delivery of “Prop Master of DEATH” alone is worth the price of admission.

The Un-Favorites:

First off, the fact that they forgot to put in the desk key really bothers me. I know that the only stuff in there are fake fan letters to Rick from Mattie, encouraging him to stay (which doesn’t point to guilt at all, and so is pretty pointless), but like…it’s locked. It must be important.

I know Her Interactive wanted to advertise their 100+ “close up shots”, but it drags the game down to look at everything — especially since hidden in those 100+ are 5-10 that are Super Tiny and that you have to click on, even if they don’t tell you anything new, or you’ll get stuck and be unable to progress.

Nancy’s inability to see Dwayne as the villain even when it’s patently obvious is a pretty serious knock against this game. Neither Bill nor Ralph are considered actual suspects, Mattie is cleared early on, Lillian is too snappish with you (too obvious, to Her Interactive’s way of thinking) to be it, and Millie is too old to do the physical stuff (and, with her wanting Rick’s character killed off, is also too obvious) and so as early as 1/3 into the game you’re left with Dwayne and Rick. As Rick needs himself to live so he can go on to Star in Movies, you’re just left with Dwayne, who all the clues point to anyway.

The Fix:

Fixing STFD would require totally re-coding it to fix sound and playability issues on newer computers, updating the graphics, fixing characters so that they don’t look like blow-up dolls…all those Quality of Life improvements are super important and vital to a fix.

But fixing it would also require some re-writing. I realize that Millie is in the game as a nod to the original writer of Nancy Drew, and it’s…well, definitely an homage, if not a good homage, but taking her out would go a long way to streamlining the game.

There are simply too many culprits for Her Interactive’s general ability to write multiple fleshed-out characters who are all plausible suspects (especially with Nik being gone), and so the result is that the incidents, character traits, and character appearances are spread too thin for anything but blatant caricature. Millie is simply the easiest character to remove, along with Bill Pappas and Ralph (who only appears twice anyway).

You could fold Millie into Lillian without too much trouble, get rid of Bill (though it breaks my heart to say it), have Ralph’s name appear early but have him only appear at the end to arrest Dwayne, and it would lighten the load that the story breaks under considerably. I don’t think this would make it an A+ story, but it would at least be less cluttered, and STFD is cluttered enough without needing extra help.

#nancy drew #nancy drew games #clue crew #STFD #stay tuned for danger #video games #nancy drew meta #my meta

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boisestatelive · 7 years

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‪📸 of the week: Mattie Danner, a senior studying visual art w/ emphasis in photography, enjoys a warm September day on the Quad. Photo Credit: Allison Corona, @boisestatephoto #boisestate‬ http://ift.tt/2y6n1Yl

#IFTTT #Instagram

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cantcheckthatoff-yet · 7 years

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001. Stay Tuned for Danger | Mattie Jensen’s Apartment Pt. 1

Here we are once again, Sleuthers. Nancy is reading a letter that she wrote aloud, rather than just sticking it in the mail and sending it to Bess. Oh, this time she’s written to Bess, by the way. Bess loves this Soap Opera that Nancy’s client stars in. Very exciting stuff.

This time around, Nancy has been invited to investigate some death threats against Mattie Jensen’s co-star, Rick Arlen. Nancy comments on how she can’t imagine anyone would ever hate “America’s favorite hunkie sopa opera star” or something... but I have a feeling he’s gonna be a huge dick.

Anyway, apparently Aunt Eloise has several homes, because Mattie is renting her apartment in New York, despite the beginning for Secrets Can Kill also being Aunt Eloise’s home...

We arrive at Mattie’s place, and it’s looking very posh.

It isn’t hard to find Miss Jensen, who appears to be studying some lines for the soap opera. Oh that animation.

We speak to her, and she’s kind and down-to-earth. It seems like she really is very concerned about Rick’s well-being, despite the fact that he doesn’t seem to be taking the threats very seriously. According to Mattie, Rick has received freaky letters, poisoned chocolates, a broken watch, and apparently there was an incident with a teleprompter. My options were limited on what to ask her, but she informed me that the letters were all cut up letters like a ransom note. Also, Rick loves chocolate, but spit the nasty ones out. Gross =/= poison, but okay, Mattie... Either way, Rick hasn’t bothered reporting any of it to the police. That’s how you get your ass killed, Rick.

She ends up needing to hit the set, but gives me some house keys and tells me that I can check in at the security desk at the WWB studio. How very famous of Nancy. After she leaves, we get right down to the best part of any Nancy Drew game: needlessly snooping in other peoples’ personal lives.

First thing to notice is that there are photos of Rick everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. It’s obvious that Rick and Mattie are dating, were dating, or Mattie is just straight up in love with him. Also, we must stop to admire the very high-tech way in which the game creators incorporated photos into this game.

Happy normal human beings, except over there where the thick and squishy-looking animated ones are!

Then there’s gems like these.

Real people with animated video game characters’ faces cut and pasted onto their heads. Almost as complex as how I capture screenshots of these games...

As I snoop, I see that Mattie is a successful TV actress with an article in a magazine about her rise to fame, as well as a 1999 award for Best Actress in her show. 1999??? Damn, this game is old as shit. I was a toddler when it came out.

Another magazine article speculates about whether or not Rick’s character, Rory Danner, will be killed off due to Rick possible breaking of his contract with the producers of the show. Juicy.

I steal a remote from a little basket because that’s just what Nancys do.

Mattie’s desk is where it really gets interesting. There’s this weird ass calendar that, for inexplicable reasons, does this:

*click*

See the eye in the flowers? Yeah, me too. What the fuck? A little dot also appears next to the 21, until you click, then it goes away. That may or may not just be an animation glitch, though.

There’s also a letter from Mattie’s mom.

I’m writing this letter because you never call me - you can’t be that busy not to phone your poor mother, can you? I saw your photo on Soap Opera Journal at the store (You’d think that my own daughter would at least send me a copy.). I was devastated to see that your picture is so much smaller than Rick’s!? What makes him more important than you?

Darling, you must remember that you are the real star

Well, someone’s got a guilt-tripping mommy planting seeds of jealousy in their brain gardens, don’t they? Interesting. The desk also has a drawer that needs a key, which I don’t have... yet.

After exhausting the desk, I finish a look-over of the room and read up on what scene Mattie and Rick will be performing.

Rory: I was hoping to find you here. I’ve been making myself right at home, Love. Serena: I see you found my personal diary. Rory: Well, yeah. (defensively) You left it out on the table for all the world to see. What was I supposed to do? Serena: Well (sarcastically), you could have shown a little respect for my privacy and left it alone. Rory: You know me better than that... Your business is my business, babe.

Ew, looks like Rory is a total asshole. “Your business is my business, babe.” Is now officially what Nancy should say if she gets caught snooping through anyone’s stuff, though, just saying.

The last thing of note is this group photo:

We know this is Mattie and Rick with two friends, all looking like their best 90′s selves, but we haven’t met the two people on the sides of the photo. Still, their animated copy-paste heads mean that we will likely be meeting them in the future. I also think the guy on the left is important because he’s in a tiny photo in an album that is mostly glorifying Rick.

Next Up: WWB!

#nancy drew #nancy drew pc games #her interactive #stay tuned for danger #stfd #stfd001

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disneytva · 6 years

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Cast Of Legend Of The Three Caballeros Revealed Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck Eric Bauza as Jose Carioca Tress MacNeille as Daisy Jaime Camil as Panchito Pistoles Grey DeLisle as Xandra godness of Adventure Matty Danner as Mr MackleMore Jessica DiCicco as April,May & June

Thanks @holisticvolunteer

#Legend Of Three Caballeros #The Legend Of The Three Caballeros #The Three Caballeros #Disney Channel #Disney Life #Untitled Disney's Streaming Service #Matt Chapman

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cantcheckthatoff-yet · 7 years

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002. Stay Tuned for Danger | WWB Pt. 1 (Mattie’s Dressing Room)

Worldwide Broadcasting... the place that used to make me so anxious when I played this game as a child with my mom and my sister. Something about how professional and official everything was.

But then you’d see this jolly fellow at the desk and feel so much better. Hello, Ralph. You’re looking friendly, as usual. Thanks for my pass.

As soon as I turn toward the hallway that leads to the set, dressing rooms, and offices, my vision is bombarded by this lady. I’m suddenly having flashbacks to a frail yet shrill voice shouting, “It’s opeeeen!”

Jeez...

So, the hallways are kind of confusing for me. Since I’m always getting disoriented, both in real life and in video game life, I will be remembering that the hallway with these three lovely ladies...

... is where the Prop Room and Lillian’s office are. I decided against visiting Lillian ‘til I’m ready to be yelled at. Oh yeah, I remember her. The other hallway has a man in the middle photo and it leads to the dressing rooms, as well as this guy’s office.

William Pappas: Producer. It just so happens that as Nancy is strolling past, she happens to hear the end of a conversation that good ol’ Billy is having.

I don’t care who he is. No one breaks a contract with Bill Pappas. I’ll kill him before he runs out on me.

We already know the rumors about Rick breaking his contract. Yikes, Billy. Better hope Rick don’t turn up dead!

I find Mattie and Rick’s dressing rooms, but before I meet Rick, I wanna see if Mattie has anything else to say to me. We never see the woman stand, but that’s okay. Nancy Drew games have their limits.

Nancy asks Mattie how long she and Rick have been together, but we find out that they broke up awhile back. She doesn’t think she has any old flames that could be gunning for Rick’s head. She then makes a lame joke about Rory Danner’s evil twin, and then runs out to do her job. What a loser, being all hard-working.

So, once again, it is time to snoop.

I first check out the pile of newspapers beside her chair, which both have stories about WWB’s rating lowering ever since news of Rick’s possible departure were let out. Uh oh... more reason for Billy to kill Rick. A script on the table appears to be leading to Rory’s evil twin murdering Rory, presumably at the fault of Rick for breaking that daggone contract. There’s also a note written in French.

Roughly translated (because I’m Nancy Freakin’ Drew and of course I know French!) it says:

My Sweetheart,

Here is a symbol of my love for you. You are an angel sent by heaven to encourage me - to give me courage. I love you and I embrace you very strongly.

So it’s a love note written in French. It’s romantic. I wonder what the symbol is, unless the symbol is this simple little letter. Maybe it’s the dying rose sitting among the clutter on her make up table. Not sure.

It’s good to know that even famous soap stars are slobs, just like us! There’s nothing of huge interest on the surface, but a peak in the drawer reveals some very poorly treated lipstick.

Next, I look at her chest of drawers.

The little box with the keyhole was unlocked, and had a meticulously, evenly ripped note of some kind in it. I have yet to solve the puzzle, as there are more pressing matters at hand right now, but I’ll get around to it.

There’s also some kind of emblem in the little chest next to it, which reads around the edges: “A mask of sweet sincerity. A cloak of loving kindness. Meant to sway the heart to trust. And fill the eyes with blindness.” It also holds the initials MJ in the middle. Ok, Mattie Jensen, way to be cryptic and weird.

Finally, I read a fan letter in which someone expresses how surprised they were to hear Mattie talk about how competitive acting is, and that they always thought that Mattie was much sweeter than all those normal soap opera stars always vying for the spotlight. I mean... it’s acting. That’s just the way it be. Then again, maybe we’re all just seeing Mattie’s “mask of sweet sincerity.”

Next up: On Set!

#nancy drew #nancy drew pc games #her interactive #stay tuned for danger #stfd #stfd002

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