LP Beach

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:10 pm**

Hi yes I'm getting off my ass and finally doing this thing I've been putting off for the past several weeks

What is this game and why have I never heard of this in my entire life?

Miss Management is a time management game developed and published by a game studio known as gameLab back in 2006 if you ask Wikipedia and 2007 if you ask the in-game copyright marker. There's very little information on the internet about this game anymore; it doesn't even have its own article to link to in gameLab's list of developed games on Wikipedia. Suffice to say, I played this when I was rather young. I don't remember what year I played it, but I probably wasn't a teenager yet.

Anyways, time management; you control Denise as she manages an office of 1 to 5 other employees, designating when they take breaks and when they do work, picking up supplies from the office store across the street, and helping your coworkers achieve their goals to proceed the story. The game has a level-by-level structure where gameplay segments are individually contained (referred to as "Episodes") in small arcs of the story ("Seasons").

In case that didn't make it abundantly clear, this game more than likely takes some inspiration from The Office and similar sitcoms that probably exist that I'm not going to spend time looking up, and the writing is... actually, it's shockingly good, all things considered. I liked it as a child, and looking back on after getting older and getting job experience, the characters and their situations only get stronger with context and age. The gameplay's no slouch, either, with an experience I'd ultimately consider a masterclass in time management for all the little tweaks and QoL adjustments that would go unnoticed by most but make the game a more satisfying experience to play. They even show extensive proficiency in knowing what to show the player to make them fully confident in their ability to play the game, while keeping more specific information the player doesn't necessarily need somewhat hidden, but not unnoticeable to those looking for it.

I'm going to revel in being able to show off all those little quirks as we go along, but as for the plan...

So what's your plan for updating this thread?

Long story short, update schedule is "When I'm done with the update." Things are kinda busy for me right now, but this helps me relax a bit. I have no way of knowing when I'll have the time to do this, but I can at least say I shouldn't be gone for over two weeks unless I'm moving or something.

As for the updates themselves, the first one will be the Episode in its entirety, since the story and gameplay segments are mixed together in that one. In future updates, I'll be splitting them up between Story and Gameplay updates. I'd like the writing to be able to stand on its own, and updates might get cluttered if I put them together. More often than not, this means you'll get Story, Gameplay, Story, Gameplay, and so on, except for a few cases where an Episode has an Outro, typically near the end of each Season and each Season Finale (not an official term in-game but come on, you know that's a missed opportunity) plus a few other episodes with important events at the end. All updates will have a video alongside them to see exactly how things progress in-game, which will be vital for the gameplay segments due to SPEEEEEEEEEEED and helpful to show off all the little touches they made for presentation in story segments.

I'll also be posting writeups for each employee as we go along, though the ones for our first 5 employees will be waiting until we unlock all the necessary mechanics to properly discuss their unique sets of skills; this should happen near the middle of Season 2, which shouldn't take too long.

Oh, and needless to say, we'll be breaking the game over our knees in places, so I might include a strategy from a later level behind spoiler tags if it's notable enough. Depending on how your Dark Mode is set up, if you use it, you might be able to see through the tags without scrolling over them (like me), so beware of that if you wanna be surprised at someone's potential.

This is leading into a Spoiler policy, huh?

Yup! None of those! Absolutely none! I'd say to use spoiler tags, but those don't cooperate with some Dark Modes, so I'd recommend just restraining yourselves until the mechanic/story beat comes up. Or just hope the people using Dark Mode can't see through the tags like me. I probably won't get fussy with spoiler tags, honestly, just keep that in mind.

Speculation is fine, since the game itself lets you see grayed-out versions of each Episode's thumbnail. There's no avoiding people seeing that. Just refrain from mentioning if you know what's going to happen in the future, even if it's mechanics.

Anything else we should know?

I won't be piloting the characters to make jokes or anything like that. This isn't to say there won't be jokes (the game has them in spades), but I once again need to reiterate that I really, really want the writing of this game to speak for itself aside from inserting my own thoughts on the matter where appropriate ~~and of course being a snarky ass sometimes~~.

However, I will be making an exception to this. As this is a reposted thread that was rather early on in its runtime, I had an idea for something to do as a bonus that slowly grew into something I want to last throughout the entire LP. As a compromise, they'll be cordoned off in updates in such a way that you'll know when it's added. In case I don't make it obvious enough, they'll be at the end of each Episode after their Gameplay, or their Outro if they have one.

Also, music will not be posted. I'd grab it, but gameLab has a... unique way of doing music in their time management titles. It's very nice music, but the way it's set up doesn't lend itself well to being put in the thread aside from in videos.

Lastly, comments made by myself will often be in italics. Feel free to point out places I forget to italicize that are clearly being spoken by me; there's a lot to go through, so I feel like that'll happen at least once in this LP.

Table of Contents

--Season 1: Welcome to the Cubicle Jungle--

--Season 2: Who's in Charge Around Here, Anyways?--

--Season 3: Manly Managers and Girly Girls--

--Season 4: The Belly of the Corporate Beast--

--Season 5: Executive Stress Management--

--Employee Writeups--

General Employee Mechanics
Denise Writeup
Mahavir Writeup
Timothy Writeup
Tara Writeup
Winston Writeup
Pearl Writeup
Luke Writeup
Duncan Writeup
Ashley Writeup
Nadine Writeup
Final Employee Spoilers: Brooke Writeup

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:10 pm**

Reserved

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:19 pm**

Episode 1, Story/Gameplay: First Day on the Job

Video:

Upon beginning the game, we're greeted with this:

There'll be one of these titles for every season. They only appear once per save file, ever, so I'll need to be sure to get footage of them unless I wanna do a marathon of the game just to capture one of them again.

If the desktop wallpaper and confetti are anything to go by, it's the holidays, or just after them. Seems we'll only have one employee to work with. I can hear the screams of "Tutorial" from here.

And yes, the mouse cursor will be following us throughout our time at work. It's kind of impossible to convey exactly what the hell I'm grabbing or pointing at or highlighting without it visible, so it'll be our little sidekick in this journey.

Also, this will be explained a bit later, but those three stars are our rating for the level; completing everything required, completing everything, and then being a speedrunner. 2-Star ratings are markedly unimpressive in most cases, though there is one level in particular where even a 1-Star rating could be seen as impressive...

Let's begin, shall we?

Hello?

Weird... this is definitely the address in my acceptance letter!

Pondering how sure she is that she got the address right, presumably, Denise walks further into the... office. Or what's left of an office, it seems.

Hello? Is anyone here?

She manages to draw the attention of a layabout on the couch.

Great first impression, I'm sure.

Ah! It is my sorrow to turn away such a stunning young flower...

...but I'm afraid we're closed!

Actually...

Whoa, no way!

Yes way?

I mean... how about that!

Yes! A new sexy gazelle in the office! A new challenge... for Mahavir!

Might wanna keep your master plans inside your brainscape instead of outside your mouth, just a bit of advice, Mahavir.

This IS Conkling Associates International, right?

Indeed it is, m'dear. C.A.I. for short.

I could draw attention to that "m'dear," but I think it's far more noteworthy to wonder how classified our work is with a company name so coincidentally close as that.

And I... am Mahavir!

Might've announced that to us and the 6 adjacent floors already, but the proper introduction's appreciated.

Naturally, you'll need a new friend to show you the ropes around here, right?

Uh... sure, why not? My name's Denise, by the way. So does anyone work here besides you?

Oh, it's barely past New Year's. We're a small branch office, and everyone's gone home for the holidays.

Did they take their desks with them? Do we have a closet for those? Do they have to go through the IKEA furniture assembly process every time they come back from vacation or a transfer to disincentivize taking time off?

Either way, we at least know our time frame for sure now. Start of the year, maybe January 2nd or 3rd.

And you're just... here by yourself? Sleeping?

Well, I didn't feel like going all the way back to Bombay.

It's a 23-hour flight, but if I stay here and hang around the office, I get paid!

I see... !

Sounds like a nice deal for ya, but if you're getting paid, won't they still be sending you-

Oops, break's over! They'll start sending tasks for us any minute.

...work. Yes. There it is.

Oh... um, you mean the one over there with the phone?

Yep, that's the one! Let me just find the new employee orientation manual...

Oh, this'll be just riveting, I bet.

Welcome to your first day at C.A.I., Denise! You're joining a team providing industry-leading solutions for... blah blah blah, this stuff doesn't matter...

Seems we're on the same page as Mahavir for once, though that did manage to throw out our one opportunity to learn what the hell this place even does

Ah, Tasks... ingredient number one to the perfect storm that is Denise trying to prevent this entire office from exploding. These'll be around for our entire time working here, and you'll either be praying for them to show up to complete a goal or cursing their existence as they keep pouring down a seemingly endless pipeline.

The central office sent it over, and they want it done pronto! You'd better go pick it up and put it on my desk...

While the office manager's job at C.A.I. getting reduced to being a gofer for the rest of the office is kinda silly, we still have to do as he suggests and click the task, then click the spot on his desk that looks like one of those things you slip a calendar inside, I dunno. Don't worry about being that precise in the future, though, the amount of acceptable space to click expands if I remember correctly; this is just to condition you to click a more accurate spot so you don't shove the task on the wrong employee's desk somehow.

And thus, Mahavir will demonstrate employee work for us.

Every time I finish a task, the central office raises our petty cash budget a bit! If we want money to buy snacks and office supplies, I'll have to keep working...

Two things: one, I'm not gonna mention the specifics until writeups, but rest assured Mahavir does Tasks in anything but an expert manner. Two, that amount of cash it mentioned from finishing the Task? It's inflated a bit. Normally we'd get $1 from this tier of Task, but the game would like us to have a bit more cash than normal for something later. Since we have no idea where to get "snacks and office supplies" as of now, you can probably guess.

New tasks will keep showing up on your desk until closing time! They definitely like to keep us busy.

A blue Task appeared on the desk, by the way.

Just keep 'em comin', cute stuff!

Fiiiiine. We have him polish off that blue Task, and...

Are you sure about that

Drudging away at this busywork is not what's important in life, is it? We all have other goals. Personally, my plans for today involved sleeping on the couch over there. I know... you can help me take a break!

Translation: "You can authorize my workplace naps." ...well, anyway, we can click an employee to begin controlling them instead of Denise, and then click a location for them to go to. Don't worry too much about deselecting Denise; if you click something only she can do, like picking up a Task or walking to her own desk, the game will automatically reselect her and tell her to do that.

And now for our first instance of a message from the game itself:

Employees like Mahavir get a little stressed out when they work on tasks, but they have ways of relaxing, too.

Ingredient number two of the perfect storm: Employee stress levels, lowered by sending them to take breaks.

To finish an episode and move on in the story, Denise has to help her fellow employees finish their goals.

Number three: Goals we need to complete, separate from the average work-stress loop.

When we mouse over each of the Goals, we see...

...that Mahavir has some very simple ambitions for now. This will stop being the case rather quickly, I assure you.

I rarely wind up using this feature since the mouseover feature works so well, but there's no denying that someone out there must've found it useful, since it allows you to read up on all the Goals without any time passing.

It's even displayed in such a way where you can see what the progress indicators for active Goals are in the background. Very nice. Speaking of those indicators...

Goals that require a certain amount of time to be spent doing something are sectioned off into four segments; each one will give you a small notification when you reach it. You can't see it in the gif, but you can certainly see it in the video, and I have a visual ready to demonstrate one of them later on for those of you uninterested in the video.

Oh and, uh, while we were busy staring at that, a green task appeared on our desk and is now flashing red.

...oh. Well then.

Ingredient number four: Denise's own stress level when Tasks are left incomplete. Her stress level gradually rises when an overdue Task is in the office, stacking with multiple overdue Tasks. That can get lethal very quickly if you choose to ignore it.

If she becomes totally stressed out, you'll have to start the day over!

And I do mean lethal. Starting the day over means you lose all progress towards goals you made that day, and the day count still progresses. If you're going for a 3-Star rating, you might as well restart the Episode if you let Denise have a meltdown.

Don't freak out, sweet cheeks! I guess we can deal with that pesky task before I get back to more important things...

Sure. More important. Anyways, there's a second line here that's bugged and disappears almost instantly. I couldn't get a gif of it since it's on screen for literally 1 frame, but I managed to get a picture of it thanks to YouTube's single-frame advance/rewind features.

In any case, we can bring Tasks to our employee's desks, no matter where they are.

Taking note of our employees' lack of agency, we send Mahavir back to his desk, and...

...we take note that the Task is no longer considered overdue when it's being worked on. Whenever a task gets work done on it, it buffers its time to become overdue by a few seconds, even if it's already overdue. The timer also freezes when it's being worked on. When no overdue Tasks remain in the office, Denise will calm down over time.

I only got through part of my nap... but that's OK, I'll just pick up where I left off later.

Here, we're introduced to how Goals are affected by the day ending.

Some goals are the kind of thing you have to get done in one day...

Pictured above: a lie. Well, for now it isn't, but it sure as hell is gonna become one eventually, you can count on that.

...and that's all there is to it!

Hmm, I think I get how it works!

Good job! We got through the day and the office finally has some petty cash again!

So were you not doing work while you were here on your own? ...well, I guess it's the office manager's job on the line when the work's not getting done, not yours, so... guess they couldn't do much about it...?

Tomorrow I'll show you where to buy donuts... Donuts are half the reason I stay in this country!

Probably gonna find out reasons contributing to the other half later on, just saying. Anyways...

Before each day, we get a report on what Goals we've completed, what Goals are remaining and what we need to complete the remaining Goals, our amount of petty cash, and what day number it is today. This helps keep you up to date on how on-track you are to getting a 3-Star rating.

Now, once we begin...

You'll notice that a "HALF WAY THERE!" appeared over Mahavir. At the start of each day, notifications for the progress towards an Employee's goals will appear over their heads, assuming you've at least reached the first milestone in their progress. Helps nudge you towards Goals you've gotten started on. Anyway, we all know Denise is gonna see what Mahavir's favor he wants is, so let's try to make the most of it.

Sure, what's up?

I don't think I'm going to be able to make it through the day without a donut... can you go pick us up some? Pleeeeeease?

I counted the number of Es, by the way. That's exactly as it's typed in-game.

As you can see from the post-its above, Mahavir still has a couple goals he wants some help with.

More gentle reminders about what Goals are left unfinished, and helps fill some possible dead air in the day.

He wants to nap some more, and eat a donut. You have as many days as you need to finish the episode, so there's no rush! However, if you can finish every single goal fast enough, you could earn a bonus for your performance...

You know what that means.

SUPER SPEEDRUN TIME

~~Never mind the fact that it's impossible to do the tutorial level faster than the 2 Days mentioned due to eventing~~

We get most of our snacks and office supplies from OfficeTown, across the street. Take some petty cash and check it out!

Denise can use the office budget to buy various items that can boost productivity and lower stress, among other things.

And thus, once we click that button...

Welcome to the office's number one source of boosted productivity, powerups! It may not be much right now, but things we'll see here later on will be invaluable to ~~breaking the game over our fucking knees~~ keeping everyone working well and at manageable stress levels. When we mouse over the Donut...

We get a rundown of its effects. I'll do a full writeup of OfficeTown once we unlock all the items, which will be... a while, but don't worry, I'll still tell you exactly what each item does when it gets its "Unlocked" blurb. The Donut will have to wait until next time for that since it's just here for tutorial purposes, but rest assured it lowers an Employee's stress significantly for its price at this point in the game. Not the most efficient, but still useful.

For our purposes, we buy three of them. It'll make sense shortly after we return.

We click on the Donut, click on the empty front-facing portion of Mahavir's desk (again, the valid space to click increases after this), and...

...we complete a Goal, simple as that. Simplicity will cease after a while, so appreciate it while you've got it.

Whenever an employee finishes a goal, the entire office gets a morale boost, which reduces everyone's stress. Right now, there's not much effect since Denise and Mahavir are pretty relaxed... but it'll come in handy later!

The above couldn't be more true. You feel less tense in real life whenever you get a Morale Boost at the right time, honestly. Sometimes I try to save Goals to be completed explicitly for the Morale Boost they'll give.

I don't mouse over it in the video, but that goal predictably reads "Eat another couple donuts. (2 Donuts)" This is why we wanted those extra Donuts. Saves time for myself. Anyways, each Optional Goal is tied to the completion of a specific Required Goal. Not all Required Goals unlock Optional Goals, but I'll make a note at the end of each gameplay update about the Goal list and what unlocks which Goals. ...it should be pretty clear what this one was unlocked from, right?

You don't have to finish optional goals to complete an episode. But if you get every goal in the episode done, you'll earn a bonus star!

1-Star ratings are for doing the bare minimum, the Required Goals. 2-Star ratings are for doing everything. 3-Star ratings are for getting good and managing the office efficiently. Needless to say, a lot of the enjoyment in regards to gameplay comes from improving your efficiency and going for 3-Star ratings, but for people who just wanna do the story, 1-Star ratings exist, and for people who wanna complete all the goals but aren't into time limits, 2-Star ratings exist. It's rather inclusive in that regard.

Thanks, cute stuff! That really hit the spot. Although now that I think about it... I guess I could squeeze in a couple more if I really tried!

That does sound kinda silly, but... how big are these Donuts, anyways? They cost $3, more than any individual regular, chocolate-frosted donut with sprinkles I've seen. They must be pretty big.

...I'll take a baker's dozen for, uh, research purposes.

My only other important goal for the day is to finish my beauty rest... But heck, you're the new office manager, you can decide when it's time for a break!

And with that, we're given free reign to play and complete these Goals. This is where the video picks up the pace a bit. Other notable bits include:

This Task looks a bit different from the others, doesn't it? There's 3 little wi-fi bars on it instead of 2, making it a 3-Bar Task. You might gather from this that it'll take about 1.5x as long, but... well, it's close to that, but that's a topic for another time. It's longer, that much is certain, and it gives us $2 of petty cash upon completion compared to the usual $1 for 2-Bar Tasks, which is far and away more efficient for building up funds for ~~bitter liquid that can make us taste sound~~ supplies!

Several things worth noting here. Firstly, you get a little notification of your progress on goals where you give Employees a certain number of items, as seen above Mahavir's head. Second, and more importantly, giving them items interrupts their work. When they get an item, they'll put their current Task back on their desk. However, they'll put it on the bottom of their pile of Tasks, making it so that they'll do other Tasks first.

You can get overdue Tasks to be worked on more quickly like this, and you can even take a Task an Employee was working on to give it to another Employee for them to finish it, counting it toward their own Goals. This is the only way you'll ever see 1-Bar Tasks or 0-Bar Tasks. Of course, the Tasks retain the amount of work they've had done on them; I'll get into specifics another day, but rest assured that they aren't just waiting a certain amount of time to suddenly trigger an event saying "Remove 1 Bar from the Task." Work on Tasks is additive; the Bars are simply there as a general indicator.

Anyways, we have Mahavir polish off a few more Tasks that come in, give him another Donut in the process to complete that goal, then have him take a nap to finish things off.

Great, I've finished all of my most important goals! Ahh, nothing beats the satisfaction at a job well done.

Welp, head office better hope these Tasks weren't too important, because no one's gonna finish those like this.~~Don't worry, they disappear harmlessly, no penalties or anything.~~

Besides, all that matters to us is the satisfaction of the game telling us we did a good

So as you can see here, the game will track how much petty cash we have at the end of an Episode for a high score. I don't care too much about petty cash scores as much as I care about the number of days they're paired with, and believe me, I'll be doing everything in my power to keep the recorded runs as quick as possible.

Next time in the office... we'll get introduced to someone new, and bear witness to the last factor that turns the management loop into a perfect storm that needs to be handled carefully. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Task Types

Financial Tasks: 50%
Technical Tasks: 50%

Task Bursts

1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 10 Seconds: 100%

Task Sizes

2-Bar Tasks: 100%

Required Goals

"Finish napping on the couch. (10 Seconds)"
"Eat a donut. (1 Donut)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1

Optional Goals

"Eat another couple donuts. (2 Donuts)"

Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created

You getting this? It better be working by now.

Yeah, yeah, we all know how you feel about the past week, scrambling to get this set up, don't we?

Try to avoid personal jabs, nicknames, and I shouldn't have to say this one, but our names in general. I've gone to a lot of trouble to get this integrated as an anonymous chatroom. Even had to call in a few favors, for once. I'd rather not ruin it with you carelessly joking at my expense.

Fiiiiine. I need this thing to stay the way it is, anyway. If anyone up top finds this and has evidence of who's talking, we're done.

Good. Now, how do you want the surveillance to proceed? I don't see much reason to keep heavy watch on her.

She's new. That's exactly the reason. Someone outside the politics of the company might be the only way I can eventually get things set straight. I'm sure as hell not gonna get anything done by trying to impress the board, especially not with their cronies breathing down my neck at every move.

Okay then. I'll keep you tapped into the footage as long as you need. With any luck, no one else at the company will even know how to tell someone's watching besides security, if they even think that's possible. Doubt it, honestly, considering how often tech support has to go upstairs for the most basic, time-wasting garbage.

So we're safe. Good. Still, remain cautious, but that's good. I'll keep you posted whenever I notice something worth mentioning.

Whatever you're planning, I hope you know what you're doing.

I always have, since day one. Worry about yourself more, with all the poking around you needed to pull this off.

Heh, fine. Talk to you later.

Chatroom Closed

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:42 pm**

Well... Office simulator, and we already have the Office Romeo. On our first day. Because of course he's the office layabout too... Welp, let's see where this ride goes!

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:47 pm**

I was really enjoying this LP over at SA, I'm happy you're continuing it here.

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:54 pm**

Oooh, I like the new second story stuff!

Posted: **Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:10 pm**

I’m here because management sim solidarity. Kick the game’s butt, Finale!

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:29 am**

Boy, good thing you're still going to do this LP. Pity you had to move over to here, but I won't press further on the reason why.

Also, that chatroom conversation between two people... I have a funny feeling I know who those two may be. Let's see if I'm right later down the road!

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:49 am**

Hello, glad to see this LP continuing on the beach. I have a feeling I know who at least the blue disk is, but that can wait till later.

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:58 am**

What if one of them's Mahavir?

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 6:15 pm**

Bringing donuts/bagels for the employees is an important aspect of the white-collar workplace experience. I appreciate that the game understands this.

Now, granted, I've never had a manager actually walk the donuts to my desk, but Denise seems like she's a cut above the average.

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 6:26 pm**

Episode 2: Story Update

Video:

I think we're in need of a fresh face to spice up the gameplay after the tutorial, don't you?

The game sure seems to think so. Also, the 3-Star Rating asks for 2 Days. Remember that for later.

I'd sure hope we can handle it, it's only Episode 2.

Anyways, we begin with Denise contemplating the situation at a piece of office scenery that was sorely missing: the Water Cooler.

It's all kinda strange though. Mahavir has this whole place to himself? He seems nice, even if he is a bit...

A bit suave? A bit sophisticated... with just a hint of mystery and danger?

Boo

While I might not use any of those words to describe Mahavir's ~~flirting~~ ~~florid prose~~ ability to make an attempt one could construe as an advance, now that we can see the office, we know that someone else is joining us soon. Interesting.

Good morning, sunshine! Do you always talk to yourself when you're alone?

Well... only when I'm trying to figure something out, really.

I see we have an ally in the mystery of the office's desk situation.

Hmm, I thought I should tell you... Timothy's back in the office today.

Timothy?

Ah, maybe not. She seems to not have noticed the new desk that's appeared overnight, complete with a nameplate and profile picture.

He's the office's accountant. Real whiz with numbers, so you can give him any financial tasks that come in, instead of making me do them!

"Financial tasks" is green, by the way. I cannot make it green, so bold is what you get for all these colorful terms unless you're watching the video.

Anyways, seems like company/client finances are part of the regular work schedule, colored green for one of the most common colors for cash in media. ...unless that's just a thing in US media. Probably, since I can't really think of other places where the money is green.

But he's a little, well...

Cue entrance!

Hi Timmy! Most everyone's still gone for the holidays, remember?

This image tastes of concentrated essence of "Done With This Shit"

Please don't call me Timmy... I asked you not to call me Timmy. Who's this girl... ? Where's Pearl? Where's Pearl?

...Pearl?

Pearl?

Pearl didn't get the job, oddly enough... this is our new office manager, Denise!

...I'm sure that won't become a problem later.

What? This is very worrying!

Skittish and anxious, or ? You decide.

Do you know what you're doing, miss? As well as Pearl? Can you handle it?

Dude, it's ~~Episode 2~~ the start of the year after holidays and the work coming in was like the pace of soap being dispensed when the pump's almost empty. We'll be fine.

Well... yes, I can! I just take the tasks and I...

Oh... oh! The tasks! You'll have to be quick about that... there's so much work we need to get done.

Okay, I know I said we'll be okay, but I'm starting to wonder whether Timothy is included in "we" in that statement...

See what I mean?

Yeah, he's a little...

Stressed? Fragile? In desperate need of therapy and work-life balance?

Skittish? Anxious? A total basketcase?

Or we could go with that, yes. I'd say he needs a vacation, but he just came back from one, so...

Oh dear... I'm worried about him!

Denise is good and pure and that's my entire comment

Oh, don't be. He loves being at work. If he gets too stressed out, just get him to take a break at the water cooler!

BEGIN THE LESSONS!

Mahavir, for instance, relaxes best when he's lying on his couch! Every employee has at least one favorite spot...

As stated above, the Water Cooler can help any Employee calm down. It's not as effective as a dedicated spot for them, but it's faster than just waiting for them to calm down naturally. This isn't quite relevant yet, but you can send two Employees to the Water Cooler at once!

When two Employees are at the Water Cooler, they'll begin talking to each other. This doesn't speed up their stress relief normally, but there are often Goals involving having two Employees talk with each other, and their Stress modifiers are often different in these cases.

Timothy's favorite spot isn't here yet, but thankfully, we won't be needing it in any capacity for what the Episode will throw at us.

I'm gonna rest for a bit, OK? I was out late last night and I need some more, you know...

Some more coffee?

Denise. Honey. We all know that's not what the man who greeted us by groggily waking up from a nap is gonna say.

Some more beauty sleep!

And with that aneurysm, we're introduced to the fifth and final ingredient in the perfect storm that is trying to keep this whole office from burning to the ground: Stress from the activities of other Employees.

Watch out... Some employees get more stressed out if other employees do something they don't like!

So to recap, the plates we'll be spinning simultaneously are:

Accomplishing Goals to beat the Episode
Completing Tasks that come in to prevent a total reset
Reducing the Stress levels of Employees who work on the Tasks
Dealing with the Stress gained by other Employees when their coworkers do things that make them want to

These plates will get harder and harder to spin as time goes on, and the videos will get more and more hectic as a result.

Ah right, this is important to mention, too:

Some employees excel at certain kinds of tasks, while others aren't as good at them.

So the blue Tasks are essentially things for the I.T. department? ...we're lucky that quality of finished work isn't a mechanic, honestly, imagine somehow creating one of those I.T. horror stories from doing work that bad.

Mahavir's just OK at everything, it looks like... but Timothy's good at financial stuff!

Employees finish work they're good at faster and get less stressed out as a result!

To be clear: this is a vast simplification of what's really going on, but it works. It works so well. You, as the player, quite literally don't need to have any more than this told to you to handle Tasks properly. Optimally? No, but properly? Absolutely. It's a wonderful case of only showing the player what they need to know while having all the finer details in the background to guide the experience, in addition to those details being quite noticeable if you take the time to observe things carefully.

...it also helps to have files from what I assume is a slightly older but accurate build left behind in the game's directory, but that's just for concrete numbers. You can still gather the vast majority of this stuff on your own with practice to better improve your management!

And as we've previously mentioned, I don't care much for the amount of cash you get as a score, just the number of Days. We'll be singlehandedly making OfficeTown turn a profit, I assure you.

Next time... we show off a couple of staple items, as well as some basic Goal completion and Stress management with the training wheels taken off. See you then.

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:26 pm**

Ah, Big Fish Games. What a throwback. I used to play stuff like Virtual Villagers, the OG Diner Dash, and hundreds of those mystery hidden object games all the time. Never heard of this one, though it seems like it would have been up my alley as a kid.

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:49 pm**

I wish you luck in dealing with all the spinning pla... oh shit fuck there's another plate and oops. Welp.

Posted: **Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:58 am**

yamiaainferno wrote: ↑
Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:26 pm
Ah, Big Fish Games. What a throwback. I used to play stuff like Virtual Villagers, the OG Diner Dash, and hundreds of those mystery hidden object games all the time. Never heard of this one, though it seems like it would have been up my alley as a kid.

Oooh, I remember playing a lot of the Virtual Villagers games. Never finished any of them. Tried going back to them and, uh. Let's just say they serve as a teaching tool in design for me nowadays rather than a relaxing pasttime (they're not terrible, but getting over the speed bump that is the lategame Tech Point requirements is an exercise in boredom since there's nothing to do but scan the island for collectibles to speed it up slightly). I think Diner Dash holds up extremely well, though, especially in the sequels where they realized better things to do with the Customer Type variety.

I remember a lot of those mystery hidden object games, but I think the only one I played through was Autumn and the Jade Coin.

Posted: **Wed Jul 01, 2020 2:06 pm**

LPFinale wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:58 am
Oooh, I remember playing a lot of the Virtual Villagers games. Never finished any of them. Tried going back to them and, uh. Let's just say they serve as a teaching tool in design for me nowadays rather than a relaxing pasttime (they're not terrible, but getting over the speed bump that is the lategame Tech Point requirements is an exercise in boredom since there's nothing to do but scan the island for collectibles to speed it up slightly). I think Diner Dash holds up extremely well, though, especially in the sequels where they realized better things to do with the Customer Type variety.

I remember a lot of those mystery hidden object games, but I think the only one I played through was Autumn and the Jade Coin.

Yeah, they don't hold up terribly well. I actually bought VV4 directly from the publisher a few months ago in a fit of nostalgia (definitely overpaid, but oh well). VV3 was the one I played the most as a kid, but I figured I'd give them the benefit of trying the most recent one...then VV5 sounded like it had some mega racist undertones, so I went with 4 instead. You can actually get mobile versions of them for 99 cents each, but they're very poorly ported.

I really liked the BigFish Diner Dash games! I think we had the first three or four? My nostalgia for Virtual Villagers was actually spurred by initial nostalgia for Diner Dash style time management games-- unfortunately, the DD mobile app is a horrific moneysuck that's pretty much impossible to progress through without paying out the nose. (If you also have that itch, try Heart's Hospital: Doctor's Oath, which has pretty fun gameplay but a mediocre, soap opera-like story [not helped by the fact that it's like the fourth game in the series but the older games aren't nearly as polished, and you can figure out what's going on easily enough]. The developer seems to have a lot of that type of game, though Doctor's Oath seems to be the first of theirs that was intended to go to mobile and is therefore not a mess on it.)

My mom actually still plays those hidden object mystery games. She plays them while drinking her morning coffee almost every day. We used to play them together, though that had middling success. Most of them are horrible garbage, but the Mystery Case Files series had the highest production value and was also our introduction to Big Fish.

Posted: **Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:26 pm**

Episode 2: Gameplay Update, "Can You Handle It?"

Video:

In general, I recommend watching the gameplay videos of each Episode at some point to get an idea of what things look like in action beyond the gifs I post. They'll probably make the most sense after reading the screenshot section, to give action-based context to all the things happening ~~and also just to look impressive later on when things get nutty~~.

With the story taken care of, let's move on to the gameplay, shall we?

These are still relatively simple Goals, to get us used to having two Employees affecting each other. The Optional Goals for this Episode will mainly be to offer us an opportunity to put new mechanics into practice.

Now, I should mention, now that we've gotten a new Employee outside of the tutorial, the game is going to give us a brief rundown on their abilities:

This was skipped over for Mahavir and Denise, but their bios do exist; you can view them at any time if you click them and then click "Employee Info," which is right next to where "Goal Info" is positioned. I'll post them when we get around to Season 2's writeups.

As for Timothy himself, this bio gives us his general work proficiencies, his favorite relaxation spot ("RELAXES BY"), things that will often be part of his Goals besides his favorite spot ("LIKES"), and things that will tend to raise his Stress level ("DISLIKES").

If this didn't make it clear, Timothy is going to have an issue with most anyone doing things other than working, likely from all the mounting stress here at the office. He's the sort of Employee that will be a staple from here on out, the one Employee who acts as a Stress sink for just about anything happening in the office. On the flipside, each individual thing bothering him will usually be low-impact. Managing his Stress level will be one of our main priorities once we get more Employees than just him and Mahavir in the office.

Also, I promised you item explanations once their Unlock blurbs came up, so... BEGIN!

Ah, the Donut. A classic, and one that I wish I had IRL right about now. Just look at its delectable frosting!

Mechanically, the Donut is our basic Stress reduction item that will be a staple for a long time. To keep it brief, Employee Stress Meters track from 0 to 100. When at 0, it's not on screen, and there's a bit of buffer in the first and last 5-ish units of Stress where the meter remains static at its position of either Empty or Full. The Donut, for a measly $3 of petty cash, lowers an Employee's Stress by 40! Keep in mind Denise has to deliver it to their desk from all the way over in the item cubbies, though, so her movement speed needs to be taken into account when reacting to high Stress.

Where the Donut is a good way to relieve Stress, Coffee is a wonderful way to prevent Stress from becoming an issue in the first place. For, again, a measly $3 in petty cash, this thing will make someone work way faster. This is one of the few items I couldn't get concrete numbers on, but from observing its effects, I'd estimate that it roughly doubles an Employee's Work Rates for 15 seconds, or about 13 effective seconds since a few are used holding the item up in celebration.

We'll be buying a not-insignificant number of these from OfficeTown when they'll help, believe me.

Side note: There's now a clock in the top right corner. This acts as our timer for each Day. It'll be consistent within an Episode, but I'm unsure whether it changes throughout the Season. It probably does, considering one of the later Goals this Season, so let's track that in the Goals section at the end of the Episode, shall we? Gives some context to the Goals that require time to be spent doing something.

Timothy's not looking so good while working. This sort of expression occurs during gameplay when an Employee's Stress modifier reaches +5, or about 5 Stress gained per second. When they aren't working, Employee's Stress modifiers rest at -1, calming down slowly over time if nothing's bothering them. When they start working on a Task, they lose this bonus, essentially causing Tasks to add 1 more Stress to the modifier than they're listed as in the code.

You might think Mahavir's the reason Timothy has reached +5 while working. Unfortunately for Timothy's mental state, he isn't, but he is making the situation worse by about +1 to Timothy's Stress modifier while napping.

Without getting into the hyper-specifics that'll be saved for writeups in Season 2 and beyond, every kind of work causes Timothy to reach or breach the +5 breaking point for these expressions. He'll look like this when working no matter what we do, even on his specialized Task type. Work has worn him down into a very fragile state.

Anyways, I send Timothy to take a break after the initial wave of Tasks. I contemplate calling Mahavir back from his nap to give Timothy more time to relax more effectively (the Water Cooler further reduces the Stress Modifier of any Employee at it by 1; and yes, Timothy gets +1 to his own modifier when anyone is at it, stacking with multiple Employees, unless he's talking with the other person at the Water Cooler, in which case, them being there won't bother him).

I ultimately decide against it since we can finish off another Task that came in to complete both Goals as fast as possible, calming Timothy down with the Morale Boosts, but there's something else I didn't realize when doing this...

Notice how Timothy stopped gaining Stress when that tutorial warning about his Stress level popped up? For those of you watching the video, you'll notice that the Clock has stopped completely, yet Timothy is still allowed to work on the Task he has in his computer. I imagine this was left in as a mercy to players still learning, but you'd better believe I'm glad to exploit it unnecessarily.

Even better, it might look like the Goals didn't gain ticks for the Tasks performed during this freeze in the video, but...

The game catches up with us once it's done freezing time, meeting the Goal in an instant while shaving off a few seconds.

Since I have the power of ~~notes taken beforehand~~ infinite foresight, I've already sent Timothy to the Water Cooler before these Goals finished popping up. Also, Mahavir's Goal is "Upstage Timothy by doing at least six tasks."

Good to know there's one way to get him to work besides Denise's decisions as the office manager. Anyways, we'll want something special to help with that Goal, so we head to OfficeTown.

...but first, we did just complete all the Required Goals. We could end it off right here, and the game would let us continue on to the next Episode, no questions asked. However, we all know I'm sticking around for that 3-Star Rating. It's pretty clearly an unspoken rule that I'm gonna get all of these 3-Star Ratings.

As you might've guessed, we're here for a Coffee. I'm so excited at the prospect of shoving liquid time down Mahavir's throat that I'm already clicking on it in the screenshot.

However, giving it to him immediately would just be... so wasteful of a few precious seconds, ya know? So instead...

We put it on Timothy's desk, since he's not here to drink it. With that in place, I wait for some work to come in, and...

...get Mahavir his Coffee while the boost will still be useful to complete these Tasks faster. This would've been even more effective in terms of reducing his Stress if I'd sent him to his couch before putting the Tasks on his desk, but it's fine.

For those of you who'd like a comparison, remember when Mahavir first did a Task for us?

Well, get ready to truly watch in amazement. And before you ask, yes, Mahavir's base Work Rate is the same for all types of Tasks, so this next one being Technical doesn't matter.

See what a little caffeine can do for us? And with that, we also complete Mahavir's Optional Goal for the Episode!

Ah, right, this message appears when we're in the last sixth of the day, as you can see off in the top right corner. Fair warning to finish up any Tasks you want done or Goals you need to complete before time's up.

Timothy wraps up his time at the Water Cooler. Sadly, Employees' little celebration animations gets cut off by walking, whether they're ordered to go somewhere in the middle of it or they're already walking.

Remember the time goal for this Episode? Remember how it was 2 Days?

Don't get used to shattering the 3-Star Rating this hard, but savor it in the levels where it's possible. There's few other feelings like shaving off another day in a level's 3-Star Rating.

Next time, we get acquainted with yet another member of the office. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 90 Seconds

Task Types

Financial Tasks: 50%
Technical Tasks: 50%

Task Bursts

1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 8 Seconds: 100%

Task Sizes

2-Bar Tasks: 100%

Required Goals

"Get at least five tasks done. (5 Tasks)" Unlocks Optional Goal #2
"Take a nap on the couch. (30 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1

Optional Goals

"Upstage Timothy by doing at least six tasks. (6 Tasks)"
"Relax at the water cooler for a while. (45 Seconds)"

Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created

Figures he'd be the first one back.

I'm surprised he took the holiday vacation at all if he's that into his work.

Eh, it's not his only passion, when you get to know him. He mostly just makes me wonder how the new girl's gonna handle her position here.

It's what I'll be keeping an eye on, for sure. She'll need to be good at this job if she's gonna be the one to help resolve this.

Well, she'd have to have some experience in this already if she's made it here, right? No way she got through the interview for this kind of position fresh out of college. It's too competitive for that.

I dunno, when's the last time you went down there? Bet you 12 bucks they passed someone up for her for god-knows-what reason.

I'll take that bet. As much as the upper echelons are screwed, there's no way it trickles down that far yet.

Deal. Better not be any backing out of this one, there's a lovely coffee blend at OfficeTown with my name on it once I win.

Never. Besides, if we start arguing about it, that just makes it more obvious for anyone who somehow found this.

Then I'll see you next time something comes up. Talk to you later~

Chatroom Closed

Posted: **Wed Jul 01, 2020 9:23 pm**

yamiaainferno wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 01, 2020 2:06 pm
My mom actually still plays those hidden object mystery games. She plays them while drinking her morning coffee almost every day. We used to play them together, though that had middling success. Most of them are horrible garbage, but the Mystery Case Files series had the highest production value and was also our introduction to Big Fish.

Oh man, now I'm getting flashbacks to some of the classics; Drawn: the Painted Tower... The NightShift Code... Hidden Expedition: Amazon (best music btw)...

Posted: **Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:54 am**

yamiaainferno wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 01, 2020 2:06 pm

Yeah, they don't hold up terribly well. I actually bought VV4 directly from the publisher a few months ago in a fit of nostalgia (definitely overpaid, but oh well). VV3 was the one I played the most as a kid, but I figured I'd give them the benefit of trying the most recent one...then VV5 sounded like it had some mega racist undertones, so I went with 4 instead. You can actually get mobile versions of them for 99 cents each, but they're very poorly ported.

Yeah, uh. VV5, "New Believers," is an experience. On the one hand, it's got the best and most interesting gameplay, hands-down. On the other hand, there are many, many, many points where someone needed to back up and ask themselves, "Does the concept/system I'm making have rather oof implications? Is there a way I could tweak it if so?"

Having villagers you can't control that act as obstacles for your villagers sometimes? Cool! Having them be termed "Heathens," be signified by wearing tribal masks, and make weird screechy gargly grunting goblin sounds, and "Convert" them via preaching or using the Lightning or Earthquake god powers, and generally characterize them as bumbling, bass-ackwards people who do actively regressive things like eating unripe crops before they grow and smashing stuff in the Tech Lab? Not cool! Intensely not cool! Like holy shit! I'm surprised I was unfazed by this when I played it years ago!

A lot of this stems from the player being the god of Isola, and having mechanics revolving around the islanders' faith in you. That just lends itself to way too many oof implications when trying to create opposition. Like, so much of the stuff they did was good game design, or at least improvements from the old games, but it crosses the line at so many points you wonder if anyone even noticed what they had made. They tried to attribute the Heathens' actions to a sense of hopelessness and lost faith in a story cutscene told by the Master Farmer Heathen, but... it, uh, does not cover for much. At all. Big ol' "YoU tRieD" star for that one.

Posted: **Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:53 pm**

LPFinale wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:26 pm
Deal. Better not be any backing out of this one, there's a lovely coffee blend at OfficeTown with my name on it once I win.

Aha! Now I'm 100% certain I know who blue and pink are.

I'm looking forward to hearing more conversations between the two.

Posted: **Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:05 pm**

Episode 3: Story Update

Video:

New Episode, new face, since there's still not much the game can throw at us with only two Employees.

And what a welcome face it is to see with what the game's ready to start throwing our way.

Our 3-Star Rating still lets us have 2 Days at most, but we'll see if we can shave that down.

Oooh, new Task type! And you can probably see why Timothy in particular is panicking, given the indicators on his desk. You know, besides the severe stress and anxiety.

How should I know? I'm not an artist either!

Hey guys... what's going on?

What's going on? What's going on? We're DOOMED, that's what's going on!

I, uh... I think we can say for certain that having just these two in the office would've been bad. Good thing people are returning from their holiday vacations.

Doomed?!

A new presence has arrived, and as is traditional, her desk was assembled beforehand by unknown benefactors.

See this orange task on Timmy's desk?

I think we just had a talk yesterday about calling him that being a bad idea, but he seems to not be in any state to hear you right now, so...

Ah, this type is pretty self-explanatory, at least. Lots of big companies like this need design work done, whether it's for their clients or for big meetings with graphs. I do wonder what kind of place this ultimately is, considering the type of work they send down even to small branch offices like this one, and in such quantities, too.

The central office is sending over a whole bunch of them today...

Problem is, neither of us are any good at art. And it's really stressful to work on stuff you're no good at, believe me!

I mean, yeah. Though, I'm the one who has the game's code for Stress modifiers, and it says you don't actually treat them any different than Financial and Technical Tasks, meaning you're equally bad at them. Nice try, big guy.

Funnily enough, as far as the game's concerned, Mahavir's no better at Art Tasks than Timothy, aside from the Stress modifier, which is, uh... okay it's a real problem if you try to have Timothy do them, seriously.

Well sure, it's not hard to be better at it than YOU... But I can't spend all day drawing. I might develop a callus!

Theeeere it is. There's the reason. Do the Financial Tasks made your hand cramp from tapping the NumPad? Do the Technical Tasks siphon away your soul like a pact formed with an eldritch being?

Oh my god... oh my god... what are we going to...

Well, I'm sure there's something...

Tara!

Tara?

Tara!

Um... who's that new lady?

Oh! Hi there, I'm Denise. I'm the new office manager, and you must be... Tara?

We didn't chant the name of an extremely helpful Employee for nothing, Denise, but I appreciate your continued pure, considerate approach to things.

Oh. Uh... nice to meet you, Miss Denise.

Uh...

This is, uh. Hmm.

Psst! Tara's kinda shy, so don't worry about it.

If you say so, Mahavir. Hopefully it's just a matter of her getting used to us.

The good news is, she's an artist!

It'll all be fine... I'll do the financial tasks, and Tara can do the art tasks... It'll all be fine!

Well, I'm glad we have a place for him to relax, even if it's something as specific as...

~~checks notes~~

...pieces of sauteed beef served in a sour cream sauce, with variations including rice, noodles, mushrooms, et cetera... That he's somehow making in a microwave.

Stroganoff?

The guy's only comfort in life is beef stroganoff. Don't ask. I can't stand the smell of the stuff.

Probably because he's making it in a microwave. Hopefully it's either leftovers or microwave meals. Also, take note of this, because now Mahavir has something to get mildly annoyed at.

I have yet to meet someone at this company who doesn't like taking breaks, Mahavir, considering even Timothy likes them a lot.

Thanks, you're a peach! I'll be over here.

I don't have to show you where.

...Stroganoff?

It feels really good to see him happy after several instances of mounting stress and potential panic attacks. It really does.

This is the weirdest job I've ever had!

Oh yeah, that reminds me, what's your work experience like to get this position, Denise?

Sure, the ONLY job I've ever had... but definitely the weirdest!

So, uh... maybe we should look into this company? I feel like this might've been a mixup or something weird's going on. And I can feel a looming dread creeping down my back regarding the person who didn't get the job.

Oh right, uh... lessons? I dunno, this one's pretty easily explained and that nervous tension is still in the air.

I actually forgot Pearl gets this many details on her before she arrives. I'm curious to see what the thread is thinking about her at this point.

And I'm out of markers... I could really use some more, miss.

I certainly hope so, Denise. Things are beginning to heat up in the office.

Next time, we see what we can do with three Employees affecting each other. See you then.

Posted: **Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:40 pm**

I'm going to give Timothy the benefit of the doubt and say that he's just reheating the stroganoff in a microwave and not actually trying to cook it. Trying to run sour cream through a microwave just sounds like a disaster in the making.

Posted: **Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:14 pm**

There are frozen microwave stroganoffs as well, so it's entirely possible he's got one of those.

But it'd be better for everyone involved if it was leftovers instead.

Posted: **Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:16 pm**

It could be worse.

He could be microwaving anchovies in a metal can.

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 1:42 pm**

MITZE wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:36 am
I'm honestly impressed by the game quality so far, it's much better than I would've expected, I certainly wasn't expecting plot as a focus, much less plot approaching anything resembling quality.

For real, though. BFG was in the mid-to-late 2000s what the app store is now: full of games made quickly and cheaply that all copied each other. Every now and then you'd get a gem, though.

God, I wonder if there would be any interest in a Lost in the City LP. I'd have to replay it to see if it holds up, but I used to love that game. I would go around on chatroulette running a choose your own adventure type text rpg based off of it. Talking about Big Fish in the thread inspired me to ask my mom for her login credentials, and it and its sequel are still on the account.

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 6:13 pm**

Yep, and I remember purchasing some games to discover they basically end not long after the trial period was over, which is extremely sneaky.

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:02 pm**

Episode 3: Gameplay Update, "Shy Savior"

Video:

The start of a brand new day at the office

Now, that's a lot more Goals than we've seen so far. You might be thinking we can't get all of that and the Optional Goals done in one day.

Oh, we'll see about that.

Ah, Tara. I don't think there's a single point in this game where I'm not glad to have her around. Believe it or not, being good with Art Tasks is... kinda rare. Well, not rare, but they're a polarizing Task type. Most Employees either have above-average skill with them or can't stand them, split pretty evenly down the middle. Tara, on the other hand, handles them really well.

We're not going to meet anyone who handles these things as well as Tara. They'll come close, but they'll be a point or two of Work Rate short. And despite how the rest of her spread looks, under the surface, it's not terrible; not recommended, but she can fill in for others in a pinch.

We don't have access to her Whiteboard yet, and the Couch isn't usable for her right now, but this'll help demonstrate the effect of those Markers... oh, and considering what's in her "DISLIKES" section, you can probably guess what kind of Goals she'll often be stuck with in the future.

Most of the time, getting stressed while talking to someone is the result of a modifier set for that Episode, related to a Goal. However, Tara slowly gains Stress just from being at the Water Cooler with anyone besides Denise, and that's before Stress from Episode Goal modifiers kick in. This will be recurring in the future and always an issue to deal with.

The Deluxe Marker, aka the reason we're not pumping these people full of Coffee 24/7. It's a bank-buster at this point at $15, but it's basically a near full reset of Tara's Stress, roughly 90 Stress Reduction. That's what the code said, at least, but I'm wondering if it's actually 60, which is still a good chunk but not enough to be considered a Stress reset. I'll keep an eye on it in the future and eventually run a test.

This will also be a rather common thing: Goals that restrict the usage of our petty cash. They're super pricey, but Tara loves them and will often have Goals to get a few of them. Though, considering trying to build up $30 of petty cash when all we're being handed is 2-Bar Tasks would be miserable, it's a good thing they opted to start us off with $26 instead of the usual $6.

On another note, I don't think I've properly demonstrated just how fast Timothy and Tara can work on their respective specializations, so... time to whip out a classic yet again.

Compared to:

Like I said, Tara will be invaluable to keeping this place afloat, especially since Mahavir wasn't kidding when he said the Central Office is sending down a lot of Art Tasks today.

This probably isn't an inaccurate depiction of their office even before we arrived, minus a person or two. Anyways, I'm heading to OfficeTown to grab the Deluxe Markers.

...or rather, one of the Deluxe Markers because I entered the elevator just barely too soon. We'll hop back in once Timothy finishes that Financial Task in less than a second.

Now, to demonstrate what a Deluxe Marker can do for Tara ~~aside from keeping me away from precious Coffee~~...

Whatever the amount of Stress that lowers, it's significant.

Just inching closer to everyone's Goals being done. All of them are in progress, and all of them seem feasible to finish today, depending on what the Optional Goals are.

Considering Tara's already done with 5 Art Tasks, Mahavir really wasn't kidding about Central sending down a ton of them; Timothy's not even halfway done with the Financial Tasks.

And with Mahavir done with his nap, we can finally get the others to relax a bit. Still, I wonder what sort of devious addition that Optional Goal could be...

Well, there it is. Seems Mahavir wants... something kinda minor. Perhaps the Optional Goals aren't much to worry about, after all.

Nooooope, somehow even easier than everything else.

Commence the feeding!

Funnily enough, we've got two Goals completed at once. Two Morale Boosts is basically enough to calm down anyone in the office unless they're constantly at a heavy Stress modifier due to whatever's going on.

And if the clock didn't make it clear, it took a while to wait for our last Financial Task of the day.

Any other Goals to surprise us with...?

...nope!

And like that, it continues. I can hardly wait to get more people in here, it was almost getting hard to find stuff to really talk about at points, though it was just our introductory Episode to Tara.

Next time, we see how things go down in the office with these three getting settled in again. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 140 Seconds

Task Types

Art Tasks: 50%
Financial Tasks: 37.5%
Technical Tasks: 12.5%

Task Bursts

1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 9 Seconds: 100%

Task Sizes

2-Bar Tasks: 100%

Required Goals

"Hang out in the kitchen making beef stroganoff. (60 Seconds)"
"Complete at least five financial tasks. (5 Financial Tasks)"
"Take a nap on the couch. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
"Get two deluxe markers from OfficeTown. (2 Deluxe Markers)"
"Timothy wants Tara to do at least five art tasks. (5 Art Tasks)"

Optional Goals

"Eat two donuts in one day. (2 Donuts, One Day Rush)"

Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created

WHAT DID I SAY

Please.

FIRST GODDAMN JOB

Don't.

DAEUQOODSDVKLASJALKDJBILUWBQQ

Tech support's gonna be giving you looks for weeks if you smash that keyboard.

Pay uppppppppppppp

Fine, fine, just get to the important part. I refuse to believe you opened this just to collect.

Okaaaaay, fine, killjoy. Tara's back. More tests of what the new girl can manage. Gonna get spicy soon. That better?

I will end you

What? Not much to mention tonight, she's just barely gotten settled in from vacation. The place needs time to heat up.

Ugh, fair. She's getting close to having her usual suspects back, but who knows if any will be as punctual as those two.

Doubt it. Besides, three's a crowd, that'll be fine to test her for a while. See you next time?

Yes. Hopefully with something more insightful than today.

Chatroom Closed

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:23 pm**

Does the 'not for use on whiteboards' of the Deluxe Marker ever come up in the game?

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:02 pm**

Quackles wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:23 pm
Does the 'not for use on whiteboards' of the Deluxe Marker ever come up in the game?

Nope. I think it's just both flavor text and making sure the player knows that she doesn't need them to use the whiteboard.

I've made weirder, equally-baseless connections in games when I was younger, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to cover their bases on that front.

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:05 pm**

Most recent post points to Episode 4 gameplay, btw.

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:10 pm**

Tylana wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:05 pm
Most recent post points to Episode 4 gameplay, btw.

I wondered how long it would take for me to screw that up. Fixed.

Posted: **Fri Jul 03, 2020 10:02 pm**

I just love how Blue has had enough of Pink already.

I'm looking forward to the future conversations between those two. Oh, and learning more about the game mechanics-wise.

Posted: **Sat Jul 04, 2020 3:14 am**

Speaking of Big Fish Games I really liked: I mentioned in the old SA thread I was a big fan of the Samantha Swift hidden object games.

I also remember this pair of games I'm 75% sure had the same developer. One was an archeology time managment game where you sent people around to scan for things, and then dig up/dust/analyze them, that had a... decently interesting plot and was broken up with some simple mirror/box moving/logic placement puzzles.

The other was an art thingy about restoring an artist's retreat and you had different studios for painting/photography/sculpting/dance/singing and it had a similar visual engine?

Oh, I also remember a game similar to Virtual Villagers that looked prettier and had a zodiac focus that decided who could marry each other and you had to find 12 gems based on them?

I don't remember the names, sorry.

Also, I watched Youtube videos online to refresh myself, so I know for sure who the two people are at the ends of the updates.

Posted: **Sat Jul 04, 2020 6:35 pm**

Episode 4: Story Update

Got a rather short one here.

Video:

It was only a matter of time before these three had some unresolved stuff left over from before we arrived here.

And it was also only a matter of time before Tara was made to talk to people at the Water Cooler as part of Goals.

Oh yeah. You can tell this won't get weird at all.

Seems we're walking in on something awkward. Also, Mahavir, I believe the term you're looking for is "cinnamon roll."

Um... I don't think... um...

But you must understand, I cannot neglect my existing commitments! I have long been in pursuit of... other prey!

Okay, Mahavir, I know you love your fancy prose an' all that, but sometimes the simpler words have better connotations.

Don't you ever think about anything besides... you know... um...

I mean, it is an amazing lavender sweater. I wish I had one of those, high fluffy collar and all.

But Tara shall be mine! Soon... we will DATE.

...oh. So that's the actual endgame, huh? I bet you a half-dozen Donuts your follow-up plan is hand-holding, if that's what you're going for.

I just need a little time to chat her up at the water cooler...

This conversation is specifically prohibited in the Employee Handbook, I'm sure of it!

I wouldn't be surprised, but I would be surprised if Denise ever got a copy with how this hiring process has proceeded.

Perhaps we can interject now that one of them's forcefully ejected themselves from the topic.

Oh, so you're interested in Tara, eh?

Denise. Liebchen! My little cucumber.

Oh boy

Mahavir.

Do not be angry because my heart wanders...

Mahavir!

Huh. Making use of that position of authority, I see. We may make a fully-functioning manager out of her first job ever yet.

But you don't understand. I am here to flirt with EVERYONE.

The love of Mahavir knows no boundaries!

Hmm? So does that mean the nicknames were...?

Except, well, I can't stand the smell of that stroganoff stuff. So no.

Aww. That might've been interesting. Maybe later? Well, I'd tell you in spoiler tags, but I can't seem to get those to work here. Ah well.

Denise, you know we have to do our jobs, right? We're going to get in trouble with all this... slacking off!

Oh, I know...

And doing a shockingly good job. Seriously.

No wonder she absolutely crushes Art Tasks.

Sure, it's fine for her to take a break and relax that way, but...

Sometimes... sometimes she's not even at her desk to do those... terrifying... art tasks when they come in!

Guy's been traumatized by Powerpoint and Photoshop. It's to the point where it doesn't even matter that the Whiteboard is right next to Tara's desk, it's still nerve-wracking to see her off doing something else.

You've got to get him to do some work today! I can't take it anymore!

Well, now that you've brought it up, hopefully it'll be in our list of Goals...

I get the feeling she's rather familiar with how things have been handled in this office, huh.

...as is Mahavir.

Next time, we see if we can keep this all under control while simultaneously indulging everyone. See you then.

Posted: **Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:59 pm**

I'd tell you in spoiler tags, but I can't seem to get those to work here.

Whoops! Spoiler tags are broken for the moment. I'll remove them from the tag list until they actually work.

Posted: **Sun Jul 05, 2020 1:15 am**

I am very here for pansexual Mahavir.

Posted: **Sun Jul 05, 2020 1:22 am**

I think Tara's art was my first 'true' introduction into anime. I had watched stuff like Pokemon and the like before, but I didn't really know it came from Japan or anything.

Posted: **Sun Jul 05, 2020 6:13 pm**

Episode 4: Gameplay Update, "Oh Yes... She Will Be Mine!"

Video:

Here we go again, this time with more complex tricks to show off

Hmm, no Goal for Mahavir to do work... yet. We'll keep an eye out for it.

Now, you may remember we had 3 Days to get all this done for the 3-Star Rating. I know we've been crushing it so far by 1-Day Rushing things, but I'll tell ya right now, that Goal with the Deluxe Markers makes that outright impossible, in addition to the Optional Goals we're unable to see right now. We're gonna be getting 3-Bar Tasks in on occasion for a better cash flow than yesterday, but it'll still take more than a day to earn enough for 2 Deluxe Markers.

As for the deal with balancing Tara's Whiteboard time and dealing with Mahavir at the Water Cooler...

This is how the Episode starts. Positions at various relaxation spots are only applicable for the first Day of an Episode to be consistent with the Intro, but these Stress levels? They'll reset to this value at the start of each Day. Thankfully, Tara's Whiteboard is pretty great; each Employee's favorite place to relax can have a different Stress modifier each Episode, fine-tuned for the sake of difficulty so they can either relax in a timely manner or withstand a silly amount of things they hate in some circumstances.

Notably, Tara's Whiteboard pretty consistently lets her relax at around this rate or slightly more at any point it's available to her, and only Mahavir napping on his Couch can bother her while she's here, so she can calm down pretty fast after being stressed out.

While Tara gets rid of that initial Stress, I have Mahavir start on this Task. You might think this is a bit of a waste since Timothy's the one who needs to work on Tasks, but I have something to show off.

Remember that time Mahavir had a 0-Bar Task on his desk when we handed him a Donut in the tutorial? Well, if we send him away, either to the Water Cooler or his Couch in the middle of working on a Task...

...he's forced to leave behind the nearly-complete Task, allowing us to take it and put it on Timothy's desk for completion.

And since Task Goals only care about who completes the Task, this fully counts.

Oh and, uh, yeah, remember when I showed off how Tara gets slowly stressed by talking to people at the Water Cooler? Well, when it's a Goal in the Episode for someone to talk to her...

It stresses her out even faster. Unfortunately for Tara, this will be a recurring issue since it makes for an easy way to put pressure on the majority of the office, stressing Tara and anyone who dislikes people being at the Water Cooler in addition to pulling the conversation partner away from Tasks.

Thankfully, it's very manageable here despite having no one who falls outside those categories yet. We can afford to let that Art Task be overdue until Mahavir's Goal is halfway through, since pretty soon, we'll need to get Tara to go take a break anyway, splitting the talking Goal into two halves.

Like so.

I have Mahavir polish off that pile of Art Tasks, but leave the last one nearly finished for Timothy so he can get credit for it without gaining much Stress from the disadvantageous Task type.

And after sending Tara back from her break to finish off this Goal, we see what Employees look like when they're nearly at their breaking point; this is where those expressions get used in gameplay. I send Timothy to relax and hold off a Stress Meltdown at the Microwave after this.

Also it's kinda funny (and important for clarity) that their animations get overridden by this Danger state

Notice how relatively calm Timothy is after that Goal was finished. Morale Boosts are powerful things, and we'll be taking full advantage of them as we go.

Ah, there's that Goal. I get a feeling I know what that one says.

Back to work!

With that on our minds, we polish off Tara's Goal at the Whiteboard...

...and Timothy's Goal thanks to some Financial Tasks that came in.

I use the last second of the day to grab this Deluxe Marker to save a bit of time tomorrow; Timothy's Goal should be rather self-explanatory since it's lit up right now, and you'll be able to see what it is soon, anyway.

And thus, we have our first full Day of work in Miss Management, at which point all Tasks that aren't completed are wiped away, and Stress amounts get reset to what they're set to start as each Day in the Episode.

We get a little break to review all the Goals we know of each morning, as well as the usual stuff like our current petty cash and Day.

Handed Tara that Deluxe Marker to deal with that chunk of Stress she starts each day of this Episode with, then got to work on our current Goals.

We take advantage of the Task Tango to leave this Task done mostly by Tara on Mahavir's desk for when he gets back from napping off the Stress of working while having his desk right next to the microwave.

Ah, right, I should mention... not only can Tara do this for the Art Tasks, she can also do it for short Financial and Technical Tasks. She's actually not the worst at them despite the downward arrows for them on her desk.

Hmm... now where have I seen that sort of rate of work before...

HMMMMMM...

Anyways, another round of the File Fandango gives Mahavir super short Tasks to finish when he's thoroughly relaxed.

Basically imagine this happening for a decent chunk of the day.

Well, that plus a handy Morale Boost for when Timothy finally finishes with his stroganoff.

Grabbing the other Deluxe Marker to finish things soon. OfficeTown charges an arm and a leg for these things.

And a one, and...

...an interruption, and...

...a two! And we're all done for the day, despite the efforts to throw a wrench into our gameplans with the new Goals.

And all in 2 Days out of 3. Classy.

Next time, we might just meet someone new. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 140 Seconds

Task Types

Art Tasks: 9%
Financial Tasks: 73%
Technical Tasks: 18%

Task Bursts

1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 10-12 Seconds: 100%

Task Sizes

2-Bar Tasks: 50%
3-Bar Tasks: 50%

Required Goals

"Chat Tara up at the water cooler. (45 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
"Doodle on the whiteboard. (45 Seconds)"
"Get two deluxe markers from OfficeTown. (2 Deluxe Markers)"
"Complete ten tasks (of any kind). (10 Tasks)" Unlocks Optional Goal #2

Optional Goals

"Timothy's sick of Mahavir chatting all day and wants him to do ten tasks (of any kind). (10 Tasks)"
"Hang out in the kitchen making beef stroganoff. (90 Seconds)"

Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created

Hmm. She's taking this rather seriously.

I think the crack in my desk gets bigger every time Mahavir goes with potentially the worst possible phrasing. Relatedly, I'll be preparing an ice pack for my forehead later.

No duh, but it seems like she's really trying to listen to everyone, no matter how... questionable the motives may be. At the very least, she tries to make sure no one boils over and that there's always time for a break for whoever's on the receiving end of the stressors.

She may not have any experience with all this, but she could sure fool someone into thinking she's quite the juggler of office relations.

She seems... uniquely empathetic. Like the reason she does all of this is to make everyone happy in the end, or at least satisfied after considering the stress from other people's antics. No one gets left in the lurch.

Is that something you're looking for in her?

I'm looking for competence, and even though she's getting sidetracked with all of these things, the work is still getting done. That's what I need, and if the employees are kept calm? All the better.

Okay then. I'll see what other info I can gather for this. Could be slipped in with some upcoming upgrades in tech support's schedule.

Here's hoping. This is looking good so far. Knowing how she handles curveballs will be more important, but this is a solid foundation to start from. Talk to you later.

Chatroom Closed

Posted: **Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:23 pm**

Episode 5: Story Update

Video:

Now that we've got our first three Employees settled in, perhaps it's time for a fresh face.

Though, uh... I get the feeling Timothy's not gonna be fond of this situation either.

Let's hope we can keep him from losing his mind.

Wonder what we're walking into this time.

All right, now to get some of this confetti cleaned up...

Oooh, fixing the carpet finally?

Oh!

Or not. One more day of office party hangover carpet. Bleh.

I didn't expect anyone to be here so early.

Yes. I let myself in... to get some things done before the grunts show up.

Uh... hmm. I'm not sure what tier of out-of-our-league that makes this guy, if he's legit, but regardless, doesn't seem like a social type.

No, Denise, he's the Desk Fairy, clearly responsible for the spontaneous desk reconstructions.

Sort of.

...hmm?

Well... I'm Denise. The new office manager.

Insert awkward pause

Ohhhhhhh, he's the I.T. guy. That explains a lot.

The system?

Sigh.

Yup, definitely the I.T. guy.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...!

I'm Winston. I handle a lot of the information infrastructure and service deployment across multiple locations for C.A.I.

I'm, uh, not actually sure how high up on the totem pole this makes him, but he sounds like someone this company can't do without, at the very least.

Heheheheh.

Yes, computers. I think Mahavir calls me 'the tech wiz.' An appropriate enough nickname, I suppose.

I guess he's something of a roamer, one this office sees often.

Oh, very nice to meet you! Let me guess, you specialize in technical tasks?

I can't always be here to keep an eye on things. I'm in high demand in the other offices. But I'd rather not have other people mucking around with my networks!

I continue to be very glad Quality of Work isn't a mechanic or I'd feel guilty for what we'd probably have done to this man's infrastructure.

You... you think we're all incompetent, don't you!

Ohhhhhhh no.

Oh cripes, Timothy... now look...

Please no, Timothy

I may not have a fancy engineering degree like you, but I'm not an idiot!

Engineering? Do you mean like... software engineering? Computer engineering? 'Cause his job seems more like networking, but I'm unsure what that falls under.

I never said...

Do you know how hard I work?

Oh no, Timothy, please...

God it's like watching a train crash, all we can do through the screen is watch as everything starts falling apart even further.

I'm a competent, loyal, hard-working employee, dammit!

Inferiority complex? Forgot to take his Xanax?

Upon looking up what that is, that'd be rather helpful right about now, though clearly it hasn't been enough on its own if he's actually been taking it.

Oh, hey, Winston. Got bored of the downtown office finally?

Yeah, suuure. I know why you went over there and I can guess why you're back!

Heeeeeere we go again.

I bet you finally figured out that new girl from human resources you were flirting with is...

...well, if anyone's gonna be an authority on who's into who, it's Mahavir ~~unless it's whether someone is attracted to him specifically~~, though I wonder how much of that he pulled out of his ass.

...and this is why I prefer not to talk to anyone while I'm working.

Yeah, even Denise is getting worn down by this office. Her pure energy can only carry her so far on its own.

Timothy, I really need you to not shatter your own mental health in a negative cycle like this, so-

Well I know, but you don't need to--

I'll prove it, I'll do a whole bunch of them... Yeah! A bunch!

...he's, uh, not in any state to listen or back down, huh.

Aaaaah!

Guess not. But, uh... lesson time?

They only last one day, and they're kind of pricey, so use them wisely!

Ahh, Training Manuals. We'll get into the details of those when we see the unlock blurb for the Technical Manual. For now, know that they'll help immensely if you desperately need an average or deficient Employee to work on a specific Task type in place of someone else. Things like that won't come up too often, but when they do, these'll be a godsend.

We'll see if this helps make Timothy feel a bit better next time. See you then.

Posted: **Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:27 pm**

For those of you joining from the SA thread, tomorrow will be when we enter uncharted territory.

Coincidentally, that's when I get to touch the tip of the iceberg in regards to what the heck our stats mean because I need to explain Training Manuals.

That's gonna be a trip and a half of numbers and words.

LP Beach

However, We At C.A.I. Believe in Second Chances - Let's Play Miss Management!

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