Info Update

I'm working on the eleven (11) entries for the Haven Zone Atlas entry. I hope to have it up by this time next week, fingers crossed.

Progress:

One down, minus pics.

Loves and Huggles. Panda.

Site work...

The World Map page is still WIP, but it's getting there. =_= You have no idea how much work was put into just getting this map up. Whatever. I guess I need to love someone as much as ANYDEV loves us.

Any who, things to look forward to on the page: A list of Zones and areas and a link to each area via the map. Ah, you see its importance now do you? :]

Well, if you feel like checking it out now, the map actually has about eighty (80) images in it. It's not just the eleven (11) rows of the table that you can see. Hopefully, I can figure out how to get rid of those spaces within the next few days... and get the darn thing to fit inside of the box, that I already had to fuss with to get that big. If it goes any bigger, I don't think it'll look pretty. :[ I decided to extend the box. I did however find the coding for line spacing. Unless I redefine a table, this is probably the closest we're going to get. All praise Mark, he told me what I needed to know.

Next on the agenda: Beginning to detail the areas. Up first: Zone 1 - Haven

Loves and Huggles. Panda.

Which Do-Hickey Does What? Part 5.

Quest Query Quarry.

There are many, many quests to find and complete. Some are more complicated than others. Some take no time at all. Some will have you stuck for days. To begin a quest, find a floating yellow Exclamation Point and click on whomever or whatever it is floating above. While you are on the Quest, the punctuation will turn to a grey Question Mark. When you are ready to finish the Quest, the Mark will be yellow. Click on the item or person one last time to prompt the end quest discussion. There are two general types of quests:

1. Once Only. Most of the quests available can only be completed one time. It's understandable. Do you really wanna hunt down Mrs. Robinson everyday? Lucas is enough.
2. Repeatable. A handful of quests can be completed multiple times, usually in increments of 20hrs. These quests are usually low yield in the rewards area, but they don't cost much to complete either.

In addition to basic story quests, (Did I mention that you get to help build a Smithy?) there are quests that only your friends can do for you. Most simply involve your friends visiting Sasha to make sure you can open the Friend Gates and expand your house (Yes, it's an Amish leaf. Everyone helps to build the house.).

Pandering Puzzles, Puzzle Monsters and Completing Customization Items.

Nearly every area has puzzle pieces that you will need to collect. Putting all of the pieces together gives you an image of the Puzzle Monster that inhabits that area. By possessing a complete picture of the creature, you are now able to capture him/her for 15 Energy. After capture, the Puzzle monster will reside in one of your many Petting Zoos, never to see his/her home again.

More elusive than puzzle pieces are customization items. These articles of clothing and pieces of furniture are found within the craggy depths of bushes and the gooey insides of monsters. There are generally three to an area. By hovering over your Customization Items bar in the lower right corner, you can see an image of each item for that area.

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.

Which Do-Hickey Does What? Part 4.

Fish? What Fish?

Fishing will nom your time, if you let it. But, that's half the purpose of it. The other half is to find those elusive few Customizables. A Fishing Hole will usually have three locations to cast, but only two that are "ready". A ready fishing location is a light blue circle in the water with shadows of fish circling below. The act of fishing is much like real life: you cast, you wait, you find junk fish. There are four types of catches from fishing:

1. Fish. Don't need to state the obvious, really. But as they say: "It is a barbarity that clarity is such a rarity." ((Thank you, Bones.)) You can catch fish from fishing. Fish restore your Energy. The Energy restored will vary with the species of the fish caught. Species can vary by location.
2. Junk. The local Haven garbage company is environmentally irresponsible. It dumps waste into Hat Head Lake--which is featured in this location and one other. There is no current explanation as to why so much junk is readily available in the western sea... I like to blame sea monsters attacking trader ships.
3. Valuables. Also known as expensive junk, these items are stored as gold. No one knows where they go when they come up; there's probably a fishing gremlin somewhere that makes off with your Broken Swords, Tarnished Rings, Old Lockets and Spices--I told you there are downed trader ships out there!--replacing them before you even realize he was there. The value of the Expensive Junk varies.
4. Customizables. Occasionally, you can find some furniture or clothing in the water... never rusted or rotted, somehow. There are only a few, so when you find them all, stop hoping to get more. No. You can't keep that rubber tyre for your front yard or back yard or in your house. I don't care if all your neighbors do it, you can't.

Which Gates Need What?

Gates are... gates. There are two pillars side by side, often on either side of a path, that are drawn onto the edges of an area on one of the four sides. The exact pillars vary between Zones--I guess in the Developers' minds the Forest Zone and the Haven Zone are the same? There are often blockades set up at gates other than the one from which you first enter the area. The following blockades are existent:

1. Unicorn Soldier Gate. We have no idea where his base of operations is, we have no idea if he is a mass clone, teleporter, alien, dodecatuplet or what have you. He dutifully guards a post until you have proven yourself to him with your vast Experience. That's it. If you see him, know that he is protecting you from the evils beyond until you are advanced enough to combat them.
2. Locked Gate. Puzzle monsters, for an extremely odd reason, deem it necessary to build, then lock, gates. I guess they think that the area is their home or something. Silly monsters... Well, for whatever reason they exist, when you capture a Puzzle Monster, they will give up the key to the gate so that you can proceed.
3. Item Gate. These gates look like a Puzzle Monster's front door, without the big, honking padlock. Tim's got this weird idea that you'll be best buddies with him if you keep having to come back, so he installed these telepathic gates that need a special item to venture any farther.
4. Thief Gate. Thieves abound in this strange land--and I'm not just talking about the Desert Bandits! They block your path just like a Unicorn Soldier, but require payment before they budge. Kiss you precious gems good-bye!
5. Friend Gate. In the Friend Zone, only your friends--through the powerful, joint effort of friendship--can unlock your gates. As a person can only help once a day, it usually takes a while to unlock them. And Tim, helpful chap that he is, has a hidden provision to aide the anti-social: a lock-pick tool that will disappear after one use... not very economical, but oh-so helpful.
6. Riddle Gate. Usually by some great unknown power, these gates exist. They also look like the average Locked Gate. You follow clues to unlock the combination that will open the gate. You will not find the answers here. I will give you all clues and assistance I can, without doing the work for you.

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.

Which Do-Hickey Does What? Part 3.

Which Energy does What?

Energy! Yahoo! Without any Energy, you can't whack! If you can't whack, why play? You start the game with 50 Energy. There are five ways to get more Energy.

1. Wait it out. It's the basic order of things. Eventually, you will come to a point where you just have to stop and wait for your Energy to naturally refill itself. The initial replenish rate is 1 Energy per 5 minutes. Lucky that Tim is so helpful at having just what you need. There are a total of 5 items that can be purchased to change that rate to a glossy 4 Energy per 2.5 minutes.
2. Find Fruit. There are various fruits and berries nestled inside of unsuspecting bushes, and the monsters only partially digest their food to being with. Each type of fruit will give a different amount of Energy; suffice to say, any Energy is wanted Energy. The best thing about Fruit Drops is when you combine them with a Power Whack. 5 Energy x50? Yes, please! The next best thing about Fruit Drops is not having to lose extra Energy. This is the only form of Energy replenishment that can exceed maximum Energy Storage.
3. Energy Packs. In case you forgot, Bush Whacker is an application on Facebook. You knew somewhere along the way that you were going to have to sucker your friends into playing or add crazy strangers to your Friend's List. You can receive a total of 6 Energy Packs from Bush Whacker Buddies. They are stashed just above your Buddy List, on the right. The first is--obviously--a Large Energy Pack. It will replenish 100% of your Energy Storage. The other 5 slots are for Small Energy Packs that will replenish 20% of your Energy Storage each--for a total of another 100%. Awesome. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a recycle process. The Energy Pack must fully degrade after use before another Pack can fill it's slot. The wait time is 20 hours--which is, you know, pretty fast; how fast does your trash decompose?
4. Level Up. Hopefully, by the time you are at this point you will have Leveled Up. Each Level Up gives you +10 Energy Storage and a FULL RECHARGE. After a while, though... it gets harder and harder to Level Up. What would be the point of a Level Up if it were easy though?
5. Purchasing Energy. Tim. He's a helpful guy. For the right price, he'll give you just about anything. Truth be told, it's not just him. Aside from the Haven General Store, there are at least two other locations where you can purchase Energy. The problem: Any Energy purchased with in-game gold, gems, tokens or tickets isn't going to be easy to come by. It's expensive, and Tim only carries one of each in stock. you have to wait 20 hours for for him to restock. But remember, guys, it's a Facebook Application. Not only that, but near toxic levels of fun, merriment and frivolity are never ever free. There's an option for paying with real money. This currency--Bush Bucks--yields an unlimited supply of high end Energy Drinks that can keep you going for hours, all night long if you feel like it. To be honest, the game deserves it, the Developers deserve it. Why not cash in on their paycheck?
6. Fishing. The Fishing feature is first accessed in this Area. The guy over there fishing, his name is Steve. He'll try to help you fish. Don't listen to him, it's my job to teach you how to fish. ((In another post, of course.)) When you purchase your first fishing rod--from Tim, of course--, you will be able to fish up lots of items. One category being fish, which will give you energy. It takes time to collect enough to do some serious whacking, but if you have one last bit to a level up or finishing up a quest, fishing is your best bet.

Don't forget to return the favor with your Bush Whacker Buddies, they want Energy just as bad as you do. Simply click on the red potion bottle next to their avatar or take care of sending Energy Packs to all of your friends in just one go! The red potion bottle under your Large Energy Pack slot is nifty when you have 200 BW Buddies.

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.

Which Do-Hickey Does What? Part 2.

Which Ways to Whack a Target?

To whack a Target, you have one of four options. Most options require Energy. Any Energy used is returned with twice the Experience.

1. Click the Whack Target. The basic, straightforward approach. You click, the player whacks. Fun is had. This is your first and only option available in the beginning. As you collect dropped items you will find two types of potions: Blue and Orange. The blue potions, always in rounded containers, are Mana. The orange potions, always in angular containers, are Power.
2. Mana Whack--the power of lightening to destroy all objects in a single blow. There is a Mana gauge on the right side of the screen, as you gain more Mana, the blue gauge will fill--straightforward, yes? In the beginning you will only be able to hold 10 Mana at a time, you will gain a larger capacity as you level up. The Mana Whack button is in the lower left corner, the third sword from the left. To use Mana Whack, you must have enough Mana for your level. If you don't have enough Mana or there are no bushes to whack, the sword icon will be grey. The levels to the Mana Whack will not be able to whack higher level targets, so be careful. We wouldn't want to waste a valuable level 2 Mana Whack on a level 3 bush. You can increase your Mana Whack level by purchasing items from Tim. As a bonus, using Mana will give you all of the Experience of whacking the Targets with none of the Energy costs!
3. Power Whack--the power of fire to multiply a dropped item. There is a Power gauge on the left side of the screen, as you gain more Power, the orange gauge will fill--same as before, yeah. In the beginning you will onlybe able to hold 10 Power at a time; you will gain a larger capacity as you level up. The Power Whack button is in the lower left corner, the second sword from the left. To use Power Whack, you must have more than one Power ((One times Anything is always just Anything.)) If you don't have enough Power, the sword icon will be grey. When used on a target with multiple dropped items, the multiplier will be split between all items.
4. Quick Whack--the power of wind to swiftly fell all objects on screen. In order to use Quick Whack, you must first visit Tim and purchase Speedy Shoes. The Quick Whack button is in the lower left corner, the first sword from the right. Quick Whack uses the Energy you have on hand to plough through all 6 of the current whack targets. It does follow an order, however. Lower level targets are whacked first, and bushes are whacked before monsters. If you don't have enough Energy to whack the targets on screen or there are no targets to whack, the sword will be grey.

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.

Which Do-Hickey Does What? Part 1.

Which does What?

Because I'm going to try to include all basic play elements, we will use the area The Shadow of the Mountain as an example. This area is listed as the 4th area of the Forest (2nd) Zone.

Which Whack Target is That?

In this Area, you have two levels of Whack Targets: Levels 1 and 2. A Whack Target's level corresponds to the amount of Energy required to whack it. There are two types of Whack Targets per level: a bush or monster. There may be more than one monster or bush per level, however. They can vary by Zone. In the Settings tab, you can set your immobile whack targets to glow. I have this setting available in this example.

1. Level 1: Bushes are small, fluffy, green, non-flowering bushes. Monsters are large, portly, purple beetles.
2. Level 2: Bushes are tall, fluffy, green, purple-fruited trees. Monsters are large, floating bees. D: ((Please note that Level 2 descriptions are only for this Area.))

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.

Introduction

The Story as I See It:

While you are out one day enjoying the blissful scenery in The Outskirts of the rural town to which you have just moved, you trip! One of those pesky, large purple--and let's be honest, "gross and mutated" wouldn't be far off either--beetles wandered into the trail, sending you head first into a fluffy green bush. As you pick yourself up off the ground, you notice a shiny orange glint within the bush--an Agate gem! Such an odd and wondrous find! A look back to the trail reveals the unlucky, squashed beetle... what's this? It seems the beetle ate a gold coin!

It's so very lucky that you've found these things; you hadn't quite figured out how to get that Crazy Farm Lady out of your field. you might be able to pay her. An old, gray haired wizard with a patch-worked dress--sorry, robe--insists that you talk to him. There's something strange about his large purple eyes and his poofy mustache and eyebrows. You decide to listen to him ramble on about crazy things so that you have an excuse to stare intently at his odd features--are they real or fake?

The longer you sit with the old man--he might have called himself "Putt"--, the more crazy he sounds, going on and on about hoards of gold and gems, furniture and clothing tangled in branches or covered in monster slime and strange creatures that appear when you find a picture of them. He gives you a rusty old sword and says, "Go see my brother, Poot. He knows more about Bush Whacking than I do!" And now you have to, if only because this batty loon guards your town entrance and stares you down as if he'll crawl into your house late at night and make you visit his brother.

Now you are one step closer to becoming a Bush Whacker Hero, congratulations!

What is Bush Whacker?

Bush Whacker is an adventure questing and collectibles application featured on Facebook, developed by DJArts Games Inc. You journey around the world whacking bushes and monsters--and occasionally helping out the eccentric townsfolk--to fill your pocket, your closet and your home with all sorts of goodies.

How do I Play It?

When the game is loaded and when you finish getting away from the crazy old man and his brother, you'll find yourself in a wooded land of fluffy bushes. Click a bush, beetle or bee. Your avatar (male or female, not blue) will rush over to the "whack target" and well... whack it. The demise will be exaggerated... and clean. Bushes will be cut in half by your dull sword before disappearing. Bugs will spiral into nothingness. Each will leave behind or "drop: something--even if this something is "nothing." Poot will try to explain what you can do with these items as you get them, but that's now my job.

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.

Welcome!

Hello, All!

I'd like to assume that you stumbled in here from Bush Whacker itself. For any of you unlucky enough--or lucky, considering how addictive it can be--to have avoided this Facebook Application so far, you can check it out here:

http://apps.facebook.com/bushwhacker

Good Luck.

Happy Hunting.

Patience and Dead Bushes for All.