“Restaurant World” via Facebook + A Trip Down Memory Lane

Content creatures like myself who view themselves as individuals who are better off producing original materials rather than being a hard-core consumer of such materials frequently find ourselves overwhelmed with the variety of conduits and containers available to carry forth our own contributions to the virtual community.

I’ve had quite a few real accounts for access to spaces on the address grid over the years, but not many with the illusionary proposition that such settings were that of a “social nature” and to be interpreted as such…regardless of the content.  I have typically been someone who prefers to interact more with gaming-type content being produced and Pogo.com is one of the first virtual video game arcades I joined and not for the chatting options.  Shockwave.com was the first virtual arcade I was able to find the version of Spy Hunter I used to play from time to time at a local convenience store and doses of Alice Greenfingers and Farm Frenzy via MostFun.com still help me stay sharp with all of the real life logistics I am responsible for accomplishing.

When I decided to join Facebook, I really had no idea what to expect other than ghostly images of a past experience with MySpace.com combined with other functional assumptions telling me how to work the interface so that I too, could have one of these accounts.

Conversational abilities and convenient quirks, what really drew my attention was that Facebook carries a whole list of virtual gaming options!  Go figure!    I can own a zoo, open restaurants, build roller coasters and even some time-restricted role playing games, such as Vampire Wars and Special Forces.

Therefore, I thought it appropo to once again liven up The House That Caera Built with a couple of gaming quirks I’ve already learned of:

In Restaurant World, there are three ways to clean a toilet.  Hire someone to do it, click on the toilet and wait 3 or 4 seconds, or click and drag the toilets to the inventory screen and then re-positioning them back inside of the restaurant.  Clicking on the toilet seems to be the fastest and most direct, but you also have to monitor the restaurant.  Some people do buy lots and lots of toilets, but unless you are still planning on revisiting every three or four hours (real time), it still gets messy and people still visit your establishment whether you are connected to the game or not. 

If you care about your rating, then keeping your toilets clean counts, especially since characters will still visit you just to use your rest room facilities.  These visits do not bring you any coins, but they can boost your overall rating through the additional rating opportunities relative to the number of toilets available for use.

There are even signs designating separate gender facilities that can be purchased, but shyness apparently is not a problem in the game and you don’t even need walls up for them to do their thing, but if you’re in it for the image points, then some form of privacy can influence whether or not you get a live rating, let alone what that rating ends up being.  Be careful if you purchase the tall walls because they can block your view of the icon that hangs over the facility when it needs attention.  This is definitely one of those personal preferences relative to the boundaries of the technology. 

Speaking of programming boundaries, you can turn the walls you purchase, as well as most of the other elements you purchase, but only into four different positions, so unless I’ve missed something, there is no way to click and drag the restaurant with 360 degree directional abilities, but it also doesn’t seem to impact the game except in circumstances such as with providing privacy to those using the bathroom facilities at your restaurant.

In remembering how fascinating it was when the first books on “game cheats” were published (I’m talking Snafu, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, After-Burner, Darkness Falls, Everquest, the urban legend about being able to drill holes into quarters, tie a thin string to it, and then just tug back and forth to get yourself infinite game credits…yeah…I’m “old”), it is with their pioneering spirit of authorship I thought to offer up these little tidbits I myself have noticed when it comes to the virtual game industry.

P.S.  Today’s video games are still fundamentally the same in their mathematical compositions.  With general fondness, I used to know how to play many of these games and each held benefit during my years as an administrative assistant with both macro and micro time management issues.  I also remeber how eventually existing fiction began to be translated into something for the gaming community.  How many will you remember?

After-Burner
3D Tanx
*Asteroids
Asylum
Avenger
Baby Pac-Man
Boulder Dash
*Burger Time
*Centipede
Chase the Chuck Wagon
City Connection
Cloak and Dagger
Codename MAT
Congo Bongo
*Darkness Falls
*Dig-Dug
*Donkey Kong
Dragon’s Lair
Dungeons & Dragons
Excalibur
F-15 Strike Eagle
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
*Frogger
*Galaga
Jumping Jack
Mail Order Monsters
Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man
*Millipede
Ms. Pac-Man
Mr. Do’s Castle
My Hero
Mystery House
*Pac-Man
Parachute
Penquin Land
*Pole Position
Potty Pigeon
President-Elect
Puzzle Panic
*Q*Bert
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Robot Tank
Sarge
Silent Service
Sir Lancelot
*Snack Attack
*Snafu
Solitaire (Windows)
SOS
Space Invaders
*Spy Hunter
*Spy vs. Spy
Star Trek
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Jedi Arena
Super Mario Bros.
Super Pac-Man
Swordquest
Tank Battalion
*Tempest
Tennis
The Dovetail Group
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy
Treasure Island
Tron
*Utopia
Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
Wizadry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn