If you’re working on something unusual, it’s unusual to get much help or feedback. So you must critique your own work. I’m a harsh critic, and being forced to sit in a hospital waiting room made me even more cranky (nothing too serious just waiting on a friend’s scans).

Today I decided to kick the shit out of the “Snakes” project, which is itself a critique of my much larger project – and claims to be a manifestation of this hauntiki idea of mine. I wrote on paper with pen, because that kept a distance from the work itself.

The essential idea is OK. It just needs vague ideas to defend themselves.

Firstly the overall theming is not coherent. Yes, I did say that each realm could be different but as I start to make and walk through them it’s more like a menu than a place. You lose the feeling of journey – unacceptable for a game space. So the rule is now to try construct the entire work in a era round about the late C20th. That also makes them more ready for the bigger project.

Then there’s Hauntiki which was hatched after the game started but is now a rule book. There was already a reference to water: River Caves, Fish Tank etc. which drops out here and there for no good reason. There is a carousel, with horses. Making those into seahorses is a simple but effective way to keep the theme. There was already a shark in there!

The “Tidal” level doesn’t fit at all. True – there is a tidal wave as the main threat, but then it’s set in an entire city scape. That’s not in scale to the rest of the levels. Some of my inspirations have suggested ideas that are well beyond a physical park and – as sexy as the word “surreal” may be – it’s a cop out.

There also has to be a goal. Wandering suits some people but there’s no reason not to have the exit. The “Musical Hell” already has a finish line, let’s make it official.