January 2026 – removed both Fabrik and Large Glass. Added Carousel.
NOTE that this is a document in constant revision and mainly prompts to decisions and critiques I need to make in the design.
This document introduces a general plan for an immersive project temporarily titled I like Snakes. It acknowledges that the Luna project is proving too big to develop in one pass and that a more playful ‘sketch’ is needed first. Assets created in Snakes will then be reused in the larger Luna planning. This is a very different, less defined environment with inspirations from Meow Wolf – Yume Nikki – Tomb Raider – Hondo 5am – LSD – The Wonka Chocolate Factory – Dante’s Inferno etc.
Some design guidelines:
- Follow the standard structure: Park (world) – Gates – Lands (themed areas) – Attractions (interactions) – Photo Ops (places to stop and rest). The first Land is the ‘hub’, with other lands as ‘spokes’ (but there is a problem – below).
- Use Disney style “Wienies” or Mountains in each Land – goals to reach off in the distance. This requires Gates through which the Mountains will be framed and approached, with a unmarked pathway.
- Implied pathways within Lands only such that the player is not required to random search – Portals, Doorways – some hidden but generally guidance. Deeply hidden discoveries / Easter eggs for the very motivated player. Focus Photo Ops to stop and rest. Meditative in parts. Save game? Instagram-able? Finding and sharing with others.
- Each Lands’ colour gamut as part of separate identity, magic, threat etc. (Example: Meow Wolf staff have stressed the use of vibrant colour in their works as opposing ‘polite’ or ‘tasteful’ schemes – I tend to disagree but appreciate that play can be encouraged and allowed by ‘childish’ palettes). Sounds, music and style for each realm, with a general style guide for all.
- No win or lose ending to a narrative. Adventure with implied threat not punishment. Generally a low level of threat and anxiety (except perhaps in the Human Roulette Land). A sense of delving deeper into narrative driven by curiosity – the promise of scenery just around the corner. Replay.
Park, gates, lands.
Park entry: An early version of Luna began in the River Caves. I have come back to that idea for Snakes. Riding on a boat through the River Caves tempts the player to climb inward onto shore (as opposed to outside to the rest of the park). Adventure comes by refusing a command DO NOT GET OUT OF THE BOAT. The Sydney Luna Park River Caves layout allows 7 shores to explore. Not all of these might be populated at first iteration.
Problem – there is only one Gate in the first draft, as multiple gates don’t seem to offer a better experience. The Lands seem better approached one after the other as a single journey. This contradicts the traditional hub and spokes layout in favour of a linear experience.
A GATE leads to a LAND that can have multiple ATTRACTIONS with local coherence, details (zoom in).
Aquarium – a Land based on domestic decorative fish tanks and some of the stranger ornaments that can be bought for them.
APPEAL: There is oddness in being underwater amid all these familiar but imposingly sized objects. Fish swim above the player. They may be used as rides?
START GAME: At the bottom of the tank at the front with the layout made apparent. The Mountain is to the back of the tank. There may be multiple photo ops.
MOUNTAIN: A large rock formation. A Treasure Chest up the top?
NOTES: There is some design clash in that the main River Caves are also aquatic.
Fabric All things bespoke. Real world textures. (This realm is being reconsidered).
APPEAL:
START:
MOUNTAIN:
NOTES:
Twittering Machine – An airport occupied by mechanical ‘birds’ in glass cages. Draw upon the original artwork. Delve into JG Ballard’s Aircraft/Sex fetishes.
APPEAL: Fear of flight, animatronic animals, airports.
START GAME: In the hallway progressing towards a flight GATE?
MOUNTAIN: Enter an aircraft. Take off?!
NOTES: Once developed, to be moved over to both the Dark and Light sides of Luna.
Musical Hell – It’s the dopamine hit of the toy shop, taken to a toxic extreme that would please Bosch. His musical hell was at odds with mainstream Christian beliefs. All music is sinful and punished – including psalms and religious songs of praise. I recently tried AI to re-image Bosch’s Musical Hell with Toys and ended up with a completely crap-tastic unexpected image which I rather like. I’m now building a space that looks much like that.
MOUNTAIN: is that you find the Fisher Price record player which has been making music box sounds that resemble spy recordings from the radio.
Large Glass – has been scrapped! It’s now Carousel, which is a much tighter concept and has more use in the final World’s Fair game. Carousel has a sinister aspect which you will see in a variety of stories – Something Wicked This Way Comes to Logan’s Run.
APPEAL A familiar fairground ride with animals, inside a dark indoor space. Sense of threat.
START GAME View and the approach the carousel, select the animal, different outcomes ensue.
MOUNTAIN Keep it very simple – the carousel is the obvious goal in the space.
NOTES Check for useful elements of the previous large glass idea.
Tidal (renamed so as to not conflict with carousel.). Suicidal portals to other realms? Risk and Change and Progress. There will be a lot of physical simulation that will be needed in Luna and this will help to research how that can be conveyed.
APPEAL: Surprise tricks and treats.
START GAME: You are in a city. There is a tidal wave that will cover everything. You die. You eventually learn how not to die that way, by entering certain buildings where there are other physical events which kill you in other ways.
MOUNTAIN: You find the right way of dying to get back to the boat.
NOTES: Touches on the traps and dangers that have been put into Game Engine hacks such as Hondo 5am. There needs to be an area of traps and the sort of rides that lived in Steeplechase.
Why is it called I Like Snakes? This was a website I made back in 2009. Sometimes I like to make things that remain completely obscure and this was one of them. Along with the number codes that I put in albums for years.