Dear Patrons,
We’re through the looking glass once again… Today we’re greeted by a vision of Wonderland during “Asylum.”
During the live stream earlier today we discussed possible inspiration for Alice’s imaginings in this latest adventure. When exploring this topic we must keep in mind the nature of Wonderland and its relationship to Alice. Through the first two games we saw Wonderland as an extension or reflection of Alice’s psychological landscape. The characters she encounters represent her emotions or elements of her psyche. The obstacles she encounters are symbolic representations of the dangers she confronts in the real world.
If we stick with the Kubler-Ross grief model as a template for the stages of Alice’s adventure then the first area she visits will be modeled upon “denial.” In this stage we can expect to see Wonderland as “normal” and the characters we encounter will insist everything’s fine. That’s why in this first image we see beauty, wonder, and safety.
The topic of world structure was also touched on briefly today. I suggested we might explore a world where procedurally generated exploration zones (forests, mazes, etc) connect a fixed number of “puzzle rooms” or pre-defined set pieces. This would offer Alice a chance to explore, discover, and fight in a larger sandbox while also providing structure to the platform/puzzle and narrative elements of the game.
We’ll continue exploring landscapes through the lens of grief. Meanwhile we also need to start thinking about weapons, moves, puzzle abilities, and other game play elements.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. Are there areas of Wonderland you want to revisit? Places you think were left out of the first two games?
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Because Martin and I neglected to address Patreon questions and comments during today’s live stream we’ll make a point to focus on those things during the next stream.
It’s a major national holiday here in China so we’re off for a few days but will be back this weekend.
Cheers,
-a