The Disneyland-Inspired Design of Psychonauts 2: Dark Rides, Hidden Spirals & Magic Bottles

Exploring the influence of Walt Disney on the theme-park-like world of Psychonauts 2.

This one begins with a throwaway line from Lili that casually reveals the design philosophy of Psychonauts as a whole. To truly get it, we need to go back to the days that Tim Schafer, the writer of Psychonauts, worked for Ron Gilbert on the Monkey Island games. When creating the first Psychonauts game, Schafer clearly had Disney, and Monkey Island, in mind. 

What follows is a rundown of the key design principles behind Disneyland and Psychonauts 2. Hubs, secrets, false fronts, textures, magical transitions, and wienies are the hot topics. If that last one confuses you, just know it has something to do with Walt Disney’s dog. Or if you’d rather not hear such tales, you can skip to the last chapter ‘Recap’ for a two-minute crash-course summary.

Besides Disney, this video also touches on the level design of pioneering shooter Doom, the concept of the Potemkin village, and the swish spy headquarters of sixties spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. While the ideas of Disney have helped shape the world, these pop-culture influences have lent it much colour.

CHAPTERS 

0:00 “a theme park after hours”

1:11 Hubs

2:32 Secrets Within Secrets

4:21 Wienies

5:40 False Fronts

6:21 Murals

7:20 Textures

8:52 Seamless Transitions

11:36 Recap

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