What happened to the Hypnospace Highway?
And what comes next for the world of Hypnospace?
RPS: What are your earliest memories of the Hypnospace project, and what were your inspirations?
It was a side project I was developing in periods of low motivation.
Between levels you see information about the accused, including their avatars and a summary of their misdeeds.
It being a ‘bad car game’ became a joke among in-the-know Hypnospace characters.
There would’ve been ads and unique decor for each zone.
If a user had a virtual pet, it would’ve followed behind their vehicle.
RPS: Were there any other features that had to be cut?
JT:Not really!
The Dumpster was half Suck dot com and half Something Awful dot com.
M1NX was inspired by very early 1999s-2000s Something Awful.
The two main ‘villains’ were also inspired in multiple ways by bosses I’d had.
She dictated the content of her website to me over the phone and kept me tied up for hours.
She was apparently close to eviction.
Either way I was forbidden from taking her on as a client again, but it stank.
RPS: Its been four years since Hypnospace launched.
How do you feel about the game’s lasting legacy all these years later?
JT:I’m happy about it!
People who take the time to buy into the universe a little seem to enjoy it.
People who don’t play long enough (or people who are just really bad at subtext?)
sometimes misread it but I think the vast majority of players appreciate where things end up.
Progression is pretty heavily dependent on players recalling that information.
RPS: What part of Hypnospace are you most proud of?
), the characters and their dignity and how they mesh, and the music.
I think our music is possibly our killer feature.
Where did the idea for a retro-inspired FPS spin-off come from?
Anointed: No Fear, No Limitz.
RPS: Im personally very excited for upcoming Hypnospace successorDreamsettler.
JT:It’s coming along.
The characters and the alternate-reality world events and content are all a blast to conjure up.
Once the initial nostalgia factor wears out (and it always will) that’s what keeps people around.
I’m having quite a bit of fun with the music, presently.
It has been more challenging to generate content because of the increased fidelity and resolution of everything.
Folks in 1999 had way lower standards for internet content than folks in 2004.
You could also hide a lot behind 32kbps audio.
Development for this one has worn on me more than with Hypnospace because it’s much more complex.
It’s almost like the Geocities page builder versus FrontPage or Dreamweaver.
I’m also struggling to find aesthetic inspiration from the ‘03 to ‘05 time period.
Aesthetic movements like Vectorheart, Metalheat, McBling, etc.
