Dismayland combines dark humour, interactive theatre and impressive scripting to create one of the most unusual and memorable OpenSim experiences I have visited.
Dismayland is like nothing you have seen in Second Life or OpenSim. To describe it simply as a funfair or leisure park would be doing its creator a serious injustice. This is something entirely different: creativity at its best, combined with a dark and mischievous twist that makes every visit an adventure.
I landed in a small area and immediately noticed two people apparently being subjected to an interrogation. Naturally, I decided to take a closer look. That turned out to be a mistake. Before I knew what was happening, my head had been chopped off — literally! I was then teleported to the main arena, where I met Spax Orion, the owner and creator of this extraordinary region.
To say that Spax likes NPCs would be a considerable understatement. Spax really does know how to bring them to life. In fact, the entire region seems to have an army of them, all interacting, talking and getting involved in amusing conversations.
What makes this even more impressive is the performance. With so many NPCs, scripts and interactive elements, you might expect the region to suffer from lag, but it performs remarkably well. There is an enormous amount happening throughout Dismayland, yet the experience remains surprisingly smooth.
I landed beside the tour car and Spax offered to accompany me on a guided tour. What followed was a wonderful experience. The scenery is impressive, the NPCs are mischievous, and the different themes and attractions demonstrate just how much skill and imagination has gone into creating the region.
Spax has been working on Dismayland for around six years, and even longer if you include his earlier work in Second Life. I asked Spax what inspired him to create such a devious, dark and slightly sinister attraction. His answer was simple: “Look, learn and be inspired.” That really does sum up Dismayland.
The tongue-in-cheek humour of the NPCs, the sinister undertones and the sheer absurdity of some of the attractions all combine to create an experience that is as entertaining as it is unusual. There is a huge amount to see. My guided tour lasted around half an hour, but that barely scratches the surface.
There is also a rather macabre story behind the park. The Ghost of Linda Kellie is said to haunt Dismayland, and the park itself was built upon her foundation. According to the wonderfully dark humour of the region, her ghost is coming to collect!
Dismayland really is a region worth exploring time and time again. It contains numerous focal points that deserve further exploration, and I suspect most visitors will want to return several times to discover everything hidden around the region.
This is actually a standalone grid in its own right. It runs on an older version of OpenSim and does not use PBR, yet you would never know it from the quality and atmosphere of the build. The creativity, lighting, scripting and sheer number of interactive elements do a remarkable job of creating a convincing and immersive environment.
Visitors describe the atmosphere as being like a very bad movie that knows it is a bad movie and has decided to get even worse on purpose. The lighting is wrong. The DIM is intentional. The NPCs have rehearsed their hostility, although some have apparently improvised beyond their programming.
Dismayland contains plenty more to discover, including chaos-powered rides, sideshow games, continuous shows, news broadcasts and attractions that seem to exist purely to confuse and entertain. I am not going to ruin your fun by describing everything in great detail, and can only strongly suggest that you come and see for yourself. The Chaos-Powered Rides each have their own particular personality.
Visiting Dismayland carries more than one warning. If you are easily offended, then stay away. The NPCs have strong opinions about you, and the rides are supposed to annoy you. Yes, things will explode. You can be insulted, and the region unashamedly uses a child gate. If you do not like that sort of experience, then Dismayland may not be for you. But if you are willing to embrace the chaos, you could be part of something very special.
Dismayland is part amusement park, part dark comedy, part interactive theatre and part enormous scripting experiment. Beneath the bizarre humour is a huge amount of creativity and technical work, particularly in the way NPCs have been integrated throughout the environment. If you enjoy unusual builds, interactive environments, NPCs, dark humour and discovering something completely different from the usual OpenSim experience, Dismayland is certainly worth a visit. Welcome to chaos, dark humour, crazy antics and obnoxious NPCs.
This is Dismayland — prepare to be amazed!
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