LSD Area FAQ
2009 Lucas Hehir
[email protected]
___________________________
1. What
2. Why?
2.5 Who?
3. Basics
3.5 The Grid
4. Areas
5. Linking
6. Documented Days
7. Misc
8. Cred
___________________________
________________ 1 _____________________
What?
LSD is an enthralling 'game' where your only goal is to
explore a hyper-unreal everchanging wasteland while
dreaming (see: tripping balls) days away as the nameless
protaganist. It truly is an excellent game, I've only
been playing it for about an hour but I'm completely
blown away. And judging from the lack of data so far
assembled on this game, I've taken the guts to put
together what I can see from a fresh unbiased look on
the game and its areas. Here goes the cold water.
_________________ 2 _____________________
Why?
A few reasons. In one of the only reviews for it that
I read, someone mentioned that they'd been playing for
weeks and were only -just- starting to see signs of
repetition in what is ultimately a project in spontanuity.
Well, interesting as that is, I've been playing for about
an hour and I've encountered the same 7 or so 'general'
layouts of reoccuring areas so far with quite a bit of
noticable patterns. If however anyone out there who has
been playing longer has anything they want to add, feel
free to email me anytime. All information on this
brilliant software is welcome.
Because of this games nature, it would take obscene
amounts of time to document and record everything that
happens. The point of this FAQ is more just to
highlight some of the peak events and encounters that
really define the game and its aim. Eitherway, feel
free to mail me about any encounters you have that
aren't listed yet or have been particularly curious.
And happy hunting =)
_________ 2.5 ___________
Who?
I'm an avid apprentice game designer from Melbourne,
Australia. I'm currently 21 and studying Game Design at
Victoria University. I know a bit of japanese, not heaps,
but I'll put it to good use wherever I can =p
_________________ 3 _____________________
Basics
This game is, essentially, art. Its not a game. You don't
really win anything, and if needing to be assigned goals
to enjoy yourself is your bag, I can't imagine why you're
reading this FAQ. Thus, the kind of people who would be
reading and are interested in this game are likely to be
the people who like a little spice in their game
development. WWII came and went, can we move on? This
means that you, yes, interesting you, will probably want
to maximize your enjoyment from such a rare digital
concoction. If this is the case, don't read on. The fun
of this game comes from the lack of patterns, signs of
design or continuity, which is all I'm pointing out in
this FAQ. So if you're new to it and want to get the most
out of it, go and play for a while first, only come
reading after you're actually satisfied with your
exploration.
That said, here are the controls.
D-pad to move.
X to run.
Triangle to look up.
Square to look down.
R1 to glance over your right shoulder.
L1 to glance over your left shoulder.
Don't fall off cliffs, thats pretty much the only way
to 'lose' at this game as it will end your *cough* 'dream'
early.
At any time, but most commonly when coming in contact
with pretty much any object, you can be teleported to
a new/different area. This is called Linking. Not
much in the game is explicitly interactive, it all
just links you to other areas. This was the one thing
that made me frown when first playing :( all there
really is to the exploration is teleporting, looking,
and more teleporting. It'd be interesting if you could
interact with some things, though to be fair some of
the things do interact with you...
_________ 3.5 ___________
The Grid
The Grid is a grid that I suppose is meant to track
your progress. On the top, its marked 'Upper', on the
right its marked 'Dynamic', on the bottom its marked
'Downer' and on the left its marked 'Static'.
Apparently, depending on the actions performed in your
dreams, you'll get a rating telling you where your
dream fits in on the grid. So I suppose if you have
a very light-hearted dream that featured some cool
exploring and interesting links without anything
distinctly bad, it would be closer to 'Upper' and
'Dynamic'. Whereas a crap dream where you're being
chased by your own foot and fall off a cliff might
be closer to a 'Downer' or 'Static'.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think this really
should concern most players, I can imagine its just
there to give you a feeling of progression or
achievement in what is otherwise a motionless game.
Some people say it helps you reach the end but, well,
is there one, and does anyone care? There isn't much
story to be wrapping up. Never the less, its
interesting to try and influence your dreams so you
can fill up the grid.
______________ 4 _________________
Every area has its regular version and then multiple
'neon' versions. The neon versions, and the oddities
in them, become more frequent the longer the amount
of in-game days you play for. So consider that each
area has neon counterparts where different things
can happen.
Area 1 ==================
-Japanese House-
This is where the game started for me, but I've heard
otherwise. Its a classic japanese paperwall house that
will have at least one window, one fireplace, one 'WC'
(toilet), one bookshelf and one rooftop, usually in the
same place. Some of them change position. Upstairs there
is typically a corridor with many sectioned off 3-wall
rooms that contain windows, and from my encounter with a
rampaging teddy bear, I'm sure a lot of other fun stuff.
Stuff I've noticed:
- A small sculpture of a dragon sitting on the mantle
of the fireplace.
- The aforementioned Teddy bear that bounced towards
me upstairs.
- Well, I just shat myself. Remember the hallway
filled with small rooms on one side? Yeah,
well it just had a large ugly head with two
arms coming out of its ears staring right at
me, and then it flew at my face. I didn't want
to get to sleep tonight anyway.
- Shat number two. The sculpture of the dragon just
flew off the mantle into my face. Why is that
everythings goal here!? Am I smothered in
peanut butter or something?
- A person in a bed was in one of the hallway rooms.
They looked sick :(
-
Area 2 ==================
-Monument Park-
This is a common area, its a classic green park with
miniaturized versions of famous landmarks from around
the world here. Theres Big Ben, the Sphinx, London
Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, the
Head Statues of Easter Island, the Empire state
building, a windmill and plenty of park benches.
Stuff I've noticed:
- Nothing so far =(
Area 3 ==================
-Edo Japan-
This area is based on oldschool japan, with classic
housing and sights to see. Theres a giant japanese
festival drum playing itself (woooo spooky!) and
a giant sculpture of a hand. I don't know what the
fascination with sculptures is. Theres also a little
zen sand garden to one side of town.
Stuff I've noticed:
- I've started a dream off once in a spiral stair-
case, which upon closer inspection, seemed to
be part of the Edo Japan area. It goes up
several flights before you reach the top that
simply has a good view of the area and the
moon is incredibly large for some reason. A
neon variant of the area has also been
discovered which has, alongside a new neon
colour scheme, the japanese word for "Moon"
printed on the moon.
- The same head from the Japanese House that scared
the wee-wee out of me was attached to one
of the walls. It looked at me, shot a
japanese letter out of its mouth, and then
floated up and away.
- Two large... things that look like rats crossed
with centaurs were just running slowly down
the street. They didn't chase me or anything.
- Giant bull man attacking the town.
- Bull carrying one of those tuk-tuk taxis.
- A wolf/rabbit/thing running through town.
- A flying person holding a maple leaf..?
Area 4 ==================
-Dark City-
Um, how high can I put the brightness? This place is
-dark-. And I mean damn dark. You can barely make
your way around the place its so dark, and the
streetlights don't do much to help.
Stuff I've noticed:
- Theres a lady (?) whos head is quite prone to
falling off near one of the outer walls.
She just links you to somewhere.
- A car accident that you can walk through. Um.
-
Area 5 ==================
-Thai Gardens-
This is a very common and bland area. Its small
and there isn't much to look at besides a bunch
of religious Thai-looking statues. Theres a big
hole in the middle
Stuff I've noticed:
- This is where I've encountered pink elephants the
most, three in a row or hovering above the
hole flying into the sky.
- It's also home to a dragon, the same one that
sometimes sits on the fireplace mantle. I
didn't know it was coming the first time I
explored there and poo'd a little bit when
a big ****-off gargoyle fly into my screen.
Regardless, it just screams and flies
around in circles, I wish it'd chase you :(
Area 6 ==================
-I-shouldn't-have-had-that-expired-Eggnog-Area-
I dont know what to call this. Its super colourful
and I'm pretty sure its programmed to have some of
the trippier music frequently played in this area.
The floor is paved with faces that look like the one
from KidPix on old Macintoshes in the 90s. This place
is hard to distinguish whether its a neon version or
not, cause, well, it always looks like neon. Theres
plenty of bizarro statues and things to admire here.
One side of the area has LOVE written in big badly
modelled 3D letters. Interesting. Also quite
interesting if you can find it is a throne room
somewhere in the middle of the area. Its secluded
and walled off, so you'll have to find a way in,
but it has two linking chairs, one with a star
and one with a moon.
Stuff I've noticed:
- A line of 4 dancing green men. They just link
you.
- Some random in a trenchcoat slowly walks towards
you and makes you black out for a second.
When you wake up, he's gone.
- A train runs along the railway sometimes.
-
Area 7 ==================
-Asian Temple-
When I first found this area, all it had was a
throne in the middle of a very bland room with a
hall to another empty room, which had a hall to
another empty room... I gave up and linked through
a wall to a new area, but I'm sure it has interesting
stuff.
Stuff I've noticed:
- A tower of chairs leaning on top of one another.
They just creak and it looks like theres
something different on top of it but
obviously I can't reach it.
-
Area 8 ==================
-Desert and Plains-
This is probably the largest area in space, from
what I've seen. Its a very expansive land of
simply grass and sometimes deserty sand.
Stuff I've noticed:
- This was the first area of the game I linked
to, ever. As soon as I was there, three
horses ran by and galloped away.
- I also encountered a large tortoise plodding
along, but it shrunk when I walked up to
it.
- Alien spaceships flying around in the sky!
Area 9 ==================
-Corridors-
This isn't much of an area. Its just a long
hallway that stretchs on for ages. I've been
there twice and its a distinctly seperate area,
so I have to list it.
Stuff I've noticed:
- As soon as I linked there once, I turned around
and the door and walls flew away to reveal
blue sky. The 'dream' ended before I could
walk into it though D=
Area 10 ==================
-Someones Insides-
Um, shotgun not staying here long. This looks like
somewhere inside a persons body. Its the most maze-
like of all the areas and I can't even begin to
imagine mapping it out without accidentally linking.
One area of it contains a sumo arena. Oh Japan!
Stuff I've noticed:
- Wandering devil-eyed babies in the labyrinth
of skin and blood. Yummy.
Area 11 ==================
-The Front of the House-
This can technically be its own area, since I've
been linked here independantly of the normal
house area plenty. Not only that, but I've seen
a couple of random things happen here, so its
worth noting
Stuff I've noticed:
- Another head-with-arms thing, this one has a face
on either side of its head, yet somehow
manages to be less scary than that other
one I hate.
________________ 5 ____________________
Linking
Everything links. The walls, encounters, objects,
elephants, everything. And although I haven't
played enough to notice yet, there might be a
likelyhood of certain things linking you to
certain places. I know for sure that I was just
playing for about half an hour doing the same
things and only reaching about 6 areas, and then
suddenly being thrown somewhere I've never seen
before. In other words, if you feel like you're
in a loop, don't give up. The game will throw
you a curveball eventually.
________________ 6 ____________________
Coming soon!
________________ 7 ____________________
Misc/Secrets
This game is pretty much one huge bloody secret, but
here is a list of all the FMV movies I've seen.
- A negative-contrast view from what seems to be
someones handbag as they walk through some busy
japanese shops. Then a bulb is help up in front
of the camera and zaps with special effects from
1998.
- A random shot of pidgeons sitting by a window
and under a clock, fluttering about.
- Um, I'm fairly sure a picture of a sheep just
bounced across my screen. There was a timer down
the bottom too. Sheep bounced and it counted to 28
seconds before returning me to the menu. Is that even
a cutscene?
* Also, the word on the street is that LSD contains
over 500 music loops which it mish/mashs together
to create its bizarre atmosphere. I've certainly
heard a few of the sounds before, but it does the
job very well. You can count on never encountering
the exact same song twice.
* Want to explore, but the game is starting to
scare you? Its pretty understandable, its
tailored to make people feel off edge. I think its
kind of ironic that this game scares people moreso
than any of the latest greatest horror games out
there. Res Evil looks like PlaySchool compared to
this twisted japanese monstrosity. Regardless, my
old music teacher taught me an interesting technique
to overcome a media thats scaring you that you're
still interested in. Turn the sound off. And ideally,
put your own music on, even stylized to suit the
game. You'd be surprised just how many audio cues
are used alongside the 'scare' parts just to make
you wee. Without its sound, its only half as real,
and you get to explore freely. It does make you a
big nancy, though. I'm playing in the dark, alone,
at 2am with headphones up loud.
________________ 8 ____________________
Cred
Goes to me, I did everything.
