As the story creator of MM&NN, I’ve always believed that the world around the player should not merely serve as a backdrop—it should feel like part of the narrative, as alive and emotional as the characters themselves.
This week, I focused on redesigning the game’s environmental atmosphere to further blur the line between reality and dream, illusion and memory.
Painting the Sky: From Void to Dream
One of the most impactful changes was a complete replacement of the default skybox. I chose a soft, pink-toned sky, gently glowing with romantic hues—meant to suggest warmth, distance, and a kind of surreal comfort. This subtle shift changes the mood of the entire world: the maze no longer floats in a void; it now floats in a dream.
The pink sky, while beautiful, also feels slightly melancholic—mirroring the emotional tone of MM&NN, where beauty is often tinged with uncertainty.
Bringing Nature to the Edge of the Unknown
To support the narrative that MM and NN live inside a garden-like dream world, I expanded the natural environment both inside and outside the maze. While the maze itself is architectural and puzzle-like, I wanted to soften its edges and build a deeper feeling of immersion.
Newly added environmental details include:
- Soft clouds drifting near the boundaries of the world
- Scattered wildflowers breaking through cracks in the paths
- Moss-covered stones that gently frame key turning points
- A distant horizon of trees and floating earth, suggesting a world that continues beyond the player’s view
These are more than decorative—they are narrative cues. They suggest that this world has grown, not been built—that it once was alive, or still might be.
Figure 1. Modified Skybox Design
A Maze That’s Worth Wandering
The maze in MM&NN has always been about more than just finding the key. It’s about what you see, what you hear, what you feel while searching. That’s why I’ve put special attention into ensuring that both the inside and the outside of the maze offer something worth lingering for.
Whether you’re walking across floating lotus leaves, standing at the base of a blue tower, or pausing just outside a locked door, I want the player to feel like they are surrounded by a soft, surreal peace—a world that wants to be remembered.
Final Thoughts
With every environmental update, my goal is to make MM&NN feel more like a living dream—a place where exploration is not just a mechanical task, but a gentle experience of beauty, mystery, and reflection.
Players may come for the puzzles.
But I hope they stay for the dream.
