Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 155 Adjustment Work

The year after Stranger Things aired, the theme park built in the abandoned factory area had been operating for a full year.

In his spring operations summary report, Lin Yiming mentioned that the number of visitors received this year exceeded expectations, and the number of visitors on weekends and holidays sometimes approached the upper limit of the designed capacity.

The main source of tourists is from surrounding provinces, but some also come from more distant areas, making a special trip to experience the interactive projects in the park that are recreated based on scenes from the TV series.

The data did not attract much attention within the industry, but it was seen as a noteworthy signal by decision-makers in certain related fields—the filming location of a domestic web series could be transformed into a continuously operating cultural tourism project, maintaining a relatively stable flow of visitors and a visible return cycle, which is rare in previous cases.

Based on this, the county's Culture and Tourism Bureau launched the second phase of expansion planning, preparing to add an immersive dining area and themed accommodation units to further extend tourists' stay.

Luo Jinnian already knew the data before the operations report arrived. However, he had no intention of further developing similar projects until after "2001: A Space Odyssey" was completed. He discovered that science fiction and fantasy themed spaces shared a reusable underlying logic in their experience design; both relied on the integrity of the world-building and the realism of the scenes to support the immersive experience for visitors. That realization led him to reassess the feasibility of the theme park business.

He began reviewing publicly available information on site selection and construction processes for domestic cultural tourism projects. From a policy perspective, the construction of science fiction theme parks can receive a certain level of support, mainly based on the development direction of integrating science and technology with cultural tourism and the policy orientation of encouraging the construction of science education facilities. From the perspective of project feasibility, he needed to find a plot of land with sufficient area and reasonable location conditions, and transportation accessibility, surrounding supporting facilities, and natural conditions also needed to be taken into consideration.

Through Early Spring Culture's cooperation channels, he contacted a professional agency that conducts feasibility analyses for cultural tourism projects and commissioned them to provide a preliminary site selection assessment report.

The report, submitted at the end of May, listed basic information on several candidate sites, along with a comparative analysis of each site's location, transportation, land use conditions, and surrounding environment. After reviewing the report, Luo Jinnian marked one of the sites. That site was located in the suburbs of a provincial capital city in southern China, about a forty-minute drive from the city center, near a highway exit and a subway station under construction. The total area of ​​the site was sufficient to accommodate the construction of a medium-sized science fiction-themed experience park, and there were no large-scale cultural tourism projects nearby, resulting in relatively low competition.

He then contacted the relevant contact person in the local government department and expressed his initial intention. During the communication, the other party indicated that the local government was promoting the development of the science and technology tourism industry, was open to science fiction-themed projects, and was willing to provide support within the scope permitted by policy. After confirming that the other party was from a legitimate channel, Luo Jinnian concluded the initial communication.

In subsequent communications, he gradually clarified the positioning of the science fiction theme park—not a "movie theme park," but a "science fiction worldview experience space." The core logic is not to showcase scenes from a specific work, but to construct a science fiction worldview that visitors can enter, allowing audiences to experience scenes from science fiction works from multiple dimensions.

Those props and sets are the material carriers of the story themselves, helping visitors to build trust in the story without relying on additional explanations and elaborations.

The site selection assessment entered its second round of on-site inspections. Luo Jinnian visited the candidate site twice during that period, once after rain and once on a sunny day, recording observations including the site shape, vegetation distribution, the current state of the surrounding road network and visual corridors, and whether the surrounding environment would affect the subsequent design. He compiled these observations into the assessment report, confirming that the site met the expected standards in all aspects. If the subsequent planning and approval processes proceed smoothly, the project is expected to enter the substantive construction phase within the next few years.

Luo Jinnian recorded the project's launch milestones and timelines in his memo. From the initial completion of the feasibility study to the evaluation of supporting facilities and the establishment of design directions, all work is progressing according to plan. Scenes that were once merely in texts are gradually being transformed into complete spatial experiences, firmly placed on the real land, awaiting the footsteps of the first visitors at its entrance.

In early June, Luo Jinnian flew to the site with the assessment report. The local government arranged a site visit, and he and his colleagues from Early Spring Culture, who were in charge of the cultural tourism project, walked along the site's boundary and surrounding road system under the guidance of the planning department. The site's boundary was longer than it appeared on the drawings, with a gentle slope to the south and an irrigation canal to the north. The vegetation along the boundary was mainly native trees, some of which were quite old. During the site visit, the contact person from the planning department mentioned that the site had already reserved indicators for cultural tourism use in the previous round of urban land use planning, so there was no need to change the land use nature, and the land acquisition and confirmation procedures had been basically completed. This information provided foreseeable administrative support for the subsequent stages of the project.

Luo Jinnian walked back and forth on the plot of land more than once, confirming the correspondence between the road exit locations marked on the drawings and the actual terrain features.

Upon returning to Zhanjiang, he retrieved the operational data and visitor feedback records of the Stranger Things-themed experience park. He then focused on the sections regarding visitor flow design and preferred duration of stay to understand which types of tours were more readily accepted by visitors of different age groups.

A week later, Luo Jinnian held a formal working meeting with the local government in a conference room in the district government office building.

Sitting opposite him were five people, including the deputy district head in charge, the director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, and the head of the planning department. On Luo Jinnian's side, there were only himself and his colleague from Early Spring Culture who was in charge of the culture and tourism project.

The meeting lasted approximately two hours, with key topics including the project's industry positioning, land use scope confirmation, construction schedule, and policy support measures. The other party clearly expressed their support during the meeting, noting that the project aligns with the local cultural tourism industry development direction and that they were willing to provide necessary administrative assistance, provided it meets planning requirements.

During the meeting, Luo Jinnian confirmed the basic conditions required for the subsequent advancement of the project, including the land use boundary, the division of responsibilities for the construction of supporting infrastructure, and the expected timeline for the approval process.

After the meeting, he noted down the key conclusions of the meeting and the matters that needed to be addressed next in his memo.

In early July, Luo Jinnian commissioned a firm experienced in cultural tourism project design to begin the conceptual design of the theme park. He put forward several directional requirements:

Drawing inspiration from the Stranger Things theme park's circulation design, but given the different scale and theme of the new project, the experience zones need to be redesigned based on the characteristics of the science fiction theme. The design cycle is expected to take several months. The concept plan will be submitted for review after the initial draft is completed, and then modified and adjusted based on feedback. He created a new entry in the project folder, marked "Science Fiction Theme Park, Concept Design Stage," and stored reference data extracted from the Stranger Things theme park's operation report and all the data from this land assessment within it, categorized by theme and type, so that relevant data can be quickly retrieved, compared, and referenced in subsequent design stages.

The operational data from the Stranger Things-themed park provides a verifiable benchmark for this new project. It demonstrates the sustainable operational capability of offline experiential spaces centered around film and television themes in the current cultural tourism market, and also proves that audiences' acceptance of high-quality scene recreations is higher than the industry's early expectations. This data serves as a basis for validating Luo Jinnian's new project plans, allowing for reasonable estimations and predictions of its feasibility at an early stage.

In the second week after the concept design was launched, Luo Jinnian received the first draft of the zoning plan from the design team. The draft divided the park into three main experience zones, each corresponding to a core scene and theme from one of the three science fiction works.

During the reading of the draft, Luo Jinnian noticed that the design team adopted a spatial sequence from "surface" to "universe" and then to "center" in terms of zoning logic, but the narrative rhythm of the three works is quite different, and extra consideration is needed in terms of the transition of experience intensity.

In his feedback, he suggested adjusting the order of the zones, placing the Martian experience area near the entrance, followed by 2001: A Space Odyssey and Take Her Eyes. He also highlighted the circulation ideas proposed by the design team in the draft, believing they had potential for modification and suggesting further optimization in subsequent versions.

The concept design of the "The Martian" experience zone revolves around "survival" and "problem-solving".

The design team suggested setting up an outdoor area that simulates the Martian surface, with the ground paved with concrete mixed with red mineral powder, and the surface simulating Martian dust terrain.

At the center of the area, a 1:1 scale model of a habitat will be placed, equipped with plant planting modules and solar panel arrays. Visitors can enter the cabin, operate the planting system, observe the operation of the water pumps, and view data changes in water level and air pressure on the display screen.

The design team noted in the appendix to the design plan: "The interactive process of this section is a simplification of the technical steps in the original work, and the difficulty of operation has been adjusted while retaining the scientific logic." Luo Jinnian reviewed the operation process diagram and confirmed that the logical chain in it was consistent with the description in the original work.

The design of the "2001: A Space Odyssey" experience zone focuses more on immersive visual presentation and conceptual experience. (Design Team)

The team plans to build a large enclosed space with a cosmic background presented by a surround projection system. At the center is a replica of a black stone monument about three meters high—the surface of which is made of a specially treated matte material, giving it a subtle sense of depth from different angles.

After entering the space, visitors will pass in front of the stone tablet, and the projected images on both sides will switch to a sequence of images of the "Stargate Passage" in sync, creating an atmosphere of crossing the boundaries of space and time with the continuous low-frequency sound field.

When reviewing the proposal, Luo Jinnian noticed that the team suggested the possibility of applying directional audio technology to the surface of the stone tablet to simulate the setting of the stone tablet "making sounds" in the movie.

In his feedback, he noted the need for a feasibility assessment of the technical solution and suggested that relevant technical test data be added to the next version of the solution.

The design of the "Take Her Eyes" experience area was the most challenging part of the entire park. This work does not have a grand visual scene; its core image is "a girl trapped deep in the earth establishing a connection with the outside world through sensory connection devices."

The design team's initial proposal envisioned an experience centered on a "restricted perspective." Visitors enter a closed space simulating an underground capsule, with a fixed-view display in front of their seats. The screen alternates between images of the outside world and the dark environment inside the capsule. Sound is transmitted through bone conduction headphones. Visitors cannot control the visuals; they can only follow the narration at a predetermined pace. The design team wrote in the project notes: "This section does not rely on visual spectacle but enhances the intensity of the emotional experience by limiting sensory input. This model is relatively rare in theme parks, but it maintains a high degree of consistency with the original work's expression."

After reviewing that section, Luo Jinnian didn't immediately offer any suggestions for revision. He went back to the "Take Her Eyes" experience page and reread the design team's description of "limiting sensory input," confirming that the overall tone of the solution remained consistent with the original work. In his feedback, he replied to the design team, suggesting that they add two selectable perspective switching nodes in the next version of the solution to verify the impact of different switching frequencies on the intensity of the experience.

During that time, Luo Jinnian noticed a line in Liu Cixin's book, "Take Her Eyes," while reviewing interviews about Liu Cixin's works.

In his creative notes, he mentioned, "When I was writing this story, I was thinking about how a person uses imagination to resist a closed-off reality. When you can only observe the world through a small window, you will see more." Luo Jinnian wrote that sentence down in his notebook, echoing the design team's philosophy. He added a note next to it: "Theme parks don't need to show visitors a complete world. Sometimes showing a window is more effective than showing a panorama." Then he closed his notebook and continued reading the other drafts sent by the design team.

After receiving feedback from Luo Jinnian, the design team sent back a revised version of the plan within a week. The revised version included preliminary design suggestions for the flow of movement between different zones and transition areas, and further refined the perspective switching scheme for the "Take Her Eyes" experience area.

While reading the revised full version, Luo Jinnian noticed that the design team had made some additional adjustments beyond the feedback. For example, they adjusted the information hierarchy of a certain interface in the *Mars Rescue* experience area to ensure it remained clearly identifiable even in low-light conditions; and they added a dark transition to the projection system in the *2001: A Space Odyssey* experience area to enhance visitors' perception of spatial transitions when moving from one scene to another. Luo Jinnian noted that these adjustments aligned with his feedback, indicating that the design team was proactively optimizing the plan during the process, without waiting for instructions before taking action. After confirming that the plan could proceed to the next stage, he updated the corresponding status labels in the project folder.

He stood by the window, mentally reviewing the three scenarios in the plan. The vastness of the Martian surface, the depth of the stargate passage, and the confinement of the Earth's core—the transitions and rhythmic changes between these three elements were already largely clear. The current plan's zoning configuration and allocation of experience intensity were sufficient as a reference for further adjustments.