Greetings Human!
How do you do; this is a short guide that will help you explore Melonking.Net, and get the most out of your visit!
As this site has grown it’s become clear that many of the sights and sounds of Melonland may be missed or mis-understood by the passing web surfer; I have written this guide to help you find all its secrets and gain some insider facts and trivia along the way! Keep this guide open and it will be your companion as you explore Melonking.Net :^)
Important Notice - Closed Mondays:
Melonking.Net is closed on Mondays; the site closes for 24 hours every Monday in honour of all the lost things in the world; and to remind visitors to slowdown and take a break from always-on online life <3
Before you Begin:
Please be aware, this site is not intended for mobile devices, for the best experience visit with a Laptop or Desktop computer, with your browser in fullscreen mode - the site works best on Firefox or Chrome (Safari has issues).
Additionally, before you embark any further, make sure that Auto-Play Audio is enabled for the site in your web browser! Music and audio are an important part of this site.
Begin here: https://melonking.net !
Welcome:
This site has been under construction since 2016; it is not a nostalgia site, and its not entirely a personal site - Melonking.Net contains a tangle of biographical material, fiction, idealism and memories. It was created to be the website I imagined creating when I was 6 years old; a recollection of the web through the infinity mirror of time. This site is about the web of media and life; it beckons you to explore, there is no algorithmic guard rail; sometimes its serious and often its silly, but its always genuine - as you explore I hope you’ll let go of the world you are in, and inhabit this one for just a while :^]
Upon arrival you’ll have entered the landing page, this page features multi layers stars and many images from the site blowing past, as well as a link to the Surf Club webring; for now though click Enter to begin.
Welcome to the homepage!
How to Browse this site?
Its important to understand that Melonking.Net is about exploration and discovery; many things (images and text) are clickable and will lead you to unusual places, the best way to experience this site is to explore and to be confused by what you find.
I recommend you stop now, slow down and explore the site naturally; then you can return to this guide if you want more context!
What is What??
Look on your left to see the Nav-o-Matic - this guide will take you through each tab in order; feel free to jump back and forth between tabs!
*Spoiler Alert* The following sections tell you where links go! - Are you sure you want to be told now?
*+ Home +*
This page is the main hub of the site, its also one of the oldest pages, the wallpaper dates back to the first version of the site, although it has been remodelled since then.
The upper section (Star Goo Wall) is filled with objects that link to some of my favourite projects; from left to right;
- Electric Light - Yoldiz the fortuneteller - I made this in a cafe in Greenwich Village, Manhattan - 2018
- Purple Crystal - The MelonLand project - this outlines the artistic goals of this site and has helpful links! - 2022
- Thread and Needle - TextureTown, archive of textures from 90s resource CDs - 2022
- Painting - Museum of Gifs (MoMG), an art gallery for gifs! - 2021
- Flower Pot - Webgardens and links to other cool websites. - 2021
- Melonking Text - Original Melon Video and namesake of this site - 2007
- Big Window - The outside story book - 2016
- Moon - Carl Sagan speaks, a reminder of humanity - 2016
- Oval Window - The Museum of Artefacts with unused assets from past projects - 2021
- Tall Window - Melonland VR/3D adventure room - 2017
- Black Cat - GifyPets, a virtual pet maker! - 2016
- Ivy - Melvina Reynolds fan club, info about the folk singer - 2021
Lower section highlights;
- Checkout the site manifesto/philosophy in the construction section! - 2021
- Moo’s News Cows - Archive of newspapers I made in school in 2005
- Old Radio - Links to music I like - 2016
- Stack of magazines - Links to My Thoughts - 2022
- Don’t mis the news archive at the bottom of the page! - 2018
Trivia:
- The big window is from the Sirius Arts Center in Cobh, Cork, Ireland
- This page features the oldest GifyPet on any homepage!
*+ Fav Hyperlinks +*
The hyperlinks page contains a large collection of outbound links to articles, videos and products I like. I recommend you return to this page once you have explored the rest of my site to find something new to learn.
*+ The Universe +*
The universe section contains links to things that don’t fit anywhere else or are otherwise a little more obscure - its layout is random every time you visit:
Highlights;
- Movie 2 - A supercut of movies I made when I was about 11.
- Movie 1 - My first 3D rendered movie from college in 2020.
- H.A.N.A. - My oldest surviving website from 2012, originally a college project which won an award!
- FREE: Games and Downloads - Resources to downloads and games Iv made - 2020
- Virtual Cable Car Ride - A free cable car ride in San Francisco - 2016
- Get A Hacker Name - Convert your name to a hacker handle! - 2016
- Make your own site! - A link to guides on web design - 2022
Trivia:
- The dinosaur on this page is here because I was terrified of them when I was little :(
- The Make your own site! Page is my favourite page on the site!
- This page was originally made for another website.
*+ Collections +*
The collections section is the oldest surviving sub-wing of the site; it houses collections and organised media which can be found on the left. This page also has some mystery links!
- The travel section contains many personal travel pictures and journals.
- Visit the end of the Old Tech room to see some posters!
- The robot room has some robot demo videos.
- Blue Window - This is a collection of every year from 2000 to 2999, the page will re-fresh once a year for 1000 years.
- Filing Cabinet - This contains text from the Lo-Ta, a mysterious and now lost book I wrote in 2013.
- Painting - This links to the artists page!
Trivia:
- I have no idea where those marbles are now.
*+ Stuff 4 U +*
This zone contains games and downloads you can access! This area was first added in 2020 but was majorly revamped in 21 and 22 - Overall its been one of the hardest sections of the site to get right!
Trivia:
- Note the Frog & Wood section! It contains some of the oldest media in MelonLand!
- The model shop contains models performed for MelonEngine
- This section contains the first appearance of the MelonLand purple shard
- This is the only part of the site with its own frameset navigation system!
*+ Read My E-mail +*
The E-mail Reader was added in 2022; this area of the site is a space for collecting short snippets of media; its a mix of genuine emails, journal entries, songs I like and totally fictional characters. The idea was to turn e-mail into a kind of personal gallery or a museum of moments, both real and imagined.
Tips:
- Click on different emails to view them!
- Click on different mailboxes such as Sent to see more emails.
- The Sent mailbox contains an archive of my Newsletter!
- Try the Trash and Spam buttons, they all work!
*+ Gift Shop +*
Added in 2017 and revamped fully in 2020; This is a fully functional gift shop! You can make real donations to the site here and transactions are secure over PayPal. Many of the items in the shop are novelties; but all of them are real. If you enjoy the site consider making a donation here!
Trivia:
- I do actually keep a stock of M&Ms packets, just in case someone buys them!
- I drew the anime.jpg in 2012!
- The plane and globe gif is from my former search engine - Daniel’s Network
*+ Aboot Me +*
A small section thats vaguely about me; trivia:
- You can also click the dude in the pointy hat (Ozwomp) to play the Ozwomp game!
- There are actually 2 pictures of me if you scroll to the very bottom!
- The Egyptian letters say my name!
- This is the only part of the site that features Melons
- The main picture of me is outside Google’s HQ in 2016
- This page was not supposed to be called “Aboot” that was a typo.
*+ Guestbook +*
This guestbook has been operating since 2016 and contains over a thousand hand written messages left by visitors like you! Its one of the oldest and largest active guestbooks Im aware of :-O You should consider leaving your own message!
Lower Links
Below the guestbook you’ll find many links and the site hit counter. Try clicking the flag to see a weird TV show that used to scare me when I was small :-S You can also see a breakdown of site hits by clicking the hit counter. Below that are site badges, these out link to other cool websites!
*+ MelonLand Forum! +*
As part of the MelonLand project I operate a forum! Its a real forum! But its also a fantasy forum - its meant to feel like a rosy memory of a forum you might have visited when you were 10, exploring the web for the first time! You are very welcome to join! We have causal discussions, and also offer help to people making games and homepages!
*+ Site Map / Melon Town +*
MelonTown was added to the site in 2020 as an alternative form of navigation, many of the links you find in it can also be found in other areas of the site. MelonTown also contains links to netizen sites - these are separate sites made by other people who have supported Melonking.Net in some way!
Thanks For Visiting!
I hope you enjoyed this short guide and your time on Melonking.Net; there so much more thats not covered in this guide, so keep exploring - until next time, your pal, Melon :^]
