It’s 2013 all over again: George Lucas wants to build a museum alongside San Francisco Bay, a high-profile showcase for the high-profile filmmaker’s collection of audience-friendly art.

Which means we now get to see whether he and his staff have learned from their mistakes, whether being rejected by the Presidio and stymied by litigation in Chicago means the third try will be charmed.

And just to help things along for the proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Art — why shouldn’t a guy be allowed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a museum on Treasure Island that he’ll also endow? — I offer six friendly tips to seal the deal. A number selected, of course, in honor of the six “Star Wars” films produced by Lucas that have made him a billionaire as well as a cinematic legend.

Don’t be coy: Besides Treasure Island, Lucas is looking at a potential site in Los Angeles. The winner supposedly will be the location where a museum is most likely to start construction within 18 months.

You can’t blame Lucas for wanting to make up for lost time. But that means he and city officials need to pull back the curtains on what’s being contemplated, the sooner the better. San Francisco is full of people who don’t like to be caught by surprise — and love calling their attorneys to drive that point home.

Transit first: Forget about architecture (for now). The make-or-break issue for most people will be the special effects conjured up to get people to Treasure Island — an island that today can be reached only by the Bay Bridge, where rush hour seems to last half the day.

The best way to pass the credibility test is to include an imaginative, Lucas-funded transportation plan from day one. For instance, imagine if the price of admission to the museum includes ferry rides back and forth from San Francisco and Oakland. The visitor experience would begin on the water, in the vessel.

Such a system works just fine for Alcatraz. Tackle this issue during the opening credits, and a huge obstacle disappears.

Explain the thing: The Lucas folks go to great lengths to insist that this isn’t a “Star Wars” museum. The museum website boils down the mission to “celebrating narrative art through the ages,” complete with an abundance of illustrations. Then it adds the caveat that “some of the featured artwork is not a part of the Lucas seed collection.”

Huh? If the core of the museum is Lucas’ legacy as the creator of you-know-what, then embrace the Force. If the idea is something larger, the cultural power of storytelling, then give us a preview of coming attractions. Don’t just talk in vague superlatives — “we will challenge the way you think about museums” — and get frustrated when people scratch their heads.

Accept the inevitable: Monday evening I talked with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Lucas fan.

“I think it would be wonderful,” Pelosi said of the possibility that the museum might land in San Francisco after all. “This is ‘Star Wars’’ home. It should be here.”

In other words, even Lucas’ biggest supporters blur the museum and the franchise. Until opening day, that’s how it will be.

Architecture matters: The reason the 2013 proposal for Crissy Field was so widely panned wasn’t the fear of traffic congestion or the notion of galleries devoted to Jabba the Hutt. The design was amateurish, a sad procession of arches better suited to a country club than a national historic landmark district.

By contrast, Lucas in Chicago embraced the futuristic flair of Chinese architect Ma Yansong, who concocted a mountainous landscape for the shores of Lake Michigan. Hey, at least Marin’s best-known resident is flexible.

Lucas apparently will stick with Ma and his firm, MAD Architects. Honestly, the result could be provocative fun. But Ma needs to respond to the unusual island site across from the Embarcadero with something that makes us smile, even if it catches us by surprise. If the curtains part to reveal a strained wannabe icon, an indulgence tailored to the expectations of the architectural in-crowd, we’re back to square one.

Don’t just court bigwigs: Both at the Presidio and in Chicago, Lucas came out of the gate with heavy-duty support from big-name politicians and cultural organizations. The museum proposals had an air of preordained inevitability, as though we should be grateful for such blessings from above.

Guess what. People don’t like to be told what’s good for them, especially in a city where change barrels toward us from all directions.

This time around, why not follow the presentation of the proposal with an exhibition that includes highlights of the collection in all its eclectic glory, from 19th century illustrations to 21st century animation? Lucas could also make the rounds with museum President Don Bacigalupi, who makes an engaging case for why there might be substance to the idea of an institution that, immodestly, bills itself as “a museum unlike any other.”

To put it in Hollywood terms: George, embrace your inner showman. Have some fun.

Place is a weekly column by John King, The San Francisco Chronicle’s urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron