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Without a doubt, Dreams is my game of the generation

Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
Banned
Jul 14, 2018
23,601
I've been following Dreams for a very long time. It'd always been impressive the stuff Media Molecule managed to pull, but even then I still had my doubts about the game. The premise of "make whatever you want" seemed waaaay too ambitious for a game (and especially one on consoles), there had to be a trick, and all the delays the beta had were certainly making me lose faith. But when the beta arrived and I saw everything was true, boy was I excited.

This game is a black hole of free time. I lost the count of how many times I'd booted it up to check some creations or make a little tweak I'd been having in my mind for a while, only to end up spending hours creating something. It's simply amazing how Media Molecule managed to make a product where you can get a fully-working game within a few hours, and while creations obviously take more time to finish and polish the entire process always feels fun.

Suddenly getting an idea in my head and making it is probably one of the most satisfying and enjoyable experiences I've ever had with any videogame. Or seeing that idea transform into something entirely different as I make it... it never gets old. Is it unfair to other games to qualify Dreams as a game? Maybe, but when you consider how carefully designed it is and that you don't need to know anything to create a great Dream, I certainly don't feel bad about classifying it as one.
 
TheInfinityGauntlet

TheInfinityGauntlet

Member
Nov 3, 2017
4,393
I feel some type of way about it cause on the one hand it is just baffling they even managed to produce this on the other hand and it needs to be acknowledge for just how incredible it is and how we'll probably never see its full potential

but on the other hand I question if it's even a game? It's more of a creation suite//piece of software than a game (compared to say LBP or Mario Maker)
 
Belthazar90

Belthazar90

Banned
Jun 3, 2019
4,316
It is amazing, but they need to improve on the animation process (or include some stock animation for basic actions like running, jumping and attacking).
 
Fairxchange

Fairxchange

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,383
Is there a discussion on how long term monetization can be enabled for content creators? Is it also possible that we will one day see retail releases that were developed entirely on the Dream platform?
 
Belthazar90

Belthazar90

Banned
Jun 3, 2019
4,316
Fairxchange said:
Is there a discussion on how long term monetization can be enabled for content creators? Is it also possible that we will one day see retail releases that were developed entirely on the Dream platform?
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Is there one for Mario maker stages? I don't think it's possible for the scope of dreams' creations to be big enough for them to be monetized, honestly. I think it'll be more of a hobby for most people.
 
PedroRVD

PedroRVD

Member
Oct 25, 2017
549
Ecuador
User Warned - Thread Whining
Sony is doing a great advertisement campaign for this game in this forum, that's nice. But making all these threads lately is becoming annoying. Isn't there an official thread to talk about Dreams?
 
Hucast

Hucast

alt account
Banned
Mar 25, 2019
3,598
TheInfinityGauntlet said:
I feel some type of way about it cause on the one hand it is just baffling they even managed to produce this on the other hand and it needs to be acknowledge for just how incredible it is and how we'll probably never see its full potential

but on the other hand I question if it's even a game? It's more of a creation suite//piece of software than a game (compared to say LBP or Mario Maker)
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The only way we see its full potential beyond small tech demos is if people can get payed. Dreams would work perfect as a service with a reward/donate button
品川駅 said:
Unreal Engine 4 is my GOTG too!
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lmfao
 
Kolx

Kolx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,505
PedroRVD said:
Sony is doing a great advertisement campaign for this game in this forum, that's nice. But making all these threads lately is becoming annoying. Isn't there an official thread to talk about Dreams?
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Just ignore it then? 1-2 threads every few weeks isn't going to kill you.
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,385
I looooove that Dreams exists and I hope it has a big user base. It's just a bit too involved for my lifestyle. I don't have the time to invest in it. Although not my GOTG, Mario Maker 2 is turning out to be one of my favorites since it perfectly fits with quick fix gaming + mastery mechanics I need both in terms of play and creation style.
 

BAD

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,569
USA
I hope they do a Dreams patch for PS5. Its so brilliant and the more power you can pack in the better.

I agree it's so amazing OP
 
WellbornWarrior

WellbornWarrior

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,348
I think these kind of editor games are unique in that your mileage varies a lot depending on your creativity. So much that I would almost say they serve a different purpose than "classic" videogames and should be viewed as an indipendent thing.
 
Evolution of Metal

Evolution of Metal

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,960
PedroRVD said:
Sony is doing a great advertisement campaign for this game in this forum, that's nice. But making all these threads lately is becoming annoying. Isn't there an official thread to talk about Dreams?
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Don't click on the thread, problem solved!

It feels like Dreams is in the weird space between editor and game engine. I hope it finds the audience which is between Minecraft and UE4.
 
Raijinto

Raijinto

self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
10,091
Hmm OK then good for you wish I could get as much out of it as you have. Most of the games I played in it weren't very good. Though it's been a while since I last played it so maybe all the good games that have been made in it since then would change my mind. And I don't care about making things so I could never get anything from that.
 
modiz

modiz

Member
Oct 8, 2018
17,907
I didnt check it out in quite a while, time to go into it again!

EDIT: just opened up one of the trending games, holy crap, they look so much better than the games in the beginning.
 
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DiceHands

DiceHands

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,642
Totally agree. I also hope they implement PC down the line and turn it into a full blown engine. I have spent a lot of time with Dreams, but the one nagging annoyance in the back of my mind is that I am making something for 0 profits that cant leave the PS4 ecosystem.

Dont get me wrong, I love making things for others enjoyment and dont mind not getting paid, but I would love if they brought it to PC and allowed you to make stuff to publish yourself.
 
OP
OP
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
Banned
Jul 14, 2018
23,601
DiceHands said:
Totally agree. I also hope they implement PC down the line and turn it into a full blown engine. I have spent a lot of time with Dreams, but the one nagging annoyance in the back of my mind is that I am making something for 0 profits that cant leave the PS4 ecosystem.

Dont get me wrong, I love making things for others enjoyment and dont mind not getting paid, but I would love if they brought it to PC and allowed you to make stuff to publish yourself.
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SecondNature said:
pc compatibility. Ps4 is too limited and if sony wants to bring mp games to pc, this is the one
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While not exactly PC compatibility, they've said you'll be able to export the models to 3D Printers and programs like Unity.
 
Falchion

Falchion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,086
Boise
I just bought the early access yesterday but haven't had a chance to dive into the creations yet. The stuff I've seen from threads here and on Youtube are amazing though.
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,580
Reminds me of lbp (also big fan) how it feels apart from other games. It is, obviously, but something about it has a peculiar immersive quality.
 

Deleted member 13645

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,052
DiceHands said:
Totally agree. I also hope they implement PC down the line and turn it into a full blown engine. I have spent a lot of time with Dreams, but the one nagging annoyance in the back of my mind is that I am making something for 0 profits that cant leave the PS4 ecosystem.

Dont get me wrong, I love making things for others enjoyment and dont mind not getting paid, but I would love if they brought it to PC and allowed you to make stuff to publish yourself.
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My guess is it'll work a bit like how Warcraft 3 custom games did. It'll be trapped in that ecosystem but we might see some of the ideas that come from it be so successful that they spin off into a full game. Like the Dreams version ends up being a prototype for the full product later on.
 
Nothing Loud

Nothing Loud

Literally Cinderella
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,022
Belthazar90 said:
It is amazing, but they need to improve on the animation process (or include some stock animation for basic actions like running, jumping and attacking).
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Yup. This kicked me out of my creative spurt. The way to animate sculpted parts and link it to controls is possible, but very difficult to achieve, and impossible to do anything but simplistic portrayals with the included tutorials.

The game has more creative possibilities than LBP but the difficulty curve is way higher, which is the opposite problem this developer needed. Their games needed to get easier to create with, not harder. I believe it got way harder to create my ideas in Dreams than it was in LBP. Too much, too convoluted, and the tutorials are too lacking and simplistic.
 
DeathyG

DeathyG

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,909
NW Indiana
Yeah I'm starting to see why Sony was so patient with its development. MM really created something incredibly different here.

I can't wait for the campaign and VR support.
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,580
The walk around space isn't as good as the pod in lbp. I hope they have something better than that for the final.
 
AmericanKirby

AmericanKirby

Member
Aug 31, 2018
774
Inside your house
Dreams I think has the greatest potential of any early access game I've ever played. The keyword here being "potential." The foundation is there for something amazing but a lot of the creation tools just aren't quite good enough yet. The animation process is clunky and the results are stiff. The physics is janky and objects are prone to just fall through platforms. The visual-scripting/logic system is just plain terrible.

Not to mention the fact that there's no way to monetize any of your work, which is a bit of a turn-off for some creators.

I think most of these problems will be fixed over time, but honestly I've mostly given up on Dreams in the meantime in favor of going back to tinkering with "real" game engines. The only real advantages of using Dreams are that creating assets is faster and that there is a big library of free assets created by other players. (I believe this sort of indirect collaboration aspect of Dreams is by far its greatest strength.)

Also, can't wait for the big mid-August update MM said was coming...
 
touchfuzzy

touchfuzzy

Banned
Jul 27, 2019
1,706
I'm kind of mixed on it. Most of the creation stuff is too daunting/time consuming for me to really get in to (I've got three little kids, I can't even find time to pay attention to the tutorials) and most of the game, while impressive for user created content, still aren't really that good. I bought in to the Early Access and am most interested in seeing MM's single player stuff once the full release comes one day, other than that I'm not sure how much I'll play it.
 
Mecha Meister

Mecha Meister

Next-Gen Guru
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,816
United Kingdom
Dreams is amazing! My favourite games of all time are LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2, Dreams is basically a successor to LBP, which is the game which has greatly inspired me to become a game developer. If I wasn't so occupied with working on my own game I'd be playing Dreams everyday like how I played LittleBigPlanet!
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,580
I made a keyframe animation for a character doing a single punch animation amd it looked awesome. Took all evening and it was a real fiddle fuck but it was easier than rigging a similarly simple model in blender.
 
Alienous

Alienous

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,627
I like the game a lot more at a distance. Interacting with it I think on the game engine / game spectrum it's too close to the former.

On the creation side I think it's too unstructured and versatile. Dreams, and the gameplay experience of Dream Surfing, makes the most sense as a modern flash portal, but I think the investment required is too much for 5 or 10 minutes of gameplay.

The best Dreams I've played have been those taking elements of the Mm levels and remixing them, and I think the game would be well served by providing well defined base mechanics (platformer, car, shooter) for interesting concepts to be wrapped around.

It's all there though, but I haven't enjoyed the experience much playing or creating.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,257
Lake Titicaca
I dally with it from time to time, but I'm waiting for the game to come out proper before I start investing serious time in it.

Some of the creativity on display is already really impressive though.
 
Kirksplosion

Kirksplosion

Member
Aug 21, 2018
2,470
Yep, I'm with you, OP. Even in Early Access it's easily my GOTG. I don't see any end in sight to my spending time with it.
 
Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,422
New York City
I love how Dreams is basically the YouTube of games. You can randomly surf, fall down a rabbit hole of bizarre creations, and once in a while, stumble across some real gems. It's a great pick-up-and-play title and a timesucker if you let it become one.
 
crazillo

crazillo

Member
Apr 5, 2018
8,270
I bought Dreams earlier this week. Have been having so much fun with it, and the learning curve is pretty fast in this. There are some great tutorials out there, especially from Neon and LadyLex UK. The fun part with Dreams is that you can specialize on certain things and go at it one at a time. After the tutorials I wanted to go into level design and I decided to go for a mystical forest at night. So, I sculputured the terrain, created windy grass, used some community assets to save time (a fountain, some good looking trees) and put nice lighting and weather effects into the scene. Later, I dived into character creation and made my main char, a fox. This took quite some time but I learned a lot about modelling, e.g. how to mirror changes to both sides of the face and how to draw cat-like whiskers. To clothe the char I did also use some community assets again. I used some of the pre-made control schemes and tweaked around a little because a humanized fox will move a bit different from a human, right? This refers to stuff like move speed, character 'sassiness', stiffness etc. I later also found a very cool NPC char that I put into the scene. This NPC will approach the main character in a cutscene once he enters a trigger zone. So I captured the cutscene, positioned the cameras and cuts, made a voiceover and subtitles which was all really inituitive actually. It was tougher to only let the trigger zone start once and not again and again so I had to learn some logic for it.

The next steps will be to learn more about logic and probably animation, as I've not really gotten very far with this. Too bad my holiday is almost over and I will have a lot of work in the upcoming weeks.

All in all, I'm very happy and satisfied for just a couple of days effort, and I can appreciate games a lot more now who are done so expertly with tools not nearly as intuitive as the one's from Dreams. Just get going, everyone, you will need some time but again, you can make use of the community in a lot of ways and this empowers you speeding up the process of creation.
 
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