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[Omnistalgic]

Credit to Dualshockers for the dialogue write-up

PS4 Exclusive Dreams: Media Molecule Gives New Info on Engine, Tech, Frame Rate, Music and Creativity


During the Q&A Session at the end of a livestream focusing on Tearaway Unfolded, Media Molecule Creative Director Mark Healey gave more information on the upcoming and still rather mysterious Dreams.

Below you can read a summary of what he shared:

• Haley realized that it was time to move on from LittleBigPlanet and to a new project jusut after LittleBigPlanet 2, but Dreams is like the spiritual successor of LBP; and embraces a lot of the same key ideas.
• The “main character” used by the player is referred to internally as “imp.” It’s going to be customizable, of course.
• The engine is incredibly versatile. The obvious and strong visual it can offer is the “kind of loose and impressionistic” style, but you can also do an “incredibly tight and crisp” style. You also have control over shiny or metallic materials, glow effect, and recently they added a subsurface scattering shader that allows you to make things waxy and really lush [Editor’s note: subsurface scattering is normally used for translucency effects, especially on human skin].
• The ambition with the engine is to let you create your own art style, even if there’s still a visual thumbprint, as you’re still using the same engine.
• Media Molecule is trying to makethe game very non-technical, so everyone can pick it up easily and understand it. You don’t need to be an artist to use it, but it has a lot of depth and it can allow you to use and improve your skills. As an analogy, a child can use a pen, but if you practice and use different techniques you can do amazing things with it.
• You will be able to create music in Dreams. One of the key guiding philosophies of Dreams is embracing the idea of a “performance.” The puppeteering scene from the PlayStation 4 debut conference is an example of how this idea applies to animation. It’s not about editing curves and moving keyframes. It’s about performing with the virtual puppets. That means that you can do it very quickly, but also that you can put a lot of emotion into it while you capture your performance.
• Music is a very obvious element to apply this idea of performance to. The developer in charge has come up with “genius ideas” so that anyone can do amazing things with the game.
• Media Molecule is going to make some initial content, that can be played out of the box, using exactly the same tools that will be available to everyone.
• Asked whether other Sony first party studios provided some helpful tips on development, Healey confirmed, and mentioned that at GDC there’s a “Creative Director therapy session” he goes to, where they sit in a room and moan about the pain of being a Creative Director.
• Asked whether the studio is aiming for 60 frames per second, he mentioned that it’s user created content, so they can’t stop people from making games that run slow, as it depends on what you put into your level. At the moment the creations they have been working on are “looking more like 30 frames per second,” but engine always get optimized towards the end, so they’re going to make it as efficient as possible.
• Healey agrees that the game is perfect for VR, and the idea of having a virtual dream that you can explore seems like the ultimate Grail, but for now the studio is focusing on the standard PS4 experience, but it’s “a no brainer” that they will explore VR afterwards.
• According to previous mentions, we’re going to learn a lot more about Dreams at Paris Games Week. We’re getting close, and personally I can’t wait to see more of what Media Molecule is cooking up for us

.

Source http://www.twitch.tv/media_molecule/v/19865111

 

[Auctopus]

I think there needs to be an hour long video detailing the creation and "playback" aspects of the game. It would get a lot more people on board.

Due to the open-ended style of content you can create, it's sort of confusing as to how you discern between different formats i.e. video games, movies etc.

 

[Callibretto]

30fps. Well I guess no vr then. Unless its a really scaled down version of Dreams.

 

[Pankratous]

Said this before but I really think it'd be cool if this game took off in art schools.

 

[Omnistalgic]

I think there needs to be an hour long video detailing the creation and "playback" aspects of the game. It would get a lot more people on board.

Due to the open-ended style of content you can create, it's sort of confusing as to how you discern between different formats i.e. video games, movies etc.

blowout for Dreams is coming in a few weeks at Paris my man.

What excited me about the dialog here is that its a spiritual successor to LBP, so it will definitely have a full campaign, single-player story, and customizable character.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

This is over a week old. What did they talk about this Friday?

 

[Omnistalgic]

This is over a week old. What did they talk about this Friday?

I dunno, all this news to me is knew, didn't know it was a spiritual successor to LBP and you'll have a customizable character and all that jazz until now.

 

[Doomshroom]

So um can i make my own games in dream? What the hell is it?

 

[Eggbok]

30fps. Well I guess no vr then. Unless its a really scaled down version of Dreams.

But....
Hmmmm

Just another suggestion of VR, among the already wealth of it from previous interviews, the fact that Anton Mikailov works for them, it's 60FPS which is minimum frame-rate for VR, and my screenshot from the video before where they left behind a PSVR devkit, I found this on the PS4 homescreen;
Scaled using MS Paint:

That to me shows a PSVR icon, which can either be a PSVR devkit testing app or it's a VR-specific build of Dreams that they use when testing it in VR.

I don't think there's much doubt that Dreams will support VR now, but it's nice to keep being reassured of this idea until official confirmation. Just like No Man's Sky, the probability of that supporting VR is very high given the information we've found on it.

Not good enough, I was intentionally scouring their video for someone to leave a Morpheus devkit around...and.....

 

[letmetrythisname]

Sort of interested, if only just to see what kind of terrifying shit people will make with it.

 

[v1lla21]

Can't wait for this! Time to create horror stuff.

 

[GarciaHotspur]

still can't understand what it is

 

[JetSetRadio]

I'll need a beta/demo to pull me in.

 

[Coolbgdog12]

I seriously don't understand what you actually "play". I still haven't gotten the gist of the general gameplay or w/e... Is this a platformer?? A 3d or 2D game with a main character that you move around?? I just don't know what you actually are playing.

 

[TimeEffect]

As an analogy, a child can use a pen, but if you practice and use different techniques you can do amazing things with it.

But I use a pen like a child

 

[tirkaroKujo]

So uh....can you make 3D platformer type games in this? Adjust the physics, all that jazz?

I mean, pulled off properly this could be amazing, but boy if they aren't being vague as all get out about this "game." I'm remaining cautiously optimistic until new news comes; the fact that you can give your game their own art styles sounds nice, but I hope there's a more practical way of drawing assets beyond analog sticks and gyro sensors.

 

[Walpurgis]

still can't understand what it is

I seriously don't understand what you actually "play". I still haven't gotten the gist of the general gameplay or w/e... Is this a platformer?? A 3d or 2D game with a main character that you move around?? I just don't know what you actually are playing.

Don't worry if you don't understand. They haven't really bothered to explain it. I only understand it because I've played LittleBigPlanet and have read almost everything about this game. You can either read the Dreams OT or wait 10 days for PGW where they will actually make an effort to explain the game.

So uh....can you make 3D platformer type games in this? Adjust the physics, all that jazz?

Of course.

 

[redhood56]

Interested in what this could be, I think they are going to make it psvr compatible, but maybe there could be a limit on how big the levels are? It needs a constant 60+ and they clearly have dev kits so I wonder what they are going to do.

 

[Stampy]

This is over a week old. What did they talk about this Friday?

In their third stream they only focused on character art for LBP and Tearaway. There was no Dreams info.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

In their third stream they only focused on character art for LBP and Tearaway. There was no Dreams info.

That's disappointing. We'll just have to wait 8 more days!

 

[amnesiac]

Hopefully at PGW they do a full demonstration. And announce a beta for early 2016 or something.

Because when they've said this game is "anything you want it to be" I don't know what to think. Like will there be different modes? Movie mode? Game mode? Drawing mode?

Take that E3 teaser for instance, the futuristic space battle part. How the hell was that made and is it a movie or a game? Don't really see something that advanced being created with just the Dualshock 4, so I'm assuming that the best creations in this game will be made with a tablet of some sort.

Also, my interest in this game would skyrocket and be an automatic purchase if it was confirmed for PSVR. Just exploring some of those scenes in the footage we've seen would be breathtaking in VR.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

New Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZJ34F7NQM

 

[benny_a]

New Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZJ34F7NQM

That's a terrible fan video :O

 

[nelsonroyale]

Wow...that was pretty cool. VR confirmed then?

Edit: Heh, okay fake then. The visuals and animations obviously don't look anything like was showcased in Dreams. Funny video though.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

Here's another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugm31YB3dO4