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Media Molecule Announces New IP, Dreams

pswii60

Member
From the demo, visuals aside it looked like something that would be far better suited for smartphones/tablets than console.

Using touchscreen to create and tilting to move. But more importantly, sharing your 'interactive dream' to a much greater audience on iOS/Android etc.

However, if there is a genuine game behind all this with core gameplay mechanics, and it's not just a 'dream' creation and sharing tool, then fair enough. Hopefully we'll see more soon. It's definitely an evolution of what they showed at the original PS4 reveal though, and it certainly looks beautiful.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Hmm! Watching the trailer again, there is a little blue character.

It appears in 3 or 4 of the bubbles at least, and seems to be being controlled by someone.

Maybe this is the 'avatar' of the game, ala Sackboy? Or maybe just a character someone at MM re-used in multiple 'dreams'?
Or as a cursor for popit -like interactions.
 

Karkador

Banned
I don't need it to be a "game", that would feel contrived.

The idea of creating short little snippets of dream-like imagery to share and bounce of off other players is cool, and the graphics of the game are surreal and fantastic.

This is like the ambitious hot air that Peter Molyneux waves around, except Media Molecule actually makes it happen.
 

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
i mean, it looked very unique and i'm interested in seeing what comes out of it.


but its totally not for me. i hate creating stuff in games
 
From the demo, visuals aside it looked like something that would be far better suited for smartphones/tablets than console.

Using touchscreen to create and tilting to move. But more importantly, sharing your 'interactive dream' to a much greater audience on iOS/Android etc.

However, if there is a genuine game behind all this with core gameplay mechanics, and it's not just a 'dream' creation and sharing tool, then fair enough. Hopefully we'll see more soon. It's definitely an evolution of what they showed at the original PS4 reveal though, and it certainly looks beautiful.

Touchscreens are good at drawing but bad at sculpting. Being able to move the cursor in 3 dimensions seems pretty key to what they are doing. Also what they are doing is pretty graphics intensive. Obviously they would be able to reach a far larger audience, but I don't think mobile is a good fit.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Or as a cursor for popit -like interactions.

Could be both! But is definitely being used as a gameplay avatar in a couple of those bubbles - flying through the Pilotwings-esque rings in the clouds in one, etc.

Again, though, this may not be the game's official avatar, this game's 'sackboy' - clearly they didn't come out and introduce this guy formally, so it could just be one MM staffer's creation in his dreams. But I think it would make sense given their previous games for there to be one central thread around a avatar like this for people to jump off from with their own creations.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Ah. The site is up... and this little character re-appears:

http://dreams.mediamolecule.com/

1SgJE6p.png


The filename refers to them as 'imps'.

Think it's reasonable to surmise these are the 'avatars' in this.
 
Looked really amazing; Media Molecule are one of my favourite studios and I've really enjoyed all of their games. This looks so creative and charming; can't wait to see more.
 
This game looks brilliant. I bet you play a single character and seamlessly jump in and out of other people's game creations and worlds, going from dream bubble to dream bubble. Like Journey multiplayer, only with created levels instead of other people.
 
I have find it hard to believe that is real time graphics...I mean the art is utterly stunning. Like I put these guys up with Team ICO.
 
So is this more like a creation software suite than a game? I don't really understand what I just watched.
Seemed like you just make video type things where other people can take your ideas and make their own stuff with it. Or was there gameplay.

I'm quite confused.
 

Stampy

Member
Can someone gif the part with those bubbles showing other projects? It will be easier to analyze them that way.
 
I really don't know what to make of this. I don't think they really explained it very well

you make models/puppets and setpieces.

i'm assuming it's like a movie-maker which you can share with everybody and take from their own creations and modify them etc.

making it by moving the controller will be the biggest pain in the ass though, such a stupid decision, hopefully the sticks are usable as well. i'm amazed by the art style in here but i don't find the actual idea of the game interesting.

still might cop it to make some david lynch-style horror
 

Stampy

Member
I think it'll be an option unless they found something in the DS4 that's required that the Move can't do here on the creation side.
But DS4 is what everyone has, so it sort of makes sense for them to push that as the default.

I believe the preferred method is using Move to create, but they probably used DS to avoid the internet ignorantly spamming comments such as "yet another shitty Move gimmick".

Well, there seems to be some stereotypical gameplay stuff going on in some of the bubbles mentioned/shown above. I would say the tools are quite broad and it's up to the creator what type of interaction or play they want to make or don't want to make in their 'dream'.
"It’s space in which to create your own dreams, whether they’re games, art, films, music or anything in-between and beyond."
I think there'll be tools to enable gameplay orientated stuff or just still environments, videos - whatever.

I just can't believe people don't see this. It's like MM didn't already deliver with LBP, and now they are doubting they will do a play aspect to their game, even though they are constantly saying that the game is all about creating games, stories, music, etc... I mean they are showing this step by step obviously, slowly raising awareness. Also it's evident there is so much stuff we don't know, but what we know is the general direction, and it is clear that the game is nurturing LBP type of tool creation (simple yet powerful do it all you want tool) but on steroids.

Ah. The site is up... and this little character re-appears:

http://dreams.mediamolecule.com/

1SgJE6p.png


The filename refers to them as 'imps'.

Think it's reasonable to surmise these are the 'avatars' in this.

Alex was wearing same glassess on stage. :p
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Just another little confirmation from Alex Evans on twitter that Dreams doesn't use a rasteriser i.e. no polygons. It's all compute based - I would guess, compute-based tracing of distance fields and/or functions.

https://twitter.com/mmalex/status/610689056645758976

Can someone gif the part with those bubbles showing other projects? It will be easier to analyze them that way.

I considered it, but don't have the gif-fu to make it happen well :/ Maybe someone else can do a decent job.

you make models/puppets and setpieces.

i'm assuming it's like a movie-maker which you can share with everybody and take from their own creations and modify them etc.

It's not a movie-maker - you can make a variety of digital 'things' from games to movies or set-pieces, or whatever. Going by the bubbles at the end it will certainly afford gameplay creation.
 
Just another little confirmation from Alex Evans on twitter that Dreams doesn't use a rasteriser i.e. no polygons. It's all compute based - I would guess, compute-based tracing of distance fields and/or functions.

https://twitter.com/mmalex/status/610689056645758976



I considered it, but don't have the gif-fu to make it happen well :/ Maybe someone else can do a decent job.



It's not a movie-maker - you can make a variety of digital 'things' from games to movies or set-pieces, or whatever. Going by the bubbles at the end it will certainly afford gameplay creation.

But how can this look so good? For instance the bit with the spaceship zooming, maybe it was on youtube quality but that looked pretty incredible visually.
 

Stampy

Member
you make models/puppets and setpieces.

i'm assuming it's like a movie-maker which you can share with everybody and take from their own creations and modify them etc.

making it by moving the controller will be the biggest pain in the ass though, such a stupid decision, hopefully the sticks are usable as well. i'm amazed by the art style in here but i don't find the actual idea of the game interesting.

Of course you will be able to move them with sticks. I mean so far we have only seen animations when interacting with controllers.

Although it is baffling why they didn't show just one standard gameplay element. I guess they still don't want to materialize with the audience what exactly the game will accomplish, since it probably aims at all genres.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
But how can this look so good? For instance the bit with the spaceship zooming, maybe it was on youtube quality but that looked pretty incredible visually.

And from the resource perspective that means? :)

I guess we'll find out more details at Siggraph. With tracing of volumetrics you can do a variety of things & effects that are difficult to do as well with polygons though. We've very recently seen integration of distance fields into some other renderers alongside rasterisation for secondary hits (e.g. shadowing in UE4), but I'm not sure anyone has used them for primary hits, for the entire pipeline, in a game before.
 
I guess we'll find out more details at Siggraph. With tracing of volumetrics you can do a variety of things & effects that are difficult to do as well with polygons though. We've very recently seen integration of distance fields into some other renderers alongside rasterisation for secondary hits (e.g. shadowing in UE4), but I'm not sure anyone has used them for primary hits, for the entire pipeline, in a game before.

Hmmm, is this a big deal then? They are rendering a 3d game in something other than polygons or voxals?
 

Stampy

Member
Ah. The site is up... and this little character re-appears:

http://dreams.mediamolecule.com/

1SgJE6p.png


The filename refers to them as 'imps'.

Think it's reasonable to surmise these are the 'avatars' in this.

BTW, these "avatars" are probably also naked ones in the demo which are flying from one dream to another. They are obviously aiming for seamless integration when connecting to different projects.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Hmmm, is this a big deal then? They are rendering a 3d game in something other than polygons or voxals?

I think it's very cool. I've toyed with distance function rendering in little demos, I've read about people slowing bringing them (and distance fields) partially into production pipelines. They are a favourite tool of the demo scene.

This is a totally different kind of pipeline than the usual, basically a custom software renderer running on the GPU. The core concept is not something MM has invented, but this is the first game production I know of basing their pipeline entirely around those concepts.
 

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
Looks like Acid Trip: The Game. The polar bear sequence was so cute.

It doesn't look much fun, but I'm not a creative person. It may make for some interesting Youtube videos, though.
 

Stampy

Member
The waterfall in the lower left part of the bubble in the end is wow.

Also I am totally fascinated by different aesthetic styles this tool will allow creators to make.
 
From the demo, visuals aside it looked like something that would be far better suited for smartphones/tablets than console.

Using touchscreen to create and tilting to move. But more importantly, sharing your 'interactive dream' to a much greater audience on iOS/Android etc.

However, if there is a genuine game behind all this with core gameplay mechanics, and it's not just a 'dream' creation and sharing tool, then fair enough. Hopefully we'll see more soon. It's definitely an evolution of what they showed at the original PS4 reveal though, and it certainly looks beautiful.

I really hope there is a game to it.

I don't need it to be a "game", that would feel contrived.

The idea of creating short little snippets of dream-like imagery to share and bounce of off other players is cool, and the graphics of the game are surreal and fantastic.

This is like the ambitious hot air that Peter Molyneux waves around, except Media Molecule actually makes it happen.

But surely after making several dreams, the creativity would run dry for most and really how many times can you watch footage of a 5 minute short film.

There needs to be a game or it will be too niche imo.
 

2+2=5

The Amiga Brotherhood
This is for the ps4 what little big planet was for the ps3, it's focused on the play create share.
 

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
I'm surprised they didn't talk about Morpheous functionality seeing as how the VR environment seems perfect for this. Like creating dioramas
 
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