PlayStation Dreams Gameplay Mechanics Speculation
Gameplay mechanics in Media Molecule’s Dreams has only had a view revelations due to the short teaser trailer shown at E3. We’ve seen the imp creatures and glowing orbs showing as a tool for interaction and selection. For instance in one of the dream bubbles at the end of the trailer, a dream showing building blocks displays an imp pulling a block away as the structure collapses.
Dreams reminds us of a few titles on PC. These two titles from our PC Master Race friends are none other than Gmod (Garry’s Mod) and SFM (Source Film Maker). You’ve seen what you can do in Source Film Maker from our example video of Dreams “What Will You Dream Of”. From these titles we come up with our speculation as to how gameplay mechanics could work in Dreams. So lets jump right in and start with SFM.
With SFM, the main thing we can relate to being in Dreams on PS4 is the ‘puppetering’ real-time motion recorder. This is how we made the animations in our example videos. The scene played in real-time as we manually moved the charters and objects. Personally it’s something that made me want the PlayStation Move controller to be compatible with PC after discovering the Valve software. Whether or not Media Molecule will also allow keyframe tools is another question but the puppeteering will be much more simple and easy.
While we are talking about real time animation, we’d like to mention the capability that comes with motion capture. With a camera that can track depth such at the PS4’s camera, what you see in the videos below will be possible if said feature makes it in-game. The ability to use your own body’s motion to puppeter will make Dreams twice as awesome as it already is. Currently you will be able to use the Dualshock 4 or PlayStation Move controllers.
Scene creation in SFM will allow you to load a map, add character models from your downloads and even add particle effects and lighting adjustments. However if you wanted to create you’re own model you’d have to use another 3D program and then convert it if the community hasn’t made said model. With PlayStation Dreams you’ll have the ability to choose from pre-made assets if you don’t wish to create something from scratch.
For the pre-made assets side of Dreams, we’ll have to look more towards Garry’s Mod for a likely approach. In Gmod’s sandbox mode, you can display models that you have downloaded but you also have Dupes. Dupes are items created by the community that you have not downloaded but appear at command. It’s a very nice feature especially when you’re with friends seeing dupes you’ve never seen before and finding out what they do.
Dreams allows you to make music and games as well. For the game creation part in Gmod, there are many custom gameplay mods users have created. Gmod gameplay mods are created through gamemode scripting. While there is currently no example of game creation in Dreams, it should provide a more simple and friendly interface for creation.
These comparisons are here to show you the closest example of how gameplay mechanics in Dreams may work. The extent of all of this is up to how Media Molecule carries out development of Dreams. The closest thing to Dreams on PlayStation is currently Little Big Planet until Dreams goes gold and releases officially. What would you like to see in Dreams? Let us know what you think in the comments and our Twitter and the Dreams Facebook Page.