The future of game development has never looked more bright and accessible thanks to Media Molecule’s, Dreams. From the studio responsible for Little Big Planet, this long-anticipated game development tool uses truly cutting-edge technology that strives to remain as beginner-friendly as possible, while still providing a plethora of complex systems.
When comparing Dreams PS4 to traditional game development software such as Unreal Engine or Unity, there are quite a few aspects that put Dreams miles ahead of them. It isn’t out of the question to say that Dreams could play a huge role in shaping the next generation of video game developers.
10 Price
While a license or subscription to game development software can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars a month, Dreams is a cheap, one-time payment, just like any other game on the PlayStation Store. For $39.99, you’ll gain instant access to Dreams and its two smaller parts, Music of Dreams and Art of Dreams.
Unity’s “plus” license is $35 per month, not even mentioning that the pro license almost quadruples that number. For anyone looking to get into game development, this is definitely the cheapest and most accessible option to go with.
9 Tutorials
Sure, the internet is an amazing place to find all sorts of tutorials from YouTube and various forums, but it’s quite rare to see such in-depth and interactive learning tools coming straight from the developers themselves. Dreams has tons of different tutorials that cover all aspects of the game.
They’re usually quite lengthy and allow the player to save their progress and return later, and are split into nicely organized segments in a small video player to follow along with. The tone of these tutorials really shows the time and effort that the developers at Media Molecule have put into their craft, and you’ll learn from them extremely quickly.
8 Sculpting
Most beginners tend to opt into the route of 2D game development strictly because of how difficult 3D art can get, but Dreams does an excellent job of simplifying it and slowly introducing the player to the ins and outs. The various sculpting tutorials will show how easy it is to begin sculpting whatever you like from basic polygons and eventually hammering down on intricacies and details.
Tools like soft blending and various camera and movement options allow for quick, easy, and effective 3D modeling. It is still a complex world to dive into, but Dreams is likely the absolute best place to start.
7 Dream Surfing
There’s no better way to learn game development than directly interacting with the creations of other users, and Dreams makes it easier than ever. Dreams is split into two main modes, being “Dream Shaping” and “Dream Surfing.” You’re able to browse an absolute ton of user creations stemming from full games to demos, gameplay showcases, game remakes, sculptures, and movies.
Besides being able to see what Dreams is capable of from other users, some of these creations are even downloadable and editable, which is a truly fantastic way to have a hands-on experience with how a game was built while being able to tweak it to your heart’s content.
6 Art’s Dream
Dream Surfing is indeed an excellent way to become fluent with Dreams, but Media Molecule made sure to include their own personal creation, and it’s nothing short of a beautiful work of art. The game itself is truly breathtaking from start to finish in every aspect, including the unique art styles, catchy and memorable score, and a story that will resonate with anyone with creative aspirations.
The most impressive thing about Art’s Dream is that it was all created inside of the Dreams engine, and it does as much as possible to not just tell the player, but show them that they’re able to craft amazing creations with enough dedication and passion.
5 Accessibility
Accessibility is a big issue when it comes to such a grand concept as “game development” since a game holds so many different aspects within it that all take years of practice to hone. With an engine like Unity, Unreal Engine, or Game Maker, it becomes daunting as to where to even begin.
Dreams takes a friendlier approach to teaching users how to craft the inner workings of a game without endless lines of code but does it in a way that still encapsulates the core ideas of scripting various parts of a video game. With drag-and-drop, module-based programming, learning how video games function at a fundamental level is easier than ever.
4 Level Creation
Dreams’ interface is split into a few different modes that take care of different parts of the game development process, and the ones focused on level development are truly impressive. Not only are they extremely easy to use, but they’re not lacking in depth in any fashion, as seen with the photo-realistic set-pieces and crazy architecture that users have made.
Style Mode, Coat Mode, Effects Mode, and Paint Mode have different functions but can be easily intertwined with each other to make a cohesive creation that’ll seamlessly blend into the world. They’re only slightly more complicated than using a tool in Photoshop, and they can be quickly mastered.
3 Microchips
Some of the more complicated tutorials in Dreams are about the use of microchips to assemble game logic, and they might need a few watches to truly understand. But, what makes this module-based programming different from drag-and-drop systems seen in something like Unreal Engine is the pure simplicity of it.
They’re quite easy to understand after playing around with them for a bit, and each module can be hovered over at any time for a quick description of its function. These microchips are placed into the world like any other tool is, allowing them to be more interactive and immersive than basic lines of code.
2 The Music of Dreams
What gives Dreams an edge over other game development software is its inclusion of a quite amazing music creation tool. The tie-in experience, Art’s Dream, makes sure to showcase how far music creation can go in Dreams with music quality comparable to some AAA titles.
The Music of Dreams is a separate, smaller download included when purchasing Dreams, and it holds various music tracks to download, listen to, and create playlists of.
1 The Art of Dreams
Along with The Music of Dreams, The Art of Dreams is the second downloadable addition to complete the Dreams trinity. Like the Dream Surfing mode, The Art of Dreams acts as a bank of references to study and admire for ideas and inspiration.
What makes this differ from Dream Surfing, however, is that The Art of Dreams is focused on showing concept art and creations from Media Molecule artists themselves, and they really are a sight to behold. Some of them even have an interactive camera, so it is highly encouraged to at least take a look at the amazing works of art that are capable in Dreams.
NEXT: Dreams: 10 Of The Best User-Created Nintendo Levels
