Thread: Lucid Dream Game 3D idea

Hey, guys!

I know there's already a thread out there for a game about lucid dreaming, but it uses GameMaker as its main engine, and it's 2D. Of course there's nothing wrong with that; I use GameMaker too, but if you're like me, you'd probably enjoy a fully 3D game that leans more on the action/RPG side than platformer.

So that's what this thread aims to do: organize a group of people who can make a 3D game about lucid dreaming.

What we'll be using: Unreal Engine 3 (using the Unreal Development Kit from Epic Games)

What we'll be creating: A 3D action game with RPG elements and an in-depth, non-linear storyline. Multiplayer gameplay should also be anticipated, although I think we should work on making a good Single Player game first and foremost.

And as for the storyline, I actually came up with a storyline (somewhat inspired by my own dreams) about lucid dreaming. Originally it was intended to be for a movie, but I think it could just as well work as a game:

Spoiler for Storyline Idea:
Say a group of people (most likely from some weird cult or something that would cause them to have a fascination with dreams) discovered how to create machines that puts them into a state of lucid dreaming. They can remain in the dream as long as they wish, and exit when they wish as well. And then they discover shared dreaming, and get into other people's dreams. But they also discover that the machines give them the ability to control other people's dreams. And they use that to affect certain people terrorist-style, to the point of even controlling government leaders.

Then, one unsuspecting average guy will accidentally stumble into a lucid dream. He goes through a door expecting it to be to his living room or something, but instead finds himself in a huge room lined with doors on every wall. Inside each door he finds the dream of another person. Inside one door, he finds a friend of his being victimized by one of the aforementioned cultists. They'll convince said friend to murder someone the next day. Upon waking up, the hero will find his friend and try to stop him, only to witness the crime, thus convincing him of the cult's reality.

From then on it will be a series of puzzles that eventually lead to the real location of the cult, which the hero can use to find and kill all the cult members before they execute a massive plan that will result in worldwide nuclear warfare. The dream room will function as a basis for non-linear gameplay, each door being a level and containing a piece of the puzzle. And of course different lucid skills will be picked up along the way, beginning simple, and ending up very complex so that the player can easily run on walls, call up a number of psionic-like powers, and do all kinds of things. Of course the enemies will increase in difficulty as well so that the player will never become too powerful.




One unique feature that the game could include is a 'lucidity meter', basically a measurement of how lucid the main character is during the dream levels. This will affect the character's reaction speed as well as what moves he can pull off in the dream. For example, with 10% lucidity, the character may be able to do a roll on the ground, but with 100% lucidity, he can do a number of flips and other acrobatics. Certain very large objects may be able to be moved by the character at 100% lucidity, but at 10%, only smaller objects can be moved. That kind of thing. The lucidity meter would rise and fall based on a number of things. Sighting a dream sign, for example, would increase lucidity, while getting shot would cause you to lose lucidity. As you gain more experience, it will also be easier to fill the lucidity meter and harder to empty it as well.

Who we need: Well, we're using a game engine from the source up, so every game-related aspect needs to be covered. This would be: Modelers, Animators, Mappers, Scripters, Texture Artists, Music Composers, and Voice Actors

There's really no limit for who can help with what. The more people we have, the faster and better this will be, so bring your friends!




Tools:

The UDK comes with most of the tools necessary to create a game with it. However, for modeling, music, and voice recording, other tools will be required. Personally I recommend 3DS Max, Maya and Mixcraft for these tasks, but some free and open source alternatives include Blender3D, Audacity, and Jokosher

But the one thing that everyone will need to refer to is the Master Game Script. This is a regularly updated reference guide for the game creators, so that as they create content, they'll be able to get an idea of what they need to do to remain coordinated with the others in the project. A story summary, individual level summaries, and lines for voice actors will all be here. The rest will be up to the imaginations of the creators...you! This is supposed to be a game about dreams, remember, so feel free to go crazy and have fun with it (but keep the game to T or low M, please