Brainstorming an Idea

I had an idea that I was kicking around for a sort of alternate reality/video game. It would blend lucid dreaming with gaming, in such a way that part of the action would take place in the dream and part of it would take place in the game. There would be puzzles that would contain elements that can only be solved by integrating the game and a lucid dream.

A very simple example would be this puzzle solving idea:

You are in a room, with an automatic door that is operated only by a switch. The switch is located on a ledge high up in the room that cannot be accessed in the game. To solve the puzzle, the player would have to put themselves in the room in a lucid dream, and find a way (such as flying) to reach the ledge and activate the switch.

I am still kicking around the idea. Anyone have any other thoughts? If the game is engaging enough, it would be easy to dream about it, especially if played just before going to bed or as part of a WBTB.

Lucid dream games have been talked about before, and with not much really happening. Thee main problem with this stuff is the difficulty of actually making the game. The amount of programming, graphic stuff, and other things would be tremendous. With that said, the only way I really see this ever happening would be in the form of a text adventure game. Maybe some day...

True. Although I have been wondering if perhaps a text based adventure game would be better than a graphics based game anyway. One thought I had involves a "Master of Ceremonies", who could draw up some kind of a map, which goes chamber to chamber sort of like Portal. Each chamber would have a simple setup like what I was talking about earlier, and the dreamer would have to solve the task before being presented with the next installment of the game. The MoC would review the dream journal entries of the player(s), and use that to help add detail to the game as it progresses.

A good writer combined with a skillfull dreamer could make for some very fascinating adventures. At the very least, you could have a dreamworld based obstacle course and have dreamers compete to see who finishes first.

Any other thoughts? As I say, I'm just brainstorming in this thread.

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Originally Posted by cedward1

True. Although I have been wondering if perhaps a text based adventure game would be better than a graphics based game anyway. One thought I had involves a "Master of Ceremonies", who could draw up some kind of a map, which goes chamber to chamber sort of like Portal. Each chamber would have a simple setup like what I was talking about earlier, and the dreamer would have to solve the task before being presented with the next installment of the game. The MoC would review the dream journal entries of the player(s), and use that to help add detail to the game as it progresses.

A good writer combined with a skillfull dreamer could make for some very fascinating adventures. At the very least, you could have a dreamworld based obstacle course and have dreamers compete to see who finishes first.

Any other thoughts? As I say, I'm just brainstorming in this thread.

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That sounds like it would be awesome. If someone were to do that in the forum RP section, it would be pretty awesome.

Another variation could match two people against each other. There would be, say, a series of 10 chambers. They would have a race to see who finishes first, but the trick is that each person designs the challenges in the other guy's chambers.

I'll try to get something together to put in the RP section, and see if I can get any takers. I would probably lose terribly in either of the variations, but I could think up some fun missions.

I started a very simple version of the game in the forum RP section. I'm currently working on a much more complex version using Inform 7. Hopefully that will be done in a few weeks, if nothing happens in the meantime to hinder me. As far as I know, it will be the world's first adventure game using dreams as a medium.

That sounds pretty awesome. What exactly do you mean by "using dreams as a medium", though?

I mean as an entertainment medium. For example, games used to use boards and pieces as a medium, then there were text games such as Adventure and Zork, and finally games that use sound and graphics as a medium. This game will use the medium of the dreamworld, in effect turning the players mind into a computer screen of sorts. Instead of software telling a computer what to display on the screen, the text will tell an individual what to experience.