Forest of Gloom Template Guidelines

Want to claim your own patch of Dreams purgatory? Look no further than The Land of Lost Dreams Kit. Below, you’ll find a quickstart guide, plus the full guidelines that your scene must abide by.

About the Forest of Gloom#

The Forest covers most of the land, and - as you might expect from the name - is a place of eternal murky darkness and strange inhabitants. Many of its denizens don’t seem to mind it there too much, but there are others who are... less than cheerful about being trapped here for eternity.

Quickstart Guide#

Remix a scene#

Start by playing the 3 Forest of Gloom Template scenes, and remix the one you prefer.

Check out the template guides#

Open up the Forest of Gloom microchip and have a browse of some of the preset options.

Inside Lighting, you can find some example light and colour combinations. You can choose one of these, or remove them and relight the scene to your preference.

Inside Audio, you can see the gadgets and sounds that provide a subtle background ambience. There are options to include more ambient sounds that fit your mood, or you can use these as an implementation guide.

Inside Layout, there are controls that can be used to toggle the visibility of three different regions in the scene. The outer region is locked and should not be edited. The middle region is fully editable, and the centre region is simply space for you to use.

Some elements are hidden in Edit Mode in order for you to see the work area more easily.

Place your exits#

You can choose which end of the template is your entrance and exit. To make the puppet start from the other side of the scene, enable the Reverse Path switch in the Forest of Gloom microchip in the centre of the scene.

Create!#

This is a freeform design challenge, so the next step is to create whatever you want to include in your scene.

This could be anything from a jump-scare, to a sculpture garden, to a piece of gameplay, to a meet-and-greet with your unreleased creatures or characters.

You can find themed assets and more inside the Forest of Gloom Elements collection. Feel free to pull from the Dreamiverse and your own collections of elements to decorate your scene.

Publish#

Make sure you publish your scene as playable and remixable, and submit it via this Google Form(opens in new tab) before 9AM BST on 12th September 2022.

Forest of Gloom: Full Guidelines#

General#

• You can use up to 85% of the graphics thermometer, 65% of the gameplay thermometer and 80% of the audio thermometer. (Note – each starting template uses some thermo in its initial state, but you are free to reduce the contents of the scene to give yourself more room to work.)
• We can only accept one scene per dreamer, but you may be a collaborator on multiple scenes.

Player#

The Land of Lost Dreams is a first-person adventure, so it's a good idea to get a feel for how the player moves. If you delete the player puppet, you can add in a new one from the collection. There is an Options microchip inside Puppet Logic containing gadgets which affect camera settings on the puppet.

IMPORTANT: This puppet is temporary and will be replaced in the event. You must not add any logic to the player puppet.

Utilising the player and their position#

• The tag Player is on the puppet’s torso and can be used with trigger zones to detect where the player is stood.
• A trigger zone detecting tags named Player Look can be used to gauge where the playing is looking.

Environment#

The templates are designed to be customisable and quick to set up. You can use the guides to highlight the editable areas of the forest, and importantly the non-editable edge of the forest.

• You should not remove this outer region. We cannot include levels that allow the player to fall out of the scene.
• You can edit or replace the lights in the templates, but do not include heavy strobing or flashing lights or glitch effects.
• You should light the scene so that the player can find the exit easily.

Gameplay#

• You cannot use directional up and down buttons, or touch pad, for any custom logic. Be aware that the Cross button is also used to jump, and Circle is used to crouch.
• You CAN hold the player still temporarily, by sending a wireless transmitter signal called Restrict Movement All, but you must release the player in a timely manner. The exit should always be available and unlocked - you must not trap the player.
• You cannot depossess the main character in order to possess other characters or objects, but you can use the imp by powering on a tag in your scene named Enable Imp. This will hold the player still until the tag is powered off, and the puppet will still be able to look around.
• The player cannot be killed in our content and there will be no health manager - you must not try to destroy the player or force a respawn in your scene.
• After exiting your scene, players will be able to walk backwards through the Forest. This might influence the design of your scene progression.

Audio#

Feel free to use, edit, or replace the sounds found in the templates.

Inside the Audio microchip, the Sound Design Elements microchip contains various sound effects that you may wish to include in your creation. The Stinger sounds found within are not just useful elements, but can also help you to gauge the overall loudness of your scene.

• If you include audio that is perceptively much louder than these reference sounds, it may be modified or removed.

Text and Dialogue#

If you want to incorporate text or dialogue, and want to make it match the visuals of the rest of the event, you can stamp a Simple Dialogue Template found in the Forest of Gloom Elements collection.

Forbidden Gadgets#

Do not add any of the following gadgets in your scene:

• Global Variables
• Variable Modifiers
• Doorways
• Prize Bubble
• Score and Score Modifier

Credits#

Please credit yourself in your scene! You can do this whichever way you choose, but there is also a handy Credit Sign element in the Forest of Gloom Elements collection.