Dreamview Weekly Roundup #56

Ah, we love an update week in Dreams. Everywhere, the sound of happy dreamers trying new Create features, discovering new techniques, and generally just flecking around and finding out.

Mainly, though, it’s because we can get away with saying almost anything in the Dreamview Weekly Roundup while everyone’s busy getting an eyeful of opaque square or whatever. Read on for takes so blisteringly hot that legend has it intelligence agencies use them to sear the fingerprints off their most promising agents - including, but not limited to, ‘Wow, this Dreams thing is pretty good’. Scorchio.

RetroFire#

by SmileBasic

Estimated playtime: Replayable

Son of a space laser - this retro-inspired shmup is too good. Then again, it was made by Soul Slave developer SmileBasic, so why are we surprised? Again, it’s SmileBasic’s expert knowledge of what makes a satisfying movement-based combat system that is most evident. Flying around the screen into the horizon is non-stop smooth, and dodge-rolling is so responsive (and a chaotic amount of enemy missiles so clearly rendered) that getting hit only ever feels like our fault. Grenade and shotgun abilities add a layer of strategy to dealing with airborne or land-dwelling enemies, and don’t get us started on the parry rolls. Oh, alright - they’re a boon for serious score-chasers, with an exquisite animation detail in your four-winged ship raising its top pair as it parries, like a defensive little porcupine. There’s even full 3D aim with the right stick. It’s just the one stage right now - but there’s talk of a second level, set underwater, on the way. Soul Slave may still be in development, but with quality side-projects like this and the unique DEAD DREAMS BUNDLE, SmileBasic’s keeping us well-fed.

Let’s Talk Dreams | Ep1 Toon Week#

by RedSeikatsu-

Estimated runtime: 2 mins

Now this is some truly creative curation. Red and the Cursed Isles creator RedSeikatsu-’s latest project branches out from the world of games. Let’s Talk Dreams is a weekly animated talk show made in Dreams, presenting a handful of useful assets and impressive creations from within the studio - and it’s all hosted by long-time Red series hero, Red himself. This week? It’s ‘Toon Week’, and so we’re shown five stylised remixable assets from creators such as Bsimpler, Adrifarran and duckenomics - with Red helpfully explaining why each one is worth a look. It’s a wonderful way to spotlight other player’s work, giving less-visible single assets a proper platform, as well as being great promotion for RedSeikatsu-’s own original character. Cleverly, the in-game video runtime is kept short and snappy, only featuring the usable assets - RedSeikatsu- has really understood how to engage the more Create-focused audience in-game. If you fancy watching the full 8-minute video with recommendations for playable creations, you’ll have to head to YouTube(se abre en una nueva pestaña).

PFFFF#

by ItsMeJuvy

Estimated playtime: Replayable

You know what’s nice? Options. Green Game Jam entry PFFFF has a few tempting ones. You’ve got the choice of playing in two modes: there’s a free mode where you can place trees, buildings, wind farms, rocks and boats (which do adorable little donuts in the sea) to your heart’s content. The other mode is a survival challenge, where you must keep the planet alive by planting trees and setting up sustainable energy facilities to earn cash, while frantically rotating the globe to zap polluting power plants out of existence before they suck up all of your resources. The speed at which factories appear provides a real challenge to sink your teeth into; fortunately, ItsMeJuvy’s well-documented design skills help enormously. The planet-wide visibility of the angry red power plant numbers instantly allow you to quickly navigate to the source of the latest problem. The best option, however, has to be the (wonderfully dramatic) ‘planet reset’ button. Imagine.

Swords#

by Suthurnur

Estimated playtime: N/A

We spent a delightful hour or so in Magma-Monsta’s livestream this week, where the Plastic Dreamers creator took plenty of time to admire and showcase the incredible work of Suthurnur. Suthurnur is a prolific artist whose Dreams work - which is often remixable - deserves some extra love: just look at cursed caramel apple-character Gravenstein, or the astonishing line work in this 2D painting. It’s hard to choose just one creation to sing the praises of, but for this week’s Roundup, we’re going with ‘Swords’ - a collection of imaginative armaments that anyone’s Dreams-made character would surely be glad to wield. From a greatsword crafted from stained glass, to a wooden claymore with a bright-eyed, grinning forest demon hiding inside, these concepts are sharper than a carbon-steel scimitar with a chemistry degree. (Dear god, nobody let it teach.)

Building with balls#

by Jimmyjules153

Estimated runtime: Looping

We’ll admit, we clicked ‘Play’ with trepidation. What a title, Jimmy. That particular aspect of this creation might be goofy, but the reality of this generative visual loop is actually incredibly elegant. Not only is it easy on the eyes and ears - the choice of complementary colour palettes is immaculate, and a playful Pudazuka track perfectly sets the mood - the creative technical thinking behind this is enviable. These ball-based sculptures are being 3D printed in real-time, gargoyles and mermaids slowly morphing into their final forms as they’re essentially raycast into form using laser scopes.

Check out the playable edition of this week's Dreamview Weekly Roundup right here in Dreams!

Which creations caught your eye in the Dreamiverse this week, and why? Tell us about your personal picks over on the official Dreams forums!(se abre en una nueva pestaña)