Train Jam, as you might suspect, is a game jam that takes place on a train. Developers are invited to board a train travelling from Chicago to San Francisco in order to attend GDC, but during the 52-hour trip, everyone works to build a game from scratch using whatever tools they like. A quartet of Media Molecule employees took part this year, and using only the upcoming Dreams, they created a platformer dubbed Comic Sands, which you can see in action above.
It's very basic, with the player guiding a simple character through a desert environment collecting little gems, but it's worth remembering that literally everything in the above clip was made using Media Molecule's ambitious and powerful creation tools within Dreams. The way characters move, the effects, the music -- everything.
While it's obviously not the most impressive game in the world, Comic Sands is very different to anything yet shown from Dreams; the fact it begins in 2D and transitions into 3D, and the unique visual style, is telling of the kind of experiences you'll be able to construct yourself when Dreams eventually releases. The potential on display is bonkers.
What do you think of this little game made using Dreams? Are you excited to get your hands on Dreams' tools for yourself? Paint us a picture in the comments below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 31
Dreams is fascinating.
Wow, Unbelievable...
i think we will not need Game Engines for indies projects or in some cases, big Projects...
That's pretty impressive. Games inside of games, what'll they think of next.
This is very cool.
That lovely squash and stretch on the block.
Dreams is going to be crazy when we get it in our hands.
Yet another unique experience on PS4. I hope Dreams sells well enough to justify Sony's investment in it and keeps Media Molecule in business. It'll be interesting how they do the pre- and post-launch marketing for this game.
Whilst this is undeniably cool, the fact it took 4 people from Media Molecule 52 hours to create it fills me with dread. I'm going to have neither the skill nor the patience to create anything! Still want it, though.
That's impressive, creative people will have some much fun with this. Since I'm not creative I think I just play the single player story lol
This just made me 100% more interested in Dreams.
@Turismo4GT I think Sony sees Dreams as a prestige product. Obviously they'll want it to sell well, but I think they see it as a "creative" project too. It reflects well on them as a company, and they're going to get a lot of press/awards for it IMO.
Frickin awesome, can’t wait for all the creations of players. I want a 3D platformer. ^^
@get2sammyb I certainly hope so, from what we've seen so far of it, it'll be thoroughly deserving of any accolades it gets.
52 hours ain't much but I guess these guys know their way round the software. Stick a few zeros in the end of that for me!
Dreams looks super fun. Can't wait!
Very nice, exciting to see examples of what can be created.
This is amazing. When you see what some people have done with Games Designer Utilities on other platforms, the stuff that's going to be released with Dreams could be feckin' astounding.
.. not to mention the VR aspect... this could be THE VR killer app / game that makes it even more mainstream (think of the possibilities...)
I can't wait to see what some imaginative and creative players create on this. There were some corkers on LBP, like that giant calculator.
Dreams does sound (and look) incredible it just seems far too complicated for my mind to understand.
Hope it takes off. There's some amazingly creative people out there and I'm sure they'll love this.
For those concerned about the time it takes to create in Dreams — I heard and interview with one of the developers and they said the game will have some tiered type of creative modes. They realized the cumbersome creative tools in LBP was a hinderance and so Dreams should have a mode of very simple and easy to use tools, and then more sophisticated tools for those that want to really delve deep. It sounds like the attempt was made to make Dreams even more approachable than LBP was.
I love the idea of Dreams but I know full well I'd get it, look blankly at the tutorials and tools for about ten minutes and then never look at it ever again!
@Mergatro1d You can also ignore the creation tool and just play other people's games!
I'm going to use Dreams to make a Third person action/narrative game because that is all Sony makes.
Seriously though, I am so hyped for this game. It looks like a real breath of fresh air.
@Octane Yeah I'm sure that's what I'll end up doing. Will be fascinating to see what people come up with.
Wouldn't it be cool if there was a share feature so you could collaborate with other people?
I hate to be a wet blanket, but while we've seen a lot of creativity out of Dreams — with some wonderfully cute and attractive visuals and sounds, we've yet to see anything clearly fun to play...
Thats really cool! Very excited to get my hands on dreamsm i use to sendcso much time in creation mode in LBP.
Shoot em up construction kit! Someone is bound to make it, then I can play xenon, thunderforce 4, blood money and maybe even 1942!! No way am I clever enough but surely there’s people out there who are. This looks unbelievably varied. Limitless opportunity! Can’t wait to see what people come up with.
Cant wait for our first project;
Rocket Penis the game.
Dreams looks like it could be something incredible, but I do think it's going to be something with a very small- though very dedicated- fanbase.
I can see this sinking without trace within a year unless it's marketed heavily and cleverly. Somehow I'm not sure that Sony will have the stamina to make this as successful as it should be.
If it's heavily reliant on user contributions and it doesnt manage to get that creative fan base really pushing the boundaries, it'll die, and that will be a tragedy.
as much as i'd want to make something like this, i think i would run out of patience. even with LBP I thought I'd make games forever. a few hours in I couldn't do what I wanted to do and then only downloaded other peoples ideas they created. it was fun, but I couldn't create.
I didn’t realize Dreams wasn’t already out. Dang that was announced a long time ago. It looked like it’ll be pretty cool though:
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