[The Dreaming] v0.9 (Win/Mac/Linux)

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Taleweaver
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[The Dreaming] v0.9 (Win/Mac/Linux)

#1 Post by Taleweaver »

Finally, I have something I can release with semi-good conscience: The Dreaming, gameplay-finalized version 0.9. Should be bug-free; unfortunately, the artwork is still incomplete. Except for the character sprites, virtually everything is a placeholder, from the photographies and concept sketches I used for the BG art to a few of the sprites. Still, I hope that doesn't distract from the experience too much.

Grab it at http://www.mediafire.com/?tqdyrb3lz1nsd89

The Dreaming is a visual novella in which you take the part of Gabrielle, a young psychiatrist during her first weeks at a mental institution. One of her early jobs is to complete the diagnosis of Julius, a young man hospitalized at the clinic with an unusual case of schizophrenia: not only has he vivid hallucinations - the whole world seems like one big hallucination to him. Digging deeper into his mental condition, Gabrielle soon finds out that there is more to Julius than meets the eye... and a few of these things are terrible indeed...

The quick and dirty:
Genre: Psychological thriller
Playtime: ~1 hr
Multiple endings
Unlockable bonus content

Have fun!
Last edited by Taleweaver on Sun Jan 08, 2012 12:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#2 Post by Aashtarsrain »

:D Great ! Downloading NOW !

EDIT :D Ok, it worked fine in the end ! Going to play now ! Thanks again.
Last edited by Aashtarsrain on Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#3 Post by Taleweaver »

Aashtarsrain wrote:Well, I tried twice but I was not able to complete the download... Maybe later !
I would have upped it directly into this forum, but I tried it several times, and my server connection was always reset during the upload. And at 107 megs, I found it too much of a hassle, so I found another uploading server. Sorry if it doesn't work well...

*edit* Tried it just now, and the download works fine for me.
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#4 Post by raylynn »

i find myself playing this over and over again trying to get all the endings..i have had 4 of them. Im addicted. I love it. However, it is driving me crazy. I have had THAT many endings and still dont have a definative answer on WHAT is GOING on. Got theories, of course, but was wondering if you could explain in spoiler tags for me please ;)

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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#5 Post by DrakeNavarone »

I have to admit, this one hooked me in pretty quickly. And I definitely like it. But I'm having trouble figuring out how much I like it... mostly because I'm growing increasingly frustrated over hunting down the true ending, the only one I haven't gotten to yet... Here's hoping for a few solid hints!

Everything else about it seems pretty solid. I preferred the parts before all the crazy happens actually, but the rest doesn't really detract from the experience for me. I quickly took to the art too. It has a certain charm to it. The sketch for the bg of the outside of the institution was a little jarring, but surprisingly I didn't mind the sketches for the sprites, though most of the time they are obscured, so it isn't easy getting a full look of them. However, the sketchy style actually seems really appropriate for the white lady. The music is also really nice and always atmospheric, adding a lot to the whole experience.

So yeah, I liked it mostly, but I'm really hoping for a good hint or two about this true ending before I can consider my experience with this piece complete.
Last edited by DrakeNavarone on Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#6 Post by Taleweaver »

Good to hear that someone already found the True Ending - I was seriously worried about it being too difficult to achieve, especially because I threw so many red herrings at you players.

Finding the True Ending unlocks an additional scene as bonus content. Finding all endings unlocks the Developer's Notes. If, after the True Ending, any final questions remain, PM me and I will gladly answer them.

*edit* Silly me - ending 5 isn't the True Ending at all! So the challenge still stands: who will be the first to solve the game without my help?
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#7 Post by victorita9 »

i just managed to get the 5th ending yay! Now for the last one. I need a hint. At least were to start.

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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#8 Post by Taleweaver »

For starters, ending 6 is the true ending. It's supposed to be difficult to attain. The path you need to walk is a dangerous one; one step to a side and you'll probably find a premature ending. So if you keep dying (except to Ending 1)... you're probably doing something right.

Aside from that, there are three possible pitfalls:
- you can fail to properly treat Julius's condition
- you can lose Julius's cooperation in the therapy
- you can fail to find all the clues to the real mystery behind the Dreaming

Of these points, the last is the most important. Finding all the clues without somehow running into an early ending is the key to unlocking Ending 6.

By the way, there's still nobody who seems to have found it without the help of a full walkthrough. C'mon, boys and girls, you can do it!
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#9 Post by carosene »

What an awesome game! :O
I love the psychology! I love the dark creepy paranormal stuff! I love the art, and the music and the mood of the game are great.
First time I played it was about 10 at night, in bed, with everyone else in the house asleep. Great way to do it. Should've turned the light off.

The only thing that was kind of odd to me was... now, I don't pretend to know very much about psychology, (I took a semester class in high school) and I know that schizophrenia is sort of an umbrella term for a lot of different problems and stuff...
But isn't schizophrenia mainly a biological/genetic problem? Like, it runs in families and stuff. For example, both my aunt and her brother have it... (Though I'm not close enough to them to know very much more about it. And I'm not related to them by blood, before you ask. XD My aunt is my aunt because she married my mom's brother.) It just seemed a bit odd to me that Gabrielle never really mentions it...
Though otherwise, your knowledge of psychological stuff really impressed me.

I've gotten endings 2, 3, and 4, by the way. XD Alright, onto the true ending!
Last edited by carosene on Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#10 Post by Taleweaver »

carosene wrote:It just seemed a bit odd to me that Gabrielle never really mentions it...
Though otherwise, your knowledge of psychological stuff really impressed me.
There is a reason for both of this... for Gabrielle never mentioning the a possible genetic explanation for Julius's condition, and a reason for me to know a little about medical affairs. The True Ending and the Developer's Notes explain both :)
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#11 Post by carosene »

Ah! I see. I'll keep trying to get it then. :D

Oh, by the way, the number choice for room 34 isn't a reference to a certain rule of the internet, is it? XD
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#12 Post by Taleweaver »

carosene wrote:Oh, by the way, the number choice for room 34 isn't a reference to a certain rule of the internet, is it? XD
Interpret it as you wish. And if you interpret it the way I think you will, I don't want to see the results.
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"Adrift - Like Ever17, but without the Deus Ex Machina" - HigurashiKira

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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#13 Post by Guest »

I disliked Daemonophilia, but this one is definitely top tier.

The writing is strong. Not seen all ends yet, but the scenario seems decently well built and the text is technically quite all right as well. The characters are a bit cardboard-y at times which bothers since there are most of the time only two of them, and the gigantic walls of text annoy until you get accustomed to them as some kind of a representation of Gabrielle's personality. There are two and a half dozen things one could nitpick about, but I leave it at that.

Aside from the art being unfinished, it left me kinda cold. The mist effect accompanied by the haunting white sketches was actually very good, but the character art didn't feel quite right. A different kind of art (as in style) would've fit the mood of the game better and really support the atmosphere instead of working against it. It's not a lost cause, but I kept wishing the text and art would work together better.

Music is well chosen.

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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#14 Post by carosene »

Taleweaver wrote: Interpret it as you wish. And if you interpret it the way I think you will, I don't want to see the results.
Lol, I didn't even "interpret" it at all, I just kinda wondered if it was a joke on your part. XD

I have all of the first five endings... still looking for number six...
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Re: [The Dreaming] v0.9 (windows only)

#15 Post by Alphonse »

I got a few endings. Can't quite remember the names. I got the one with
Jane and being killed by that flesh monster thingy, Relationship ending 5 (Gabrielle says that she can see the hallucinations too because they're connected or something), the one where she says she's unfit to be a psychiatrist or whatever the word was anymore, the where you get trapped in the darkness with the White Woman, and the one where you drug him too much and he goes into a coma.
Hey, that's 5 of 6! I give up though. Can't find the last one without a walkthrough. Where is this walkthrough of yours? I can't stand searching for endings, no offense. Not my thing, it totally frustrates me. Maybe I should only play kinetic novels from now on.

It's 3:00 in the morning as I'm typing this. Simply reading about psychology, paradoxes, and fallacies on Wikipedia is enough to give me nightmares. I hope I sleep well tonight. The (slightly inappropriate, to be honest) cartoonish art negated some of the scariness though. Yeah, if it weren't for the art style, I'd definitely want to play this in the daytime.

Agh, maybe I should find some happy-go-lucky romantic comedy visual novel to clear my mind before I sleep?

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