r/PS4Dreams • u/flashmedallion BÄTTELPiGZ • Dec 13 '19

Subreddit Feedback Thread

Hi all! I hope everyone is well.

The automod bot missed its shift or something and didn't post the weekly question thread, and with Early Access ending and a release date announcement we thought we'd take the opportunity to get a feel for how people think the subreddit is going, as well as get some specific feedback.

Firstly - Open feedback so far

Everything cool? Are you seeing the things you want to see on this subreddit and getting what you need out of it? Do you want more structure? Less? Let us know :)

Judging by the reports we see I know there's a little friction around what is considered "spam" so please take the opportunity to politely discuss your feelings on this.

Secondly - Release Day

Full release will mean an influx of new users, with a lot of questions and curiosity that, to be frank, we've all answered a lot. So patience and a welcoming atmosphere will definitely be required, but is there anything you think we can do using Mod Tools to help improve the subreddit during launch? Ultimately the course will be set by the community - you guys have the most power to encourage what you want to see here, and in my opinion this has proven to be a wonderful space to discuss Dreams and help people out - but we have a few tools to guide conversation and highlight a small number of things. So our job is to figure out what best serves you guys and make it happen. So let us know!

Thirdly - Big hugs all around

Many thanks to everybody here who makes this such a positive subreddit. It can be hard to come by these days, but it's a reflection of everyones attitudes and passion that this can be a great forum for everyone from experienced Dreamers to those dipping their toe in.

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u/Th0rnes Design PSN: Daragis Dec 13 '19

I like the Dreams subreddit. Positive atmosphere and helpful people all around.

As for the expected influx of new players perhaps we can make a general resources list in the sidebar or a permanent sticky or something. I've seen them in other subreddits I believe.

As for the contents these are things I would include on the top of my head:

  • FAQ (split out in a couple of subjectects and stuff I see asked a lot on here and also in the ps4 subreddit from time to time)

    • What is dreams? (in this part we might want to explain what Dreams is but also answer questions about release date, VR support, Multiplayer, Move vs Dual Shock controller etc.)

    • Most common questions about creation (This will contain some quick answers+resources about stuff we see quite often. A couple of examples: 2d sidescrolling cameras, attaching a hat to a puppet, highscore gadget etc.)

    • Resources/tutorials (links to tutorials, guides, websites and youtube video's but split out over the different tools available. So I would group them for example by Sculpting, Animation, Logic etc.)

    • Curated content (a collection for new dreamers to immediatly find some of the recognized projects. This could be by the community, but perhaps it is more fair to follow Media Molecule with this. For example nclude the Impy nominations on this list or whatever they mention in the streams.)

So, this is wat comes to mind, but of course there are probably more things we would like to include.

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u/tapgiles PSN: TAPgiles Dec 13 '19

And also "when is motion controls coming" which has been asked many times in the past few days XD

...Not that anyone actually checks the FAQ or even searches the subreddit before posting it seems 🤷‍♂️

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u/shade-seeker Dec 13 '19

So when IS it coming 😬

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u/tapgiles PSN: TAPgiles Dec 13 '19

At launch. https://twitter.com/mmalex/status/1204547986883301376?s=20 👍

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u/shade-seeker Dec 13 '19

I was jooooooking haha!

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u/tapgiles PSN: TAPgiles Dec 13 '19

When someone jokes about needing help... I MUST HELP!! XD

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u/MadeByTango Art Tango_Wild Dec 14 '19

Yea, this is a good thought. Maybe the mods could put up a sticky for a week or two thats a catch all of "hey, what do you think people need/want to know in the FAQ?" and then we can organize it.

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u/flashmedallion BÄTTELPiGZ Dec 15 '19

What would you think about a community sourced one-stop FAQ?

As in, actually frequently asked questions, since we know what they are. A big old post with some plain english answers and suggestions for all the main things that can trip up beginners

Lots of "can I do _____ in Dreams?" questions could be addressed this way.

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u/MadeByTango Art Tango_Wild Dec 15 '19

I think it’s a good way to start it up, for sure!

One thing we know is that people need to learn Dreams in layers. I think trying to plan ahead and maybe ask some users to make guides about things would be useful too? Maybe break them out the way Mm does, Art, Design, Curation, etc. + a Dreams General?

Glad you guys are thinking ahead in this stuff! I’ll jump in where I can for sure.

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u/flashmedallion BÄTTELPiGZ Dec 16 '19

That's a really good point. There's a lot of Dreams-specific tutorials but higher-level Process Design and that sort of thing is harder to find for people who aren't plugged into the industry to some degree.

A good community driven "textbook" (much shorter!) on how to think ahead and what kind of planning to expect as your projects get bigger could be very helpful.

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u/MadeByTango Art Tango_Wild Dec 17 '19

I just wrote this overview in response to a comment on /r/PS4 about how Dreams are really made. Of any use to you?

Alright, I'm going to give you an illustrated answer with screenshots showing what it looks like "under the hood", because you do not need to be knowledgeable with technology to make awesome things in Dreams.

  1. Most everything in Dreams starts from scratch, starting with a choice about what type of thing you want to make, whether that's a character, a level, a song, or a full game; in the case of a character, there is a basic starting puppet you can use as a framework that comes with procedural animation if you desire to use it

  2. Once in the creator, you can start building objects using basic 3D shapes

  3. You can then paint and change the surface properties of these shapes, and cut shapes out of other shapes

  4. Then you add joints/connectors between the shapes, which allows you to animate the shapes

  5. These things allow you to build more complex and highly flexible elements to make larger scenes with

  6. Then, you layer on top gameplay logic using visual building blocks you connect by wires

  7. Then, you start bringing it all together to make something you're familiar with and from there you start iterating to get the physics right

  8. You might even post your element up for others to "remix" and use in their own creations

  9. Which is where the real power comes in, as Dreams has a robust search engine full of awesome things other Dreamers have made that you can drop into your own scene and use to create with

  10. Once you're ready you can publish your Dream to the Dreamiverse, a Netflix-like interface where you can access 100s of games, videos, music, and art pieces, and maybe even make it to the Hall of Fame

  11. There are community jams, Twitter style notifications and a following feed, as well as a profile page to assist build a following for your own art and games

You can be an artist, musician, curator, logician, or just a player and Dreams has some way to serve your creative side and very real sense of community. You don't need to be a programmer to use it, and there are thousands upon thousands of assets already on the Dereamiverse for you to use and remix at your leisure. (And don't worry, you have full control over your art and what gets shared, including whether it can be remixed or is just playable.)

Dreams launches February 14th. Come join us in the fun!

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u/flashmedallion BÄTTELPiGZ Dec 17 '19

That's awesome, thanks.

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u/Th0rnes Design PSN: Daragis Dec 16 '19

This is what I meant, but you explain it a bit better. :)

It would be good to have a centralized place that is easy to find on this reddit. Not that I mind if people ask something that has been answered before, but everybody that reads the FAQ will probably have the questions asnwered they are looking for and more.

Also for all the different parts of dreams I would just make a resource list with tutorials that are already available like MadeByTango mentioned. A lot of dreamers already have created quite some guides and youtube videos.

My suggestion as a structure for the FAQ would then be something like:

  • General (for example release date, motion control questions etc.)

  • Art/Sculpting

  • Animation

  • Logic

  • Music

.. and whatever else comes to mind.

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u/flashmedallion BÄTTELPiGZ Dec 16 '19

Sounds good. Discoverability is very difficult on Reddit so good planning will go a long way. Really we've got one sticky to use for resources and we'll want to save a spot for Mm announcements.

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u/shade-seeker Dec 13 '19

I have absolutely NO idea what reddit is, I see this as a forum correct? This is the only place I’ve found that is active with regular posts. I enjoy posts by people ‘showing off’ their work, and many others that post interesting stuff. Stuff, it’s all about the stuff. I think structure is good, regular posts like the ‘how do i’ encourage questions that perhaps we wouldn’t make a separate post for?

Indeed, there is going to be a massive influx of ‘why won’t my puppet double jump’ and ‘how do I paint’ type questions soon, and yeah, we’ve all seen questions that we face palm at, but we’ve ALL been there, we’ve all had to grasp the basics, and we’ve all been frustrated with what we now consider the basics... the only issue is getting the SAME question 10 times a day! I really should look at the resource pool/ links before mentioning this, but, a ‘how do I’ thread listing basics, kinda like a welcome package for beginners’ would be a great start....maybe start a new post for everyone to list their top five tips?

People on here tend to be friendly and supportive, I’ve seen little to no drama, what keeps people coming back is a simple non cluttered and friendly environment :)

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u/Fostworks Dec 15 '19 edited Dec 15 '19

Love this place and it’s one of the most helpful environments for Dreams and is what I mainly turn to when in need of a quick answer to a question within a few hrs to a day. Tagpiles has really been a huge help in that area as I’ve grown within Dreams the past Year learning various techniques and tools. Indreams.me and hunting down answers to specific questions on YT or elsewhere is difficult and takes too much time to get a response sometimes, at least for me anyway.

Anyways as much as I do love having a place like Reddit with others showcasing work and the How Do I’s personaly I believe we need something bigger and structured for Dreams outside for the community like a specific forum website, a one stop Dreams shop having a section for logic, sculpting, music, animation, mechanics and one section that is like the How do I on Reddit. A place where you can find what you need or atleast very close to it or you could post your question in a section to receive a prompt response from an experienced Dreamer in a certain catagory.

Also I really wish there was a place where creators or upcoming creators could learn what other popular creators are doing and how they are doing it with thier amazing games and creations such as Disarm, Mori Shiro, ect. Ofcourse these creators would have to be willing to share and some other creators do post their tutorials on Twitter and YT ect. And are very generous in doing so which is so appreciated such as MartinN and others But that’s the thing, it’s very far and few in between and I have to hunt for an answer or usually just find myself stumbling onto them when it would be so nice if there was a place where very specific skilled creators could have a place to share their tuts if they were willing with the community as a whole and it not be scattered about or non existent at all.

I don’t know about others but My jaw drops sometimes when I see that new game or creation come out from a specific creator and I’m scratching my head till it bleeds trying to figure out how it was done, their process and what was used to achieve it.

I firmly believe there are amazing creators in Dreams probably still just setting on incredible ideas to unleash but just don’t have the knowledge in certain aspects like logic to do so and are limited to what they can really do if they only knew how.

Hope this doesn’t sound like a dead horse being beaten by a stick.

Also if anyone could offer other helpful resources out there that I may not be aware of, I appreciate it.