Media Molecule is trying to turn everybody into game developers with Dreams on PS4. Its latest idea to help people create in Dreams are templates. These Dreams templates are a base for players to build off of and include some game logic and helps creators create.
GamesRadar picked up this information in its recent interview with Mark Healey, Media Molecule’s co-founder and creative director on Dreams. He noted that a lot of players during the Dreams beta would only make one type of thing: props, animations, music, AI, and bits of games. The team wants to make it easier for anybody to make game creations, and templates are the way to do it, according to Healey.
“[Templates] are a starting point for a certain genre of games,” he said. “So we’ve got a first-person shooter template for example. It’s just like a very simple white boxed version of a shooter. So you take that and you can instantly start putting your own art in and you don’t have to worry about ‘how do I make a first-person shooter?’ We’ve done it for a first-person shooter, there’s a 2D side-scrolling platformer, there’s a whole bunch of really obvious genres, driving a car, different things [like that].”
One reason why Media Molecule is adding Dreams templates is to entice players into branching out of their comfort zone. If a player is really into making certain things, a template might help push their boundaries and get them creating different things. Templates are there to assist and give the near-limitless nature of Dreams more structure to work in.
Dreams was semi-revealed way back in 2013 at the PS4 reveal. The game didn’t have a name, and its scope has expanded since then. Dreams went into a closed beta in December, then a wider beta on January 21. The game will enter a paid early access later this Spring for $29.99. Hopefully, Dreams will release in full later this year.