The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

Who lives in a house like this?

The Dream Machine‘s first chapter was so lovely that, in a fit of something or other, I vowed to wait until the whole thing was out before playing any more. Well. Whatever reason I had for that decision, I hope it was worth it. Four years later, the end is drawing near-ish. The fifth chapter of six will arrive on November 14th, developers Cockroach have announced.

“Why’s it taking so long?” seems a silly question to ask about a game made from clay, cardboard, paint, and odds and ends by two people, but Cockroach’s answer is that this one is “bigger than all the previous chapters put together.” Crumbs.

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The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2

Even by episodic adventure game standards, The Dream Machine's fifth chapter has been a long time coming. Not quite as long as the wait between chapters 3 and 4 (that took 21 months), but at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, turns out making a game out of beautifully detailed, stop-motion characters and environments takes a really, really, really long time. Really. As with Kentucky Route Zero, however, I suspect it will be worth the wait, and I'd much rather the developers deliver a belated, quality episode than dial down their ambitions to adhere to a schedule.

Chapter 5 of the surreal adventure game will arrive on the 14th of November, and there's a sneak peek of it above in the accompanying trailer. Blimey—look at the effort that goes into making a single scene. I'm reminded of this brilliant sketch from The Fast Show:

The Dream Machine's first four chapters (along with the bundle of all six) is currently going for 50% off on Steam for the next day or so.

The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

First of all, thank you for you patience. We know we're slow. Stop-motion takes a ridiculous amount of time. Especially when you're only two sexy Swedish boys. I'm sure you'll think it has been worth the wait once you get to play it. Chapter 5 has been a thrilling ride, but now the time has come for us to step off and let others aboard. Yup. We're finally ready to unleash this beast.

So mark your calendars, folks. 14th of November is the date to save.

Check out the YouTube Date Trailer here

Cheers,

- a
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

First of all, thank you for you patience. We know we're slow. Stop-motion takes a ridiculous amount of time. Especially when you're only two sexy Swedish boys. I'm sure you'll think it has been worth the wait once you get to play it. Chapter 5 has been a thrilling ride, but now the time has come for us to step off and let others aboard. Yup. We're finally ready to unleash this beast.

So mark your calendars, folks. 14th of November is the date to save.

Check out the YouTube Date Trailer here

Cheers,

- a
Oct 23, 2014
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

We just pushed another update live. This one contains all kinds of spicy greatness. The most significant change is that the player character now pathfinds competently. That was never really an issue before, since he only had to traverse simple geometries. But once we started testing Chapter 5 in earnest, it was obvious the old pathfinding wasn't going to cut the mustard any more.

Another change you'll be happy to hear about is that most of the freeze issues should now be fixed. Particularly those that occurred on a black screen, between room loads.

The rest of the changes are minor, but delicious. You can read all about them in the list below:

• Engine: Rewrote pathfinding code
• Engine: Fixed freeze on black screen
• Engine: Made sure the Game Menu icon appears properly
• Game: Made sure credits music only plays once
• Game: Refactored soundscape code
• Game: Improved performance while on game menus
• Chapter 1: Tweaked soundscape
• Chapter 1: Added fishing sounds
• Chapter 1: Tweaked Alicia's interaction hotspot
• Chapter 2: Fixed temporary freeze bug when putting the helmets on Alicia
• Chapter 3: Fixed depth sorting issue in cabin 1
• Chapter 3: Fixed door issues on the bridge
• Chapter 4: Fixed freeze bug when you put helmet on mover
• Chapter 4: Removed screen shake while manipulating photos
• Chapter 2 & 4: Added information to the dream map
• Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4: Redesigned intro sequences
• Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4: Redesigned credits list

Don't be shy if you find something wonky about the game.

Regarding Chapter 5: We're still testing it and it's going very well. Release date announcement will follow shortly...

Stay tuned.

- a
Oct 23, 2014
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

We just pushed another update live. This one contains all kinds of spicy greatness. The most significant change is that the player character now pathfinds competently. That was never really an issue before, since he only had to traverse simple geometries. But once we started testing Chapter 5 in earnest, it was obvious the old pathfinding wasn't going to cut the mustard any more.

Another change you'll be happy to hear about is that most of the freeze issues should now be fixed. Particularly those that occurred on a black screen, between room loads.

The rest of the changes are minor, but delicious. You can read all about them in the list below:

• Engine: Rewrote pathfinding code
• Engine: Fixed freeze on black screen
• Engine: Made sure the Game Menu icon appears properly
• Game: Made sure credits music only plays once
• Game: Refactored soundscape code
• Game: Improved performance while on game menus
• Chapter 1: Tweaked soundscape
• Chapter 1: Added fishing sounds
• Chapter 1: Tweaked Alicia's interaction hotspot
• Chapter 2: Fixed temporary freeze bug when putting the helmets on Alicia
• Chapter 3: Fixed depth sorting issue in cabin 1
• Chapter 3: Fixed door issues on the bridge
• Chapter 4: Fixed freeze bug when you put helmet on mover
• Chapter 4: Removed screen shake while manipulating photos
• Chapter 2 & 4: Added information to the dream map
• Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4: Redesigned intro sequences
• Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4: Redesigned credits list

Don't be shy if you find something wonky about the game.

Regarding Chapter 5: We're still testing it and it's going very well. Release date announcement will follow shortly...

Stay tuned.

- a
Sep 20, 2014
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

We've just launched another update to the game. We've been receiving reports from Steam players that the game sometimes appears to freeze during loads. We're happy to tell you that that particular bug has been addressed. Along with a few other fixes that you didn't request but got anyway. 'Cause that's how we roll.

Aside from that, we're still working hard on Chapter 5. It's looking great, but there are still some things yet to do. No launch date yet, but it's not far off at this point.

Here's the full list of changes:

• Steam: Fixed bug that sometimes made the game freeze on the load screen
• Engine: Added 'Scale' task command
• Game: Fixed bug that caused Victor to move while on menus
• Chapter 1: Swapped worm graphics
• Chapter 1, 2 & 4: Interaction options added
• Chapter 1, 2 & 4: Fixed bug preventing some door interactions
• Chapter 1, 2 & 4: Tweaked interaction responses
• Chapter 4: Interaction hotspots added to Edie's apartment
• Chapter 4: Fixed intercourse display bug
• Chapter 4: Fixed freeze bug that happened if you showed young Edie photos
• Chapter 4: Swapped petal graphics
• Chapter 4: Fixed typo

As always, we hope you like these delicious tweaks. And should you encounter any problems with the game - don't be afraid to sound off. Preferably in the comment section below.

Cheers,

- a
Sep 20, 2014
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

We've just launched another update to the game. We've been receiving reports from Steam players that the game sometimes appears to freeze during loads. We're happy to tell you that that particular bug has been addressed. Along with a few other fixes that you didn't request but got anyway. 'Cause that's how we roll.

Aside from that, we're still working hard on Chapter 5. It's looking great, but there are still some things yet to do. No launch date yet, but it's not far off at this point.

Here's the full list of changes:

• Steam: Fixed bug that sometimes made the game freeze on the load screen
• Engine: Added 'Scale' task command
• Game: Fixed bug that caused Victor to move while on menus
• Chapter 1: Swapped worm graphics
• Chapter 1, 2 & 4: Interaction options added
• Chapter 1, 2 & 4: Fixed bug preventing some door interactions
• Chapter 1, 2 & 4: Tweaked interaction responses
• Chapter 4: Interaction hotspots added to Edie's apartment
• Chapter 4: Fixed intercourse display bug
• Chapter 4: Fixed freeze bug that happened if you showed young Edie photos
• Chapter 4: Swapped petal graphics
• Chapter 4: Fixed typo

As always, we hope you like these delicious tweaks. And should you encounter any problems with the game - don't be afraid to sound off. Preferably in the comment section below.

Cheers,

- a
Aug 20, 2014
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

We're working hard on getting Chapter 5 out the door. It shouldn't be too far off now. More and more post-its are getting checked off each day. No dates yet. In the meantime, we've released an update to the game. It's fairly meaty. A lot of the changes will only affect Chapter 5, but we also replayed all the earlier chapters and corrected any problem we encountered.

Here's the full list of changes:

• Engine: Tweaked proximity trigger object
• Engine: Tweaked step trigger object
• Engine: Optimized drag manager
• Engine: Tweaked 'Face' task command
• Game: Improved performance while on game menus
• Chapter 2 & 4: Tweaked gas machine graphics
• Chapter 1: Fixed Victor's depth sorting issue during breakfast
• Chapter 1: Fixed telephone's obstacle issue
• Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4: Added auto save points
• Chapter 2: Changed tentacle sounds
• Chapter 2: Fixed problem with putting on the helmets in the machine room
• Chapter 2: Tweaked Morton's conversation
• Chapter 2: Tweaked ink pad puzzle
• Chapter 2: Tweaked palm print door behaviour
• Chapter 2: Fixed minor safe behaviour bug
• Chapter 3: Fixed bartender's depth sorting issue
• Chapter 3: Reduced bartender's interactive area
• Chapter 3: Swapped graphics for dumb waiter contents
• Chapter 3: Fixed cabin 1 door's depth sorting issue
• Chapter 3: Tweaked minor graphical issues
• Chapter 4: Disabled ghostly jitter if Animation Effects have been turned off
• Chapter 4: Fixed game freeze that occured after speaking to "ghosts"
• Chapter 4: Fixed typo

As always, we hope you like what you read. And should you encounter any problems with the game - don't be afraid to sound off. Preferably in the comments below.

Cheers,

- a
Aug 20, 2014
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2 - Cockroach
Citizen!

We're working hard on getting Chapter 5 out the door. It shouldn't be too far off now. More and more post-its are getting checked off each day. No dates yet. In the meantime, we've released an update to the game. It's fairly meaty. A lot of the changes will only affect Chapter 5, but we also replayed all the earlier chapters and corrected any problem we encountered.

Here's the full list of changes:

• Engine: Tweaked proximity trigger object
• Engine: Tweaked step trigger object
• Engine: Optimized drag manager
• Engine: Tweaked 'Face' task command
• Game: Improved performance while on game menus
• Chapter 2 & 4: Tweaked gas machine graphics
• Chapter 1: Fixed Victor's depth sorting issue during breakfast
• Chapter 1: Fixed telephone's obstacle issue
• Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4: Added auto save points
• Chapter 2: Changed tentacle sounds
• Chapter 2: Fixed problem with putting on the helmets in the machine room
• Chapter 2: Tweaked Morton's conversation
• Chapter 2: Tweaked ink pad puzzle
• Chapter 2: Tweaked palm print door behaviour
• Chapter 2: Fixed minor safe behaviour bug
• Chapter 3: Fixed bartender's depth sorting issue
• Chapter 3: Reduced bartender's interactive area
• Chapter 3: Swapped graphics for dumb waiter contents
• Chapter 3: Fixed cabin 1 door's depth sorting issue
• Chapter 3: Tweaked minor graphical issues
• Chapter 4: Disabled ghostly jitter if Animation Effects have been turned off
• Chapter 4: Fixed game freeze that occured after speaking to "ghosts"
• Chapter 4: Fixed typo

As always, we hope you like what you read. And should you encounter any problems with the game - don't be afraid to sound off. Preferably in the comments below.

Cheers,

- a
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