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Dreaming Mary is an original adventure game in a sidescrolling format, made using the free RPG Maker VX Ace Lite. It is inspired by the Japanese horror game Ib and the abstract game Yume Nikki, and is influenced by the indie platformer Eversion as well as the TV show Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Despite these influences, Dreaming Mary is not exactly a horror game. It does contain horror elements, though they might never be encountered by a player who chooses to indulge in the dreams instead of investigating.

The game's average playtime ranges from fifteen to twenty-five minutes to reach one ending, and there are four endings. In the game you are able to interact with items and NPCs. It is important to pay attention to dialogue and to your surroundings in order to proceed. Sound is vital in this game and can help the player move forward as well as provide hints to the situation Mary has found herself in.

This game is not intended for children or those of a nervous disposition and may contain triggering content. Please play with headphones or high audio in a quiet room. There are four endings and bonus content is available after all four have been achieved in one game file. For hints and information, please see the game's homepage at the bottom of the description.

STORY

Mary is a girl who loves to dream. In fact, she loves to dream so much she can spend an entire day dreaming. One day, when she falls asleep, she finds herself in a nostalgic place very different from her other dreams. Everyone there knows her and treats her like an old friend, and they invite her to play with them or help them. When she finishes all of their tasks, she is invited deeper into the dream.

Will you lead her to fall into her dreams? Or will you bring her back to the waking world?

As the player, you have the choice in the final decision of Mary's final dream.

FEATURES
*Custom graphics
*Custom music
*Vocal songs
*Voices
*Movie
*Bonus content (available after achieving all 4 endings in 1 game file)

ACE LITE CHALLENGE
Dreaming Mary was originally created and completed in RMVX Ace Lite. It was ported to the full version of Ace afterwards, but still conforms to many of the original restrictions of the Lite software, such as:
*No more than 20 maps
*Only 10 events per map
*No more than 10 common events
*Limit of 100 switches and variables
*No call common event option

The full Ace software was needed for file encryption and font change. Mithran's Text Cache script is used as well as a single line of call script in the game's eventing.

4/19: Updated download link added!
Fixed bugs:
-Premature notification of the 4 endings
-Removal of script which caused ‘sound file not found’

Still active bug(s):
-Bonus mode freeze from painting (please only activate bonus mode before the 'turning point' of the game)

Produced by Accha (story, art, programming, voice)
With support from Trass (music, advice on how to use RMVX)

Game homepage (tumblr)
12-track OST on Bandcamp (200 free downloads per month)

Latest Blog

No blog entries have been posted yet.

  • Completed
  • accha
  • Trass
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • Adventure
  • 04/16/2014 04:29 PM
  • 06/30/2022 03:02 PM
  • 04/17/2014
  • 1445284
  • 244
  • 111990

Posts

lol xD

Thanks for playing, Bloo! I actually watched your vid already haha XD I really enjoyed watching you play actually; you had a lot of interesting and funny comments and I pretty much frikkin lost it when you *zoomed* in on "pleasurable" and said "OH MY GOD" in the most scandalized tone I've ever heard :'')

Also, thanks again to all of the let's players who've shared their videos. It's a great form of feedback that really lets me see what you guys have trouble with (like the controls oh man) and what made you really excited.

While I'm at it... Many thanks to Marrend, Laber, and Mooncanvas for their reviews!
I especially appreciate the criticism pointing out flaws and shortcomings so that I can strive to improve in future games. I haven't commented because I wanna keep the reviews a place where people can say whatever they want without any risk of me nipping at them though, lol.

And as Kentona says, would be nice if future LPers submit their vids as media! Thanks!
You guys should submit these vids as Media (there is a Submit Media link in the game bar in the game's header)
Just thought I'd share my video on the game as well! I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to play more and finding the other endings! Also, I threw a recommendation to a popular Youtuber named Dodger (PressHearttoContinue) and she's started a playthrough of it as well!

Here's my video:
Looks great~ Thanks for uploading it, serenity!
Good morning :D! I have uploaded my first video of the walkthrough here
author=Trass
We haven't uploaded the bad ending BGM anywhere, but for the rest of the songs, you can grab the Dreaming Mary OST Album here!: http://harmonicblend.bandcamp.com/album/dreaming-mary-ost


Bought it and added the link in my walkthrough as well. I will send a video of my walkthrough tomorrow :D
We haven't uploaded the bad ending BGM anywhere, but for the rest of the songs, you can grab the Dreaming Mary OST Album here!: http://harmonicblend.bandcamp.com/album/dreaming-mary-ost
I really liked the music during the bad endings. Have you uploaded it somewhere? It's so awesome!
author=Trass
author=serenitycrystal
I think I found another bug. The bonus room is unlocked even if I didn't unlock the good ending. Shouldn't the bonus room be accessible only if I had all the endings unlocked?
You must have been playing with the outdated version of the game. That bug and a few others are already fixed if you redownload the game again either from this page or in our tumblr site!


I downloaded the game on 19/04/2014. Maybe I was unlucky and downloaded the bugged version :/
Just played it for the first time. Great atmosphere created and amazingly executed transition from the dream realm and reality (Honestly the real world spooked me out IMMENSELY everytime I had to go back there)

Well done!!!
I downloaded the game from here a few days ago. But maybe I'm wrong I will check again tomorrow.
author=serenitycrystal
I think I found another bug. The bonus room is unlocked even if I didn't unlock the good ending. Shouldn't the bonus room be accessible only if I had all the endings unlocked?


You must have been playing with the outdated version of the game. That bug and a few others are already fixed if you redownload the game again either from this page or in our tumblr site!
I think I found another bug. The bonus room is unlocked even if I didn't unlock the good ending. Shouldn't the bonus room be accessible only if I had all the endings unlocked?
Ohh didn't know that!
That would have been really useful if we knew about that beforehand! xD

And thanks! Early information for our next game can be accessed in our tumblr site! http://dreaming-games.tumblr.com/
author=Trass
The thing is, like it has been stated on the description, this is an RPGMaker Ace Lite challenge, and that means it allows no script/common event call, limited switches for the whole game, 10 events limit for one map, and so on.

*psst technically you can*
You can use Call Common Event Command in conditional branches actually! And became an issue on why we have to be disqualified ahaha!

That aside, that makes sense. I -misread- that it was made in vxace lite at first and then transitioned to full version. Since technically, you can't encrypt files with the lite version.

I wish you two good luck! I hope to see the Illusory Garden as well :3
Thanks for playing, Archeia~!

Yeah, I agree with the thing about the endings being very similar XD I actually haven't made a game before so I thought people would just play it once and leave it with whatever end they got, but I underestimated the players and that's my fault @_@

I'll definitely improve on this along with the clunky interaction, which, thanks for the tips on how to improve that! I'll try out some different things and also include instructions on how to interact with things in my garbled sidescrollers, since someone also mentioned that it was strange to have to look up and down for some things instead of standing on top XD

As an aside, the npcs and doors had to be talked to from the side because they were set as 'same as character'+through instead of as below character, since otherwise they would be blocked from view by the background (which is placed as an event graphic at the bottom-most row). Since they're animated, I couldn't cut their shapes out of the bg like with the big doors, either. Fun things with Lite, yeah :'')

Once again, thanks for playing, giving feedback, and pointing out the issues you had with the game! I'll shape up the controls and make some more interesting endings/paths to the endings along with other improvements that come with experience. =w=)b
author=Archeia_Nessiah
There are many ways to do this though, either center the graphic, set regions and have them call Ms. Bunny's dialogue through a script call event, or have them all open a switch when you're near her when the key input is pressed. Many possibilities.


The thing is, like it has been stated on the description, this is an RPGMaker Ace Lite challenge, and that means it allows no script/common event call, limited switches for the whole game, 10 events limit for one map, and so on.

But we will definitely fix things up for the next game because we will be working on a full RPG Maker Ace this time!
I like the visual look of this game~ I played it when it first came out. I think aside from control issues like spending an hour to talk to MS. Bunny (>_<), my main issue about this game is that the endings are barely different from each other or how to get there. It feels like a stage one scenario and onto a new chapter sort of thing. But I read that was intentional since the idea is that only one ending per person was the goal or something?

Other than that, the OST is great and I got the Good then True Ending. I also saw the video in the page and the..."Marydoken"

Also I love your voice for the radio. (IIRC that was your voice right?)

author=accha
@Marrend, As serenity says, you need to stand beside her to talk to her xD Sorry that the interaction is clunky like that- it's one of the restraints of using RPGMaker.
I believe the problem is mostly that the graphic was not centered so she's displayed somewhere else in the main game. (The hitbox is 32x32)

There are many ways to do this though, either center the graphic, set regions and have them call Ms. Bunny's dialogue through a script call event, or have them all open a switch when you're near her when the key input is pressed. Many possibilities.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Huh. I'm going to have to test "Action button" interaction with an event when you're on top of it. Since I'm, like, 90% sure that's what's being done with these events.

But first, let's enjoy this game, and these dreamscapes while they last.
@Unity, thanks! =D

@Marrend, As serenity says, you need to stand beside her to talk to her xD Sorry that the interaction is clunky like that- it's one of the restraints of using RPGMaker.

Also, the full version of nightmareish is actually available in the OST on bandcamp! The free downloads have run out for this month, but you can listen to it on the site anyhow. http://harmonicblend.bandcamp.com/track/nightmareish