Dreams : create, share & play [PS4, PS5]

Why isn't this engine used for some AAA games ?
Has it many drawbacks apart from simple gameplay mechanics ?
I can think of lots of reasons. Firstly you have to run on Dreams which is PS exclusive and zero option for a cross-platform port. You can't even import or export content but it has to built ground-up inside the engine. Very complex logic requires very messy chip wiring; you really want to work with a scripting language or at least a cleaner 2D object based system like Blueprint. You'll need to train artists to work with the SDF system which'll take time. Tools are great for some things, less great for others. Physics is mental and very poorly explained - see my earlier posts about child object behaviour being affected by parent object's density. Shaders are limited to what Dreams provides. No option for advanced AAA features like custom compute shaders and offloading workload to the GPU. Lighting is also limited - at its best, it's fabulous, but it can also look very old-school. I can't think of a use case where Dreams would be the engine/platform of choice over UE5.

I'm glad it's still being invested in. Curious where MM and Sony see this and the tech going.
 
Why isn't this engine used for some AAA games ?
Has it many drawbacks apart from simple gameplay mechanic

I can think of lots of reasons. Firstly you have to run on Dreams which is PS exclusive and zero option for a cross-platform port. You can't even import or export content but it has to built ground-up inside the engine. Very complex logic requires very messy chip wiring; you really want to work with a scripting language or at least a cleaner 2D object based system like Blueprint. You'll need to train artists to work with the SDF system which'll take time. Tools are great for some things, less great for others. Physics is mental and very poorly explained - see my earlier posts about child object behaviour being affected by parent object's density. Shaders are limited to what Dreams provides. No option for advanced AAA features like custom compute shaders and offloading workload to the GPU. Lighting is also limited - at its best, it's fabulous, but it can also look very old-school. I can't think of a use case where Dreams would be the engine/platform of choice over UE5.

I'm glad it's still being invested in. Curious where MM and Sony see this and the tech going.
To me, the biggest turn-off is the lack of truly deformable surfaces that can allow proper characters not made out of rigid parts (as in early 32 bit 3d games). This is so, so basic. Yes, you can make sytlised stuff that looks really nice, but...

Then, lack of better reflections.

Pretty much everything else can be addressed and solved.
 
Such a pity... It's been a wonderful tool for many people, but I guess a few key technical limitations hindered further growth. You can't just compete with other tools/engines that offer "skinned" models and better reflections. Such limitations made it practically impossible to create serious projects without important compromises, so yes, it looks great for cartoonish looks and you could even get almost photorealistic results in very specific scenes, but... In these conditions, it wasn't possible to get past being niche.

I still think their technical approach is impressive. Many creations were jawdropping for PS4 hardware. Maybe a hybrid approach could work better, but now that Nanite seems to be the king of a new geometry era, even with the possibility of deformation, I'm not sure if non-polygonal solutions will ever take off and become mainstream.
 
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