Video games and dreaming

[Lucid Lyra]

Has anyone had video games impact their dreams in a significant way?

I've recently picked up WoW after years of not playing anything and the instant "tetris effect" upon closing my eyes reminded me of this question. Personally, gaming doesn't seem to impact my dreams too much, but it does for my partner (he games a lot more than I do, though). His dreams have also been lucid for as long as he can remember, and he attributes this to his dream worlds reflecting game worlds. He never had to practice reality checks, the world was an automatic tell.

I'm quite jealous, to be honest, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

[Caradon]

Yeah I've had video game dreams turn lucid. And I've played a lot of VR games, well pretty much anytime I'm playing it's in VR in recent years. I have a Playstation VR. VR games does pretty weird things to dreams sometimes.  But I'm not very good at being focused on playing video games and focused on working on my dreaming at the same time.

I recalled a golfing dream fragment last night that I'm pretty sure was influence by a VR golfing game that I have even though I've not played the game in quite a while. 

[Caradon]

 I was thinking about walking around in Skyrim a little bit, visit my lake house in the mountains. Or this Surreal VR walk through game called "Her They Lie" It's not much of a game, mostly just walk along through some very surreal scenes. Have to try to avoid getting killed every now and then. But it's hard to even call it a game since you don't really do anything other than walk through it and  look at all the weirdness going on. Some really freaky surreal stuff though.

I should play my zombie game a little  and see if I can incubate more fun zombie dreams. "Walking Dead Saint And Sinners VR." It's a tense game since you can be easily overwhelmed. And the combat has a realistic feel to it.

I took a break from working on my dreams for a while And spent a lot of hours in VR ( I needed the distraction.)  I played a lot of Star Wars Squadrons VR. I absolutely loved flying an X-Wing fighter in VR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6VTaqhZitk  

[Lucid Lyra]

I was thinking about walking around in Skyrim a little bit, visit my lake house in the mountains. Or this Surreal VR walk through game called "Her They Lie" It's not much of a game, mostly just walk along through some very surreal scenes. Have to try to avoid getting killed every now and then. But it's hard to even call it a game since you don't really do anything other than walk through it and  look at all the weirdness going on. Some really freaky surreal stuff though.

I should play my zombie game a little  and see if I can incubate more fun zombie dreams. "Walking Dead Saint And Sinners VR." It's a tense game since you can be easily overwhelmed. And the combat has a realistic feel to it.

I took a break from working on my dreams for a while And spent a lot of hours in VR ( I needed the distraction.)  I played a lot of Star Wars Squadrons VR. I absolutely loved flying an X-Wing fighter in VR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6VTaqhZitk

Oh, I'd love to have a Skyrim-inspired LD! I've never actually played, but I've enjoyed watching others play because the world is so beautiful. Not many agree with me here, but I think the Dark Souls worlds are also beautiful (in a darker way). I've only played the second game and didn't finish, but it's deeply thrilling to actually beat a boss in that game. That could probably inspire an epic LD. (maybe like the zombie one you'd mentioned?) Not available in VR, though. :(

I haven't heard of the other games you've mentioned, but I also don't typically use VR. I would like to, though!

I do have one of those VR attachments that you can hook up to your phone, but I haven't used it in forever. Unfortunately, there wasn't much out for it in the way of games when I first got it. (maybe there's more now?) There were some pretty cool educational resources. There was this one molecular modeling game that helped me get through organic chemistry. There were also some of scenic walk through "games", maybe kind of like the "Here They lie" one you mentioned ... except I think the ones I saw were even less gamey than that. They seemed to be more for relaxation/stress relief.

[Caradon]

I've had a few amazing dreams influenced by playing Skyrim in VR.  But nothing lucid. You're right it's a beautiful place, and when you have been  in it for too long, and the lighting is just right, can trick your mind into feeling just too real. I never played it before I got it on VR, so that is amazing for me. I have a fascination with the life like scale of things in VR.  Just something about looking up and seeing the walls of some massive castle tower over you. Or the mountains as you climb up them, walking along some beautiful trail.

I don't know about those phone VR things.  I never tried one so I have no idea how they compare with an actual VR headset.

I've heard of the Dark Souls game but I've never payed that. My favorite non VR game is still probably Dying Light. Because of my love of both the zombie apocalypse, and parkour. And in Dying Light you become a parkour master in the zombie apocalypse. Doesn't get better than that. I want some Dying Light VR.

[Lucid Lyra]

Just something about looking up and seeing the walls of some massive castle tower over you. Or the mountains as you climb up them, walking along some beautiful trail.

This sounds right up my alley.

I don't know about those phone VR things.  I never tried one so I have no idea how they compare with an actual VR headset.

My brother in law has a real VR headset, so I've tried both. The headset seemed so much better - I played an under the ocean exploration type game, but I'm not sure if it was the game or headset quality. This conversation is definitely making me want to dust off my phone VR attachment to see what's available for it now. I imagine quality would have to suffer for something made for a phone, though. Processing limitations and all. But who knows - might still be cool and good for LD induction.

I've heard of the Dark Souls game but I've never payed that. My favorite non VR game is still probably Dying Light. Because of my love of both the zombie apocalypse, and  . And in Dying Light you become a parkour master in the zombie apocalypse. Doesn't get better than that. I want some Dying Light VR.

Dark Souls is good if you want the adrenalin rush of a challenge. I would spend hours and sometimes days trying to beat a boss in that game, falling to the floor shaking when it finally happened! I don't have time for tall that lately, so now it's just casual/easy going stuff.

Dying Light does seem perfect in your case! I haven't heard of it, but I just looked up a walk-through video of it and I can definitely see how it could influence dreams. It seems so realistic! That'd be crazy in VR!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0nqexbrs9U

As a side note, have any VR games made you motion sick? Last I heard, that was the main thing holding VR back.

[Caradon]

Wow, that is a really old video of Dying Light. The very first footage, I think. 2013, Has it really been that long already? Sheesh?  I had the game on pre-order like a year or more before it finally released because they kept pushing the release date back. And when it finally released it was pretty much the only thing I played until the release of the Playstation VR and I started playing mostly VR games. I still go back to it now and then.

The sequel was supposed to release last summer, I thought. I'm not sure if it did though. I have a feeling it didn't yet.

[Caradon]

I don't really want to start living in video games again and be distracted from my dreaming goals. But I'm not sure I'll be able to resist playing the sequel to my favorite non VR game. Parkour/zombie apocalypse. It's like heaven.

It looks pretty awesome. And they say there is literally double the parkour moves in the sequel. Maybe if I just play it in moderation, a little here and there. Not sure I can do that. lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwJAAy7tPhE 

[Lucid Lyra]

Hmm, WELL, I mayyyyyyy be a bit of a bad influence in the area of self-discipline  ... but ... perhaps losing your days in the game doesn't have to necessarily equal 'distraction from dreaming goals'. Maybe, your dreaming goals could be tweaked to include experimenting with how the game impacts your dreams, or coming up with new goals inspired by the game scenarios! Reality checks can be done in-game, etc. C'mon ... 

Seriously though, not a bad idea ey? I took a peak at the preview, by the way ... the scenes are amazing! Dream landscape inspiration, for sure. 

[Caradon]

Hmm, WELL, I mayyyyyyy be a bit of a bad influence in the area of self-discipline  ... but ... perhaps losing your days in the game doesn't have to necessarily equal 'distraction from dreaming goals'. Maybe, your dreaming goals could be tweaked to include experimenting with how the game impacts your dreams, or coming up with new goals inspired by the game scenarios! Reality checks can be done in-game, etc. C'mon ... 

Seriously though, not a bad idea ey? I took a peak at the preview, by the way ... the scenes are amazing! Dream landscape inspiration, for sure. 

Yeah, in theory. But doesn't usually work that way for me, never has. If I let myself get involved with and absorbed in the games dreaming is usually pretty much out the window until I decided to get back to focusing on my dreams again. Near to impossible for me to maintain any kind of awareness work while focused on and lost in video games. And recall quickly dissolves to nothing. I skipped a couple of generations of gaming because I was avoiding them like the plague and was all in on getting lucid.

My dreaming goals, is to get back my frequency of lucidity, lol. That's the priority. There is no in dream lucid goals without the frequency, at least from my perspective. Because anything I want to work on lucid wise, is either impossible or irrelevant if there isn't enough lucidity to continue working on it with any regularity.

Kind of glad Dying Light 2 isn't set to come out until December. Quite a while still before the possibility of playing it is even an option.