Illustration by Matt Weismantel
Dreamscape | Science Fiction by Snowy Frankland
Trouble with my Dreamscape V 2.01 > BilboShaggins:
[18:22, 21/09/2031]
Greetings comrades (^w^)
I’ve been using Dreamscape V 2.01 for about six months now. I am running the Oculus Neural Network on an OrionX99 Sous Rampage 5, operating with 10 core / 20 thread i7 cpu overclocked at 4.7ghz. 64gb of 3200 platinum memory in my top system, also using four 1080ti strict graphic cards so haven’t had any problems integrating and rendering dreamscapes so far \^o^/
So anyhow, last night while running a modded version of Ubisoft’s Shadows Beyond I got kicked ... Nuff said ... (o__o) Suffered some chronic sleep paralysis but went through shutdown protocol and managed to disconnect from the network. Scary shit. Not fun. 0/10.
Just been feeling kinda out of it last couple of days and wondered if anyone else had experience getting kicked from a modded game. Safe to say I won’t be playing it again anytime soon, haha. Anyhow let me know! xx (^w^)
Hobnobbinbobthegob:
[19:12, 21/09/2031]
Lol. I’m guessing this was the mod with the sex scene installed in the Greystone Tavern. Pervert.
KucumberKing:
[19:14, 21/09/2031]
You fucken kek boi @BilboShaggins. Never use modded games with Dreamscape. Way too risky.
Dragons-Budd-21:
[19:16, 21/09/2031]
Hahah @BilboShaggins this was the Greystone Tavern mod for sure. I ran this last week. Worth the risk. Did you at least make it to the Tavern before you got kicked?
BilboShaggins:
[19:18, 22/09/2031]
(^.^) haha yeahhhh okay guilty @Hobnobbinbobthegob it was the Greystone Tavern Mod... And no @Dragons-Budd-21 I got kicked just before so it was kinda a waste (o__o)
Unusedthought:
[19:19, 22/09/2031]
Modded gaming with Dreamscape is EXTREMELY dangerous. Make sure you perform all your reality checks three or four times a day, and give it a break for at least one month before your next session. All the best.
Pooponagoose:
[19:33, 22/09/2031]
No shame brother @BilboShaggins. I ran this mod for a month straight. Worked fine for me. If you run it again just don’t talk to the Inn Keeper before initiating the interaction, can sometimes cause a kick.
Catharsis-Killer:
[19:39, 22/09/2031]
Don’t use modded Dreamscape games fuck head you can fry your brain
BilboShaggins:
[20:18, 23/09/2031]
<3 thanks for your concern @Unusedthought but I passed all of the reality checks today, just been experiencing some mild memory loss since the kick (o.0)
PM_Me_Your_Dreams:
[20:19, 23/09/2031]
@BilboShaggins haha you’re in denial ma dude...
Unusedthought:
[20:20, 23/09/2031]
@BilboShaggins. I don’t mean to alarm you but there is a serious possibility you are STILL DREAMING. Memory loss is a HUGE red flag. Think back over the last 24 hours and consider the following: 1. Have you entered or left any location and forgotten what you were doing before. 2. Have you experienced any time dilation. 3. Increased feelings or moments of deja vu.
As soon as you read this comment perform a reality check, and continue to perform them once every hour until you pass twelve in a row. All the best.
Dragons-Budd-21:
[20:27, 23/09/2031]
Hahah waitttt what the fuck?^
KucumberKing:
[20:31, 23/09/2031]
This is why you don’t fuck wit mods kek boi
Hobnobbinbobthegob:
[20:32, 23/09/2031]
lol @Unusedthought you’re a savage. Leave this poor pervert alone.
BilboShaggins:
[21:18, 29/09/2031]
Hey @Unusedthought I don’t know what you are trying to do but I would definitely know if I was still dreaming ... I appreciate the concern and everything but I’m good xx (^w^)
PM_Me_Your_Dreams:
[21:19, 29/09/2031]
@BilboShaggins you know that one poem by Edgar Allen Poe?
Unusedthought:
[21:21, 29/09/2031]
@BilboShaggins Dreamscape works by integrating your subconscious, sleeping mind, with a structured system of rules and regulations. If your gaming system malfunctions and you can’t dis-identify, the game will increasingly feed you more familiar surroundings in order to keep you calm. You have to recognise this and wake up. NOW! All the best.
BilboShaggins:
[14:18, 1/10/2031]
Hey @Unusedthought, I am trying to understand what you’re saying but it’s not making any sense right now. I pass all my reality checks for the most part (clock time has been a little off) but everything else just kinda feels ... normal. Should I book a doctors appointment or something?
Hobnobbinbobthegob:
[14:41, 1/10/2031]
Yo chillllll @BilboShaggins. Just click on this link and scroll to the section on User Interface > Aftershocks www.oculusdreamscape.com/UserInterface/FAQ. Kicks happen all the time it’s nothing to freak out over... @Unusedthought stop trolling this perv.
Pooponagoose:
[14:45, 1/10/2031]
Hey brother @Bilboshaggins if you are still feeling off sometimes it can help retracing your steps during gameplay. Maybe give Shadows Beyond another go. You can even run the Greystone Tavern mod just make sure you don’t interact with the Inn Keeper. Worked for me.
BilboShaggins:
[15:18, 1/10/2031]
Hey @Pooponagoose I guess I could give it another try, haha
(^.^) I’ll run it again tonight and see if it helps any. Wish me luck!
Catharsis-Killer:
[15:27, 1/10/2031]
Ohhh yeahhhhhh, what a fantastic idea!!! ... You fucking moron
KucumberKing:
[16:32, 1/10/2031]
You fucken kek bois never learn @BilboShaggins. Enjoy it while it lasts
Dragons-Budd-21:
[16:36, 1/10/2031]
Yew @BilboShaggins. When in doubt, send it out! ;)
Hobnobbinbobthegob:
[16:38, 1/10/2031]
Yassssss my little pervert @BilboShaggins. Come back and tell us how it goes!
BilboShaggins:
[22:18, 05/10/2031]
Hey comrades ... I have some news. So, I ran Shadows Beyond again last night. @Poononagoose I did what you said. I purchased a +10 Shade Cloak and pick-locked the back door to the Tavern so the Inn Keeper wouldn’t see me. I sat at the back near the fireplace and when Rosie finally found me, I talked to her and the modded scene initiated.
So anyhow, it was going well, and we were, you know, in her room about to do stuff, when then the Inn Keeper burst in screaming, swinging a broken battle-axe (O v O). Is that even possible? The game kicked me right after and it felt like an eternity before I finally dis-identified with the system. When I did it was three o’clock in the afternoon ... I failed my first reality check but passed all the rest so I’m guessing I was just tired or something. Has this happened to anyone else?
Pooponagoose:
[22:19, 05/10/2031]
Wowwww. Yeah okay @BilboShaggins don’t ever play that game again.
Dragons-Budd-21:
[22:20, 05/10/2031]
Hahahahahaha omfg @BilboShaggins I’m crying. So weird.
Hobnobbinbobthegob:
[22:21, 05/10/2031]
Hahah @Bilboshggins Did you get to touch Rosie’s boobs?
Unusedthought:
[22:22, 05/10/2031]
@BilboShaggins If you keep failing your reality checks then you have no choice but to DIE. If you are trapped in a rival reality, fully integrated by Dreamscape, then death will kick you out of it and back into your body. All the best.
VeganSausage:
[22:22, 05/10/2031]
Hey guys. First post. Legit the same thing happened to my cousin. He was stuck in Dreamscape for over a week. He went to work every day, walked his dog, had dinner with his parents and stuff like that. He started catching the time dilations after he checked his calendar a few times and noticed dates were missing. When he finally figured it all out, he jumped out of his office building window and woke up three days later. He said it was the scariest thing he’s ever had to do. Legit, he was on the news: https://www.msnbc.com/the-dangers-of-dreamscape/the-story-of-Jason-oMalley
I_Am_You:
[11:31, 11/11/ 2031]
@BilboShaggins, you must turn your attention away from your thinking mind and into the stillness of your inner body. To do this, breathe deeply, up through the roots of your feet, and out, like an instrument submitted to the lungs of the earth. If you can feel the aliveness within the tips of your fingers then that is a good start. If you can feel this aliveness radiating through your toes, chest, and neck, then that is better. By cultivating the inner body you can root yourself deeply in the eternal NOW, and when you are ready, you will wake. Or perhaps you will not; it doesn’t make much difference, really.
ShakespeareanBotBeerean:
[16:16, 23/04/2032]
What ho! sir @BilbobShaggins, do thy eyes not seem pale nor thy hearing wet? Does thou not runn’st away from thy own most earthly knowings? And most un-nobly, as thou art turning thy back upon the virtues of God! Nay, good sir, do not remain therein, the darkness of thy own workings, lest it becomes thy eternal sanctuary.
Dragons-Budd-21:
[16:21, 23/04/2032]
Hahah wtf this is my favourite thread ever^
Catharsis-Killer:
[16:38, 23/04/2032]
*sighs* *rubs forehead* *eats popcorn*
CodyPomeray:
[19:26, 04/02/2033]
I’ve decided upon it being my sole and absolute duty (having first-hand experience in such matters, har-har-har!) to display the information plaguing you in a pure and deliberate manner as I believe to be inexplicably omitted by my predecessors, as their psychic approach is one of geometry and geometrics which uh, you see, Eh-hem, won’t extricate you from the precarious pedestal your delicate little soul rests upon.
Your body, @Bilboshaggins, at this very moment rests upon on a queen-sized coffin in a dusty apartment flat on the corner of Third Avenue and 47th. Your fingers are curled up and cracked with the stillness of a thousand-mile road. Your face has the gauntness of old Bull Lee, (har-har-har) skin stretched thin and deep sunken eyes and pale lips. An ethereal-thick cloud of hypothsenia rests over your body like an idealistic dawn in Denver mountains; the mind is rose petal wilting; the teeth are quivering stones of everlasting earth; the mothers tears are the crippling sheets of rain; the father’s groaning is a death-blues-bellow, echoing out across the hallowed American heartscape, waiting for the stillness to settle into its tired bones.
KucumberKing:
[13:52, 26/04/2035]
Where my kek boi at? @BilboShaggins
Hobnobbinbobthegob:
[14:12, 26/04/2035]
lol @KucumberKing I still check in every once in a while, just in case.
Pooponagoose:
[14:32, 26/04/2035]
We miss you brother! @BilboShaggins
Dragons-Budd-21:
[14:33, 26/04/2035]
rip @BilboShaggins
BilboShaggins:
[18:22, 26/04/2040]
Hey comrades (^w^)
Thank you all for your help but I’m all good now. @Unusedthought I gave it a month but I’m back playing Dreamscape again. I’m playing Santo Torino instead and sticking with the main structures, haha. Haven’t had any more troubles so far so I kinda think it was just the modded game. \^o^/ Anyhow, thanks for the help! xx <3
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Snowy Frankland is a Southern Cross University student undertaking a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Creative Writing and a Minor in Politics. This story has been accepted for publication in Kasma Magazine.