During my studies as a young man I did PCB layout between terms to make a few bucks. This was done using a CAD program on a PC by manipulating layers of geometries (tracks) of different colors. After a few weeks of doing that 12 hours a day, I started dreaming about these geometries. After two months the “tracks” were imprinted on my retinas when I closed my eyes.
During the periods when I played GZ more intensely than I care to admit, I started dreaming about GZ. But the funny thing is, that I didn’t dream about the machines and the fights and the terror. I dreamed about the scenery, the beauty of the landscapes, a moonlit field where the snow gently starts to fall, the comfort of the rest a safe house could provide, and sometimes the intensity that the “prequel” movie illustrated beautifully.
I’m bringing this topic up as a few of you (@Gysbert and @Madchaser ) recently suggested that Östertörn occationally may find its way to your dreams too.
So if you dream about Östertörn, and care to share some details, what happens in your land of make believe?
Edit: just discovered a thread from 5 years ago dealing with this topic. Sorry, should have checked. Anyway, instead of reviving that and passing the [Necro Award] around, feel free to leave your comments here if you please
Weird thing is, I have mostly stopped dreaming.
Up until I was 26 years old, I played games 4-6 hours pr. day, and watched 2-4 movies pr. week. Back then, I dreamed a lot. Strange and inspiring dreams every single night. I miss that a lot.
That was 11 years ago, when I got into a lasting relationship, and I had to cut down on my entertainment consumption. The kids were born 7 and 4 years ago, and so my time in front of a screen has gradually gone down. Now I only play games a couple nights pr. week, and only after the kids are in bed. I can also go 1-2 months without watching a movie…
Sorry for the lengthy rant. My point is this:
In the exact same rate as I stopped consuming entertainment media, I also stopped dreaming.
It’s sad, really. I have always loved and needed the escapism you get from games and film, and now there’s simply no room for it anymore.
Well, well… Maybe one day, she’ll get tired of my nonsense and throw me out! Then I can resume those kind of hobbies!
I occasionally have GZ dreams, only a handful, from what I remember, but they really stayed with me. Like you, they’re never about fighting the machines. I usually find myself just wandering around Åspholmen in particular, quietly taking in the trees, rocks, and industrial area there. No machines are present and I don’t expect them either. It tends to happen when I wake up early, realise it’s a day off, and drift back to sleep for an extra hour.
There was one dream that stood out though. I was in multiplayer, just exploring as usual, and suddenly bumped into an old school chum, someone who actually passed away many years ago in real life. I just showed him some cool things, we hung out and then I woke up; quite sad in a way. Strange how this game manages to connect with such deep parts of us.
Beautiful and touching story, @TimData . And I think you sum it up very well indeed. Even though the main feature and selling point of this game is survival in a dystopian cold war Sweden, it is not the scare or despair that sticks with some of us. It’s the beauty and (for my part) solitude that the world depicts.
I never played the game in cooperative mode, so there’s a whole dimension that I’ve missed. But this is mainly by choice as I think the world and experience was perfect for me as it were. Perhaps one day - and it might be like a whole new game to me
Yes, I’ve read about inventors and mathematicians coming up with solutions or even whole new concepts in their dreams. It seems like that’s where a lot of the really big leaps in original thinking can come from.
People like Dmitri Mendeleev dreamed the structure of the periodic table, Elias Howe solved the sewing machine needle design after a strange dream about spears, and Niels Bohr visualized electrons orbiting the nucleus like planets in a dream, which led to his atomic model. Ramanujan even claimed many of his mathematical insights were revealed to him in dreams by a goddess, and Otto Loewi dreamed an experiment that led to the discovery of neurotransmitters!
Sadly, no big questions for me! Normally, it’s half asleep/dreaming prosaic thoughts like “I wonder how many toilets in Östertörn are red?” or “I wonder if switching off all the light switches in a particular town will trigger something?” Definitely not Nobel Prize material!
Yeah, that’s what I meant with “questions that I asked myself before”.
Suddenly I get an idea about what to try next or where to look next, and if I don’t forget it, I’ll try to follow the idea as soon as possible.
Basically what I likely experienced with a second location of the Mkay magazine, is dreaming that I saw it but later can’t remember if it was a dream or reality. So I went looking for it.
I often dream about games, mostly about trying to find things. I seem to recreate the game maps in my dream, but get nowhere, just stuck. Sometimes it feels like a endless loop.
I know what you mean, when you get stuck in a dream-loop. Then it becomes nightmare’ish. Happens to me when I get stuck in a problem that I battle to solve. A genius would dream the solution, while a mediocre mind like mine just get a restless nights sleep
That’s actually really relatable I’ve had similar experiences where I get so immersed in a game or creative project that it starts showing up in my dreams. I can totally see why Östertörn’s landscapes would stick in your mind; they’re atmospheric enough to feel like real places you’ve visited. Funny how our brains hold onto those moments more than the action sometimes.
