Teddy's Magic Dream Quest

Welcome to Dreamland where nothing is quite as it seems. Find the 3 lost dream scrolls, Bring them back to the Big Book of Dreams , & discover the many enchantments along the way.

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Inspiration

Teddy's Magic Dream Quest was inspired by the occult film What Dreams May Come, a late-90s story about a man who becomes trapped in purgatory by entering his wife’s paintings, guided by an angelic companion who helps him rediscover the meaning of life. Dreamland grew from this idea—a realm in-between things, not quite asleep but not fully awake. It feels like a cross between a forgotten childhood memory and an adult dream.

What It Does

Teddy’s Dream Quest invites players into Dreamland to find and collect 3 lost dream scrolls, win points via hearts, butterflies & teddy bear hats and uncover the many layers of lore through various world enchantments such as a cat shaped meowing bouncy ball, magic portals and trees. This magic journey is all guided via interactions with Teddy, the central NPC, & vibrant playful signage.

The world is optimized for mobile and is VR compatible and can be played solo or with friends. Players can find dream scrolls, explore cozy and immersive environments, and reflect on themes of connection through elements like the Big Book of Dreams.

How It Was Built

The world was built on Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor and crafted using a suite of tools including Canva, Photoshop, Blender, Noesis (for UI/UX), Suno for custom AI-generated music, hand sketches and watercolor textures.

Horizon Worlds’ GenAI suite was essential for bringing the vision of Dreamland to life, allowing me to model custom world elements and adding depth via the AI character builder tool to the Teddy NPC.

Significant time was dedicated to the NPC Character Builder to fully realize Teddy’s persona, voice, cadence, and charismatic, slightly accented “soothsayer” style.

His character comes to life giving players clues on where to find the next dream scroll and telling stories of island lore.

Challenges Faced

One of the biggest challenges was writing custom scripting elements via Typescript. The GenAi Beta code helper took much trial and error to adjust to. I learned that oftentimes the bot worked most optimally when guided with this structure : 1. Ask bot to define script logic & rules 2. Suggest alternate script logic & rules for writing new scripts 3. Define how game logic connects to the script logic to allow for better bot code debugging.

Crafting Teddy—the narrative anchor of the entire experience, was also very challenging.

His role demanded deep characterization, emotional nuance, and highly intentional design, from his backstory to his voice, mannerisms, and purpose within the lore.

Teddy’s backstory is richly developed: once a traveler to Dreamland who never found his way home, he now dedicates himself to guiding lost dreamers.

Balancing world complexity with mobile optimization also required careful attention.

Lastly there is ##a platform error with the AI NPCs where there avatar changes randomly sometimes both in the build mode & online while playing. Teddy should always appear as a charasmatic blue teddy bear in a willy wonka suit.

Accomplishments We’re Proud Of

I'm proud to have created a world that feels cozy, ethereal, and layered with meaning.

Making a world that feels like a home to it's many enchantments, that is both loveable and challenging to players.

I'm also proud of the custom assets, music, and the seamless integration of multiple creative tools to bring Dreamland to life.

What We Learned

Building Teddy’s Dream Quest taught me how powerful narrative driven story telling can be in gaming. How it can feel both fantastical and real to the human emotional experience.

How meaningful world elements—like the Big Book of Dreams (where all the world's dreams are kept)—can invite players to reflect on shared human experiences.

What’s Next

I would like to add actual dreams to the Big Book of Dreams, perhaps by using an API like a dream interpretation bot. Upcoming features include functionality for players to submit their real-world dreams into the Big Book of Dreams, keeping Dreamland vibrant and collaborative.

More wayfinding tools for finding the dream scrolls, like a live arrow pointing players in the direction of the next scroll and popup hints. I also would like to have actual dreams written on the scrolls so that players can engage with deeper levels of storytelling.

And creating more character NPCs, like having a few conversation lines for more minor characters like Meow Cat Ball.

I would also like to give players the ability to climb to the top of Mt.Pinky so that there are two methods to finding the last dream scroll. If time had allowed I would add snow to the Mt.Pinky peak and add one more enchantment to the Rainbow Maple Tree (a player responsive glittering light script).

Perhaps explore an optional collection challenges tied to hearts, hats, and butterflies to encourage replay and discovery without disrupting the cozy, reflective tone of Dreamland.

We’re also exploring community events centered on dream-sharing.

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