Dream Park
Encyclopedia
Dream Park was originally a novel
set in a sort of futuristic amusement park
of the same name.
The books describe a futuristic form of live action role-playing game
s (LARPs), although the term was not in use when the original novel was published. The novels inspired many LARP groups, notably the International Fantasy Games Society
, named after a fictional entity in the book. A company by the name of Dream Park was founded in the mid-1990s to try to realize as much of Dream Park as possible, but eventually went out of business.
The Dream Park novels were written by Larry Niven
and Steven Barnes
. The novels set in Dream Park are:
The novels Achilles' Choice and Saturn's Race, also by Niven and Barnes, are set in the 2020s
and feature a quick reference to Dream Park technologies. The events of another novel, The Descent of Anansi
, by the same authors, are referred to in the latter two books of the Dream Park trilogy.
The Dream Park series is set in a near-future Earth, the first book taking place in March 2051. Technology is used to create realistic games in which participants act out the roles of free-willed protagonists in various stories. These are role-playing game
s and foreshadowed many aspects of modern live action role-playing game
s.
The sets for the games are quite elaborate. In one novel an entire island
is created for the game. Holograms are used for special effects. The blades on sharp weapons can be removed and replaced with holographic edges; this allows participants to engage in safe combat. A combination of computers and gamemaster
s monitor events, prompt actors playing non-protagonist parts, and resolve simulated actions. Thus, after being repeatedly struck with a holographic sword a computer might determine that a player's character has died. The player will be informed that he should pantomime a death and is removed from play.
Although the Dream Park assumes future technology, it is still an expensive proposition. Players pay fee
s to play the games. In addition, the first game played is recorded. The creator of the game takes the recorded footage and edits it into a movie and other media for resale. While the resulting movies are heavily influenced by the game's creator, the actions of the players are unscripted. In this way the books anticipate reality television
.
The games in the Dream Park series are heavily regulated. One of the regulatory groups is the International Fantasy Games Society
or IFGS. The creator of a game has nearly unlimited power in the game; he could arbitrarily change a game to doom a given player's character to death and eject the player from the game. IFGS existed to protect the interests of players and limit abuse by game creators. One group of fantasy based live action role-playing gamers have taken the IFGS game for their rules and organization.
for each character. Players would wear headsets, a radio allowing the computers and game masters to inform players of important status information. A head-up display
on the headset would display special effects like a dragon's fiery breath or a magical spell.
The theme park was never built, and the company eventually went bankrupt in 1997. The new attraction MagiQuest
in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
could be viewed as a prototype, real-life Dream Park.
was also produced under the title Dream Park (making it a role-playing game based on a book about a role-playing game). The book was written by Mike Pondsmith
and published by R. Talsorian Games
.
The Dream Park core rule book started with a "tour" of the park. The player gets to meet several of the staff of Dream Park. Each personality explains a little about their job. The head special effects technician gives the player a behind the scenes look at how the special effects of the park work. The book had a basic rules section with a few short scenarios and more detailed advanced rules, as well as information on various types of genres and creating games.
The player created a character, who in turn played a character. Instead of attributes to describe non-learned physical and mental skills (strength, intelligence, constitution, etc.), the character had ten skills: melee weapon, ranged weapon, hand to hand (used for unarmed attacks), dodge, tinkering, athletics, knowledge, stealth, willpower, and awareness. The player had several classes to choose from: fighter, thief, cleric, magic-user, loremaster, engineer, psychic, superhero, and multi-class.
The nature of Dream Park' s setting had several unique aspects. Each character started with a set number of game points that were used to purchase skills, powers, and equipment. Game points were lost if the character died during the adventure, and gained for surviving a game. Unlike most games, the player could purchase any skills or abilities he wanted, so long as he had the game points to spend. However, these abilities cost more if the player was not of the appropriate class. Thus, a fighter could learn how to cast clerical spells and select a superpower, but would need to spend more game points than a cleric or superhero would. A multi-class character could select two classes. These characters started with lower skills, but could purchase skills from both classes at normal cost.
The player could also reconfigure his character between games. The aforementioned fighter character might be a plate mail wearing knight with a magic sword one game and a machine gun carrying soldier the next. Another reason a character might need to reconfigure is the game master could set certain limitations for each game. Equipment and skills fell into one of four classes: ancient (Dark Ages and earlier), historical (post Dark Ages to around 1900), modern (early 1900s to anything that might be invented about 50 years from now), and future (anything that might be invented 50 years or more from the present). So if a game was to take place in the Victorian era
, the players might not be allowed to purchase modern or future equipment. Additionally, the game master could set restrictions on magic-user and clerical spells, psychic powers, and superpower
s.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
set in a sort of futuristic amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
of the same name.
The books describe a futuristic form of live action role-playing game
Live action role-playing game
A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...
s (LARPs), although the term was not in use when the original novel was published. The novels inspired many LARP groups, notably the International Fantasy Games Society
International Fantasy Games Society
The International Fantasy Gaming Society, Inc. designs, runs, and sanctions various fantasy based live action role-playing game s. IFGS is notable for being both a very early LARP group, as well as a very long lived one...
, named after a fictional entity in the book. A company by the name of Dream Park was founded in the mid-1990s to try to realize as much of Dream Park as possible, but eventually went out of business.
The Dream Park novels were written by Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
and Steven Barnes
Steven Barnes
Steven Barnes is an African American science fiction writer, lecturer, creative consultant, and human performance technician....
. The novels set in Dream Park are:
- Dream Park (1981) - Locus Award nominee, 1982
- The Barsoom Project (1989)
- The California Voodoo Game (1992)
- The Moon Maze Game (2011)
The novels Achilles' Choice and Saturn's Race, also by Niven and Barnes, are set in the 2020s
2020s
The 2020s or "twenty twenties" is the decade that will begin on January 1, 2020 and will end on December 31, 2029. It is the third decade of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium.-Notable predictions and known events :...
and feature a quick reference to Dream Park technologies. The events of another novel, The Descent of Anansi
The Descent of Anansi
The Descent of Anansi is a 1982 science fiction novel by Steven Barnes and Larry Niven. -Plot setup:A space station-manufactury attempts to become commercially independent from its Government backers by exporting super-strong nanowire that can only be manufactured in free-fall.-Plot...
, by the same authors, are referred to in the latter two books of the Dream Park trilogy.
The Dream Park series is set in a near-future Earth, the first book taking place in March 2051. Technology is used to create realistic games in which participants act out the roles of free-willed protagonists in various stories. These are role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s and foreshadowed many aspects of modern live action role-playing game
Live action role-playing game
A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...
s.
The sets for the games are quite elaborate. In one novel an entire island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
is created for the game. Holograms are used for special effects. The blades on sharp weapons can be removed and replaced with holographic edges; this allows participants to engage in safe combat. A combination of computers and gamemaster
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
s monitor events, prompt actors playing non-protagonist parts, and resolve simulated actions. Thus, after being repeatedly struck with a holographic sword a computer might determine that a player's character has died. The player will be informed that he should pantomime a death and is removed from play.
Although the Dream Park assumes future technology, it is still an expensive proposition. Players pay fee
Fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup.Traditionally, professionals in Great Britain received a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and would often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account...
s to play the games. In addition, the first game played is recorded. The creator of the game takes the recorded footage and edits it into a movie and other media for resale. While the resulting movies are heavily influenced by the game's creator, the actions of the players are unscripted. In this way the books anticipate reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
.
The games in the Dream Park series are heavily regulated. One of the regulatory groups is the International Fantasy Games Society
International Fantasy Games Society
The International Fantasy Gaming Society, Inc. designs, runs, and sanctions various fantasy based live action role-playing game s. IFGS is notable for being both a very early LARP group, as well as a very long lived one...
or IFGS. The creator of a game has nearly unlimited power in the game; he could arbitrarily change a game to doom a given player's character to death and eject the player from the game. IFGS existed to protect the interests of players and limit abuse by game creators. One group of fantasy based live action role-playing gamers have taken the IFGS game for their rules and organization.
Theme park
In the mid-1990s a real company (Dream Park Corporation) took the Dream Park name to try to realize many of the ideas in the books. Their stated goal was a large theme park with ongoing minor events in which attendees could participate. They would also run the sort of immersive games described in the books. The company made a number of adjustments for limits to existing technology. Instead of holographic weapons, players had foam-rubber weapons. Plans were to attach sensors to the weapons and players. The sensors would beam information about strikes to computers that would track a simulated healthHealth (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
for each character. Players would wear headsets, a radio allowing the computers and game masters to inform players of important status information. A head-up display
Head-Up Display
A head-up display or heads-up display is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints...
on the headset would display special effects like a dragon's fiery breath or a magical spell.
The theme park was never built, and the company eventually went bankrupt in 1997. The new attraction MagiQuest
Magiquest
MagiQuest is a live action role-playing game in which players take the role of magic users. Players, called Magi in the game, use an infra-red emitting wand to interact with objects. These objects are usually scattered throughout the place. By waving and pointing the wand at an object, a player...
in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
could be viewed as a prototype, real-life Dream Park.
Role-playing game
A paper role-playing gameRole-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
was also produced under the title Dream Park (making it a role-playing game based on a book about a role-playing game). The book was written by Mike Pondsmith
Mike Pondsmith
Michael Alyn Pondsmith is a roleplaying game and video game designer.He is best known for his work with R. Talsorian Games, where he developed most role-playing game lines from the company's beginning to the present: Mekton , Cyberpunk , Cybergeneration, Teenagers from Outer Space, Castle...
and published by R. Talsorian Games
R. Talsorian Games
R. Talsorian Games, based in Renton, WA , is a publisher of role-playing game books and accessories. Their titles include the Cyberpunk 2020 series and for anime-related titles such as Dragonball Z. Their major product line today is the Fuzion system.The company's chairman is Mike Pondsmith,...
.
The Dream Park core rule book started with a "tour" of the park. The player gets to meet several of the staff of Dream Park. Each personality explains a little about their job. The head special effects technician gives the player a behind the scenes look at how the special effects of the park work. The book had a basic rules section with a few short scenarios and more detailed advanced rules, as well as information on various types of genres and creating games.
The player created a character, who in turn played a character. Instead of attributes to describe non-learned physical and mental skills (strength, intelligence, constitution, etc.), the character had ten skills: melee weapon, ranged weapon, hand to hand (used for unarmed attacks), dodge, tinkering, athletics, knowledge, stealth, willpower, and awareness. The player had several classes to choose from: fighter, thief, cleric, magic-user, loremaster, engineer, psychic, superhero, and multi-class.
The nature of Dream Park
The player could also reconfigure his character between games. The aforementioned fighter character might be a plate mail wearing knight with a magic sword one game and a machine gun carrying soldier the next. Another reason a character might need to reconfigure is the game master could set certain limitations for each game. Equipment and skills fell into one of four classes: ancient (Dark Ages and earlier), historical (post Dark Ages to around 1900), modern (early 1900s to anything that might be invented about 50 years from now), and future (anything that might be invented 50 years or more from the present). So if a game was to take place in the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, the players might not be allowed to purchase modern or future equipment. Additionally, the game master could set restrictions on magic-user and clerical spells, psychic powers, and superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
s.
External links
- Dream Park (the first novel) at Worlds Without End