(Mountain Biking) and A dream about computer games....

[Hellbent]

I had the most epic dream about computer games last night. Let's see if I can recall any of the details, though. I mean so epic. Sooooo epic. These were like novel games, too. As in, games I've never played or seen before. The first one started out kinda normal like. I'm not even sure what genre you'd call it, but some kind of first person adventure. The second game was definitely a first person perspective 3D game piloting a craft with art style best described as being kinda similar to Dr. Seuss; and though relatively mundane compared to the first was still pretty cool. You are piloting a craft that is maybe olive green and most of the things you are lobbing your silly weapon at are also olive green. It was a game someone else had been playing and showed to me and then I was playing it for the first time and at first I was ho-hum about it but as I got the hang of it it was actually pretty fun. You'd shoot your little Seussian like cannon that lobbed the olive green "cannon balls" (they looked more like harmless round blobs than anything) a short distance at oncoming enemies and the view was such that you didn't always have a great view of the enemy making it a bit more interesting to try to lob the right distance. You were constantly moving forward and enemies were constantly coming at you. I was doing pretty good at it, though, and most of my shots were taking the little buggers out. Apparently it was a British game because the guy who had recommended it to me said something about how British always liked this game and I guess I was British in the dream since i was doing good at it? I'm not sure....

 

But the first game... the first game was sooo epic. Like I didn't know games could be so epic. Like... "Whoahh!!!! holy mother F#*@!ing that was so stupidly awesome wtf! how???? epic" Like, mind blowingly awesome. Boy, when dreaming in extra dimensions it's super hard to try to explain them in three.... What did I just wake from????

 

I think it was also a first person type game, but not a shooter, not really. I don't think there was any shooting. I suppose there was some puzzling out of things, but it's so hard to explain. I started out in one region of the game, things were pretty normal; in some kind of off-white structure with long hallways and lots of small cubby-like rooms I guess--this part is pretty fuzzy--I think there was a lot of travelling in the game--a lot of back and forth and opening things up. There was like this secret that I guess the player didn't even know existed; like there weren't really any clues the game engine could even handle anything remotely as wild and crazy as the secret area that this game contained. It was such a mind-blowingly awesome secret that I was just frickin' going wow, wtf, the whole time I was figuring it out. It was almost as if I was in a movie at that point. Everything was so real and kinda scary because this secret was *super* challenging, and I died not long after I found myself in it. And I kept reflecting on it.. and I was talking to others who had gotten farther in the game than I and they were saying something like "this is just the beginning", but for me--my mind was blown.

 

It was almost like a portal to extra dimensions. That's the best I can do to explain it. It was kinda like when Ellie Arroway takes a ride in the interstellar machine they make in the film Contact, but instead of winding up on a beach in Pensacola she goes through a bunch of multi-dimensional worm holes all at once that give her a mindblowing view of the universe and reality that she --and no humans-- could have ever imagined-- something that would have even blown Einstein's mind.

 

Anyway... I am going to try to describe this secret area I puzzled together and reached. Cause it was the sauce... it was like the pinnacle of all secrets or cool culminations that any game or movie or even reality could ever produce.  

 

So I guess in these offwhite halls with their little cubbies there was some kind of secret puzzle or code embedded somewhere in them that connected you to some other area or aspect of the game--like some kind of dimension that was unreachable through normal three dimensional means but once you solved the puzzle allowed you to see through a new dimension via a portal (or multiple portals?) allowing you to see this new area of the game that you would otherwise not have even been able to imagine existed within the game engine. So that was the first part of the "whoah, this is cool!" moment of the game. I mean, I've had a lot of cool, mind expanding dreams before, but this one almost takes the cake (or maybe it does). 

 

So after I unlocked the first part of the puzzle and saw into this other part of the game I could have never imagined existed, I think I was transported to a dark, mazey-caverny like area with a wide opening into a courtyard on one side--kind of Doomy in atmosphere, very dark, with the outdoor courtyard maybe only slightly less dark. I think there may have been a cyberdemon or some kind of terrible cybernetic monster lurking there that I wanted to avoid. This part is just as murky as the first part of the game, unfortunately. But it somehow opened up another part of the first part of the game; so that now the hallways were more detailed or something, or cooler looking--or revealing more about the depth of the game engine... (the game engine really is like some kind of ultra-cool reality where multiple dimensions exist) and the small cubbies now opened up to much more interesting areas that maybe revealed more clues to more aspects of the game world that I couldn't have even imagined existed.

 

I was starting to get excited as I was piecing it altogether, but nothing could have really warned me for when I suddenly found a portal and was .. teleported? into the heart of the multi-dimensional .. complex we'll call it, it was like a complex-- as in, not a military complex, but some kind of high-tech portal-like complex of some kind of reality bending experimental technology or something cool like that. When I arrived there were all these sirens blaring as if to signal that I had made a major discovery and found myself in some kind of ultra-restricted area of the game--some kind of ultra-super secret. I think the cyberdemon may have been haunting my steps and following me through the portals.

 

Visually it looked like a very large cube shaped chamber with ledges around the edges? or tubes... I seem to remember some kind of large tubes that could barely fit a person inside... the lighting was perhaps a bit dim (say like 160 in Doom) but a lot of blue and red lights were pulsing to the sirens and there were maybe some dark conveyor belt like things happening, too. All these features of the room had transportive properties, and I think part of the challenge was to figure out very quickly as things happened very quickly inside this cube and you had to puzzle it out very quickly if you were going to figure out what to do.

 

I did not figure it out, and found myself flung onto the floor, titillated with awe and excitement of everything that I was seeing and experiencing within this 'complex', but now stuck on some kind of acid-floor with invisible walls (kinda like invisible impassible lines in doom) and they were on a grid kind of making a "hallway" on the open floor of the bottom of the cube. The only detail I remember clearly was that the damaging floors did not make a straight line but allowed me to walk from one end of the cube to the other on a WOLF3D type of grid and the borders of the 64x64 square tiles were glowing yellow. I also remember thinking that when I replay this it's going to be hella hard to figure out how to get passed this ultra-super secret--that is, to solve its secret. 

 

I was desperately trying to figure out a way to escape as I was clearly dying on the damaging floor tiles but my focus was distracted by my mind being blown at what just happened--seeing and experiencing everything that had just happened and was happening; about discovering all these portals that I passed through in order to reach this ultimate destination... but even this ultra-super-secret wasn't the ultimate destination in the game--it was just a stepping stone--a window into a much broader multi-dimensional world the game inhabited, and I had just gotten a glimpse of it... and my mind was blown, but I was marveling at what just happened and replaying it in my head because it was soo cool, even as the acid tiles were killing me and I'd every once in a while rapidly glance around and try to figure out why I was trapped and couldn't escape the acid tiles or jump or climb or do anything. I had failed the puzzle; I had failed to harness the multi-dimensional portals that were connected within the "multi-dimensional complex", but I had made such amazing gains in getting this far, that I didn’t even care; I was just so stoked about finding this ultra cool secret; and having seen a glimpse into just how deep the multi-dimensions expanded within the game when I found my way into the ultra-super-secret area. 

 

I then woke up.

 

The dream vanished as they often do. I was lying in bed wondering if I should get up and go to the bathroom. As I came back to bed the memory of the dream hit me-- that I had just woke up from a mindblowingly awesome dream. It's always so sad how mundane the normal world is and trying to recount this dream that existed with extra dimensions! My description of the dream failed horribly to describe any of the interesting details at all adequately. /sigh

 

I remember glimpsing so many aspects (or dimensions) of the ultra-super-secret area. They were coming at me like flashes of concealed insights--veiled insights I only got glimpses at but didn't have any idea how to fully unlock. And there many of them, each blinking in and out of my perception imperceptibly quickly, as though they would need to be comprehended all at once and fully in order to fully understand and perceive the magnitude of the ultra-super-secret, what it was, what it meant, and how it was a key to seeing how to move beyond it to the next stage. I also remember that as I was solving the various puzzles that were unlocking how to reach this ultra-super-secret that I was getting small glimpses of the secret area (before I realized even that it was a secret area), or the portals to it, and those glimpses were super exciting and awe filling.

 

***

 

I think the inspiration of the dream may have come from my mountain bike ride last night. I mostly ride road, because it's safer and I'm accident prone. But my brother owns a bike shop and I have no social life right now and he had a good mountain bike to lend me (modern, high end mountain bikes are crazy capable). We went to a local state park and did downhill rides and got shuttled back up a paved access road at the park in my brother's pickup. The first trail we did sketched me out because it was slightly off camber as it was a narrow trail cutting through the side of a very steep slope; so if you messed up (like catching the ultra-wide handle bars on a tree which I kept doing) you'd likely go flying down the steep embankment (I very nearly did but managed to grab a sapling before tumbling down). So I'm trying to keep up with all the hot-shots I'm riding with but mostly I'm just freaking out because the handlebars are sooo dang wide and the brakes are stupidly responsive (went over the handlebars grabbing too much brake trying to squeeze between two trees). So I'm kind of taking it easy (like, relatively speaking; I don't know how to take biking easy) because I'm coming from a road bike with normal, rim brakes and narrow handlebars, so the adjustment is big.

 

Second run we did was much more shallow but much turnier and this time my handlebars are kissing the trees but at least I'm not hitting them--still, kinda sketchy, but I'm trying to push the envelope as much as I can to keep up with everyone (which I did not at all succeed in doing); but I had gotten my helmet sorted so it wasn't bobbing in front of my eyes (which complicated matters on the first run). 

 

For our final run we did the first run again, and I was sort of dreading it, but also thinking I had gained some experience from the the first two rides so I'd be able to handle it. So I was behind one of the most talented riders in our group, and I thought he was going to send it and leave me in the dust but for some reason I'm able to keep up with him (I dunno if he was going slow for me or if I was just riding better?) but I didn't even notice the steep embankment or all the roots or the off-camber--I was laser focused on just following him and keeping my handlebars centered through the gaps in the trees on the narrow trail. I was flying along and having the time of my life. Like, that was some seriously fun riding.

 

So there is a giant log lying across the trail. And the guy I'm following --j-rony-- goes over this massive log and he makes it look like nothing, like it was the easiest thing in the world to do. The first run I didn't even attempt it. I just came to a stop and got off the bike. But I'm seeing J-rony go over this log and I'm like, bahh... I can do that; plus I got a lot of speed going, so I'm just gonna float over this thing like he did.  I go over it and I somehow manage to not scrape the front drivetrain all over the log but I guess I didn't manage to get my weight back properly because I end up endo-ing the landing... that is, I'm riding on my front tire and waiting to be sent over the handlebars (because that's how these rides generally go when I ride with these guys). And I wait and I wait--hey, whaddya know, eventually I feel the rear tire slowly lower and I'm still upright on the bike and I haven't gone OTB or crashed into any trees--- and I'm back at it keeping up with J-rony. And I hear the guy behind me who saw the whole thing laughing and exclaiming. But I didn't waste a moment to look back or commiserate on the moment, I was laser focused on keeping up with J-rony and the trail ahead (or is it below?).

 

Then I hear him say there is a jump ahead and he suddenly starts riding much faster, and I'm still more or less keeping up but he's starting to gap me. I'm riding at the edge of my seat (quite literally) flying along, trying to go as fast as I can and put my trust in the high end bike beneath me and stay laser focused as I'm needling my way through the technical trail. I don't really remember what happened. But I guess I didn't quite manage to negotiate something---I don't remember there being a big jump. There was maybe a small one, I think I did get some air at some point, but anyway, I found myself crashing and flying off the embankment and desperately grabbing at saplings as I was hurtling down the side of the mountain. I did manage to grab saplings just in time and saved myself from a long tumble.

 

I get back going as fast as I can as a few riders go by. I'm flying along again, pushing the envelope more than ever. I'm getting tired now; my arms and hands, and my quads are burning like hell because you can't really sit much when descending like this. I'm coming up on a very small log going across the trail. Well, the trail goes around the log, but it looks feasible to me to just go straight over the log as a little extra challenge and find myself back on the trail again. The log is small, but it's raised several inches off the ground. So I go over the log but somehow things get a little wonky as I go over it and I find myself headed for a tree. I had an awkward wipe out as I desperately try to avoid a direct collision with a large tree--I did collide with the large tree, but not with my chest or face, so as to mitigate some of the damages--I was spun around and flung onto my back.

 

I feel a little dazed. I get to my feet, focus on controlling my breathing which is heavy, and just keep breathing and telling myself I'm fine (which I mostly seem to be). I collect the bike and start going down again. The worst was over and I get to the bottom. I guess the point of me telling about the ride is because somehow in pushing the envelope during the ride--that experience kinda passed over into my dream where I was pushing the envelope of what is possible in reality in general (within the exciting and fun trappings of a game). 

 

I wish I could remember more details about how I found the ultra-super-secret. I can't remember the details of the steps to opening the portals into the 'multi-dimensional complex'. I just remember it was a really cool feeling and the whole nature of those portals were very cool; even just visually they were really cool. It's weird how dreams often exist in extra dimensions and then you wake up and for a brief moment after waking the dream is vivid in your mind--or at least the feelings the dream caused are still vivid--trying to describe the details is often way harder than you initially realize it will be. Generally the more difficult a dream is to describe, the cooler it is. I'm going to keep thinking about it, though.

 

I do remember when I entered the multi-dimensional-complex that visually there was a lot going on. There was a red and blue sphere-y thing that was spinning rapidly--super hard to describe this sphere-y thing--there were bands going around the outer 'cell' that were gyrating around very quickly and in the center was a glowing ball that was still; kinda like a giant soul sphere and blur sphere combined. This sphere-y orb thing was sort of the representation of the multi-dimensional portal I was in. Now understand, while I was dreaming all this, I was never thinking in terms of "dimensions". I was simply experiencing stuff. I never internalized or rationalized or analyzed what I was experiencing as extra-dimensional. It just... was my experience--a super cool "WOW, holy cow" experience. It was only in waking that I realized just how complex and otherwordly it all was that my regular, waking reality self decided that clearly I was dreaming in more dimensions than the normal world. 

 

I also remember now that as I got close to uncovering the portal to the 'MDC' things started happening very quickly, and the coolness factor started ratcheting up equally quickly: like, at the point I had solved all the pieces to opening up the portal to the MDC and was executing them, things started quickening, and the sense of danger magnified; or that some presence was trying to stop me (the Cyberdemon? Was there more than one Cyberdemon?) I remember at one point a dark, menacing presence was moving slowly (but quickly) along a dark, raised platform, as if observing me, but wholly superior to me in every way. Or maybe there were many platforms? I think there may have been a lot of entities trying to stop me, many of them cloaked, moving slowly, almost imperceptibly, stealthy, but very quickly. There really was a lot going on and very quickly as I approached the MDC.

 

I think also, while I was slowly uncovering more of the dimensions of the 'MDC' through the other areas of the game I was getting these really cool glimpses into it, that were egging me on to discover more. I think there was always a bit of fear or danger associated with uncovering the MDC, especially when I finally portal'd directly inside it towards the end of the dream. A lot of the different areas of the game were somehow all connected to the access portal to the MDC, as if all the different areas of the game I had uncovered were active pieces of the portal--or active parts to opening the portal. So that as things were quickening as I was seeing more of the pieces to the portal--I was seeing or traveling very quickly between all the different areas I had uncovered to unlock the portal. Anyway, maybe I'll find better words to describe the MDC in a more meaningful way, but for now this feeble attempt will have to suffice. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Hellbent

[Taw Tu'lki]

Nice.

But I think you should post it in "Creative Works", not in "Everything Else".

[Hellbent]

I just realized this as I went to EE just now to read your reply. Oops. EE gets more traffic, tho.

My dreams get cooler as life goes on. I’m not sure about my life, though. Hmm....