Weird Dreams (C64)

Weird Dreams

Platform: Commodore 64 Year: 1990 Developer: Best Ever Games

Weird Dreams is an action game developed by Best Ever Games. In the game, you play as Steve, who has been drugged into a nightmare by his girlfriend, who is secretly possessed by a demon. To escape, you must make it through several weird levels and obstacles, and collect the three orbs hidden throughout the game.

Screenshots

The title screen. That bee's carrying something important... The House of Mirrors; a sort of level select, except the levels must be played in a certain order. Attempting to escape an overgrown cooked chicken with teeth! The final boss, which is pretty easy! Congratulations!

Music

The game only has 5 songs, so there's not a lot of music in the game. The good thing is that Barry Leitch was brought in to do the game's soundtrack. Since the developers didn't have an in-house musician, they outsourced the sound to Imagitec Design. Like the other versions of the game, Weird Dreams for the Commodore 64 lacks credits. However, Leitch confirmed that the developers wanted him to arrange David Whittaker's Amiga and Atari ST soundtrack. On November 27, 2003, he told C64.COM:

“

I had to convert Whittakers pieces, and I hated having to do cover versions as I really wasn't good at it then. I can't remember his piece, but it's probably a rough approximation of it. I remember having to go to Leeds to get the sheet music for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Like I said, I really didn't have an ear for transcription then. Thankfully it developed over time.

„

Leitch had to write the music in assembly. Leitch said that Axel Brown created the driver, and that it's possible Dave Chiles and/or Adrian Waterhouse modified it. It is a later version which on PAL plays at 423.9 Hz (a quarter step sharp).

Leitch also did the DOS version's soundtrack.

“

Original was by David Whittaker IIRC, I had to do PC and C64 I think.

„

Recording

The song Title Screen plays during the second piano segment, and Piano plays during the title screen. However, they have been named for consistency with the other versions of the game.

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
01	Title Screen	Barry Leitch	Barry Leitch	5:16		Download
02	Fairground	Barry Leitch	Barry Leitch	1:53		Download
03	Country Gardens	William Kimber	Barry Leitch	1:11		Download
04	Piano	Barry Leitch	Barry Leitch	1:11		Download
05	Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Barry Leitch	0:41		Download

Credits

• Ripper:
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Not Credited Composer: Barry Leitch
  • Not Credited Composer: William Kimber
  • Not Credited Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • (C): Axel Brown credited as Axel

(Source: Verification from composer; game lacks credits. The driver has a hidden comment and leaked source code (which is gradually overwritten as the music plays).)

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

Audio Devices

The game uses the SID chip, and uses Axel Brown's sound driver. The bass sounds different on a few 6581s because it uses SID's infamous filter.

Releases

EU Title: Weird Dreams Platform: Commodore 64 Released: 1990-02-?? Publisher: Rainbird Software     USA Title: Weird Dreams Platform: Commodore 64 Released: 1990-??-?? Publisher: Rainbird Software

Links

• mobygames.com/game/c64/weird-dreams - MobyGames.
• gamefaqs.gamespot.com/c64/572221-weird-dreams - GameFAQs.

View Weird Dreams
Weird Dreams	•  •  •
Notable Songs	Title Screen
Notable Personnel	Barry Leitch • David Whittaker • Axel Brown
Notable Companies	Rainbird Software • Microplay Software