Weird Dreams (C64)

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Weird Dreams
Weird Dreams - C64 - US.jpg
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

Weird Dreams - C64 - Title Screen.png

The title screen.

Weird Dreams - C64 - Fairground.png

That bee's carrying something important...

Weird Dreams - C64 - House of Mirrors.png

The House of Mirrors; a sort of level select, except the levels must be played in a certain order.

Weird Dreams - C64 - Chicken.png

Attempting to escape an overgrown cooked chicken with teeth!

Weird Dreams - C64 - Final Boss.png

The final boss, which is pretty easy!

Weird Dreams - C64 - Ending.png

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 ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
01 Title Screen Barry LeitchBarry Leitch 5:16
Download
02 Fairground Barry LeitchBarry Leitch 1:53
Download
03 Country Gardens William KimberBarry Leitch 1:11
Download
04 Piano Barry LeitchBarry Leitch 1:11
Download
05 Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyBarry Leitch 0:41
Download

Credits

(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

SID.png

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.svg   EU
Weird Dreams - C64 - EU.jpg
Title: Weird Dreams
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1990-02-??
Publisher: Rainbird Software
  USA.svg   USA
Weird Dreams - C64 - US.jpg
Title: Weird Dreams
Platform: Commodore 64
Released: 1990-??-??
Publisher: Rainbird Software

Links


Weird Dreams
Weird Dreams Platform - AMI.png • Platform - AST.png • Platform - C64.png • Platform - DOS.png
Notable Songs Title Screen
Notable Personnel Barry Leitch • David Whittaker • Axel Brown
Notable Companies Rainbird Software • Microplay Software