Shenmue Content Discovered in Dreamcast Email Software "DreamFlyer"

After all these years, it's only now - through a news item in our recent translation of Weekly AM2 Vol. 13 - that I've learned Shenmue's graphical content was available for Dreamcast owners to use back in the day, inside a software program called DreamFlyer.

What Is DreamFlyer?

DreamFlyer is a software program that was designed to allow for easy sending of multimedia emails between Dreamcast users who had an internet connection. 

The cover of DreamFlyer for the Dreamcast

Here's how it was described in a press release at the time (November 1999). As noted, it was also possible to send the emails to users of PCs and Macs with the use of viewer software:

"DreamFlyer allows users to send stylish, graphical emails simply by selecting one of over 150 card designs, entering text, and adding an email address.

The software also includes over 1,000 different stamps with phrases like "Perfect!" and "Looking good!", making it easy to express your feelings even without writing a full message. Animated stamps are also available, and you can even create your own custom stamps.

Additionally, DreamFlyer features a "UkeMelo" editor that lets you create original sound effects to attach to your emails. When the recipient opens your email, they'll hear the custom sound you’ve designed.

Even if the recipient doesn't have DreamFlyer, they can still receive emails using Dream Passport 2. Plus, Windows and Mac users can download a viewer program to display DreamFlyer's visual emails, making it accessible across platforms.

DreamFlyer will be available for 2,800 yen".

 

Shenmue Content in DreamFlyer: Cards

To get started with creating your email, the first step is to select a graphic, or "card" to serve as the background for the thoughtful message you'll be sending to your friend.

Numerous card designs are supplied, sorted into various collections. The collections include the expected cute kittens and scenic locations - and within these, surprisingly, is a Shenmue-themed collection!

Choosing the Shenhua icon at the top displays the available designs:

The card selection screen: the icons in the top row allow selection of a card collection. Below the dashed line are thumbnails of the cards available in the selected collection - in this case, the Shenmue cards.

Let's have a closer look at each of the 12 Shenmue card graphics in the collection. Although many of the images can be recognized from various promotional artwork and calendars, they have clearly been carefully laid out and cropped for pleasing visual effect when used as a message background. The last two could be considered new creations!

Each of the cards is named - generally after the name of the character or characters featured in the graphic. One interesting note is that, even at this late point in 1999, Lan Di is referred to as "Cang Long" (蒼龍 = Azure Dragon), his name from earlier in the project's development.

Note: I used the Flycast emulator to capture these images, as it has network support, which is required for the software to run.

• "Ryo Hazuki & Shenhua Ling"

• "Ryo Hazuki & Shenhua Ling"

• "Shenhua Ling"

• "Ryo Hazuki"

• "Ryo Hazuki & Nozomi Harasaki"

• "Nozomi Harasaki"

• "Shenmue"

• "Shenhua Ling"

• "Shenhua Ling"

• "Ryo Hazuki & Xiuying Hong & Cang Long"

• "Merry X'mas"

• "Happy New Year"

Text and other decorations can then be added:

Email creation in progress

Shenmue Content in DreamFlyer: Stickers

You were also able to choose (or create) stickers which you could position wherever you liked on your email.

Below is the set of Shenmue-themed sticker designs that were available. The characters featured are: Ryo Hazuki, Shenhua Ling, Nozomi Harasaki, Niao Sun, Iwao Hazuki, Cang Long, Wuying Ren, Chai and Xiuying Hong.

Adding a Melody

As mentioned in the introduction, it was also possible to create a tune which would play together with the graphic once received. Two types of sound were available: a standard "beep" or a "music box" tone.

Perhaps Shenmue fans at the time created tunes with the help of the ringtone guides published in editions of Weekly AM2!

Shenmue Content in DreamFlyer: Postage Stamps

Before sending your email, you could even select a design for the "postage stamp" that would be displayed next to the sender's and recipient's email addresses.

The Shenmue postage stamps again featured characters from the game (the lower-resolution images below are screengrabs from a promotional video, possibly from a pre-release version of the software):

There are 8 Shenmue-themed postage stamps

The postage stamp is displayed on the screen showing the subject, sender and recipients.

Japanese Promo Video: DreamFlyer

A Japanese promotional video for DreamFlyer from the day.

DreamFlyer - PC Version

There was also a PC version of DreamFlyer so Dreamcast users could send and exchange multimedia emails with PC-owning friends.

DreamFlyer running on Windows

Final Comment

It's fascinating to think that DreamFlyer offered such a creative and interactive way for Dreamcast owners to communicate. In a time before social media and instant messaging as we know it today, this software gave fans a fun and personal way to share messages with friends.

The inclusion of Shenmue content shows just how much attention Sega paid to their flagship franchise, even in unexpected places like DreamFlyer. In addition to the Shenmue content showcased in this post that came as part of the DreamFlyer software, it was stated in Vol. 13 of the Weekly AM2 that twice-monthly downloadable updates of Shenmue content were planned - if these did indeed go ahead, perhaps there are fans still out there with this additional content sitting on their VMU!

Discovering these forgotten digital treasures 25 years on is like unearthing a hidden chapter in Shenmue's rich history - and it's a charming reminder of the creativity that surrounded the Dreamcast era.

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