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Darkwood |OT| Indie survival horror's hidden gem

M

More_Badass

Member
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$14.99, PC/Mac/Linux (Steam, GOG)
http://www.darkwoodgame.com/
4-minute launch trailer/overview
2014 early access trailer

Scavenge and explore a rich, ever-changing free-roam world by day, then hunker down in your hideout and pray for the morning light.

- Enjoy an engaging blend of RPG, roguelike and adventure elements crafted by hardcore gamers.
- Step into a world where the cycle of night and day truly impacts your (already faint) chances of survival.
- By day explore the randomly generated, ever-sinister woods, scavenge for materials, craft weapons and discover new secrets.
- By night find shelter, barricade, set up traps and hide or defend yourself from the horrors that lurk in the dark.
- Gain skills and perks by extracting a strange essence from mutated fauna and flora and injecting it into your bloodstream. Watch out for unexpected consequences...
- Make decisions that impact the world of Darkwood, its inhabitants and the story you experience.
- Meet eerie characters, learn their stories and decide their fate. And remember - don't trust anyone.

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Destructoid review in progress
Darkwood's design is such that players will almost always be disoriented and threatened by their surroundings. Over my first few hours with the game, I never felt as though I had a moment to breathe. After a short prologue (which introduces some of the Darkwood's more nightmarish elements) I was left to my own devices, trapped in a forest where everything wanted to either kill me or wrestle away the last of my character's slipping sanity.
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RockPaperShotgun - Early Access impressions
It's a slow-paced Teleglitch, a survival horror game by way of Ice-Pick Lodge and Stalker...
While Teleglitch comparisons do spring to mind, I'm also obliged to mention Darkwood. Still in Early Access, it's shaping up to be one of the year's boldest horror games. From a similar perspective, it delivers everything from slow-burn dread to screaming terror...
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When it comes to indie games and horror, one of the common complaints is the reliance on the Slender/Amnesia brand of horror. Running, fleeing, weaponless and defenseless. Darkwood certainly has running and fleeing and slipping sanity, but you're armed (albeit meagerly) and you can even barricade your residence from the horrors that lurk outside. Not that those will save you; Darkwood's world is one of relentless nightmarish creatures, disturbing unsettling sights, deep suffocating darkness, and an otherworldly atmosphere

Like the best horror games, Darkwood uses your ability to fight back to only make you dread the dark even more, with your limited resources and weapons just barely being able to keep creatures at bay. Combined with the resourcefulness you can use (setting up bear trap with bait, and a trail of gasoline to light a trapped creature on fire), you feel surrounded, outmatched, and barely surviving as your supplies dwindle and the lights go out

The sound design is some of my favorite out of all the horror games I've played. The drawn-out screech as you drag a wardrobe over to block an opening. The creek of an opening door. The heft of your swings when you attack. Your panting breath as your stamina drops. The otherworldly moans and guttural sounds out there in the darkness.

The attention to detail here is great as well: the soft flickering of the oven pilot light, your character's animations as he clambers over a fence or readies his weapon, the trail of blood in your wake when you're bleeding from a wound, the daylight fading away as night comes. You feel desperate and alone, barely equipped with a shovel and a few bear traps as the night falls and your single flare sputters out. Pushing furniture in front of doorways and openings, using your meager supplies to barricade windows.

While the game does have a procedurally generated map, it's not permadeath (although there is an option); you can save and load, and the game has an overarching narrative to follow. A surreal unsettling narrative, with weird NPCs whose subtly moving portraits and creepy dialogue add to the walking nightmare feeling of the world. I'd argue the map generation also works to the game's benefit, adding to the dreamlike atmosphere. As a roguelike, the map is more akin to that of The Forest, a sprawling environment with different regions with their own handcrafted locations and narrative elements rather than the narrow corridors and rooms of a dungeon crawling roguelike
 
G

GwyndolinCinder

Member
Just saw this on steam, thought "How have i not seen this before, its got More_Badass thread written all over it", and then wahey look what i see ^^
 
B

bobnowhere

Member
Cool, I'll have to give it a go later. I bought it with gems during the great steam gem auction, that's how long it's been in EA!

I actually bought a whole heap of EA games during the gem auction and I think this is the 2nd last one to leave EA, Gearcity is still plugging away in EA though it's getting close.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
GwyndolinCinder said:
Just saw this on steam, thought "How have i not seen this before, its got More_Badass thread written all over it", and then wahey look what i see ^^
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Ha, yeah, got this in 2014 when it first came to Early Access, and it's been thoroughly improved and expanded since then. But it was terrifying and creepy from the start. You'd expect the top down perspective to make the game less scary, but it doesn't
 
ProgenitorCastle

ProgenitorCastle

Banned
So, does this have any influence at all from classic RE/BH games?

Off-topic: How long does it typically take for someone to get un-juniored?
I got juniored myself...which I suppose is better than straight-up getting permabanned from here...but still find it sort-of humiliating and already miss making threads, which I guess started to take for granted (the ability to create em)
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
let me quote myself from earlier:

Rhaknar said:
finished the Darkwood prologue

giphy.gif


That enough for now ;_;
Click to expand...

it seems fantastic right from the get go. I played a wee bit of Chapter 1 (like, barely 2 minutes) and you imediatly are introduced with a bunch of systems.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
ProgenitorCastle said:
So, does this have any influence at all from classic RE/BH games?
Click to expand...
Resource management
Weapons and limited ammo
Crafting healing and buff items (here being syringes where you choose the positive and negative effects)
Locked doors (Use lockpicks, find codes and keys, etc.)
A focus on tension and dread rather than jump scares
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Badass, you should rename the thread to |OT| tbh, it is basically a OT from the effort you put into the main post, and hopefully people will be more inclined to take a peak, instead of just calling it "hey this game is out" as if it was like a random trailer thread or something :p

plus I want a place to discuss it :3
 
VlaudTheImpaler

VlaudTheImpaler

tl;dr
I've been waiting for this for a long time. That is a fantastic price.

Really wish I wasn't in the middle of pinching pennies for the new house so I could play it now. :/

I've waited this long though, I can wait another month or so. I will sub in the meantime so I don't forget.
 
MightyKAC

MightyKAC

Member
This is one of those games that I saw a video for, bought because I thought it looked cool, played it and realized it was a bit too "early access" for me, and then shelved it into the backlog.

Good to know that it's finished now.

I'll probably check it out on the laptop later.
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
fuck the sound design in this game.

no, seriously.

fuck it.

:(
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Mr_Kuschels said:
How much crafting is in the game? I'm tired of having to craft everything in modern games.
Click to expand...
It's more realistic crafting than "10 wood to make an axe". More like "rag + branch = torch" and "nail + wood = plank with nails"

I'd call it scavenging rather than crafting

Rhaknar said:
fuck the sound design in this game.

no, seriously.

fuck it.

:(
Click to expand...
It's so good. The sound design completes this game. It would be significantly less scary without such good audio effects
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Mr_Kuschels said:
How much crafting is in the game? I'm tired of having to craft everything in modern games.
Click to expand...

it's a survival game at heart, so there is crafting, not gonna sugar coat it. Most of it seems to make sense tho, like badass said, its stuff like rags+fire makes torch, use wires to make lockpicks, wood to cover up windows and shit.
 
P

Plum

Member
This looks so interesting but my toaster of a laptop would never be able to run it; I'll have to wait until next month when I upgrade. The art-style looks right up my alley, can't wait to get my hands on it.
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
hmm I wonder if I should restart, got to day 2, but I spent too much time faffing around in day 1 and barely got anything done, when I decided to explore outside the house it was almost darktime.

what say you badass?

also there is a wolfman talking to me now, the fuck is going on in this game?
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
Well, that looks stressful. Glad to know it doesn't have the permadeath roguelike element. Thanks for the detailed impressions in the OP, More_Badass!
 
T

Truant

Member
The game is quite tough, died the very first day from an enemy in the underground tunnel. Had no weapons to defend myself with.

Also, I got enough shrooms to upgrade, but when I selected my skill I also accidentally selected a negative effect that I could deselect. Is this a bug?
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Truant said:
The game is quite tough, died the very first day from an enemy in the underground tunnel. Had no weapons to defend myself with.

Also, I got enough shrooms to upgrade, but when I selected my skill I also accidentally selected a negative effect that I could deselect. Is this a bug?
Click to expand...

I believe you always get positive and negative effects
 
W

WheelHoss1

Member
More_Badass said:
Resource management
Weapons and limited ammo
Crafting healing and buff items (here being syringes where you choose the positive and negative effects)
Locked doors (Use lockpicks, find codes and keys, etc.)
A focus on tension and dread rather than jump scares
Click to expand...

Since you are the indie expert, any chance we will see this on PS4? The trailer killed it
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Some intriguing responses from the dev's AMA early today
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6uhzyw/were_afraid_to_play_horror_games_so_we_quit_our/
What piece of horror, if any, would you say inspired you the most?
...For me, it would be The Shining, Silent Hill, and the works of David Lynch.
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Why did you decide to go with a top down perspective instead of an over the shoulder? Have you played This War of Mine? It has a similar feel with the bombed out look.
Yeah, we liked TWoM very much! Top-down wasn't really a decision. The game started not as a horror game, but a tower defence game ;) Later we saw that there is much potential for spookyness, so we went with it.
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Do you not feel like jump scares are an effective means of releasing tension after it builds up to critical mass, thus allowing it to build again?
If the game doesn't contain any jump scares then how do you make the player feel as if they're in danger?
You've got a point, but we personally have no need to experience jump scares, so we decided to make a game that relies on a constant feeling of dread, something that tries to dig underneath your skull instead of slapping you on the forehead. I'm not saying jump scares are bad inherently - it's just not our cup of tea. Just like Darkwood will not be the cup of tea for most people, and we're fine with that ;)
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Tell us everything about all kind of stuff that was planned but not made it into the final build! What about that?
At some point during production, we were at a crossroads where we could not get our vision together. We had a huge problem with implementing roguelike mechanics with a non-linear story, scripted events and hand-made assets (like locations that would lose character if they were more procedural). After long, long debates we decided to make the game less Randomly generated. Due to this, we had to make it less roguelike-like, like th Permadeath being optional. There were some locations cut and NPCs, and a lot of concepts for enemies, weapons and mechanics.
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Here is a question about horror movies. There are movies that split the horror community: The VVitch, Bone Tomahawk, It Follows?It Comes at Night, and many others....What do you think about current horror movies and the new drier styles?
I loved It Follows and The VVitch. Haven't seen the other movies. This is the kind of horror I actually enjoy - personal, slow burning and thoughtful. Just like Darkwood ;) But to each his own! That's one of the beauties of the world, we have so much diversity.
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M

More_Badass

Member
Stumbled onto these impressions while browsing GOG
To those put off by the randomization, crafting, and roguelike elements: don't be. The game is great.

This is not some shitty minecraft clone. Locations are entirely premade and "procedural generation" only applies to terrain between said locations, and where they are on the map. So the story elements remain the same with each playthrough but exploration is kept fresh as you need to search for old locations again.

You do not built shit block-by-block - all the shelters are premade, which is great as it allows the devs to design nighttime encounters specifically designed for the geometry of your hideout. The crafting only extends to supplies and such, and adds an elements of resource management to the game. Say, for instance, that you went out to scavenge for gasoline during the day and only found one can by nighttime. Do you refuel your generator so that you have visibility during the night, or do you prepare a molotov cocktail or two in case something starts scratching at your door?

Permadeath is optional. The other difficulty setting entails item loss on death instead, but personally I prefer permadeath as it keeps things more tense.

Basically this is not some sandbox without a story, the story is there and it is great. It is slowly uncovered at your own pace, without falling into the trap of being too cryptic. There are also interesting, bizarre NPCs and honest-to-god choices and consequences, including mutually exclusive quests and things of that nature.

As for the horror element, it is absolutely top notch. The game primarily relies on sound design to create a nearly constant atmosphere of pressure, danger, and uncertainty. Even during the day the world around you is absolutely miserable. Starved dogs and madmen prowl a countryside that is somehow both decaying and overgrown. As you pass a treeline, you may hear shuffling and the snapping of branches come from within. If you are smart, you will turn around and give the area a wide berth. Still, you have to explore during the day to find critical locations, advance the story, and scavenge for resources that you will need to survive the night.

The night is where things become even more terrifying. If you are lucky, you could manage to refuel the generator during the day and barricade the windows/exits (and block those that you could not barricade with furniture). Now, monsters can see and hear you, and every step you make produces noise, and even barricaded windows can be peered through. Add to that the fact that your generator's gasoline consumption is tied to the amount of light sources you have running, and the result is that you will be huddling in a corner, away from as many windows as possible, still as a mouse, in a pitch-black house. Soon you will begin to hear things: muffled breathing somewhere outside, the pitter-patter of naked feet near your front door, and...the sound of the heavy wardrobe you used to block off the big hole in the kitchen wall being pushed. You shit your pants, ready a weapon (if you even have one), and think: do you turn on the lamp in your room so that you have visibility against this threat and potentially expose yourself, or do you creep away from the kitchen, potentially stumbling into something far worse in the darkness?

Additionally, there are many handcrafted events which occur in random order with each passing night, most of which involve something horrible or unnerving happening to you. There is a healthy amount of them and due to their order being randomized, they still manage to surprise even after several playthroughs. You will go many nights hearing various animals and...other things scratch at your walls, but what will you do the one night when you will hear a clear, deliberate knocking at the front door?

There are surreal elements as well that frequently make you question which happenings are supernatural, the figments of the protagonist's imagination, or which events actually have a rational explanation. Perhaps you will dream of being buried alive in a strange grave in the woods, only to find that very grave in your exploration during the day. Other times, choices made within dreams will have actual impact in the real world.
Click to expand...
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Rhaknar said:
hmm I wonder if I should restart, got to day 2, but I spent too much time faffing around in day 1 and barely got anything done, when I decided to explore outside the house it was almost darktime.

what say you badass?

also there is a wolfman talking to me now, the fuck is going on in this game?
Click to expand...

why u ignore me badass :(
 
W

WheelHoss1

Member
Man I want to play this

Sounds like the perfect blend of Don't Starve and The Last of Us (or another post apocalyptic setting if you please)
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
wait, how does dying work in this?

I just died in the
underground tunnels
after finding a
locked armored door and the lights went out, my torch also ran out and some monster thing attacked me
.

then I woke up back in my house, with the same inventory I had, I dont seem to have lost anything, and I still have my perk from "leveling" up also.

does dying have no penalty?
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Rhaknar said:
wait, how does dying work in this?

I just died in the
underground tunnels
after finding a
locked armored door and the lights went out, my torch also ran out and some monster thing attacked me
.

then I woke up back in my house, with the same inventory I had, I dont seem to have lost anything, and I still have my perk from "leveling" up also.

does dying have no penalty?
Click to expand...
Maybe that was a scripted event?
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
Game looks and sounds amazing. Does anyone know how long a playthrough lasts? I have a few games in my backlog that want to get thru first, but am seriously considering picking this up as what I've seen really seems like it's my cuppa
 
K

KCroxtonJr

Member
Rhaknar said:
wait, how does dying work in this?

I just died in the
underground tunnels
after finding a
locked armored door and the lights went out, my torch also ran out and some monster thing attacked me
.

then I woke up back in my house, with the same inventory I had, I dont seem to have lost anything, and I still have my perk from "leveling" up also.

does dying have no penalty?
Click to expand...
Normal - Die as many times as you want, only penalty is drop some items (which you can recover).

Hard - Limited number of deaths, once limit is reached it's game over.

Nightmare - Permadeath

Game is really nerve-wracking once the sun goes down, you never really know what to expect and having to decide on how you protect yourself adds even more stress. It's a really cool/refreshing experience in the horror genre.

It's scary as fuck when an enemy gets inside unexpectedly!

Combat can be a bit clunky, but when it works it feels quite good.
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
KCroxtonJr said:
Normal - Die as many times as you want, only penalty is drop some items (which you can recover).

Hard - Limited number of deaths, once limit is reached it's game over.

Nightmare - Permadeath

Game is really nerve-wracking once the sun goes down, you never really know what to expect and having to decide on how you protect yourself adds even more stress. It's a really cool/refreshing experience in the horror genre.

It's scary as fuck when an enemy gets inside unexpectedly!

Combat can be a bit clunky, but when it works it feels quite good.
Click to expand...

huh, I dont seem to have lost any items, im not exactly sure tho. But its good to know how death works at least, cheers.
 
K

KCroxtonJr

Member
Rhaknar said:
huh, I dont seem to have lost any items, im not exactly sure tho. But its good to know how death works at least, cheers.
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I managed to survive the situation you mentioned so can't say if that's normal or not, but I died twice outside twice and it dropped about half my inventory. Marks it on your map so you can easily get back to it.

Remember people, never show up to a wedding uninvited ;)

Game is pretty damn great so far, really awesome prologue. Definitely seems worth the 15 bucks.

Oh, and yeah, as already mentioned the sound design is amazing.
 
M

MrMysterio

Member
2nd night, barricaded everything. Hid in the bedroom, both lights turned on. Scraping outside the door to the kitchen, heavy breathing. Scraping stops. Door swings open.

...

Nothing but dread. Love the game.

It's also just really pretty.
 
T

trainchaser

Neo Member
Hey guys, Maciej from The Acid Wizard Studio here (localization, help with promotion).

Very cool to see this thread here! Thank you for all the feedback. I thought I'll let the wizards know about this discussion, so if you want to ask us any questions, feel free to do so.

Please be patient, though, as we haven't slept much this week and we're still quite busy with launch-related stuff. Just thought I'll let you know we'll be visiting from time to time ;)
 
S

StrongBelwas

Banned
trainchaser said:
Hey guys, Maciej from The Acid Wizard Studio here (localization, help with promotion).

Very cool to see this thread here! Thank you for all the feedback. I thought I'll let the wizards know about this discussion, so if you want to ask us any questions, feel free to do so.

Please be patient, though, as we haven't slept much this week and we're still quite busy with launch-related stuff. Just thought I'll let you know we'll be visiting from time to time ;)
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Hey!

Game looks great but for all of us non pc gamers out there, any chance this might make its way to consoles?
 
T

trainchaser

Neo Member
We'd like to port the game to consoles. It depends on the PC launch, but we're definitely not ruling out that possibility. Would be a cool thing to do!
 
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