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Darkwood: Top-down survival horror game

B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Darkwood is a top-down, oldschool survival horror set in a procedurally generated, open world. It features RPG and roguelike elements, with intense combat and a eerie atmosphere. It's developed by 3 people from Poland, who like to call themselves Acid Wizard Studio, and is currently in pre-alpha stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQOPb9p3HTQ

Edit: I should have put Jonathan Blow or David Cage in the thread title. Why does nobody care? This looks cool!

Edit 2: "Check out this thread too, if you want to check out other recent Indie Games or more games to look forward to."

Edit 3: Gameplay trailer 2: http://youtu.be/qSjnDKBLZbc
 
A talking generator with a thirst for booze?

Other than that, it looks solid. I'm not sure if a top down game can deliver scares though.
 
Gold_Loot said:
A talking generator with a thirst for booze?
Click to expand...
Yeah that was quite odd.

The rest of the trailer seemed quite scripted. Which probably doesn't really represent what a procedurally generated open-world game is going to deliver.
 
Looks awesome. Like how it's going old school with the perspective. Kind of like how lone survivor went side scrolling 2D. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Love me some indie horror games.
 
Looks interesting.
What's with this flashlight effect some topdown games have been using lately?

Anyhow, when is this supposed to come out?
 
Looks cool. I was initially turned off by the flashing red and thumping heartbeat, but it got better once I realized it was a damage indicator, which makes its presence a little better. Still not a huge fan of stuff like that, and definitely not the way to open a trailer.
 
Burt said:
Looks cool. I was initially turned off by the flashing red and thumping heartbeat, but it got better once I realized it was a damage indicator, which makes its presence a little better. Still not a huge fan of stuff like that, and definitely not the way to open a trailer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was annoying to me as well, but other than that I am totally down with what this seems to be doing.
 
benny_a said:
Yeah that was quite odd.

The rest of the trailer seemed quite scripted. Which probably doesn't really represent what a procedurally generated open-world game is going to deliver.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you think this. That could have easily been procedural, and by that I mean pulling from a bank of things to build the mission/objectives. I've built a system similar in the past that worked naturally enough to produce things similar to what was shown.
 
piratepwnsninja said:
Not sure why you think this. That could have easily been procedural, and by that I mean pulling from a bank of things to build the mission/objectives. I've built a system similar in the past that worked naturally enough to produce things similar to what was shown.
Click to expand...

I'm just skeptical of a procedural system that can create a scenario where the light goes out. The kid is gone. Then right when I'm shining my flash light at the new position of a kid there is a lightning flash.
The rest of the scene also seemed quite well timed, with the sound playing at dramatic moments.

Of course it's possible, none of these things are impossible to do. I just don't think it will be representative of a procedurally generated world.

It definitely isn't a common thing in games that have procedural missions and scripted missions that the procedural missions are on this level of sophistication.
 
Really like the odd-ball feel to this game and the strange dialogue.

As for the gameplay it's like a game that I would want to come up with if I was an indie dev. Brilliant idea.
 
Well, I'm mildly creeped out. Presumably it's a long, long way off though.

UrbanRats said:
What's with this flashlight effect some topdown games have been using lately?
Click to expand...
It's generally referred to as a cone of sight. Basically a way of limiting what the player can see to what the character can see without the disadvantages of making the game in first person.
 
The flashlight is way too yellow. I mean i know maybe its to make the cone of sight or whatever it is to make it more visible maybe but i wish it was a bit less yellow. Except that little thing, it looks very interesting and fun.
 
valentine71 said:
The flashlight is way too yellow. I mean i know maybe its to make the cone of sight or whatever it is to make it more visible maybe but i wish it was a bit less yellow. Except that little thing, it looks very interesting and fun.
Click to expand...
I think the flashlight is very strong. Do you mean that or do you mean that it's actually colored too yellow and it should be whiter instead?
 
I really like top down games, and this sounds awesome. They should have showed off the "procedurally generated open world", though, and not a scripted scenario. Or they should have shown that in addition to the scripted scenario.
 
benny_a said:
I think the flashlight is very strong. Do you mean that or do you mean that it's actually colored too yellow and it should be whiter instead?
Click to expand...

It should be more white imo. I mean its way too yellow, if it was whiter, it would be better suited to game imo.
 
Hey, benny_a! I'll add this game to the To look forward to- section of this the Indie Games thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=517647

where I try to collect all the Indie Games that will otherwise be forgotten in a few days. Could you do me a favor and add a line to the OP in this thread like "Check out this thread too: Link, if you want to check out other recent Indie Games or more games to look forward to."

We need to connect the Indie Games on GAF more if we want to build a bit of a community.

For anyone else, the Indie Games thread linked above has been updated many, many times and now contains more games than you can probably play for a while.
 
Toma said:
Hey, benny_a! I'll add this game to the To look forward to- section of this the Indie Games thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=517647

where I try to collect all the Indie Games that will otherwise be forgotten in a few days. Could you do me a favor and add a line to the OP in this thread like "Check out this thread too: Link, if you want to check out other recent Indie Games or more games to look forward to."

We need to connect the Indie Games on GAF more if we want to build a bit of a community.

For anyone else, the Indie Games thread linked above has been updated many, many times and now contains more games than you can probably play for a while.
Click to expand...

God! I was looking for that thread. Thanks.
 
benny_a said:
I saw that thread but didn't scroll that much to see that there was an upcoming games overview. I thought it was only about the march games.

I added a link to your thread for all that synergy! ;-)
Click to expand...

Much appreciated :)
 
This looks a lot better than I believed it would after reading the description. The talking generator looks a bit silly, but I'm willing to wait until I get to play the game before judging it.
 
It looks awesome. I think that they went a bit overboard with the film grain effect.

I am definitely keeping my eyes on this one. 2013 is shaping up to be a great year for survival horror.
 
Man, dat inventory. I'd prefer it to have really simple mechanics if possible. I can get a lot more immersed in the creepy atmosphere when it focuses on pretty simple, focused controls, like Silent Hill or Amnesia. This is being advertised as a procedurally created horror RPG though, a genre mash I never really played, so who knows, it could be a winning combination.

They got the look and sound down to potentially scare the shit out of me. A lot of nice small details to ratchet up the eeriness. It looks extremely nice for a top-down game.
 
Hey guys, I'm one of the devs of Darkwood.
2 weeks ago we started a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to get the funds required to complete the game: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/darkwood .

Right now we're working on some new cool stuff that will hopefully help us build some hype before the campaign ends, but I'll be checking in once in a while here to see if you have any questions regarding Darkwood!

Oh, and the game is also on Steam Greenlight, waiting for your votes! ;) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=131900947
 
Going to bump this after seeing it on Reddit. I'm sure there are plenty of folks whos street this would be right up if they knew it was on going.

Hell it's only $10 for christ sakes!
 
There's a new trailer that's been posted:
http://youtu.be/qSjnDKBLZbc

You can really feel the tension of the person playing, I love that!

@Gustaw: you guys are doing an amazing work, I voted on Greenlight for you, can't wait to see your game on Steam!
 
benny_a said:
Darkwood is a top-down, oldschool survival horror set in a procedurally generated, open world. It features RPG and roguelike elements
Click to expand...

Wow they nailed every buzzword (/bad design decision).

EDIT: They forgot "metroidvania", so no buy.
 
Why is the survival horror genre the only one that it's not defined by gameplay mechanics?
It seems that nearly every game with a creepy atmosphere is labelled as a survival horror.

It's like saying that Mario Kart is a platformer game because it has colourful graphics like the platformer marios.
 
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