How Darkwood Was Made and Why The Devs Quit After Their Biggest Success

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This Darkwood documentary details the development of indie survival horror video game Darkwood and goes behind the scenes of its creation. Discover how three friends from Poland quit their jobs and formed Acid Wizard Studio to create a horror video game, even though the genre terrifies them. The project started out as a small tower-defense game inspired by the Amiga title Home Alone. As they experimented with mechanics such as a limited field of view, dynamic lighting, and intense sound design, they saw the potential for a horror game that, despite their own fears, was exactly the type of horror experience they had always wanted to play—one that avoids cheap jump scares in favor of building a tense, unnerving atmosphere. The documentary also explores all the design decisions the developers made and shows how games like Dark Souls and Fallout influenced the gameplay and storytelling.

It also takes a close look at all the hurdles the team had to go through. After a successful Kickstarter, it became clear that Darkwood was full of contradictions, along with other major problems. The three developers weren’t able to agree on what direction to go in, significantly slowing down production. As a result, their ambitious vision of a horror game with a fully procedurally generated world, permadeath and high replay value, had to make way for a more scripted experience. Additionally, due to key reseller websites, the team decided to provide a way for people to download the game for free. Lastly, the documentary explores why the three developers decided to go on an indefinite break from making video games.

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Outro song: Thank You R.G.E. - Joe Bagale

#Darkwood #AcidWizardStudio #GameDevelopment