Dear Dead By Daylight: One last change (Pages)

NorMak3

Hi. Almost 4 years ago I made a series of posts about changes that I thought would be great modifications to Dead By Daylight. Admittedly, some were naive ideas that didn't take into account a lot of the moving pieces of the game. I've done much more game design work since then and have learned a lot.

But despite a few shortcomings, I think some of these ideas still have promise. Or at least they would if Dead By Daylight were the kind of game I thought it was. Or if the devs had priorities similar to myself or a majority of their fanbase.

Shortly after posting my last excerpt from the Dear Dead By Daylight, I uninstalled the game and haven't played it since. A lot's changed since then, including nearly doubling the roster. I've been keeping up on the DBD news through Youtubers like Otzdarva and Zet0r and have been continually depressed with their continued trajectory away from the game that DBD could have bloomed into.

But that's irrelevant now. I know I'm singing to the choir and that my voice will almost certainly never be heard in the cacophony, but despite this, I've had one more idea for DBD that's been eating me up. So I thought I'd throw one more post into The Fog.

One of the biggest problems with DBD is its inaccessibility for new players. For some killers, the power is self explanatory while others take hours of playing against them to understand even the basics and that goes for both sides. I think it'd be neat if new players had a more helpful introduction to a killer's abilities that those two sentence "tips" that appear when loading up a match.

My pitch would be that each killer has 2 "pages" which are formatted like a messy journal or scrapbook. Think the journals from Gravity Falls for refence. One page would be the survivor side and the other would be the killer side.

On the survivor side, there could be a basic outline of how the killer's power affects your gameplay and how you may need to adapt. For example, the Doctor's page could mention that his electric shocks make stealth nearly impossible and you'll have to simply outrun him.

On the killer side, it could have a summarized version of the power as well as a few important details about it. For example, it could mention that the Plague's vomit is able to pass through survivors or that being stunned ends your corrupt purge immediately.

Both pages could also come with images or even little videos that could show the power in action so players don't have to dissect multiple paragraphs of power just to have to figure it out in game anyway. Give them at least a little bit of sensible reference before their first game without resorting to Youtube.

The pages could appear during the loading screen or as a part of the character select screen or as a separate tab in the main menu or all three! There's plenty of options.

The pages don't have to say every little thing about a killer nor are they required to include every tech and little feature of a power. Some things are worth discovering during the games. But the in meager game tutorials, bloated and somehow simultaneously unhelpful power descriptions, and pitiful character tips during loading screens are clearly not enough to orient new players.

Well, that's enough. I doubt I'll pick up on the Dear Dead By Daylight series and update it for all the new killers, but I'm glad to have this off my chest. And sorry for being doom and gloom about the odds for DBD, but every decision they make gives me even less confidence than when I left 4 years ago.

… Also, I don't think I'm allowed to discuss what I've been working on since I lasted posted here since I think that'd count as "advertisement", but if you wanna learn what that wannabe game designer back in 2020 has been up to since, feel free to pm!

Otherwise, thanks for reading my ramblings and take it easy Fog Dwellers!