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Is Breakable Wall (BW) a failed concept?

C3Tooth
C3Tooth Member Posts: 8,266
edited December 2023 in General Discussions

They started with Saloon, gave it a redundant numbers of BW, and the only shack with BW. Later they added BW in reworked maps.

But then BW is gone, Garden of joy has 1 BW on the 2nd floor that add no game play. Shattered square, Toba, Nostromo have no BW, reworked Red forest also have no BW.

I think they gave up with BW concept, same to Boon. Honestly I feel it has alot potential, it could be something that in killer's control that either breaking or not, both options give both side a pros and cons (something like Midwich that can be blocked or open shortcut for both sides, not just pre-dropped pallets).


Here is a drawing of Skull merchant breaking a BreakableWall.


Comments

  • MikaelaWantsYourBoon
    MikaelaWantsYourBoon Member Posts: 6,564

    Failed? No. Breaking them makes some loops more tolerable.

    Annoying? Yes.

  • C3Tooth
    C3Tooth Member Posts: 8,266

    Im fine with BW act as pre-dropped god pallet. As long as there is only 1 of them each map. But that's all about BW.

    I wanted it to have benefits to both sides if not breaking, and have other benefits to both sides if breaking (honestly I cant think a design for that case). Otherwise, its either BW that give killers benefits if break (they have to break), or give killers benefits if not break (just leave there). Making BW either a chore for killers, or redundant.

  • BlightedDolphin
    BlightedDolphin Member Posts: 1,888

    I wouldn't say they failed necessarily but I don't think they worked out like they thought they would. Pretty much every breakable wall now is just used when a window is too powerful, in which case they could just remove the wall and it still plays mostly the same just a bit less safe for the first loop.

    More so a pointless addition rather than a failure.

  • FFirebrandd
    FFirebrandd Member Posts: 2,446

    I think the only map that does breakable walls well is The Game with an honorable mention to Midwich, because they open up new paths on those maps. On almost every other map they end up being either a complete waste of time to kick or necessary to kick to weaken a really strong loop. Neither of those uses for them is interesting.

  • Seraphor
    Seraphor Member Posts: 9,429

    Gideon

    Midwich

    The killer shack on Dead Dawg

    Those are all of the good breakable walls in the game.

    Not failed, but very hit or miss, with more misses than hits.

  • indieeden7
    indieeden7 Member Posts: 3,416

    I'd say the only failed concepts regarding breakable walls are The Game and Dead Dawg. There is practically no reason to break the walls on The Game and Dead Dawg simply has far too many on it. With some posing as an obstacle for the killer, but most simply serving no purpose yet again.

  • C3Tooth
    C3Tooth Member Posts: 8,266

    BW as pre-drop pallets can be a RNG depends on spawn which and a little bit depth to the game play.

    BWs that killers should never break are truly pointless.

  • Xernoton
    Xernoton Member Posts: 5,884

    Even if the killer actually wants to break them, there is not much strategy behind it, which was supposedly the point of BWs. So even in that case they are a failed concept. They don't fulfill their purpose.

  • LordGlint
    LordGlint Member Posts: 8,684

    There's a few examples like that. The side doors for the daycare really only provide easier entry/exit. You have the same thing for the doors in the bathrooms for Midwich which allows more ways to go upstairs.

  • HerInfernalMajesty
    HerInfernalMajesty Member Posts: 1,953

    The breakable walls in Badham work pretty well. There’s the two on each side of the preschool and two on each side of the house without the basement. Breaking those four walls makes chasing Survivors through those areas easier. It’s torture chasing a Survivor through that house who knows how to use the windows to their max potential.

  • humanbeing1704
    humanbeing1704 Member Posts: 8,998

    Seeing as they were turned into one time use god windows

    Yeah they are a failure lol

  • Krazzik
    Krazzik Member Posts: 2,475

    I mean I think it could have potential as a concept but it's just not been implemented very well.

    Either you HAVE to break them because they're near a god window, or you NEVER wanna break them because they open up a really strong loop for survivors. Most of what's left are completely pointless ones that don't help either side at all.

  • GeneralV
    GeneralV Member Posts: 11,701

    Yes, they are.

    Mostly because the idea of Breakable Walls was to give the killers a decision on whether or not they want to break them, depending on their strategy for the trial.

    However, most of them were placed around windows that are very powerful, so there isn't really a strategy because it is always better to break them. Two of them (Torment Creek and Wretched Shop) actually made the maps slightly worse because the paths they block were open by default in the past.

  • Ryuhi
    Ryuhi Member Posts: 3,883

    Before they introduced breakable doors (i refuse to call them walls, they're just doorways) they were fixing all of the god loops, so many of them were reintroduced along with breakable doors. But hey, you could break them to get rid of them, so it was clearly an improvement over just having them be open in the first place.

    I preferred that short period of time where the loops were just fixed, and you didn't get 1-2 free rotations while the killer was forced to break. That and the fact that some of them are designed to make things worse when breaking (badham being a prime example) makes it feel awful as a mechanic, since it can only be engaged by killers. Just makes those doors feel like a trap, even worse when they have to be broken to reach a hook (badham again.)

  • humanbeing1704
    humanbeing1704 Member Posts: 8,998
    edited December 2023

    rip the patch where they finally fixed all the bullcrap windows at the time and than walls were added over the next few months

  • humanbeing1704
    humanbeing1704 Member Posts: 8,998
    edited December 2023

    I see this all the time on preschool

    A killer breaks the one wall on the side of the fence loop and opens up a powerful long loop lol

  • Brimp
    Brimp Member Posts: 3,052

    I would say its a failed concept. Purely because it became the band-aid fix to bad mad design. Examples being cowshed window, garden of joy main window and the one window in the backyard on reworked haddonfield because if I recall correctly there wasnt a breakable wall during the PTB for it.

  • Reinami
    Reinami Member Posts: 5,638

    Yes, because they don't add any interesting mechanics to the game. There are either walls that you MUST break, to prevent a god loop (basically a predropped god pallet), or they are walls that you absolutely do NOT want to break (as is the case for example of most of the walls on the game map).


    What breakable walls should have been was a section where survivors can spend time "building" a wall that works inversely to pallet. I.E. the survivor spends 20 seconds building the wall, and it takes the killer maybe 5+ seconds to break the wall. And the walls should have been in places where the killer would HAVE to break the wall to continue chasing. Then when the killer breaks the wall, the wall is gone forever.


    This would give survivors another "objective" in a way, forcing them to spend time building a wall, but creating an area of safety that forces the killer to basically drop chase one time.

  • H2H
    H2H Member Posts: 772

    Massive failure. It just resulted in massively survivor-sided maps.

  • Moonras2
    Moonras2 Member Posts: 386

    Exactly this. Outside of trapper, or in some cases hag, I've never felt like the breakable walls allowed for anything different or interesting. Trapper is just like you said though, there is no thought behind it. Instead of breaking the wall to make for an easier loop it just makes trapping the loop and leaving the wall up a better choice in some cases. On most other killers it's just break the wall if it is strong and move on. Survivors really have no say so or interaction there either. I think it would've been cool if survivors could use 15-30 seconds or so to rebuild a wall just as another secondary thing but it could become too annoying for killer at that point.

  • GeneralV
    GeneralV Member Posts: 11,701

    And sometimes they have to break it on preschool in order to get to a hook.

    Honestly, I'd just completely remove the breakable walls. No reason for them to exist.

  • Bartolomeo87
    Bartolomeo87 Member Posts: 35

    Yes they’re a failed concept. They’re mostly placed in such a way that the killer needs to break them if they want to catch the survivor at the loop with the breakable. They’re basically pallets that are already dropped if you think about it except they’re placed on walls.

  • Caiman
    Caiman Member Posts: 2,959

    I don't think it's a failed concept, the concept is fine. The problem is BHVR's map design does little or nothing good with that concept.

  • C3Tooth
    C3Tooth Member Posts: 8,266

    I think the same, but currently BW is only for predrop god pallets, and open shortcut for both side.

    There could be more, something like breaking BW give survivors a hidden chest (pretty much the only thing that survivor can not have without affecting the game play) and give killer another benefit (I dont know how breaking a BW give killer benefit beside opening a shortcut and deny predrop god pallet)

    At this point, the only way to add depth of gameplay for BW is survivors can spend time to rebuild BW.

  • Caiman
    Caiman Member Posts: 2,959

    What if some BWs were doors? They start open for everyone, and a survivor must take time to close and lock it, so it can't be done mid-chase, it must be prepared ahead of time. When it's closed, the killer can break through it like normal and remains permanently broken, or a survivor can open it again if they want to.

  • Xyvielia
    Xyvielia Member Posts: 2,418

    Sweet SM drawing!

    Finally, a cozy SM that actually makes ppl NOT wanna break a wall😌

  • C3Tooth
    C3Tooth Member Posts: 8,266

    BW that to open shortcut paths are the doors, Midwich, the Game have it. Its pointless for survivors to spend time to rebuild those (if they have that ability), the only worth spending time to rebuild are pre-drop god pallets BW.

  • Ariel_Starshine
    Ariel_Starshine Member Posts: 937

    Omg 💀💀💀 I didn't think it was that spot on lmao.

    Ill never unsee this now xD

  • appleas
    appleas Member Posts: 1,129
    edited December 2023

    I wish Dead Dawg BW shack was implemented for shacks on every map.

    That’s about it

  • Iron_Cutlass
    Iron_Cutlass Member Posts: 3,351
    edited December 2023

    Sometimes they open up God Loops as well? Dead Dawg Saloon is a perfect example, you shouldnt break all of the walls because it opens the loop up to be stronger.

    I think the idea of maps being able to have a bit more control and decision-making is cool but a majority of breakable walls are simply just "dont break this one, it makes the loop stronger" or "do break this one, it makes the loop weaker" which makes them a bit flawed since there is never a situation where Im forced to weight the costs/benefits of breaking them when the consequences are very cut and dry.

  • A_Skinny_Legend
    A_Skinny_Legend Member Posts: 919

    Tbh, if I were a brand new player I would have thought that the breakable walls were left over game design from dbd’s early days.

    I think that’s where the developers first implemented breakable walls into the game.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,908

    Failed? No.

    Substantially improve the game? Also no.

    They're a minor strategy element to some maps. As killer you can break them early weakening some loops, but also giving the survivors more time when they are all on gens. Or you can leave them up and potentially give the survivor a stronger loop until you are weakened in a chase by needing to break them.

  • Marc_go_solo
    Marc_go_solo Member Posts: 5,347

    It's an uncapitalised concept. When it was first announced, I was hoping for more walls whicj the Killer could see as fake but Survivors could not. I also felt that they would be integrated into the scenary.

    Unfortunately, they're little more than glorified door stops. Granted, in more open maps there are less opportunities. However, the tiles present could have had randomized areas where they could be smashed. Some tiles could be unaffected, of course.

    The walls were a wasted opportunity for a far better and more nerve-racking game design.