DbD Could Benefit From More Immersion.

What I mean by this is less the community derogatory version of immersion. What I mean is an ambient and atmospheric overhaul. I want to explore the benefits this could bring, while also addressing the realities of it.

I think a major reason why the game doesn’t feel scary is because of maps almost entirely. The maps ARE the nightmare. You should feel trapped and uneasy in them. But this often fails due to inconsistencies. I’ll give a few examples:

Coldwind is one I think gets brought up a lot. It was very heavy. You’re in a farm at dusk, animals are strewn in trees, derelict buildings and corn so thick anything could be hiding in it. It was super creepy, and I loved the maps for that. Even way back when Coldwind was the worst killer realm you could get.

So why don’t I like the new Coldwind? It’s the same isn’t it? Overhauled graphics, more details, why would I have any issues? If you guessed the lighting, you’d be correct. But it’s a little more than just “Ermm, it’s too bright to be scary!”.

It’s the shift and atmosphere it makes. And I think they want variety in their maps appearances. Which is a good thing. I’m mainly using Coldwind as an example for when this started. Making Coldwind too bright completely shifts the mood. It’s closer to it’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspiration now. But the weight feel lighter. If you’ve ever been to an abandoned farm house in the middle of the night, you’d know how creepy it is. It feels haunted. Like you’re not alone. And I feel Coldwind lost that for something not as interesting. There’s no shrouding darkness. You can see across the map. There’s no tension anymore.

The thing is, though, they’ve made bright maps work. Dead Dawg feels like a ghost town. You can see the remnants of the people who lived there, you can feel it’s story. So it’s not inherently “Bright map = Bad”. But there needs to be a deliberate reason for them to have these things.

I think a different example is the new FNaF map. Beautiful details, fan service, easter eggs, and interesting designs in the layout. The pizzeria is wonderfully done. But, then you go outside. And you see it’s in the middle of the woods surrounded by giant fences. If it just had a parking lot, that’d add so much. I also don’t want to come off as I’m dogging super hard on the map designers and art directors. Because they’ve done very good. But immersion literally is the backbone of every horror game. Even if DbD isn’t supposed to be like the Outlast Trials. It’s a party game, and the goofiness is part of the fun.

So here’s my suggestions, and keeping it real on what they can actually do.

The biggest request I can think of is more immersive loop tile designs. By this I mean they should blend in as part of the surrounding area. For example: On Autohaven the giant car pile that can spawn a pallet? More of that. I get that it can’t be done for every map. There may also be issues with clipping due to the RNG spawns of loop tiles. There’s also the issue that the DbD team in general is always on a time crunch to release new content every 3 months.

Another thing to focus on would be ambience. Thicker fog, more shadows, lights, moving objects. Granted this exists in a good portion of the maps. Eerie of Crows, Midwitch, Greenville. They’re doing good at little details. The main issue that rises with this is optimization. There’s still people playing on weaker systems, and they shouldn’t be forced to upgrade unless necessary.

It’s mostly the older maps and future considerations I’d like to see touched up. Survivors being more visibly reactive would work wonders as well. But that’s all for now.