Death's Door Developers Explain its Design & Philosophy | Noclip

[@NoclipDocs]

Thanks to the folks who signed up to our Patreon to watch this early on Monday. The "Coming Soon" videos will be unlisted and moved to a public playlist so we don't clutter the channel with early clips. Sign up today to help us pay for shovels; www.patreon.com/noclip

[@ninja4187]

Maybe I didnt hear something when it was said but... are the characters going to be voiced? Or silent?

[@NoclipDocs]

@@ninja4187 The game doesn't have voice-over, and also it's available now.

[@Pung_Henke]

have you considered stardew valley? i find the game mindbogling! its a very simple yet a deep experience, i cant figure it out really. cheers!

[@ninja4187]

@@NoclipDocs awesome thank you for answering :-)

[@MrNikoSrb]

The soundtrack to this game is a freakin masterpiece.

[@Sumpfgnom]

That’s what I was missing in an otherwise great NoClip documentary. Not a single word about this wonderful music. It contributes so much to the unique atmosphere of this jewel of a game.

[@MrNikoSrb]

@@Sumpfgnom Yes, it's a shame.

[@jeremybjayne]

@@Sumpfgnom Heya, Jeremy here! I spoke briefly with David/Mark about music during the interview and they told me that the soundtrack syncs with the pistons in the Witch of Urns' basement (and that they used Wwise for audio), but it was such a brief section that it made kind of an odd fit in the pacing of the doco. Would love to speak with David again about his music sometime, though, as I'm a big fan of his tunes.

[@Sumpfgnom]

@@jeremybjayne Hey Jeremy, thank you for answering. Hope you get the opportunity :)

[@themightyant.]

@@jeremybjayne much appreciated added insight. I’d love to hear more on the music too!

[@Dukefazon]

It's so inspiring to see a basically 2 men team can put together a game like this. Gives me hope that someday when I got the courage I can make my own game. I have this idea for 10 years now and I'm slowly changing stuff in my head but it has a strong core idea that I really want to make. Some day I might be able to pull it off.

[@g3nj1]

Get started today. Writing things down, making the world through images. Rough draft and refining. Start learning Unity or something else accessable. One bite at a time. One day at a time.

[@scuppo]

Team Cherry 🍒 is also a 2/3 man team. They did hollow knight and the upcoming Illusion that’s silksong

[@morganlak4337]

Overly ambitious solo dev here: making something like deaths Door is totally doable as a duo or soloish small team, but do not take this as like the base line. This is the result of years of experience and work AFTER getting started making games, not just doing it in your head. My advice: just start working on your big crazy dream game. You'll figure things out, just don't expect to make deaths Door in your first several years of work lol. You'll make plenty of cool shit though I'm sure

[@dayga5568]

hey kinda late to this lmao but I just wanted to say that i've heard from a few game devs that your dream game should never be your 1st game because you're gonna be full of desilusion from the fact that you'll dont have enough experience to express what you truely want to create im not a dev myself so maybe thats not true and that obviously does not apply to eveyone but I think you should train and create other stuff before so you'll have the technical knowledge to optimize your toughts and creation process still hope you progressed since this comment !

[@somebodyoutthere]

I love the entire Frog King sequence, from marching to his throne, ambushed by all his armies, to defeating him. Definitely looking forward to whatever these guys are making in the future.

[@nuthinguseful]

The tone of this game was perfect. Its genuinely one of the best games I've ever played. Perfectly balanced in so many ways.

[@Scythra]

But it needs sandbox mode, after completion there is nothing to do. I did the umbrella run even.

[@nevercurrentgames90]

My wife was a big fan of their Ludum Dare game, Leaf Me Alone, so when I found out that Acid Nerve was also reposnsible for Death's Door, she got so happy one of her favorite developers was still making games!

[@TheTyper]

1. Really cool to see Jeremy get some more time in front of the camera doing the thing. 2. Really cool to see NoClip look at one of the less-celebrated games this year (Death's Door WAS celebrated, but it wasn't making waves the way some other games were, but I LOVED it).

[@sadrequiem]

I LOVED the death screen presentation. It was so jarring but with a funny clash of tone with the game. I remember it and smile. What a memorable game.

[@motherreaper7287]

This was so dang beautiful and wholesome! I end up wanting to buy so many games you interview the devs on just because they bare their soul and passion and it's easy to see it even more in their games.

[@VoicelessTom]

This game is incredible and easily one of my all time favourites! Really interesting to here the guys talk about difficulty, it obviously paid off in the end as I feel they nailed it!

[@sadrequiem]

It's great to listen how they approached difficulty in the game. When I finished it I remember feeling that the difficulty was spot on for me. It was a lot of fun because of it and I never felt overpowered.

[@geojimz]

Deaths Door is one of my favorite games this year. It was a joy to play from start to finish. I hope it was a huge success and we get more.

[@Incrediblefatslug]

I love getting into the dance like flow state with the boss fights. Can't wait to see what they do next.

[@Drumada]

This game was quite a surprise for me this year and I'm super stoked y'all made a doc on it! Cant wait to dig into this after work!

[@evilmarc]

I never connected that Titan Souls and Death's door were both from Acid Nerve. Loved playing both of them. One thing I think is beautiful and already recognized at Titan Souls is that their games definitely are more than the sum of its parts. I'm excited to see what they come up with next (and I'll be ready to buy and enjoy it day 1)!

[@oussamaraven1549]

these are the kind of developers that needs support i really enjoyed every aspect of this game definitely one of the highlights of this dry year

[@Supernova094]

Another masterpiece! You guys should try to get an interview with Larian Studios , IMO one of the best game devs.

[@Johannes_Brunnhuber]

@@duasfh Indie?

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

@@Johannes_Brunnhuber Well technically they are independent of major publishers like EA or Activision. But yeah not the best example of Indy games.

[@HlaaluGuard]

@@Johannes_Brunnhuber They publish their own games... So... yes? That's literally the definition of indie.. They're actually more independent than all the games published by Devolver Digital in that respect.

[@Johannes_Brunnhuber]

@@HlaaluGuard I'm pretty loathe to use the term indie when referring to a multinational with over 200 employees. They make cool stuff though

[@HlaaluGuard]

@@Johannes_Brunnhuber Okay, then choose a term that doesn't mean "independent". Talk about "small" companies if that's what you mean. And for the record, it's all relative: 200 people is not a lot. For comparison's sake - Dischord Records, one of the most important independent record companies of the DIY music scene, has over 100 employees. You'd be hard-pressed to say they're not representative of "indie music". It seems like lately the term "indie" has become vague, and lacking any clear definition in the way it's used - but it literally means independent. And like I said, Larian has more independence than games by tiny developers that are released by a publisher.

[@ShellComics]

I loved the opening! First Loop Hero, now this. Jeremy is quickly becoming my favorite host. Sorry Danny XD

[@LeateqOfficial]

I hope they’ll release it for Switch It’s a perfect game for switch

[@Dukefazon]

Yes, it feels perfect for Switch, I'd buy it with no hesitation (but only a physical copy!)

[@aimelle3]

It was just announced for the Switch!

[@LeateqOfficial]

@@aimelle3 no way ! nice !

[@rickwoods5274]

I want to buy this game solely based on the way the crow's head is animated

[@DrEcho]

Titan Souls is a masterpiece in and of itself that I'd been gushing over and comparing Death's Door to throughout (just drawing comparisons out of mere fascination with the growth and ethos of the studio) my playthrough. So when I saw the true ending I absolutely lost my mind. It was such a special moment. Admittedly, the penny didn't drop for me until the very end despite all the breadcrumbs leading up to the big final reveal 😂

[@vitsavicky]

I just finished the game and it was a blast. Really a great game. The combat felt so crisp... I just love the detail and the "scope". When most games are shooting for hundreds of hours and bigger and bigger open worlds this game feels like such a breath of fresh air. Love every part of it.

[@ploxyemortem4656]

Man, this is such a good video. Keep up the good work guys! Would love to see a documentary on the game called Monument Valley

[@lawbag1]

Thanks for this documentary. I knew I wanted to buy this game because of the developer, but now it made me need this game. I played it and completed it and then completed it again to 100% the trophies (yes even with the umbrella!) on the PS5 and now Im watching the documentary again with this new knowledge. Beautiful game and a wonderful story told.

[@mynameisfatmike6742]

Beautiful doc! Great work Jeremy, this was awesome

[@TheKiburedo]

I will watch this as soon as I get to my home, sadly I can't support being a Patreon right now to watch this early, still... I will support you guys in any way that I can, really love all your content, can't wait to watch this!!

[@jerryverhoeven]

These guys have a really well-rounded vision and approach to design and development, very impressive effort. The best games are often the ones that can present a focused but complete vision and they really nailed that here.

[@shaunthomasgaming]

This game was SOOOOOOOO GOOOD!! Great job on making this doc!!!

[@fliptopjim]

This is such a wonderful documentary on the process. I've only recently discovered the game and this is filling up the moments before I finish it (have paused it just before the spoiler section but will be back when I've finished it). An extremely well put together doc and I'm going to dig into the rest of your films as soon as Death's Door has completed me. Thank you and well done.

[@eliezerborges9327]

I'm doing 100% of this game in my series S and i'm totally loving it. It is a great experience to play that game. You guys did a Huge masterpiece! Thank you a lot!!!

[@DudeWithTheNose]

LOL I loved hearing the negotiations between them and devolver. Love to hear devolver is so helpful and not predatory

[@Kyrrial]

I was going to say the same thing. It *seems* that the folks at Devolver just want cool games to get made, and want to help indie devs get their games out. Yeah, there's going to be some business involved there, but by not acting like cold, calculating a**hole business people, they generate some goodwill and a good working relationship. It doesn't hurt that their E3 presentations are superb, too. Love me some Nina Struthers!

[@houdin654jeff]

Recently got all the Steam achievements in Death's Door, loved every minute of it, even the frustrating bits in the umbrella only run. Will watch for more games from these two lads.

[@suburbansamurai3560]

Okay, the true ending to Death's Door is much cooler than I realized!

[@reNINTENDO]

I believe this is the first video that told me to play a game and come back later that I actually did that to. Beat Death's Door, enjoyed it immensely, and came back to finish the video. Of course I didn't play Titan Souls and didn't get to the "true" ending yet, so... maybe I didn't really need to, but I'm sure glad I bought and played the game.

[@jose.a.martin]

I was on the fence about buying the game and this documentary made me run to give them my money. Love talented small studios

[@chuckbricks7039]

Absolutely brilliant work Jeremy. 👍

[@Miguigg1412]

Just bought it, I played 2 hours and I'm totally invested. I would say that it is the indie game of the year

[@AdamCDagg]

This game was an absolute joy to play. Loved the music and visuals. The difficulty was perfect for me; I cleared every boss in maybe 2-4 tries, and each death felt like I learned what I needed to.

[@Toddis]

I absolutely loved death's door, and I can definitely see the titan souls aspects of it. It kind of feels like a mix of Titan souls and the new Zelda Link's awakening I will say that deaths door was kinda easy, especially compared to Titan souls

[@The_Crooked_Step]

Excellent documentary. Death's Door is by far one of the best games to come out this year, and I hope more people will give it a chance after watching this.

[@jaspermaden9982]

Great documentary, very interesting! l also never knew how these worked at 33:50 but I guess I do now and have a reason to play the game again...

[@exzisd]

This channel is incredibly underrated. It deserves millions and millions of more views. This is golden content. Thank you so much for making these.

[@strobaholic]

I’m a little late to the party, but I’m playing through this game on switch right now. It’s a little on the challenging side, but I really like it. I hope we get a part 2 with a bigger world, deeper story, more weapons, and tougher bosses.

[@VideoStalker00]

The story got me hooked and the soundtrack made me fall in love with it. 100% completed this game and now replaying it again for the umbrella challenge! So much fun!

[@raph2550]

It was very satisfying watching this after finishing the game. I already like Titan Souls a lot and I'll follow eagerly what they will make next. Also cheers to Noclip for the video. The editing was really really good

[@Diwasho]

It would be nice to have the concept art unlockable in the game's title menu. The camera is very far away from the action and sometimes it's hard to see the details of the smaller enemies, having the art to show them from up close would really help. In the game I had no idea the archer enemies looked like that and I wasn't even sure about their species, the drawings shown in this video finally removed this ambiguity.

[@Cyenjoyer]

A hidden documentary youtube channel gem covering a hidden indie video game gem, let's go !

[@bhavyaagrawal4035]

I enjoyed every sencod of the game and just couldnt get enough. It was such a thril to see how everything was just connected and any part of the game was not just abandoned. The characters grew on me even if they were there just for a short time. Truly a masterpiece.

[@ohbeastin5010]

I hope they make another one or a game with a similar style. They hit the nail on every aspect of a game and being so simple makes it even better.

[@EviePatamon]

The whole time I was playing Death's Door I was wondering why I was getting strong Titan Souls vibes from it. Makes a lot more sense now I know they're both by the same dev 😅 Great games, both of them

[@nighthawk4251]

Please release the game on switch or PlayStation!! I have it on my series x, but I want my friends to experience this masterpiece

[@tylercurtis6773]

This is one of my all time favorite games. I loved the gameplay loop, the bosses that completely whooped me, the phenomenal soundtrack, and the art style. Almost ready for another playthrough after watching this

[@TomBombFR]

I only just recently discovered the game and absolutely loved it. There's a good amount of talk about the game difficulty: I must say, in my opinion it is set just right. The game is just hard enough to be tense and to force you to play well, but not too punishing it feels unfair, frustrating or unsurmountable. I also absolutely love the art direction and the music. It's a beautifully crafted game. The kind it'd like to see more of! Thanks guys!

[@mr.kittens6747]

I has hoping for a music section. It is one of the things that make this game so good! ☺️

[@ozanatak7457]

I still didn't play the game but whenever I saw it I thought there was an inspiration from Miyazaki movies because of the grandma and frog characters. Watching this I see that there are even more inspired aspects such as the doors and the crow. Neat job on turning this inspiration into a unique and beautiful game instead of a visual rip off!

[@biancaoliveira1840]

Amazing game! I had such a great time playing it and it was hard to let it go when it got to the end, honestly. Brilliant soundtrack as well! Definitely deserves some awards

[@azm0n475]

This is one of my favorite indie games thank you for making this video

[@karlmoore1837]

Good to hear from the developers of this game. I would never of put two and two together on the link between Titan Souls and Death's Door, great for those who had played both (I hadn't played Titan Souls). I would definitely like to see where they go next. As there is clearly a good amount of growth between games. The only thing that stops me from adoring this game is some of the lack of onboarding of the player to new areas and certain things like keeping track of where things in the world. I had come to this game from getting the "true" ending in Hades. So, maybe I got spoilt in that regard.

[@daxerspark]

This game had some genuine moments that had me choked up. It’s a beautiful philosophy on death. The game is fun as hell too.

[@therupoe]

Fantastic game and fantastic video. Thanks for making it!

[@egoitzsanz4567]

One of the best things the game does is something simple but almost any game do. It gives you clues! I was about to end the game but found out that a man gives you clues for shrines location. That pushed my curiosity to find all shrines. Then I was missing some seeds. A shovel lights up if you are near one! Other guy gives you tips for plants, doors get red if there is something missing in that area.... True ending is something you can really achieve without looking a guide if you don’t want to. In most of indie games you have to do a lot of random things to unlock the ending which are completely impossible to do without a guide.

[@Kyrrial]

It's interesting watching this after watching the most recent episode of GMTK's 'Developing' series. I'm seeing a lot of parallels in the what was talked about in that video, and how the devs here talk about their process of making the game. I'm probably picking up more on what they're saying *because* of the GMTK video. Superb doc, this!

[@Dukefazon]

When I first saw Death's Door, I thought that it's more like Dark Souls than anything else. After you showed those clips of the Ghibli movies I can't unsee the inspiration and now I think less of Dark Souls and more of the Ghibli inspiration. This game looks amazing! My second thought was that this would be a perfect Switch game and I found that Devolver's game store site is taking pre-orders on the physical copy of the game, I think I'm getting it for Switch. I don't like digital games so if I can I'll get everything on physical media.

[@LastofAvari]

The starting shot of the video is great :D

[@jadoisready]

Absolutely love this game. One of my top 10 for sure. OST is incredible.

[@Zebula77]

Such a wonderful game. I thought it was perfectly paced, and it was always introducing new and different things which kept it consistently feeling fresh. One of my faves of the year, for sure.

[@gpstenholm23]

Nice one Jeremy, will check it out for sure when it comes to Switch

[@darkcult99]

Beautiful game, loved every minute of it (on PS5).

[@Dan_Tactics]

I regret not getting this game the day it launched. I just picked it up a few weeks back and can't stop playing it! Already completed once at 100%, now im on my "umbrella run" and enjoying more of a ranged build to mitigate difficulty. If the devs see this message, I want to say thank you for this masterpiece. I will not miss launch date of Death's Door II.

[@Eltron92]

I bought this game this morning and finished it in one sitting. Truly excellent.

[@DemoEvolvedGaming]

How good this game is for the number of people that made it is unreal. There is evidence here of what a few masters of their domain can do together. Masterful concept artist, masterful gameplay designer, masterful amount of soul put into the game. What is also interesting is how between this and the Forgotten City is how both of them spent years making the game in a lesser form and then "remade" it better in the final form. Aka. It did not take 3 years to make deaths door. It made 3 years PLUS all of the time from Titan's Souls to make Deaths Door. So that is over 6 years to make this exquisite piece of art.

[@Remix26]

I fuckin love this game. 10 out of 10, I've beat it 100% 5 times now. Can't say enough, such a masterpiece. I never really feel like I'm a great gamer and this game made me feel like that. Played on xbox, ps5 and switch... recommend on any platform.

[@manu_ap]

Im obsessed with Deaths Door right now! This game is beautiful with so much love on it

[@elijahlukejames]

100% this game yesterday Truly brilliant lads One of the best for me

[@intothefey]

Im late to the party but i just played it to 100% then immediately created a new game to do the umbrella challenge and ended up with all 25 trophies. It was such a pleasure to play. The music really got me, like when in Inner furnace, the different platforms move to the beat of the music. Anyway thx guys for making this game and i look forward to seeing your next project!

[@KlonBlastbeat]

Just finished my umbrella run for the platinum trophy! I love this game.

[@penttikoivuniemi2146]

I didn't realize it was by the same people who made Titan Souls. I thought it looks cool and I should play it at some point, but that really makes me want to get it.

[@maxhill9254]

Great documentary, thx

[@LivingProof98]

Just beat this game yesterday, love the story and message of the game

[@stormtrooperelite1453]

absolute masterpiece, i loved every bit of it

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

I was kinda hoping you'd ask them about the soundtrack, because I'm fascinated by music production in games. And this one in particular really stays with you. I really wanna see more coverage of games composers.

[@Kahedro]

Literally I saw the cut a sign in half tweet and bought because of that :P

[@aisadal2521]

Ooh, this looks like a cute, if dark, video game!

[@rodrigorodrigues2820]

Making of Disco Elysium would be so cool

[@IRWPD]

Enjoyed this a lot. Think I will be trying out this game on the weekend.

[@GATESOFKELL]

First Loop Hero and now Death's Door? I think Jeremy and I have some similar taste in games.

[@GrimmerPl]

My GOTY of 2021. This game is such a beautiful, full of love and passion masterpiece. And the soundtrack is just perfect

[@AdRem12]

Thank you guys so much for putting this together - GOTY 2021 for sure

[@NasiLemakTech]

This is one of my favorite game and the soundtrack is amazing!

[@HK-cq6yf]

I wish they talked more about the music and the composition and how they chose the composer

[@Bizzeplayn]

This game was so incredible. It goes to show you what a small team is really capable of. Amazing work guys.

[@corykimmel1133]

I went from interested to buy this game as soon as I can afford it. The spoiler section and the mention of Patrick Rothless makes me so happy to hear about.

[@fadiabdi7103]

Death's Door is for sure my pick for Game of the Year. Can't wait to pick it up on the switch and play through it again !

[@ravenlover7924]

I had a funny story when it comes to this game. For years I had the idea of this horror survival game where the main character is a anthro crow. The main distinction is that the whole story would have been in black and white. And when Death's Door trailer came out, my soul dropped since the first bit is similar to what I had. I lost all hope until friends told me that it's a coincidence. I didn't want to play the game, but since the character is a crow, and I love crows. I bought later. It ended up becoming my favorite, and it's much different than expected. My game I had in mind for years is like a over the shoulder shooter like Resident Evil 4, except with platforming and flying mechanics. It's called Factory of Darkness by the way. Playing Death's door certainly gave me inspiration to do something amazing with it, even is it would take years. Thank you Ps, The beta designs of the crow looks much cooler, and the soundtrack is amazing. Honestly... a over the shoulder Death's door would be cool, considering how he uses a bow.

[@ilhamrahkmanriefda652]

Listening about people who is 1000% on their work its just truly satisfying 🥰

[@creese16]

I didn’t catch The Wise Man’s Fear connection between Rothfuss and Titan Souls. Those are some of my favorite books!

[@mononoke721]

2 guys primarily developing a game this popular - yeah, those guys are sitting comfortably I should think! A well-deserved success as well; you can tell they put a lot of themselves into this rather brilliantly executed and above all well-paced action-adventure game that builds on the tightly focused foundations of Titan Souls and fleshes things out further. Sure, some of the influences are worn a bit too clearly on their sleeves (The Witch is a straight-up visual copy of Yubaba from Spirited Away to name just one), and the writing and storytelling could have been stronger given the themes they were working with, but the core art design, combat gameplay and satisfying level design kept me engaged throughout, though I couldn't quite bring myself to go hunting for all the plant seeds I'd missed just for the 'true ending'. Still, will definitely be checking out whatever they come up with next!

[@Ryanie8699]

One of my favourite games this year, but this documentary reinforces just how good the soundtrack is.

[@TelicSyndrome]

Surprise of the year for me. Got it during the winter Steam sale and what a buy. Great music and artstyle, good gameplay and perfect length as well. Highly recommend if you liked old 2D zelda games.

[@luciddre4m]

My 2021 GOTY. Absolutely loved it! Thanks for this deeper look.