[PREMIERE] What Developers Misunderstand About Dark Souls Level Design | Design Delve

Hello JM8 & Ludo, nice to meet you both! Glad I get to add you guys and your content my literal happy place! First Design Delve and I loved it and how well it was explained and articulated. Thank you both for sharing yourselves and your ideas with us all. Bonus question for you, is that a manga compilation JM8 is holding, or a DvD? I’ve never tried Berzerk, and have been meaning to for some time, but I’m not certain where to start and why :)

This is a fantastic look into level design, and really breaks things down in a way that helps people not familiar with design understand it on a deeper level, well done! Also, Ludo is too cute as a co-host, and I can't wait to see more of this series!

Ludo is a great game and name😊 Is it the name for a board game for you brits, too?

Though I have been gaming for a long time, I don't see myself as an elite gamer or even as someone with particularly good reflexes. What makes Dark Souls stand out to me is the fact that it rewards intelligent, methodical play in the levels more than anything else. The bosses (though not all of them) are more of a reflex/pattern recognition test, but a lot of those can be made easier by utilizing techniques you've learned or items you've gathered in the previous level, too. I overcome those games with planning and solid character builds. Brains over brawn!

I’m a game dev and I thought I watched the channel which shall not be named. Now I’m a patron here I’m glad I found this series!

This was interesting and not something I would have watched in the past. I have to ask though, is having a cute puppy a compulsory part of being a Second Wind creator? :D

I only ever really watched zero punctuation, but now. I'm gonna be a hardcore fan of all of it! :D

AHHH I've never seen JM8 and Ludo but I love it! Can't wait to see all the series SW brings!

I admit I only ever followed Zero Punctuation, and that's what brought me to Second Wind. But this video is what cemented the decision of "I can have one or two less coffees a month to support these guys", which was borne of my admiration and respect at a bunch of people who decide to get up and leave their job to follow someone they respect. Looking forward to other design design delves in the future :)

Love the point on Vantage! First time walking up to Sen's Fortress in DS1 or the first time you enter Liurnia in Elden Ring are examples of where I thought, "Oh boy, what's gonna mess me up in there?". Has me feeling equally eager and terrified.

One of the biggest ways I think the Souls genre has been sold short is their reputation for being "Those games that are really hard." They are so known for their difficulty that completly unrelated games like Cuphead have been compared to them, simply because Cuphead is difficult. From Software games are the mediums best written and best conveyed stories, and to reduce them all to merely talking about their difficulty misses a vital aspect of what makes them great.

Ok, I’m in on the Patreon. Can’t give much but I love what you’re doing and hate how you were treated. Best of luck!

As someone who loves the direction Nick has taken the team, I'm thrilled we get more design delve. Frost and JM8 are by and away my favorite creators in the channel.

Hey, what shall I do to be listed as Patron?

Always warms my heart hearing that Stray music in these. Great first vid back!

I really like the idea of spiraling in DS level design, I hadn’t heard of that before. I haven’t watched the previous videos on The Site That Shall Not Be Named, so I’m looking forward to when those are re-made for Second Wind to watch them. It makes me wonder what it would be like to design spiraling levels for DnD or other tabletop RPGs.

Glad to see design delvs back on the new channel 🙌

Honestly first time watching anything "Escapist"-content that isn't ZP-related since the Jimquisition left all those years ago. This was fun. Just bought Dark Souls because of it! Will definitely be watching more haha

Great work bud! Really smooth transition to the new channel and a good episode. I really love how Design Delve fits in between Yahtzee's joke heavy, world weary sarcastic show and Frost's well thought out deep think-pieces. Your ability to go into the nuts-n-bolts of game mechanics and development without coming across as boring or dry is cool. May you get many years of content out of it! Long live Second Wind!

There's too much Dark Souls content! Too many Design Delve episodes on From Software games. There are so many other games and topics to discuss, for example: how about a video on Super Mario Wonder and what makes easy/easier games interesting? But please more variety!