How a Free Browser Game Turned Into Dead Cells
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- 🌏 Get exclusive NordVPN deal here ➵ NordVPN.com/thatguyglen It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!✌
This Dead Cells documentary details the development of 2D action roguelike indie game Dead Cells and goes behind the scenes of its creation. Discover more about developer Motion Twin, where there are no bosses or traditional hierarchy and all employees receive the same salary. For over a decade, Motion Twin mostly made free-to-play browser and mobile games until they decided to make a sequel to one of their previous games called Die2Nite, which eventually evolved into Dead Cells. The documentary also explores all the design decisions that Motion Twin made and shows how Dead Cells started as a free-to-play tower defense mobile/browser game.
It also takes a close look at all the hurdles the team had to go through. Their initial idea for a sequel Die2Nite looked promising at first, but many flaws were discovered during alpha tests. Additionally, some of the developers were tired of making mobile games at a certain point and were close to leaving the company altogether. That’s when Motion Twin changed the aim of their company entirely end decided to solely focus on Dead Cells and turn it into a hardcore PC game. Furthermore, Motion Twin struggled with raising funds and almost ran out of money a year into the game’s development. Lastly, the feedback the team received during Dead Cell’s early access phase drastically impacted development, effectively making it a community-driven game.
0:00 Timeline of early concepts part 1
6:01 Ad
7:21 Timeline of early concepts part 2
13:18 How Dead Cells was made
References:
thatguyglen.fun/video/how-a-f...
Script written by Anine Van de Ryck.
Outro song: Thank You R.G.E. - Joe Bagale
Support me on Patreon and get exclusive content like ad-free videos, commentary tracks that provide insight on how my videos were made, Q&A videos, access to my Discord server and more:
/ thatguyglen
Follow me on Twitter to stay up to date on what’s happening with the channel and my occasional video game opinions:
/ glencallaert
#DeadCells #MotionTwin #GameDevelopment - Ігри
What indie game would you like to see me cover next? Leave a suggestion in the comments below! Also, if you enjoyed the video, please consider subscribing to stay up to date on future “How Games Were Made” episodes. Leaving a like and sharing the video also helps out! Support me on Patreon and get exclusive content like Q&A sessions, ad-free content, access to my Discord server and more: www.patreon.com/ThatGuyGlen
Death’s door
Risk of rain 2
Bug Fables
Super Meat Boy
maybe do rain world?
As a french person, I've spent a lot of time on motion twin games when I was young such as La Brute, Hordes or Minitroopers. Seeing them giving their all for a bigger project and succeeding was really heartwarming to me.
Noice
Always nice to see a studio from my country succeed in game development
Pareil, je suis carrément content pour eux :) amplement mérité
Neat. The only French developer i know in my younger years was De Valley. They made java games
Man I used to play all those games back when they had the platform muxxu, then they switched to twinoid. Those games were so much fun
For such a small company they really popped off on their designs and ideas.
Yeah, I was really impressed with their whole journey!
True
Most of their games are very original and fun, even browser-based ones
Man, a game like Dead Cells comes with a back story like this, in addition of your way of delivery. It truly feels like Dead Cells and it's creators were metaphorically gladiators in an arena and took a steep learning curve to finally win and i am sure glad they did!
👍
Yup and they put their entire company on the line just so they could make the game of their dreams, they deserve all the praise and the opportunity to make more games!
They certainly do, they are one example of what is possible when passion runs high in a given project. I doubt we would see Motion Twin in the same way had they been doing this for none other than chasing their dreams, i certainly got very inspired from this Video. I wish them as well as you a successful future, these videos filled with glory stories are true motivation boosters!
The fact that dead cells was based on castlevania and now castlevania has a dead cells dlc is crazy
honestly I love when devs make a game to have fun, do what they want, even if it's not a hit, it's nice that they're having fun with it
It’s also nice if it’s a commercial success and they can turn a profit and justify their time spent on the game
You cant act like a rougelike metroidvania is some kind of niche genre lmao
And it’s still being updated as a update came out recently and there’s a roadmap for next year
@@stylesheetra9411 It was niche FOR Motion Twin since they never developed anything like that before it lol and had to just learn it on the fly or risk going bankrupt, like if you've actually played any of the old Motion Twin games I had growing up you'd know that in your soul. Context is everything
@@stylesheetra9411 it's a pretty niche genre. Mainstream gamers don't know about them, or play them much at all.
Motion Twin being a workers cooperative is actually so insanely based. Makes my love for this game even greater
Suuuuuure, if you enjoy getting the same amount of pay as the laziest person in the office while doing most the work.
@@paz1514 just not how worker cooperatives work but okay dude have a good one
@@paz1514 is this not how most companies function? promoting the worker that has simply been there longest and sucked up most, played the right cards, rather than the one who actually works the hardest? while nearly everyone else is given the pay of the lowest common denominator?
@@paz1514 you have no fucking idea how hard these people work do you?
@@paz1514 in a regular company the laziest person gets paid in billions to harass women on the internet, i think this is still better
I like how motion twin said, “let’s make a sequel to our real time zombie survival browser game, and add things like tower defense and vehicles” and they ended with dead cells. Am absolute gem of a game, that’s nothing like that.
The power of user feedback is unmatched
It’s always interesting to learn how game was developed.
Yh
Between this and the blasphemous documentary it's amazing how difficult it is for some of these Indie Games to get made
The game’s development history reflects the game’s motto: “Kill. Die. Learn. Repeat”. In that sense, they killed off past projects, their new projects died, they learned from them and repeated the process until they got Dead Cells.
необычно или даже красиво
Me before the video: It took them SIX years to make that with a full team of experienced devs? How can I possibly finish the solo passion project I've been working on?
Me after the video: Ah, that makes a lot more sense.
ye, its a game built on formal fails, success built on failures are the best after all
Just pluck away at it, a good game is worth every second, despite any potential delays
Hearing that they ended up being able to make whatever they want because it may have been the last game they made together, makes me really happy. They really made a wonderful game that was my first real rogue like vania game. It got me into hollowknight and made me keep my switch. They did amazingly well with it, and with how cheap the game came out for? With very little price point for the new DLC packs, how could it NOT be a hit?! They did amazing. Haven't played since I got Pokemon bdsp, gotta get back to dead cells today :)
Have you gone back?
@@Bladieblah oh yeah, I was only at 0BC when I made this post. I'm not stuck on 4BC after grinding through 0-3BC in like 3 weeks time just playing every chance I got. Trying to beat the Giant tonight and get to 5BC. Can't wait for the spoiler boss. Still need to kill the queen and I'll probably grind through the queen before I start the vania DLC
@@tdbla98 Nice, good luck on beating the Giant and getting that 5th BC. Just curious but what build are you running?
You are a gem in the UA-cam sea! You deserve more attention and don't worry it's coming just keep working hard and doing what you're are doing. we're all rooting for you!
Yh
Thank you very much! I’m already over the moon with the progress I made so everything else is a bonus for me now :D I just keep doing what I love doing!
I love dead cells! this is really interesting. I think a game I’d love to see an in-depth review of is “Katana Zero” to my knowledge it had a very unusual development between the budget and art. Another very interesting game would be Rain World. Made with on a 1 man team with very complex gameplay, ai, and art.
Both games are on my list ;)
@@ThatGuyGlen yeah, katana zero looks like fun.
Back in the day Motion Twin also created Haxe, their own programming language that would compile to both swf (flash) and server (php if I remember. This was pretty brilliant for the day. Motion Twin always roxxed, in my sleepy hometown of Bordeaux they are rockstars (also because of their unique management structure).
holy shit i had no idea they made haxe, also can u explain more about their management?
@@aliatef7203 they’re probably referring to motiontwin’s coop structure
Nicolas Cannasse created Haxe, saying it was Motion Twin is a slap in the face. Motion Twin only had a claim to it because Nicolas Cannasse would some times work on it during work hours. That’s why the Haxe Foundation was created, so Motion Twin can transfer all claims/rights they had to it-to the foundation.
@@user.IcarusAt the same time, you cannot deny the pull of Motion Twin in Haxe Development.
It is very capable, just….you know.
The community is small. Like, especially compared to other games languages.
Honestly while the story of the development of this game was cool it was way more interesting and awesome hearing that there's an officially approved fan group preserving their older games.
Thank you Eternal Twin! Game preservation is super important and I'm always incredibly happy to hear about teams like this.
That multiplayer tower defence looks mad ngl. I'd play that :P
Also dead cells is legendary
I wouldn’t play it since tower defence games are too slow paced for me and I feel don’t feel like I have much control over the game
There’s definitely a version of that game that could be very fun. If they had more resources at the time, there’s a good chance Motion Twin would have finished it I think. On the other hand, the team was much more interested in creating a single-player game with no tower defense mechanics so who knows.
@@tomohawk2177 nobody cares~
Yeah, reminded me of Orcs must die and Fortnite but in 2D. Would have loved to play it, sounded very promising.
@@DamageMaximo Nobody cares that you don't care.
Dead Cells was my first experience in roguelite/like games, which at the time didn't know what that meant. Never played the obvious ones, like Bloodborne or Dark Souls. I don't even remember why I bought it in the first place. I clearly remember the first time I died, I was like: "Ok, I know the map know, LET'S GO!". Little I knew, the map regenerated. It was shocking, in a good way. I thought: "Ok, that's their thing". I then bought Elden Ring due to the hype to try it and because Dead Cells had the tag of "souls-like". I also remember the first time I died. I just had opened a door with a key. Then I also thought: "Ok, I know where the key is, LET'S GO!". As soon as I realized that this is how roguelite/like games are, I was spawned in a new world of games I did not know and I really liked.
And that was all because of Dead Cells, and the story behind the scenes was as I supposed it would be, a really motivational one :)
They’re my fave genre of games! I have been obsessed since the early days of Binding of Isaac. No other game genre lets my ADD ass stay so engaged for hundreds of hours like a good roguelite/like.
This was so interesting, I had no idea one of my favorite games started out like that! It's interesting to see how a lot of great creative projects go through a lot of major changes before coming up with the polished end result, a reminder to me that perfect doesn't come right away. I also think it's interesting that the developers claimed storytelling wasn't their strong suit, because the story in Dead Cells is so interesting to me and it's told very well through bits and pieces. I'm so proud of how far this game has come and how hard the developers have worked on it, and I'm glad they still are!
Good for them for knowing their value as developers and the value in their product.
Hi very cool video! Awesome to discover all those events accross a timeline! I spent all my childhood playing games from Motion Twin and damn Dead cells was a Banger! The fact that I played so much their game confort me to the path to become a game developper and I am now!
One note about Twinoid, cause even if Flash died, the Twinoid community took the opportunity to recreate all games from scratch as an open source project called EternalTwin
For instance, Hammerfest & Die2Nite still exists and are now fully playable without Flash thanks to some developers.
Thanks for the video! Very interesting :D
E
Are you Bibni from EternalTwin ?
Much appreciated, glad you liked it! I mention the EternalTwin project in the video btw ;)
18:18 This statement reminds me so much of the DKC games. It might be part of the reason I latched onto this game so quickly
This was a great watch! Far more interesting than I had expected it to be. You presented everything very well and know how to keep the content flowing in a manner that keeps the viewer engaged.
I don't understand how u have only 100k sub. These videos are so well made, i love the fact that they all match the game you are talking about. Amazing work.
I just discovered your channel.. I know I'm gonna watch all your videos. very fascinating to learn these stories, and you wrap them in exactly as much detail as I can handle. well done.
It’s crazy hearing how much uncertainty and risk went into one of my all time favorite games. Other games may have hit me harder emotionally of left me with longer lasting memories but Dead Cells dwarfs all others in the sheer amount of playtime I’ve put into it. I never get bored of it and I always go back for more, even if it’s been months since I last picked it up. I’m really glad it worked out for them and we get to enjoy this masterpiece
As a huge fan of Dead Cells, I found this super interesting. For such a small studio, they nailed it.
These guys are game design geniuses. Been playing Dead cells for 2 years and every run still feels unique and enthralling
Playing through the early access of Dead Cells was an incredible experience. The combat felt fantastic right out of the gate. They really took our feedback into account, testing out each new section was great, and finding all of the ways to break the game with each new iteration was an absolute blast.
Really glad to see that this channel is getting ads now!! I've been following you since the first videos, and it makes me happy seeing this growth.
I really enjoyed that! I've recently been getting back into the game, and I'm stoked for the animated series sometime in 2024. Thanks for the video! That was a great watch!
I am so glad that I brought the game and all DLC. Join part of this legendary game history.
i did Not expect to see angela merkel in this video haha
i loved learning about the company structure of motion twins! especially with all the cruching issues that big studios like ea/bioware and others have, this seems like a friendlier and overall healthier business structure
I've been a fan of Dead Cells since its early access. My cousin told me about this game and i went to his house to play it with him. It was the good old classic "You die, pass the control", the game was super hard on its own way back there, and very fun as well. Every time i pick the twin dagger i feel so nostalgic
That was really informative and well made!
Thank you for this video, as it explains a lot of things I've wanted to know
Like those early Dead Cells posters/wallpapers?, I did find them once on the internet and I was unsure if it was from Motion Twin or fan-made
I also did not know they took inspiration from real places to draw some of the background we see on Dead Cells
that's awesome!!!
My pleasure, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
The only roguelike I found challaenging and having actual depth to its mechanics that only grew the more you played.
My favorite thing about game is focus on critical hits and playstyle around them
Wow, this is amazing, Glen! Because I just started playing Dead Cells a couple days ago, bought it for Switch on a sale, and I love it and don't play anything but it! I got also 2 paid DLCs with discount, waiting to get some sale on a third DLC 'Queen and the Sea'.
What a coincidence that you recorded this video when I bought the game :) Was eyeing it for years but never bought for some reason, and here we are.
Thank you so much for you work!
My pleasure, glad to hear you enjoyed it Alexander! The story of how the game was made is pretty crazy so I just had to make a video about it :D
hey glen! awhile ago I posted on your shovel knight video to make a video on dead cells. dead cells is one of my favourite games and I'm glad you've covered it . its awesome to see a channel grow like yours that really deserves it. 👍
19:16 I don't think I have ever seen a normal map used in pixel art or 2D in general but it just makes so much sense!!
I’d love to learn more about the backstory of Dinkum. It’s a 3D animal crossing clone made by a lone Australian developer.
This is a true testament that if you give a game enough time you’ll get something incredible
I really love this game, took a month to reach 5bc but never got me bored after that, and the ost man is such a blessing, thank you motion twin
I've been playing for two years and am only at 2bc
You must be a very good player
Holy thats some achievement, i played 75 hours and cant beat 4 bc yet :(
Much like the experience I've had everytime I play this game, I won't be surprised if this game was made with blood, sweat, and tears. At least that's my futile attempt to find meaning in the pain...
Watch the vid and find out 👀
"Sebastian really liked cadtlevania"
...and he got approval for castlevania dlc.
Congrats
I played Dinoparc, Dinorpg and many other games from Motion Twin since I was 6 years old. The good times of old browser games, thanks for covering the french team.
2:01 Wow, I remember playing AlphaBounce in my Nintendo DSi back in the early 2010s. Such an addicting a game.
0:57 I'm not entirely sure what a "cooperative society" is, but in a worker cooperative, it is by no means implied that all members receive the same salary.
it just means that decisions come collectively from the bottom up, and not from an authority top down.
it's perfectly possible that the members collectively decide on varying salaries for different roles.
Imagine living in a country that funds your dream game.
I think you can also get small business funding in the US, but it’s more limited.
I dont think it was mentioned here but Motion Twin is organized as an Anarcho-Syndicalist worker cooperative, where all workers are given equal say and equal compensation. This is a huge factor in having every single person on the team being intensely motivated to make the best game they could and to succeed.
@@mattmilliken1510 it kind of was mentioned
The "indiepocalypse" theory that journalists were cooking up was insane and unjust to indie devs, especially given how they treat AAA publishers despite them being over-saturated af
The funniest thing is, indie games market is self regulated. Good games survive, bad ones due out. But funny how they don't talk about the same season pass bullshit games, from our beloved AAA segment
beautifully put together video, thank you for creating this!
Much appreciated and my pleasure! Glad to hear you liked it :D
This video was beautifully crafted. I learned so much about the company that made one of my favorite game. Thank you
My pleasure, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
blown away by the handdrawin normal maps, no wonder this game is so gorgeous.
as a huge dead cells fan & nowhere near the skills of a game developer… i have been extremely inspired to make my own cells-like game (i will happily take any info or advice that could push me in the right direction!). i love this game so damn much despite the horrors i have experienced trying to complete it, i will never stop playing dead cells. thank you motion twin for making one my favorite games ever
Coming to this vid late, but wow I didn't even realize they were the same devs behind Die2Nite. I knew they really popped off, but it's awesome knowing Dead Cells came from a game I didn't even remember, and was completely different. The fact that they all had a solid say in things changed so much for the better.
I love how that nord ad is personalized with a lil how nord was made
Thank you, I’m going to try to do this for future ads as well. NordVPN thought it was a great idea so let’s hope other brands think so as well!
what I love is the humor and easter eggs of the game
and while I don't know them all I find some and love it
started playing this year (well a little before silvester). and the favourite I had was finding a bonfire with the text "GIT GUD" next to it.
Great work, as always. Big thanks! ❤️
My pleasure, glad to hear you liked it!
Didn't know drawing normal maps by hand was a thing 😱
oh, good news they shared some info on their new game :D looks like 3D rogue like
This here is a top-tier game historian.
Love each of these videos!
That’s insanely cool! Thank you so much for making this video! Now I love Dead Cells even more❤
Funny to see this video being recommended, as I just started playing Dead Cells on my Switch again. I bought it long ago but hardly played it enough.
Hi,
It's very cool to discover all these things which we don't really knows as a standard player 👌 i play to Dead-Cells since the Early-Access and tried to play on Hordes-Zero alpha ^^'
Also, thanks for speaking a little of Eternal-Twin, we work really hard to save Twinoid games and communities.
Best regards, Dylan57, one of developper of MyHordes, the game that won't make you forget Die2Nite 🙂
My pleasure! It’s really awesome what you guys are doing with EternalTwin and bringing all those games back to life, cheers to all of you!
Ahh knowing the background it kinda makes sense why there are so many skill traps/deploy-able towers in Dead Cells
dude keep this up and youre gonna get 10 million subscribblers and almost every game dev *BEGGING* to be interviewed by you
Seems crazy to ever hit a number close to that, but I’m just going to keep going!
Bit of a way to go
Hello, just found this channel! I like your narration and the sober tone of your videos! Some game suggestions:
- La-Mulana 1&2;
- Salt and Sanctuary ;
- Rogue Legacy 2.
Thanks for the suggestions, I put them on my list!
14:05 im glad they did a castlevania collab and im assuming the devs were hyped because of this
Agreed
damn that was detailed, nice one dude
i loved dead cells before i saw this video, found myself nodding and saying yeaaaaa, to a lot of the things that make the game fun. i only jus got into it about a month ago and jus now getting into seeing builds and background info about the game, jus astonished at such a beauty of a game. major props to your video, but even bigger props to the original team getting the grounds for the community to help! beautiful game and beautiful studio!
The game reminds me of Castlevania meets Prince of Persia on speed.. I just recently bought those DLCs I didn’t have because I’m weird in that I always want the complete game even if I’m not very good at it..
My neighbor gave me Nightmare Creatures years ago among other games because he was looking to downsize room upon moving.. I did not even know it was Dead Cells related.. Guess I should check it out..
Here, have a comment for silly UA-cam statistics. You deserve the attention, my man. The quality behind your videos both in terms of research and production is amazing and I love your voice.
M
Thank you very much for the kind words! I’m just doing what I love so nothing makes me happier than seeing other people enjoy the videos :D
Dead Cells is one of my favorite games of all time. It is a genuine masterpiece and somehow, it hasn’t slowed down on providing in more masterfully crafted content. As of 2023, Dead Cells has a collaborative dlc with Castlevania and it is insane how far this game has come.
Only time i beat all of dead cells i was high on acid and only took damage like 3 times, it was fucking awesome
As someone who adores this game, their inspirations and path to making it is fascinating
What a big move to completely change the game in middle production, really inspiring story too.
It'd be interesting to have a timeline with the intended features. It seems like next to nothing remained of the original concept.
I already loved this game, but now I have more respect for the developers.
KALISTO MADE NIGHTMARE CREATURES I GREW UP ON THAT GAME i mean i never got passed the first level as a kid but loved the game non the less
thank you so much for the time and passion and effort you put into these videos. I love it. maybe cover blasphemous if you haven't yet?
I cant believe it took this video for me to realize that they made die2nite, a game I honestly grew up with.
Actually this really cool backstory made me so much more happy to be an really hardcore defender of how good that game is. Thanks for the backstory!
Edit: Its so big brain how they made the Animations for the game. Really cool stuff.
My pleasure, glad you liked it!
Same happened with Skullgirls. It was going down hill because of some dipshit, but rose once the people making it didn't give up.
i didn't know twinoid were the makers of dead cells, now it makes sense to me why it called me so much.
i've played pretty much every single one of their games since 2010 and dino/whatever it was, don't even remember the names anymore. i hooked my mom up on naturalquimia and she still plays it to this day religiously. fkn A.
Angela Merkel standing between Roxas Kingdom Hearts and Ms. Mercy Overwatch 8:32 has me giggling
This is a great video as always. Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much and will do!
Awesome video, you didnt mention that deep night left the studio and went full time indie
The just secured themselves permanently on top by releasing the Castlevania DLC
what a way to go... amazing work
its cool to see how theyre doing a collab with Castlevania after taking huge inspiration from that series while making Dead Cells
I’ve been watching this video for 2 hours straight on loop while I do other stuff. Time to go to bed
Do My Friend Pedro!!!!! I remember playing it on browser a long time ago, had no idea that the new game was the "same" game from the time
Soooooo much cool concept art that I wish was in the game
This video is a fantastic case study on game development
Well done once again, Glen.
Heads off to you (a la Dead Cells).
Maybe *_NARITA Boy_* is worth covering?
Much appreciated! And thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it.
the idea of a multiplayer coop game also being a competitive is cool it's like only one person can actually win but without it being a free for all having to help your team while making sure you have an advantage to be the last one alive seem like that would be popular
"Epic inspiring quote" - Marketing Manager
lol
Damn i remember playing Fury of the Furries as a kid, this game was so fun, i had completely forgot about it, i must find a way to play it again
oh wow. KoF inspired too. another favorite series of mine. I wonder if there are any subtle KoF easter eggs.
this is a crazy development history
Great video, congrats!!
For a game that I bought on a whim at GameStop, it was beyond worth it. It is definitely a hard game, 5BC is really rough but it is probably one of my favorite games.
Would have been cool to hear more about the game engine especially since it's using haxe as its coding language, a language developed by motion twin that can be compiled into c++, c#, java, javascript, php and python.