"Doki Doki Literature Club!", a visual novel
game set in a Japanese high school, traces its origins back to early 2015. Dan Salvato, who was going to college at that
time, had been working on his first visual novel project for a while now. Despite multiple script rewrites, Dan believed
in the core idea's potential. During this period, he came up with a radically
different visual novel concept. He shared this new idea with his friend Corey
and painted the picture of a game that initially embraces all the typical romance tropes, only
to subvert them with a twist that results in things being “off”. The game would gradually unravel, marked by
eerie glitches and unsettling character behaviors, culminating in the revelation of an insidious
character pulling the strings behind the scenes. Corey was captivated by the concept and encouraged
Dan to pursue it. However, Dan's ongoing project already consumed
all of his spare time. Nevertheless, Corey's enthusiastic response
ensured that the idea for what would ultimately become Doki Doki Literature Club lingered
in the back of Dan's mind. Fast forward a year, and Dan was still working
on his initial visual novel project with the help of his friend Masha. By chance, Dan one day mentioned his parody
horror game concept in conversation - and, to put it lightly, she was enthusiastic. Both shared a vision for a more daring visual
novel industry, one that wouldn't lean heavily on repetitive tropes. The idea of creating a game that poked fun
at these conventions was naturally appealing to them. Moreover, this new concept was more bite-sized
and focused compared to Dan's ongoing project. After giving it some thought, Dan concluded
that starting with a shorter project would be the smarter move. It would allow him to gain experience quicker
and use that experience to continue making better and more complex visual novels moving
forward. Dan, born in 1991, underwent a significant
personal transformation from his time as a kid to the person he is today. "I was lonely, self-centered, arrogant, and
didn’t understand how to truly consider the feelings of others around me. I finally started to turn around a bit my
senior year, but it took me a good few years after that to just chill out and learn to
respect and appreciate everyone. I am extremely glad those years are so far
behind me now." Growing up, Dan watched a lot of anime, with
a particular fondness for slice-of-life anime. "K-On!" stands out as one of his favorites. His journey into visual novels began in college,
starting with "Tsukihime", which left a lasting emotional impact on him. He was still contemplating the experience
a week later, because he felt deeply connected to the story and how he was able to influence
it as a player. Dan was hooked on visual novels from that
point forward. Before the creation of Doki Doki Literature
Club, Dan had already accomplished a lot in the gaming world. He was a professional Super Smash Bros. player,
renowned at one point as one of the top Melee Link players in the United States. Dan also contributed to the development of
popular mods for both Melee and Brawl. Beyond his gaming skills, he is the creator
of FrankerFaceZ, a widely-used Twitch extension that offers custom channel emotes, layout
and chat customization, advanced moderation tools, and more. In 2015, he gained further recognition for
designing notoriously challenging Super Mario Maker levels, such as "P is for Pain." It was around this time that Dan conceived
the idea for Doki Doki Literature Club. If you, just like Dan, want to make games
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smart way. Now back to the video. During the course of development, Dan was
inspired by his self-described love/hate relationship with anime. His mixed feelings about the "cute girls doing
cute things" trope, which he views as both a strength and weakness in anime, significantly
shaped his ideas for the game. His inclination towards horror was fueled
by a wide range of emotional experiences he had with video games and technology that he
describes as surreal, or unsettling, or things that kind of get under your skin. Things that are scary because they make you
uncomfortable, not because they shove scary-looking things in your face. In an interview with Kotaku, Dan mentioned
that Yume Nikki, Eversion and Irisu Syndrome are particularly successful at creating that
type of atmosphere and served as a major influence. Creating “disturbing content” is a recurring
theme for Dan, as he previously wrote a horror short story about a 19-year-old girl who commits
a random act of murder, which was published on the website Thought Catalog. Other more amusing influences came from childhood
memories of feeling creeped out when the CD tray opened automatically when traversing
between islands in the game Riven, and the disturbing grinding noise Dan’s Amiga’s
disk drive would make whenever there was a disk read error. In addition to crafting an unsettling atmosphere,
Dan aimed to tell a story that could only be realized within the video game medium. He has always been drawn to games that offer
such unique experiences and his most memorable moments in gaming have come from titles that
utilize storytelling techniques exclusive to the medium. He regards games like "Riven," "Portal," "Braid",
and "Yume Nikki" as masterpieces because they fully harness the interactive nature of video
games. These titles, among others, represent for
Dan the epitome of what sets video games apart from other forms of media, making them truly
special and exceptional. In Dan's view, these games immerse the player
so deeply in the story that they become a fundamental part of the narrative, actively
shaping and unraveling it, rather than merely controlling a character and letting the story
wash over them. Dan likes to say that fiction is communication. His whole life, whenever he had a profoundly
emotional experience, his immediate desire was to share those same feelings and insights
with others. He found that fiction seems to have this magical
power of doing exactly that – transferring emotions and experiences from the creator
to the audience, while also capturing the essence of those moments. This transformative power of storytelling
is precisely why Dan is passionate about crafting fictional stories. Given Dan's extensive experience with anime
and visual novels, as well as his insights into Western anime culture, it didn’t take
long to come up with a bunch of generic anime character tropes. However, refining them in writing proved challenging. The goal was to give nods to visual novel
games that are genuinely badly written, while also preserving some level of authenticity
that would make the game and its characters enjoyable. As mentioned earlier, Dan aimed to blend a
fairly simple story that parodies visual novels with surreal horror elements. He intended for the satirical nature of the
game to prevent players from taking it too seriously, setting the stage to then use that
mindset against them by forcing them to rethink their relationship with fiction. He saw it as an opportunity to tackle some
darker subjects, giving the story a more nihilistic vibe. During an interview, Dan clarified that nihilism,
in his view, doesn't mean hopelessness. Rather, it means that you can forge your own
path in life and focus on aspects within your control. Dan values that sort of feeling more than
a generic happy ending with complete closure and further said it might inspire the player
to strive toward being a better person, doing the small things they know are in their power
to make a difference. "People become disturbed when forced to think
about things they don’t want to, or shown a reality that they always try to ignore. But humans aren’t rational creatures. It’s when we’re emotionally charged that
we become inspired to do something for ourselves, or for others." Dan initially envisioned the characters with
generic cookie-cutter personalities. However, as he delved into the writing process,
he felt an unexpected urge to connect with them on a deeper level. Consequently, the characters began to reveal
insecurities and realistic personality traits beneath their surface archetypes. At that point, he decided to lean into that
direction wholeheartedly and gave them relatable human traits based on his own experiences
and observations in life, complete with flaws and internal struggles. A prime example is Sayori, a character whose
depiction of depression is influenced by people close to Dan who suffer from depression. Dan realized the importance of enabling players
to empathize with the characters, rooting for their triumph in the face of adversity. Even if the players do not directly identify
with the characters, they might see reflections of acquaintances, friends, or colleagues in
their defensive behaviors or shared insecurities. Spending time with these characters in the
game, understanding their thoughts and emotions, could offer players valuable insights into
the experiences of others in real life, extending beyond their personal perspectives. Dan also recognized that individuals, especially
those who are neurodivergent, often relate with the internal struggle - that our feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors don’t always align with the person we truly want to be. People tend to feel that strongly in fictional
characters and therefore don’t want to fault them for their flaws and mistakes. That said, Dan has also seen how mental health
issues can be mishandled in stories when they are detached from characters, becoming mere
plot devices. This approach risks reducing complex individuals
to simplistic, problem-creating stereotypes. Doki Doki Literature Club addresses and criticizes
that tendency through its own story. The scriptwriting process was a very non-linear
process. While Dan had planned out the main story beats
in advance, the bulk of the script evolved alongside the game's development, as the two
were intrinsically linked in multiple ways. As a result, Dan was making changes to the
script up until right before the game’s release. Fun fact: all the dialogue and text was intentionally
written to sound like a translated Japanese visual novel, rather than something that was
originally written in English. To add to the game’s parody, Dan chose generic-sounding
Japanese names for the main characters, poking fun at Western visual novels set in a "pseudo-Japan." This term refers to settings that, while inspired
by Japan and seemingly located there, lack full cultural accuracy due to the writer possibly
not knowing quite enough about Japan. "Natsuki" represents the fiery and assertive
archetype, whereas "Yuri" is characterized as quiet and elegant. "Sayori" is a fusion of "Sayuri" and "Soari". Finally, “Monika” completes the satire
by literally taking an English name and throwing a “k” in there to match Romanized Japanese. The choice of "Monika," resembling a stereotypically
popular girl's name, also serves as a subtle indication that she is out of place in the
game's setting, unlike the other characters. For the game's engine, Dan went with "Ren'Py",
a Python-based, open-source engine specifically tailored for visual novel game development. Fans of the genre may recognize that the engine's
name, "Ren'Py," is a portmanteau or blend word of "ren'ai," the Japanese term for "romantic
love." Access to the source code enabled Dan to manipulate
the engine beyond its intended capabilities, as the philosophy of the engine's developers
was to prioritize player control. However, Dan's vision for the game deviated
greatly from this philosophy so he modified the engine using his own python code. Dan, acknowledging his limitations as an artist,
initially used placeholder art from a free online "anime character creator" tool to develop
early prototypes. These temporary assets were invaluable in
the initial development phase, but Dan knew he had to eventually find a real artist in
order to pull off his concept. Fortunately, one of Dan’s college friends,
Dave, was an artist. After being briefed on the concept and impressed
by the progress made on the game's story, logo, and theme song, Dave grabbed his tablet
and started sketching. They started off by designing the school uniform. In the blink of an eye, Dave produced a whole
row of concept art. The design on the far right, after a minor
adjustment from a green to a blue skirt, was chosen as the game's signature outfit. With the uniform more or less in place, it
was time to design the characters. Dave first made some rough sketches of the
whole cast. Since Dan initially didn’t provide any reference
for character height, Dave drew them all at the same height. At this stage, Yuri and Monika's designs were
already pretty spot-on, but Sayori and Natsuki needed some adjustments in proportions, hairstyles,
and other details. Dan had been leaning towards giving Sayori
short hair, and seeing a range of options helped confirm his choice. Fans have probably already noticed the different
art style used in the concept art and that’s because Dave was always more inspired by anime
styles from the '90s and early 2000s. Once Dave had laid the groundwork for the
characters' overall design, another artist named Kagefumi came aboard to further set
the designs in stone. Character heights were still under consideration,
which is why Natsuki appears taller in Kagefumi's concept art. Dan wanted one of the characters to wear higher
stockings and originally thought Yuri might be a good fit. However, after pinning down each character’s
personality more, Dan decided Yuri isn’t the type to draw attention to herself. Instead, they gave the higher stockings to
Monika, who is the confident one of the group and cares more about her impression. Kagefumi was initially going to illustrate
the entire game, but unrelated personal difficulties resulted in her having to step down after
a few months. Dan then found a freelance artist known as
Satchely and asked her to help continue the work that Kagefumi had started. She agreed, and once she officially came onboard,
the development of the in-game sprites accelerated. Satchely's first task was to sketch all the
sprite poses, enabling Dan to replace the in-game placeholders with artwork that was
closer to the final design. As evident from this early screenshot, the
user interface still required refinement at this stage of development. However, prioritizing the UI wasn't deemed
necessary at the time, given the substantial amount of work left on the script and scene
construction. Dan had specific requirements for the character
pose system. The plan was to assign each character three
poses: a basic stance, an "alternate arms" stance, and an action pose. The "alternate arms" could be combined with
the basic stance in any combination, resulting in four unique poses. Additionally, the action pose was designed
to be a special, standalone stance that would capture the character's expressiveness. Integrating this system into the game proved
to be quite challenging. A lot of extremely careful image editing produced
character “halves” that Dan could then programmatically stitch together in the game
itself. This approach allowed the use of a limited
number of source images to generate a wide variety of character sprites. Initially, this method was quite efficient. However, the complexity increased when they
started to mix in different facial expressions. Here you can see an example of a "cheat sheet"
that Dan used during scene construction. Each facial expression is assigned a letter
for convenient referencing. Including the "y" expression, which isn't
shown on this sheet, Sayori has 25 different facial expressions. When combined with the arm poses, there are
a total of 100 sprite combinations. Natsuki is the sole exception, as she has
two different head orientations: front and turned. Her front-facing head works with both her
basic pose and her action pose, resulting in 155 possible combinations. Knowing this, it’s understandable why Dan
opted for a more dynamic pose system instead of drawing full sprites. Not only would it take up a ton of space in
terms of data, but it would also turn making small adjustments to poses or facial expressions
into a painstaking process. Ultimately, the pose system proved to be highly
efficient, saving Dan considerable time and resources. Designing the backgrounds was a relatively
straightforward process. Freelance illustrator Velinquent joined the
project to craft every background image. Dan provided him with a lot of reference images
and Velinquent’s talent took care of the rest. He would start out by creating a 3D model
of the scene, followed by sharing temporary renders with Dan until they settled on the
best camera angle. Afterwards, Velinquent would import the chosen
render into Photoshop and paint over it to achieve the illustrated look you see in-game. Displayed here is an early rendition of the
clubroom, which couldn’t be used because the scene wasn’t well-lit enough. Dan composed the game's soundtrack himself,
leveraging his long-standing hobby in music composition. He describes the soundtrack as extremely simple,
but even so, he barely managed to get by with his skills. His decision to handle the composition himself
came from a desire to infuse the game with simple, catchy melodies and recurring motifs
— elements he refers to as having a quote unquote high hummable factor. Dan drew inspiration from anime music and
the soundtracks of various Nintendo games, including Yoshi's Story and Animal Crossing,
known for their memorable melodies. The main theme is primarily performed by piano
and flute, with string instruments providing accompaniment. Notably, the track "Okay, Everyone!" comes in five different versions. Four of these versions are characterized by
distinct musical instruments that symbolize each of the four characters. Monika's version is distinguished by piano
highlights, Yuri's version incorporates pizzicato strings and harp, Natsuki's rendition is brought
to life with xylophone and recorder, and Sayori's interpretation is conveyed through the ukulele. Doki Doki Literature Club was launched in
September 2017, just a week after its official announcement. Dan decided to release it on itch.io using
a "pay what you want" model, as well as on Steam, where users could download it for free
or pay $10 to unlock the Fan Pack. With virtually no marketing budget, Dan primarily
relied on word-of-mouth to promote the game. Fortunately, Dan had already established a
following on the internet due to his involvement in the Smash and Mario Maker communities,
which greatly helped to spread initial awareness. Moreover, he was friends with several Twitch
streamers who played the game upon its release. The game also received numerous positive reviews
on Steam, which helped it gain further momentum. Established YouTubers began playing it and
sharing their experiences, further amplifying its reach. Major gaming websites took notice as well;
for instance, PC Gamer hailed it as one of the most surprising games of the year. After only about two months, the game had
already surpassed two million downloads, making a significant impact in both the visual novel
and horror genres. This success extended into the awards season
of that year. At the IGN's Best of 2017 Awards, Doki Doki
Literature Club garnered the People's Choice Award in several categories: "Best PC Game,"
"Best Adventure Game," "Best Story," and "Most Innovative." Additionally, IGN ranked it as the 12th scariest
game of its generation. The game also won the "Matthew Crump Cultural
Innovation Award" at the South by Southwest Gaming Awards, further solidifying its status
in the gaming community. Given Dan usually has a pretty good understanding
of the audience he designs things for, he recognized the game's potential to appeal
not only to fans of visual novels but also to attract players from outside the genre. He suspected that players would go into it
thinking that they don't have to take the visual novel component seriously, like Hatoful
Boyfriend for instance, making it feel very low-commitment and approachable. However, he never anticipated the overwhelming
popularity and heartwarming reception it received. Dan was especially nervous about how the audience
would respond to the game's exploration of heavy themes, such as depression and suicide,
fearing it might be dismissed as unnecessary cruelty. To his relief, people started messaging him,
sharing how the game helped them process their own struggles with depression and the pain
of losing loved ones to suicide. Another incredible moment for Dan came after
the game’s release when he received an email from Jason Hayes, the composer for World of
Warcraft. Jason reached out just to express his appreciation
for Doki Doki Literature Club. Dan was astonished that his game had reached
someone like Jason, who operates in a completely different sphere within the games industry,
far removed from Dan's indie circle. However, what was undoubtedly the best moment
of Dan’s career at that time, was his first convention appearance to discuss Doki Doki
Literature Club. Some people in line started singing the lyrics
from the game’s end credit’s soundtrack and Dan found himself fighting back tears
in that moment. As previously mentioned, Dan's ultimate ambition
was to convey his personal experiences and emotions through fiction. Therefore, receiving indications that he not
only achieved this goal but also exceeded it, represents the highest praise he could
receive. While the widespread popularity and recognition
of the game were incredibly exciting for Dan, it also worried him. “Although seeing DDLC become popular was
incredibly exciting for me, it also brought about this sense of regret. That my future, larger projects will simply
not match the popularity of this one. But I'm okay with that. I'm very deliberate on the audiences that
I target with my projects, and DDLC happened to aim for a large audience.” On the other hand, his life completely changed
very, very quickly. He went from being a tinkerer that spent most
of his time in solitude, to being a public face of an enormously popular brand overnight. Unfortunately, it had a negative impact on
his mental health, and Dan has shared that the period between 2018 and 2019 was the most
difficult time of his life. Suddenly, he had to worry about business responsibilities,
partnerships, merchandise and legal stuff. Working with a diverse group of people on
various projects required responsibilities and skills he had yet to develop, leaving
him unprepared. Despite this, he also felt he couldn’t turn
any of those things down as it seemed like huge opportunities. While Dan worked with freelance artists during
the game’s development, it’s important to note that he was still a one-man team at
this point in his career. Therefore, he felt like all eyes were on him,
causing immense pressure and left him feeling miserable in the end. He simply couldn’t do everything that was
expected of him. Worst of all, it consumed so much of his time
that he couldn’t pursue other game projects. Understandably, this period was incredibly
overwhelming and challenging. However, it allowed Dan to get a much better
understanding of himself, the meaning of success and what he needed in order to be happy. Dan decided to assemble a small team to continue
developing visual novel games. Back in 2019, Dan shared with IGN his desire
to expand on his beloved Literature Club characters, possibly in the form of DLC. Furthermore, he mentioned plans of being in
the middle of developing an entirely new visual novel IP. In June 2021, Team Salvato officially revealed
a premium edition of their debut game, titled Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! This version promised additional story content,
visual enhancements, and extra music tracks, and it was also planned to be released for
consoles. Interestingly, Dan had considered porting
the original game to consoles immediately after its release, but he simply couldn’t
imagine charging for a game that was available for free on PC. Therefore, he and the rest of the team put
so much thought and care into an upgraded version that would be worthy of people’s
money. They believed $15 was a reasonable price that
would keep the entry barrier low, allowing a broader audience to enjoy the game. In an interview with Nintendo Everything,
Dan revealed his motivation for returning to Literature Club was to be able to delve
deeper into its themes. He pointed out that the game centers around
the characters' very real and relatable insecurities and personal struggles, with which many players
strongly identify. Dan aimed to create additional story content
to allow the characters to explore their interpersonal relationships more deeply than the original
game allowed. After receiving feedback from hundreds of
fans about their deep connections with each character, viewing them almost as friends,
Dan recognized both the value and significance of his creation, as well as the responsibility
to remain faithful to the characters while developing additional content. Another fun fact: in the key art for the Plus!
edition, each club member appears slightly older and more mature. This artistic choice was made because the
team believed the characters had evolved beyond the one-dimensional tropes that drove the
original artwork. From a technical standpoint, the game essentially
had to be recreated from the ground up. Originally developed for a 720p resolution,
the transition to consoles—typically connected to TVs—necessitated an upgrade to full 1080p
resolution. This was a significant challenge for a small
team, requiring them to revisit the source materials and produce 1080p versions of all
the artwork. Dan mentioned that some bits and pieces even
had to be completely redrawn, which was a very meticulous and painstaking process. Fortunately, Team Salvato received technical
support from publisher Serenity Forge and their in-house development team. The collaboration with Serenity Forge was
chosen due to their intimate understanding of the nuance involved in working on Doki
Doki Literature Club. From the game design, marketing, all the way
to the physical packaging. Dan believes that many larger publishers might
have halted progress in reaction to some of the team's more wild ideas, whereas Serenity
Forge embraced them. Only a few weeks after its official reveal,
The Plus edition was released across all available platforms and, unsurprisingly, it once again
received widespread acclaim from both critics and gamers alike. As of February 2023, Doki Doki Literature
Club has been downloaded more than 13 million times, while the Plus! edition has sold over
one million copies. Dan has received a lot of requests about the
potential of adapting Doki Doki Literature Club to other formats, such as manga. However, such a move would contradict everything
that Dan is deeply passionate about. “DDLC was literally created under the premise
that video games and interactive media are what enable the story to be told. That’s what I feel most passionate about,
I think—the utilization of this specific, yet magical art form to tell stories that
otherwise can’t be told. It would be cheap and disappointing to try
and take the DDLC story and gameplay experience as it exists and plop into some other form
of media that wouldn’t work.” Regarding the future of Doki Doki Literature
Club and Team Salvato, there are currently no plans for new content for Literature Club. However, Dan is open to the possibility of
creating something new if he comes across an idea he truly believes in. As of this video’s release, the Team Salvato
website lists three projects in development: an unnamed visual novel, a game designed for
the old school Amiga home computer titled Magicore Anomala, and a third project that
remains shrouded in mystery. From its humble beginnings in 2015 to its
release on consoles like the Nintendo Switch, Dan sometimes still can’t believe he actually
made it. "On the one hand, it feels like DDLC has been
around for so long at this point, or rather it’s been such a huge part of my life that
it almost feels like just some entity out there. So sometimes when I sit down and remind myself
of what this is, the fact that I made it and it has this visibility like Nintendo for example
tweeting about it—once I sit down with a moment of mindfulness, that’s when I really
feel the emotions surrounding it, and I can tell myself how amazing it is that I’ve
made it to this point. I’ve never wanted to find an 'I’ve made
it' moment, because that’s so dependent on everyone’s individual definition for
success. What matters to me are the personal experiences
that have meaning to me, and being a lifelong Nintendo fan and seeing my game get that sort
of recognition was easily one of the most meaningful things to happen so far in my gaming
career."
