Key Elements for THE Scariest Game Imaginable
- Thread starter SweetLiquidSnake
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I've been playig around with thoughts about this for a while and um, yeah I thought of a sort of town where humans slowly become.. what was... sorry... slowly become twisted, except for a small group in red who you occasionally see in passing, all of which are burnt slightly and... I'm sorry, I just can't think about anything after that link posted by anthony87. I mean, holy shit that's terrifying. The japanese sure know how to scare the shit out of me.
I'll probably post again once I've composed myself. @athony87 I tip my hat to you, good sir.
I'll probably post again once I've composed myself. @athony87 I tip my hat to you, good sir.
No weapons, if you have a means of defending yourself that takes away the fear. Maybe you could just have a "push them away" mechanic.
Less jump-scares, more paranoia scares. This was the problem Dead Space 2 had.
Lack of prestine, state-of-the-art graphics. This is the reason Amnesia and old Silent Hill games are scary and Dead Space isn't.
No defined route. If you make the way forward difficult to find without it getting annoying, it will make the player even more paranoid.
I'll probably think of others later.
Less jump-scares, more paranoia scares. This was the problem Dead Space 2 had.
Lack of prestine, state-of-the-art graphics. This is the reason Amnesia and old Silent Hill games are scary and Dead Space isn't.
No defined route. If you make the way forward difficult to find without it getting annoying, it will make the player even more paranoid.
I'll probably think of others later.
That's a good way of phrasing it, I recall the game Zeno Clash had a moment like that, though it wasn't trying to by horrifying.kane.malakos said:
Another way to try horror could be to keep the player in control, in a situation with a predetermine outcome, so they can try to struggle agenised the inevitable. Anyone who's played Shadow of the Colossus to the end should know what I mean.
Theres this one mod for the original Half-Life (not source) and it's called Afraid of Monsters. Its pretty god damn scary. Like you need batteries for your light, guns and ammo are extremely hard to find. The zombies are just fuckin weird and they're very hard to kill.
OT: I think games need more survival, and psychological stuff, insted of just jump scares. Kind of like Amnesia, but with very limited weapons. And it's more scary if you don't see a monster, and imagining what it is, then just seeing the same guy over and over again so it's not scary at all.
OT: I think games need more survival, and psychological stuff, insted of just jump scares. Kind of like Amnesia, but with very limited weapons. And it's more scary if you don't see a monster, and imagining what it is, then just seeing the same guy over and over again so it's not scary at all.
Sound would be a big part, especially the lack of it. If you get the player used to being in an environment with a lot of background noise (cars, planes, neighbourhood noises), taking them away would strip away a lot of familiarity very quickly.
If they use that, I'd be worried about people dying from heart attacks. And I'm really glad I went to the bathroom 2 minutes ago.anthony87 said:
Just a few more ideas
Use of a condition. Alan Wake and Alone in the Dark use this to great effect with the you are in danger if you're standing in the dark issue. Or even Amnesia and the water section.
I know my ex got the most scared when he was exploring in an alone in the dark game and suddenly the all the lights went off and when the lightning flashed there was a monster standing right in front of him. He almost had an accident I think.
Subtle changes in environment can be quite creepy aswell like the topiary animals changing position in the Shining.
Things suddenly noticing you can be alarming aswell. Like you see a ghost through a camera monitor then it looks straight at you and starts moving purposefully down the corridor. NOES.
Use of a condition. Alan Wake and Alone in the Dark use this to great effect with the you are in danger if you're standing in the dark issue. Or even Amnesia and the water section.
I know my ex got the most scared when he was exploring in an alone in the dark game and suddenly the all the lights went off and when the lightning flashed there was a monster standing right in front of him. He almost had an accident I think.
Subtle changes in environment can be quite creepy aswell like the topiary animals changing position in the Shining.
Things suddenly noticing you can be alarming aswell. Like you see a ghost through a camera monitor then it looks straight at you and starts moving purposefully down the corridor. NOES.
Now for a game to get under your skin it needs more story than "There's monsters out there, good luck getting out alive".
- Give the protagonist a strong (if not wise) reason to push on. Give them questions to ask, but as you progress, you start to worry you won't like the answers...Silent Hill games do this well
- Make the monsters relatable in a sense. Part of what makes Project Zero/Fatal Frame effective is every ghost has a history and many of them are victims if you think about it. Bioshock isn't horror per say but the way the splicers talk to themselves remembering better times or wallowing in self-pity makes them eerier than if they went oogly-woogly-boo
- This has been mentioned before but twisting a familiar setting works better than haunted castle number n. Say you're in a kitchen. It's in good order, if maybe there's some dust on tabletops and such. Nothing out of the ordinary. Until you take a closer look on a shelf and recognize the shapes in those pickle jars.
- Hinting to the player failure means fate worse than death. Like in System Shock, where you can see your corpse used as core component for another cyborg. Or maybe whatever malady struck the populace will consume you too. The parts of Deadly Premonition with timed puzzles in rooms filling up with madness-inducing mist...those actually creeped me out.
- Give the protagonist a strong (if not wise) reason to push on. Give them questions to ask, but as you progress, you start to worry you won't like the answers...Silent Hill games do this well
- Make the monsters relatable in a sense. Part of what makes Project Zero/Fatal Frame effective is every ghost has a history and many of them are victims if you think about it. Bioshock isn't horror per say but the way the splicers talk to themselves remembering better times or wallowing in self-pity makes them eerier than if they went oogly-woogly-boo
- This has been mentioned before but twisting a familiar setting works better than haunted castle number n. Say you're in a kitchen. It's in good order, if maybe there's some dust on tabletops and such. Nothing out of the ordinary. Until you take a closer look on a shelf and recognize the shapes in those pickle jars.
- Hinting to the player failure means fate worse than death. Like in System Shock, where you can see your corpse used as core component for another cyborg. Or maybe whatever malady struck the populace will consume you too. The parts of Deadly Premonition with timed puzzles in rooms filling up with madness-inducing mist...those actually creeped me out.
I found it fascinating what silent hill shattered memories did with their horror. The atmosphere was beautiful filled with mysterie and a sort of sadness as if the town it's self suffered from a sickness and the main character really was half dreaming.
Sadly they fucked it up by making monsters only appear when the whole world froze over so as long as not everything was frozen you knew you were safe. on the other hand if they wouldn't have done that i think the game would've been pants shitting. Even though you knew nothing was going to attack you the great level and story design would always make you feel helpless uneasy and a visitor in a strange world even though as long as everything remained unfrozen it looked like reality
Sadly they fucked it up by making monsters only appear when the whole world froze over so as long as not everything was frozen you knew you were safe. on the other hand if they wouldn't have done that i think the game would've been pants shitting. Even though you knew nothing was going to attack you the great level and story design would always make you feel helpless uneasy and a visitor in a strange world even though as long as everything remained unfrozen it looked like reality
