Poll: Alien noises in games

[MrJKapowey]

I was playing Hangar 18 recently and I noticed something in one at least two of the rooms.

In the 'Apple Chamber' and the weird room with the red tinted light and some kind of contraption on a cart facing down a tunnel, you can hear a strange alien noise. The noise (described on the wiki as 'what sounds like aliens speaking') is pretty similar to the Recon Craft Theta Beacon from Fallout 3.

I find it impossible to listen to either noise for longer than one or two seconds because it creeps me out to an almost inexplicable degree. I can happily listen to Zombie noises and (whilst unsettling at first) I'd grin if I heard pattering footsteps and a Ghoul's scream from the darkness as I often carry such excessive weaponry they don't get close enough to twat me round the head. Despite this apathy to those kinds of supernatural creatures' SFX (Ghouls being zombies in all but name) I still cannot listen to the 'alien noise', and I can't explain why it sounds so freaky to me.

Does anyone else feel the same way on the aforementioned noises? And for added discussion value, is there anything else in a game that scares you or freaks/creeps you out to a much greater degree than is logical?

 

[FalloutJack]

Look, it's part of the game, man. You have full volume control if it's that much of a problem, right?

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

The noise poison headcrabs make in HL2 scares the shit out of me.

On a not-really-related note,

Interesting fact: I made this entire post, including this part, using only one hand.

 

[andreas3K]

Nope.
One sound I find creepy is the sound of someone else moving around in the same building as I am. Footsteps coming from upstairs for example.

 

[lacktheknack]

Alien noises don't bother me too much... personally, the noise that freaked me out beyond all sense was the FREAKING CYCLOPS in Rayman 2.

<youtube=UsJ2XjqwSDY>

0:37-1:00 is relevant, but keep watching if you want to see the bonus content of "most freaking disturbing level to ever haunt my nightmares as a kid".

 

[DustyDrB]

The paranoid ramblings of people (just around the corner, waiting to jump out at me and make me scream) is part of what made the game unplayable for me. It was just too unsettling.

I hate Ghoul sounds in New Vegas too. And I hate the way they look...

 

[Goatmeat]

Some aliens freak me out. When something genuinely sounds alien, and you can't work out how the sound designer created the noises (as in, it's not obviously some dude making up words then speeding it up and reversing it or something), it freaks me out. The sound of headcrabs freak me out because I hate the fuckers, and going into a darkened area and hearing them before you can see them is genuinely unsettling. And I think the most unsettling sound effect I've ever heard is the screams of headcrab zombies when they're set on fire.

Ghouls being zombies in all but name

Oh no he di'in't.

 

[LordRoyal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_noise_level

Op needs to read this

Most alien noises are inspired by the noises in the film Alien, which I believe was one of the things reviewers of the time cited as heightening the tension. With zombies it's just growls. It is almost a relief since you know there's a brainless former human within sight. It's almost like hearing a character shout out as it does very little psychologically.

But with alien noises you don't necessarily know what is giving off that noise, or where it is, or how many of it's fellow aliens are around it. It's more like hearing a random breathing sound or chain clinking in the background. It allows your imagination to go off in several different directions.

It's a part of showing and not telling, I believe Yahtzee explained it in his Amnesia review that the best kind of horror is the one where your imagination does all the work. Ambiance is subtle, and therefore your imagination plays off it.

 

[MrJKapowey]

Look, it's part of the game, man. You have full volume control if it's that much of a problem, right?

I've noticed you posts have become more confrontational recently. As it is, this isn't me going 'Waa mummy, the nasty game sound man scareded me!'; I wanted to use this thread to see if anyone else experienced anything else in games, or had similar feelings on the noise style I mentioned in the original post.

I barely notice the noise during normal gameplay. I first noticed it during a quick lone play through to check out the map before I went online. The only reason I noticed it in this match (actually the second played on that map - no one ever votes for it) was because the ebb and flow of combat as I spawned in the room caused only one gun to be firing at that time.

Ghouls being zombies in all but name

Oh no he di'in't.

What? I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. If you're refuting that then it's quite hard:

- Ghouls (Feral) are mindless creatures who will attack you as soon as they discover you.
- They will ONLY attack you and it is impossible to make them not attack you (forget the mask for the moment).
- They presumably eat human flesh.
- Their body has begun to decay.
- They have no intelligence (putting on a mask will make them think you are one of them).
- They have a distinctive noise which increases in volume and pitch (slightly) when they discover a human.
- They live underground and shy from the light.
- They are humans whose form has been turned into this when the vast majority of poeple would've died from those events (a shit-ton of rads).

EDIT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_noise_level

Op needs to read this
...
It's a part of showing and not telling, I believe Yahtzee explained it in his Amnesia review that the best kind of horror is the one where your imagination does all the work. Ambiance is subtle, and therefore your imagination plays off it.

Yeah, I agree with you on the imagination front, for an English GCSE speaking we had to give a speech on something we enjoyed. I did reading and one of my points as to why it is still relevant was the imagination. You'd be surprised by the number of people who disbelieved me.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what you're trying to say with the article.

 

[FalloutJack]

-Loyhargil-

You are mistaken, sir. I don't have a pattern. I always have the capacity to be confrontational or not so. It comes and it goes, and it's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[MrJKapowey]

-Loyhargil-

You are mistaken, sir. I don't have a pattern. I always have the capacity to be confrontational or not so. It comes and it goes, and it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Even so, you must admit that in this situation it is a bad thing. Even though your post is first responding, every other user has responded in the way that is meant by the last questions in the OP and not in the way you did.

 

[FalloutJack]

The post demonstrates that it's no big thing, which was how I think of it. I legitimately feel that if it's part of the game, it shouldn't be a problem. And if it is, then the developers do - on many occasions - allow you to filter out aspects of the game's audio while keeping the rest. To me, it seems the situation is easily rectified. It is not a bad thing for me to say as such, because unexpected answers are generally useful. You weren't expecting it, so now you have to give it some thought.

Now, I'm going to hold up the irony card about now, given the nature of this conversation.

 

[Nouw]

Hangar 18. Man I love that place, only for the song by Megadeth. *Points to avatar.

Also, could I give this sound a listen?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Interesting fact: I made this entire post, including this part, using only one hand.

What were you doing with the other hand I wonder, huh?

/sexy insinuations

 

[LordRoyal]

Ghouls being zombies in all but name

Oh no he di'in't.

What? I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. If you're refuting that then it's quite hard:

- Ghouls (Feral) are mindless creatures who will attack you as soon as they discover you.
- They will ONLY attack you and it is impossible to make them not attack you (forget the mask for the moment).
- They presumably eat human flesh.
- Their body has begun to decay.
- They have no intelligence (putting on a mask will make them think you are one of them).
- They have a distinctive noise which increases in volume and pitch (slightly) when they discover a human.
- They live underground and shy from the light.
- They are humans whose form has been turned into this when the vast majority of poeple would've died from those events (a shit-ton of rads).

I have to say that Fallout 3-esque Feral Ghouls are yes. I recall in the original game the only time I ever got attacked by ghouls without me doing something about it (like stealing from them in the Necropolis or telling them I wanted their water chip) was during a random encounter. Fallout 3 dumbed down (among many, many other things) a lot of the concepts related to ghouls. (I can't even remember if the original Fallout or the 2nd game ever used the term "Feral Ghouls").

It was really all Bethesda's attempt at simplifying things. Namely Super Mutants are just big dumb Frankenstein monsters, Raiders are guys that wear leather and have colorful hairstyles, Ghouls are zombies, etc. In the original games, a lot of Super Mutants were intelligent, you could reason and negotiate with Raiders and even join a group of slavers in the second game.

With New Vegas one thing I breathed easy about was how there was a general lack of ghoul presence altogether. Besides the New Vegas sewers and the quest Come Fly With Me you almost never saw any Feral Ghouls.

 

[MrJKapowey]

Hangar 18. Man I love that place, only for the song by Megadeth. *Points to avatar.

Also, could I give this sound a listen?

What do you mean? If you want to listen to it then it's similar to this:


Even so, if you want to know what it sounds like then go onto the map and head to the apple room or the red tinted room near to autopsy.

It was really all Bethesda's attempt at simplifying things. Namely Super Mutants are just big dumb Frankenstein monsters, Raiders are guys that wear leather and have colorful hairstyles, Ghouls are zombies, etc. In the original games, a lot of Super Mutants were intelligent, you could reason and negotiate with Raiders and even join a group of slavers in the second game.

With New Vegas one thing I breathed easy about was how there was a general lack of ghoul presence altogether. Besides the New Vegas sewers and the quest Come Fly With Me you almost never saw any Feral Ghouls.

Most of that all comes back in New Vegas though you can join some slavers in Fallout 3. I actually preferred Fo3 to NV though.

 

[Nouw]

Hangar 18. Man I love that place, only for the song by Megadeth. *Points to avatar.

Also, could I give this sound a listen?

What do you mean? If you want to listen to it then it's similar to this:


Even so, if you want to know what it sounds like then go onto the map and head to the apple room or the red tinted room near to autopsy.

I don't have Black Ops you see. Also, if you want to understand my first sentence, view this video.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Most of that all comes back in New Vegas though you can join some slavers in Fallout 3. I actually preferred Fo3 to NV though.

New Vegas had many intelligent Super Mutants not to mention Obsidian brought back Nightkin. In F3 the only intelligent super mutants were Fawkes whose intelligence isn't even explained very well and Uncle Leo who has no story a all and serves almost no purpose beyond being a refernce to Shivering Isles (or Seinfeld).

Raiders in NV actually have storylines behind them and the Great Khans have fleshed out characters and quests. In Fallout 3 almost all of the raiders were there was no explanation as to how they came about and what they're even doing. The only raider group with some kind of story were the Pitt raiders.

Fallout: New Vegas had much less feral ghouls, most of them only being located in areas of exreme radiation and were nowere near as abundant as F3.

F:NV had Caesars Legion, who were slavers plus many other things and you could join them. Also you could join the Slavers in Fallout 2.

 

[MrJKapowey]

Most of that all comes back in New Vegas though you can join some slavers in Fallout 3. I actually preferred Fo3 to NV though.

1)New Vegas had many intelligent Super Mutants not to mention Obsidian brought back Nightkin. In F3 the only intelligent super mutants were Fawkes whose intelligence isn't even explained very well and Uncle Leo who has no story a all and serves almost no purpose beyond being a refernce to Shivering Isles (or Seinfeld).

2)Raiders in NV actually have storylines behind them and the Great Khans have fleshed out characters and quests. In Fallout 3 almost all of the raiders were there was no explanation as to how they came about and what they're even doing. The only raider group with some kind of story were the Pitt raiders.

3)Fallout: New Vegas had much less feral ghouls, most of them only being located in areas of exreme radiation and were nowere near as abundant as F3.

4)F:NV had Caesars Legion, who were slavers plus many other things and you could join them. Also you could join the Slavers in Fallout 2.

Though, when you consider the differences in situation when comparing the two locations (New Vegas and the Capital Wasteland), most of those do make sense:

1) The capital wasteland Super Mutants are created in a different manner to the Western ones, I guess similarily to the 'Dumb-Dumbs' in the West. This explains why there were no intelligent ones.

2) I don't know, they represent the barbaric nature of humans or something...

3) LV wasn't hit by the bombs thanks to a special relationship with some Chinese top brass. The Capital Wasteland, though, was the nations capital - home to the PotUS and therefore one of the highest priority targets. The increase in bombs dropped on DC is therefore linked to the increase in Feral Ghouls due to the increase in lethal radiation.

4) You could (technically) join Paradise Falls and (certainly) join The Pitt in Fo3.

 

[ChupathingyX]

3) LV wasn't hit by the bombs thanks to a special relationship with some Chinese top brass. The Capital Wasteland, though, was the nations capital - home to the PotUS and therefore one of the highest priority targets. The increase in bombs dropped on DC is therefore linked to the increase in Feral Ghouls due to the increase in lethal radiation.

Vegas was saved because Mr House used his technological skilsla nd equipment to destroy and divert the many bombs heading straight for Vegas and the Mojave.

4) You could (technically) join Paradise Falls and (certainly) join The Pitt in Fo3.

I wasn't saying you were wrong, just that NV features joinable slavers and so does F2, Fallout 3 was not the only FO game with joinable slavers.