quote: Original post by beantas
If a movie can do that, I think there is the potential for a game to do it.

I Agree with that. Though when you go to the cinema, you''ll be sitting in the dark watching a 8 mtr. screen with 50dB surround sound. That will intensify the experience dramatically (at home those movies never seem that horrifying). A giant monster inside your 15" monitor just isn''t that scary. Your senses tell you you can throw the damn thing out of the window if monsters should pop out of it.

I think with the use of VR equipment, it will be a lot easier as you can really get your player lost in whatever situation, and control all of his senses. Some years ago we did some experiments with VR helmets and just being sealed inside the 3D environment with *real* 3D vision was kind of scary on itself. The point is, the experience of the player has to be realistic and convincing to have him feel uncomfortable or even scared.
So VR definitely has a future if you ask me.

heeh.. fear IS different than anticipation, you know.

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Ok fuzztrek, lets say your making a game where you have to Travel down into the depths of hell and kill the head deamon of hell (yes i am talking about diablo) K got that? Now how can we make this game funner do you think, shood we A) Try to make the game have as happy joyfull atmosphere as we can so that the player doesnt have to experience the horribleness of being scared and avoid all excitement whatsoever or B) Try to make the game really scary and exciting and drawing the player way deeper into the game by making it scary, putting fear into them. Hmm option B sounds alot funner and exciting to me, ho bout you?

The poit is some games call for scaryness, if the game isnt scary then then its going to be a dissapointment. I like being scared, i like the adrenalin rush and all of that. It makes everything more edgy instead of just dull and boring. No, you do not want to make a games based on fear, you want to make a game with edge, it has to be exciting. Isnt excitement what players want in a game? Sure some games dont work to well with fear, you might need sadness or another emotion like that. But this is what this threads abouthow to put fear into the games that need fear.

When peple do extreme sports they are not doing it to test their limits, they are doing it for the rush of excitement in doing things like this, excitement. THis is what people look for in games, to be excited. And fear is a great way of doing this.

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There is no good or evil, only power

I didn''t really expect you guys to understand, but at least I tried. It''s not about making it happy and wonderful, but I mean you guys are REALLY limiting your imagination by sticking to fear. Fear is not the only way. Thats what I want to get across. There are lots of ways to make people excited, and if you think fear is the only way, then you are very very pathetic people (IMHO )

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Here how about i try to get my point across. Fear is not the only way, yes you are correct there are many other ways, a game based stricly on trying to scare the player would suck, yes correct again. We are limiting our ideas to fear, there is other ways. Wow, thaks tips. Of course there is other ways and yes they would be good to discuss, but instead of having a big post-fest on how to make your games exciting. Just make one topic on how to make fear in the gameplay of a game. This is an important thing to talk about because it could really add to a game. How can i get this across to you, WE KNOW THAT FEAR IS NOT THE ONLY WAY!!! A game is made up of many aspects that will make you excited, in some games fear is one of them. OK, i understand that you might not like scary games or movies or whatever, but even at that i bet if you are making a game one day there will be a point where you want to make somthing intense, maybe a boss battle or somthing, well guess what. That is what this topic is for.

We are not trying to limit our games to fear the only way of exciting people, but we are limiting this topic so that it can stay on track and provide good ideas for those who want them. The bottom line is fear is a good way to intensify a game, weather if its for one little part or For half the game. And if you can do it well then your game will be just that much better, even if it is only for just a little bit of it.

We are not trying to hit 10 birds with one stone. Instead we are trying to hit one with a dead accurate shot and provide it with a nice quick pailess death so that we can feast on its flesh. Or as the saying goes hit the nail on the button. Or take things one step at a time. Or try to focus on one aspect of somthing untill you can do it well. I hope you come to realize this soon.

Oh and heres my advice, start a new topic that works on some aspect of a game that you want to deal with. Like how to make gameplay more emotional or somthing, get some good ideas rollin around.

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There is no such thing as good or evil, only power

What I do not get is this fixation with death, killing and horror. It makes absolutly no sense what so ever to me. Why would someone want to focus on one of the most negative aspects of life? for entertainment?! Obviously no one is concerned with our society and the way it is headed. Nah.. I''m not here to preach to everyone about how much violence there is today.. or how games cause people to kill. I don''t think that. However, you have to admit that there is something wrong witht he fact that at age 18, the average person has seen 16 000 murders, on tv, in movies, in the media.

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Try to cast the player in a role of uncertainty. The player wakes up in a small room, no idea who they are, and no idea where they are. Tease the player with ideas and clues about their past, give incentive to press on.

I would have to say the sound, not music, makes a better atomosphere. Subtle footsteps echoing down the hall with absolutely no other sounds can really make a person paranoid (it does for me). Extreme changes in sounds can also really work well. For example, you hear a door creak and close some distance behind you, but then footsteps follow and you realize you''re being chased!

Suspense is another key. A game doesn''t have to have the scariest monster to make a player afraid. Take Silent Hill 2 for example, the Pyramid Head enemy after a certain interval in the game would appear randomly in rooms. No warning, no provocation; he was just there and you had to get your ass out of there! Try to use the element of sound in conjunction with this.

Another example of suspense that really hits home for me was from an old horror game for pc (cant remember the name of top of my head). I had just found a battery for my flashlight and when I put it in and aimed it down the hallway there was 2 red eyes glowing just out of reach. The odd thing was that they reacted to my movement but never came close to me. Then I decided to charge it and it turned out to be a cat.

I did NOT say anticipation...I said apprehension ...

You really don''t understand any of this do you?...nobody is saying that the only way to get people feeling excited is through fear...this thread is focused on fear, yes thats true...but no one has said all games must focus on fear, and or become "horror" games...please re-read the thread if you think otherwise...

Even when designing or developing a game that encompasses many emotional states...you are still going to have to address them..."how do re help make the player feel happy in this part of the game"..."how do we make them feel sad here"...at some point the designers/developers are going to have to sit down and work out how to best work out such issues...think of this thread as such a meeting at a development studio...a brainstorming session if you will...sure some of the ideas may be to much for your game...but you may find that some of your personel ideas may not push the fear far enough for players of your game...so you may find this post useful if you ever try to desgin a game that requires at least a tiny element of fear for a particular game situation.

It''s not pathetic or a indicator of insecurity that some people are more drawn to exploreing fear then others...or that they enjoy the feeling of fear at some level...actualy it''s more of a indicator of insecurity when someone is agressive in judgeing others perseptions because they arn''t modeled after thier own...but this is seriously diveing off-topic into psychology issues.

Point is...if you want to address some of the other specific emotions games can explore...then start another thread for discussion of such emotions

www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/kikia1.html (a short flash cartoon)

Now if only you could incorporate that kinda fear into your game

One of the scariest games I ever played was Capcom''s Sweet Home. It was on the NES (a translated rom, never released in America) so jump-out-at-you scenes were not necessarily an option.

But man was that game creepy. And, like people have said on this topic it is because of the story (very depressing, freakish stuff) and the music (the battle music gets scarier every time).

The closer you get to the end, the creepier it gets.

The main point of the story is the spirit of a woman who went crazy after incenerating her son in the house''s incenerator (wait until you get to that room) begins kidnapping and murdering other kids in the same fashion to give her son "playmates" in the afterlife.

I don''t know exactly how Capcom pulled it off on the NES, but I would put this game above any on the Playstation (2) on my freaky-s**t-o-meter.

By the way, has anyone here played it?


"There are only three types of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can''t."

Just3D
Justin Nordin
J Squared Productions
www.jsquaredproductions.com