Wasn't sure what to name this topic. My favorite video game genre is horror. Not necessarily survival horror, just horror. Games that will scare the shit out of me and keep me awake for 3 nights in a row. Admittedly, I have never played such a game.When I think of survival horror, I think of games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Fatal Frame. I personally do not like these games because I don't like how they are presented, with the fixed camera angles. Fixed camera angles bug me to the extreme. And I don't see those as horror. I see those as suspense, because they give you a little jump or thrill every once in a while. The environments aren't truly 3D and lose some effect. Now, with that said, I have always wanted to create a game that would tap into the subconscience of a person and actually scare them, disturb them, make them be afraid to turn their back to anything but a solid concrete wall. To make a game like this, I believe it would need to be a true 3D world, can freely move to firts person perspective or third person perspective during gameplay. Be able to rotate the camera while moving. Situations that would be needed would be situations that could possibly happen in real life (not ghosts or zombies), something that can truly happen and just may happen. Something that can happen to them. Of course there would need to be the occasional graveyards and abandoned towns, etc. I think what really gets to a person is music and sounds. While visuals are great, and it sets the atmosphere, I think what really taps into a persons subconscience is music and sounds. Because they register without a thought. Maybe this is a bad example, but how many times have you caught yourself singing and didn't even realize you were doing it? Or someone pointed it out to you? I don't have any particular story idea, nor am I currently looking for one. I am curious as to what all of you think can really get to a person, make them unsettled. I think with technology advancing, there will be ways to produce effects better that will stimulate the subconscience and unsettle the person. This has been done in movies, and I'm sure it can be done in games. What could possibly be put into a game to create this effect on a person...? [edited by - DigitalChaos on January 29, 2004 7:24:26 AM]

First of all, to get a scare from a game,tou must be able to identify with the situation at hand. You must think of the Main character as a person.

I also think that the player must have something to lose by dying, he must feel that there is some value to keep the characters alive.

I agree that sound is a powerful tool, but using different planting techniques is needed as complement, eg You plant a seed in the viewers mind that the next situation will be hazardous and when the situation occurs, the player will consider the collection of sprites on the screen as something dangerous.

The main issue in making a scary game would be setting up the story right, making you belive in it, and making you care about it.

first of all, play one of them BEFORE (try silent hill, don''t play resident)
if you are jap fluent, the siren of sony game is THE game, not like mere game i mention above, but the localisation promise to be horrible.......(the density of the making would be VERY hard to translate)

google for siren on PS2

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be evil
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quote: Original post by DigitalChaos
To make a game like this, I believe it would need to be a true 3D world, can freely move to firts person perspective or third person perspective during gameplay. Be able to rotate the camera while moving.

3rd person perspective detaches you from the character, reducing empathy and in turn fear, I would have thought. The only games that ever scared me are 1st person ones. Part of that is perhaps the ''closer things look bigger'' phenomenon, and another part is that your field of vision is restricted.

quote: I think what really taps into a persons subconscience is music and sounds. Because they register without a thought.

The old game ''Realms of the Haunting'' has a large dynamic range of sounds. Music and ''normal'' sounds are quiet compared to many games. So when you hear an unusual sound, it''s Loud compared to everything else; it stands out, and often makes you jump. It''s just a little touch, but it works.

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Sound definately plays a gigantic and integral role in eliciting an emotion from a player (especially fear or suspense). However, I''m occassionaly bothered (disappointed?) in games where the sound presented is fake ... meaning that it''s unattached to any real cause or source within the game world.

Of course, these are just triggers occuring. You step into a predefined zone, and a WAV file plays of ominous footsteps or another sound. The first time may catch you off guard ... but after a while (and especially after a replay of the save level), you catch on that it''s just a special effect, so to speak. That there''s no substance to it.

I''d so much rather these footsteps not come from thin air ... but actually be attached to the fearful character you''re dealing with. So that if you hear stomping on the floor above you, you know the enemy is on the next floor up. And if you hear a wretched scream coming from the basement ... you had better be able to go down there, and find the butchered person responsible for the wail.

Also, randomness of the AI is very important too. If after you play the first time though, and you know that the killer is waiting behind the bathroom door, and that he''ll always be waiting behind the door, then where''s the thrill? A variety of path trails, hiding spots, and ambush points for which the AI to choose from is nearly essential. No matter how many times a person has played the game ... never let them know where to expect the terror. Or else it loses that quality.

Finally... a heavily scripted game will ruin the experience after the first time. Aliens vs. Predator 2 is heavily scripted in parts. It''s filled with scary sounds, and bursting pipes, people dieing just moments before you reach them, and glimpses of the monsters as you follow behind them. The first time through, it''s very cinematic. Then second time, it''s very fake. As all hell breaks loose around you...and people next to you die by getting pulled through cracks in doors ... you can just continue on your merry way, because you know everything is safe, and prestaged. And you know at what point to actually expect danger.

Anyway..I''ve actually "broken" their scripts. The devs expect you to hesitate in fear during your first glimpses of the monsters, while they disappear around a corner. But if you continue on because you know it''s safe ... you can actually catch up with their "puppet monsters". And sometimes they won''t disappear if you''re with them. You also discover that they can''t be killed ... which kinda ruins any sense of reality.

My advise ... in summation ... when stuff happens, make it real. Cause and effect within the game world. If you see a man walk around a corner, and all of a sudden a knife flies from behind him into the back of his head, then I expect that THE killer just did it (not a puppet copy of the real one you''ll encounter later), and that he''s in that hallway the man just came from. Maybe the killer will run away. Maybe he''ll wait till you peek your head around the corner to fling another knife. But never let the player know.

My 2 cents. Thank you kindly

I agree with Kylotan. I''d say that the game that came closest to scaring me was System Shock 2, played with the lights off and the sound up.

I also agree with Veovis. Scripting is fine, just randomize the scripts so things don''t always happen.

quote: Situations that would be needed would be situations that could possibly happen in real life (not ghosts or zombies), something that can truly happen and just may happen.

I disagree. Including phenomenons such as ghosts in a story may just as well raise the feeling of horror and suspense instead of lowering it. We don''t know if ghosts exist, and if so, what they''re like. We associate a great many of otherwise unexplainable incidents with them, though, so here''s something we relate to and are afraid of even in real life. A game could make use of that, movies already do. (''The Sixth Sense'', for instance)

- Christoph

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quote: Original post by Captain Nuss
so here''s something we relate to and are afraid of even in real life. A game could make use of that, movies already do. (''The Sixth Sense'', for instance)

Killer fhosts are really scary when done right, I mean how can you harm them?

People are afraid of the unseen. The less secure they are in their player''s safety, the more nervous they are. This negative adrenalin can be molded into any sort of emotion you want it to be.

The condition of the human mind is a fragile thing, and it really is a crime the extent of which we(people who present media) can manipulate it toward our own ends...

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Have you ever played Undying? That''s a game which does scare the hell out of me if I play it in the middle of the night, with a nice bit of sound on. It is a first person game like you describe, and I never think a game has scared me so much. Much more like some bad "horror" movie like Scream or Blair Witch Project. Undying effectively plays with different kinds of fears: Fear of death, disguist, claustrophobia etc, to an extent which really truely make for the genre horror.

A typical situation in the game I remember was when I was investigating the catacombs outside a ruined church. I jumped down through the floor to another level, and I found myself in a new tunnel with very tiny radius and mediocre lighting. On the floor there were lots of bones. I started to move, but suddenly the lights went out. It was silent for a few seconds, until I started to hear sounds very familiar to me by now. That was the sound of dead bodies that rushed toward me. I had to start running through the dark, desperate to find a way out.

That is scary, I tell you.