Look at what they do in movies. Sound, music, camera technique.

Wes Craven : people are scared when they think that the monster is smarter than them.
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Half-Life is not a good example of a game where there is a good way to win as you have to keep reloading and trying different orders of weapon use etc., Thief is a good example as it has a fairly surefire sneaking tactic.

Freakiest moment in a game? In Doom, I was in the twisty turny tunnels on lvl.2 and I thought that I saw something Jump. Knowing that the enemies in Wolfenstein could track you down very easily, I was paranoid that it would come to get me by jumping.

I thought that this monster was "smarter" (Wes Craven) than me, because it seemed to be keeping its distance to get behind me.

(This shares many similarities with the Pacman example).

running through someplace that I have been through before, knowing that it is clear, and running right into the enemy. Totally unexpected. And when you run into them, you lose your weapon, so you scramble to get it back, turn around, and fire (ala Dino Crisis).
Metal Gear Solid scared me this way too. I would be down in the armery with those full body armor guards, and I''ve forgotten that I have the Nikita or the Sniper rifle or the C4 equipped, and then run right into the guy. I try to pull out my weapon, but it''s not something I can use. OH SHIT! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH A CHAFF GRENADE AGAINST THIS GUY!? So, I would have to punch the guy out, run, toss a stun grenade, get my FAMAS, then kick major ass. This was enhanced by the fact that the guys kindof yelled when they saw you.
Syphon Filter didn''t scare me at all. I don''t think there was a lot of chance for it to.
Tenchu has done this also, running around, having an idea where the guy is, then running right into him unexpectedly. With my weapon put away.
You need to spring things on people when they least expect it. sure, gradually build up with the music to a scary part is good, but there is another way. Totally change the mood of the game 180 degrees from what it was at the moment. Like the characters could be joking around, then all of a sudden you''re getting shot at. This goes quite against the buildup idea. The idea is to lure the player into a false sense of security. Another example, you''re in a sniper perch in some building, when all of a sudden you''re getting shot at from behind, the enemy has found where you are. The first few bullets shouldn''t hit the player, but they should come real close. Then, the player is caught with the sniper rifle in hand, not a good weapon to be fending off a bunch of baddies with.
Another way, build up anticipation of something bad, then when they get there, there''s nothing wrong. The player keeps looking for something bad, but there''s nothing there. Finally convinced everything is A-okay, they go on without concern. THEN you spring the bad stuff on them.

shut up
CAN I GET A WOO WOO!

The easiest way to scare the player is have the game crash half way through and the only fix be a 75mb dl. To scare him even more, make the saved games incompatible with the new version.

Whirl: LoL


""" "'Nazrix is cool' -- Nazrix" --Darkmage --Godfree"-Nazrix" -- runemaster --and now dwarfsoft" -- dwarfsoft

quote: Original post by runemaster
Scarary ?

I's know i's not got good spelings and grammering. Me a gooder example. Tankyou. Umm, tis scary?

"So you're the one that designed that game are you?"
*Gulp* "Umm, yeah"


Edited by - Paul Cunningham on October 9, 2000 1:47:08 AM

The first game to really scare me to the point I jumped out of my seat was Rise of the Triad. Everytime you killed someone in this game they''d leave a corpse. Well, scattered about were some enemies hiding as corpses. The moment you''d get close to the they''d pop right up in your face and fire. The first time I saw one of these.. whew.. The problem with scares like this is once they''re expected, they''re boring. Only scared me once.

eris

Unexpected things are very scary, but only the first time.

For setting a scary, or eerie mood, I''d point out Resident Evil: Code Veronica, (along with many other horror flicks/games), here you have dolls/child-like images, juxtaposed with horrific, and/or violent images.

Minor Spoiler:
All the dolls in the mansion, and that absolutely disturbing movie of the kids pulling the wings off the dragon-fly and offering it to the ants, yikes!
End Spoiler

Also the Clown from Stephen King''s "It." There''s something very spooky about mixing the innocence of childhood with some type of hideous evil.

This are the things that nightmares are made of.

To scare a player, the visual effects can only play some of the role. Yeah it''s great to have a large drooling monster to run from however with the right sound fx and music (just like movies)it can scare the ever lovin'' crap out of a player
Excellant example - RESIDENT EVIL - good graphics, average playability, but the sounds and music really made the game. Footstep sounds going up creaking stairs, the click-click of a monsters claws before he pounces, the music which makes the gamer feel dread and apprehension. Outstanding!!
If you are looking for good sounds and music go to inoiz.com and check their stuff out, it can truly make a game!!