Doom 3 definately deserves a mention here... well, one aspect of it at least. One of the things I admired about the game is you can always HEAR THEM COMING. This was an amazingly useful tool, and got to the point where I could generally identify what kind of monster was going to run at me next before it even rounded the corner, and select my weapon appropriately.

And then I got to the Hell level, and everything changed. You see, in Hell, it ALWAYS sounds like there's something coming for you, even when there isn't at the moment...

I found that rather... well, stressful. It certainly created a feeling of suspense. And when you add to that the already-mentioned tactics of no flashlight and very scarce ammo...

Good thinking, IceFox. Sound is good. So how about a lot of false alarms? Make it a very big deal indeed to actually meet an enemy, and then have a system whereby you can ALMOST meet one six or seven times for each real meeting.

If you get complacent, and don't react properly to the sounds or other warnings, then that one time you'll get hosed. If you're cautious, you'll spend a lot of time diving under tables or into closets, waiting breathlessly and listening to your own heartbeat for a few tense seconds, then carefully peeking out, emerging and continuing on your way.

You might hide from an enemy while slowly baiting it toward an area where you can kill it, using audio cues to keep tabs on the thing. You make some noise, then sprint into the next room and listen to it tearing up the place you just left, then you sneak a few more rooms over, break something, and then hide. It shows up and starts sniffing around, you throw a vase at it and run like Hell for the trap you set up at the end of the hall, hoping that you can stay far enough ahead to trigger it at the right time. Think Alien 3.

I was also thinking of a heart beating sound effect, wouldn't have much effect on the game, but lots on the player. Like when approaching a boss, or a new area, or where there are a lot of sounds, the heart pounding sound would be frantic.

Audio plays a great role in horror atmosphere *and* in stealth atmosphere, so when you combine them, you get the role squared :) Ambient music isn't really necessary IMHO, silence makes a better 'dead' atmosphere, and add some background sounds like water dripping, heartbeat and screeping/scratching somewhere and you get the sound that makes adrenaline rush to your heart.

Also, on the weapons: if it's a stealth, you must go without them. What i mean is that the player shouldn't have a choice to shoot at the enemies. He must feel his weakness. Make the player a weak character (a kid, a scared scientist, some injured experiment survivor to *feel* the weakness. Add it to your cutscenes, to the menu, everywhere!

You're weak, so you must sneak - kinda rhyme :)

Weapons can be a reward for the player or a break from the stealth and horror. Like, at some point give the player a firethrower or grenade launcher or minigun and he'll be happy as a kid with a birthday present. Take it away to make him *feel his weakness* again.

x(

I agree with what Sheeva says about weapons; if you don't want your player to use combat all the time, don't give them any combat ability! :) This should also force you to come up with different gameplay/design ideas.

I think that weapons aren't always a magic wand to make you win fights. Sure, you have a shotgun, but if you give one zombie a load of buckshot, then I hope you brought enough buckshot for everybody, because you'll be the center of attention.

Inadequate ammo, a flammable atmosphere, or resilient enemies make guns impractical.

Back to the idea of weakness, would it be bad to have your character be a little clumsy sometimes? Tommy Vercetti trips over curbs sometimes in GTA: Vice City, and in the first level of Max Payne, I kept bumping into things and knocking them over. Stealth games like Second Sight use this as well, and bumping into a meal tray in a hospital can alert nearby guards. Would it hurt immersion for your character to miss a step now and again?

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Original post by Iron Chef Carnage I think that weapons aren't always a magic wand to make you win fights. Sure, you have a shotgun, but if you give one zombie a load of buckshot, then I hope you brought enough buckshot for everybody, because you'll be the center of attention. Inadequate ammo, a flammable atmosphere, or resilient enemies make guns impractical. Back to the idea of weakness, would it be bad to have your character be a little clumsy sometimes? Tommy Vercetti trips over curbs sometimes in GTA: Vice City, and in the first level of Max Payne, I kept bumping into things and knocking them over. Stealth games like Second Sight use this as well, and bumping into a meal tray in a hospital can alert nearby guards. Would it hurt immersion for your character to miss a step now and again?

Yes! I love second sight. I need to grab that for my ps2... But noise would play a huge part. knocking something over, or firing a weapon would cause attention. But because this is 2d, making it fairly difficult for precise control, it would be about the same quality of noise inducing collisions as metal gear solid. You run over something, and you will make a running noise. You walk over broken glass, it will make a slight crunching sound. Bang your crowbar against a wall, and you will grab the attention of every zombie in the room.

A question for clarification: You say this will be 2d. Does that mean a 2d side-scolling game like Blackthorne or Clock Tower, or a 2d isometric game like Diablo, or something else?

If you're going isometric, I recommend a "line-of-sight" system to keep players from "cheating" by looking over walls. If your game will be side-scrolling, make sure the view doesn't show what's behind closed doors.

I've always been interested in a sort of "vidual audio" system for an isometric game. If you've played XIII, you know about the system where enemy footsteps around a corner are actually visible as the word "TAP" popping up on-screen. It fits with the comic book feel of the game.

Could a system like that be employed in your game to offer a more useful set of audible cues? Even with a good surround sound system, it's tough to pinpoint the source of a noise as well as you can in real life.

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Original post by Iron Chef Carnage A question for clarification: You say this will be 2d. Does that mean a 2d side-scolling game like Blackthorne or Clock Tower, or a 2d isometric game like Diablo, or something else? If you're going isometric, I recommend a "line-of-sight" system to keep players from "cheating" by looking over walls. If your game will be side-scrolling, make sure the view doesn't show what's behind closed doors. I've always been interested in a sort of "vidual audio" system for an isometric game. If you've played XIII, you know about the system where enemy footsteps around a corner are actually visible as the word "TAP" popping up on-screen. It fits with the comic book feel of the game. Could a system like that be employed in your game to offer a more useful set of audible cues? Even with a good surround sound system, it's tough to pinpoint the source of a noise as well as you can in real life.

The viewpoint is going to be about the same perspective that of the classic metalgear games i guess, instead of being strictly overhead or side scrolling. Or perhaps, more along the lines of a zelda perspective.

As for visual cues, I have no clue yet. There has to be some, I am definetly not planning on using stereo sound for a 2d game. Perhaps like comic book baloons or a radar or something. who knows.

I made a 2D horror game a while ago. Not very much stealth, still might give you some ideas I hope :)

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