How to make playing games scarrier?
- Thread starter sirdanrhodes
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What I would like to see is something a little more like Call of Cthulhu(sp) or Eternal Darkness where they not only try to screw with your head but rather try to disturb the player rather than startle them. (Which seems to be the tactic I see most commonly employed but it's very effective, it's made me jump a few times in American McGee's Alice and Undying, which I doubt people think are really scary games)
what I'm thinking of is...think of what made Dumbo so disturbing. Remember what I'm talking about? Pink Elephants on Parade? Exactly. Imagine sequences like that where the things that make your character scared are so fantastical and over-the-hill they can't possibly be real and at the same time you wonder what the heck was going through the developer's minds, or even the characters' minds since they're seeing this. And of course the twist at the end (okay not really at the end) is that they were imagining the stuff like Pink Elephants on Parade, or being forced to, so they were their worst fears throughout the course of the adventure.
It basically would play like a 3D version of "Point and Click" adventure games with emphasis on exploration and puzzles rather than poorly executed combat. The only way to defeat the enemies you don't run from is to simply outsmart them or outrun them, like in Clock Tower where you had to hide from Scissorman or get him off your heels by making him jump on a broken platform. Of course this is all inside your imagination...so what exactly did you hit?
I also would of course use the startle tactic...but I wanted to do something different. Instead of say, the Bathtub scene in Eternal Darkness, more like play a scary noise and then show a field of flowers, or other various psych-outs like where oyu hear something scratching on the floor behind you or somebody walking, or hear a car coming towards you from behind the camera and when you turn around there's nothing.
what I'm thinking of is...think of what made Dumbo so disturbing. Remember what I'm talking about? Pink Elephants on Parade? Exactly. Imagine sequences like that where the things that make your character scared are so fantastical and over-the-hill they can't possibly be real and at the same time you wonder what the heck was going through the developer's minds, or even the characters' minds since they're seeing this. And of course the twist at the end (okay not really at the end) is that they were imagining the stuff like Pink Elephants on Parade, or being forced to, so they were their worst fears throughout the course of the adventure.
It basically would play like a 3D version of "Point and Click" adventure games with emphasis on exploration and puzzles rather than poorly executed combat. The only way to defeat the enemies you don't run from is to simply outsmart them or outrun them, like in Clock Tower where you had to hide from Scissorman or get him off your heels by making him jump on a broken platform. Of course this is all inside your imagination...so what exactly did you hit?
I also would of course use the startle tactic...but I wanted to do something different. Instead of say, the Bathtub scene in Eternal Darkness, more like play a scary noise and then show a field of flowers, or other various psych-outs like where oyu hear something scratching on the floor behind you or somebody walking, or hear a car coming towards you from behind the camera and when you turn around there's nothing.
As mentioned, Play Alone with really no one around PLUS if you really want to add paranoia to it, set yourself up so you can see into a dark space beyond the monitor/TV.
My monitor is in front of a window that mirrors quite well. Well after midnight i once managed to jump at my own reflection
My monitor is in front of a window that mirrors quite well. Well after midnight i once managed to jump at my own reflection
Scariest gaming experiance I ever had,
Doom 3, my little sister snuck into my room whilst playing (with the whole surround sound up lights off thing) and waited until something jumped out on me in game and jumped on me in real life.
I have never played it since. It was terrifying. I'm off to earn some man points back now.
Doom 3, my little sister snuck into my room whilst playing (with the whole surround sound up lights off thing) and waited until something jumped out on me in game and jumped on me in real life.
I have never played it since. It was terrifying. I'm off to earn some man points back now.
I meant existing games, how do we make THOSE alot more frightening.Unknower post=9.73508.801400 said:
If I may burrow a page from OMM, have the game randomly destroy your monitor. That'll terrify any self-respecting PC gamer.
Game devs should make the player feel more vulnerable. stuff like letting you build up your arsenal, and then strip it away later in the game. Make ammo and supplies less frequent. make intimidating enemies. I remember the first Big Daddy fight in Bioshock was absolutely nerve-wrecking for me. I remember the guy in the radio going "Yeah, your ready to take out one of the big daddies now" and I'm like "wtf! are you kidding me, he's going to tear me a new one in 5 seconds". I was piss-scared of the thing, and the first time it charged me, I completely gave up any thought of fighting back, and just ran away.
Just a shame they fucked it up by making it so easy to kill them later
Just a shame they fucked it up by making it so easy to kill them later
One of the scariest experiences I had was with an experimental indie game I can't remember the name of. It threatened to reformat my hard-drive if I tried to quit the game or failed. This made the Wire-maze style of the game even more nerve racking, especially as it featured scary in your face moments and increased tension whenever the chaser appeared.
Another idea is this: Binaural Audio - sound recorded with 2 microphones acting as ears. Sound recorded is translated in the player's brain to that lateral position to them. Hard to explain. Go to youtube and look up 'Virtual barbershop' and wear earphones. Then you'll understand.
Another idea is this: Binaural Audio - sound recorded with 2 microphones acting as ears. Sound recorded is translated in the player's brain to that lateral position to them. Hard to explain. Go to youtube and look up 'Virtual barbershop' and wear earphones. Then you'll understand.