Ideas for theoretical "Scariest Horror Game Ever"

[Oneirius]

So, as the bravest person in the universe, do you have any constructive advice as for what we really should do in order to scare someone as you?

 

[confessor]

I think there's a bit of a difference between 'oh it jumps up, how startled am I' and actual, genuine...I really do not want to turn this corner.
L4D/2 are more about frantic game play than actual horror, and other survival horror games just have you battling the occasional thingy that jumps out from somewhere only to die in two shots.
There would need to be a cross between sheer terror and you actually interacting with things as a player - not being able to at least beat something up makes it more of a marathon to the finish line.
The general laws like "don't go towards the demonic breathing sound" in games just translate to lets just go there because we'll only be scared for a millisecond.
True horror would be atmosphere, music, and just knowing that there's something coming up, and it's not going to be easy to face it.
Knowledge about what is out there would be the scariest, because you know you have to face it, but don't want too.

 

[Rewold]

The player should have as little firepower as possible. How scary is a monster if you have a missile launcher and a flamethrower in your backpack? In the game the monsters should be avoided at all circumstances because it would be very hard to defeat them. Also there should always be that feeling that you aren't alone. Nothing like hearing footsteps behind you every now and then.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

No need.

It's called Condemned. And you will shit bricks in the department store level...

 

[Oneirius]

May you please elaborate?

 

[Blue Musician]

Game design threads are done all the time, they are usually very bad, and they usually fail after two days and two pages. That never prevented anyone from opening them, so... Yeah, I guess I'll open another one for the lulz.

Here's the idea: we want to make the scariest game ever. I am not talking shock here, I am talking fear. Deep, pure, refined fear. Terrifying, horrifying, madness inducing high octane nightmare fuel the would turn players into catatonic husks/broken piles of shuddering flesh/scribbling obscene icons on the walls of their room gibbering. As usual with such projects, assume we have all the cutting edge technology, unlimited time & money etc.

What would you put in such a game? It doesn't have to be a whole idea for the game it self- it should not be and probably can't be. But give me some elements here. What kind of hero would we have? General themes of the environment? What will be the game style? What kind of music would play in the background? Themes for the storyline, perhaps?

What do you think would make for a really, really scary experience?

Are you trying to get ideas for making a horror game?
Well, I don't really want to give them, since probably someone might use them and steal all my credit...
Sure, it may not happen, but it may not not happen.
My idea I'm going to make it kinda short, it's originally more extensive, but alright.
It's kinda inspired by American McGee's Alice, in which the player explores the mind of the game protagonists, and at the start he finds his mind to be kinda stable yet however not long enough he turned insane and everything which was fine turned into chaos.
There is more to it, but I'm not going to say it all. After all, I don't think Activision and EA would like my idea.

EDIT: Alright, I will elaborate, but I'll do it later, as I have to go to School. I will elaborate when I come back.

 

[IrirshTerrorist]

-I think the scariest games are set in a contemporary realistic setting, i.e make it so that this could actually happen, therefore making it a more personal fear for the player.

-Don't have constant music in the background because then the player begins to sub-consciously tune out the music. Rather just have music come in at times when you want to heighten the fear some more, at particularly scary moments in our game of horror and fright.

-Don't do what so many games do nowadays and create a character that is a one man army/god (e.g every FPS since Halo), make the players character someone who will really have to fight even to just beat one basic enemy (like in Condemned2, well at the start anyway). Don't give the player lotsa weapons and ammo and health. Give them a range of melee weapons and some basic firearms but these will be few and far between.

-I would say being in the middle of a major metropolis a week after a Zombie Virus infected the population. You were hold up in your apartment but have now run out of food and have to venture outside. You don't know if there are any other survivors and you are vastly outnumbered by the living dead.

-I'd say sand box type game, you can go anywhere you want in the city but you can't leave it (maybe due to military quarantine or something), you have to eat and drink or your character will die. You can fight off one or two infected but any more than that and you become overwhelmed and are killed. You search for survivors and supplies through a desolate enemy filled city with little hope of survival.

 

[IrirshTerrorist]

How about a game where you play from the perspective of a man suffering from violent hallucinations and schizophrenia. The world slowly begins to morph and change into something that seems to comes from the darkest nightmares. And whatever actions you do, may or may not have an impact on the real world (ie, the demon that you thought was living inside your basement, that you killed with an axe, was actually your sister's dog whom you were looking after). As the game progresses, everything become more intense, more unreal and your character gradually begins to go insane.

That would truly work if there really was something wrong going on in the world. Say, a demon invasion is actually happening, and it's up to a schizophreniac to stop them, but you can never be entirely sure if what you're seeing is truly the enemy or just the product of your diseased mind.

To make the mindfuckery even more intense, each New Game would randomize certain elements, such as the demon in the basement that you mentioned might turn out to be an actual demon, the dog as you suggested, or even your sister.

Of course, there would be ways to distinguish the reality from delusion, but they would have to be subtle, such as small audio and visual clues, while at the same time not giving you much time to decide since if you're wrong you might end up dead or worse.

There would be a "Get out of jail card" solution in the form of antipsychotic pills that would be rare, but when taken would suppress the halucinations for a short period. Of course, they'd be the most valued items in the game.

Oh, I have an idea for how to make the game interesting without a demonic invasion! It's going to be like one of those psycho-thriller cop shows. Basically you are a guy who is known to be schizophrenic, and you supposedly murder a person close to you. Only you know you didn't(Did you?). You have some reason to be sure that you have been framed. Perhaps you are an ex cop, but you saw something that caused you to go insane. And an old friend of yours is involved. So it's a dark psychological investigation quest where you try to prove your innocence, with nightmarish hallucinations.
And... erm. A government conspiracy! Or something like that?

Guys this is starting to sound a lot like the plot to Condemned and various movies I've seen. Maybe move away from the whole "Ex-cop framed for murder" and more towards "crazy loner discovers terrible secret and must battle own mind to save humanity"

 

[acidk44]

How about a game where you play from the perspective of a man suffering from violent hallucinations and schizophrenia. The world slowly begins to morph and change into something that seems to comes from the darkest nightmares. And whatever actions you do, may or may not have an impact on the real world (ie, the demon that you thought was living inside your basement, that you killed with an axe, was actually your sister's dog whom you were looking after). As the game progresses, everything become more intense, more unreal and your character gradually begins to go insane.

Isn't this the premises on which silent hill is based on. What I mean is all the rumors and attempts to tell what is the real story of this game; And I came across something very similar to this....

 

[e2density]

You have to have a flashlight, and it must only reveal <5 inches of wallspace when pointed at a wall from 100 meters away.

 

[acidk44]

Perfectly normal human, once youve got a superpower, you're less vunerable, meaning that it isnt as scary.
Unless your given a crap superpower.

What would you define a "crap superpower"? Also what about "blessed with suck" type powers, that theoretically make you powerful but have terrible side effects? Like, the hero can phase into another layer of reality to move unseen and through walls, but when he does so he becomes prey to the Dread Things that live between dimensions? Or something like that?

I think he ment like the power to wistle and call all mosnters to your current position or to have a strong sense of smell which can kill you because the room ahead of you is fill with gas or something this kind of "crappy superpowers"

 

[Oneirius]

Guys this is starting to sound a lot like the plot to Condemned and various movies I've seen. Maybe move away from the whole "Ex-cop framed for murder" and more towards "crazy loner discovers terrible secret and must battle own mind to save humanity"

This is probably the third(?) time someone says we are doing Condemned, but none of these people cared to explain what Condemned is. What is this game about? What does it have?

 

[XMark]

I can't wait until the not-too-distant future when we have augmented reality goggles (or contact lenses, or some variety of retinal projection system). Imagine the survival horror games that could come out of that. Like, they could place zombies so it seems like they're in the room with you.

 

[sniper9474]

Perfectly normal human, once youve got a superpower, you're less vunerable, meaning that it isnt as scary.
Unless your given a crap superpower.

What would you define a "crap superpower"? Also what about "blessed with suck" type powers, that theoretically make you powerful but have terrible side effects? Like, the hero can phase into another layer of reality to move unseen and through walls, but when he does so he becomes prey to the Dread Things that live between dimensions? Or something like that?

Crap superpower shouldnt have been used, but yeah, a decent one which comes with a pretty hefty side effect is used for too long or too often. Another could be the ability to run extremly fast for short periods of time, but leaves you unable to pick up speed for a little while aswell.

 

[toadking07]

Basically, Eternal Darkness. I think that that is almost the peak of what we could achieve. It doesn't try to gross you out with gore, it just hits, hard, at the thing which scares humans most. The idea that the Gods hate us, and want us to suffer. There will be no happy afterlife in that world, and that thought chills people to the bone. I rank walking across the flesh of the damned to get the book, as they scream and beg for mercy, to be one of the most disturbing things in any medium. The thought of it right now it making me tense up and give me goosebumps.

So if you want to make it scary, take your pointers from Eternal Darkness.

Also, going to save your game and having it say, "Are You Sure You Want To Delete Your Files?" "DELETING..." and then finding out it was a sanity effect and your files are still there is one of the scariest things you can do to a gamer. XD

Also, (this one is a little vague), having stuff happens that the play will dread. I've had enemies in games that when they show up, doesn't matter what else is around me, I run like there's no tomorrow. It's not just about damage though, it's about the monster being able to mess you up unless you avoid it.

It's very hard though to get players involved properly and not just make things annoying or frustrating.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

I wouldn't play such a game, since once my sanity is at risk and long term health, it no longer becomes a game and subjecting myself or anyone else to it would be criminal. However, for what you are suggesting, a piece of software that somehow instils a sense of deep penetrating psychological torment as fear overwhelms you, I'd have to design a system to accurately assume what the player was most afraid of. Using this, I would subject them to a game in which they play themselves, and throughout said game they simply have to live, but live in a world where the things that they are most afraid of can and will happen, mess with the user, make them feel as though they should never have put the disc in the console / PC, make it so the user dare not simply turn off the console for fear of the consequences. Play upon the base fears all humanity suffers, upon religion, family, disease, panic, ease them into this world and make sure they never feel safe. The logical clear minded user who goes into the "game" with the plan to break everything down logically and with cold and calculating science is the user we have to break, the one we have to make self doubt at every turn, until they find themselves in a position where they know what they're seeing and experiencing is a lie, but that only makes the whole matter more terrifying. The game also never ends, it may repeat itself, but an ending provides comfort and closure, a time to turn the game off and return to reality. Pitfalls and traps and entice the broken part of every person scattered throughout the game, be it their mild OCD or need for attention. The game will break them down, analyse the users psyche, and use the data against them.

That should in some cases provide the results OP was looking for. However it's best we don't make such a game, it'd be inhumane to subject people to. People as a general rule don't know what's best for them and will feel assured no "game" could "mess with them". Most people don't want to acknowledge the flaws in their psyche that could be manipulated and that's what makes them easy targets. As I said, I'd not make or play any game with a real threat.

 

[TRR]

where the noisiest demons (who make the most horrifying demonic noises)are about as much as a threat as a cricket, and the real baddies you have to worry about are almost completely silent.

 

[toadking07]

Here is another question for you, to answer if you want: do you think that the hero of such a game should be a perfectly normal human, or can he have some sort of "superpower" or the like? If yes, what kind of power and how would it work?

Eh, you can make a strong or "superpowered" protagonist in the games, but then the player feels like they have a chance. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but it's something most games stay away from in this genre.

Like in Halo 3, the flood would be a lot scarier if I was a normal marine who could get infected by just one little flood infection form getting around my neck. Instead I'm playing as the Master Chief who has a shield and heavy armor on, and I kill these things by the hundreds. I feel like I'm strong enough that with a little luck and a lot of fighting I just might making it through the worst of it!

How about a First-Person-Medieval-Resident-Evil-Like game? You play as a knight and you find yourself fighting the undead hordes of some dark menace. There would be no guns and crossbows would have little to now effect, so you'd have to fight most of the undead with hand to hand weapons like swords, maces, shields, etc. You'd spend a lot of time in close quarters with these things, surrounded on all sides, barely able to hold them off, and when they do get a hold of you? *shudder* When they do get a hold of you they grab on to you and a special quick time events? or something of the sort. They'd bite at you and get their disgusting face in your face.

Yeah, that's my idea!

 

[Therumancer]

Simply put the first thing to do is understand your going to get an AO rating, so anyone making a truely scary horror game needs to make plans for that.

Then pretty much take just about anything that was implied but never shown, or you "just can't show in the media" and put it into the game in living color.

Or simply put, don't pull any punches at all. That's what I feel holds most horror back.