Inverse Psychological Horror Game

[redisforever]

I did have a similar I idea, but I had a setting in mind.

It was in a school (I know, I know, sounds like school shooting simulator, but it's not).

I wanted it to be set in a school, because it would be very disturbing to see this stuff happening there. I was going to set in during a storm, and a whole bunch of people are taking cover in there, and one of them is a serial killer, and then...pretty much exactly what you said.

Because it's a snowstorm, they can't get out, because the doors are blocked.

So would you be trying to cover your tracks as well and try to frame the others or would you just pick them off one by one?

Pretty much, yeah.

 

[Kiju]

Great idea.

...until the ESRB get wind of it. They would never allow a game like this to come out.

 

[josemlopes]

Naughty Bear did it, but not too well. Only a good developer could tell you the anwser

 

[Kurokami]

The idea is simple: kind of a playable slasher film, with you as the killer. The main focus is combining stealth mechanics with brutal displays of violence to psychologically torment as many enemies as possible. Begin speculation!

Enemies have two morale 'bars', one for paranoia and one for straight up fear.

The Paranoia system tracks how nervous and paranoid a single enemy is. Paranoia is increased by subtle displays, like suspicious noises, unexplained bloodstains and disappearing squadmates.

Fear/Horror is increased by displays of violence. Mutilated corpses, bloodstains, screams of agony and similar things will increase this.

These two 'bars' are interlinked, raising one will usually raise the other. However, the proportions in the bars will affect the Sanity Break system. A character with low morale will possibly undergo some sort of sanity break, which can manifest as pretty much anything from shooting themselves to trying to wire an entire building to explode.


Gameplay mechanics are completely focused towards freaking out your enemies and outsmarting them. For example, there is a hotkeyed button specifically for mutilating corpses, an action to write messages in blood, another to pin bodies to walls with nails or their own bones.

Health is realistic. Not the "die in 2 bullets or regenerate" realistic like COD, realistic as in "one bullet and you die or are crippled". Getting shot is not something you're supposed to do. Fortunately, enemy aim degrades under stress, and you can equip body armour and take cover behind objects.

Any sugggestions/improvements/feedback?

PS: If anyone wants to go out and make a freeware game of this, then feel free. If you plan on making money, maybe at least be nice enough to speak to me first.

Great idea... Also, not new. Don't get me wrong, I've yet to see a game that's like this, but I'm pretty sure I speak for other geeks when I say that we frequently think of this while watching horror movies. If you want to get a cut on a game, you would have to get much more specific information.

I would like to disagree with the button - action thing, I think people should be welcome to get creative under stress, personally dragging bodies where-ever they wish, picking them up and having to find something to chain them on, whatever. Pressing a button and having a completely preset scene appear before your eyes doesn't sound as engaging, especially when as the killer you've gotta worry about being caught and such. That's just my opinion. Having an alternate display where you can gage the NPC's reactions through a cinematic cutscene would also be cool in my opinion.

Anyway that's just my 1.5 cents worth.

(btb, I didn't mean to come off as a dick with that first paragraph if I did)

 

[Kurokami]

I did have a similar I idea, but I had a setting in mind.

It was in a school (I know, I know, sounds like school shooting simulator, but it's not).

I wanted it to be set in a school, because it would be very disturbing to see this stuff happening there. I was going to set in during a storm, and a whole bunch of people are taking cover in there, and one of them is a serial killer, and then...pretty much exactly what you said.

Because it's a snowstorm, they can't get out, because the doors are blocked.

So would you be trying to cover your tracks as well and try to frame the others or would you just pick them off one by one?

You know, this sounds kind of like that BYOND game Mitadake High. It's about one killer in a school in lockdown. It's everyone else's job to escape or at least survive. It's multiplayer, though, and it's kind of necessary to role play.

It's not nearly as complex even as the idea with the paranoia and fear bars, though. I'd love to see a game like that!

Don't forget the DN (Death Note) mode. Which in my opinion isn't quite as good, but it can still be pretty fun. I don't think I've ever killed anyone in that game.

 

[solidstatemind]

I'm thinking you'd be getting a little too close to RapeLay territory with this one.

Not that it's not viable, even if it is Manhunt with a few extra mechanics thrown in... just not right now. Much like drugs, there are still to many conservative elements across the world's cultures for this to be anything but a legal nightmare...

Oh, and actually, if you'd moved on it earlier, you might have better luck getting it out there. Video Game enthusiasts' biggest problem these days is that our enemies have learned how to more effectively squelch our efforts than back in the early days of our hobby.

 

[Yoshemo]

isnt manhunt a game where you play as a slasher villain

You're a snuff film star, your methods are whatever is in your hands.

Seriously, that's the entire theme of the game. Even the manual is done in the appropriate style, resembling a company catalog.

Manhunt 2 is better. Gameplay and story are much better, so are the levels, effects, etc. Plus, you have a better reason to kill. You should definitely try it out

 

[Ninjat_126]

I might have not made it clear enough, but I'm not talking about a generic chainsaw-wielding slasher killing oversexed teenagers. I was thinking more as if you were playing an anti-"hero" who needs to use psychological warfare to gain an advantage. Possibly a serial killer escaping police?

I was inspired to make this after playing The Darkness for a bit, and wondering why nobody was scared of the merciless killer with evil eel-things sprouting from his arms, or the army of demented goblin things. Another inspiration was the HL2 mod The Hidden.

Well that's actually a pretty cool idea. Sounds like Arkham Asylum with stabs/mutilations instead of punches.
Thing is though...how is the game supposed to be scary if you're the killer?

Go play The Hidden. The gamer playing as the titular character is still nervous and scared, even if he's invisible and has super strength. Why? Because he's being hunted by a group of trained killers with lethal weaponry.

Fear in this game would be fear of discovery, and possibly even fear of your own Player Character's brutal actions.

Great idea.

...until the ESRB get wind of it. They would never allow a game like this to come out.

I know. Just wishful thinking mostly, a game like this would be epic if made right.

-You should be able to play through the entire game using just stealth and TPS techniques, and this shouldn't be too much harder than the regular game.

-The game should start with a big disclaimer saying that the dev team don't encourage this sort of behavior.

- The game should have alternate endings and branching missions based on a combination of public perception of you and of your own perception of yourself.

So if you were to become a merciless, cannibalistic mass murderer, everyone would hate you and you'd be pretty much completely batshit and fail in whatever your ultimate goal was as you pretty much become a slasher movie generic villain.

On the other hand, you could be an intensely moral flawed hero forced to do horrible things, and this realisation could actually lead your character to commit suicide in the end.

Avoiding mutilation completely will get you the "best" ending in terms of morality, but other endings can still have you succeeding in your goal.

 

[white_salad]

I could see something like this, but put those bars on you.

Imagine. You're a mental patient, diagnosed with cases of blacking out and being incredibly aggressive. You have previous training ( like black ops or navy seal stuff) and you hear through the grapevine of someone important to you is in danger from like mob or some shit I'm not sure. You escape to go after them.

However, you have an insanity meter. At the lowest meter, you're efficient, basically like sam fisher. The more you kill, the more insane you get. You're actions become more shaky and violent, and once you get to the top, the screen goes black, and it comes back with the insanity meter back to the lowest and everyone who was around you viciously murdered. This you want to avoid, because you're trying to stay low key to avoid cops and the asylum trying to recapture you.

So...ya.

 

[HapexIndustries]

There's a PC game called Ghost Master that (despite the worst cover art EVAR) is actually close to your idea.

You are presented with, say, a house of college students. You use a team of ghosts with specific abilities to freak them all out and make them leave (you can drive them insane, too). You have to make them believe in the supernatural first, and then scare them.

It's a surprisingly good game, I was playing it last week, and it holds up reasonably well (it's from like 2005 or something). It's definitely geared to a Teen audience, and is very immature in some ways, but then again it does some pretty fucked up shit (one of the ghosts cuts himself in half vertically and pulls the halves down and screams, I was a bit surprised by that one).

The game is also like $2.50 on gamersgate right now, I think.

 

[Cheesus333]

That sounds like Manhunt but actually good. Which, in itself, is an awesome idea. I'd play it, any day.

 

[Jamous]

The idea is simple: kind of a playable slasher film, with you as the killer. The main focus is combining stealth mechanics with brutal displays of violence to psychologically torment as many enemies as possible. Begin speculation!

Enemies have two morale 'bars', one for paranoia and one for straight up fear.

The Paranoia system tracks how nervous and paranoid a single enemy is. Paranoia is increased by subtle displays, like suspicious noises, unexplained bloodstains and disappearing squadmates.

Fear/Horror is increased by displays of violence. Mutilated corpses, bloodstains, screams of agony and similar things will increase this.

These two 'bars' are interlinked, raising one will usually raise the other. However, the proportions in the bars will affect the Sanity Break system. A character with low morale will possibly undergo some sort of sanity break, which can manifest as pretty much anything from shooting themselves to trying to wire an entire building to explode.


Gameplay mechanics are completely focused towards freaking out your enemies and outsmarting them. For example, there is a hotkeyed button specifically for mutilating corpses, an action to write messages in blood, another to pin bodies to walls with nails or their own bones.

Health is realistic. Not the "die in 2 bullets or regenerate" realistic like COD, realistic as in "one bullet and you die or are crippled". Getting shot is not something you're supposed to do. Fortunately, enemy aim degrades under stress, and you can equip body armour and take cover behind objects.

Any sugggestions/improvements/feedback?

PS: If anyone wants to go out and make a freeware game of this, then feel free. If you plan on making money, maybe at least be nice enough to speak to me first.

I FUCKING LOVE IT.

That sounds like Manhunt but actually good. Which, in itself, is an awesome idea. I'd play it, any day.

But actually good indeed.

 

[Dexiro]

Not a bad idea. Kind of reminds me of that quest at the beginning of Shivering Isles where you have to scare off the adventurers.

 

[moretimethansense]

There's a PC game called Ghost Master that (despite the worst cover art EVAR) is actually close to your idea.

You are presented with, say, a house of college students. You use a team of ghosts with specific abilities to freak them all out and make them leave (you can drive them insane, too). You have to make them believe in the supernatural first, and then scare them.

It's a surprisingly good game, I was playing it last week, and it holds up reasonably well (it's from like 2005 or something). It's definitely geared to a Teen audience, and is very immature in some ways, but then again it does some pretty fucked up shit (one of the ghosts cuts himself in half vertically and pulls the halves down and screams, I was a bit surprised by that one).

The game is also like $2.50 on gamersgate right now, I think.

Reading this thread made me think of that as well, I might just reinstall it now.

OP
As others have said it's sort of been done.
Though I'd play it I think people would pitch a fit, perhaps if insead of a seriel killer youu played some kind of horrer flick monster.
I can see it now, stalking innocent humans that have foolishly wandered in to you feeding grounds, their nubers may be a problem, but you can pick them off.
Foster paranoia and fear, tey to separate the group to pick them off, later levels they are hunting you, show them who the apex predetor is.

Somebody needs to make this game, now.

 

[Ninjat_126]

I could see something like this, but put those bars on you.

Imagine. You're a mental patient, diagnosed with cases of blacking out and being incredibly aggressive. You have previous training ( like black ops or navy seal stuff) and you hear through the grapevine of someone important to you is in danger from like mob or some shit I'm not sure. You escape to go after them.

However, you have an insanity meter. At the lowest meter, you're efficient, basically like sam fisher. The more you kill, the more insane you get. You're actions become more shaky and violent, and once you get to the top, the screen goes black, and it comes back with the insanity meter back to the lowest and everyone who was around you viciously murdered. This you want to avoid, because you're trying to stay low key to avoid cops and the asylum trying to recapture you.

So...ya.

Awesome. So overusing violence and brutality will make you lose your grip on reality, affecting gameplay as well as the overarching story.

The more often you flip out and murder people, the more likely you are to flip out and murder people.


Also, can anyone suggest and ways to keep enemies scared? I'll start a list.

In no particular order:

1. Suspicious noises (Throw stones)
2. Whispered threats (I see you...)
3. Lack of communication (Jamming radios)
4. Dead comrades
5. Unwelcome surprises (Bodies in lockers)
6. Mutilated bodies (Slashed faces)
7. Torture
8. Living torture victims (Mutilated enemies/civilians)
9. Gory displays (Dismembered limbs/organs)
10. Pinned corpses (Nailed to walls)
11. Pinned comrades (Living, nailed to walls)
12. Cannibalism (Partially eaten bodies)
13. Combinations!

Remember, you need to be one really sick individual to do something like nail a still-living enemy to a wall. More gruesome displays require you to be more desensitized to doing this sort of thing. However, that increases your chances of undergoing your own Sanity Break.

 

[Pearwood]

Ooh. I like it. Would be good, but the media would snatch it up and call it evil in a mere matter of miliseconds.

Or in other words you'd get tons of free publicity right from the start.

 

[Merkavar]

sounds like a good idea.

i bet that any one developing the game would ruin it though