New Horror-Game Mechanics
- Thread starter teknoarcanist
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Really? That's pretty cool. I had a similar idea for an indie game for when I started to really get into Flash/game-design, but now I can just go straight to playing (hopefully). Any idea what the name was, or anything about it?Silver said:
So, what "Condemned: Criminal Origins" should have been? No offense, I liked the game but thought that the cult bit was pointless (and just a way to explain a sequel...seriously though, you're serial killer hunter after serial killers, do you really need to add that other stuff? How many people watch "Criminal Minds"?). The parts where it was more about the psycho were scarier than the whole cult bit which seemed kinda added on. Have you seen the infamous Tibbits scene? Check that out on Youtube. That was pretty scary. It's too bad they felt the need to continually break up the slow suspense with quick combat action which, kinda took away from the eerie bits.Estocavio said:
Care to explain the many deaths in Project Zero then? Because that game was fucking scary.Silver said:
How about one where you play as a blind/psychic/whatever person who's only way of seeing the environment is through sound. What I mean by this is that everything is pitch black, but making noise emits light for a short amount of time. This would be an interesting mechanic to do with enemies as, you have to choose between using the darkness to evade the enemies, or using noise to find your way around, without attracting the enemy. This could also add to the scariness of enemies as you could be walking along when you make a noise to inspect the surrounding environment, when you realize that some uncanny valley-esque creature is standing right next to you, or having an enemy roar, lighting up the room and, for a short amount of time, revealing his grotesque, lovecraftian form.
I would like to see how well this idea would work, as it plays on people's fear of the dark.
I would like to see how well this idea would work, as it plays on people's fear of the dark.
I personally love the feeling of going bonkers in a game. Voices start to play inside your head, you start to see things, you get tunnel vision... I've only experienced it in Call of the Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth, and I loved it. There was one game I read about that I can't remember the name of in which static actually started to go on the screen. The game wasn't just making your character seem insane, it was actually screwing with you. There was also an affect where you were walking on the ceiling, I believe. Real trippy.
I haven't had experience with first person non-shooters, but not for lack of trying. Amnesia: The Dark Descent looks haggard!
I haven't had experience with first person non-shooters, but not for lack of trying. Amnesia: The Dark Descent looks haggard!
Wall of text much? But great idea, up until the part with the console failure; I don't like the idea, and it'd probably get a lot of people to turn it off and stop playing before they realise. And I'm not sure the red light thing is possible.dathwampeer said:
But that aside, I really like the idea of things changing and no one in the game world taking any notice. I'd extend it, not just NPCs but also the environment too. Obviously it'd need some consideration about when the changes take place without using cutscenes or similar, but definitely something that could work well.
I want to take the F.E.A.R to the next level, odd warning signs like suddenly your partners face suddenly has this creepy smile and raspy sound and the sounds growing larger, with a heartbeat music and the world growing increasingly odd like people vanishing in thin air or you crashing into invisible walls.
Temporary blindness or removal from your squad where all you have is sound and the knowledge of something utterly evil and menacing stalking them.
Toilet-scare is mandatory.
A ghost boss that can stop time, your team of ghost hunters dying instantly while a menacing laughter eccoes in that abandoned hotel floor.
Being assigned 4-8 different anti ghost, nightmare pills with suspect content that either work or let you see oddities in varying degree depending on how much of each and in what combination you swallow. XD
what i do have a problem though is coming up with a plot, a story etc.
Temporary blindness or removal from your squad where all you have is sound and the knowledge of something utterly evil and menacing stalking them.
Toilet-scare is mandatory.
A ghost boss that can stop time, your team of ghost hunters dying instantly while a menacing laughter eccoes in that abandoned hotel floor.
Being assigned 4-8 different anti ghost, nightmare pills with suspect content that either work or let you see oddities in varying degree depending on how much of each and in what combination you swallow. XD
what i do have a problem though is coming up with a plot, a story etc.
If I had to guess why, I'd say $ and controversy (even though, as Vince Mcmahon says "controversy creates cash". BTW, according to Forbes.com [see http://www.forbes.com/2001/06/22/billdropoffs_print.html ] on Aug 2000 [in my opinion, that was around the "peak of the WWE"], his wealth was $1.1 billion and is "now" $700 million. My point being, when they were controversial, he became obscenely rich and, while they "clean up their act" his wealth has decreased). Anyways, for the most part (Rockstar had controversy with GTA and Manhunt but are also trying to "clean up their act"), game companies want to avoid controversy because it may give them a bad image. This is complicated by all the watchdog groups who still believe that games are for children and brainwash every person who plays them gets trained to become ruthless killers. So, yeah, creating a game with an "ultimate villain" human would be controversial. Also, they would probably be pressed to explain why that person acted the way they did or be considered "unrealistic". Um, I would also guess that it has to do with macho, ego, machismo (whatever you want to call it). I think the companies are trying to outdo each other with "who can make the bigger/grosser monster?" I would like to see this trend change but I won't hold my breath. I would also like to play a video game with a 360 projector, accurate motion controls, and a surround sound system which accurately reacts to the direction that I'm facing (it wouldn't make sense to view something on a 360 degree projection if the sounds still react as though you're facing in one particular direction). So, yeah, those are some of my thoughts.Estocavio said:
Edit: Consider that last bit as my contribution, please? Thank you. (I would have talked about a "human antagonist" but somebody already ninja'd me to that response).
A scare-meter, that makes you lose the grip of your weapons, as well as killing you when you get too scared it would work like the longer you fight the more scared you'll get as well as making some of the exploring have frightening bits to make the player question if he should investigate or not, another thing would be that whenever a player let's go of a certain button in panic events the weapon or flashlight would drop and you would be in complete darkness until you found it again.
How about a survival-horror game that actually emphasises the survival aspect? I played both Bioshock and Fallout 3 (both excellent games by the way) under the guise that I'd actually have to be concervative on ammo, but once the game started I could literally find ammo just laying there in plain sight. What if there was a game that really did well at limiting ammo, and made melee much weaker so that in the event you ran out you would only have a chance of holding off (insert horrific enemy here) if it happened to be a very small group, otherwise you would have to run to save yourself?
