New Horror-Game Mechanics
- Thread starter teknoarcanist
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Exactly! I'm not sure of this would make the game scary or not but i'm sure it would make an epic game!LordNue said:
An action game with this mechanic would be... awesome.
I think it'd be a lot more interesting if you did this with slow moving zombies in an open world.Dark2003 said:
The slow zombies will only ever die from a head shot. Add a mechanic where you build, much like the Halo Forge except you need to find your parts and be able to physically get where you want to build with your player, you can find NPC's if you explore who will join you and help fortify your hide-away, Ammo will be very limited and you wouldn't be much of a marksmen... you'd start of weaponless and decide if you want to go and get weapons, find friends or just sit in a room crying.
Have the game be timed, the longer you hold out the higher your score same goes for zombie kills. Have 8 player online co-op and make it so that you have to find Walky Talkies to be able to communicate over distance, make events randomly generate, like military drops and biker gangs.
When creating the game you could set what you want, Zombie speed, Zombie toughness, Zombie numbers, anything that will really alter gameplay, each mode you select will put you into different leaderboards. Have it so that games can last weeks if you're careful and allow a system to save the online multiplayer progress so that once everyone is ready to play again it'll put you back in the world.
You could have mechanics where you can be the looting bikers, just allow you to hot wire cars and stuff, make the game truley free roaming and make it an RTS, the view could be changed between first and third person and as time goes by if you don't look after your character they will start to degrade and get skinny and weak so food and water are essential. also have a mechanic where you can only hold so much in a certain type of backpack and the more you carry the slower and more easily tired you get, add a fitness meter so that overtime your character will become stronger... it also should have a player drop in function so that if a player dies they'll have to rejoin the game and take over a different character rather than just respawning.
Oy... I've been thinking about this for a while now. Here's a breif list, but most of these are only used individually:
-Make ammo only available at the start of chapters. The player will have to plan how they use their ammo through the chapter.
-Make a game where the only type of guns are pistols, and very, very limited shotguns. I've always found it strange how some games have SMGs or maybe even stronger weapons in places that they had no business being in. Make it melee only and a few handguns.
-A fear meter. There are obvious drawbacks to it filling, like you fire off more rounds than you intended, your aim is affected, melee attacks have more recoil because you swung harder, you reload much slower because your hands are shaking, you take more damage, ect. But there are some positive aspects, like melee does more damage, you run faster because you're scared out of your mind, and any damage affects are slightly negated due to adrenaline. But if the meter fills completely, you can't move due to being paralyzed with fear.
-A game with no weapons at all. Your only option is to run.
-A game that lets you chose different characters, each with different skills, like better weapon skills, better melee skills, faster running, better healing, ect.
-A game with no enemies. The only thing that can kill you is the environment, the bosses, who also can only be killed via the scenery, and traps in any urban setting.
Finally,
-Make ammo only available at the start of chapters. The player will have to plan how they use their ammo through the chapter.
-Make a game where the only type of guns are pistols, and very, very limited shotguns. I've always found it strange how some games have SMGs or maybe even stronger weapons in places that they had no business being in. Make it melee only and a few handguns.
-A fear meter. There are obvious drawbacks to it filling, like you fire off more rounds than you intended, your aim is affected, melee attacks have more recoil because you swung harder, you reload much slower because your hands are shaking, you take more damage, ect. But there are some positive aspects, like melee does more damage, you run faster because you're scared out of your mind, and any damage affects are slightly negated due to adrenaline. But if the meter fills completely, you can't move due to being paralyzed with fear.
-A game with no weapons at all. Your only option is to run.
-A game that lets you chose different characters, each with different skills, like better weapon skills, better melee skills, faster running, better healing, ect.
-A game with no enemies. The only thing that can kill you is the environment, the bosses, who also can only be killed via the scenery, and traps in any urban setting.
Finally,
Make this a downloadable game. There are leaderboards for whoever can survive the longest. Also an optional multiplayer mode, emphasis on the optional.Dark2003 said:
What if, in certain areas, there is a chance of being ambushed, and to build up suspense the game adds stuff like suspenseful music and creepy shadows moving along the walls. I know what you're thinking, "That's already been done." BUT WAIT! What if there is also a chance that around the corner, there is nothing at all, giving the impression that the character is so stressed, that they are begining to hallucinate. BUT WAIT ONCE MORE! What if there is again a chance that once everything is all clear in the area and the music and shadows have died down the (insert horrific creatures here) is actually waiting around the next corner to ambush you. This way, the player is always on their guard.
@silver I would love a game with a realistic inventory system like that, where guns actually add to your bulk and affect the ways you can move (and not just a Bethesda-style slider where more weight decreases your walking variable). That would add some great moments of tension with baddies closing down on you, and you're unloading into them with a shotgun, and you have to decide: keep firing, or drop the gun and make a break for it?
Would like to see that come up with plot-related items too. Think you can outpace the sociopath in the shadows while dragging the MacGuffin Briefcase?
I would also just love to see a very immersive sandbox zombie game. Slow moving. Huge numbers. No cutscenes and very few NPC story characters.
Would like to see that come up with plot-related items too. Think you can outpace the sociopath in the shadows while dragging the MacGuffin Briefcase?
I would also just love to see a very immersive sandbox zombie game. Slow moving. Huge numbers. No cutscenes and very few NPC story characters.
A game where you are the good guy for a bit, and then you become the antagonist.
Say, there's a big-ass demonic figure haunting the Earth, killing everyone he sees. As the game goes on, you start running out of food and such, so you hunt and hunt and hunt, before you start noticing the hunting supplies are decreasing. So you start killing people and taking their supplies in the name of survival, and after awhile, you realize that you ARE the demon - as soon as people see you, they run in fear, stuff like that.
Just a random idea.
Say, there's a big-ass demonic figure haunting the Earth, killing everyone he sees. As the game goes on, you start running out of food and such, so you hunt and hunt and hunt, before you start noticing the hunting supplies are decreasing. So you start killing people and taking their supplies in the name of survival, and after awhile, you realize that you ARE the demon - as soon as people see you, they run in fear, stuff like that.
Just a random idea.
I like this, but maybe without the actual meter. And also based on context. For example, let's say you have a pistol. A zombie is approaching. You fire off 6 bullets and it doesn't flinch... that's an "oh shit" moment and your character then begins to act scared. On the other hand, if you fire 2 bullets into it's face and it drops... no problems.Zetsubou-Sama said:
Wikipedia Charles Lindbergh and his flight to Paris. THAT would make one hell of a suspense/horror game.Horny Ico said:
I've been thinking something like this too.Dark2003 said:
My version of it was more of a RPG game.You could choose something like your weapons, how does your character look etc. Then I've thinking something like mission/quests. Saving survivors, killing attacking zombie hordes. Something like that. And these would come at random times(like Mount&Blade) Maybe even add a hunger meter(Sims style) you would have to search houses for food and ammo. It would be awesome, if someone would make a city like this and made every house is available to access.
BTW, if anyone knows any good zombie RPG games, let me know
I agree completely with both these people. Someone hire dathwampeer for game mechanics ideas!Save us.A7X said:
On top of that you could add some sort of test like that Silent Hill game for the Wii to figure out how easily scared you are so when something does worry you, the character should respond accordingly.Wolfram01 said:
@zetsubou I love the idea of having to hold a button or two to grip an item in hand. Not for forty hours, maybe, but in a 'walking through the abandoned highway tunnel' section, that would be fantastic, especially if punctuated with frantic action sections and lights placed periodically. Do I pick up the flashlight, or haul ass for that distant glow?
FEAR is broken as a horror game because it's incredibly predictable and about as scary as Nacho Libre.Madkipz said:
You cannot have sudden scary music whenever something is about to happen because that is an auditory clue and lets the player mentally prepare themselves.
You cannot have radio static whenever something is about to happen because that is an auditory clue and lets the player mentally prepare themselves.
You cannot have odd visual glitches whenever something is about to happen because that is a visual clue and lets the player mentally prepare themselves.
Are you guys sensing a trend? The best horror games and movies don't have retarded clues that something is about to happen. The player needs to be constantly thinking that at any time they could get shredded or they'll stumble onto something. The music should be constant, the tension should be constant. It's ok to have fucked up things happen during a firefight, in fact, that'd be a great change of pace considering how badly written most horror games are. It's ok to have fucked up things NOT happen between firefights occasionally just to keep the player guessing.
Basically take FEAR and do the complete opposite of it and you'll have a game that has the potential to be scary.
Penumbra: Overture. Google it.Tattaglia said:
Disagree. Good games have been made where you have a warning sign, though I do agree with you on a point needs to be farther away from FEAR. Maybe have an auditory cue when nothing happens, and scattered throughout the game have one or two where it actually does indicate something.TOGSolid said:
But that's just going along with my general point of the need to keep the player off balance. If you have cues happen and sometime result in nothing at all then the player will never be sure of wtf is going to happen which means that it's going to be easy to set them up for a scare.SnowdensOfYesteryear said:
It's all about tension and almost every horror game/movie made sucks shit at it.
Ok you have me there, instead make the first fight just enemies who are hard to hit and drain your ammo, and the second fight one with AI partners, like you run into the cache and its close to a group of friendlies, like a small makeshift base, then when the second big fight starts your gun jams, and you have to try to escape as your team is overun.kman123 said: