ideas for horror games (mapping/lighting/gameplay)

[saikyo765]

If I'm posting in the wrong selection I'M SORRY!

Hey there guys.
This isn't on a piticular game or anything.
I just need a few ideas so I hope you can help.
I have never found a way to make a 2d sprite game exactly "scary".
I tried with diffrent types of lighting, enemies, jump out suprises ect..

I just wanted to ask if you guys if you have ever played a 2d game that gave you atleast ONE freight, or rush of adreniline or anything.

I hope I explained this well enough...

Anyway, I was looking to hearing some ideas from you guys about what makes a horror game actually scary..

 

[Sparx-1]

Well, I've never played any horror games, but I can tell you that something that contributes to the scare factor is stuff that messes with the mind. (basically, dangerous stuff that doesn't make sense and goes against all that should be. Monsters that look like children that giggle errily when idle, and scream at you when they attack you are a prime example. Flashing lights during monster attacks are good too.)

Also, a sense of confinement is pretty creepy as well. For example, on a certain website there's a certain point-and-click flash-based mystery game in which you're trying to escape an abandonned lighthouse. You know the lighthouse is old from the get-go, like, early 1800's old, and then you later find out that the lighthouse is actually underground. Of course, you need a little hint at first before a certain thing is proven. Like when you walk past a window that has dirt pouring into the building BEFORE you see the note from the previous owner that he had buried the building.

Also, there needs to be no direct explaination to what is going on. As I said before, people fear the unknown, and for a game to be truly scary, there needs to be a lot of... erm... "unknown-ness". Also, there should be a very detailed reason for what is going on, but there needs to be VERY subtle hints as to why what's happening is happening. Also, there should be periods where things seem nice and quiet...in a dark room.... and then the main character notices something small is acting screwy... like... ... Why is that typewriter typing random symbols by itself?" but as soon as the guy starts to realize that it shouldn't be--..."GGYYYAAAAGGGHHH!!!!" Grotesque monster sneak attack from behind!

So, that's all I can think of... I hope it helps... Then again, this is all coming from a guy who spooks really easily... O.o... I'm sorta getting the chills just writing this! ^^;

 

[Brewmeister]

Yep, wrong section. This belongs in RMXP Discussion, or D&D/Game Creation.

I too am interested in hearing others opinions on this matter. Not that I think I'll ever get someone to jump out of their seat playing an RMXP game, but because a possible future project would be Horror based / Lovecraftian / Cthulhu type of game.

Darker scenes / maps, subliminal images & shadows, and the occasional 'jump out' type of surprise would all enhance the games 'spookyness'. One thing that I think would make a big impact is music & sound effects. Some Danny Elfman style of BGMs, creaking doors, wind, moaning, unseen footsteps, etc...
Next, I think would be the writing. You need to keep the plot so there is always an element of the 'unknown', with only partial information as what to expect next.
Study some of the great horror writers (Lovecraft, Bloch, Poe, King if you must) to see examples of how they keep the reader 'on edge'.
And remember the universal truth, "People fear what they don't understand."

I think it would be pretty tough to truly 'scare' someone with a 2D game. If you can immerse the player to the point where they feel uneasy, you're doing pretty good.

Interesting topic

Be Well

 

[Sparx-1]

XD Brewmeister! We share the same points!

 

[Brewmeister]

GMTA...  ;D

 

[The Urchin]

Well I couldn't say scary..  But nothing scares me really so meh.  BUT I have played a number of old grotesque, creepy games in my youth.  One to point out is called maniac mansion.  It's a old nes game that was pretty fucked up and vile.  Google it.  You could put the dudes son's hamster in the microwave and it would explode.  I think this was the first case of exploding hamster humor!

 

[Brewmeister]

I remember that game! It was a parody of cheesy B-movie horror flicks. I don't remember it being scary though, if anything a bit gory, and hilarious.

I must, however, refute your claim on the origin of the "Rapid disassembly of furry rodents."  I don't know the actual origin, but I heard my first 'exploding hamster' joke circa 1980. (before you were even a glimmer in the postman's eye.) 

Be Well

 

[saikyo765]

Thanks you guys for all the comments, and help.
Please if anyone has any more ideas feel free to add it.
If you guys are interested in a test...
I was thinking about making 2 short demos of tried horror games, and see which one you guys think is more creepy.

Maybe larger sprites would be better?
I was thinking Half Keizer... but maybe a little larger then that would be better.. Meh I don't know.
But I'm really interested in making a creepy surrounding.
Fearing the unknown, as you stated, is a great way.
And maybe if there is action parts, after finding out a monster enemy, have a feeling that you would loose...such as very low ammo in a handgun..a limited view because of a flashlight...also the flashlight could run on batteries and stuff... footsteps when they are coming towards you..something like that...i dont know.
I was thinking about making something really twisted...but I'm not sure.

 

[The Urchin]

I remember that game! It was a parody of cheesy B-movie horror flicks. I don't remember it being scary though, if anything a bit gory, and hilarious.

I must, however, refute your claim on the origin of the "Rapid disassembly of furry rodents."  I don't know the actual origin, but I heard my first 'exploding hamster' joke circa 1980. (before you were even a glimmer in the postman's eye.) 

Be Well

HAHAHAHA. You don't even know how old I am so how can you say that?  (That glimmer thing)  I'm sorry but I've seen way more than you could ever imagine even if I'm only 20. (see, I'm no kid anyways)  But anyways like I said it wasn't scary, but creepy and grotesque.  Not a little gory, try blood on over half the walls, completely dark rooms, electrocution, death by shotgun, and of course aliens!  Of course I'm not actually talking of the game for scary but the setting/artwork.  The game was hilarious.

But I think the qualities that go with darker games are;
-Darkness! Almost black, small area of sight and sometimes even no area of sight.
-Shotgun head explosions!  This is also essential. (Guns go best with horror for heros.  The enemy should be a little less sophisticated.  Say knives, household massacring tools, guitar string, ect)
-Of course zombies, mummies, vampires, werewolves, serial killers, mass murderers, psychotic mental patients, ect ect ect.
-Strategic game play.  Two reasons, on being that it's much easier to distract the player then pop like a two headed Frankenstein zombie out of no where and scare the bejesus out of them.  Reason two is it adds to the game depth, which many horror game lack.  I just never could have fun just blasting zombies and nothing else, no mini games, no puzzles, nothing to make life fun.  Trust me, killing zombies isn't as fun as one may think. (not saying it needs zombies but it's just an example)
-Small protagonist cast.  I'd say no more than 3 or 4 people.  It'll make the game harder and create the correct atmosphere.  You can't really have a horror movie with like 20 people mobbing together.  How the hell are you supposed to fear anything or anybody with like 20 uber zombie killing machines?
-It's better to keep the main antagonist secretive.  Like maybe show him walking away but you never really see him till the end.  Stuff like that adds to suspense.

Another game that I played as a kid that was scary (at least back then) was clocktower.  It had a serial killer that killed with scissors.

A video game TO NOT TAKE EXAMPLE FROM is that stupid ass photo game.  Can't remember the name.

 

[saikyo765]

I remember that game! It was a parody of cheesy B-movie horror flicks. I don't remember it being scary though, if anything a bit gory, and hilarious.

I must, however, refute your claim on the origin of the "Rapid disassembly of furry rodents."  I don't know the actual origin, but I heard my first 'exploding hamster' joke circa 1980. (before you were even a glimmer in the postman's eye.) 

Be Well

HAHAHAHA. You don't even know how old I am so how can you say that?  (That glimmer thing)  I'm sorry but I've seen way more than you could ever imagine even if I'm only 20. (see, I'm no kid anyways)  But anyways like I said it wasn't scary, but creepy and grotesque.  Not a little gory, try blood on over half the walls, completely dark rooms, electrocution, death by shotgun, and of course aliens!  Of course I'm not actually talking of the game for scary but the setting/artwork.  The game was hilarious.

But I think the qualities that go with darker games are;
-Darkness! Almost black, small area of sight and sometimes even no area of sight.
-Shotgun head explosions!  This is also essential. (Guns go best with horror for heros.  The enemy should be a little less sophisticated.  Say knives, household massacring tools, guitar string, ect)
-Of course zombies, mummies, vampires, werewolves, serial killers, mass murderers, psychotic mental patients, ect ect ect.
-Strategic game play.  Two reasons, on being that it's much easier to distract the player then pop like a two headed Frankenstein zombie out of no where and scare the bejesus out of them.  Reason two is it adds to the game depth, which many horror game lack.  I just never could have fun just blasting zombies and nothing else, no mini games, no puzzles, nothing to make life fun.  Trust me, killing zombies isn't as fun as one may think. (not saying it needs zombies but it's just an example)
-Small protagonist cast.  I'd say no more than 3 or 4 people.  It'll make the game harder and create the correct atmosphere.  You can't really have a horror movie with like 20 people mobbing together.  How the hell are you supposed to fear anything or anybody with like 20 uber zombie killing machines?
-It's better to keep the main antagonist secretive.  Like maybe show him walking away but you never really see him till the end.  Stuff like that adds to suspense.

Another game that I played as a kid that was scary (at least back then) was clocktower.  It had a serial killer that killed with scissors.

A video game TO NOT TAKE EXAMPLE FROM is that stupid ass photo game.  Can't remember the name.

Thanks for the info man.
And strangely enough, this was actually for my zombie game xD
Just was looking for ways to make it creepier.
It wont have just zombies though...

What game were you talking about in the beggining however?

I remember clocktower...i got it the day it came out..
I was a kid, and the suspense got to me xD
I would usally watch my older brother play.

Oh and exploding heads are a must.
Maybe blood splatter on the character too... and visual damage...

 

[___]

Sanitarium had some pretty creepy moments.  There was a DOS adventure game way, way back in the 286-386 days about some kind of strange, morbid alien invasion.  Only thing I really remember is a giant eyeball flying around the empire state building and a factory producing "lady fingers" where you get chased by some monster.  Anyways, gave me the creeps when I was a kid.  If anyone knows what the title of this game was, I'd love to hear it.

 

[The Urchin]

It's a game called Maniac Mansion.  You pick between like 8 kids to play as (pick 3).  And you can beat the game in like 20 different ways.  And I don't mean different endings I mean actually beat it by doing something completelly different.  Say you could call the aliens the mansion owner stole from and they will come get him.

 

[Makoto]

A video game TO NOT TAKE EXAMPLE FROM is that stupid ass photo game.  Can't remember the name.

Are you talking about Fatal Frame? That game was ****ing awesome!
It scared the **** out of me when I would walk through a doorway, only to have a ghost walk past behind me. *_*

If ths is the game you're referring to, then did you actually even play it for very long? I hate when people base their opinions on games without even actually playing them for more than a minute. I had a friend who refused to play Silent Hill because of his experience with the demo in which he claimed he couldn't even do anything and was trapped in the corner by monsters that killed him, but that particular part was the dream sequence in the game and you're supposed to die. It was less than five minutes into the game... >.>

But back to the original topic. I think it would be kind of hard to make a scary game with RPG Maker. You just wouldn't get the same sense of dread or fear like you would playing a game like Silent Hill.

As to what makes a horror game scary though...I think the scariest things are the things that you can't see. Seeing a figure behind a screen, only to find there's nothing there when you go to look. Things that mess with your head. Watch some Japanese horror movies such as 'Ju-on' and 'Dark Water' or the Korean movie 'A Tale of Two Sisters' to get some ideas.

Certain sounds can make a game scary as well. If you're ever played Eternal Darkness then you may know what I mean, hearing screams and pounding on the walls out of no where as you walk through the mansion, but you have to time this kind of stuff because it won't be as scary if you hear it all the time.

 

[The Urchin]

A video game TO NOT TAKE EXAMPLE FROM is that stupid ass photo game.  Can't remember the name.

Are you talking about Fatal Frame? That game was ****ing awesome!
It scared the **** out of me when I would walk through a doorway, only to have a ghost walk past behind me. *_*

If ths is the game you're referring to, then did you actually even play it for very long? I hate when people base their opinions on games without even actually playing them for more than a minute. I had a friend who refused to play Silent Hill because of his experience with the demo in which he claimed he couldn't even do anything and was trapped in the corner by monsters that killed him, but that particular part was the dream sequence in the game and you're supposed to die. It was less than five minutes into the game... >.>

But back to the original topic. I think it would be kind of hard to make a scary game with RPG Maker. You just wouldn't get the same sense of dread or fear like you would playing a game like Silent Hill.

As to what makes a horror game scary though...I think the scariest things are the things that you can't see. Seeing a figure behind a screen, only to find there's nothing there when you go to look. Things that mess with your head. Watch some Japanese horror movies such as 'Ju-on' and 'Dark Water' or the Korean movie 'A Tale of Two Sisters' to get some ideas.

Certain sounds can make a game scary as well. If you're ever played Eternal Darkness then you may know what I mean, hearing screams and pounding on the walls out of no where as you walk through the mansion, but you have to time this kind of stuff because it won't be as scary if you hear it all the time.

Fatal Frame, that's it!  Ugh, how could anyone enjoy that game?  I played it for like 15 or 20 minutes and just was disgusted by how bad it was.

And yeah, i forgot that, but ambient sounds will always help the mood.  Heavy breathing, random noises (scratches, stuff dropping, monster sounds, ect)  It's also essential to get the music right.

 

[Brewmeister]

HAHAHAHA. You don't even know how old I am so how can you say that?  (That glimmer thing)

Your age is in your profile.

My point was... Maniac Mansion came out about the same time you were born (~1987), and "exploding hamster" jokes were around
for quite some time prior to that.


I started putting a Cthulhu database together. I think I'll persue making a "Lovecraftian" starter kit. (and then make a game with it as well.)

Be Well

 

[CERU]

First of all, Fatal Frame is a good game.

Second of all, Hellloooooooo? I've made a pretty big horror game for RPG Maker already.

First of all, there is a way to make 2D graphics scary and it isn't loads of blood. Its the same way 3D is scary.

ATMOSPHERE.

The first step to creating a good atmosphere is by playing with light and shadow (Shadow prevails in my game). The best way to do this is with fogs, and 2nd fog scripts which I plan to play with for my next title.

The second step to creating a good atmosphere is sound and music. You need to have GOOD sounds (I suggest you find one monster sound on the internet and pay for it and then edit in 30 different ways like I did XD ... $3 can go a long way ...) There's also background sound that is very important if you can obtain it as well as

The third step is to have a SET VISUAL STYLE. This means all your characters and maps MUST match the same style and tie in together. It is best if you don't use ripped graphics. You can also have a visual style in which everything is worn down by editing tilesets in photoshop.

I'm not going to tell you exactly how to make a horror game though, after all, I want my games to be the best horror games for RPG Maker out there. Or at least the scariest ones ...

I also want to add that it is VERY DIFFICULT TO CREATE A HORROR ATMOSPHERE No MATTER WHETHER THE GAME IS 2D or 3D. I cannot stress enough that spattering blood everywhere and adding creepy sound effects here and there will not make your game scary. Everything has to be done CAREFULLY.

That is all.

 

[___]

I think you could easily pull off a horror game in a classic RPG format, personally.  More than anything it's a real shame it hasn't been done already.  I guess Parasite Eve had some good horror moments in a basically RPG format, but I'm talking RMXP style, SNES - early PS1.  When I say it could be done easily, of course, what I mean is that the format is capable of it.  It's a rare person who can really hack it as a horror writer or designer, who understands that true terror is more than cheap thrills and shock value (schlock value? :D).

 

[jimme_reashu]

Limited cast - It's easier to care about three people than 20. Also, it's easier to get scared when alone... Although undefined screams of agony from an undefined place somewhere not at all that far away could help from time to time.

Limited supplies - If the player only has one potion, the player will be more careful, more strategic, and more concentrated... That's when you fling something unexpected at them! It also helps the player care more about the cast.

Limited space - Don't let the cast escape. Don't let new characters in unless it's fairly early in the game. Don't let anyone else know that the protagonists are their either. Either by making the area farking huge and with little people, or by constraining the player to a small area, perhaps somewhere underground, you can make the feeling of hopelessness that much bigger.

Limited encounters - Don't give the characters unlimited amounts of XP. Above all, don't let encounters become common-place, it totally ruins the suspense that can be built up from them. This also gives you more time to spend on making each encounter unique and plot-advancing.

So you see, it's all about limits...

 

[Clizzz]

Hmmm, very interesting ... just as I was starting to brainstorm ideas for my horror/adventure/suspense game ...

I think setting the ambience is important. As some of the others said, stuff like dripping taps, the occasional agonized scream, and the pitter-patter of feet is scary. And If you can manipulate your cutscenes with the correct type of music, you could pull off some serious Scarin'.

My favorite horror scene would have to be something like a squad of military or armed civilians go into some questionable room. The door locks and from the outside you can here blood-curtling screams and gunshots. As the scream goes on you might here the loud grunt of whatever's in the room as the pop of gunfire grows less and less. Now thats scary. Nothin' like being alone in the dark. And with the right type of environment, you can make it a breath-snatcher.

Ok, there you go, enough of my demented horror stories.

 

[___]

The reason all those things are frightening is that they suggest things and let the imagination wonder what their cause is.  You must leave as much as possible to the imagination and let it run wild with its own suppositions; the worst part in any horror fiction is when you find out what you've been afraid of the whole time, as it's rarely as scary as what you dreamed up.  Lovecraft was good in that respect because he often just didn't tell you at all.  He played on things that he was frightened of, mostly things to do with the unknown depths of the ocean, time and space, where anything could be hiding.
When dealing with a setting that is fantastic in more than just its horrific aspect, you mustn't underestimate your own setting either.  Remember to keep things in context of your fiction is my advice, tell a story that would be scary to your characters, and let your player immerse themselves in that persona.