scary things
hey I currently working a project and just curious about what scares people
My aim is to create the design for a scary game.
So what is your most scary game/film or other media and what was about it that scared you?
and what other things in real life scare you?
THANKS!
My aim is to create the design for a scary game.
So what is your most scary game/film or other media and what was about it that scared you?
and what other things in real life scare you?
THANKS!
Replies
Jokes aside, Play games like, F.E.A.R, Doom 3 and Doom 3 ROE, and also Thief 3. In Thief 3 Deadly Shadow: The Shalebridge Cradle and Abysmal Gale were the scariest.
Play them to figure out which scares people the most.
I]EDIT: Boo![/I
F.E.A.R. had some absolutely brilliant scripted events.
Download and play the F.E.A.R. 2 Demo. It shows you how scripted events are done right. (And stands as one of the best game demo's I've ever played).
Amnesia was a great indy game that just gave you a feeling of complete terror.
As far as monsters and such go, all you need is good audio. The most frightening enemies I've ever dealt with were the Cybernetic Nursemaids in Systemshock 2 and the Hammerhaunts in Thief, both of which were built from around 200 polys with a fairly unremarkable texture stretched over it. The sound though was utterly terrifying like nothing else I've ever come across. A few others games have come along that have managed to generate some pretty high levels of fear and apprehension (notably Amnesia and Thief 3), but nothing has quite that sheer heart pounding, finger dislocating terror that those two enemies had.
the there be gosts there is mostly lighting and weird things that pop up from time to time with music like that [ame="
Cause most of these examples are things that are startling.
Something that is scary is something that will make you afraid. It's like when we were kids, and we'd watch a horror movie, anything really, and then couldn't get any sleep that night. Doesn't really happen to me anymore. I don't really know if it's possible to scare adults, other than religious phobia or economic woes or what have you.
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Things they have in common:
- Darkness
- Disorientation
- Randomness
Minecraft
- You have something to lose. When you're down spelunking and you're down deep, your inventory is full of treasure it takes one creeper, or one slip and you're in lava, or you've fallen down a ravine. There's stress between cost/benefit. Do you continue across the chasm to that diamond you espied, or do you play it safe and head back to the surface to deposit your loot?
- Monsters are completely random, as is the terrain. You DO NOT KNOW what is around the corner.
Amnesia
- Empathy. When the character gets scared, by his breathing, by other cues, I get scared.
- Being chased and afraid to look back. In Amnesia, if you look at the monsters you start to go crazy, which warps your viewport, which in turn makes the game more difficult and disorienting. The most terrifying thing I have been through in that game was (spoiler, highlight to read), the water area when to get to the next box, I had to jump in the water and I could hear the thing splashing behind me (I play with surround headphones), it was gaining, I could hear it, but it was invisible. I think I was actually gibbering by the end of this encounter.
- Audio. The audio in Amnesia is amazing, so much is communicated with a quickened breath, a far-off, haunting scream. Where this falls short is unpredictability. After playing for a little I know the difference between audio ambience and the sound of something that's actually dangerous. If an ambient sound SOMETIMES meant something dangerous, and a monster roar SOMETIMES turned out to be nothing at all, the player has nothing to rely on and uncertainty enters into the experience.
Uncertainty breeds fear.
Nothing you can put on screen can be scarier than what a player will conjure up in his or her own mind. Your monster must not only hide in the darkness, it must be the darkness.
http://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/
system shock 2 scared the living shit out of me - that was a lot to do with the sound
if there's one film that got to me it's the grudge - that was largely down to sound
basically it's all down to sound - if you build up tension using sound you can scare people by simply stopping it, or showing them a monster, or blowing something up, or making a louder noise
http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue
AHHHH!!
Did you see that? Scared the fuck out of me!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=n9YD2PFF31E#t=145s
siren:blood curse was a very creepy game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4VXouaScN00
e.g. that regenerator thingy in dead space. I hate such things.
Scariest moment in games... The Zombie dog jumping through the window in the first Resident Evil. Near shat myself. Silent Hill pyramid head. Realms of the Haunting gets an honourable mention for scariness as well.
Scary films. Nightmare on elm street 1, Evil Dead, IT, Killer klowns from outer space.
Amen to that, freaking hate the sound of monkeys now!
The first FEAR was great as well for me because of the damn ladder...if you played it, you know what I mean...
And Aliens vs Predator 2 I think it was, the first 10 minutes where you never saw an alien, but it was only cues about it and when the pipe came down...freaking empties a clip then. lol.
EDIT: Oh yeah, Amnesia, totally forgot that, the freaking water levels...damn they were freaky.
-being helpless, you can only run or hide because fighting back isn't an option
-feelings of unfamiliarity, like being lost, strange sounds, or the loss of senses
-hearing an enemy you can't see
-being hunted
-the feeling of being watched
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47639
To add to this conversation, I'd say proper use of the Uncanny Valley. Something that seems to be normal, but is subtly just... Wrong. You can't put your finger on it, but it's there.