Midnight - Enter the Survival Horror (DEMO + Teaser Trailer)

[Zylos]

Yes, people have already mentioned that the demo's not scary enough. It's more than awesome enough, but just not scary enough. That's something I've been working to remedy, so don't worry. The finished project will be a lot more "jumpier" than the demo.

[tSwitch]

try using cosmetic fogs on the map to create shading, and hiding zombies in the shaded areas, another thing you could try, is dropping all sound effects to 70%, especially if there was background music.  Then when you wanted something to be scary, you play it at 100% volume, an idue to people turning up their speakers (they usually do) it'd sound like it's 130% volume, and much more surprizing.

it felt like more of a Resident Evil styled survival game than a Silent Hill or Fatal Frame to me.  Which is a good thing, if done right.  But the shock factor of RE was mainly monsters popping out of walls and such when you least expected it, and were -right- next to you in a matter of moments.

good luck with the future of the game

[Karo Rushe]

;p Wellm you need to like make mosters appear out of nowhere in the most "Unexpected" places, & enough, I am having trouble just massacring Zombies, d**n them!

[tSwitch]

yeah, that's something I found rather easy to do, was kill the zombies.
(I know it was a demo, looking forward to the more difficult final version)

[Knight Rider]

;p Well you need to like make monsters appear out of nowhere in the most "Unexpected" places, & enough, I am having trouble just massacring Zombies, d**n them!

Yes that seems to be a goos idea... also you should make like some area monster running to you really fast (like Oven Man from RE4, in the Laboratory where you find the Regenerators monster)

[Zylos]

try using cosmetic fogs on the map to create shading, and hiding zombies in the shaded areas, another thing you could try, is dropping all sound effects to 70%, especially if there was background music.  Then when you wanted something to be scary, you play it at 100% volume, an idue to people turning up their speakers (they usually do) it'd sound like it's 130% volume, and much more surprizing.

The fog shading is good for small rooms, but fairly difficult for long hallways. However, it is something that I will try. As for the music, I've already got most of the ambient music set to 80 and horror music set to 100. It feels like I'm cheating if I do it too much though, and it might do more to annoy a person rather than to scare them. I'll keep experimenting with it though.

;p Wellm you need to like make mosters appear out of nowhere in the most "Unexpected" places, & enough, I am having trouble just massacring Zombies, d**n them!

Monsters so far will be coming from around corners, from behind furniture, from behind doors (just as you'r about to open it), from under the soil, from the occational fireplace, rising from the floor (even though you thought it was just another victim), bursting through walls, and even one or two will drop down supposedly from the ceiling (such as how the Bandersnatch does in the demo).

The key to making the game ten times easier is making sure you have enough distance between you and the monster before you even attempted to kill it. If it's too close, put the gun down and run like hell!

[Karo Rushe]

yeah, if the Z butto wasn't that away from my hand to reach while I fire & take it out =)


&, the last is, i a way, like goa make the player go around every corner quiet, also, the fact to like, make the room look all clear & suddenly they appear when you thought you were alone x__X Ermm.

I just have some sugar rush . . . last night was just trying to not get squash by the boulders =X

[Knight Rider]

Can't wait for full game. I remember in RE 4, the Regenerators and the Iron Maiden scared the s*** out of me.

[DeathLock~]

I've downloaded the demo, and played it, it was great.

I liked the M7 intro, and esspecially the blood charsets, animations, etc.
The evented ABS is great, except that you can't move when you shoot, annoyed me. XD
Overall this game is good, and I hope that the full game is worth it.

[Rune]

Allright, I'm stuck. Any spoilers on how to get the Club medallion?

Awesome game so far. This is strange coming from me, but this isn't scary enough. I'm really looking forward to future demos, and good luck to you.

Notified and +rep.

[Zylos]

Ok, to get the club medallion, you first need to head to the basement. If you're stuck on where to find the basement, think about which room could possibly have to do with those two books you found and examine everything in that room. Once you've found the basement, everything should be fairly easy to figure out.

[Dertt]

Hey Zylos, since Clericus is at serious risk of dying to to a horrendous accident, I'm thinking of making a horror game. Care to exchange ideas/resources, my furry friend?

[tSwitch]

a good horror games is actually really difficult to make properly.

[Knight Rider]

a good horror games is actually really difficult to make properly.

Yep.

Creepy sound effects (zombie moaning, doors cracking, crows, ect.) should help alot.

[tSwitch]

it's not just that, it's teh composition and how it all comes together.
It needs to feel like more than just anotehr LOZ clone with a different pallate and scary imagery

[Dertt]

I'm trying to figure out how to respond her, as it's not really enough to simply inform you that I've been creating dark, surreal images for much of my life, and working in sound design for the past several years, and that I have general experience with real-life psychological horror.
Don't worry, though... my game shan't fail to creep you out. 

[Rune]

Ok, to get the club medallion, you first need to head to the basement. If you're stuck on where to find the basement, think about which room could possibly have to do with those two books you found and examine everything in that room. Once you've found the basement, everything should be fairly easy to figure out.

I'd already got the clock gear, I just didn't know where to use it Awesome game so far, I really enjoyed playing this.

[Zylos]

You need to use the clock gear on a clock that's missing a gear. It's in the room next to where you found the blue book.

[tSwitch]

I'm trying to figure out how to respond her, as it's not really enough to simply inform you that I've been creating dark, surreal images for much of my life, and working in sound design for the past several years, and that I have general experience with real-life psychological horror.
Don't worry, though... my game shan't fail to creep you out. 

what I'm trying to say, is that creepiness isn't the only thing you need to take into consideration here.

[Rune]

You need to use the clock gear on a clock that's missing a gear. It's in the room next to where you found the blue book.

Yeah, I know now xD

Maybe you could have normal Zombies that randomly fall from the ceiling right in front of you and take you by surprise, like that thing that killed Gerod, might give the game more jump factor.

[Dertt]

what I'm trying to say, is that creepiness isn't the only thing you need to take into consideration here.

Well, other than suspense, setting, characters, creepy atmosphere, narrative, plot, story, pacing, imagery... all hopefully culminating in the potential to unnerve and frighten you... should I be considering anything else?
Because I've already got those planned out.

[tSwitch]

what I'm trying to say, is that creepiness isn't the only thing you need to take into consideration here.

Well, other than suspense, setting, characters, creepy atmosphere, narrative, plot, story, pacing, imagery... all hopefully culminating in the potential to unnerve and frighten you... should I be considering anything else?
Because I've already got those planned out.

dont' forget to make it interesting to play through.  Not just a scary Legend of Zelda.  It's hard to put it into words, but it should feel immersive, and not just like you're doing a grocery list of things in order to get out of the mansion, or get to the police station or something.

you know what I'm trying to say?

[Target]

The teaser is freaky. Mostly cuz of the music. Surprising ive been scared off of 2d games lol. Thats a first for me. Resident evil dont even scare me but this does. Great job keep it up!

[harl4101]

I know this post is very old but can you reupload the demo again at least? I'm sure I'm not alone when saying you should finish making this game! Hopefully you still have the passion for it.

[Zylos]

Through time and computer crashes and transfers and whatnot, I don't think I actually have the original copy of this particular version of the project anymore. If I did, it'd probably be on the external hard drive that I can't seem to get properly working. I apologize if anyone wanted to check it out for some odd nostalgic reasons, but it's unlikely at this point that I'll ever be able to get it back again (at least in it's entirety including the unseen areas like the upstairs rather than just the demo).

HOWEVER! I did get around to starting up a remake of the game about two years ago using seriously updated graphics and mechanics, including a totally overhauled version of the original demo. Currently, it's not going anywhere to due a creativity funk (or maybe just me being a lazy bastard, that too), but if you want to play and enjoy what's been done so far, feel free to check it out here:

Midnight Remake.