How can I make my game scary?

I thought it would be fun to try and make a scarry game but I'm not that good then it comes to scarring other guys(I get scarred easy). So I would like to know what should I do to my game to make it scarrier.
Sorry for any spelling eror I made

Just keep spelling scary wrong.

How many scars do you have

How many scars do you have

Um... none. I am concentraiting to make the atmosfier now

wow, is it really so hard for you guys to be serious?

I don't feel that I get scared easily, but I haven't watched a lot of horror movies anyway. Still, I think that a dark atmosphere coupled with some music that makes you feel like there's going to come a zombie and eat your head any second, together with a lot of character animations (aka good graphics) and genious level design could make a game seriously spooky.
Really, I think a good horror game needs all those things up there (including "other"..), since a good horror game isn't something easy to make, especially in a bird-perspective, pixel-art-featuring game maker.

The level design, in my not-so-humble opinion could be so that the player would check around a corner because he seriosuly expects some huge bastard of a brain-eater to come charging as soon as he takes another step, only to realize that the bastard's actually behind him. And then he has to fight the rest of the way through without any brains. Which can be tough, trust me.

Good graphics would mean that it should be more or less profesional, perhaps even making blood splurt out of the zombies you start shooting at. Also, you of course should choose characters to fit the game, and you'd prolly have to forget about using RO sprites for example.

I bet you can find lots of music out there that would work, and if there isn't something made for RMXP, you're sure to still be able to find some BGM or so somewhere. Footsteps for the player and events wouldn't be too stupid either, to make it more realistic.

And realism is what's so important. You have to feel like you're in the game, not sitting by your computer.

The game-play has to be featuring an ABS. Anything else won't work. Ever.

A good title wouldn't be too bad either. Just dont be an idiot and choose something like:
 "Sonic and the Spooky Guy Who Forces Him To Go Into Some Maniac Labaratory Which Is Extremely Huge With A Ridiculous Amount Of Enemies Inside With Sick Health That Apart From That Are Like Any Other Enemies That I, The Creator, Have Ever Created" II.
-Eternal

This, as it has already been stated, is really something large to pull off. But something that wasn't mentioned, cause most likely it goes with out saying, is TRAPS! You have to have some intense and creative Traps. This is always a nice break from typical Shooter (if thats what your going for) Game Play. As I agree with Eternal with the fact a great Horror game needs just about all of the things in the poll, one could say that a GREAT STORY always helps if other things are lacking some. Good Luck man, and I hope that people are scared when things are all said and done.

Well, you can add a good fog. Somebody pasted a good fog somewhere at the recource forums, that made you have a dark border around the screen. Or make a lamp system, so you can only see a bit. And as somebody else already stated, an ABS is needed. Some good graphics and tilesets are always good. Maybe something with skeletons outside the house in a kind of spooky world, just like the Dark World in ALttP, but then scarier, and houses as dungeons. And maybe the border around the screen outside, and the lamp inside. And give the screen a good screen tone. And you must map good and music is important too. It's the best to make everything scary. But GL!

-Serge282

Make shit pop out and have loud screaming noises.
Pretty much sums it up.

That's not scary, that's surprising.

Scary games are hard to make when they're 2D. But generally, dangerous things coming when you don't expect it can make a person jump no matter the format. Think for a second about a door the player has gone through multiple times in a relatively safe area, then think how the player will react when they open the door again and find a monster point blank right there in front of them.

To be honest the best horrors whether it be games or films are the ones that make the player/viewer scare themselves, you just give them the push lol. You really need to do things that get into people's heads. Here's a few examples/tips.

Music
Quiet eerie music is great for building suspense, even just the soundtrack of a storm outside or wind whistling is good. Pianos can be quite creepy if used correctly, would be good if you could make it out of tune slightly.

Dissonance is a good musical trick to take advantage of, this is the use of unnatural sounding tones together, think of Hitchcock's famous psycho track when the lady gets stabbed, two tones a semi-tone apart is not music to one's ears and can cause the listener to feel edgy, like nails on a chalkboard. Using this well could create a solid creepy feel.

 Ambience
 - Don't be afraid of silence - Although music can create atmosphere, the lack of music can cause the player to become anxious if the atmosphere is already set.

 - Make use of lighting - Making things look scary is cool but people are more commonly afraid of what they can't see rather than what they can. Try using lighting effects to create dim patches or completely pitch black areas. Flickering lights help lol, you can show them something scary for a second and then they can't see anything. What's going on!?

 - Make use of sound effects - If you're in a supposedly empty place there's nothing freakier than the sound of something that you can't see. Whispers or creaking noises. Perhaps a door opening and shutting at the flicker of a light, the sound of someone else's footsteps, all these things can cause paranoia or chills up one's spine


I was going to mention the visual side of things but I think I summed what I would say up with lighting. To sum up though I would say that keeping them guessing is always good, you always know in a movie when someone is going to jump out because of the music, try to do that sparingly otherwise your scare moments will be too predictable. Actually that's good, unpredictability is a good thing to keep in mind

I feel like I just wrote a tutorial on this topic lol. Never mind. Hope you find all that useful I'm off to bed lol.

Everything is needed to that!

Specially the dark places to explore with those scary suspanse musics!

Try playing One Night/2/3, it's an RPG Maker Project by DarkGaia and a very scary game series in my opinion. I think he's done a really good job of getting the atmosphere right and it would give you a good feel for what you can do in RPG Maker to make your game a little more scary, and might even inspire you to try something different.

Note: These games were produced in VX but the features used appear in both VX and XP platforms.
One Night - http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24532&hl=One+Night
One Night 2: The Beyond - http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30938&hl=One+Night
One Night 3: Shadows of Stillwater - http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36738&hl=One+Night

It's easy really.

Just make the player fully aware that when they least expect it there will be a really loud, sudden and intense moment. That's precisely why those stupid online pranks where the face jumps out and scares you are just as bad if not worse when you know something is going to jump out.

1) Scary, not scarry. Those mean two completely different things.
2) Atmosphere, not atmosfir

3) Well, really I don't know what your game theme is but you should try to add near monochrome tints to maps, fog, small lit areas and anyting else to give a creepy feel. Also, make unexpected and tense events and some ambiance to build up suspense.

I changed the topic title just now because honestly it was fucking pissing me off. lol. That is all.