Elements of a Horror Game

Thought Process

Spoiler for:

So, I consider myself a creative writer. I tend to find myself writing dozens and dozens of stories for seemingly no reason other than it's fun. But, ever since I found RPG Maker (XP/VX) I've found a means of putting my stories into motion. I've started and ended plenty of promising projects that I found awesome at the time, but put them to an end because I simply found a "better" idea/story. That's just how annoying my mind is. Millions of new ideas that keep interfering with my initial ideas. But, I've actually sat down and spent days working on a single story: A horror story. A first for me, and maybe it's the uniqueness that keeps my going on this project. Wow, that was a tangent. Okay, well now that you know my life, I would finally like to get to my question. And yes, it is about horror games.

What makes a game horrifying?

Using RMVX, I am attempting to create an atmosphere that is eerie, dark and just scary. I want the player to worry. When I say that, I mean that I want the player to be afraid of what to do. Should I press this button? If I do, will something pop out? Should I walk into this room? Etc.

So, maybe I'm asking too much, but what do you generally look for in a successful horror game? Do you WANT to be scared? Is it the loneliness that frightens you? Should the main character be timid and weak (the main character is female) or should she give the player a sense of power?

Background: The game is in the present time. Meaning, I am using full modern tilesets and lighting as well as heavy fog and very very eerie music. Most of the music is unlicensed, so you won't have to worry about hearing something and saying; "Oh, I heard this from Resident Evil!" or anything like that. So, I shall post some screenshots.

Screenshots

Spoiler for:

Any help would be appreciated. ANY. I'm talking useful script suggestions, music links (non-licensed), character/map resources, etc. And, I would LOVE suggestions for a title screen. Mine is pretty bad.

-H0m3r0w

I would suggest a different layer effect than just multiply for the fog. Although it rids the fog of black, the white is really really really harsh. Too harsh. Think about using a different color than white/black. Maybe black/darkyellow or something. Make it look less like smoke and more like a fog. I half expect to see fire all over some map to explain why there's so much smoke around. I like your explanation of how to make a game scary. I would argue that you don't really need to have a female main character to insinuate that the player is timid or weak, but it helps I suppose.

Hmm, yes I was thinking the same thing. I actually had a few people test the demo and I got a few complaints on the white/black color scheme. I'm thinking of using it specifically for certain situations (introduction of a new monster or whatever) and then just keeping the game in a sort of sepia tone or whatever I can find that works well. But outdoor areas and such will definitely have fog.

Oh, and by no means am I suggesting that women are generally weak and timid Sorry if I offended or anything. I'm just playing off of the norm's. You know?

I think it'd be much scarier to slowly bring the player into the game. Since I've played the game I can say that the horror is drawn out too quickly. It'd be cool to have a story play a bit in the beginning maybe a feeling of safeness, then having it slowly fade away, but although the safeness is gone, the horror doesn't have to begin. That should slowly come in after you are unsafe. I reference to the movie The Strangers because it gave a feel of being safe at it's start then when the main character got alone she wasn't scared, but since you knew it was a scary movie, you began to get a bit timid. Then you see the man enter the home. So yeah, it'd be good to take the story telling slow until the player understands the situation then the speed should increase to put a weight on the players shoulders and make them a bit nervous.

If you want the player to be scared, you have to make the player really believe that their actions are likely to kill them, and then get them to do it anyway.  That's really two points, so let's break down some ways to do each one.

How to make the player really believe that their actions are likely to kill them:
- Kill them for their incorrect actions.
- Make their incorrect actions put them in mortal peril with extremely little time to recover.
- Make it unclear what is the correct choice.  Not complete random chance, but certainly don't make the way to survive obvious.

How to make the player do it anyway:
- Don't give them enough time to really consider which action is most likely to be correct.  Don't let them pause or contemplate.
- Make sure they are being chased or timed or attacked.
- Make sure that not doing anything is the scariest option.

Obviously people want to be scared in horror games.  If they didn't, they'd play non-horror games.

First: try subtract for the fog effect.
Secondly: use sound to your advantage.
Tertiary: to make a monster truly scary, one must have little to no way to defend onesself.

I know this is a tangent, but some of your maps are way too empty. Also, where did you get that tile set?

"- Make it unclear what is the correct choice.  Not complete random chance, but certainly don't make the way to survive obvious."

I found this to be an extremely good point. It sounds real simple, but it's a strong to consider in in this genre of games. All of your points were nice though, and best believe I copied them down in Word for reference

The screenshots are purposely bland. I'm just showing the fog effects and lighting and whatever else I have in the game. I wasn't trying to do a mapping contest or anything lol. And I can send you the tilesets if you like.

"Secondly: use sound to your advantage."

Again, another good point. And trust me, I am utilizing sound to it's fullest. Noone is scared of Jason. It's the freakin music that creeps people out the most.

"Tertiary: to make a monster truly scary, one must have little to no way to defend onesself."

I agree with this point. The game DOES progress with weaponry. You find a hammer, then a knife, then a pistol (with a VERY limited amount of ammo scattered across the building / town).

"Make sure that not doing anything is the scariest option."

I love this idea haha. I might need some examples, however

"It'd be cool to have a story play a bit in the beginning maybe a feeling of safeness, then having it slowly fade away, but although the safeness is gone, the horror doesn't have to begin."

I've worked on that a bit Reading email, etc, is supposed to make you feel like: Uhhh okay I'm here... maybe I can just leave? You meet NOTHING until the second floor of the building, or if you wander out into the garden on the first floor lol. But your true introduction to an enemy is on the second floor, and it's rather easy to just run away. Generally, that's what you're doing: Attempting to get away from what's going to kill you lol. I DO need some ideas on how to close the character into situations and force them to think though, without giving them the option of turning and running or using cheesy doors that just wont open. I'm attempting to find a realistic approach to "trapping" someone, but it's kinda hard to wrap my head around lol

But, thank you for the help guys. Again, anything will be considered. I will release a demo by the end of the week (Sunday) after the Packers beat the Eagles.

Horror is about the unknown and the unexpected. Play Amnesia and you'll understand the scariest monster is one you know nothing about, or the one that is unpredictable, or the one you can't see. Knowing nothing is what truly scares people.

This will explain what I mean.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1933-Where-Did-Survival-Horror-Go

It should help you out a little!

"Make sure that not doing anything is the scariest option."

I love this idea haha. I might need some examples, however

I played Alan Wake recently.  It is a horror game for the 360.  Excellent game, does an amazing job with the horror.

There are times when you're stuck in the woods with extremely limited ammo.  Like, it's not even actually enough ammo to kill everything you meet, because you might have 30 bullets and encounter 10 enemies and they each take 5-8 shots to kill.  And these enemies are appearing literally out of nowhere and chasing you with axes.  Three axe hits and you're dead.  And while there are parts where you have to be stealthy, you also have to take into consideration that if you wait long enough, more enemies will reappear.  This is especially dangerous when you're trying to solve a puzzle, or hunt down a box of hidden supplies, so you know that if you take too much time you will definitely die.  It's a simple example, but there you go.

Giving the player a flashlight that has a very limited battery life is another way to limit the amount of time they can spend.  Alan Wake sort of does this, but the flashlight only runs out of battery when you switch it to high-beams (which are used as a weapon to stun shadows) and actually slowly recharges when it's on normal.  If you wanted the player to be more terrified, you could do something similar, but make the weapon run down its battery even while shining normally.  It would run down very slowly but would ultimately impose a time limit on the player.  When the flashlight runs out they will lose the ability to see clearly in front of them, and I would also make them be attacked by enemies far more often when the flashlight isn't turned on.

Stocking, firstly, I thank you for the link Very interesting stuff. But yes, you are correct. Not knowing what to do is possibly the scariest thing someone can go through. Especially when they're in an abandoned building with limited lighting lol. When I think of the: "Wtf" type of moment/enemy, I always think of Pyramid head. Thee most eerie of all enemies in my opinion. But again, very useful video. Anyone workin on a horror game should watch as well.

Alan Wake, I remember the first time I read about the game in the GameInformer. I like the idea of the flashlight running out of battery a lot. My game currently has a lighting system (not just for environments, but the user has a lantern) and I use all conditional branches, so, the user is only allowed to use the lantern in areas that they should need to. I'm trying to find a way to have a gauge (through use of a variable or something) so that the player CAN run out of oil for the lantern and is forced to find more, but my method of using the lantern isn't able to do that at the moment. I use a black background that is drawn, with a circle cut in the middle, and the cut is what the player sees. It's really simplistic, but I'm not a scripter yet (although I'm going to school for Computer Science) so there isn't really much I can do haha. If it were up to me, this game would be using the Unreal Engine

I DO force the player to consider some variable things, however. She has stamina (Jet's script), so you can't just sprint from everything. She is easily injured. If anyone has heard of IllBleed for the Sega Dreamcast, there are traps and horror moments that can cause the player mental/physical illness through heart attacks, panic attacks, injured limbs, etc. Ammo is extremely scarce and the weaponry isn't from the Ghost Recon catalog if you know what I mean. Puzzles actually require you to think, look, and think again. Meaning, you don't just push a switch. You pull books from bookcase in the correct order, collect stone tables, find batteries that end up being useful in certain equipment, etc.

Stocking, firstly, I thank you for the link Very interesting stuff. But yes, you are correct. Not knowing what to do is possibly the scariest thing someone can go through. Especially when they're in an abandoned building with limited lighting lol. When I think of the: "Wtf" type of moment/enemy, I always think of Pyramid head. Thee most eerie of all enemies in my opinion. But again, very useful video. Anyone workin on a horror game should watch as well.

Alan Wake, I remember the first time I read about the game in the GameInformer. I like the idea of the flashlight running out of battery a lot. My game currently has a lighting system (not just for environments, but the user has a lantern) and I use all conditional branches, so, the user is only allowed to use the lantern in areas that they should need to. I'm trying to find a way to have a gauge (through use of a variable or something) so that the player CAN run out of oil for the lantern and is forced to find more, but my method of using the lantern isn't able to do that at the moment. I use a black background that is drawn, with a circle cut in the middle, and the cut is what the player sees. It's really simplistic, but I'm not a scripter yet (although I'm going to school for Computer Science) so there isn't really much I can do haha. If it were up to me, this game would be using the Unreal Engine

I DO force the player to consider some variable things, however. She has stamina (Jet's script), so you can't just sprint from everything. She is easily injured. If anyone has heard of IllBleed for the Sega Dreamcast, there are traps and horror moments that can cause the player mental/physical illness through heart attacks, panic attacks, injured limbs, etc. Ammo is extremely scarce and the weaponry isn't from the Ghost Recon catalog if you know what I mean. Puzzles actually require you to think, look, and think again. Meaning, you don't just push a switch. You pull books from bookcase in the correct order, collect stone tables, find batteries that end up being useful in certain equipment, etc.

If you're doing an IllBleed style game, you can have my soul if it'll let me help.

Horror games are more complex than people think. A lot of thought needs to go into the placing of things like monsters, and I can certqainly agree with on the Pyramid Head side of things. And unlike other enemies, having to fight him just made him scarier.

tl;dr. Don't bung monsters left and right.

Anyway, your welcomes for the help, I'm a nutbag for horror so if you need anything else, just ask!

Horror is about the unknown and the unexpected. Play Amnesia and you'll understand the scariest monster is one you know nothing about, or the one that is unpredictable, or the one you can't see. Knowing nothing is what truly scares people.

This will explain what I mean.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1933-Where-Did-Survival-Horror-Go

It should help you out a little!

I just got Amnesia: The dark descent the other day and I was thinking about making a horror game just like it. I want to finish Amnesia first though.

Also, I agree with salad fingers, want the player to truly fell like he is scared make sure he is defenseless. The only time i think you should have a weapon is if its a zombie survival and even then make the ammo low so you spend a lot of your time running. Another thing is make sure you have puzzles, in other words keep the player preoccupied. Make him forget this is horror then is the best time for it. Then throw him off and put some things in the middle of a hallway or somewhere expected so the player can have that I called that one (Just to make them feel better).

MOST IMPORTANT : KEEP THE PLAYER INTERESTED

Horror is about the unknown and the unexpected. Play Amnesia and you'll understand the scariest monster is one you know nothing about, or the one that is unpredictable, or the one you can't see. Knowing nothing is what truly scares people.

This will explain what I mean.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1933-Where-Did-Survival-Horror-Go

It should help you out a little!

I just got Amnesia: The dark descent the other day and I was thinking about making a horror game just like it. I want to finish Amnesia first though.

Also, I agree with salad fingers, want the player to truly fell like he is scared make sure he is defenseless. The only time i think you should have a weapon is if its a zombie survival and even then make the ammo low so you spend a lot of your time running. Another thing is make sure you have puzzles, in other words keep the player preoccupied. Make him forget this is horror then is the best time for it. Then throw him off and put some things in the middle of a hallway or somewhere expected so the player can have that I called that one (Just to make them feel better).

MOST IMPORTANT : KEEP THE PLAYER INTERESTED

Lol yea, keeping the player interested is definitely the most important part of ANY game lol. The thing is though, horror games are typically slow developing. Meaning (like Hiromu said above) the game will usually start slow, and build up. I personally have never played Amnesia or anything (I myself being more of a Left for Dead/Resident Evil 4-5 type of guy) but trust me, I've watched playthroughs lol (which isn't the same, but it's like watching a movie instead of reading the book. You get the same knowledge, you're just putting yourself in the story a bit less). So, what I mean is that the game starts rather "calm". There are VERY low volume screams/groans in the beginning and as you progress, they become more loud and you hear more and more and come into contact with more and more and start to see what exactly is going on.

Even though I enjoy the idea of scaring people, my MAIN purpose for creating this game is to tell a story.

Checklist Features thus far:
Puzzles | Music (Eerie) | Tons of Sound Effects | Story (Written out and finished) | Stamina (No unlimited sprinting) | Weapons: Hammer/Pistol/Magnum/Shotgun/Knife | Lantern (Many dark areas) | Achievement System (For replay-ability/exploration) | Zombie Sprites (VERY hard to come by, so I did some Photoshop magic and I must say, they look amazing ) | Voice Actor (I have a perfect girl for the voice of the main character, but I need creepy people too) | Tutorials (Combat is rather difficult. It's all in-game) | Save Points (no unlimited saving FF1 style) | Illness (Standing in the rain too long), Insomnia (Kinda copied that haha, but I've found some cool uses for it) and Anxiety (from IllBleed. Having a high level of anxiety decreases accuracy and stamina)

Uhh, there's more, but it's coming along rather nicely. Why do you ask? Because you guys have been helping me. Im serious, I'm not just posting this for the heck of it haha, you guys helped me out more than you know lol. I'll be posting a demo sometime this weekend so that people get the general idea of the game. I shall put you all in the credits btw.

And, any other ideas are always welcome.

EDIT

Screenies <3

Spoiler for:

First of all, it sounds like your making great progress and the ideas for the game are great. The only problem I had was when i seen your lamps lighting, its round like a Pokemon game in the caves. I have this lighting to give a nicer effect to the lighting, I got it from Zylos and i love it .

If you want to see the way it looks go to a game I made quick
Link - http://rmrk.net/index.php/topic,40982.new.html#new

First of all, it sounds like your making great progress and the ideas for the game are great. The only problem I had was when i seen your lamps lighting, its round like a Pokemon game in the caves. I have this lighting to give a nicer effect to the lighting, I got it from Zylos and i love it .

If you want to see the way it looks go to a game I made quick
Link - http://rmrk.net/index.php/topic,40982.new.html#new

Thanks I actually like the look of your lighting better lol. The only complaint I have is that it isn't big enough the picture will sway off of the screen when you enter a rather large room. The photo is fitted to the windowed size, and this game is meant to be played in Fullscreen for scary effects Just a minor edit is all.

But, I may have to keep a more yellowish tone of some sort (very small) just to keep the realism of the lantern colour and I'm going to shrink the circle a bit because you can see too far out in front.

Thanks for the pic though, you shall be credited. (And I'm gonna play some Dot Esc)

Here's one of my favorites.
Ditch the HUD.

When she's injured, show blood splatters around the edges of the screen, tinting it slightly redder the closer she is to dead, play a heavy breathing sound and maybe white noise or static.

It's a lot fancier than bars, and it really helps to push YOU'RE HURT, RUN

Yeah, it's much more scary when you don't have a HUD telling you that your relatively safe.

The fog needs to be reduced (like mentioned above), and long stretches of corridor can help build suspense. Zylos made a pretty cool horror game for RMXP: http://rmrk.net/index.php?topic=28598.0

Yea you guys bring up a good point. The thing is, I'm me. A.K.A a very inexperienced programmer when it comes to Ruby . Java/Cpp, sure, a little, but Ruby not so much. Or what is it? RGSS or something. But, I suppose I could try to do something like this through Common Events. Checking health (because the Health level is constant. You can't level up or anything like that) so I suppose it isn't too hard. And, when your health reaches a certain point, show picture, etc etc.

But yea, I was thinking to either scrap the HUD entirely or just edit it (which I've been doing ALOT of. Photoshop is my friend.) The fog has been reduced yet again lol, and I noticed that I had calls for the fog script in nearly every area, so I had to go through every map and edit it lol XP Uhh, and I have changed all rooms. Nothing too intense, but I've been researching Silent Hill games (my main inspiration for the atmosphere of the game) and I've noticed that my game didn't have many deformities in the environment or any of the grime in the corners of the room that you see so often in horror games. So, I've spent close to 3 hours creating scraps and such in the E tile lol. Still workin on it And every room had that same gray tile, which isn't as eerie. It just seems fake and me trying too hard to scare someone, which isn't scary.

An awesome feature that I have, however, are SE's running in the background, on a loop, (in certain areas) that go through a random variable loop, playing different sounds every few seconds to add to the creepiness and sound.

cozziekuns, thank you for the link also. And NAMKCOR, the suggestion you gave me shall be worked on tomorrow morning.

NAMKCOR: Got a question for ya though. Now, the blood on the screen. Should it hinder her vision? Like, make things blurry for her? And, should it effect the players movement? Also, how should recovery work? Should it be CoD style and you just kinda sit and heal up or should the player be forced to heal? The breathing idea seems like it could annoy someone that doesn't have a health kit, so when I incorporate it (you will be credited) I'll make sure to have it every so often instead of a continuous loop.

Hope I Helped

In my opinion, if you want to make a great horror game, there should be the least amount of characters in the game as possible, to create the feel of loneliness.

I suggest a majority of your maps be smaller. Cramped spaces create a very natural reaction of heightened panic in humans, whether simulation or in real life. Even if you don't have claustrophobia. Has to do with a lot of technical hormones and release of chemicals in the brain, complicated stuff.

Another tip is dont just go right into the chase where your running from stuff, build the characters bonds first

To Fast - Left For Dead 2 (No hating, just the story wasn't leaving butterfly's lol)

Good Story - Resident evil (Great Series, Great Games)


Oh and I Love LFD2 and RE

If i would make a horror game, i would stay with classic things from old horror/survival horror games.

-Very limited item space
-some scary thingy in place that are not too scary
-make rooms wich are look scary, in wich someone will expect some scary stuff, but it doean't happen.
-NO HP BARS AND ANY RPG ELEMENTS. No bars even in menu, wich should be limited to items and documents.
-if it's survival horror, try to not make turn based action, or too fast ARPG type action. Look old silent hill. Very limited ammo and the most game you are using mele combat with pipe or knife.
-like others said, small creepy places, not too much characters.
-Riddles, not too much, not too limited, but mind breaking (remember silent hill piano riddle for the first time?)
-try to make something new, unique. You can make zombie game but... cmon. Anotyher one? Look at Silent Hill or Alone in the DArk, or even rpgmaker creations like One Night or Eclipse. There are somewhat unique.

If you want scary things in games, look at Fatal Frame 1-3 and the wallmasters from zelda. Scariest monster ever.  I don't even care.

Honestly, psychological thrill is the way to go.  Don't let your characters get strong easily.  Make them be underhanded.  Make them fear even safe places.  Time them, take stuff from them!  Put in stuff that makes them feel liek something terrible is about to happen, but don't always have it happen.  That way, they'll never know when something lurks.

  I've never found games like silent hill or RE scary, even though they're classified as horror.  Psychological horror ftw.