What can we learn from horror games?

[everennui]

Reading through the posts on the the other thread (What's your favorite horror game and why did it scare you?) I noticed a lot of people were not big fans of the jump scare. I think it can be pulled off well, if it isn't spammed. (Once every hour or so. Making it the penultimate time to do so. Suspense and tension. Jumpscare release. ) It actually can be quiet musical.

I looked at a few new games. Eversion was mentioned a few times. I think it reminds me a little bit of Castlevania when you have to race the left wall. ...or when random hands just pop-up. (That I see as kind of a stab or stun.)

The mood of a game is important. How is this achieved? It's many things. Who has done it well in the past?

I think the best horror games don't aim to scare you a lot. Just like anything - it's quality over quanity. You have a certain expectation to be tense in a game like this.

Darkness?

.......

Let's here what Doomers have to say about horror.

[deadwolves]

What??????

[Tracer]

Well, I now know that if I ever find a first aid kit, I'm about to die.

[Li'l devil]

What i learned from playing horror games is that some horror games are scary..

[Deleted_Account]

From the many years of playing horror games, I've learned that doors are generally locked, stuck or jammed.

[HorrorMovieRei]

I learned that you should never mess with mirrors if something spooky is afoot.

[Jaxxoon R]

Keys do not open doors in the witch's house, bowls of soup do.

[scifista42]

I learned that I don't like jumpscares, shockers and similar things.

[Azuruish]

I already love that thread just because as it named... What we learned... Ha ha ha...
Ok, i can say about a few moments:
- You must shoot at head to kill zombie (Resident Evil)
- Always check out dark corners by flashlight (Doom 3)
- Stay away from city which is fully covered by fog. (Silent Hill)
- Little girls are bad (F.E.A.R)
- Cut limbs to kill necromorf (Dead Space)

[Li'l devil]

Ok, in all seriousness, there is a something that i've learned from horror games: it's that the scariest thing is not monsters or jumpscares, but the expectation of them. Sometimes there're moments in horror games where you can expect really scary things and get frightened, and then.. nothing happens.

Remember Delta Labs Level 1 from Doom 3? That's why i like this level so much: the first 10 minutes of gameplay - no monsters. You can only hear them and sometimes briefly see them, and you proceed slowly, scared, expect them to pop up soon, but they don't.. Considering the fact that in Doom 3 you usually encounter monsters as soon as you start the level, this is very unusual and makes you feel that something's wrong, and the fear escalates..

[Voros]

Ok.
I only played one really (well seriously that is).

SCP CB!

-always leave the door open... unless you HAVE to close it.

-hope that a measly medkit can stop the bleeding. Properly.

-dont go into the red lighted endroom, or else a bad, bad event will trigger.

-dont take the Maintenance Elevator, but it seems necassary...

-try to get to the containment chamber of 106 and contain it (106 is one of the monsters)

-dont let the Mobile Task Force soldiers shoot you. Or listen to their attempts to flush you out.

-BLINK OFTEN BEFORE ENTERING A NEW ROOM (I've died so many times just because of this).

[VGamingJunkie]

scifista42 said:

I learned that I don't like jumpscares, shockers and similar things.

The thing about jumpscares is they're supposed to be the payoff. If there's no tension leading up to it, it's not scary, it's just annoying. The key is to make it completely unpredictable and make the environment play tricks on you so you'll never quite know when the thing pops out at you.

[Varis Alpha]

ChekaAgent said:

Remember Delta Labs Level 1 from Doom 3? That's why i like this level so much: the first 10 minutes of gameplay - no monsters. You can only hear them and sometimes briefly see them, and you proceed slowly, scared, expect them to pop up soon, but they don't.. Considering the fact that in Doom 3 you usually encounter monsters as soon as you start the level, this is very unusual and makes you feel that something's wrong, and the fear escalates..

it'd be a lot more scarier if the enemies in the game were actually threatening to the player, and didn't succumb to a few shotgun blasts. but they aren't, and they do, so i can safely say that Doom 3 is a very not-scary game at all.

[scifista42]

MetroidJunkie said:

The key is to make jumpscares completely unpredictable and make the environment play tricks on you so you'll never quite know when the jumpscare pops out at you.

And yet it only works under an assumption that you're innately able to find "enjoyment" in being shocked by a sudden fast movement or change.

[antares031]

Jaxxoon R said:

Keys do not open doors in the witch's house, bowls of soup do.

Speaking of Witch's House, I learned that not only the scary sound effects and jumpscares make the horror game, but also the story makes the horror game even better and scarier. My spine didn't shiver at all until I see the true ending.

[MrGlide]

I'v grown unafraid of the new horror Games, it's because you don't lose much when you die. You just go back to the check point and try again. I want to see a Horror game like dark souls where if you die you've something on the line if you fail again. Horror games anymore just feel like trial and error.

[Voros]

Dark Souls is a horror game?
In my book, a horror game is one that gives the enemy the advantage over the player and revolves around escaping rather than fighting(at least to a minimal)... and the escaping isn't very easy too. A game that impairs your vision (darkness) or adds snags (short sprints, BLINK METER,etc) while having to survive. Of course, some tension in the atmosphere by adding unanticipated moments that basically stops the player for a few seconds (like a jumpscare, which can make you just stop to think what happened now).

[Li'l devil]

Voros said:

In my book, a horror game is one that gives the enemy the advantage over the player and revolves around escaping rather than fighting(at least to a minimal)... and the escaping isn't very easy too.

Not necessary. There are a lot of horror games where the player has advantage over enemies and they're still scary.

Horror game is a game that relies on, well, horror elements - disturbing visuals, creepy sounds/music, uneasy atmosphere, tension, panic-invoking moments, maybe also tragic plot, and of course, classic horror stuff like jumpscares, darkness, etc etc.

[Tritnew]

I've learned that even the Black Guys die first In horror games.

[Voros]

Can anyone recommend me some indie horror games that are actually good?

[Li'l devil]

^ Well, that depends on what do you mean by indie games. If you mean small low-quality free games like SCP: Containment Breach, then, well.. i'm not an expert here;
but, the thing is - games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent are also considered indie, however those kinda games are not free and are of generally high quality.
Basically, if you haven't played Amnesia yet, go play it, you won't regret it. (actually, you will, because you'll get scared af, heh)

[Voros]

ChekaAgent said:

^ Well, that depends on what do you mean by indie games. If you mean small low-quality free games like SCP: Containment Breach, then, well.. i'm not an expert here;
but, the thing is - games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent are also considered indie, however those kinda games are not free and are of generally high quality.
Basically, if you haven't played Amnesia yet, go play it, you won't regret it. (actually, you will, because you'll get scared af, heh)

I want to give the indie games a chance too. Just cause really. Going the road less travelled I guess.

I've heard a lot of praise for the Amnesia games, so I really don't have much doubts on the quality. Indie on the other hand, interests me. How these developers use whatever engine they have and try to make a cool game out of it, competing with AAA games sometimes (Minecraft anyone?)

[antares031]

Voros said:

Can anyone recommend me some indie horror games that are actually good?

Have you ever played Cry of Fear? It was developed by the same person who created the Afraid of Monsters. It's dark, scary, and it's free to play on Steam.

[Azazel Bloodfucker]

Tritnew said:

I've learned that even the Black Guys die first In horror games.

Not true, this is a horror movie thing not a horror game meme.

[snapshot]

Horror games teach you how to deal with Heart attacks .

[Tritnew]

Azazel Bloodfucker said:

Not true, this is a horror movie thing not a horror game meme.

http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/Kenneth_J._Sullivan

:^)

[Azazel Bloodfucker]

Tritnew said:

http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/Kenneth_J._Sullivan

:^)

One black guys dies and it's suddenly they always die, a lot of people die in video games die, why should they get special treatment?

Anyways the whole "Black guy always dies in horror stuff" meme is just that, a meme.

Basically what I'm saying is, it's a dumb joke and I hate it.

[Tritnew]

It's just a dumb joke I'm making, don't take It seriously, mate.

Anyways, what can I ACTUALLY learn from a horror game? The fact that even DOOM 1 can accidently scare the shit out of me sometimes when I'm not expecting It.

[Voros]

Found a cool video that helped me do what I was looking for. More than I expected though.

[YukiHerz]

I learned that most of my friends are wimps.

Seriously getting scared before 5 minutes in of Silent Hill Origins...