Elements of horror games

"Outlast is not scary, it's disgusting!" – smart people.

That was an example of average horror games, otherwise they are same.

Developers believe that adding blood/gore scenes into games will make it more scary.

What about you? What would you add into your horror game if you were making one? Would you follow their technique, or look back at older games like Silent Hill or newer Amnesia?

 

I think a horror game is definitely a case where less and more. I imagine exploring a cellar, for example, and all is quiet. Eerily so. Except for the sounds of my own interactions with the environment. Then maybe I hear breathing (or simply turn around) and there is someone standing there. Especially a bad someone or something. Things like that. When the player is distracted focused on something else that is a great opportunity for things to show up and otherwise go bump in the night.

 

It's starting to feel like every other post I make needs to point to videos, which I think means I need to get off youtube. Extra Credits. Halloween stuff, did a video on types of horror, start there. this one I think

 

While video is useful (I watch every Extra Credits video), I am looking for your opinion about horror games.

 

It's more so that we are all on the same book/aware of the vocabulary. This way I can talk about psychological horror, and we can all agree that it is what will really scar(e) you.

I will admit I don't care much for horror in general. Even in something cerebral, the presence of horror tension is usually a deal breaker. Games don't make it any better when they want to keep that tone for the entire game.

 

Developers design it wrong that's why it doesn't advance.

Have you heard of Uncanny felling? It can be achieved in games by high graphics to make it look real, but it doesn't look its real.

Games which are made of real life scenery is also a good but expensive technique.

 

In one word? Disempowerment!

Make the player feel weak,useless and powerless against the forces working against them!
Also subtleness is important too! A jump scare every 5mins and it won't take long before it's boring and old

If you want examples Look no further then: Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 4, Resident Evil 2 (maybe 4?) and Fear! (The list is a bit longer than this but these were my favorite/scariest games I've played)

Also i think Extra credits said something of this sorts in their videos!

 

Like the old British Hammer Horror films; scariness is in what you don't see, not what you do. Shock and suspense are better than gore any day. The Forest, Five Nights at Freddy's, both use suspense and shock to great advantage.

I've yet to see a good suspenseful horror game that is 3rd person - they all appear to be 1st person - which says something, and would be a cliff to climb for anyone trying a horror mmorpg (although I'd love to be wrong and see a good suspenseful 3rd person mmo).

 

Do they really? The scariest game I've played is Dark Corners of the Earth, and while it had gore that's honestly not what made it scary. The game had a pervading feeling of uncertainty and the sections I played definitely made you feel powerless in the face of your obstacles and enemies. (Though I hear that it loses that after you eventually get powerful weapons.)

I've not played many, so my next example is Dead Space. Again, it had gore, but that's not where its tension came from. (I'm not sure I'd call it "scary", but definitely tense.) There's a strong feeling of aloneness and isolation, and that's what's underpinned by the alienness and the violence.

There probably are games where designers mistake gore for scares, they just don't spring to mind for me, probably as I don't commonly play that kind of thing.

 

@Master_Of_Keys I really doubt that an mmorpg horror is possible.... Maintaining horror and suspense with just 2-4 players is already hard, with 60+ players? nearly impossible...It will just become a mmorpg with grotesque monsters

 

I agree. Horror is about isolation. But how about isolating those players from each other? Say they can help each other but can't see, meet or talk to each other.

 

I'd agree too, but a couple of points/possibilities spring to mind...

As described in the ExtraCredits videos, limiting the perception of the player somewhat can increase tension/suspense - torch light, or flickering lights can do this. In GuildWars2, there is a few puzzles with dark areas where your perception is very much restricted. These puzzles certainly are more intense and tension building even with other players doing the same puzzle at the same time.

FFA PvP also adds a certain amount of tension, especially when you see someone coming towards you, and you've no idea whether they'll be friendly or not. The tension here has to deal with possible loss, so we're heading back to the discussion on death and permadeath.

I also see what Master is saying about 1st and 3rd person. In 3rd person, especially MMORPGs that allow a fair zoom out, perception of the character's surroundings is great, whereas is 1st person, you've no idea what may be behind you. In this way 1st person is cutting down a player's perception.

 

First of all: What kind of Horror is the Game meant to be?

Splatter Horror (f.e. Splatterhouse, Darkest island),
Psychadelic Horror (f.e. Slender),
Body Horror (f.e. the Thing, Dead Space),
Shocker (f.e. Slender),
Fobia Horror (f.e. Slender, Silent Hill),
..etc

Nobody can simple say that Blood/gore belongs to all genres. Before saying that for developers blood and gore is the only way to add horror to a game, ask what Horrorgenre the Game is categorized into.


I´m creating a Horror game with oldshool RPG optic. Categorized to Body Horror, Shocker and partly Fobia. Which includes Blood, Gore, Darkness and a bit of mad thoughts and substances
Placed good and with a feeling for the right brightness, disturbance and concentrated rooms/corridors.. and it can be scary as hell!

 

I recently played Alien Isolation and I found it unnerving for a simple reason: the alien wasn't there most of the time.
The anticipation was scary, not the event.
When the xenomorph was in the vents, I was like, "Damn, he might come out and kill me"
However, when he was walking around and actually could kill me, I was more like, "Okay, go away, you're annoying me now."
Also, having the enemy be unkillable didn't hurt either.

The human aspect was more interesting, as some people weren't blood-thirsty NPCs and would actually talk to you if you gave them the chance.

 

I don't really play horror games a lot. The only ones I've played are Amnesia and Dead Space.
Dead Space was really scary at first because of immersion (graphics, sounds, etc.) and being weak: at the beginning my character had low HP and would die quickly. Not only that but I was always low on ammo and and had little cash to purchase health packs and ammo, so I needed to be extra cautious not to get hit and to be accurate with my shots. This resulted in me being scared every time I heard a noise or something behind me or even in front of me.

Towards the end of the game, my character was much more powerful. Powerful enough that I could purchase as much ammo and life as I needed. Also enemies would do little damage to my character so I never had any reason to be scared.

 

I'd say tension above everything else.

I'm going to mention System Shock 2 as an example. I hate the cargo bays on the engineering deck, mainly because of the protocol droids in their crates: shoot one by accident, and a very polite bomb appears and walks towards you. Now imagine that there are at least 10 of them surrounding you as you examine a corpse for 6 badly-needed bullets. Or those worm-like things spawning from a corpse which you are examining.

Another type from the same game is that some of the enemies are apparently aware of their actions, but have no control over them. Two examples are the humanoid hybrids, who will occasionally apologise for trying to kill you, or beg you to run or to kill them; and the cyborg midwives. The description for the organ that midwives drop states that it is a computer that overrides motor impulses from the brain - meaning, they're trying to kill you, they're aware of it, and they can do nothing but watch.

I can't remember where I read this, but apparently that game is consistently voted among the scariest ever made. There's almost no gore, but it more than makes up for it in atmosphere.

 

Sooo... I've been trying to get into SS2 and have gotten about two hours in, but already all the tension broke. Once I clocked in to the respawning enemies and weapon durability being crapping tension heightening mechanics, it took me an hour to finally realize I was just supposed to beat things to death with the wrench and be done with it. Didn't help that the music in that first area is high tempo, and I was coming off Deus Ex, so I was trying to stealth through it. I'm sure I'll get back to it eventually, but for now I really need a new pair of headphones to try and seal me in.

I think a lot of my issues with it are that I've seen a lot of what it did done better, although without all the mechanics cobbled together. Compare the way SS2 tries to create tension with it's weapons to how Receiver handles it. If you need to reload during a firefight in Receiver, you're likely to need to change your pants. You have to eject the mag, drop the mag, grab the new mag, load it, and rack the slide all yourself while the taser drone is bumbling it's way toward you.

 

Subtlety, isolation, pacing, subtlety, disempowerment, mystery, subtlety and basic human fears (e.g. darkness) culminating in a proper horror design. Oh, and did I mention subtlety already?

Those are just the biggest factors. There are many details to it.

 

Don't forget Uncanny Valley.

Take a look at this link.

Edit: Even though it's mostly about creepiness, it can still contribute to horror games.

 

As much as you mentioned it, I don't think you really thought about what context the subtlety is supposed to be in. A message written in blood, subtle or not subtle? Or is the message just not supposed to be overtly threatening, like "I would love to dine with you" when we are talking about a cannibal? Or does this mean we can't blatantly unmask the protagonist and point out he was the monster the whole time?

 

With "subtlety" I mean that (more often than not) a sledgehammer-approach isn't necessary, even detrimental to the overall experience. Try not to overdo things.
Look at games like - I don't know - Dead Space 2 or something. QTE with DRAMATIC camera angle and half an orchestra playing in the background. It's like the developer is shouting "ARE YOU SCARED YET?" at your face. That's not subtle.
Look at Amnesia for comparison. Just an occasional glimpse at something that 'might' have been a monster and some sounds here and there. That's all Frictional needed to remind you of how you weren't nearly as alone, as you'd liked to be.

Other example:
You know what's scary? Seeing a terrifying monstrosity kill someone in a very gruesome way.
You know what's even scarier? Not seeing said monstrosity, but merely hearing it through a closed door. It leaves room for your imagination and no matter how talented the designers are, what your imagination comes up with is worse.

Subtlety is not easily described in this context, as it depends on what exactly you're trying to achieve. Whether a message written in blood is subtle or not, depends on the message. It goes hand in hand with the 'mystery' aspect I mentioned. Often it's better not to state something, but merely imply it.

 

Kinda like the new Silent Hills. The gameplay is simple and the environment is simple also, but the game creeped me out like no other!!!

 

The problem is it's easy to pine for subtlety when things become hamfisted, but forget that there are things you still want to express very explicitly. It's a very knee-jerk reaction to things done poorly, where an inverted argument is accepted as fact without any criticisms being made. This crappy thing was blatant, but this good thing was subtle, ergo subtlety is necessary to make something good.

I make this point because psychological works frequently try to subvert this notion. They take what was made explicit and try to pervert it (usually back into reality). You saw the monster and how the monster did horrible things to people you know, but the reality is that monster is you and that you are the one who did those things.

This is easily one of the biggest areas that divides spooky horror and psychological horror into separate schools of thought. Sort of in line with the extra credits video, the goal of spooky horror is to prop people up and give them more strength; while psychological horror is trying to reach in and shatter any preconceived notions of humanity you have, and in doing so actually forcing you to become a stronger human being.

 

Just put countless jump scares, it makes money!

 

You can also do something that goes against the grain.
Like when a baby cries in a dilapidated building, that's creepy.
Or when you see a blood message on the wall that says something nice.

 

I like it... I like it a lot...

 

I always find all Japanese games storylines to be horrifying.... the lightbringer takes the moon shard, but the main character is a daydream... a 12 year old girl looks like a full grown woman... 30 hours of gameplay and the storyline ends up with unanswered questions and no apparent relevant moral/theme.

*shivers*

 

All those pretty ladies that are not actually ladies...

 

I wouldn't say nearly impossible... maybe very challenging...

Back in the day the original DayZ mod gave me a very uneasy and suspenseful feeling. It wasn't the zombies that freaked me out, it was other players and the sense of isolation. Having to plan my route around major cities and high traffic loot spawning areas was pretty intense sometimes. The moment you turn a corner and come face to face with another player it brings out a Fight or Flight response in a way. I guess that game wouldn't count as an mmorpg... or even really "horror"... but I think that tension could be built upon... I don't think a game that tries to pull this off would be an mmorpg in the traditional sense though. Maybe something that makes players vulnerable and weak, and have to rely on cooperating with other players in some way, but players that appear human could actually be some kind of enemy (either by choice or randomly when entering the game), like a large scale version of "The Thing" combined with gMods Trouble in Terrorist Town (in a more serious way). I think that would create a really paranoid and suspenseful atmosphere. Maybe society has crumbled in the game world because of some "event" and players need to build and defend safe areas around the map, while the enemy players have to infiltrate and infect others while remaining unseen. That would be seriously freaky... Imagine playing the game with one of your friends for a few hours and end up being alone with them in a room, you turn around for a second to pick up some loot and when you look back at your friend he/she no longer appears human and proceeds to rip of your head..

*chills*

 

5 nights at Freddy's : creepy
5 nights at Freddy's 2: scary

The atmosphere and artwork in the first game was creepy, and built up a lot more because there weren't constant jumpscares (on the first half of the game lol). The second game is scarier because there are 11 scares and if you're not constantly checking everything, you get jumped. If you rely on too many scares with no build up, you'll end up with a scifi movie. They show the monster too much (which I enjoy, but makes things less scary usually) and bring scares so often with no build up that after the first 40 minutes you don't even blink when the scares happen. Think about the grudge and other movies that have fewer, more effective scares. What's makes them so effective? The environment, the light cues, the audio cues (the voice crackling), the character reacting to the cues, etc. The best one is definitely the slow build up of music that leads to... the absence of music xD

It's painful to sit there in a cold sweat realizing there's no music and no sounds at all. Then you get jumped and that horror build up all hits you at once

 

I don't think 5 Nights at Freddy's is scary at all... I mean you know exactly what will happen... no progression of horror at all, there's no dynamics in it, from my knowledge of the game. You wait. Boo! Repeat.

 

The creepy potential was there in the first game. It was like a proof of concept, a game in which you aren't forced to venture out against your will but instead endure horrors coming to you. It could have been great, but instead the sequel merely upped jumpiness from 4 to 11. The second game, in fact, has an easier "easy win" pattern for completing the game on any night than the first game does. It's sad to see all of that effort in such a great concept to be blown on nothing but jumpscares.

I hope my rip off clone of it goes well xD

 

Of course. I shall keep it in my "rip-off" box for later usage.

 

I couldn't pick an easier game to rip off. I'm even making super mario for my SDL project for school. 5 nights at freddy's is a simpler concept than rock paper scissors lol

 

@LiberLogic969

Remember we are talking about a MMORPG Horror! My problem with it is the MMO part, it might start out with a good atmosphere but then the grinding of levels, constantly doing missions, searching for items etc.. will eventually kill that atmosphere and any other suspense (not to mention the lack of proper story telling tools MMO's have to work with).. In the end it will spiral into action especially when the players get powerful enough to take on the monsters... I don't know, I don't see it working out but that's my take on classic MMO's, maybe a different kind of MMO might work? (ARMMO,JRPG-MMO etc..)

So yeah my answer may not be accurate on this or is somewhat limiting but I know one thing I can say for sure! the trolls and scumbag players will also be a problem..They will rip people out of the experience and generally just be a annoyance for anyone trying to actually enjoy the game and then bam! atmosphere ruined, how I'm I supposed to be scared if there's that one player who always saying "LOL!!" every minute...

EDIT: Though thinking about this has gotten me curious, now I'm acutally thinking on ways a MMORPG Horror can acutally work and game ideas

 

Honestly, I'm of the opinion that MMORPG games don't NEED to have level grinding, endless repetitive missions, or even loot farming... I think these are characteristics of some of the more popular MMORPGs out there, but I don't think its a genre standard. There can definitely be better ways to handle the RPG progression in an MMO.

I think these systems can be designed in a way that would compliment the atmosphere, or at least require the player to become immersed in the environment in order to do so. Players may never be able to get powerful enough to actually take on the monsters 1 v 1! It would require multiple players to take one down in a situation where its revealed itself. I think giving players something to lose when they die would add even more tension to the gameplay. There could be NPC enemies and environmental factors that could cause players to think twice about run and gunning through areas...

The traditional Leveling system could be replaced with a Recognition system. Players could take on a role (RPG class) and using this role effectively would gain them Recognition. Players who hit certain stages of Recognition can take on other roles in the game at the same time. This would give a sense of progression and character building. These roles could be the driving force between the way players group up and cooperate. Monsters could have similar roles, like maybe only a small percentage of monsters are actually infiltrating the human population... Others may be lurking out in the world waiting for the perfect moment to attack a group of scouts and replace them with infiltrators..

For example maybe someone has the Scout role and according to the map there is a high demand for a scout party to check for potential access to a fuel tank in "Area X". "Area X" is a very unknown part of the map and could potentially be very dangerous. So this Scout player goes to an area in the Base Camp where Scouts tend to group up, finds a decent number of other Scouts that want to go that way, and they all head out together on 4 wheelers. There goal could be to search around the area using binoculars and maybe set up motion tracking tech around the perimeter. Once that's all done another type of class would be required to clear the buildings in Area X and another class to actually escort the fuel truck to the fuel tank.

All these actions benefit the Base Camp, and all players that are living there as a whole. Loot could be a global type of thing, where players that find components and items add them to the base camps inventory which allows other players to craft X amount of Item X for each player in camp. And at any moment one of those players you protected and played with for hours could end up being a monster. Maybe one of those Scouts was a monster and dropped a dud motion sensor around Area X, and informed all the other monsters in the area that it was a safe route through...

Trolls and childish players could definitely ruin the experience.. I guess there could be some type of prevention in place.. don't have any ideas for that though LOL...

Ok, I think I need to take a break from the brainstorming sessions here... sorry... lol.

 

Horror Games should be Scary.

edit: NO WAIT... they should be Spooky, not Scary though.

edit2: Oh. Oh. Oh. They should scare you too.

edit3: WHY AM I STILL AWAKE

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Anyway, I detest gore. I find it disgusting, not scary. There is nothing scary about blood & gusts. There is plenty gross though. Plenty nightmare-inducing. Plenty needless.

I agree with the above: Less is More.

What I loved about Silent Hill, was the fog. That fog made things scary. Well, not so much scary as intense, spooky, mysterious. That adds a lot to it.

Then again, Silent Hill: Homecoming was too scary. Probably for other reasons (like the monsters). I'm not much of a wimp, but I literally cannot play that game for more than an hour before turning off my PS3 and hiding the disc in several layers of concrete.

I love the series, but I can't play them. Why? Because I turn off all the lights, turn the sound to ear-bursting levels, and wait until it is pitch black at night and I'm all alone before I begin. It's not to get into the mood, it's just that I do this with all games-- trying to immerse myself as best as I can (to get in the mood).

If I'm contradicting myself, it's because I didn't sleep at all last night and have thus gone insane. (Typical game dev night).
Even talking about Silent Hill is scary.

Especially the idea that you can enter fog and then be TRAPPED into what is inevitably a more realistic hell than the typical "Hell".



MOTHER @#$#@ WHO IS BEHIND ME?!

 

@LiberLogic969

Sounds Interesting but that's a type of game idea I just have to play to really conclude if its scary or not but in the end remember suspense + tension does not always amount to horror!

 

Very true, just spit-balling some ideas off the top of my head. Maybe that type of atmosphere that gives off those horror vibes could be brought out with the art style and audio? That's what really made games like Silent Hill and Amnesia so horrifying for me personally... Those games are typically very ambient and dark with creepy sounds and grungy textures... If you were to brighten up the lighting and played a more "upbeat" sound track it would really strip away that Horror feel, and what you would be left with is that sense of tension that pretty much only comes from the enemy encounters (or threat of enemy encounters)... Or am I way off track here? I could totally be wrong about all of this stuff when it comes to game design, this is more of my own personal preference for "Horror" style games I guess...

So... some things that would increase the "Horror" elements of my theoretical game (for me personally) could be, for example, when a player Monster is taking on the form of a human player and wants to "reveal" itself to take out another player... maybe the ability has a charge up time. Say it takes 3 minutes after attempting to "reveal" to actually gain the ability to go through with it, and during that charge up time other players can hear certain creepy ambient sounds, like bones cracking and shattering or strange wheezing, but not know who its coming from. Maybe the monster coughs up blood at different stages during the transformation, so if a player happens upon a puddle of blood it could be a potential sign that a player is trying to transform. You actually hear the coughing itself too, but by the time you get to where you heard it, only a puddle of blood is left over. The lights could start to flicker, or fog starts to build up in the area. The player monster could also gain different ways to move around the world after the transformation takes place. They could move through vents in buildings or climb trees in the outdoors, and players could hear these things very subtly
(which may be all it takes to turn that suspense and tension into horror?).

These are all pretty crazy-hard-to-execute-right ideas though... just a "theoretical game that I'll never have the skill to make"

 

What are your top 2 scariest films?

 

@Tomnnn

Top 2 Thats' haaard lol ...There are quite a few horror movies I have loved across the years but if I really had to answer I would say Ju-on (Original version of the Grudge) and the first exorcist....They scarred me as a youth xD

 

No no no you just don't have the skills YET!

 

For me, I need something that startles the hell out of me, it doesn't matter about the gore, or blood. The more REAL the environment looks to me, the more I can relate, and the more it's going to scare me. I'm a huge, huge fan of suspense and mystery. My favorite movies are the ones with the giant plot twists at the end that you would never suspect of. I think horror can be described by a great combo and timing of audio, mystery, and suspense. But then again, I think it's all opinion based

 

So, what there would translate into a good game? The flickering lights and audio cues of the little girl with the broken neck? And both shared contorted motion which would translate well into a horror game. What other elements would need to be there to make you flip backwards?

 

I understand this is 3 years old but what does being smart have to do thinking Outlast is scary? I personally think it's scary dose that mean I'm stupid? No it dosent it just means I have a different tastes.

 

By "smart" I didn't mean intelligent people who work as scientists or lawyers or doctors. In this context, smart people are those who are aware that horror games don't have to be all about blood and gore.

Never I intended to belittle players who found Outlast scary for this isn't the point of this thread. I personally, loved the game and its DLC and I am looking forward to playing the sequel.

Outlast has its own horror elements to it (e.g. jump - scares) and gore adds up to it, but mostly I was disgusted by scenes rather than jump scares, which is what makes Outlast...well...Outlast!

Some people just make assumptions that a person who doesn't play a game that contains blood and gore (like Outlast) are afraid of playing scary games, while sometimes this not really the case. Such scenes just make people feel sick or disgusted, but not scared. But people still assume that blood and gore is the only thing that makes a horror game/movie.

This thread was intended to help other developers to come up with a different spectrum of horror games, that does not have to be all about flashlight-dude-in-the-dark-fps or camera-guy-in-asylum-witnessing-gore.

The world isn't black and white. You're not necessarily stupid if you're not smart, and the other way around. Same applies to game genres: horror games can be scary without blood and gore and dark rooms and flashlights.

 

Obviously, that different people react differently and have different phobias and the best way to make everyone or almost everyone to be afraid is not to find "average", but simply include every possible way to scare people in your game, preferably as an option for a player to decide. If someone is afraid of spiders and he really wants to challenge that fear, then he just puts checkmark infront of "Spiders".

Personally I'm afraid of "lose of control" and "going underwater", in real life I never use alcohol/drugs and never swim. So if I play a game where terrifying screaming monsters jump out of corners or there're a lot of darkness or suspense/tension or crying little girl or whatever else - this won't work on me at all, I'll only laugh at devs' attempts to scare me.

To really scare person is to be very very specific and personal, you can't just make a good horror game for everyone. As I already said, players should choose what they want, you can try to make some "bad dream simulator" or something, a puzzle where you need to escape your nightmare which consists of whatever player wants to choose.

As for MMO/multiplayer - only if players have the same fears, then it may work. But co-oping usually decreases fears, unless you're surrounded by hysterical madmen

But you may also try "PvP" horror game, where other player(s) play role of fears. A walking whispering darkness covering everything behind him for a players who are playing against those, who are afraid of dark, a swarm of spiders for arachnophobes or just a controller of water level for those, who are afraid of it. So this game becomes not only fear simulator, but also some kind of maniac-simulator for people, who are happy to scare others.

Such game can even become a phobia-therapy! A doctor will play role of fear and his patient will be a victim. So you don't need to bother with "AI" or scripting updates or changes, players will do this for you, keeping the game replayable. As modders do for bugged, crappy and raw games (Bethesda).

 

Oh okay this help me understand what you meant a bit more. Thank you for the reply also i agree with your opinion about Outlast I also thought it was good horror experience and I am really looking forward to the sequel in fact it's my most anticipated horror game this year other then Allison road Have a nice day

 

Like this thread! Who remembers Sanitarium? Around 10 years ago Sanitarium used to scare me. (Feel old )