What's scary in a game?

[ddq]

I'm trying to figure out what the starriest component of a horror game is.
Is it the fear of dying and having to start a section over? Is it gruesome sights and sounds? Sudden jumps? Mysterious, oppressive, looming threats? A combination, and if so, which is the most important?

For me, it's always sounds. Whether it be gradually building footsteps or ominous whispers, sounds are what get me in the horror mood.

[Calin Leafshade]

things jumping through windows.

[Atelier]

Enclosed spaces, dark nooks/crannies, vague silhouettes/shadows, warped realities, insanity, hint at everyday situations (Doom 3 was good at this - every dead body has a terrible story to tell). Play on common fears; spiders, evil clowns etc, and yes, make sure there's plenty of freaky audio in there - and recommend the player wears headphones, then you can get some really realistic ambience going on!

PS. Sometimes gradually building sounds could be a bad thing. It might make the player aware what's about to happen. Short sharp sound shocks!

[Crimson Wizard]

I remember there was similar thread already on these forums... and lots of people gave interesting opinions there.

Anyway, always thought there are 2 concepts most fearful: something that is completely illogical, irrational, unexplainable, that comes from the dreams; and horror of the reality, which makes you believe that similar thing can happen to you when you expect that least.

something like that...  :

EDIT: Oh, damn, I realized I did not answer the question exactly, hah. Well, next time maybe

[NsMn]

I'd say sudden, shocking events is probably the scariest parts of Horror games. I'm not lying, I was screaming when I played Trilby's Notes and suddenly everything became gruesome.

But, now I know that I won't play your game 

[ThreeOhFour]

I like sounds, particularly when you can't see what is making the sounds. And when you wear headphones especially.

I also like it when things build up the suspense rather than when a big monster jumps out and goes "BRAAAAAWAARRRGHGRAAAAA!".

Also, sort of in relation to CW's post, I played Dead Space Extraction recently, and thought it wasn't actually really very scary, I did like it when they had you controlling a character who was having hallucinations and stuff, where you weren't really sure what was real.

But then, I don't have much experience with horror stuff.

[Oliwerko]

What people before me said is true for me as well. Irrational things get me - think space/time loops and anomalies, things (dis)appearing, etc.

For me scary was always "something coming after me", no matter what it is. When you know something's after you and you're sucked into the game before that moment, you have great conditions to get really scared. Thief series veteran speaking 

[straydogstrut]

Sound for me is most affective. It has the power to completely transform whatever you see on screen. The mere suggestion that 'something' is there is far more scary than actually seeing it. Visuals often can't compete with your imagination.

I scare very easily, I have to say, so I tend to avoid horror games=S

[Igor Hardy]

What's scary? Creating a convincing sense of peace and security for the player and then destroying it brutally and unexpectedly.

[Crimson Wizard]

Oh, yes, playing with player's consciousness is a great thing. Imagine wandering the house, for example. You enter the room where you've been ten times already, and... something is different.... slightly... lights are shifted, couple of items fell from the shelf to the floor... you start wondering - does this mean something? was someone(thing) here? or it's merely a game bug? or? then you start to question yours memory... and sanity  .
Uncertancy can be much more frightening than any monster.

[LRH]

I'd say the sound aspect as well. I actually scared myself a few times while working on my games...

[Virgil]

I don't think its sudden shocking stuff. There's a difference between startling a player and scaring them. You might scream when you are startled, but it passes. If you reuse it too many times it can get old and tired.

But when a game is scary, it creates that 'Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no' feeling that I think is harder to achieve but makes for a better game. A lot of that is sound cues; games use sound to indicate when you're being attacked or if an enemy has spotted you. If you play with when that comes up (whether there are enemies or not) it can be terrifying.

[discordance]

Monsters.

Monsters are scary.

Also, a subtle and gradually mounting sense of dread, climaxing in an eyeball-popping mind screw that haunts your nightmares with visions of an ultimately unknowable terror.

That's about it.

[Crimson Wizard]

I remember there was thing in "Trilby Notes" that scared me so good that I nearly jumped from my chair it was even more frightening, than other gruesome scenes or ghostly apparitions in the Trilby series. It's when Trilby had these random hallucinations and

Spoiler

his sprite was changed to the one of the Welder, so you basically saw yourself controlling the Welder

[close]

.

[Stupot]

I agree with Virgil.  Cheap jumps are not the same thing as genuine horror.  Cute, defenseless kitty-cats suddenly jumping out of lockers will make me jump, but then they make me feel angry that I've been fooled into falling for such a cheap trick.

For me, real horror is psychological... more often than not it's what you can't see that's the scariest... I know they're clichéd but I find abandoned insane asylums fookin' scary, too.

For me, slimy and hairy things are far less scary than 'human' monsters.  Dead babies, and the twisted nurses from Silent Hill... now that's scary, because they're more human.

[Dualnames]

There's a difference between Scare and startle. Now since you asked for the first, things popping up just startle one person. I love atmospheres where nothing pops up for hours and you just wait for it. It's the anticipation of something scary that distorts it in your mind. And when it shows up, it uses that momentum gathered to scare you to death.

[Anian]

...didn't we have a similar disscusion before?

Unkown is scary, being vurnerable is scary, things that we can't control are scary and for some reasons, while I can watch almost anything else similar, anything happening with the eye (operation, puting in a lens etc.) just gives me the willies.

As said before, startling is cheap and offends me as a player if it's used all the time (1-2 good scares can help the mood).

[Gord10]

Sudden jumps are the cheapest tricks, I always look for a production of intelligence. Gore is scary as long as it is believable, over usage ruins all.

Things I can advice as the author of Lost in the Nightmare;

Uncertainties: You know there is something sinister behind that door or inside this box, but you don't know what exactly you should expect.

Plot twists: Someone you trusted comes out to be the killer and hiding a tortured, alive person (maybe whom you are looking for) just behind a door you saw many times and couldn't open through the game.

Evil masterplans: Make sure it's really going to surprise the audience. See South Park's "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode (I admit that most horror films/movies couldn't achieve scaring me as much as that SP episode) . Even if it isn't a masterplan, just show how cruel what you see is.

Deformation: Can be physical or/and mental. Also why Silent Hill's monsters look that scary is their resemblance of human anatomy.

[ddq]

I have now come to the conclusion that you are all excellent! I can really see your points about legitimate scares vs. cheap surprises, but now I have another question.
If your game is going to have a big evil antagonist, what form is most effective in terms or horror? As far as I can figure, there are three big types of horror antagonists. First, some sort of murdering psychopath or something, but grounded in reality with no supernatural ties. Second, a powerful, unknowable evil, like an Eldritch abomination. Or finally, a middle ground, like a cult of ordinary psychopaths that worship/get their power from the evil power. I personally think that cults have been overdone, but that could be because they are the most effective.
Thoughts?

[Virgil]

I think its interesting to play with things that are out of the realm of traditional scary antagonists, but it all boils down to fear of the unknown. Just off the top of my head, have the walls come alive. Something that we are used to providing safety and security really turns things on its head.

Also remember, explaining the mystery can lessen the amount of fear and horror, or even negate it entirely. Much scarier to simply not know what is going on.