Messages

I kinda agree with Yufster's idea.  Being all alone is a pretty scary thing... until you get used to it though...

I thought the movie the Sixth Sense was pretty scary too.  But the reason why I bring that movie up, is because of the ending.  Irony can be a pretty scary thing too, if used correctly.

Signs kinda scared me too... so I guess you could take examples from any M. Night Shyamalan movie if you wanted to get ideas for "scary".

Unbreakable kind of let me down... don't get me wrong... it was a good movie, in my opinion, but coming from the director of the Sixth Sense, I was hoping for another good suspense movie.

I'm kind curious as to what he's up to now, if he's going to make another movie or not...

I wouldn't like to be a mod, either.  I'm too passive... (unless of course, I'm drunk and you piss me off or call me a faggot or something... but that's another story for another day).

I just finally decided to read this post (and the other post).  All I have to say is this...

This whole ordeal almost felt like an AGS armageddon (almost).  I mean, it was a war.

I haven't felt like this about a war since my parents split up when I was two.  The people in this forum are like family to me, if you'll allow me to put it metaphorically (sp?).  This is the only place I really feel like I belong, because you all have something in common with me, you all like gaming, art, music, programming, etc (it's a package deal for me).  It kinda hurts me to see you all going at each other's throats like that.

I've been part of this community for about a year and a half.  I haven't put out a any games (yet), and I don't really feel like I contribute much (at least nothing that myself or anyone else would notice).  On mIRC, I just go there to interact, and when no-one is talking to me, I just randomly type stupid shit in and press <ENTER>.  People seem to get annoyedby it, I feel like I'm nothing but a pain in the ass.

But...

If I had pulled a stunt similar to what Phil did, and later on, I apologised and admitted that I had done you all wrong, would you accept me back?  I hope you would.

Well, the one thing that irritates me when people get their facts wrong, is in the music world.

It bugs me when people give me false news, like "(this guy) died." Or "(this band) split up/is releasing a new album."  When you know for a fact that it's not true.

Another thing about music that irritates me is labeling.  Why do people have to pick this shit apart?  I tell them, "just shut yer yap and listen... you're gonna go deaf one day, and you'll be sorry you wasted all your time picking music apart and labeling it instead of just listening to it and enjoying what it's worth".  What the hell happened to the good old days of Led Zepplin, when it was rock and roll or is wasn't?  Nowadays you got you alternative (a very vague classification, seems like anything could fit in here), punk, emo, goth, trance, dance, hip hop, r&b... and there is like 50 bazillion different types of metal; rap metal, heavy metal, black metal, death metal, funk metal, vampiric metal, NU-METAL....

Which brings me to my final point.  I don't like how every new metal band that comes out these days is considered Nu-Metal.

I remember a year or so ago, Dave Williams, the lead singer for Drowning Pool, died on the Ozzfest tour.  I was reading a post in a forum about his death... some punk wrote, "I'm glad he's dead, it's one less crappy Nu-metal band."

The hell is he talking about?  Drowning pool wasn't Nu-metal...  Nu-metal was the term coined to describe Korn's musical sound.  By definition, Nu-metal is "heavy metal blended with rap and hip hop influences".  In other words, Limp Bizkit, (hed) p.e., and various other bands would be considered Nu-metal, because of their rap-like vocals/nature.

Not to mention it wasn't very cool to say, "I'm glad this guy is dead...", but anyway...

I hate it when people get stuff like this wrong.  Music is what makes the world go round... it's no wonder the world feels so segregated and shallow these days.

I'm not exactly sure what to expect in the coming decades for gaming.

I do kind of expect some type of new "sensory" gaming to come out of the woodwork, like mentioned above.  It'd go right up there with surround sound and virtual reality.  I'd actually like to play a resident evil game one day, where I can "feel" the zombie grab for my ankle.  I'd like to be able to "smell" the rotting flesh.  Where I can "feel" the zombie biting my arm.

Someday, I hope to see advanced virtual reality, where you can shoot at a wall, and leave a bullet hole, and have it stay there, permanently.  A virtual reality much like actual reality, where you can't tell it's not real.

AI.  I'd like to smart off to a NPC, and actually have it say something back that isn't along the lines of "Same to you."  Near human intelligence.  A talkie at that!

That would be so kick ass on a LAN multiplayer game.  I'd be the first one to whip out my gameshark, too!

As far as other developments... I'm sure in the far-off future gaming will go as far as paying to have a jack installed in the back of your skull, so you can plug your brain into the controller port of your playstation.  It does sound sci-fi... but who knows....

Heppy Boithday, Grundi!  ... tee-hee-hee...

BTW, I like your avatar... Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight...

Hmmm... I was always a fan of Third Rock from the Sun.  That might be a cool idea.  And I was a fan of the Thundercats when I was little... that might be cool to see too.

Seinfeld, on the other hand, probably wouldn't be a good idea.  I kinda like Seinfeld, but it seems as though others on this forum aren't as fond of Seinfeld.  Even though it would be interesting.

Looks cool, I like it.

That chick has a really big butt.

Thank you, gentlemen... I will give it a try.

Scummy:  Sorry, I didn't think to check the other posts first... my bad.  

I was wondering, would it be possible... if I wanted to interact with a character... I select my interaction mode, and I click on one part of the character (his arm)and make one thing happen, but if I click on another part of the character (say his leg), something different would happen.

Is this at all possible?  Is there anyway I could possibly set hotspots on characters (without them being a part of an actual background?)  Or is there a possibility that I make some thing happen by clicking on "this group of pixels" as opposed to "that group of pixels" on a character's sprite?

...or am I just walking around with my head in the clouds?

If such a thing exists... how would I go about doing this... where would I start?

I like yer art... it looks like something out of a Troma movie.

Porn?  All I can say is I don't have a shortage of that!  ...I just never thought they'd be useful for anything other than... uh... nevermind...

Actually, I've been consulting my anatomy book (even though it's How To Draw Anime) when I can't figure out how something should look.

Here is a new sprite I whipped together.

It's a zombie.  As you can see, his hands are open, I fixed that on all my sprites, and he's a lot thinner than my male sprite.  This zombie is, of course only the first of a couple, so the other's will look more like actual zombies (blood and guts and missing limbs etc...).

This is the walkcycle... I tried to make it seem like he drags his right foot, and kind of lurches forward when he walks (kind of like he sees something good to eat)
Here's the animation: (pardon the funny color scheme due to .gif compression)


I don't know, what do you all think?  (Snake, Fizz, Colossal, and any other zombie fans here?)

BTW, I want to let you all know I appreciate all of the help you've given me thus far.    It really helps me, whether I use your advice or not.

If you wanted, you could track down, rent, or buy cheap, and try any number of horror games and pick out peices from them that you think are the scariest:

1.  Any Resident Evil Title
-Resident Evil
-Resident Evil 2
-Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
-Resident Evil Survivor
-Resident Evil Code Veronica
-Resident Evil Zero
-Resident Evil (remake for the GC)
-Resident Evil Dead Aim
-Resident Evil Gaiden (for the GBA)
-Resident Evil Outbreak (once it's released, I don't know the date)
-Resident Evil 4 (in the works I guess)

2.  Any Silent Hill title. (these display every example I described in my above post, the silence, the lack of ammo, unfamilar surroundings with minimal lighting,  NTM the fog and the snow, etc.)
-Silent Hill
-Silent Hill 2
-Silent Hill 3

3. Any Clock Tower title, although I haven't played 3 yet.  There is one from back in the day for the famicom, like I said, there are two for the PS, althought the second on for the PS is kinda crappy...
-Clock Tower (Famicom)
-Clock Tower (PS)
-Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within
-Clock Tower 3

4. Any Dino Crisis Title.  These aren't exactly scary, although I haven't played the third one, but they're suspensful.  And they display how it feels to be stalked.
-Dino Crisis
-Dino Crisis 2
-Dino Crisis 3
-Dino Stalker (?) - I'm not sure if this is actually part of the series, but it's a first person shooter like RE Survivor and Dead Aim.

5. Koudelka.  This stab at Survival Horror/RPG for the playstation wasn't horribly scary, but it had some very disturbing enemies designs, a good  soundtrack, and a very creepy atmosphere.

6. Alone In The Dark.  The second game for the PS was great in the beginning, but towards the end it felt like it was slapped together half-assed, like the developers were in a crunch to get the game finished.  This one displays a lot of examples from my first post too.  There also is another very old, very rare Alone in the Dark title for the PS called One Eyed Jack's revenge, that I really can't tell you too much about, because I didn't have it for too long.  But more Alone in the Dark games are available for the PC, you just have to find them (I don't know the titles)...
-Alone in the Dark: One Eyed Jack's Revenge
-Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

7.  Countdown Vampires.  The only reason why I listed this one, is because I want to warn you: STAY AWAY FROM IT!  IT'S FUKKIN TERRIBLE! It's got good character designs, decent music, but it's got terrible voice acting that will make the original RE look like a literary masterpeice, not to mention a very shitty plot.

8.  Fear Effect.  These weren't horribly scary either, but maybe they're worth a look.
- Fear Effect 1
- Fear Effect 2

...hmm... I coulda swore I had more than that... well, if anyone can think of any horror games for any platform that I forgot, add them.

bebob ain't dead!!! Change it to "Bleus Ares teh Dead!"

Blues isn't dead... oh well, as long as you don't put "Metal Is Dead" I dont' have to murderlize you.  

Not a bad sprite, chap.

See, Inkoddi... I told you it looked like a pokemon!

Did you draw anymore?  Show us what else you drew, if anything.

~Sully

I'm with Lex, even though I'm not sure if he means the very first one for the Famicom (I beleive), or one of the three sequels.  I have the game Clocktower for the PS1, and it was quite a thrill (despite the bad voice acting and crappy graphics).  In the game, you never know where the killer is... and he either suddenly pops out at you from behind a door, or what ever, or when he's "coming for you", you hear this ambient drone kind of fade in (and turns into this thumping trance-like number), then you know when you hear that you're supposed to run and hide.  Then you can hear his giant scissors sliding open and then snapping shut as he gets nearer.

Resident Evil was always a blast too.  I recommend any one of the games to someone who wants to be scared, or likes suspense.

In my humble opinion, this is what makes anything scary (movies, games, etc):
1.  Not knowing exactly what you're afraid of.  Take the movie Alien for example... you never see the aliens in their entirety, you only see a few film cell's worth of them (their mouths, etc).  Not enough to know what it is you're afraid of, but you have the general idea.  I think it would be pretty damn scary, if you're running for your life from something, but you can't see it... you don't know where it is, you don't know what it's planning, you just know you want to live.  Do you kind of get the general idea here?  People are generally afraid of what they don't understand, and (no matter what anyone tells you...) what you can't see or don't know WILL hurt you.

2. Now, when it comes to horror, I say, silence is golden.  Picture it:  You're alone in the woods.  All you can hear is your breathing, and the beating of your own heart.  Then suddenly, you hear a twig snap... you quick glance around to see where it came from, but you see nothing... it's gonna freak you out.  But it would be even scarier, if it was a sound you didn't expect, or couldn't recognize.
 Music can add to the mood, something ambient, like a few solitary, echo-ey piano notes (in a very macabre arrangement... it's gotta sound scary), a shreiking violin stab, or a singular, droning cello note.  But I think you should only add music if its a chase scene, or somethign similar.  You just kinda have to know when and where to use music, I guess.

3. Location.  You're more than likely to be scared if you're in an unfamiliar location, with minimal to no light.  I mean, are you going to be as scared if you're in your front yard during the daytime?  No.  If that's the case, you know where to go if you want to get away, and you can see where you're going (dynamic camera angles also help out in the location department).  A place that just looks scary, like an old graveyard, might help.

4.  Lastly, weapons.  I find a lack of weaponry to be the scariest... you've got nothing to defend yourself with, you're armed with only your wits (in which case I'd be screwed, I'm not a quick thinker...).  Some games and movies insist on having weaponry available, but you're going to go this route, make sure it's sparse.  Say that you're only armed with a little 4 inch hunting knife, that sucks because it's not going to be effective by any means.  If you want to talk firearms, you can give the character all the guns in the world, but they're no damn good without ammo.  So try to make ammunition limited.  They don't know when or where they're going to find more bullets, so they have to try their best to make every shot count, and have to make sure they've got some rounds left over just in case they might need them later.

I hope this was helpful.  I really enjoyed being able to toss in my two-cents worth into this thread, cuz I'm a sucker for horror.

~Sully

EDIT:
I realize I might have written things that others have already posted.  I apologize... I only skimmed through the threads before I posted.

Me likes.  

They Hunger?... sounds zombie related...?

I'm sorry... I'm clueless....

I'm sure this is an easy one to tackle, and I'm sure I've passed over the solution in the book many times... but...

How do I display a global message as speech?

Here's my edit.  I took your advice on the skin tone, and I tweaked a few pixels.  I tried to define the hips more, added some more jewelry, I fixed the mouth to make it look more narrow, and I fixed the side view of the face and added more curvature to the body.  I also made the breasts smaller, I kinda thought they were too big to begin with.  I tried to edit the shoulders to make them look more slack, but it just wasn't working for me.

I liked BigBro's edit, but I'm going to stay close to my original design because it will make it easier for me to animate it.

Over all, I'm happy with how it looks.  The only thing I really want to change is the hands.  I'd like them to be more open/casual instead of balled up fists.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Rincewind: The guy in my sig is Mick from Slipknot.  It's a clip from the Disasterpieces DVD.  I just thought it looked cool, so I put it in my sig.  

Netmonkey:

Spoiler

you need to read the three books, the newspaper clipping, and you need to get and read the newspaper on the table next to the front door, it's right under the phone

[close]

I don't know why, but I missed it too...

BTW, thanks for telling me where to get the walkthroughs, I finished the game, and it was f---in' awesome!

I finally got around to making a female counterpart for the above sprites.  I'm not too happy with it... I mean, it looks okay from the front, but the side view doesn't looks so good.  It's close... but it just needs a little something... can anyone help me out?

Here is the sprite, and the male sprite from above for comparison...

Drawing the female sprite was quite a pain in the butt... I was constantly forgetting that females have more "petite" frames as opposed to males.  The first couple female sprites ended up looking kinda like Chyna.  

NOTE:  If you think her head looks football shaped, look closer, and you'll see that it's just her ears that make her head so funny shaped.

I guess while I'm at it, I'll show off some other sprites I cooked up...