Messages

[nobody]

Yeah, nobody wants a flame war, besides -it's not like this is kikme haunting us again. He's just another guy who posts bold, irrational statements for us to over-dramaticize with long, conflicting replies.

I recast my vote from Rupert to Rincewind.

Rupert doesn't really exist, and I have school starting really soon.

Lucas' Star Wars =  Kurisawa's Hidden Fortress  

That's what I'm here for

Of course I was half expecting a reply from someone telling me "duh, cliff notes are everywhere" or whatnot.

[crap, I wrote this and then saw your post at the top of this page 2. But I stand by it, because how else would you apply fear?  Let's not get to intellectual that we cannot even apply the advice we give.  If this guy wants to make a game with fear- I say AGSers have so far given sound APPLICABLE advice]

Alright, all examples of startles.  But look at it this way- games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil may attribute their overall feelings of fear to both atmosphere AND startles.  Exposure to the first startles in the game creates a collective fear in the players mind that "Oh shit, something can pop up at any time."  I think establishing that mindset in a game- and early, while not fundamentally necessary, is what the most talked about scary games have in common.

I mean "Fear" isn't a condition with any certain requirement.

You may achieve fear without scary music, but rather happy music
You may achieve fear without any zombies, ghosts, or weapons
You may achieve fear without any startles
You may achieve fear without anything happening.
You may achieve fear while actually telling the player what is about to happen (example, when the Tyrant corners you on a catwalk in RE2 and you see him coming on the TV monitor)

But whereas you say its "cheap fear", I argue it takes some craft to instill the constant fear of being startled (anticipation) with a few well placed events. RE (1 and 2 for Playstation atleast) actually did not have too many startles. But those few instances had me on my feet for most of the game. Except of course, when I felt safe (which is when the next startle would most likely occur.)  So, if you are saying "startles cause fear, only when used infrequently", I most certainly agree.

You will also find that most gamers enjoy startles.  I'm fairly sure my brother and friends, while not being able to remember much else about RE1- will tell you their favorite or scariest part was when they were startled by _____.   It's like arguing that more indy movies need to made when you certainly know the majority of audiences enjoy big dumb movies.  Big dumb movies are written in a day, were not given as much consideration as the indy movies, but they get a huge happy audience and will continue to be made.

Well Las, you can imply that it's a given and I'll agree with you - but let's talk a little on the methods one could use to lull a player into a feeling of safety.  Becuase I doubt you and I practice these on a daily basis.

In Resident Evil, Save Rooms are regarded by the player as zones free of enemies.  I'm fairly sure at one point however- after numerous save rooms which contained no enemies, suddenly one appears.  That would startle me and seem to break the "rules" of the game, despite rules never being assigned.

When a character walks into a room, the music could change pace to something peaceful.  The room could have a lighter quality to it than the rest. Characters could exchange dialog and then a scripted event occurs and the walls of the room erupt- and a monster/enemy appears.

Somewhere in the game, your character can encounter another character (such as Barry in RE) who has saved you and fought by your side in the past. You approach him from behind as he appears to be tinkering with something. Suddenly he turns around from feasting on another human and his eyes are blood red, and it is apparent this is no longer the friend you once knew. Now you must fight him.

Someone stated a good example already. But let's reiterate it to death:

Typically in a game when you pass through a room once, you have the feeling that you have cleared it out of all possible threats. So it can be amazingly shocking to the player if you program an event to occur in a room he/she has already "cleared" - and especially after an event of relief (ie: attaining a key to a previously locked door). The player subconsciously says "But I've been thru here! It was safe before!"

In other words, the ultimate way to give the player a feeling a fear- is to first give the player a feeling of safety or relief.

I vote for Rupert.

I would just read the cliff notes* version



[Here in AMERICA, people are too lazy to read school assigned books such as Grapes of Wrath therefore many students resort to reading these summarized books which give you most of the information and plot without all the crazy literature. However, most teachers try to find ways to keep students from this ploy.]

Happy goldmund?

man, that's awesome. I'm curious - was there an easier way to get my anger level up instead of playing the SkillTester over and over?

Yeah, I mean you can see the scythe that is locking the door. Pretty funny.

atmosphere, building up just a spooky ass atmosphere

music, visuals, scripting events that occur when the gamer least expects.  To this day I think the scariest moment in a game is Resident Evil when the dogs jump through the windows.  The thing is, you have to tease more than you "Boo!" because eventually the player gets dysenthisized from all the "boos".   Make him suspect something is coming, then let that suspicion pass, then "WAM!"

dramatic creepy music and haunting backgrounds helps lure the character into whatever feeling you wish.

and of course, lines of dialogue such as:

Barry: "What is it?"
Jill:      "What is it?
Barry:   "It's blood."

Barry:   "Jill since you are the master at unlocking, here- take this lockpick."

Ghormak, so is it a coincidence that there is a frenchman who is locked up in Grim Fandango? and is soon released at this time in the game?

haha, very creative wanderlady. Of course reformatting to GIF only decreased the quality yet increased the size of the image. But it I suppose it distinguishes from the rest now.

uh, Hugo's House of Horrors 3?

anybody with me? Nobody?

here's what I think:



If a serious thread gets started in the comp forum, you are welcome to use this image for the debut contest.

Hell I don't think it's such a bad idea.

I think this criteria will minimize eric's concerns:

Devise each caption into a 3 panel strip with blank word bubbles.  

Each entree must fill in all the word bubbles and post the picture.  PSM magazine had a contest much like this.

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!
(man, this reaction loses effect being on the second page)

Dude, DGMJackson looks just like Corey Feldman!