Horror - what makes a game scary?

[mick0n]

poor lightning and a lot of sounds... that is what makes a game scary... of course it is rather hard to play dark games, cuz you cant see were da fu** ure goin..

[Jest@]

If I had to sum up scariness in a game in one word, it would be uncertainty. never quite knowing where you are, what might happen, where that sound is coming from, what that thing over there is (is that a leg?! is it human?!?!) etc etc. This only really works when you have lots of hints/pointers that almost give you a clue what's going on....strange noises you can't quite pin down, coridorrs that look like they might be the right way, etc etc.


A good example, i though (scared the freakin' crap outta me!) is the Nightmare House SP map-pack for HL2. Google it, download, play, shit yourself, admire, learn.

[JosephCoffey]

well. there are only 3 main scary monsters in hl2 sp, the slow zombie and half zombie and fast zombie, the headcrab dont do like any damage on you so there not scary at all. if your trying to make the map very slient then u cant have the not soo scary sounds of the monsters infront of you or behind a door cause u hear that its there and u know what its is and what it will take to kill it so you wont reall be scared of it. Also the fast zombies arnt really scary,they are super weak and dont have any hp, they are fast, and u wouldnt need to run from them at all, even if u only had a crowbar.

and the thing that someone said befor about u being in a nice house all safe and stuff and then opending a door and a grave yard being there and hearing a sound behinf you, i like what the other guy said about turing around and the place buring down and distroyed and stuff, but how the hell could u do that.

[Mikey]

a teleport? step outside the house in the idyllic smalltown, and all the sudden ur in a graveyard? Pretty freaky

[Midnight_Oil]

Remember They Hunger for HL1? There is a spot where a radio is playing some news, giving some hints as to what is going on. After a couple seconds of this, the radio explodes and a headcrab jumps out at you.

I literally jumped out of my chair!

[Guitarian]

I Like to place sound and dark areas in my map, also atmophere.
But place them accordingly, going from a brightly lighted area into a dark
cramped hallway or room. MOVEMENT can also create tension, have something fall from a shelf or sencond story room, but make shure the player is forced to look in the direction of the movement, (ie, a tight hallway that is dark accept for a dim blinking light at one end. Attract the players attention and surprise them.
WATCH a Scary movie for tips on how a Director will build tension in a scene.

[Grim Reaper]

I think a game is scary if BK is the End Boss. Blink would take be the mysterious person you know nothing about...

NOW THATS SCARY!

[Party Boy]

I think a game is scary if BK is the End Boss. Blink would take be the mysterious person you know nothing about...

NOW THATS SCARY!

???? lol.
I could use these tips for making maps for my scary mod hurra!

[Skoen]

If you want to learn how to make a really scarey game, play F.E.A.R and see for your self.

I almost pissed myself several times when i played that game.

F.E.A.R have amny places where you are all alone for a longer time, under this period you see/hear things thats not there, and belive me when i say:

Little girls are scary when they jump at you from no were.

[Genome]

you know what scares the hell outta me. that king guy from the burger king commercials. that face is seriously fucked up. and the way he just sorta materializes outta nowhere and stares at you....im so scared of him



on a serious note though i would say a blend of everything. lighting, sound, shit poppin outta walls, all the goodys.

[marnamai]

*ambient music can be set to different settings
*lights/shadows/darkness
*timing
*monster placing
*pacing
*place mosters in unexpected places
*make parts of the game where you expect monsters but place none at
the level and then scare them to dead when they thing they are safe
*illusion is more scary then seing the monsters , let them stalk you for a
while, let them hide in shadows...
etc...
make it one of your own nightmares

[tr0mb0ne]

What was really scary in They Hunger 3 was that when you woke up in the hospital, you're all alone, and you hear a baby crying, then, when you think you've found it, it's just a heart gib under a blanket, and a zombie nurse comes after you.

[KILLA-COW]

I think ambeint noises but soft quiet noises with long sections of wandering in seemingly normal suroundings makes it scary because you know sometings gonna happen you just don't know when

[Rustvaar]

A lack of allies.

Wandering around on your own just isn't as reassuring, there's no inquisitive voice, there's no reassurance from the other characters.

Having some NPCs rush for help at times and getting devoured or gibbed or whatever doesn't tend to scare me because it seems way too scripted. If you had NPCs with you and they were slowly picked off it's a little better because it seems like it's actually happening. Also - having someone injured and have someone try to help them works too. The medic would get killed and the injured person could just be lying there trying to scramble away or something.

That can be quite intimidating.

[Genome]

a lack of ammo and health is also an adrenaline pumper. thats why i loved half life 1 so much more than hl2