Post by healthywaters on Apr 16, 2019 9:20:23 GMT -5
to make a good horror game, first thing you want is a story. it doesn't need to make complete sense, as long as it captivates the audience well enough for them to suspend their belief, to almost believe it to be possible. don't explain too much at the start, people like to find out things on their own. however, don't explain too little, either, you need to say enough for them to want to learn more, but not so much they feel overwhelmed.
give them a tutorial, let them learn the basics, and then release them into the world. most horror games are quite unforgiving, and that's something you'll want to use, but not so much that the audience will get frustrated and give up. give them a little bit of help if they need it, but not enough to change the games' difficulty rating. most horror games are single-player, but a multiplayer horror game with voice chat works too, in fact, can even help. the odd scream of surprise from an ally, panicked voices, these can help.
add little secret things most people might not find. let people find them and wonder, "what is this? why is it here? what does it mean?" another important part of horror games is atmosphere.
it's usually not the jump scare that scares people, but the sound, the lighting, the setting, along with the enemy design, level design, story design, all combined together. a rustling in the trees as you walk down a path, a light randomly flickering, echoing footsteps, low whispers near certain places, an unusual shadow. you don't want to try so hard to make it scary it just ends up hilarious, but you don't want to put too little effort into it. there needs to be a balance between stupidly "scary" and pathetic.
onto enemies. there always have to be enemies, but you don't need them right off the bat. start to explore, find things that hint to other parts of the story, and then suddenly, something's there.
give people checkpoints. nobody wants to be on level 30 and then suddenly have to start back at the beginning. the way levels are designed is incredibly important.
don't make everything the same as before, but don't make it so difficult or confusing you keep on dying. for better help, play some popular horror games and look at how the levels in them are designed.
don't fill the game with jump scares. you can add one every few levels, but not so often people expect it.
i don't even know how true this is i just wanted to write something
give them a tutorial, let them learn the basics, and then release them into the world. most horror games are quite unforgiving, and that's something you'll want to use, but not so much that the audience will get frustrated and give up. give them a little bit of help if they need it, but not enough to change the games' difficulty rating. most horror games are single-player, but a multiplayer horror game with voice chat works too, in fact, can even help. the odd scream of surprise from an ally, panicked voices, these can help.
add little secret things most people might not find. let people find them and wonder, "what is this? why is it here? what does it mean?" another important part of horror games is atmosphere.
it's usually not the jump scare that scares people, but the sound, the lighting, the setting, along with the enemy design, level design, story design, all combined together. a rustling in the trees as you walk down a path, a light randomly flickering, echoing footsteps, low whispers near certain places, an unusual shadow. you don't want to try so hard to make it scary it just ends up hilarious, but you don't want to put too little effort into it. there needs to be a balance between stupidly "scary" and pathetic.
onto enemies. there always have to be enemies, but you don't need them right off the bat. start to explore, find things that hint to other parts of the story, and then suddenly, something's there.
give people checkpoints. nobody wants to be on level 30 and then suddenly have to start back at the beginning. the way levels are designed is incredibly important.
don't make everything the same as before, but don't make it so difficult or confusing you keep on dying. for better help, play some popular horror games and look at how the levels in them are designed.
don't fill the game with jump scares. you can add one every few levels, but not so often people expect it.
i don't even know how true this is i just wanted to write something