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Feedback & Discussion / Re: Scariness in videogames
« Last post by ijed on June 01, 2012, 10:44:42 PM »I think the key here isn't scariness - that's just a part of the whole thing, which I'd call immersion.
All good games try to deliver a message to the player, and if the game is more immersive then whatever its trying to portray gets a better delivery.
Whilst Quake might seem cartoony it's only because we've been playing it for so long. When it came out it definitely caught and held my attention, much more than the brash Doom styling.
Many modern games waste money on technology rather than design, which is why we see things like Doom3 which in my opinion is a keystone of the worst level design ever.
But looks very pretty. Maybe not fair to pick on id, but they're an obvious example because of Quake. The opposite end of the spectrum would be half-life 2. Graphics not so great when it came out, but an excellent design in both game and levels.
The funny thing for me, working in the games industry, is that the reviewers seemed to prefer Doom3 to HL2, but the user reviews correctly stated that HL2 shit all over Doom3. At least that was my impression at the time. Lots of hollow hype.
I haven't played Stalker, but can easily equate some of the 'unfair' abilities you describe to one of our dimensional shamblers teleporting behind you with a chain lightning attack
Amnesia was scary for me, until I realised every time a monster appeared I'd just head to the nearest corner, then stand up and walk around (maybe get a glass of water or something) whilst the monster got bored and wandered off. The player can always find a way to devalue a shallow mechanic. Was a shame, since the game had great immersion.
My most memorable part of it was three lines of text. It was obviously a tiny thing that the LD included at the last minute and had no sound resources or time to develop into something bigger, but it sticks in my mind. It went something like this:
A puzzle section has the player fill a large cistern with water, requiring three switches to be flipped for it to fill. They can't see what's inside it.
Interacting with the cistern displayed a message, a different one depending on how many buttons had been pressed:
1 Button: There is a strange noise echoing up out of the cistern
2 Buttons: The noise is louder
3 Buttons: The crying has stopped
The player wasn't required to read these messages, or even go near the cistern. But it showed a true passion for the game they were making, which definitely came out in its immersion.
Good mechanics + good immersion = great game. Scariness, creepiness, claustrophobia for me are all sub-sets of immersion, emotions that a good level designer is going to wring from their audience.
All good games try to deliver a message to the player, and if the game is more immersive then whatever its trying to portray gets a better delivery.
Whilst Quake might seem cartoony it's only because we've been playing it for so long. When it came out it definitely caught and held my attention, much more than the brash Doom styling.
Many modern games waste money on technology rather than design, which is why we see things like Doom3 which in my opinion is a keystone of the worst level design ever.
But looks very pretty. Maybe not fair to pick on id, but they're an obvious example because of Quake. The opposite end of the spectrum would be half-life 2. Graphics not so great when it came out, but an excellent design in both game and levels.
The funny thing for me, working in the games industry, is that the reviewers seemed to prefer Doom3 to HL2, but the user reviews correctly stated that HL2 shit all over Doom3. At least that was my impression at the time. Lots of hollow hype.
I haven't played Stalker, but can easily equate some of the 'unfair' abilities you describe to one of our dimensional shamblers teleporting behind you with a chain lightning attack

Amnesia was scary for me, until I realised every time a monster appeared I'd just head to the nearest corner, then stand up and walk around (maybe get a glass of water or something) whilst the monster got bored and wandered off. The player can always find a way to devalue a shallow mechanic. Was a shame, since the game had great immersion.
My most memorable part of it was three lines of text. It was obviously a tiny thing that the LD included at the last minute and had no sound resources or time to develop into something bigger, but it sticks in my mind. It went something like this:
A puzzle section has the player fill a large cistern with water, requiring three switches to be flipped for it to fill. They can't see what's inside it.
Interacting with the cistern displayed a message, a different one depending on how many buttons had been pressed:
1 Button: There is a strange noise echoing up out of the cistern
2 Buttons: The noise is louder
3 Buttons: The crying has stopped
The player wasn't required to read these messages, or even go near the cistern. But it showed a true passion for the game they were making, which definitely came out in its immersion.
Good mechanics + good immersion = great game. Scariness, creepiness, claustrophobia for me are all sub-sets of immersion, emotions that a good level designer is going to wring from their audience.