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I hate the sneak 'em up genre of horror, but I love Alien, so Alien Isolation is legend for me. What a game. I wish I'd played it with the unpredictable alien mod. That would have 
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May 9, 2020 17:46
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Ironically I think I would have preferred to play Alien: Isolation without the Alien. In my experience any encounter with the xenomorph fell into to categories, a non issue or complete shutdown of the area so you had to sit motionless under a desk for 5 min waiting for it to move away from the one path that led to your objectives. All the other enemies felt scarier because you could more easily deal with them but at the cost of resources and bringing more trouble down on yourself.
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May 9, 2020 18:05
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Cardiovorax posted:"Lost in a alien world" apparently, going by the Steam page. It worked for Darkseed, which is another Giger flavoured game. Old live-action horror adventure, but it really had the art style down. That's because H.R. Giger was involved with Darkseed.
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May 9, 2020 19:15
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Cardiovorax posted:"Lost in a alien world" apparently, going by the Steam page. It worked for Darkseed, which is another Giger flavoured game. Old live-action horror adventure, but it really had the art style down. I think they mentioned at some point the main inspiration was actually the artist Zdzislaw Beksinski.
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May 9, 2020 19:17
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sigher posted:That's because H.R. Giger was involved with Darkseed.
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May 9, 2020 19:27
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They purchased Giger’s art and hand scanned which I can’t imagine was a cheap license. Giger did demand they use 640x350 resolution instead of the normal 320x240 which is why the game looked unusually good in 1992 but they were restricted to 16 colors. It was very similar to Japanese computer games which were hi-res in the 80s but worked well with restrictive palettes and advanced dithering techniques.
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May 9, 2020 19:46
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That was a really good looking game at the time, I remember being spooked by just the screenshots in my dad's Amiga magazines.
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May 9, 2020 19:48
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Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet?
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May 9, 2020 23:55
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FalconImpala posted:Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet? I think the fear of death in "big scary invincible monster chases you" games can create some tense situations but then actually dying kind of breaks the illusion, especially when it's in the same area. So I would challenge more horror games to find something scarier in response to player failure than just restarting from the last checkpoint, or even allowing for the player to die at all.
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May 10, 2020 00:02
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A meaningful death mechanic. Make death scary and not the binary of either 'Try again!' or 'hardcore 1984 start over lol'. No, I don't have any idea how you'd do this.
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May 10, 2020 01:14
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I don't think death/fear of it has ever been what creeps me out or scares me in a horror game. It's always the atmosphere. Bloodborne is a game where you die constantly but I was still freaked out when I got bagged by those guys that show up later in the game and tossed into the hidden village because it was so outside the scope of the game/my frame of reference for where I was. I guess if I had to choose one mechanic it's combat as good as Bloodborne but that's almost an impossible ask since it has the GOAT combat. Or I just wish games were better at setting the proper atmosphere to keep me on edge.
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May 10, 2020 01:30
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A grid based inventory game where the monster doesn't steal anything, but they randomly shuffle the locations of your items in said inventory. The only difficulty setting is if opening the inventory pauses the game or not. But then it turns out there were never any timed puzzles or otherwise time sensitive risks anyways.
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May 10, 2020 01:33
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I fell in love with Isolation when I figured out how to weaponize the alien against human enemies by throwing a flash bang in their group and hiding. When the screams were over and the alien had stomped away I carried on my way. Shame its just too drat long and loses its luster near the end.
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May 10, 2020 01:46
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part of me feels like the way to make death a good threat in horror games is to make it NPC death rather than player death but half the playerbase would still save scum it so it's probably a lost cause
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May 10, 2020 01:52
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Irony.or.Death posted:part of me feels like the way to make death a good threat in horror games is to make it NPC death rather than player death but half the playerbase would still save scum it so it's probably a lost cause There is a company who's got around this.
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May 10, 2020 01:57
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Bogart posted:A meaningful death mechanic. Make death scary and not the binary of either 'Try again!' or 'hardcore 1984 start over lol'. No, I don't have any idea how you'd do this. You know I think Planescape: Torment falls out that binary though it's hardly a horror game.
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May 10, 2020 02:07
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Groovelord Neato posted:There is a company who's got around this. coincidentally they make the best video games, but do not seem to meet most peoples' criteria for horror
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May 10, 2020 03:07
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FalconImpala posted:Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet? Final Destination-flavored Hitman via 3D open world incredible-machine levels
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May 10, 2020 03:11
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FalconImpala posted:Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet? Myst meets It Follows.
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May 10, 2020 03:36
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FalconImpala posted:Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet? Procedurally generated spooks and scares
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May 10, 2020 03:42
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F3ar was hilarious.
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May 10, 2020 04:41
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SelenicMartian posted:F3ar was hilarious. F3AR is a bunch of fun as just the spooks-action shooting gallery that I guess they were trying for, me and a buddy played through it again recently and the co-op stuff was done in some fun ways, the person playing Point Man gets control over the slow-mo toggle and that sorta thing, while whoever's playing Paxton Fettel gets to do ghost possession poo poo and it gels together pretty well.
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May 10, 2020 06:32
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Groovelord Neato posted:I don't think death/fear of it has ever been what creeps me out or scares me in a horror game. It's always the atmosphere. It's a pretty good shock when a game does something you didn't expect it was supposed to. Undertale's bad guys kicking you out of the game comes to mind.
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May 10, 2020 06:33
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Lord Lambeth posted:You know I think Planescape: Torment falls out that binary though it's hardly a horror game.
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May 10, 2020 08:05
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Planescape's core idea of "immortal being tormented by himself over countless iterations" would work well combined with Soma's concept of literally copy pasting a snapshot of your consciousness into robot brains.
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May 10, 2020 08:32
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I've been thinking about Soma a lot. The most effective parts of the game are when they're dealing with that idea of consciousness being something that can just be plucked from someone, copied into another host, and spun up at whim. This kinda happens to the player at least a couple times throughout the game, even though it's masked through unreliable narrator somewhat, but one of the most horrifying instances of the possibilities this raises is near the end where you need to get a cortex chip. There's a mini puzzle where you have to route power through the different parts of a bot so you can yank it's chip. One of the systems you have to route through is labeled "Comms". If you send power to the comms unit, there's just garbled screaming. By itself, that was disturbing enough, but it gets even worse. If you look at the table it's on, the bot is clearly plugged in to a power source, but the sensors and motor are all shut off. In all likelihood it had been sitting there under power, but deaf, dumb, and blind, for some amount of time, until Simon comes along and pulls the chip, which at that point is an act of mercy. From the perspective of that particular consciousness, assuming it's one of the brainscans shoved into a bot by the WAU (and it's very likely it is), they sat down in a chair then everything just disappeared and they were unable to do anything but go insane. It's almost worse that they point out how those particular units are not very advanced, so it was given just enough intelligence to lose it's mind. Given the story you collect along the way, this kind of thing has to have happened many, many times, to many different scans. Hell, the original scans had been around for about 100 years at that point, so there were likely many iterations of those that went through similar experiences or worse in the early stages.
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May 10, 2020 23:49
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I am over hide and peek, unless it's Clock Tower or a smaller experience like Monstrum.
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May 11, 2020 00:17
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al-azad posted:Planescape's core idea of "immortal being tormented by himself over countless iterations" would work well combined with Soma's concept of literally copy pasting a snapshot of your consciousness into robot brains. Isn't that basically the spiritual sequel to Torment? Tides of Numenera?
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May 11, 2020 01:35
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FalconImpala posted:Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet?
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May 11, 2020 01:42
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FalconImpala posted:Is there a mechanic you've always wanted to see in a horror game but hasn't really been pulled off yet? so, silent hill: shattered memories had a gimmick where the game would subtly change to gently caress with you based on your behavior; it was hyped up as building a sort of "psych profile" to hit you where it hurts, and it even affected the endings stare at mannequins and sexy posters too long? the game flags you as a pervert. Don't gently caress around examining anything and instead go straight toward the next plot thing? The game flags you as goal oriented and a go-getter. Keep staring at toys and dumb poo poo, etc. It was also influenced by some questionnaires you had to fill out throughout the game, as part of the plot was that you were talking to a therapist in practice though that's literally all it was: what you focused your camera on the longest, and how you answered questions posed by an in-game psychiatrist, and there was only four "play styles" and corresponding endings. Say you like booze, the game will spawn beer cans instead of soda cans, you look at beer cans, you get the booze ending It's the *start* of a good idea but it's one of those where, to really see it shine, I think you would have to go butt loving nuts with how much the game is reading into everything you do, not just how your camera is positioned but poo poo like whether or not you're reading item descriptions and how often you walk versus run, and it would take a bit more than four discreet categories (which in shattered memories was basically Good/Horny/Lazy rear end in a top hat/Drunk), something more granular and not just LAZY rear end in a top hat MODE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED, PLEASE ENJOY THE LAZY rear end in a top hat ENDING FOR LAZY ASSHOLES
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May 11, 2020 01:48
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i always disliked that since it feels like youre punished for looking at anything maybe i just want to read what this extremely blurry texture says? oh no im a bad father
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May 11, 2020 01:59
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The old melon game Facade had a similar idea. Not necessarily what you pointed the mouse at, but what you interacted with (and when) would subtly change your relationship with the characters. If you try to change the subject sometimes they'll notice and resist it. As well as where you're standing in the room, if you're "siding" with one character or staying distant, who you're making more eye contact with. I don't yet know the interaction with horror, but I think it would be a great mechanic in a VR game.
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May 11, 2020 02:09
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Final Fantasy VIII kind of played with the idea via the SeeD exam, in retrospect the game measures your judgement (based on how well you set goals for yourself), how many enemies you kill and in how little time, whether you follow orders, whether you talk to people unnecessarily, and a bunch of small poo poo like whether you hide from a robot and whether or not you manage to save a dog, each a factor in whether or not the game thinks you're a good soldier there's so many little elements involved that I still re-read that poo poo and go "oh drat I didn't know that had anything to do with it, makes sense tho" and most of it fits neatly into the dialogue of a normal JRPG instead of like, a fictional therapist asking if you like to drink and/or cheat on your wife
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May 11, 2020 02:10
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Lunatic Sledge posted:It's the *start* of a good idea ShatMemz.txt It was the janky tech demo for a legendary game that will never exist 
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May 11, 2020 03:46
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Big Mad Drongo posted:ShatMemz.txt My brain always confusedly jumps to William Shatner shouting internet jokes at you when I see the abbreviation for that game. So I guess that's my untapped horror game mechanic.
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May 11, 2020 03:53
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Captain Hygiene posted:My brain always confusedly jumps to William Shatner shouting internet jokes at you when I see the abbreviation for that game. So I guess that's my untapped horror game mechanic. Here. come dat. boi.
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May 11, 2020 05:47
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Lunatic Sledge posted:so, silent hill: shattered memories had a gimmick where the game would subtly change to gently caress with you based on your behavior; it was hyped up as building a sort of "psych profile" to hit you where it hurts, and it even affected the endings That game also had the fleshy pink enemies change depending on your "obsession," right? Definitely a good idea not taken far enough.
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May 11, 2020 07:12
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Yeah, they were called like 'rawshocks' and had different standout shapes to their weird hosed up bodies depending on what the game thought your shtick was, which was a cool idea at least.
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May 11, 2020 08:16
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Lunatic Sledge posted:so, silent hill: shattered memories had a gimmick where the game would subtly change to gently caress with you based on your behavior; it was hyped up as building a sort of "psych profile" to hit you where it hurts, and it even affected the endings https://lparchive.org/Blackout/ The classic Danish stop-motion adventure game Blackout, which I Let's Played a few years ago, is based on a similar conceit. You spend the first half of the game exploring a dreamlike Noir city, visiting restaurants, bars, brothels, cinemas, etc., and the preferences you display determine how the rest of the game unfolds.
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May 11, 2020 08:23
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davidspackage posted:That game also had the fleshy pink enemies change depending on your "obsession," right? Definitely a good idea not taken far enough. Yeah i work with a couple of the guys from that studio and one of their regrets is not being able to take that way further than they did. Enemies that drastically change depending on how I play? Yes please, why can't any game get this right?
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May 11, 2020 10:59
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