Perspective on Horror?

[calvinchun832]

Hi all!
So, i saw many horror games which succeeds really well and i've seen tons of topic
On the net regarding what makes a good horror games. Tons of them mentioned story,
Atmosphere and jumpscare. However i did not get their message fully. Thus, this is why
I post here, trying to get feedback on what triggers the fear inside gamers(us) as we play a
horror game. Few example is, One night, Nightmare and Eclipse. xD

I accept every suggestions, and will try to implement them in my next horror game. However,
My main question is, should a horror game contain music in every room ingame or do you
prefer a deadly silence with only your footsteps and heartbeat echoes as you make your
way through a dark corridor?

Thanks! I really needed a mass feedback on this... xD

[Heretic86]

Tie the sound to meaning.

Either with sound or no sound, if there is a meaning to the sound, then players will pay attention to the change and it associated with a threat.  If theres no indiciation that sound has significant meaning, then players will expect RM standard of every area has a specific music.  Monster steps into your room, play certain music (or fade out music), but if Monster doesnt find you, once it leaves, return to "normal" music.

It builds a lot of anticipation.

[calvinchun832]

Thanks heretic!
I will implement it on my game ;-)

[Heretic86]

No prob!

Something else critical about this type of concept.  This is one of those "odd" things that you will probably have to communicate to your players non verbally.  As a key gameplay element, make sure that the player understands what Sound means in your game.

In Silent Hill, the player was forced to pick up a radio playing static before they were allowed to leave the training area.  It was a non verbal way of communicating to the player that static is an indication that a monster is near.  That sound is what created the anticipation of threat over jump scares.

So you may have to implement Ryex's Dynamic Sounds or another Sound Emitter script to get the effect you want.  A cutscene of player hiding and monster fails to notice could also achieve the meaning of sound in your game.

Just thought I'd share that too.

[calvinchun832]

Hehe! Yeah, i recognised that too, however, i wont be using the static radio, as that cliche
May probably have been used over and over, but only playing a spine chilling and creepy music
That will cause the player to panic. Do you think that my idea is sufficient?
(For the sound emitter script, i used this one. http://rmrk.net/index.php?topic=20546.0
This is your idea, of course xD.)

[Heretic86]

The script should be fine.  If you want to do it in a cutscene as an intro, you can use a parallel event as well.  It just takes a bit of clever eventing without the need of additional scripts to gradually increase volume.  Point being to just make sure that the player makes a specific association with however you choose to do the sounds with what ever chases them.  So that also means dont change music across every map, but different styles of music for inside or outside, or a canyon, desert, etc, those kinds of changes should be fine.

Slightly off topic, monsters as important as this are Main Characters, and most main characters, even in films, get their own theme song.  This style can just be used to function like a theme song, just intended to make players go poopie in their pants.