Averting Expections for maximum spookiness

[Scarletdark]

As of today this site is no longer blocked from my school's proxy so I can participate more.

As far as spooky sonic gimmicks, I agree with Strife that you must catch the player off guard by making something familiar different. An example of this could be making a badnick that's appearance is exactly the same as a checkpoint post except for a very small difference (something that allows the player to tell the difference, if they are very observent). Once the player approaches the "post" it transforms into a bat or some other sort of badnick that attacks the player.

Another example (which I may or may not be implementing into my game =o) is once the player completes the stage and the fend of stage post begins to twirl, instead of sonic's head appearing, eggman's does. The floor immediately caves in beneath the player and sonic is pitched into complete darkness where he must defeat the boss in a very dim lit area.

Edit: Example of first idea

[OverbounD]

Personally I think its better to let the player know something is different and that something big is about to happen, rather an surprising the player. The reasoning is that there is nothing scarier than your imagination so if you give the time time to wonder what to expect it builds anticipation and increases the spookiness.

An example I can give is in a horror movie when they play spooky music while someone walks down the hall way. It builds anticipation as the player/watcher wonders what will happen.

[Candescence]

I already mentioned the "nothing is scarier" thing back in the other topic...

Then there's the kind where the guy in the spooky mask isn't in the cupboard, but right behind you, and you just know he's gonna go "ABLOOGY WOOGY WOO" at some point, but he doesn't, and you're getting more and more tense, but you don't want to turn around because he might stick his cock in your eye. That would be your Silent Hill 2.

You see, the second one is best, because your imagination is doing all the work, all a good horror game needs to do is hand you a piece of sandpaper and shout encouragement as you vigorously massage your own undercarriage.

[OverbounD]

I suppose I did too when I said a long hall way where the music cuts out dimly lit which would make the player know something is coming but they would wonder what.

[DimensionWarped]

Don't forget that the topic isn't scary, it's spooky. Cheap thrills and surprises are perfectly fine.

Also, who says you can't do both? You could always put some kind of signs of danger near the checkpoint... that way you have the double whammy of having told them there is something wrong with the scene while at the same time using their expectations.

[luksamuk]

Don't forget that the topic isn't scary, it's spooky. Cheap thrills and surprises are perfectly fine.

Also, who says you can't do both? You could always put some kind of signs of danger near the checkpoint... that way you have the double whammy of having told them there is something wrong with the scene while at the same time using their expectations.

Uhm... I personally think that they both mix up in the end. You'll only have a spooky level if it somehow - even if it is not explicit - looks scary.

If you ask me why...

...that's just a little part of what's a mix of spooky and scary. Take a look at how the fog was developed, and how the black-and-white graphics doesn't fucks up the HD impression. Danger may come out of nowhere... and you have to think a bit to make your progress, or else you may end up dead. I always thought that this game (LIMBO) was perfect because of it. It doesn't make you pee in your pants, unless you're a little child. Spooky levels (they all end somehow scary, I believe) must make the player think that no place besides the stage's end is secure. Make him think that staying in movement is the best way to avoid getting hurt.

...but it doesn't mean you must make a "The Ring"-themed level.

[luksamuk]

Sorry for the DP.

Little and simple gimmick concept...

Turn those lights off (:

[DimensionWarped]

Uhm... I personally think that they both mix up in the end. You'll only have a spooky level if it somehow - even if it is not explicit - looks scary.

If you ask me why...

[qimg]http://www.ingames.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lan%C3%A7amento-xbox-limbo1.jpg[/qimg]

...that's just a little part of what's a mix of spooky and scary. Take a look at how the fog was developed, and how the black-and-white graphics doesn't fucks up the HD impression. Danger may come out of nowhere... and you have to think a bit to make your progress, or else you may end up dead. I always thought that this game (LIMBO) was perfect because of it. It doesn't make you pee in your pants, unless you're a little child. Spooky levels (they all end somehow scary, I believe) must make the player think that no place besides the stage's end is secure. Make him think that staying in movement is the best way to avoid getting hurt.

...but it doesn't mean you must make a "The Ring"-themed level.

No no, I explained this already. Spooky is a question of theme and concept while horror is a genre that is explicitly meant to scare the player. Hang Castle in Sonic Heroes is a spooky themed stage, but nothing about it is what you would normally call scary.

Cheesy stuff like this is perfect. It's like how they change how capsules work in Flying Battery (which I should mention also has a lot of those same concepts that I pointed out being common in the spooky theme).