Darkness Falls on Eternity (more horror, scary themes in eternity)

[Osvir]

I honestly thought the Dragon Eye (or whatever) in Icewind Dale was pretty scary the first time, the kid ghost or whatever you were walking up towards that turned into Yxonymei or whatever her Yuan-Ti name was.

 

I don't agree with you AGX. Perspective has nothing to do with it, scary or happy themed, both requires just the right mood/atmosphere, setting and probably most importantly that chilly ice-cold music that slithers its way along your spine. A good narration to enhance further. Or is the rules of feeling "scared" different from the rules of feeling "happy"?

 

Is the following true?

You see a picture of a happy kid playing in a ballpark laughing and giggling just like a child. Does it make you smile?

 

You see a picture of a sad kid, sitting lonely in a ballpark. Does it make you sad?

 

You see a second child manically eating the first child in the empty apocalyptic Fallout-themed ballpark. Does it make you disturbed?

 

Now. Does any of these matter if they are isometric, first-person or third person or can the "emotional" or "reactive" come across to you regardless? Can you feel all 3 ways in the above examples?

 

No one seems particularly interested in a 100% Horror filled game *looks at poll* looks more like it could be an element in the game, at one point, during one quest, or perhaps simply 1 dungeon. One NPC in a city, something small yet impacting.

[JFSOCC]

Horror will most certainly be a theme i think, i dont however expect to be constantly jumping from my seat shouting "where the **** did that come from!?!?!" occassionaly yes but all the time would be game breaking, i think it comes down to atmosphere, music etc..

 

Perhaps a bit irellevant as its a jRPG and after watching it again not quite as jarring as i remember as a 10 year old (though that could by the cheesy japanese diaglogue) but none the less Suikoden II had a great cutscene where one of the badguys forces someone to act like a pig before killing them anyway, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhNCbGDE4GI

 

That kind of horror would fit in very well i feel and also makes for a deeper more engaging storyline, i'm also all for having some dark torchlit dungeons with a nice creepy feel to them, but a geniuinely jump out of seat scary moment would probabally be quite difficult to implement in anything other than a first person game, then again we'll see what the guys at Obsidian can do

Kicking babies to prove that you're evil. "Muhahahaha. And before I did that, I took away it's lollipop and ate it in front of the little runt. His tears sustain me."

 

No. I hope not to see that.

[Ulquiorra]

Horror will most certainly be a theme i think, i dont however expect to be constantly jumping from my seat shouting "where the **** did that come from!?!?!" occassionaly yes but all the time would be game breaking, i think it comes down to atmosphere, music etc..

 

Perhaps a bit irellevant as its a jRPG and after watching it again not quite as jarring as i remember as a 10 year old (though that could by the cheesy japanese diaglogue) but none the less Suikoden II had a great cutscene where one of the badguys forces someone to act like a pig before killing them anyway, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhNCbGDE4GI

 

That kind of horror would fit in very well i feel and also makes for a deeper more engaging storyline, i'm also all for having some dark torchlit dungeons with a nice creepy feel to them, but a geniuinely jump out of seat scary moment would probabally be quite difficult to implement in anything other than a first person game, then again we'll see what the guys at Obsidian can do

Kicking babies to prove that you're evil. "Muhahahaha. And before I did that, I took away it's lollipop and ate it in front of the little runt. His tears sustain me."

 

No. I hope not to see that.

 

I personaly i don't know what that movie had to do with "Scary themes, horror in eternity".

 

But for the movie and your opinion about that ... proves that someone is bad will always be present in games ... even proving it by "kicking babies" can be explaind properly for example character is sadist or natzi (thinking that his race is the best and any other are pigs) even history know that type of characters (i sudgest you to read history of 2 world war in polish, russian front and situation of jews)

 

BUT

 

We don't know haw they handeld that type of character in this game we only se a motiv of "Die pig !!" moment ... it coud be handeld in pokemon kiddy type of way "I'am bad becouse i say so" or he can be deep character with multi-motivations that makes him doing this type of things "mayby his crazy etc".

 

For exaple allmost all low life bandits had almost non character desine the only thing in game desine is some event that makes them "Bad" in your opinion "slaying peasants etc" and you can't say that isint childish ....

 

to the topic i can't agree with AGX-17

 

You are saying "Im not affraid" and that is OK everybody is diffrent mayby your just a machine that don't have any emotions wile playing games but most of the players DO and its not about making Eternity full survival horror like Amnesia, it's about adding disturbing, scary thames not about making you piss yourself when something JUMPS on you....

 

Secodnly i cand age that isometric games cant be scary, almost all old games where isometric becose they where more about narrations, sounds then "Visual" if in some moment you hear https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=nhnygLQ4Ar4 in some darkness in will make you a little scary ...

[Rink]

I am someone who almost wasn't able to play past the haunted mansion in vampire:bloodlines. Not only because I almost got a heart-attack after only approaching the house (when the lights shatter). Luckily such effects are harder to do with party-based isometric settings and there seems to be some differences in what people here understand about horror (largely because for me scaryness and goryness are very different. Fallout had a lot of brutality, but never really made you feel scared for example).

 

I don't mind brutality in some quests like the skinner-quest in bg2 or some quests or dungeons where the athmosphere (story/music) makes me feel on edge, but I also don't like it when every place makes me feel uncomfortable. It should be a good mix and not become alone in the dark/amnesia from "scaryness" and not diablo from goryness/splatter.

[FlintlockJazz]

Dunno if horror even works from an isometric perspective. Unless it's a hovering monster ô.O

 

First horror games was from isometric perspective. Even Gorky 17 was rpg horror with isometric

 

And exactly how horrified did you feel?

 

How horrified did you feel when watching Birds from Hitch****?

 

Imagine if the birds attacked a party of ultra-badass dragon slayers. Yes, exactly that horrifying.

 

Mayby not to much but in gorky it's not isometric foult but graphical level. It was wery old game with low graphical details if you put isometric intu good graphics then it can be more scary then even from first perspectiv but it's harder to input.

 

I don't find that convincing. In an FPS you're in the thick of things, and with help from things like surround sound you can create some nice effects. Plus you're alone/ feeling seperate from others. A party based game with an isometric view? Not a chance. Atmospheric writing is possible, even a gasp of surprise, but chills? No way.

 

Play Lone Survivor then and you'll see that even 2D can be absolutely horrifying. As long as there is a degree of unknown and the threat of horrifying death present anything can be made scary.

[Sacred_Path]

Play Lone Survivor then and you'll see that even 2D can be absolutely horrifying. As long as there is a degree of unknown and the threat of horrifying death present anything can be made scary.

 

Unknown? Check. Horrifying death? Check.

 

I looked up Lone Survivor, doesn't look scary. The only 2D game that gave me the creeps, ever, is Clocktower. But you're not playing an unarmed schoolgirl in PE.

 

Maybe those who think PE could be scary should give some concrete examples of scary scenarios. My example of what I want to see was:

 

What I'd like to see are some suprising/ moving/ creepy moments that have to do with souls, fractured souls, life after death/ undeath/ unexistence etc. Stuff that makes you think about the horrible consequences of certain actions, unforgiving acts, or plain senseless cruelty. If it's done really really well, I might even show one or two goosebumps. I promise.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Sacred_Path

[FlintlockJazz]

Play Lone Survivor then and you'll see that even 2D can be absolutely horrifying. As long as there is a degree of unknown and the threat of horrifying death present anything can be made scary.

 

Unknown? Check. Horrifying death? Check.

 

I looked up Lone Survivor, doesn't look scary. The only 2D game that gave me the creeps, ever, is Clocktower. But you're not playing an unarmed schoolgirl in PE.

 

Maybe those who think PE could be scary should give some concrete examples of scary scenarios. My example of what I want to see was:

 

What I'd like to see are some suprising/ moving/ creepy moments that have to do with souls, fractured souls, life after death/ undeath/ unexistence etc. Stuff that makes you think about the horrible consequences of certain actions, unforgiving acts, or plain senseless cruelty. If it's done really really well, I might even show one or two goosebumps. I promise.

 

If you've not played it then your opinion on it is irrelevant. Horror games are often only effective while you're playing it. Also horror is very subjective: what one person finds horrifying another finds daft/boring/funny/etc. Many found Diablo 1 scary others did not. Just because you find something not scary does not make it not scary for others, I know of some people who hate isometric games fullstop, no matter what game it is if its isometric then they don't like it, does that make isometric games bad?

 

I personally wouldn't want the entire game turned into a horror, but some aspects of horror could be good and some horror quests.

[Sacred_Path]

If you've not played it then your opinion on it is irrelevant.

 

True, though your opinion on it is also irrelevant if you can't describe what's scary about it.

 

Horror games are often only effective while you're playing it. Also horror is very subjective: what one person finds horrifying another finds daft/boring/funny/etc. Many found Diablo 1 scary others did not. Just because you find something not scary does not make it not scary for others, I know of some people who hate isometric games fullstop, no matter what game it is if its isometric then they don't like it, does that make isometric games bad?

 

Of course it's subjective, but if you add a horror theme to a game your goal should of course be to make it scary for as large a number of players as possible. Not "oh I think we should put in this monster with noodly appendages, maybe someone will find it scary".

 

One thing that makes games scary is bad controls. In Clocktower you move slow as **** which gives it a nightmarish quality. When I played Dead Space on the PS3 it freaked me out because I was bad at playing with a gamepad, and there were things breathing down my neck I couldn't get a proper look at (much less hit them). Obviously I want neither to be the case in PE.

 

One thing that's easy for creeps is v. bad visibility at night/ in dungeons. This could be in the game.

[FlintlockJazz]

If you've not played it then your opinion on it is irrelevant.

 

True, though your opinion on it is also irrelevant if you can't describe what's scary about it.

 

Horror games are often only effective while you're playing it. Also horror is very subjective: what one person finds horrifying another finds daft/boring/funny/etc. Many found Diablo 1 scary others did not. Just because you find something not scary does not make it not scary for others, I know of some people who hate isometric games fullstop, no matter what game it is if its isometric then they don't like it, does that make isometric games bad?

 

Of course it's subjective, but if you add a horror theme to a game your goal should of course be to make it scary for as large a number of players as possible. Not "oh I think we should put in this monster with noodly appendages, maybe someone will find it scary".

 

One thing that makes games scary is bad controls. In Clocktower you move slow as **** which gives it a nightmarish quality. When I played Dead Space on the PS3 it freaked me out because I was bad at playing with a gamepad, and there were things breathing down my neck I couldn't get a proper look at (much less hit them). Obviously I want neither to be the case in PE.

 

One thing that's easy for creeps is v. bad visibility at night/ in dungeons. This could be in the game.

 

I never tried to explain what was scary about it, so don't presume, the point is that if youhaven't played it you can't talk from experience. I don't bother explaining what is scary about horror games as its generally impossible to do so, as your utter failure to convince me of the scariness of the Clocktower and Dead Space has done: citing bad controls as some sort great thing just tells me that they had **** controls and will frustrste me, as I found with the RE games. I found the games irritating as hell and played them in spite of the controls, they added nothing to the game but frustration and was glad when RE4 changed that. People can never really convince someone something is scary they have to experience it for themselves. Hell the hotel in VtM is cited as one of the scariest sequences in a game and I did enjoy it but if you read most of the descriptions people give it sounds utter ****.

 

Of course they should try to make things scary for the largest number of people, but last time I checked you're not everybody and neither am I, and you are always going to get people who don't find it scary. You don't get scared at isometric games? Too bad.

Edited December 11, 2012 by FlintlockJazz

[FlintlockJazz]

DP.

Edited December 11, 2012 by FlintlockJazz

[Sacred_Path]

I never tried to explain what was scary about it, so don't presume, the point is that if youhaven't played it you can't talk from experience. I don't bother explaining what is scary about horror games as its generally impossible to do so

 

What? Since when is it impossible to lay a finger on what's scary? Be it books, movies, or games, if there's something that gives you creeps it's generally possible to describe it. You didn't even say what's scary about that game, much less why (I could understand the latter to some degree).

 

as your utter failure to convince me of the scariness of the RE games and Dead Space has done: citing bad controls as some sort great thing just tells me that they had **** controls and will frustrste me, and in the case of RE that was indeed the case.

 

I wasn't trying to convince you they're scary, I said that's one thing that gave me the creeps, and that's the only times I can remember when games achieved that. I also said:

Obviously I want neither to be the case in PE.

so obviously I'm NOT saying it's a great idea. And wait, RE= Resident Evil? I never even mentioned that.

 

I'm not feeling strongly about horror in this game, I was merely replying because you quoted me. If they put no "horror" in the game, fine. If they do it, still fine. If they do it and it's lame, I'll be like 'meh' but it won't ruin the game for me.

[Osvir]

-snip-

Pffft!!! Ravenloft blahblah

 

Just wanted to clarify, I was thinking about Ravenholm in Half-Life 2.

 

Maybe those who think PE could be scary should give some concrete examples of scary scenarios. My example of what I want to see was:

 

I said it before but I'd like to see the Fog of War have a part in this somehow, a light that looks like a spirit kid that waves you to follow her. Looks like a ghost or something, you follow her only to get to the big monster that looks like a deep fish with a lantern on its head and it is about to eat you.

 

Another one is the Fog of War being the enemy somehow. The Fog of War itself is coming after you at some point, trying to eat you or simply going all Cthulhu on you, closing in on you. Meaning that the Fog of War becomes bigger and bigger and your vision of your characters becomes smaller and smaller if you can't get to the exit in time.

 

Not really horror from here on but more or less some "jumps":

Floor tiles that fall into an abyss as you are just about to walk over it (triggered to fall so you are always safe~you can't fall) just to give a sense of Indiana Jones: "Snap! Almost fell to my death!!".

 

Traps that appear out of nowhere.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Osvir

[Jobby]

Can't use the quote button cuz java scripts pish on this laptop but essentially my point was along the lines of "war is horror" and sadistic charcters who perform wanton acts of voilence can be jarring, even in a cartoony game with cheesy dialogue.

 

Admittedly yes the badguy was a touch one dimensional, there is more backstory to him but not really enough to justify that level of sadism, although in saying that for all we know about many African dictators it took nothing more than power to corrupt their minds (Idi Amin, Bokassa, Mugabe the list goes on..).

 

It really depends on peoples definition of horror, i rarely find classicaly defined horror films with vampires or giant crocs etc.. scary or disturbing, however real life themes for me are much scarier and that is what i would like to see personally.

 

Of course i expect there to be undead monsters and the like and if Obsidian can make crypts and graveyards genuinely scary perhaps with clever utilisation of lighting, music, atmosphere and the occasional scripted fright moment then i'm all for that aswel i just think it will be hard to implement in an isometric game.

[Osvir]

Also, about Diablo 1 :

[Adhin]

I don't want horror like atmosphere because its scary, I haven't found a game or movie that's really scared me since before I was 8. I like it when its done well due to the added atmosphere it provides. Which, scary or not, is generally more enjoyable and immersive (scary or not) then if its all bright and shiny and all that non-sense. So, again, it's not about it 'being' scary, its about that style adding to the atmosphere of a good dungeon crawl or quest. Otherwise you end up with consistent gag-joke every area like in BG.

 

I love that game, I really do, it really changed everything (for the better) back in the day. But playing it again today.... eeesh. I mean I've played D1 again multiple times over to get 'inspired' for atmosphere stuff with some mod work I do but BG just lacks a lot of that. Unless i plan to make a poor SNL isometric skit game. Granted all that referential non-sense aside, main story of that games awesome, if I ignore the lack of RP choices in dialog... old games and all that heh. PST/BG2 hadn't happened... BG just had to come first.

 

Anyway, Atmosphere = super important. Horror? Good way to do that in relation to horror themed stuff (dungeon crawls, some monster types, specifically undead related).

 

-edit-

Oohh I completely forgot to mention, bad controls doesn't make a game scary it just makes it a bad controlling game. I cannot fathom why anyone, ANYONE, thinks its scary to have ****ty controls. Let alone enjoys playing a game with bad controls. Now I can understand a slow, more normal paced movement speed in a full on horror game but intentionally doing awful tank controls cause its scary is... bad design. No RE game was scary due to controls, except the part where you maybe scared to physically deal with those controls in which case yes, that I understand,

 

No one should have to deal with that janky BS. But you could just be navigating around a box room with no real textures and no enemies and I'd have the same repulsed reaction to said controls. Damned awful game design right there if I've ever seen it.

 

-re-edit-

Dead Space is a great example, good controls, plotting movement, great atmosphere. Scary? Depends on the person, I found more of it to be a little funny but damn the atmosphere was great and the controls didn't take anything away from that. I was never wrestling with my controller which, ultimately, takes me out of games that do that.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Adhin

[Sacred_Path]

Oohh I completely forgot to mention, bad controls doesn't make a game scary it just makes it a bad controlling game. I cannot fathom why anyone, ANYONE, thinks its scary to have ****ty controls. Let alone enjoys playing a game with bad controls. Now I can understand a slow, more normal paced movement speed in a full on horror game but intentionally doing awful tank controls cause its scary is... bad design.

 

I'm so happy you decided to add this to your post. *facepalms self into oblivion*

[Ulquiorra]

And i want you guys ask one thing in poll you see "quest" ... haw do you define scary quest .. ?

 

As a side quest that has nothing to do with a storyline or storylife itself ? i think that PE MUST HAVE mature content in story line i don't want secodn NWN2 official campain ..... Even NWN official campain was more mature ... mayby not good but at least it had atmosphere ...