so as some of you already might know, im creating a horror game but what makes it actually scary is it the feel or anything like that, can someone tell me what actually makes it scary, thanks
and is a horror game really worth making? i mean flamingo’s channel is 60% horror games
Make low to pitch black shadows, so players don’t know what’s in front or behind them, which gives them a slower reaction time. Certain music can give people the heevy-jeevies too.
and do flashlights add those type of feeling too cause its one direction and when you turn around there could be a thing in front of you staring at you in the face will that add the scary feeling?
Well, there are multiple ways to achieve this.
Do unexpected, do not let players expect what will happen.
Jumpscares are very predictable
Make the players feel unconfrontable, small… Like they don’t have any power.
Slowly rising the unconfrontable level between player and the game is a good way to do it
Good lighting always scares the audience.
-I hope I helped
thank you so much, it really helped me
What makes horror games scary in general comes in many different factors such as ambience, lighting, sound and gameplay.
Good Horror games usually have an ambience to suit the setting of the game. Usually most horror games have the classics such as a dark ambient inside a creepy or withered building, but that’s not always the case in some horror games. Some horror games have you wander around in daylight, such as a forest or a town. Sometimes the game’s setting can even be in a modern building, similar to Five Nights at Freddy’s, where the player is put in a restaurant as the nightguard.
Good Horror games also have different lighting styles unlike other games. Usually most horror games have little to no lighting, making the player fear what’s in the dark. Most games also usually arm the player with a method of being able to see what’s in the dark, such as a flashlight or a lantern.
Good Horror games uses sounds to indicate things. Sounds the player never heard before will make the player scared and curious of what is that sound, and what could’ve made it. However, sounds that are played to indicate something to the player, making the player know that they’re in danger or something is going to happen. A few examples of this is the Left 4 Dead 2 horde scream, RVVZ’s The Rake Scream (Ain’t sure if the source of the sounds is truly from that game), and the Five Nights at Freddy’s Power Outage sound.
Good horror games mostly have a threat to the player. Whenever there’s a threat that tries to stop the player via chase sequences or forcing the player to hide from them, it forces a player into panic, as the encounter is usually sudden. Just like in Outlast, once you encounter an enemy, the chase sequence activates. The player is then forced to run away from the enemy until either the chase sequence ends. However, if a horror game has any weapons, you can put the player into a fight-or-flight situation. An example of this is in Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion, when the player is on Room 554, they find an axe which they can use to break barricades. They’ll also notice that they can either attack the monsters or run away from the monsters, but soon learn that they cannot depend on the axe for most encounters.
Here is some advice for your horror game.
Blood is not scary you may make someone wave their arms around but after a while it becomes not scary anymore, want scares sound design is what you want this video can help with the idea.
I think there’s a lot of factors in making a horror game:
Articles go full in details when it comes to, what elements and features that make a horror game scary. There are many elements to include, it need to include “suspense, atmosphere”; horror games aren’t achieve by cheap props but it has to have a horrifying approach view variety of horror games around to gather ideas to incorporate within your game.
Reading articles are ways to achieve a unique gameplay design - or learn about how to make these (genre scary). While there are many types of styled games always try to make it different from existing ones, a lot of games have the basic gameplay. I would encourage you into writing ideas down on a piece of paper to learn how to add it throughout the gameplay!
Jump scares are good as it’s a simple trick incorporated in many of games. While I’m not to experienced; it does need to have those proper elements and features, horror game needs to be not knowing what is coming or what is going to happen. I’ll consider doing your own research as it would be easier for gathering those gameplay elements and ideas.
Expectations. Play with players expectations. Make them wait. Loneliness. Make them concentrate and do a puzzle while eerie sounds play in the background.
Cough cough
Did somebody say
Horror
Instead of a classic jump scare with a scary face and noise, you should make it really unique. Let’s say your player trips on a dusty broom, and then suddenly a monster comes and brawls and chomps them into pieces. Not something you’d quite expect. Never do low effort and boring jump scares.
Well, I am about to make a horror game myself. I am not that good yet, so it won’t be as detailed as the post above.
Play the game called Paranormica, it might give you some inspiration.
Watch videos of PHASMOPHOBIA, (Paranormica is a remake of that game in Roblox.)
Use things that are common, but still satisfy. Examples: Flickering Lights, Power Outages etc…
(This is the best idea I could make.)
Ambient Noises to simulate where the monster (or whatever the character in horror is) is, like screams, or most importantly, footsteps.
Hope I could help!
Here are a few tips for you:
Tip 1: Make sure you add “hollow” music. Ambient, creepy, and quiet music is the perfect music for horror games. Make sure it is extremely simple and slow. Every 20-30 seconds it should switch to another note, every 1-2 mins, I recommend looping so it is repetitive. That is my first tip!
Tip 2: When the “intense” music is playing, change the lighting and camera movement. The camera and lighting has so much to do with the gameplay. If you want, I would recommend making the camera follow the player in first person instead of the player following the camera. By this, I mean make a camera follow the movements of the player while maintaining first person. This would limit the feeling of security and would make the game much more intense. When working with lighting, I recommend brightening lights and limiting player view when the intense moments begin. Lights in the “main focus area” should be dim while the rest should be close to pitch black.
Tip 3: The building in your horror game will make a HUGE difference. If you want your game to be creepy, I suggest you add wires with small flickering lights to simulate sparks. This on top of the hollow music would create a whole vibe. The building should be abandoned, yet detailed. Make sure your game has good performance (AKA not too many parts), good use of materials, and a realistic-ish design.
Tip 4: Here are some random suggestions. Shaky, yet limiting camera movement. Small cut scenes for the intros. (if that’s what you are going for.) Perhaps a small power-up for the “Innocent” team, but still make sure the “monster” has more power. The monster should be more OP than the innocents if its only one monster. Overall, I hope you like my suggestions. This is my first comment ever and I wish you good luck with your game!
Take notes from Realm of the 9 Portals, you need a story, action, and goals.