E: scary game with music
Hi,
Here's my first post for the game I'm planning on making. It is going to be a attempt at a scary game. You will need to search rooms for objects and bring them to a place to unlock the door and escape. There will be jump scares and I'll try to add some creepiness in too, like eyes looking at you in the dark and then running away when you get near. There will be certain death and a monster that will chase you around.
As you progress, the pieces you must collect will start to play a song, and if the song is complete, you will have completed the game.
I know it is a bit much for a game like this, but I like to push myself to do new things I don't usually do, like to enter this comp.
I will have a playable version up and running at the end of the week.
This is just to let you know of what I'm planning and going to do. Feel free to comment and criticise, I can take it.
Here's my first post for the game I'm planning on making. It is going to be a attempt at a scary game. You will need to search rooms for objects and bring them to a place to unlock the door and escape. There will be jump scares and I'll try to add some creepiness in too, like eyes looking at you in the dark and then running away when you get near. There will be certain death and a monster that will chase you around.
As you progress, the pieces you must collect will start to play a song, and if the song is complete, you will have completed the game.
I know it is a bit much for a game like this, but I like to push myself to do new things I don't usually do, like to enter this comp.
I will have a playable version up and running at the end of the week.
This is just to let you know of what I'm planning and going to do. Feel free to comment and criticise, I can take it.
Comments
I finally found time this weekend to make the game.
I won't be able to add or anything else any more due to my schedule being full and I will be busy the rest of the year with other projects.
The game is called The Dark and is another gaze game. I tried to make the game I wanted to make but it was a bit too much for this challenge. I will work on it in the future if I have the time. I am quite happy with the result, and it will give you a few scares.
Find all the objects to clear the flames and escape. There are four entry ways, each one marked by a unique colour. It is up to you to find all the objects and escape the maze.
Leave comments and crits, it will be much appreciated. I might also give the source code if people ask for it. Just a warning, it has been a really long time since my last project so it will be messy.
Linky the link: (17mb max download)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/84592301/The Dark Game Build/The Dark.rar
I found 50% of the items but then lost interest. I simply got lost in the maze, gave up, crawled into a ball and died of hypothermia after crying myself to sleep. Like that mad dude in that movie "the shining". Maybe a mini-map would have helped my ego out a bit? ;)
Otherwise, very good job. I can see you are experimenting with Unity and I am very impressed. I cannot wait to see your next project.
Being lost is pretty fundamentally scary. I felt panicky for a while. I got to 10 out of 12 items and then realised there was a time limit (and my time was nearly over) and I gave up.
The time over was jarring. Even though there wasn't much theming in this game (you are collecting white orbs) the time limit still seemed arbitrary.
I think it'd be much better if the player implicitly had a time limit... i.e. the monster grew more aggressive as time progressed and the time up event is your death (not a run-out-of-time message).
Though obviously placing in actual 3D rendered monsters is a big technical challenge, and one which will hurt you game if you pull off badly. So it's kind of hard to use the monster to jump out and kill you (and I'm not sure that that is necessary).
Why not rather make the time limit built on top of the existing mechanics... like running out of torch batteries (and the game being completely dark without the torch), or the fire spreading. Or introduce something that is relatively easy to implement, like you are losing blood and are leaving bloodtrails (which both you and the monster can follow) and your heart rate is slowing down.
Rather than introducing an actual 3D monster (which is really really hard), or having an arbitrary time limit (which is arbitrary).
Looking forward to playing what you do next with this.
I have thought about adding a monster, I will see if I have the time if I can add it. After a certain amounts of time it will spawn at a few locations, and start to slowly hunt the player. What I can do is make ghost-like creatures that damages the player if they make contact with the player and if you can't dodge them or out run them.
They eyes in the dark still need more work done to them, and I will make them look more like an actual monster's eyes, longer, wider, pupils a bit covered.
For the purposes of straight up horror, making things look believable/immersive can really help to scare the shit out of people.
One other thought about the aesthetic... The doom music that plays near the deadline is kind of 80s cheesy... but not really in the best possible way...
If you want 80s synth horror listen to this:
This movie just oozes dread the whole way through. Check out the soundtrack if you can.
But also maybe listen to Slenderman... The deep drum is kind of terrifying.