LOOKING FOR TIPS TO MAKE A HORROR GAME THAT DOESN'T SUCK

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I hate horror games because they use too many jump scares and/or don't build a creepy atmosphere, (That's why I hate five nights at freddy and slender: the 8 pages) so what i'm gonna do about it? try to make a horror game to see how hard it can be!

Now I need some tips for making the perfect game, the only tips I can think of are:

- Don't abuse the jump scares, maybe one or two are fine but don't overuse it

- Don't use popular "creepypastas", they suck

Sorry for any errors btw, damn google translate

Edit: Now with 20% more images!:


InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
A key part is making the player feel in danger all the time. If that means making a randomly appearing killer that chases you and can one-shot you, then great. Do it!
This always makes places that are legitimately safe, like a "save room" or the like a much more welcoming place.
Make saving the game not easy. This builds tension and suspense for a spurred survival.
Generally, everything should be ominous in some way or another.
Set up small things that the player sees that are somehow off, giving them the impression something might happen. And nothing does at first. Later in the game have that off-beat area an event of terror. Just enough time to make them feel safe that the thing in question actually isn't anything but the normal environment. Then BAM!

Make the player fear death, basically.
author=InfectionFiles
A key part is making the player feel in danger all the time. If that means making a randomly appearing killer that chases you and can one-shot you, then great. Do it!
This always makes places that are legitimately safe, like a "save room" or the like a much more welcoming place.
Make saving the game not easy. This builds tension and suspense for a spurred survival.
Generally, everything should be ominous in some way or another.
Set up small things that the player sees that are somehow off, giving them the impression something might happen. And nothing does at first. Later in the game have that off-beat area an event of terror. Just enough time to make them feel safe that the thing in question actually isn't anything but the normal environment. Then BAM!

Make the player fear death, basically.


Thanks, but about the killer that can one-shot you, it can be a problem with people who suck at video games, imagine dying again and again because you can't complete a section of the game, the same happens with a really hard puzzle, it destroys the atmosphere

But the idea that you can lose the game or that something bad will happen is interesting, I will work on that, thanks!
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
Let's say the killer can one-shot you when he chases you he just walks slowly and doesn't run after you.
Players can dodge him, but he's there. And he can kill you.

Build on the hanging thought that he's there.
which is a really tried-and-true formula seen in many games, for instance when you're being chased in Fatal Frame 3 (do you remember?)

anyway, while I do agree with IFs, these are formulas and formulas are no good. Instead, try to understand why these formulas exist and why do they work. From there you can build your own and make a genuinely fresh, free from boundaries horror game. For starters, here is the primary oxford definition for "horror":

"An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust"


From there we can deduce that horror doesn't have to necessarily include fear. It has to be either shocking, disgusting or fear-inducing. Or any combination of the three.

How can we have a game that induces fear without being shocking or disgusting? For example, by using somewhat more subtle concepts and relating the game to the player's life, making that situation seem both familiar and unnerving. We get a combination of horror + dread, free of the elements of shock or disgust. (depending on how you approach it)

Conversely we can ditch the fear aspect entirely and focus on the disgust.
By making the setting and characters something the player will have a hard time relating to, but will still get involved from a safe distance, we can tingle their disgust without causing them to be afraid. It will make for an obviously unsettling atmosphere, yet still not directly scaring or shocking the player. (tip: isolating any of these three aspects will be quite hard)

Now now, Horror is a label and not all games in the genre abide by any of these three characteristics. You may very well have a game that presents itself with an horror narrative but is actually a melancholic, depressive narrative about how life is a bummer, that doesn't scare, shock or disgust the player; instead opts to make them feel sad and sorry. This can still be thematically labeled as horror though, mostly because labeling stuff is so limiting. But you get what I mean. Uh try to spot-on what makes a game a horror game, deconstruct it, understand it, ask yourself why you want to make an horror game and approach it the way you want. Make your own formula. Pour in as many or as little adjectives in the solution as you want.

This way you can make a game that's an horror game whilst still being free from the boundaries of the genre. xD


GOD THAT WAS A LONG POST and I babble too much nonsense
Here are my tips, based on my friend's short game "Gakkou" (Japanese for "school"):

-Do NOT use music, make use of sounds instead. A continuous rain sound effect combined with random ambient sounds is more spooky than "oh-noes-scary-music" playing. I still can't forget the moment where my character had himself locked up in a storeroom and the footsteps were more and more louder, as if something was to come there and kill the poor guy.

-If the game is short, get rid of the save ability. Do you save in real life? I think not. Lack of the save feature will increase immersion slightly.

-Make things disappear for no apparent reason. For example: you came across a dead body of your colleague, then moved several tiles away... and the body is gone, as well as blood. You can also invert this, and make things appear for no apparent reason.

-Do not be predictable. So as you have mentioned - no jump scares, no creepy copypastas, because people already know this stuff, and it won't be shocking to them. Unpredictable, unknown things are scary. Maybe it would be a good idea to release the game as your everyday happy adventure game, while it will slowly turn into extremly creepy horror halfway.
There are certainly many ways to make a game scary - and the key ingredient to horror is lack of control (imho).
The inability to predict, prepare for and counter monsters or events. Helplessness.

The reason Slender is scary is because you have no idea what it actually is. It's just there and dangerous. You have no way of predicting when exactly it pops up, but you know that it is there and that it will appear - you feel haunted.
A game that uses the up-popping enemy extremely well and exclusively would be Ao Oni - the game does not start off scary. It starts off boring as hell, but the longer you play, the scarier this thing gets. And the moment the music turns up, you run for it. Even the hiding had a lingering uncertainy - if you were in time, the screen would stay black and you could get out later. If you were not - the doors would soon be opened and you would die. The anticipation of the outcome made a real difference.

Of course, you can also focus more on survival - which means that there is danger around every corner, and while you can predict and react to it to some degree, you are ill prepared and cannot possibly fight all of the monsters. This requires managing of resources as well as hiding and fighting - a constant feeling on edge.

Or you can create this lack of control much more subtly - sound effects do a great deal. Silent Hill would be the most notable example - while later titles were lacking, even in them you have an slightly unnerving feeling. In fact, areas without monsters are much worse than areas with them.
You realize it is abnormal, you have sudden sound effects you cannot predict nor place - which create an unsafe environment. Rather, it feels like an unsafe environment regardless of whether or not it actually is dangerous.
It feels like the world is potentially dangerous - whatever it is you are doing. Having no sounds in some areas can be used to great effect as well

What makes for great environments are twisted ones. In the sense that the base is clear, but that it is wrong somehow - that it changed to something you do not know the nature of yet. This includes creatures, furniture, and all else. Like clowns puppets and mannikins can twisted, so can everything else.
If you portray major changes in the game environment, do not make them sudden. A slow change will make you lose all control over it as you do not know how long it will continue or how you can react to it - if you just have a big flash from one moment to the next, you just got a "new" area you try to get an orientation in, instead of losing control over the one you are in.

There is a possible symbolic portion to horror as well - abominations often mirror personal flaws and weaknesses which either allowed to abondon human parts in order to gain power or whatever or are portrayed as something barely human.
Exploring human weaknesses can make it much more haunting. Being confronted with your inner evils is not nice. It is the most effective, but the hardest to pull off.
I am not sure how I would go about it myself, but I'd say you need a general theme the environments, monsters and notes focus on.
As well as character interaction that hints at the lingering flaw of you. You indirectly, passively or unconsciously contribute to this messed up situation, and must come to this realization sooner or later. In which case you either are "forced" to continue for there is no other way, twisting this situation even further, or you must confront it.
OR the situation "coincidentally" mirrors characters' flaws. The thought can be quite unnerving, even if the characters actually have no influence.

No horror game should have everything. Set a focus and try to create an unpredictable, dangerous environment. Twist your expectations and surroundings, and create danger that you cannot fully overcome. Set a theme.

It's a tough genre, but it's possible to pull off.
There are thousands of little tricks you could use to support your atmosphere, so you need to consider the effects your actions are supposed to have.
You need an incentive to get a grasp on the situation as well as a possible way to continue, but you must not have safety and you must not have a clear view on the situation
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
I am probably the person most qualified to assist here (also SnowOwl) but it is clear without even reading the thread that you already have a LOT of advice to parse and consider.

Instead I will say this. There are many types of "horror" and many flavors of "scary".

I hate horror games because they use too many jump scares and/or don't build a creepy atmosphere, (That's why I hate five nights at freddy and slender: the 8 pages) so what i'm gonna do about it? try to make a horror game to see how hard it can be!


This tells me more about your specific prejudices (I am NOT using that word in a negative sense) and the kind of horror game YOU would find satisfying to play, which is absolutely the kind you should attempt to make starting out.

It sounds like your primary concern and jones is with the gradual building of atmosphere and suspense. I suggest you play at least the first act of genre classic The Longing Ribbon (available on this site) and think about how it builds atmosphere and tension.

Then, before you even start work in the editor, I want you to think long and hard about WHERE your game takes place, about WHY your characters are there, WHAT that says about WHO they are, and HOW you want the pace of the game to flow. In most shit horror games I've played, all of these things were obviously given FAR too little thought by the creator.

One last bit of advice which is probably not PC but fuck it... if you are writing your game in English ... and you plan on using writing to help build up the atmosphere and tension which are important to you ... I'd recommend you either perfect your English first (WAY EASIER SAID THAN DONE) OR (this one is easier) bring in outside help from a native English speaker. Because nothing sends the buildup of suspense and tension reeling backwards like an unfortunate typo or an awkward bit of phrasing. You want your writing to be taut, to be spare, to be effective and to have style. This is really hard even when writing in your native language, and may even approach impossible when writing in a language you're struggling with.
Thanks to everyone! Looks like making a horror game is more complex than it seems, I made two different games:

- You are in a "nightmare" and a monster is chasing you, the firsts nights it is harmless but with time it becomes more and more aggressive (This game started as a parody for all those shitty horror games, but thanks to this topic I want to make it more interesting, maybe add more puzzles...)

- You are in what it looks like an abandoned factory or station, in each room there is a radio or something playing weird sounds (There is no monster but the atmosphere I want to create is of "What the hell is going on", almost no puzzles, no death, no blood, no bullshit)

Again, thanks to everyone! I will change some mechanics and see how it plays out, especially:

author=InfectionFiles
A key part is making the player feel in danger all the time.


author=JosephSeraph
How can we have a game that induces fear without being shocking or disgusting?


author=Preki
-Do NOT use music
-If the game is short, get rid of the save ability.
-Do not be predictable.


author=Kylaila
There are certainly many ways to make a game scary - and the key ingredient to horror is lack of control (imho).
The inability to predict, prepare for and counter monsters or events. Helplessness.


author=Max McGee
Instead I will say this. There are many types of "horror" and many flavors of "scary".

Because nothing sends the buildup of suspense and tension reeling backwards like an unfortunate typo or an awkward bit of phrasing. You want your writing to be taut, to be spare, to be effective and to have style. This is really hard even when writing in your native language, and may even approach impossible when writing in a language you're struggling with.
I don't think jumpscares are inherently bad. I just think that alot of games overuse them, or rely on them too much. Especially the games you mentioned disliking (Five Nights at Freddys, Slender). You seem to have the right idea about those so probably no point twaddle on about those.

Also, Not sure why you don't want to use popular creepypastas. They are popular for a reason, usually because they are well written, and because they are good at capturing something many fear. Ofcourse, there are exceptions, but I think when writing games alot of game makers could learn something from popular creepypasta writers.

So how do you make something scary? If you are new to the genre, I would suggest looking at some of the horror games you DO like and looking at what made those scary to you.
That's probably the best tip you can get starting out.

Here are a few other tips that I think you should keep in mind:
Horror games are very much dependent on sound design, much more so than any other genre of games. Sound is also a great tool in building tension, because you can use it to scare the player without showing him something concrete. If you see the monsters at the start of the game, alot of the fear for them will disappear. People don't fear what they know, people fear what they don't know.

I would consider dropping the RTP graphics. I'll be honest, I think it's probably the worst possible look for any horror game with the way the RTP graphics look. It's just harder to take something seriously that looks like that.

Tension and release: Alot of newbies at making horror pile up the scares everywhere they can. This is a mistake. The tension before a scare is as important as the scare itself. You NEED to build tension to make the player feel scared, or your scares will lose their edge. Look at any good horror movie, like for example the first Alien movie. There is a loooong buildup to the scares in the start, and when the little shit tears a hole in the stomach there is release. Then they start building tension again.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
Before you even start work in the editor, I want you to think long and hard about WHERE your game takes place, about WHY your characters are there, WHAT that says about WHO they are, and HOW you want the pace of the game to flow. In most shit horror games I've played, all of these things were obviously given FAR too little thought by the creator.
author=Max McGee
In most shit horror games I've played, all of these things were obviously given FAR too little thought by the creator.

This. One shall design the game on paper/text file/whatever before hitting the "Create New Game" button and making any maps 'n stuff. I can tell that from my experience. Any game without proper design and preparation will most likely suck, regardless of genre.
author=SnowOwl
I don't think jumpscares are inherently bad. I just think that alot of games overuse them, or rely on them too much. Especially the games you mentioned disliking (Five Nights at Freddys, Slender). You seem to have the right idea about those so probably no point twaddle on about those.

Also, Not sure why you don't want to use popular creepypastas. They are popular for a reason, usually because they are well written, and because they are good at capturing something many fear. Ofcourse, there are exceptions, but I think when writing games alot of game makers could learn something from popular creepypasta writers.

So how do you make something scary? If you are new to the genre, I would suggest looking at some of the horror games you DO like and looking at what made those scary to you.
That's probably the best tip you can get starting out.

Here are a few other tips that I think you should keep in mind:
Horror games are very much dependent on sound design, much more so than any other genre of games. Sound is also a great tool in building tension, because you can use it to scare the player without showing him something concrete. If you see the monsters at the start of the game, alot of the fear for them will disappear. People don't fear what they know, people fear what they don't know.

I would consider dropping the RTP graphics. I'll be honest, I think it's probably the worst possible look for any horror game with the way the RTP graphics look. It's just harder to take something seriously that looks like that.

Tension and release: Alot of newbies at making horror pile up the scares everywhere they can. This is a mistake. The tension before a scare is as important as the scare itself. You NEED to build tension to make the player feel scared, or your scares will lose their edge. Look at any good horror movie, like for example the first Alien movie. There is a loooong buildup to the scares in the start, and when the little shit tears a hole in the stomach there is release. Then they start building tension again.

1 - I don't have others graphics other than the RTP, and I don't know, I don't trust other sites/don't know where to find good tilesets

2 - I agree about the sound, I'm thinking about making it the focus of the second game

3 - About the buildups, I'm going to work with that because right now the is game is going to be very short (30 mins max) I will extend some areas, maybe make longer "puzzles"

4 - About my "favorite" horror game, I prefer scary non-horror games, like system shock 2 which, for example, you hear a monster but you don't know where exactly it is, the fear is better when the sound is of a powerful monster (Like cyborg midwives)

author=Max McGee
Before you even start work in the editor, I want you to think long and hard about WHERE your game takes place, about WHY your characters are there, WHAT that says about WHO they are, and HOW you want the pace of the game to flow. In most shit horror games I've played, all of these things were obviously given FAR too little thought by the creator.

I already started to work on the games before I made this topic, but I will take some time to think where I want to go with this, maybe put more focus in the sound, or make the game longer

Again, thanks to everyone for these tips, but I should put a gamepage with a demo/beta (only for testers) or wait until I finish the game?
This.

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/10/11/25-things-you-should-know-about-writing-horror/

Pay close attention to 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 24, and 25. The others are good, but they don't get at the heart at what horror is. Horror isn't just a monster story. That's a monster story. That isn't really scary. You can write a horror story with two good characters, no monsters, and a terrible tragedy. Because, at it's heart, horror is actually tragedy.

https://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/using-tragedy-to-define-horror/

Good characters succumb to their flaws, and because of their hubris, meet a grisly end.

Here's an example of a simple horror with nothing popping out, and two mostly good characters.

Character A is a hard worker, motivated to succeed in the workforce. He is not simply addicted to his job either, he uses his work to help humanity (let's say an architect, who makes massive buildings of public beauty). Character B is a charity worker. He doesn't care about worldly success, he cares about people. Both are extremely helpful, but in different ways. (Next you introduce a crisis to flesh out these flaws) Unfortunately, the land that Character B wants to use for a soup kitchen is a terrific site to build a museum that will give the city a great deal of money. This can go two ways, either Character B quietly kills and disposes of the body, possibly making it look like a wild animal attack. Or Character A uses his power and influence to put Character B on the streets, where they are killed by a homeless guy. Yea, he can kill him, but effectively here he is sentencing him to death (Next, introduce something terrible) Usually this would be the means in which the body is disposed of, or the circumstances after the character's death. Or maybe you'd do something like the cask of amontillado, where the character dies very slowly, being miserable for a long long time.

This type of horror is typically called "thriller" because the horror aspect is more internal than external. It's a study of human psychology. But yea, do this sort of thing and add monsters, and you've got something.

Also, never overlook symbolism. If you do have an actual monster, have it reflect the drama between characters already playing out. In the anime Monster you had a depraved transgender killer. But the actual monster was cultural elitism, and the fallout of ethnic war. "People's lives don't have the same value."

See also these links.

http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/the-psychology-of-scary-movies/
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/nwwf.aspx
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
IMO the two main aspects to horror are mystery and a lack of control. I actually felt like FNaF handled the latter tremendously well: you can't move, and your only defense relies on both quick reflexes and a very precious resource.

Things like limited vision are popular for the mystery bit. Another technique I like is having a solid grasp on the surrounding story, as Max McGee recommends, but don't tell the audience any of it, or tell as little as possible. Maybe offer a hint or two in background details, but use it only to inform how things play out. A lot of writers THINK that revealing all the details of this or that and how it works and what rules it follows is good writing, but it absolutely kills horror, because the more rules and details we know, the less scary a thing is.

(I think this is why Asian horror got so popular a while back: we weren't familiar with their rules and tropes, so it made the monsters a lot scarier to us.)

Also everything Snow and Kylalalaila said.

author=SnowOwl
Also, Not sure why you don't want to use popular creepypastas. They are popular for a reason, usually because they are well written


nnnnnot in some areas I've seen...
I don't think Deviantart is a good place to look for creepypastas. Probably the opposite. Better site: Link
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
I was referring more to the rationale behind the popularity.

(Hint: Jeff the Killer features heavily.)

I sincerely hope I do not need to explain to anyone why "Jeff the Killer" is terrible.
This.

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/10/11/25-things-you-should-know-about-writing-horror/

Pay close attention to 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 24, and 25. The others are good, but they don't get at the heart at what horror is. Horror isn't just a monster story. That's a monster story. That isn't really scary. You can write a horror story with two good characters, no monsters, and a terrible tragedy. Because, at it's heart, horror is actually tragedy.

https://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/using-tragedy-to-define-horror/

Good characters succumb to their flaws, and because of their hubris, meet a grisly end.

Here's an example of a simple horror with nothing popping out, and two mostly good characters.

Character A is a hard worker, motivated to succeed in the workforce. He is not simply addicted to his job either, he uses his work to help humanity (let's say an architect, who makes massive buildings of public beauty). Character B is a charity worker. He doesn't care about worldly success, he cares about people. Both are extremely helpful, but in different ways. (Next you introduce a crisis to flesh out these flaws) Unfortunately, the land that Character B wants to use for a soup kitchen is a terrific site to build a museum that will give the city a great deal of money. This can go two ways, either Character B quietly kills and disposes of the body, possibly making it look like a wild animal attack. Or Character A uses his power and influence to put Character B on the streets, where they are killed by a homeless guy. Yea, he can kill him, but effectively here he is sentencing him to death (Next, introduce something terrible) Usually this would be the means in which the body is disposed of, or the circumstances after the character's death. Or maybe you'd do something like the cask of amontillado, where the character dies very slowly, being miserable for a long long time.

This type of horror is typically called "thriller" because the horror aspect is more internal than external. It's a study of human psychology. But yea, do this sort of thing and add monsters, and you've got something.

Also, never overlook symbolism. If you do have an actual monster, have it reflect the drama between characters already playing out. In the anime Monster you had a depraved transgender killer. But the actual monster was cultural elitism, and the fallout of ethnic war. "People's lives don't have the same value."

See also these links.

http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/the-psychology-of-scary-movies/
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/nwwf.aspx
I've been doing prep work for an critical blog that focuses on horror games, and part of that does involved actually thinking about my personal standards so I hope i can give you something to think about

here, have the cliff notes on that:

Feelings -- The media in question evokes some sort of feeling. This can be accomplished through mechanics, the narration, design, purely personal reasons a game cannot control -- usually it’s done through more than one of these things. The more each element of a game works to try and evoke similar feels, the more effective it is.

Believability -- If something is believable, this makes it easier for the Thing to evoke feelings. Believable =/= realistic. This has to do more with being internally consistent and something feeling like it COULD happen, even if the event in question is a zombie apocalypse.

Consequence -- If actions feel like they matter, then they contribute to how believable something is. This also helps evoking a particular feeling -- if it matters that you’re down to your last round of pistol ammo, then you’re more likely to feel tense and afraid.

Aesthetics -- Lastly, it helps if the whole package looks appropriate to the tone and feelings you are trying to evoke. I hate how much people focus on this so I’m shoving it at the end. This is the most easily recognizable part of a game, aesthetics covers the look and tone of a work. It’s what people notice and yeah, if you fling blood at the walls and use a dark palette you’ll make something ppl will probably class as “horror”...but it won’t be very effective for anyone familiar with the horror genre.

This is not intended as the end all, be all, so take it as you will.


Is that broad and vague as hell? Hell yes it is, and that's why it's the cliff notes version. The above points up there are actually genre-agnostic and just a basic list of "hey things that i feel make for a more effective story." I think of writing in a very goal-oriented way, so when it comes to horror it's like, "what do i want to accomplish here, how can i do that?" working like that gives a solid base of "here is a thing i can try" "here is what i hope it helps accomplish"

snowowl has some solid advice in general; i want to emphasize that graphics can be a huge pain but rtp is not the style that will help you out in a horror game. It's very cutesy and bright and colorful and that's tough to work with. the dreamer in me wants to say that it's possible, but idk man I'd figure something else out for graphics. You could try for something more abstract, try to dig up available free-for-use resources, sink all your lunch money into commissions, take a a text-based approach... there's options that don't involve cute chibis covered in red pixels.

Study things you consider scary! why are they scary? I think this will get you further than anything else. Don't listen to ppl trying to sell you the classics. Yeah, they're classic for a reason (whatever that reason is), but look at it with a thorough "does this actually work for me" lens like you would anything else. Horror often evokes personal fears, so figuring out what scares you, personally, is a pretty good place to write from. At the same time, becoming familiar with what's out there and what ppl consider "standard" conventions of horror will help you out.

Also yeah, def remember that one of the super notable thing about GAMES, specifically, is how to handle interactivity.

in summary, if i have to hear ONE MORE TIME about silent hill 2 i think i'm going to explode.

Some links to things other ppl have wrote:

This is the first post in a series about one person trying to unpack some horror games. I think the approach of asking "Why is it horror?", "How does it work?", and "What did it do to me?" is pretty solid for trying to understand other gams and learn from them. It'll give you food for thought, if nothing else.

this is a very thorough analysis of one room in fatal frame 2. It's a super narrow kind of thing to look at, but interesting and educational.

this isn't about horror at all. Instead, it's a way about thinking of game mechanics with the concepts of "tightness" and "looseness" in mind. This sort of mental framework can super be adapted for horror purposes.

this specific article focuses on the uses of blood and gore, but i will give a tentative recommendation to j. shea's work (i.e., this blog) in general. He focuses most often on fantasy and military history/games where these things happen, but a lot of things he talks about apply outside those genres.

I also really dig that "psychology of scary movies" article, too. It gives a variety of answers to why ppl like horror movies rather than focusing on what the author thinks is the One Way To Rule Them All, and that's cool.

please don't make a horror game about rape or asylums or i guess if you simply must just be up front about it. i see a lot of those and get perpetually cranky about it. I mean I'm personally not a fan of sex/death themes in general because I hate freud, but if i got too deep into "this is what -I- want from a horror game" i'd be here for hours and at that point I should just do it myself
Even recolouring the RTP with dark gloomy colours will be an improvement over the original in the context of a horror game. The RTP just does not translate into horror. And editing the RTP yourself means you don't have to pay anyone to make your graphics (if that's problematic).

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