WHAT DO YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE ABOUT RM HORROR GAMES?

Posts

If you wanna make a player feel powerless, give them guns. Then when they try and use it on the shadow beast thats hunting them...it does nothing. Not only will they wonder whats going on, but they'll waste valuable time trying to kill the critter instead of doing the sensible thing and running into the solarium with the intense light.

To also throw a wrench into the dealy, maybe the player can move anywhere they can see. Ie walk through a waterfall, sheer drapes, and even glass. Tie it into the theme of freaky supernatural stuff and boom. Not that glass will slow down the Suited Man. He can see you through the glass walls.
It's a bit odd that there are people posting in this thread about what you LIKE about RM Horror just to say they don't like it, like... okay? I don't think that's what the OP was asking about but okay

ANYWAY, I'm a big slut for a good story. Which is probably why my game has ten kajillion text boxes and is almost entirely story based, oops. >_>;;; I'm also a huge sucker for yanderes and sad teenagers with terrible supernatural powers but that's literally just me lmao

I also like a) good puzzles, and b) good individual "scare" moments, ranging from subtle creepy nuances to the very occasionally placed, well-done jump scare. One of my favorite horror games (not RM) of all time is Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and its "sanity effects" system (basically, semi-random creepy shit like bleeding walls, fake game crashes, and creepy sounds happen as your sanity health bar lowers), and it was a huge inspiration for the scares I put in Prom Dreams. Basically, it's the little things that you happen to notice and go OH SHIT about that make a good horror experience for me :)
author=QZProductions
It's a bit odd that there are people posting in this thread about what you LIKE about RM Horror just to say they don't like it, like... okay? I don't think that's what the OP was asking about but okay


Yeah...now that I think about why did I even comment oh here to begin with? >.<
watermark
Got me my shiny new MZ
3283
So I changed the topic name so now we can all legitimately dump the hate on RM Horror games too. Yay!

But seriously, stating what one hates about a game helps too. It tells devs what to avoid.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Liberty
Quicktime events can be good


This is just entirely not true >:I

author=QZProductions
It's a bit odd that there are people posting in this thread about what you LIKE about RM Horror just to say they don't like it, like... okay? I don't think that's what the OP was asking about but okay


If you spend enough time on the internet, you learn that people tend to just skim for keywords and then vomit opinions related to said keywords, because we are suckers for attention.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=Liberty
Quicktime events can be good if you don't make the game all about them. An instance here or there is fine.
This is actually the opposite of the truth.

The thing that makes Quicktime events bad, mainly, is that they don't follow your game's controls. They make the player learn a new set of controls, in a quarter of a second, that they'll only use once. The reason they do this - the reason why developers make quicktime events at all - is because they want the player to do something that the game isn't about doing. If the game were about it, it'd be in the real controls. So you get this segment that's totally disconnected from the "real" gameplay, not because the controls are simply different, but because the actions that the player is doing are things that your game's gameplay doesn't let them do, and so no button was ever made for those actions.

Once you standardize the input, and you use that same input repeatedly, and get the player to do it in every situation where it makes sense, and fill your game with a lot of those situations, it becomes a real part of your game. At that point it ISN'T a quicktime event any more. It's just a context-sensitive action that players can do in your game.

But you might still want the prompt on the screen! You might even want it to show the controls! That's OK. Dragon Age has a QTE-style prompt come up telling you to press A every time you're in front of a treasure chest. Assassin's Creed shows one every time you can dive onto an enemy, and Ocarina of Time shows one every time you can pick up a stone or push a block. We don't think of those things as QTEs, even though there's very little mechanical difference, because the player does them hundreds of times until eventually they don't need to look at the prompt.

Edit: I have very little to really input in the main thread topic since I don't like horror games in the first place. But if I did, I don't think I'd pick one with a zoomed-out overhead view and fat little chibi sprites. In fact, if I had to pick the graphical style that would work worst in a horror game, that would probably be it. Even pure text would be preferable.
author=QZProductions
(...)
I also like a) good puzzles, and b) good individual "scare" moments, ranging from subtle creepy nuances to the very occasionally placed, well-done jump scare. One of my favorite horror games (not RM) of all time is Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and its "sanity effects" system (basically, semi-random creepy shit like bleeding walls, fake game crashes, and creepy sounds happen as your sanity health bar lowers), and it was a huge inspiration for the scares I put in Prom Dreams. Basically, it's the little things that you happen to notice and go OH SHIT about that make a good horror experience for me :)


Eternal Darkness is fairly mild since it has a huge focus on story, but it is so good!
Definitely recommended to check out.
watermark
Got me my shiny new MZ
3283
Quicktime events. I'm of the opinion it can be good, if that is what the audience is looking for. But it does run the risk of ruining your game entirely for some.

I say this based on insight I gained from feedback on my game Blacksword Chronicles for IGMC back then. Long story short, the game is centered around a combat system with timed key presses and nearly half the players could not finish playing because it got too hard. Even though many loved the system, from a development perspective, it was a failure as it prevented a good number of players from finishing the game.

This is because most of the RPG audience expects to use wits and strategy to solve problems instead of reflexes like in fps or other action games. Adding action is unexpected, and sometimes unwelcomed.

Still, horror games I think is a unique hybrid that requires both action and strategy. So I think cleverly designed qte's without frustrating the player could and should be used to tell the story.
I think it depends what you mean by quicktime events. If you use the buttons normally in use, or if it's just button-mashing then I think it's fine. Go easy on the first time it's used so people can get used to the idea of it being in the game. There are ways to make them work. :shrug:
Vandriette
"The purpose of life is to end." -Agent Smith
1778
Besides the fact of developing such games can be something xD I like the stories of most Horror RM games, moreso than regular RM ones.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=LockeZ
Edit: I have very little to really input in the main thread topic since I don't like horror games in the first place. But if I did, I don't think I'd pick one with a zoomed-out overhead view and fat little chibi sprites. In fact, if I had to pick the graphical style that would work worst in a horror game, that would probably be it. Even pure text would be preferable.


It's possible to work past the graphical limitations, but it requires a good deal of planning and an audience willing to kind of "get into" the world. It's not ideal- particularly the RTP stuff- but it can be worked with, assuming the player is OK with accepting the aesthetic.

Of all the stuff, I'd say the chibi sprites are the biggest problem, and I'd definitely advise a custom set of sprites and probably tileset.

That being said, most of the best-considered RPGMaker horror games use chibi sprites, so it IS possible to work around it. (Possibly also the kind of people who are into RPGMaker horror are already predisposed to accept chibis as people.)
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
On the QTE topic, I personally dislike them in horror like Resident Evil, just because they can be so god damn silly and break immersion.

I have however used QTEs in one of my horror games, but it was used with arrow keys and while it seems like a lot of people at first were like "whaat?" it quickly turned to "oh, okay I get it and this isn't that hard" and the goal was to use something we predominantly use in rpgs which is arrow keys. It became more about reflex than learning a new randomly assorted controls or something that's frustrating.

It's also more labeled as a "mini-game" rather than a QTE that pops up every now and then that forces you to dodge a stupid out of control train or what have you.
author=watermark
stating what one hates about a game helps too. It tells devs what to avoid.


100 % true !

Jump scars are reason I tend to dislike horror games. I much prefer a game that revolves around a good mystery. Everything looks good from afar but when you look closely, you notice odd elements. These odd elements pick your curiosity and the deeper you investigate, the more horrific it gets. Your inner desire to solve the mystery fight your need to stay in safety areas. I think Dreaming Mary does it brilliantly and inspired our creation for the Halloween event. I admit that we broke many conventions of the horror type. I like the way we altered the game exit functionality.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
I think jump scares are an OK element, but they tend to be used extremely poorly. It's all about tension and release- getting the audience super focused and expectant, then releasing all that tension with a burst of action. Sadly, most people seem to think that the important part is the jump, rather than the leadup to the jump.

Misusing a jumpscare is bad for a game because it's usually used in transitional, rather than climactic, parts. It's like putting the punchline in the middle of a joke.

The one game I can think of that uses jumpscares really, really effectively is Five Nights at Freddy's, because it's entirely focused around them. The whole thing is just a long session of increasing tension and release.

Also, re: QTEs, I think LockeZ really sums it up; they're useful only if they're already connected with gameplay, and otherwise just knock the audience back into reality. (Especially if the audience is me. "OH GOD WHICH BUTTON WAS THAT WHERE IS IT ON THE CONTROLLER FFFUUUUUU")
author=Sooz
author=LockeZ
Edit: I have very little to really input in the main thread topic since I don't like horror games in the first place. But if I did, I don't think I'd pick one with a zoomed-out overhead view and fat little chibi sprites. In fact, if I had to pick the graphical style that would work worst in a horror game, that would probably be it. Even pure text would be preferable.
It's possible to work past the graphical limitations, but it requires a good deal of planning and an audience willing to kind of "get into" the world. It's not ideal- particularly the RTP stuff- but it can be worked with, assuming the player is OK with accepting the aesthetic.

Of all the stuff, I'd say the chibi sprites are the biggest problem, and I'd definitely advise a custom set of sprites and probably tileset.

That being said, most of the best-considered RPGMaker horror games use chibi sprites, so it IS possible to work around it. (Possibly also the kind of people who are into RPGMaker horror are already predisposed to accept chibis as people.)


Well, to be fair, most of the horror RM games use Mack sprites or the like (Mad Father/Witch's House, for example), not Ace+ RTP ones, so there's a fair bit more detail to consider. I'd much rather the Mack sprites to another 8-bit, skinny-ass waif like in yume nikki and the like, personally.

RTP doesn't easily lend itself to the horror genre but then again, you can make a game with it if you do it right (start off bright and bubbly then slowly desaturate over time until the world is darker and greyer as the game goes on and things get more disturbing, for instance). Colour != bad horror as long as you -control- the colour and how it's used.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
It pretty much all goes back to "have some actual art design, for pete's sake!"

Also gameplay & sound design, but definitely art design.
What i hate about the RM horror games, is they all have the exact same chase scenes, always stuck in a stupid mansion. They never give u any weapons, the only way to survive is to out run your enemies. Come on be original, give us something to defend ourselves, use something different.
author=chibievil
What i hate about the RM horror games, is they all have the exact same chase scenes, always stuck in a stupid mansion. They never give u any weapons, the only way to survive is to out run your enemies. Come on be original, give us something to defend ourselves, use something different.


Hey now, in my game you're stuck in a high school ;DDDD And there's like one real chase scene that lasts like 3 seconds haha
author=chibievil
What i hate about the RM horror games, is they all have the exact same chase scenes, always stuck in a stupid mansion. They never give u any weapons, the only way to survive is to out run your enemies. Come on be original, give us something to defend ourselves, use something different.

Hey now, in my game you can't die.
Vandriette
"The purpose of life is to end." -Agent Smith
1778
But what about games, like mine for example, where defending yourself is impossible?xD As far as chase scenes go, i think i only have one of those.