SO WHAT ABOUT HORROR/SCARY GAMES?

Looks like some of you need to go play Dead Space. There are things that game does on purpose to build suspense. The camera placement on the character throughout the game, suspense, and even the controls add to the horror aspect of the game.

I've heard Call of Cthulhu is pretty scary, it seems like that game was overlooked.

author=captainregal link=topic=2919.msg56771#msg56771 date=1232314854
One trick is to Raise and lose the music to make things more intense hope that helps.

but wouldn't that make the game seem annoying?

About 3/4 of the way through FEAR I stopped being scared and my mindset went from scared to hunter and I was just blasting through wondering where the little skank was. Although I still jumped when that freaking EVE mech busts through that one wall that one time near the end. Combat Shotgun and reflexes ftw.

author=Max McGee link=topic=2919.msg56819#msg56819 date=1232338149

author=VerifyedRasta link=topic=2919.msg56675#msg56675 date=1232252671
The Mirror Lied was the closest an RM game got to being scary, and it wasn't scary, just creepy.

Played Backstage?

Well I should have said the closest an RM game (That I've played) got to being scary.
No I haven't played Backstage, but I'll give it a try tomorrow to see if it's scarier than The Mirror Lied.

Chances are I might forget to play it though, my memory's bad ... I'll just download it now to remind myself

Horror games are highly possible in RM. I've been playing them for years and I've seen some truly scary ones, such as Lurking Under Life on RRR.

I even created one myself. Play it and judge. It scares ME and I created the damn thing.

I recommend playing Dark Gaia's "One Night"
Definitely shows that RM horror games are possible

Hmmm. I have to say that this topic is really interesting, and most of the response I have read, especially by Shinan and Orig, really hit the nail on the head in so far as what makes a game scary. I'd like to toss my opinion into the fray as well.

First off, I have to agree with the idea that a game can be creepy and not scary. Of course, having said that, there is a widely varying degree on what is scary and what is not, for each individual person. In this day and age of horror movies like the SAW and Hostel series, some people are so completely desensitized to graphic violence that seeing a person dismembered on screen would hardly even phase them. In contrast, there are people so sheltered from graphic violence, that a Sam Peckinpah or Robert Rodriguez movie would have them hiding under their bedsheets for days.

Therefore, what makes a game scary is not its ability to bring you out of your comfort zone. That's a game's ability to make you feel anxious (or as one user put it, 'uneasy'). What makes a game scary is its ability to lull you make you think, and become apprehensive, about what MIGHT happen. The two elements that best reflect this idea is suspense and shock.

Any scene, or game, that hangs onto the false sense of security, and makes you dread what can happen next, is scaring you. To do that, the right atmosphere is needed. Lighting and camera angle, or field of vision, needs to give away only what the designer wants the player to see. Sound effects, in the distance, to the side, or right behind, especially ones that don't have a visible source (such as metal scraping upon metal, or a growl in the darkness), add to the tension mounted by being unable to see the sound's origins. Music can help add to the mood of tension, but there are times when no music at all is even more effective, letting players listen to only the footfalls of their character and the beating of their heart.

Shock is simply that, and relies more upon the talent of timing than anything else. Unfortunately, there is no way timing and pacing can be taught, you either have it, learn it on your own, or never get it. The mark of a true artist, especially in horror, is knowing when to dangle the player by a hook, and when to scare the pants off of them.

Having said all that, it is very possible to create a horror/scary game in RPG Maker. The key is not using the graphical chipsets to scare, but the create an atmosphere of tension through level design (that's maps and events), sound effects, and appropriate music. Then, at the appropriate time, using shock-value to jar the tension and produce the necessary scare. Someone cited 'Sweet Home', an old horror game for the NES. That game is freaking creepy and (at some points) down right scary, and its 8-bit. So in a 16-bit or higher engine, fear is only limited by the designer.