Frictional Games Forum (read-only)

If you're properly immersed, you're not going to think like "Ok i can die i won't lose progress anyway "

Too me, perma death was just annoyance and frustrating. I was so immersed while playing the original that the "Its just a game, i won't lose anything if i die" never came up to my mind

(06-27-2013, 09:28 PM)Dogfood Wrote: [ -> ]If you're properly immersed, you're not going to think like "Ok i can die i won't lose progress anyway "

Too me, perma death was just annoyance and frustrating. I was so immersed while playing the original that the "Its just a game, i won't lose anything if i die" never came up to my mind

Exactly the point I was trying to make. You can literally make the: "Oh there is no consequence for dying" argument for anything you can think of. Problem with that argument is that there is never any real consequence for dying in a video game. The worst that can happen is you lose time, but that is a meta-game concept that has no bearing on immersion. If you're thinking: "Fuck! I don't want to die because then all of this would be pointless and all my progress would be lost", are you really more afraid of the game itself?

Agree with this. To be afraid of what happens after death is a simple proof that you're not immersed (at all). It's remembering yourself that you're playing a game.

I think the nature of the actual death itself should be the source of fear. Not what happens after it.

I remember the facehugger death in the first AVP...

Justine did make me consider my actions more carefully, and made me more afraid of getting caught, but the loss of life near the end made me stop wanting to play.

So, yes and no.

Summary:
In a long, story based "atmosphere" game such as Amnesia, perma death kills the feeling of being inside the game (assuming that you die at least once). Or at least inside the story, which I would like to claim is the most important part for a horror game.

(06-27-2013, 03:32 PM)skyhawk02 Wrote: [ -> ]There has been a rise of permanent death in games lately. A new horror game, Routine, is going to have perma death.

My question is does perma death make a game scarier? I am not sure on the answer, my feeling is this: perma death makes the players more scared of losing but less scared of the gameworld and monsters if that makes sense.

Obviously length of the game plays a factor here as well. i don't know, I'm having trouble figuring out my thoughts on it, thats why I'm turning to you guys. Should horror games use perma death? Just for fun I'll put a poll up as well if I can figure out how to do it.

It said it would have a perma death system... And since it's a game and not something short like justine (i hope anyway) im thinking that it would bee something like, restart the level that your on, instead of having a bunch of checkpoints.

As for the topic at hand, permanent death makes a game scarier to me. Chase scenes have never scared me in the original amnesia. Never once. However in justine i was scared to death!!!

(06-28-2013, 12:09 AM)WIWWM Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-27-2013, 03:32 PM)skyhawk02 Wrote: [ -> ]There has been a rise of permanent death in games lately. A new horror game, Routine, is going to have perma death.

My question is does perma death make a game scarier? I am not sure on the answer, my feeling is this: perma death makes the players more scared of losing but less scared of the gameworld and monsters if that makes sense.

Obviously length of the game plays a factor here as well. i don't know, I'm having trouble figuring out my thoughts on it, thats why I'm turning to you guys. Should horror games use perma death? Just for fun I'll put a poll up as well if I can figure out how to do it.

It said it would have a perma death system... And since it's a game and not something short like justine (i hope anyway) im thinking that it would bee something like, restart the level that your on, instead of having a bunch of checkpoints.

As for the topic at hand, permanent death makes a game scarier to me. Chase scenes have never scared me in the original amnesia. Never once. However in justine i was scared to death!!!

It's only 3 hours long or so though, according to the developer.

I personally prefer the Permadeath. But my only complaint is when it's not an option. Permadeath should be a choice a player wants to pick, not forced upon. When you boot up the campaign, it should give you the option of permadeath or not. You open the game up to BOTH audiences, right there. I don't understand why doing this type of thing never happens in a development team... It's just common sense, right?

I guess you have a point Statyk.