(10-24-2012, 01:47 AM)Hirnwirbel Wrote: Don't forget: Frictional do not want to kill the player. Or when they do, they only do it very, very rarely and in a situation where it creates maximum impact. It sounds strange, but it makes sense when you think about it. As soon as the player dies, that wonderful arc of fear and tension is suddenly released. When used at the perfect moment it can be like the dramatic climax of a carefully orchestrated symphony, but there will always be a sense of relief following.
It reminds you that its just a game, because while the monster is hunting you, you can convince yourself that you're really in danger. But when it really hits you in the face and kills you, your brain can't help but realize afterwards "hey, wait a second - this doesn't hurt at all! Guess I was wrong to be scared." And I don't think that in the end it matters much how smart the monster acted to achieve that result

I think an actual smart AI only makes sense when you're in some sort of competition against it. You definitely want challenging, clever opponents in a shooter and you want stealth games to be difficult due to smart guards (to a certain degree, as i mentioned earlier ). But in a horror game what matters most is facade, atmosphere, make-believe not the actual game mechanics. You're not supposed to see a horror game as a challenge or competition.
So it will be more than enough - and probably more effective - if the horror game suceeds at making you believe the monsters are smart. So the goal of the AI is not to actually use clever ways to kill the player ('cuz we don't want him to die, we want to torture him), but to avoid obvious immersion-breaking AI glitches and somehow make it feel like there's more to the monsters than there really is.

(10-24-2012, 06:03 PM)Kreekakon Wrote: The music can actually work against the player sometimes in terms of "scares", and this is proven by studies of human psyche:

Play the music without there actually being a monster. The player will freak out nonetheless. This shouldn't be done often though.

Quote: Just like in Silent Hill!