RE: What unsettles you most in a CS?
...Richard Burton ^^ Seriously, a voice like his on these "creepy pasta" videos would fit sci-fi, horror, psychological (SOOOOO many things!) perfectly.
For horror aspects, ramp the tension up. Make sure the player is scared of what they CAN'T SEE. Do not plonk everything on a plate for the viewer, make sure to wind their imaginations up. There will be millenial idiots telling you this isn't true however these same people have systematically kept the Paranormal Activity movies going...nuff said XD.
Having something watch the player from a distance can be good to spark some paranoir. Not much, a shadow lurking in the player's vision...eyes watching from the shadows (they have to be fully open though, none of this looking angry melarky, they have to be WIDE AND ROUND like saucers), hearing noises in the distance getting closer or just hearing something nearby can also drum up a good bit of paranoir (specialy if its...I dunno off the top of my head, the noise the ghost makes in The Grudge, hearing that RIGHT next to the player's ear).
Long since dead broadcasts. This is the only thing im going to give bethesda on (I don't like them, you may resent me for this but i dispise bethesda), their broadcast towers were a good idea. A long since dead signal, perhaps been playing for decades..rather freaky to think the poor git sat down their, being irradiated and struggling to get a signal out that no one heard...scary and depressive at the same time, a study in to futility.
Total devestation of the surrounding area (or perhaps sometimes the lack of) in some players can lead to their imagination running wild...what happened here/didn't happen here, why is there a hole in the wall the size of a truck.....I hope the thing that painted the walls an attractive shade of brain isn't in the next room.....WHY IS THAT BODY HANGING FROM ITS EYELIDS!?!?! Again, this is a tension building.
Also other side of the coin, no devistation atall, a Mary Celest senario. Peace, quiet, tranquility all go out the window as then it seems TO QUIET.
Music wise....Silent Hill's soundtrack is still the most freaky to me to this day, all those metal screeches, long drawn out thumps, bassy pulses. Can't really think of anything in the custom story section though that takes full advantage of sound/music ambience for scares.....
Puzzles...I don't think puzzles should ever be simple but thats me. I enjoyed having to learn hexidecimal math for Rendezvous with Rama XD..and octodecimal math...and binery code! (That entire game was one giant IQ test given to us by aliens I SWEAR TO COW!). It would also depend on your definition of "puzzles". Mainstream gaming companies believe a puzzle should be so easy ANYONE can figure it out, at this point it ceases to be a puzzle to me and becomes a time wasting exercise, something that isn't "SOLVED" it's just done and on you go. Take valve for instance: Half Life 2 originaly had a couple of puzzles, much like portal tht made you think....their "beta testers" didnt like it so it got cut...but then their beta testers were concerned more with how "crap the tau cannon is and why it should go because it sounds horrible"....erk...
Breaking the 4th wall for a horror game would completely mess with the flow. Isolating the character, making him/her COMPLETELY alone is the key to letting the player get absorbed. All the while they are thinking "I'm the only thing human/sentiant being in miles" helps alot.
Something that not many people agree with me on, make your character intelligent. The way I see it, if the person is an idiot the audience are going to roll their eyes and spend more time shouting "YOU IDIOT DONT GO IN THERE!!" if you see what I mean XD BUT! If the character is intelligent, doesn't make the usual silly horror movie cliches and you also make the evil force (whatever it may be) intelligent to, it becomes a battle of minds. Not only does the audience get scared of whats going on due to the character losing the one bit of control he had, but they then start to pay more attention to characters actions, how each side will one-up the other. Plus it makes horrifying moments that one extra bit scarier when they HAVE been smart and whatever they are against is out-matching them.
Not much has scared me in life (specially games) HOWEVER! Here is a small list of things that totaly freak me the FUCK OUT:
Retail Stuffs:
"ALIEN" (although I conquered that fear and my room is now full of its memorabilia XD)
"The Thing 1984" NOT THE PREQUAL!! Cannot stress that enough)
Fatal Frame (Project Zero) (Damn good game but the movie was so terrible I deny its existence)
"Resident Evil 1 and Remake" (1 for its atmosphere and remake because SCREW CRIMSON HEADS!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE YOU CAPCOM XD)
"Nightmare on Elm Street 1" (though the series is played out, a being that can attack you in your dreams is STILL a horrifying concept thats pretty damn good)
Indie Stuffs:
"God" Creepy Pasta (Im not one for creepy pastas....but that one made me double take).
"Exmortis 1" (old scary flash animation, only good one out of the 3)
There, think thats everything. If I think of any other things I shall jot them down to.
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2016, 07:22 PM by CrashHeadroom.)
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What unsettles you most in a CS?
What unsettles you most in a CS? 
