spooky stuff?

Ambience is definitely big. For your idea specifically, it would be important to hint to the player of what happened, i.e. have him/her come across bodies, rooms that have been trashed, places where it was obvious a last stand took place (like in the movie Aliens). Make it quite apparent where things are going, so that the player builds up anxiety. If there is no tension before a startling moment, then the moment isn't all that startling, and the initial shock wears off. It's all about context. What wouldn't be scary in one map, might be totally freaky in another because of the story line and the setting. Good luck, dude.
 
zrockstar84 said:
Ambience is definitely big. For your idea specifically, it would be important to hint to the player of what happened, i.e. have him/her come across bodies, rooms that have been trashed, places where it was obvious a last stand took place (like in the movie Aliens). Make it quite apparent where things are going, so that the player builds up anxiety. If there is no tension before a startling moment, then the moment isn't all that startling, and the initial shock wears off. It's all about context. What wouldn't be scary in one map, might be totally freaky in another because of the story line and the setting. Good luck, dude.
Click to expand...

thanks man :)

btw i still cant get EXACTLY how i would play them backwords?

edit: OK SHOW OF HANDS, WHO HONESTLY WANTS THIS TO SUCCED?
 
Well, I'm not sure about "SUCCED"ing... but, I'd love to see you and your project 'succeed'.
 
RaBiD WeAzEL said:
Well, I'm not sure about "SUCCED"ing... but, I'd love to see you and your project 'succeed'.
Click to expand...

THIN ICE MY FREIND :|

lol jokin, rabid weasel would you like to help me with this project?
 
Ummm... Yeah... I'll help ya out with ideas and such... but, I'm not really sure if I'd be doing any work. I have lots of school work and what not.
 
RaBiD WeAzEL said:
Ummm... Yeah... I'll help ya out with ideas and such... but, I'm not really sure if I'd be doing any work. I have lots of school work and what not.
Click to expand...

so do i :)
 
It all depends on what you want the "bad guy" to be. Zombies? Or something new? If you're going to stick with zombies, then it's just finding new ways to ambush the character, and then lull him back into a false sense of security, then ambush him again. If you want to make something new, then we'd need to know what sort of enemy you're making in order to really give any useful advice.
 
I really love these idea's you guys have come up with. I am working on a scary map/mod myself. (See what i've got here: http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=70426 )

Anyways, i'd be glad to swap materials sometime, though what i'm attempting is more of a cooperative multiplayer game with more than one person, (like around 4).

Again, love the ideas and i'm going to try to implement some of them into my map/mod.

-DaMaN

The link again in case you missed it:
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=70426
 
Include unexpected shelling. Is there a way to make enemy appearances random? It would be cool not to know when to look out.

Make sure to have an ending, like in Antlion Troopers when the re-enforcements come.

When are you expecting this to be done by?
 
Believe it or not, but the most scary thing I've ever experienced was when playing No One Lives Forever 2 and I was in that lab with this monster that had gone loose.

It was snowy and in the middle of the day, heck you even went outside on that map, but it was the scariest thing I've experienced in any game, and all the credit goes to the song you hear in the background. I actually screamed like Mesh when that pipe started steaming (it was a false alarm even :eek:).

I never cared much for the scary parts of Doom 3 and AvP 2, though.
 
ríomhaire said:
Include unexpected shelling. Is there a way to make enemy appearances random? It would be cool not to know when to look out.

Make sure to have an ending, like in Antlion Troopers when the re-enforcements come.

When are you expecting this to be done by?
Click to expand...

random enemys wouldnt be THAT scary, cos u would keep expecting enemys to appear thus expectation of what you KNOW is going to happen nullifys the "scary factor"

i think this may take a long time to get right when you consider that i have this going all by my self :(


on that note......


ANYBODY WANNA HELP? IF SO MY XFIRE ID IS SMOKEY186 :)

just add me
 
Murray said:
Believe it or not, but the most scary thing I've ever experienced was when playing No One Lives Forever 2 and I was in that lab with this monster that had gone loose.

It was snowy and in the middle of the day, heck you even went outside on that map, but it was the scariest thing I've experienced in any game, and all the credit goes to the song you hear in the background. I actually screamed like Mesh when that pipe started steaming (it was a false alarm even :eek:).

I never cared much for the scary parts of Doom 3 and AvP 2, though.
Click to expand...

haha murray i was thinkin close to the same thing...and you're right it was all about the music and also because you knew something was going to pop out but you didn't know what, where and when. I believe half that map is spent going around w/o encountering any enemies.
 
smoke said:
random enemys wouldnt be THAT scary, cos u would keep expecting enemys to appear thus expectation of what you KNOW is going to happen nullifys the "scary factor"
Click to expand...
Have bit of random enemies and set pieces

smoke said:
ANYBODY WANNA HELP?
Click to expand...
I wish I could, I am crap at stuff like that, I couldn't even get triggers to work in Warcraft 3 World Editor ;(
 
Dunno if anyone said this already or even if i did it :p
But since can´t be bothered to check! here goes:
You should use distractions! Like in the classic AvP2.
in one of the earlier marine-levels you come across a room with vent in the the wall and on the floor. Just as you walk past the one in the wall it gets hit by something and start lokking like its going to break. This happens two more times and just when you you think the alien will pop out the vent on the floor shatters and an alien tries to chew on your head.... Almost threw the mouse across the room!
Hope you got the idea...
if you want me to help you can always pm me!
 
_Shyguy_ said:
Dunno if anyone said this already or even if i did it :p
But since can´t be bothered to check! here goes:
You should use distractions! Like in the classic AvP2.
in one of the earlier marine-levels you come across a room with vent in the the wall and on the floor. Just as you walk past the one in the wall it gets hit by something and start lokking like its going to break. This happens two more times and just when you you think the alien will pop out the vent on the floor shatters and an alien tries to chew on your head.... Almost threw the mouse across the room!
Hope you got the idea...
if you want me to help you can always pm me!
Click to expand...

just after u turn security back on? :sniper: yeah i know what bit u mean, it works really well and gave me quite a scare (even on the demo)
theres also a non-violent bit on the same lvl that made me shit-my-pants, the bit when ur walking and the floor collapses? that scared the hell outta me :LOL:


plus if u want to help then add me on xfire smokey186

:)
 
BTW i have decided that my first idea was best and not the school, combine facilty is the setting for this map now :)
 
idea ! yes.

trying to induce panic, here. Near the start of the map, when only armed with crowbar/baton, and with limited health.
You walk into a large room, there is a long ramp leading up to a walkway, with a lift at the end of that, perhaps leading to an outside roof area. (On the way to this room, you hear the far off jingling noises of fast zombies in ducts etc).
The room is devoid of enemies and ammo or health, but perhaps there might be a savaged body or the remains of a normal zombie.
When you reach the top of the walkway, two or three fast zombies run through the door that you just came through and start making their merry way up to you. You could stay and fight, but you would die, so you have little choice but to dash into the lift and go up before they eat you.
 
i had i vison of a cinematic opening like u guys just said but no-where near as dramatic
 
what? holy shit...............id forgotten about this project!!!!!!!!!1


/me gets to work to make up for what he has missed

SORRY!!!!
 
I don't know how to make something scary. But I reckon there are certain ways to make a space feel 'uneasy'.

Linear, claustrophobic corridors aren't very scary imo. You can keep your gun pointing ahead, certain that threats will come from that direction.
Truly sinister spaces are filled with potential 'entrances' - more entrances than you can keep an eye on.
A dark corridor behind you - big, dark windows to the left - lines of closed doors to the right - a dark space under the stairwell. Keep the player spinning around. Not knowing where the monsters are coming from is the most unsettling thing.

It's well known "feng shui" that sitting with your back to an open door is uncomfortable.
Try to make the player feel they've got their back to an open door all the time. :thumbs:
 
Aha wut bout u use phys to make a ragdoll(corpse) hang on a rope(like a hangman thingie) and fall in front of the player as a trigger or something? or u can set up crabs everywhere in a room in which the player falls into. I got scared when I was being chased from the front but started getting attkd from the bak. It creates panic in me.
 
This may seem weird, but i think the scariest maps always have some weird possesed gurlk with pigtails i them. With like blood on her 500 yuear old drees ype of thing. I am not much of a map creater, but as a cinematographer and screen writer there are some obviously scary elements to wacthing some little gurl be so freaking evil.
 
I'm screwin around in hammer, and tryin to be scary and I've found 3 little tricks.

Foreshadowing-headcrab shells, vehicles that looked like escape attempts, collapsed buildings, scattered equipment, just a general feeling of chaos and desparation.

Audio-Silence. Silence can be damn scary at times. Especially, if you just come off a musical part.

Enemies-Unexpected enemies, or anything to get your adrenalin pumping. Just look at the Zombie in the Laundry Room of Nova Prospekt.
 
One last idea.
Build up ambience. Last stands. Dead solidiers. Make the player think something big and nasty is up ahead. But when it looks like it is boss fight time, scale down. A medium battle, but one thats easily winnable. Then, as they enter what appears to be a safe area, without last stands, without any signs of struggle, hit the player with a pitched battle against either a lot of tough enemies, or a hidden powerful enemy.
 
spooky sounds, sounds, sounds, first invented by Alfred Hichhock, you need sound to make it scary

unexplained, you need to put in things that are bizzarr and hard to explain (not silly though)
 
It's in a Combine facility right? Do what gearbox did, make Combine zombies otherwhise they will seem a bit out of place.
 
Im suprised i havent been burnt for forgetting about this :eek:

really REALLY sorry!

/me loads up hammer


no really, i am right now.

smoke.

*edit* thx for the new input btw guys, always helps and i think this new bunch is the best yet.

the "open door" idea kicks ass.
 
ríomhaire said:
It's in a Combine facility right? Do what gearbox did, make Combine zombies otherwhise they will seem a bit out of place.
Click to expand...


If you know of anybody that can model them for me, then sure :D


Otherwise, STAY THE F**K OUTTA THE PICTURE!!!! :|

/jk

Sorry bout that its 4:20 am and i havent eaten today, fook knows why.

Really any modelers who want to help are VERY WELCOME TO DO SO :D
 
Use a vphysics motion field to make a ragdoll float towards the player. (filtered, nograv for the ragdoll only) Parent a trigger_hurt to the ragdoll, add some spooky noises, and you've got some scary shit.
 
The sound ambience, music, decals, props, lighing, effects.....everything.
 
FictiousWill has struck a ****ing scary nerve...

My idea :
Imagine : A small alley, with a turn to the right. But the turn has been cut off with a fence about two metres from the turn. You see a shadow of a man lying down on the ground raising his arm to stop something from reaching him. Meanwhile you hear him screaming "NO! NO! NOOO!!!" .
Then another shadow bites into the person, and you see organs just coming out of the human shadow, and some blood splatters around the corner. Then you hear this unearthly scream and the other shadow dissappears.
 
Beerdude26 said:
FictiousWill has struck a ****ing scary nerve...

My idea :
Imagine : A small alley, with a turn to the right. But the turn has been cut off with a fence about two metres from the turn. You see a shadow of a man lying down on the ground raising his arm to stop something from reaching him. Meanwhile you hear him screaming "NO! NO! NOOO!!!" .
Then another shadow bites into the person, and you see organs just coming out of the human shadow, and some blood splatters around the corner. Then you hear this unearthly screen and the other shadow dissappears.
Click to expand...


Now how the hell would i do that?
 
Anticipation is your tool. When the player knows something going to happen, he fears it. In fact, all fears reside from premoniton, and how they are unsure of the outcome of that event. Play SystemShock 2, that game doesn't need pop out enemies, whats scary about it is that you *know* they are there.
 
smoke said:
Now how the hell would i do that?
Click to expand...
Just use some objects that will give shadows like organs. They don't even have to look like organs, just make them splatter out of the guys stomach (Or make it look like it). Seriously, that would be scary.
 
I don't think that sounds scary at all, especialy since it would be some stranger getting gored in some random alley.
I think that you should use the fear of anticipation and combine it with jumpy stuff, eg you're walking down a corridor and you hear a poison zombie, by now you will have little ammo, you see a corner with a trail of blood going down it, you think 'oh, sh*t there's a poison zombie down there!' you get so preocupied with that that the leaper that bursts through the door shocks you more than usual. After that the poison zombie sounds stop and either the player forgets about it or starts to think it's dead. When he finaly rounds the coridor he finds himself face-to-face with the zombie and feels like an idiot having forgoten it.
 
I personaly always get freaked out in a game when I have another person I have to save or is comming with me, and I f-k up and they die. Emotion/Psychological thing.

So the idea of havving the player f-k up and the friendly NPC dies because of the players actions might be a idea.

What I mean: Remember back in HL1 when you went back out to the station platform after the cascade? That scientist standing there on the half broken platform and he's begging you not to come any closer, but you do anyway to see wtf is going on and the whole platform breaks off and the scientist grabs onto the wire and slides off to his death. That always made me sad afterwards D:

-Alix
 
ríomhaire said:
I don't think that sounds scary at all, especialy since it would be some stranger getting gored in some random alley.
I think that you should use the fear of anticipation and combine it with jumpy stuff, eg you're walking down a corridor and you hear a poison zombie, by now you will have little ammo, you see a corner with a trail of blood going down it, you think 'oh, sh*t there's a poison zombie down there!' you get so preocupied with that that the leaper that bursts through the door shocks you more than usual. After that the poison zombie sounds stop and either the player forgets about it or starts to think it's dead. When he finaly rounds the coridor he finds himself face-to-face with the zombie and feels like an idiot having forgoten it.
Click to expand...
Agreed
 
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