Horror game idea
by MSW · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 11/07/2002 (10:59 am) · 16 replies
The "flashlight" game.
Players are basicly trapped in some haunted house and must find thier way out - pretty original so far :P
Only difference is that players are armed only with a flashlight...which is both a weapon and way to illuminate the darkness.
The basic idea revolves around ghosts/entities and how light effects them...some ghosts can move around in the darkness, but can only harm the player if the ghost is struck by light...others can only harm the player in darkness (shine the flashlight on them, and they vanish)...in addition some ghosts are attracted to player movement, while others are scared off by it...some ghosts are helpfull, others harmfull.
Sound would play a big part in this game, as each ghost makes specific noises.
For example...players could stumble on some description of a "night wraith" which describes it as some hulking demon that sounds like "fingernails across a chalk board" as it moves around...it can't hurt you in darkness, and is attracted to movement....moments later, when the player has walked into another room...they hear the distinctive "night wraith" moveing around....smart players would stop in thier tracks and turn off the flashlight, waiting for the entity to lose intrest in the player and wonder off...
But its possable, as you hear the "night wraith" circle around you in the darkness (every so often it could grunt or scream at the player in frustration...trying to get the player to shine the flashlight on it, just to get a glimpse of what it looks like)...but while this is going on, something else could enter the room....something like the opposite of a "night wraith"...something that is attracted to the player when they are motionless...something that can harm the player in darkness (but light scares it off)...so players have to figure out ways to deal with these entities...
There wouldn't be hundreds of them...only one (maybe two) of each type (like the creature in Resident Evil: Nemesis...or Clocktower) that can move from room to room or level to level following thier own A.I. thinking patterns...thier initial game start locations could even be random, possably allowing for replayability
Players are basicly trapped in some haunted house and must find thier way out - pretty original so far :P
Only difference is that players are armed only with a flashlight...which is both a weapon and way to illuminate the darkness.
The basic idea revolves around ghosts/entities and how light effects them...some ghosts can move around in the darkness, but can only harm the player if the ghost is struck by light...others can only harm the player in darkness (shine the flashlight on them, and they vanish)...in addition some ghosts are attracted to player movement, while others are scared off by it...some ghosts are helpfull, others harmfull.
Sound would play a big part in this game, as each ghost makes specific noises.
For example...players could stumble on some description of a "night wraith" which describes it as some hulking demon that sounds like "fingernails across a chalk board" as it moves around...it can't hurt you in darkness, and is attracted to movement....moments later, when the player has walked into another room...they hear the distinctive "night wraith" moveing around....smart players would stop in thier tracks and turn off the flashlight, waiting for the entity to lose intrest in the player and wonder off...
But its possable, as you hear the "night wraith" circle around you in the darkness (every so often it could grunt or scream at the player in frustration...trying to get the player to shine the flashlight on it, just to get a glimpse of what it looks like)...but while this is going on, something else could enter the room....something like the opposite of a "night wraith"...something that is attracted to the player when they are motionless...something that can harm the player in darkness (but light scares it off)...so players have to figure out ways to deal with these entities...
There wouldn't be hundreds of them...only one (maybe two) of each type (like the creature in Resident Evil: Nemesis...or Clocktower) that can move from room to room or level to level following thier own A.I. thinking patterns...thier initial game start locations could even be random, possably allowing for replayability
About the author
#2
Nice work
-Tricky
11/18/2002 (1:58 am)
its a good story, but add a bit of a story to it, like why is the player trapped there? what was their reason for going there?. The story, it think, has potential. i like the fact that the player has to think about what they have to do, and fairly quickly too.Nice work
-Tricky
#3
11/18/2002 (5:04 am)
Just be careful that you distance yourself from Fatal Frame where you kill ghosts with a camera.
#4
Well...(off the top of my head) It takes place in the future, estimated 3456, science had won the war of science v.s. philosophy and God, and now thanks to science the human race is the smartest above all, other races were discovered in the year 3123. Ghosts, or what humans prefer to call them Provoked Paranormal Beings or P.P.B.'s AKA P.S.B.'s (Provoked Supernatural Beings), are now being researched and contained in a laboratory in Chicago. Rumors are also spreading that scientists might be able to alter and control them soon, opening a new market in the mascot/pet industry.
The story comes in where a new company called HIS (Human and Industrial Science)has bought the laboratory and are conducting their own research and experiments, word has it that they are developing supernatural warfare. The playable characters are both young and out of work scientists that were working for the former owners and decided to continue working under their new management, one is female the other is male. No matter which char. you choose you will eventually go through the whole lab, the only differences is placement (i.e.: Alva Schaufer (girl) is on floor 20 (top) and Joe Marciques (guy) is in the basement areas), difficulty (female=Hard and Male=Normal) and the order beings you encounter (Alva encouters the harder ones first and Joe gets the normal ones).
Back to the story... A neohippy goes in to HIS Labs to sabotage their plans for war domination and breeches the security controls in the basement and turns all the power off. All of it. The only light comes from any skylights or outer windows. A flash light is required and your battery is not permanent so the finding of batteries is also required. And for weapons a plasma/flash gun, AKA PL-Flash, is needed. Its ammo is special kind of battery/cartridge thingy.
If you pick Alva you will start at the top and make your way down to ground floor 1, If you're Joe you get from basement area 20 to ground floor 1 and then you go up and she goes down, hence whoever you pick you will eventually get through the whole Lab.
I came up with three P.S.B.'s:
-SinCabeza: mexican lengend equivelant to the headless horseman.
-Llorana: mexican legeng of a lady who lost her children and went crazy and died somehow, and roams the graveyard grieving for her kids.
-Bulto: mexican equivalent to a shapeless phantom.
How was that for a off-the-top-of-my-head type story?
Inspirations:
1. Jurassic Park (anybody know why?)
2. Resident Evil
11/18/2002 (4:16 pm)
Yeah, I have an idea just like that one, I use to have the full story but my computer just got screwed up one day and just started deleting files. Well...(off the top of my head) It takes place in the future, estimated 3456, science had won the war of science v.s. philosophy and God, and now thanks to science the human race is the smartest above all, other races were discovered in the year 3123. Ghosts, or what humans prefer to call them Provoked Paranormal Beings or P.P.B.'s AKA P.S.B.'s (Provoked Supernatural Beings), are now being researched and contained in a laboratory in Chicago. Rumors are also spreading that scientists might be able to alter and control them soon, opening a new market in the mascot/pet industry.
The story comes in where a new company called HIS (Human and Industrial Science)has bought the laboratory and are conducting their own research and experiments, word has it that they are developing supernatural warfare. The playable characters are both young and out of work scientists that were working for the former owners and decided to continue working under their new management, one is female the other is male. No matter which char. you choose you will eventually go through the whole lab, the only differences is placement (i.e.: Alva Schaufer (girl) is on floor 20 (top) and Joe Marciques (guy) is in the basement areas), difficulty (female=Hard and Male=Normal) and the order beings you encounter (Alva encouters the harder ones first and Joe gets the normal ones).
Back to the story... A neohippy goes in to HIS Labs to sabotage their plans for war domination and breeches the security controls in the basement and turns all the power off. All of it. The only light comes from any skylights or outer windows. A flash light is required and your battery is not permanent so the finding of batteries is also required. And for weapons a plasma/flash gun, AKA PL-Flash, is needed. Its ammo is special kind of battery/cartridge thingy.
If you pick Alva you will start at the top and make your way down to ground floor 1, If you're Joe you get from basement area 20 to ground floor 1 and then you go up and she goes down, hence whoever you pick you will eventually get through the whole Lab.
I came up with three P.S.B.'s:
-SinCabeza: mexican lengend equivelant to the headless horseman.
-Llorana: mexican legeng of a lady who lost her children and went crazy and died somehow, and roams the graveyard grieving for her kids.
-Bulto: mexican equivalent to a shapeless phantom.
How was that for a off-the-top-of-my-head type story?
Inspirations:
1. Jurassic Park (anybody know why?)
2. Resident Evil
#5
I would suggest a 3rd person view, or a static camera view for a game like this. Something along the lines of Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark.
I would try to go with different sources of light, say a candle, lanteren, flashlight, flare, torch. Along with the idea that the ghosts can't be killed but only scared away.
Good Luck
11/18/2002 (5:48 pm)
Great idea for your game, you could even go with a cartoon feel (kids game), or an all out spook-a-thon(adult game).I would suggest a 3rd person view, or a static camera view for a game like this. Something along the lines of Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark.
I would try to go with different sources of light, say a candle, lanteren, flashlight, flare, torch. Along with the idea that the ghosts can't be killed but only scared away.
Good Luck
#6
But you can still have it good etc. I think alot of adventure, etc so you have to go somwhere to get the odd looking wheel etc lol. And what others have said about the story bit. And it maybe a great game, whihc the players could get in to a real lot!
I'm kind of confused abit on how the ghosts kill you?
11/19/2002 (2:13 pm)
This game idea is pretty good, but abit limted. But you can still have it good etc. I think alot of adventure, etc so you have to go somwhere to get the odd looking wheel etc lol. And what others have said about the story bit. And it maybe a great game, whihc the players could get in to a real lot!
I'm kind of confused abit on how the ghosts kill you?
#7
As for how the ghosts can hurt the player...the general idea is that there are two seperate dimentions...one exists in light..the other darkness...and a ghost can physicaly manifest themselves depending on which dimention they belong to.
And yes, this would have scary music and all of that...it would not have conventional weapons (guns and such)...as the point of the game is to survive rather then kill ghosts (like a gun could do that anyway :P )
also besides the presence or absence of light...several other "gameplay rules" could effect the way the ghosts act...for example, some would be attracted to movement while others are scared off...other ghosts (in light or darkness) can't move when the player faces them (but they can when the player faces the other way).
11/20/2002 (7:27 am)
Yeah, I gotta fill out the story...and yes there would be other sources of light.As for how the ghosts can hurt the player...the general idea is that there are two seperate dimentions...one exists in light..the other darkness...and a ghost can physicaly manifest themselves depending on which dimention they belong to.
And yes, this would have scary music and all of that...it would not have conventional weapons (guns and such)...as the point of the game is to survive rather then kill ghosts (like a gun could do that anyway :P )
also besides the presence or absence of light...several other "gameplay rules" could effect the way the ghosts act...for example, some would be attracted to movement while others are scared off...other ghosts (in light or darkness) can't move when the player faces them (but they can when the player faces the other way).
#8
that was for the Atari 2600 back in the last century.
So I'm seeing that in my head right now.
There was also a movie recently, or perhaps
a twilight zone episode where the character
(possibly played by mark hamill?) is haunted by
shadows and they are pushed back by light...
Undying has a "scry" spell which reveals hauntedness.
A very creepy effect.
Any game that is going to imply fear has to run a good story.
I think just surving a ghost house would be more fun than
being able to blast the ghosts. Essentially you unlock the
secret of the haunting while dodging poltergeist attacks.
For instance you go into the dark study with your flashlight
Search the cases, maybe you spot that missing volume
maybe you don't...
Books start flying in the air, dodge the books, dodge that chair, look out for the moose head! Run away! Go to the bedroom find the book. return the book to the shelf, wall panel opens, find remains of victim with some peice of story.
It goes on from there.
Good haunted house movie to watch is
Stephen King's "Rose Red"
and from the sixties one called
"The Haunting of Hell House"
if I'm not mistaken
Good reasons to be in the haunted house.
New owner
Old owner and cleaning/renovations woke the dead.
Dare
Frat/Sorority Hazing
You are Homeless
You are laying low from the cops
You are a ghostbuster
You are a "psychic" doing a TV show :-)
You are renting an apartment ...instant haunted hi-rise!
You are Meter man who gets trapped inside
You are a theif - good one!
You are part of a pyschic research team
You are a house painter, carpenter, contractor of some kind.
You are a nut who sleep walks into haunted houses.
You are on a workign vacation(The Shining)
Ghosts can just happen.
Here's an idea for a Scarey game.
You have average family...but their house isn't average.
You have a few kids and the mom and dad and the dog,etc.
The characters live their little routine lives before your eyes.
Every so many idle seconds Events happen..the little characters say "What was that?" You click on one and tell
them where to go to find out what it was. Each has their own
fear factor level, their own sanity limit, health etc.
Ok so you send little 11 year old "Bobby" up the stairs to see why this ball rolled from his closet across the hall and down the stairs....you have to walk him upstairs, into the hall, into his room, and open the closet door....
Something could happen, or nothing could happen, or you wait until bobby closes the closet and turns around to turn out the light in his room and slam the door (in that order, dark to darkest).
Dad would react differently to the event, Bobby will definately need to change his pants.
But a game like this would be a lot of fun.
Imagine You see the family at the dinner table. Mom says "I forgot to bring the milk, can someone please go get it from the"
....in the background we can see into the kitchen, something stands in the door for a second them fades back into the ...."kitchen"
Who will go into the kitchen????
Ok thats some of my frightening game ideas.
11/27/2002 (7:32 pm)
This immediately reminds me of the game "HAUNTED HOUSE"that was for the Atari 2600 back in the last century.
So I'm seeing that in my head right now.
There was also a movie recently, or perhaps
a twilight zone episode where the character
(possibly played by mark hamill?) is haunted by
shadows and they are pushed back by light...
Undying has a "scry" spell which reveals hauntedness.
A very creepy effect.
Any game that is going to imply fear has to run a good story.
I think just surving a ghost house would be more fun than
being able to blast the ghosts. Essentially you unlock the
secret of the haunting while dodging poltergeist attacks.
For instance you go into the dark study with your flashlight
Search the cases, maybe you spot that missing volume
maybe you don't...
Books start flying in the air, dodge the books, dodge that chair, look out for the moose head! Run away! Go to the bedroom find the book. return the book to the shelf, wall panel opens, find remains of victim with some peice of story.
It goes on from there.
Good haunted house movie to watch is
Stephen King's "Rose Red"
and from the sixties one called
"The Haunting of Hell House"
if I'm not mistaken
Good reasons to be in the haunted house.
New owner
Old owner and cleaning/renovations woke the dead.
Dare
Frat/Sorority Hazing
You are Homeless
You are laying low from the cops
You are a ghostbuster
You are a "psychic" doing a TV show :-)
You are renting an apartment ...instant haunted hi-rise!
You are Meter man who gets trapped inside
You are a theif - good one!
You are part of a pyschic research team
You are a house painter, carpenter, contractor of some kind.
You are a nut who sleep walks into haunted houses.
You are on a workign vacation(The Shining)
Ghosts can just happen.
Here's an idea for a Scarey game.
You have average family...but their house isn't average.
You have a few kids and the mom and dad and the dog,etc.
The characters live their little routine lives before your eyes.
Every so many idle seconds Events happen..the little characters say "What was that?" You click on one and tell
them where to go to find out what it was. Each has their own
fear factor level, their own sanity limit, health etc.
Ok so you send little 11 year old "Bobby" up the stairs to see why this ball rolled from his closet across the hall and down the stairs....you have to walk him upstairs, into the hall, into his room, and open the closet door....
Something could happen, or nothing could happen, or you wait until bobby closes the closet and turns around to turn out the light in his room and slam the door (in that order, dark to darkest).
Dad would react differently to the event, Bobby will definately need to change his pants.
But a game like this would be a lot of fun.
Imagine You see the family at the dinner table. Mom says "I forgot to bring the milk, can someone please go get it from the"
....in the background we can see into the kitchen, something stands in the door for a second them fades back into the ...."kitchen"
Who will go into the kitchen????
Ok thats some of my frightening game ideas.
#9
11/28/2002 (2:20 pm)
If i wanted to be scared, i'd like to also have no idea whats going on. Just unsure of what is actually happening the entire time would be enough to freak people out. You are a hunter, out in the middle of the woods. Its the typical scary movie scene. You are lost, but you come to a house, in the middle of nowhere. there is a candle on the railing of the deck of the house, and thats the ONLY light there is. You take the candle, and you wander into the house, past a squeaky old door. You search the rooms for a phone, but you suddenly see something startling. Whatever it is, it scares the complete bejesus out of you. The image is so terrifying (the developer of a game like this would be hard-pressed with imagination to draw a picture like this one) that you go reeling and hit your head on something. You'll then wake up, many hours later, but its still dark. This house has very confusing floor plan so you cannot exactly figure out which way you came in, and you plunge deeper. The image that made you go reeling isn't there anymore (it could have been a painting, or a glimpse into a room, or just a phantom) and you are wandering around, and you encounter a lot of scary things. There is no written evidence, but all of the phantoms and images you see tell a story. The man and his candle then progress in the story together and the situation grows worse since it seems that everything is trying to chase you out, but you are unable to find an exit. This game would mainly rely on the graphics to create the scary scene, with images so disturbing it makes you want to quit the application, but still creates that storybook draw that keeps you playing. That would be a killer game!
#10
I can't remember who, and I can't remember if they brought it up just for discussion (as is often done at gamedev) or if they intended to follow through. I'd suggest you go have a look though, it was in the game design forum. Go check it out, and if he's going ahead with it, you guys should join forces...if not, the thread will certainly give you some good ideas, as it was quite an in-depth discussion if I remember correctly.
11/29/2002 (1:56 pm)
A very similar idea was brought up by someone a few months ago at GameDev.I can't remember who, and I can't remember if they brought it up just for discussion (as is often done at gamedev) or if they intended to follow through. I'd suggest you go have a look though, it was in the game design forum. Go check it out, and if he's going ahead with it, you guys should join forces...if not, the thread will certainly give you some good ideas, as it was quite an in-depth discussion if I remember correctly.
#11
I've done some work on the story...and have a pretty good idea of where things are going.
The player is a collage student, and a member of a collage paranormal investigations club...as the game starts out...the club has finnaly gotton permission to investigate the happenings at a very strange local abandonded house that is isolated out in the woods...public records indicate that the last owner died in 1919, and the home has been abandonded ever sense.
At the start of the game...the rest of the club is already at the house. The player is on her way in the middle of a thunderstorm, when her car breaks down about a mile away...she grabs a flashlight from the glove box...and starts walking through the woods for the house (the only home within miles)...she keeps trying to call her club mates on her cell phone..but there is no answer...she even tries to call 911...but the phone just keeps ringing as there is no answer either...as she finnaly reaches the house (which is pitch black...no lights comeing out of the windows or anything)...her cell phone suddenly rings...it's her collage club mates who seem to be scarred out of thier minds...they keep screaming into the phone that they are trapped basement by some sort of monster...then the line goes dead...and the game begins.
11/30/2002 (10:09 am)
That was me that posted the idea on game.dev :)I've done some work on the story...and have a pretty good idea of where things are going.
The player is a collage student, and a member of a collage paranormal investigations club...as the game starts out...the club has finnaly gotton permission to investigate the happenings at a very strange local abandonded house that is isolated out in the woods...public records indicate that the last owner died in 1919, and the home has been abandonded ever sense.
At the start of the game...the rest of the club is already at the house. The player is on her way in the middle of a thunderstorm, when her car breaks down about a mile away...she grabs a flashlight from the glove box...and starts walking through the woods for the house (the only home within miles)...she keeps trying to call her club mates on her cell phone..but there is no answer...she even tries to call 911...but the phone just keeps ringing as there is no answer either...as she finnaly reaches the house (which is pitch black...no lights comeing out of the windows or anything)...her cell phone suddenly rings...it's her collage club mates who seem to be scarred out of thier minds...they keep screaming into the phone that they are trapped basement by some sort of monster...then the line goes dead...and the game begins.
#12
11/30/2002 (10:13 am)
Thanks for all the ideas, we have already started on it and are well on our way to being finished.
#14
11/30/2002 (11:07 am)
Heh, does the girl also happen to be a scantily dressed college slut?
#15
11/30/2002 (11:16 am)
Lord I hope so. 
#16
They're not all the best games in the world, but they have helpful elements.
Alien Ressurection (Playstation) - The first couple of levels have an excellent horror feel to them. Then it turns into your typical shooter.
Alone in the Dark 1-4, Jack in the Dark - The games that started the "survival horror 'camera perspective'" that Resident Evil adopted.
Echo Night (Playstation) - A first person horror adventure game. There are several of these for the PC as well from the mid to late 80's. Echo Night 2 was only released in Japan.
City of Lost Children(Playstation)[/p] - More of a "strange world" game than a horror game, but it fit with my project rather well.
[b]Galerians, Galerians: Ash (PSX/PS2) - Psychic powered "survival horror" games. The first one is extremely unbalanced when it comes to gameplay, and one of the movies was edited for the US release to remove nudity. The second game is more of an action game, and is more balanced. It loses the film noir feel, though, for bland environments. The story is interesting, though. Sammy is bringing it to the US.
Silent Hill/Silent Hill 2 (PSX/PS2/XBOX) - Two classics with a flashlight. They have a great atmosphere and feel. Their interfaces were somewhat klunky to deal with, but when it comes to atmosphere, they are two of my favorites.
Clock Tower/Clock Tower 2 (Playstation) - Action/Adventure games with horror themes. Bloody, dismemberment, and an interesting scissorman design. Fun stories.
Dark Seed/Dark Seed 2 (PC) - Alternate reality Lovecraftian Giger-inspired games. The stories are somewhat confusing and muddled, but the look and feel is amazing.
deSPIRIA - Japanese only Dreamcast title from ATLUS. Think 7th Guest...as an RPG...with extremely disturbing characters and enemies. It's hard to explain, but it's an extremely creepy game. Unfortunately, I don't know of any sites that show off the monster designs which are extremely innovative. Most show the buxom character portraits.
Fatal Frame (PS2/XBOX) - Think of the atmosphere of Silent Hill with the excitement of Pokemon Snap or Primal Image. Actually, I love this game, but that's the basic interface. It does an excellent job at setting up the atmosphere.
Gabriel Knight 1-3 (PC) - Horror themed adventures from Sierra. Great stories. That's pretty much the best thing about them. The interfaces are tried and true Sierra adventure game interfaces, but the stories shine.
These should give you a good feel for different interface aspects or things that work and don't work while you're coming up with a design document. All of these games can work well during pitch meetings when you're asked about competing projects, similar games, and such so the publisher knows where their marketshare will fall if they choose your game.
12/05/2002 (2:54 pm)
Actually, a "flashlight horror game" is pretty close my current adventure game design. I've looked at a lot of other games that might help you out as well. It's also just a good list of horror/thriller themed games. I'm sure I missed a few, but these are the ones I've looked at over the last couple of weeks.They're not all the best games in the world, but they have helpful elements.
Alien Ressurection (Playstation) - The first couple of levels have an excellent horror feel to them. Then it turns into your typical shooter.
Alone in the Dark 1-4, Jack in the Dark - The games that started the "survival horror 'camera perspective'" that Resident Evil adopted.
Echo Night (Playstation) - A first person horror adventure game. There are several of these for the PC as well from the mid to late 80's. Echo Night 2 was only released in Japan.
City of Lost Children(Playstation)[/p] - More of a "strange world" game than a horror game, but it fit with my project rather well.
[b]Galerians, Galerians: Ash (PSX/PS2) - Psychic powered "survival horror" games. The first one is extremely unbalanced when it comes to gameplay, and one of the movies was edited for the US release to remove nudity. The second game is more of an action game, and is more balanced. It loses the film noir feel, though, for bland environments. The story is interesting, though. Sammy is bringing it to the US.
Silent Hill/Silent Hill 2 (PSX/PS2/XBOX) - Two classics with a flashlight. They have a great atmosphere and feel. Their interfaces were somewhat klunky to deal with, but when it comes to atmosphere, they are two of my favorites.
Clock Tower/Clock Tower 2 (Playstation) - Action/Adventure games with horror themes. Bloody, dismemberment, and an interesting scissorman design. Fun stories.
Dark Seed/Dark Seed 2 (PC) - Alternate reality Lovecraftian Giger-inspired games. The stories are somewhat confusing and muddled, but the look and feel is amazing.
deSPIRIA - Japanese only Dreamcast title from ATLUS. Think 7th Guest...as an RPG...with extremely disturbing characters and enemies. It's hard to explain, but it's an extremely creepy game. Unfortunately, I don't know of any sites that show off the monster designs which are extremely innovative. Most show the buxom character portraits.
Fatal Frame (PS2/XBOX) - Think of the atmosphere of Silent Hill with the excitement of Pokemon Snap or Primal Image. Actually, I love this game, but that's the basic interface. It does an excellent job at setting up the atmosphere.
Gabriel Knight 1-3 (PC) - Horror themed adventures from Sierra. Great stories. That's pretty much the best thing about them. The interfaces are tried and true Sierra adventure game interfaces, but the stories shine.
These should give you a good feel for different interface aspects or things that work and don't work while you're coming up with a design document. All of these games can work well during pitch meetings when you're asked about competing projects, similar games, and such so the publisher knows where their marketshare will fall if they choose your game.
Tom Muchouski
Even little things such as squeaks when the player walks.