26-Jan-2011 04:02
( well ive been anticipating screenshots, text, or something from this project...i keep checking it daily...for something....)
So, ill add to it myself , too...
Anticipation.
That, in itself, is usually enough to heighten senses and promote anxiousness.
Knowing that something will happen, just not knowing - when.
Not many, but there have been a few games/situations that have actually scared me.
One of which, was during the original game UnReal.
If I remember correctly, the situation went something like this:
-I walked down a corridor, past a doorframe...another 20 feet, turned a corner left.
Another 40 feet came to a door. upon trying to open this metal door, it was locked,
but simply trying to turn the handle to unlock it, made a sound. An audible sound that something else heard, and notified it of my presence. Suddenly, back down the corridor i just came from, another door slammed close sealing my exit. I heard the sound of a loud thud around the corner, as if something pounced down from a high up ledge, then i heard a low guttoral growl ( tiger-like ), and that "thing" smashed out the overhead lightbulb where it was ( around the corner ahead of me, all went black, so i couldnt see what it was)..then i heard sizzles/sparks as power fluctated and all the lightbulbs in my corridor blew up. And the entire long corridor went black. I heard the running patter of clawed-feet and growling as it came toward me.
[ I just shivered, went 'omg, wtf' ]
Yes. For a designer, Fear can be a powerful tool.
Heights, can scare me, if I am nearby a ledge or am on uneasy footing (aka, old wooden bridge with missing boards, as if it could break thru at any given moment ).
Unknown - If you ever outside somewhere, and even though its dark and shadows everywhere, your not afraid because you are the only one out there; only to realize you heard a sound ( snapped twig / growl / voice, etc ) and realize , " You are not alone "
[ then it becomes is this friend or foe? should i fight or flight? etc ]
ofc, fear the "many ways of death" syndrome. aka, abandoned. You fall into a shallow pit, doesnt seem too harmless, etc its just deep enough you cant jump up to grab edge, so your stuck and your realize you may die there, with no food/water or way to get out; And your miles away from anyone or anything, w/o a phone or other means to call for help.
drowning- trapped in a room, filling with water; find a way out ( if possible?) or die.
[ anticipation of death, again ]
Unexpected changes- you enter an area, you take mental note of your surroundings w/o realizing it, leave that area for another, find out you have to backtrack into same room, only to realize something is different. Something has changed. Whether it be your in your own home and furniture was moved...or someplace new where a painting on the wall is now a different picture ( or the same picture, but painted with different colors ).
[ i didnt move that, but if i didnt...then who/what did?! ]
Examples of previous victims- you come into an unassuming room, perhaps a quiet library, dimly lit by a fireplace or crackling torches, bookcases everywhere, some books left open on some tables, but over the snapping sounds of the fire, you hear another sound...a sound that is out-of-place. a buzzing sound. you follow it, to a secluded corner of this large room, to find a body hunched over a book, as if he fell asleep reading. but there are dozens of flies buzzing over his now dead corpse.
[ something out-of-place, shocking in a normally pleasant surrounding ]
( like entering a kitchen, where a cutting board is on the counter, and a knife is on it, already bloody ... was someone cutting meat? if so - where is it? if not, was it used for some other malevolent purpose?! )
...
oh well, ive rambled enough...ill get back to dabbling on my own 'horror level'
>=)
-Palidori
