Ten tips for making a horror game.(PG-13?)

[Warachia]

So, you think you want to make the next Silent Hill or Dead Space, right? You think all you have to do is add zombies, right? Wrong.
There are certain things that will make or break a horror game and I'm going to be giving you some tips on how to make a good horror game.

1.Atmosphere and the proper usage of "pop-up scares"
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Atmosphere is one thing that can make a horror game scary, so start with the basics.
Add some fog and lighting and go from there, strategically place some corpses or blood.

Now we think that pop-up scares will always, work, right? Not really.

It's a matter of timing, with pop-up scares, you shouldn't rely heavily on them and you should have very few of them, but don't write them out.

Your best bet is to play "the waiting game". Now what do I mean by "playing the waiting game"?

Basically, you got to make the player uneasy, use a little blood or a corpse or too and just wait.
You have to wait for the perfect opporunity and then use the pop-up scare.

Now for ideas, do something like having part of the ceiling break and have hung corpse fall from it.
You can't just simply have a head drop down or something, think big.

Like say you decide to have jars with heads in them as save points, surprise the player by having a certain one save point scream at the player(preferably later in the game, else the player will think of all the save points will do that).
Then you could make it where blood runs down the face of a save point(preferably later, some time after the scream scare)


Don't be lazy and use something despicable like a "screamer"(Random pop-up image) or something.

2.Silence and a lack of music
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Another thing that can help out is simply silence.

Silence is something that will really do the job at times.

You really think adding some dissonant music that you would normally hear in those stupid haunted houses is going to work?

-_-

Silence can really make certain moments disturbing, but don't overdo it.

There's got to be at least some kind of music in your game

3.Atmospheric music
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Well we were just talking about silence, but how about some atmospheric music?

No, not Halloween-ish music, ATMOSPHERIC.

Creating atmospheric music(along with a well-done atmosphere) can make the player uneasy(which can come in handy for pop-up scares or something).

Think like the creators of Silent Hill 1.

The stuff used in their "music"?

Mostly sounds of pipes dropping and stuff like that, but it does work(when properly composed).

4.The Unknown
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Well another thing that was used in Silent Hill(yes, I will mention this game a lot in this, as it taught me a lot) could a different version
of "pop-up scares", but using sound effects.

In a sense, for example, in the Elementary School area in Silent Hill 1, if you go into the girl's restroom(and it's not the 1st floor one either)
and try to leave, you'll hear the sound of a little girl crying, but no one is there and you can't even open the door.
Not scary, but slightly creepy.
A better example is a certain room you go in the Alternate Hospital, where if you try to leave, you'll hear the sound of a window breaking
and when you check the window, it's perfectly fine, but yet, you got a little chill down your spine and it probably worked(especially if you're
playing in the dark).

These types of scares can be a bit more effective than "pop-up scares", but once again, you have to remember to time it well.

If you're having the character explore a nursery in a hospital, have it where, like when you try to leave, you hear a baby crying and, yet
there's no one there.

If you're exploring a abandoned schoolyard at night, make the swings on the swingsets squeak occasionally and maybe even have the laughter
of children echoing from time to time and yet not a soul in sight, except for you.

What you can't see, might scare the crap out of you.

5.Symbolism and the occult
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"Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness."

"Memories and possibilities are ever more hideous than realities."

Well if you just read those two quotes from H.P. Lovecraft, you should sorta of know what I'm talking about.

Symbolism is important, especially if you're making a psychological horror game or you're trying to also give your horror game a good story.

Now, look at your main character and think about him.
What job does he have? Does he have a family? Are there any secrets in his family? What does he think about? Does he have some repressed memories?

Symbolism can really leave a effect on the player, if you play your cards right.

Silent Hill 2 may not be a truly scary game, but it leaves a mark on you and it's actually a true psychological horror game.

The past memories and even the thoughts of the main character are used to a disturbingly realistic effect, including some sexually-related
memories that were previously repressed.

Think about it.

What repressed memories does my character have, that I can use to a advantage? Could I create some enemies and even more characters out of
these?

The proper usage of symbolism, along with a deep and non-linear story, might earn you a lot of fans.

The occult is also something that isn't seen in many games, to say.

Occultism can really add a mysterious and horrorific feel to the game, I mean Silent Hill 1 had quite a lot of of occult references and Lovecraft himself
even used occultism in his stories.

Because it adds to the fear of the unknown.

Symbols that seem arachic and with a grotesque appearance,mysterious individuals that discuss unknown things of the dark,uncomprehendable
chanting and messages..

Proper usage of occultism can really scare the player and probably cause them nightmares.

6.The "Sanity" meter feature
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Not many games have used "Sanity" meter to say and personally I find it "gimmicky"

This little gameplay mechanic has been seen in Eternal Darkness:Sanity's Requiem and Call of Cthulhuark Corners of the Earth and it can
make a good horror game if used right.

In CoCCOTE(Call of Cthulhuark Corners of the Earth), if the main character, Jack Walters looks at certain things like corpses and stuff,
the screen will start to blur and if you're looking at too many disturbing objects for too long, he'll start to hear voices and eventually,
he'll kill himself.

Eternal Darkness did even more(and it came before CoCCOTE), with various effects, including the screen going black and "VIDEO" showing up.

Coupled with symbolism, the sanity meter mechanic can really make things disturbing, but don't make it hinder the player, though.

7.Disturbing factors and sexual material
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In a horror game, you will want disturbing stuff in it obviously.

You're thinking that's just blood and gore and corpses, right? Wrong, that's only a little bit.

To add on to the "fear of the unknown", you'll want to make your monsters look grotquese and strangely human.

Want examples? Fire up Silent Hill 2 and look at the monsters.
Even more? Boot up System Shock 2.

If you've played those games before, you'll get what I mean.

You'll want to make your monsters grotquese and frightening, but with some humanoid features, for effect.

Like the "Flesh Lips" boss in SH2(I won't spoil much), the mouth is actually a vagina to say!(That boss battle was mediocre, though :P)

With corpses, add some variation.

A corpse of a nude woman, with the lower half of herself missing? Alright. A headless corpse, that's torn in half? Sounds painful, but good.
A corpse of a headless and nude woman with her breasts cut off? Okay, that's enough 0_o

Now with sexual material, you may want to go deep.

Like the aforementioned "Flesh Lips" boss from SH2, you might add something like that.

Now for some ideas that I might have for a future horror game I'll make(These are copyrighted and no stealing >)

"After exploring the hospital enough and finding what you need, you notice that all of the doors are locked and strangely the door to the
nursery(which was previously locked) is now unlocked.

You enter in and you find some obese monster that's headless and with blood gushing out of it's neck(and freshly, too!) and it "awakens"
and the boss battle begins.

It's obviously nude, with some odd stuff on it's skin and it's got a lot of health.

Anyways..

You shoot the boss and eventually, you'll start hearing a infant crying for some reason(which tells you that the boss is almost dead) and
then the boss will die after enough shots.

And then the room is silent(and bloody, of course) and then there's not much to do.

So, you obviously examine the monster and then you try to leave and "It" awakens again and you thought it was dead.

But then it's stomach expands and explodes, to reveal a live fetus and some phallic tentacles appear on the body of the monster.

So begins the second phase of the battle... Good luck.."

And that was just one idea..

"So, you've explored the church and you can't seem to leave(because you're locked in) and then you do some more looking around and after
solving a puzzle, a area in the church opens..

Seemingly, it's the basement of the church and you decide to head down.
Once again, the game's loading screen appears, but with a quote from H.P. Lovecraft saying "Prying curiosity means death".
After the short loading screen, you seem to be in a heavily padded prison(Where those guys in the straightjackets usually are) and a cutscene
occurs.

You see a girl, chained to the ground, with even a chain on her neck and she's obviously nude(as usual) and she seems to be quite depressed
and she starts crying.

You go over to her and you try to comfort her(Since you're sorta of a "Goody Two-Shoes"), but then a guy comes down those stairs and warns
you to get a distance from her and she cries even more.

The guy shoots her in a head with a shotgun and her head explodes and blood is gushing out of the neck.

He asks you to leave the place and he puts a extra shotgun(along with some ammo) on the floor for you and he then leaves.

So, after that, you try to leave and then "She" awakens and then some weird phallic-like object appears out of her "cooch"(remember a certain enemy from Dante's Inferno?)

After you kill her, a door appears out of nowhere and well, you enter it(after getting the key that the boss drops) and you seem to be in a
confession box of some sorts and you find some diary and after reading it, you find out that she was raped a month or so ago before "the
event of darkness" began."

Anyways, enough of that.

Just remember, that disturbing stuff and even some sexual material can add to a horror game.

8.Character Development
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Well this is a bit more related to making a good story, but you can make this work in horror.

You may want your characters to develop over time, as you can use this to your advantage.

Plot twists can add some real story too.
You think that girl is helping you get out of the town, but wait you suddenly find out that she a enemy, rather than a friend.

There's many possibilties.(there's other I could mention, but won't, since it would spoil my novel.)

How about that little schoolgirl you found early in the game that was lost, that follows you through out the game?
Make a point in the game(and don't do it early, either, give the characters time to develop) where you leave her somewhere and after you've
made enough progress in the game, you find her, dead and thus a emotional cutscene occurs.

How about that bastard who likes to tease you from time to time?
Give him a "Heel Face Turn"(as TvTropes calls it) at some point and make him less of a jerk("A Jerk with a Heart of Gold") and
then have him die violently at some point.
Make the player feel sympathetic towards the character.

Think up ideas for characters and give them some personality.

Don't pull the strings early, give the characters time to develop and have a personality.
Make them realistic and like everyday people.

Even pull a Hannibal and make your villian play mindgames with the player.

Isn't it scary when some stranger knows everything about you?(Just don't rip off Silence of the Lambs too much.)

I was thinking of one horror idea of where you were stuck in a deserted, creepy town and your car was obviously wrecked and
your goal was to get out of that town and get that balloon that you got for your daughter's birthday over to the house.

But what kind of character development can come from a balloon?

Once the player feels attached to them, then pull the strings at some point and cruelly.

Sadism is one thing that can work in horror.

9.Moral Decisions and Gameplay-related stuff
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This is my second-to last tip and it may be a little lackluster, but..

Think about having moral decisions in your game, especially if you're going to have multiple endings.

Not to mention gameplay-related stuff, to add a little challenge and whatnot
And it can be a variety of things.

If you read a certain message, it affects your ending. If you refuse to help that guy, it affects your ending.
If you choose to rape that girl, it affects your ending. If you don't keep your sanity meter under control and constantly kill yourself, it
affects your ending, If you don't heal often, it affects your ending, If you heal too much, it affects your ending.

There's so much that you can do and it can keep some people guessing.

In fact, you choose to rape that girl, she gets pregnant and since the hospitals are abandoned and full of monsters, she decides to take a gun,shove it up her"hole" and makes a precise shot.

Congratulations, player, you caused a abortion and endangered her health.

Change up the dialouge and other things, depending on what path the player chooses in their moral decisions and gameplay performance.

It adds replay value to your game and it's not a bad thing to have.

10.Innovation
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Alas a short, but decent tip.

We've already reached a point, where certain camera angles and dogs jumping out of windows is old stuff.

The horror genre could some innovation.

Sanity meter?Done and gimmicky. Parasite-infected people?Done.

Using items in your enviroment as weapons?Not common and done

Now the third option would be something that could add to your game and make the gameplay ever better.

Try to do something no one has done before.

Like maybe a different piece of scenery, say maybe a steel wheel with limbless girls nailed to it and still alive, with bandanges over their eyes and mouths, muffling their screams?(Borderline AO rating, but okay.)

Innovation can make your game better.

Bonus Tip:References.
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Have you seen a Easter Egg in a game?

A cool thing you can do is make references/homages/etc. to horror movies or whatever you want(No ripping off anyone or using something copyrighted,unless you have permission).

Say you go into a motel and enter a certain room, you hear a shower running..

You go into the bathroom and there's blood on the wall and a still running.
Do everything(Like naming the motel the "DeBates" motel or something.) right and you've got a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

I hope some of these tips can help you out with making a horror game!

Also, there's a lot of other stuff that I could mention, but..

Make sure the gameplay is great and it has some good replay value.

And really, don't look to impress the big cheeses out there, like IGN or X-Play.

Focus on impressing a certain audience and go with it.

"and that's all I have to say about that"-Tom Hanks in 1994's "Forrest Gump"

[Master-sushi]

That was quite the cohesive list -_-' Good job though-- and I must say I agree with all of these (except for the occult one) wholeheartedly And Silent Hill 2 was truly a horror masterpiece. Even a year after I have last played it, I still get the chills when Pyramid Head's theme starts playing O_O Have you ever played Amnesia: The Dark Descent? Cuz it has a metric ton of what you were describing and is QUITE terrifying. And, for being primarily an action/rpg, Bioshock (made by the same guys who did System Shock 2) has some terrifying moments as well.

[Warachia]

Nah, I haven't played Amnesia yet.

[The Goblins Blade]

Considering how bad the silent hill series has been for the past few years, Games 1-4 are classics of the horror genre. Resident evil has gone the way of the dodo and there has not been a good game in that series since Nemesis.

[Warachia]

SH4 is just Luigi's Mansion:The M-Rated Edition.

SH1 and SH2 are classics of the horror genre.