YEAR 2 - BA2a - Horror

In the hopes of figuring out which direction to go in for the horror part(s) of my game I've been watching some extra credits videos on the matter.

How the Uncanny Instills Fear
How Games Keep Things Exciting
How Horror Games Create Tension


Notes:

- I want to create an oscillation of excitement which starts high, cools down and then increases throughout the film
    - I can do this on a macro scale on a level by level basis.
    - I can also attempt to do this on a micro scale by placing monsters frequently enough that when you meet one it's a big deal, but not so frequently that it becomes routine. To raise the excitement throughout the whole game a roguelike/no saves style design works well. Where if you die, you must completely reset. Therefor the stakes will rise, the further the player gets into the game as the punishment for dying (time to get back to where you were) increases.


- "Quiet areas make us feel nervous"
    - The low points of the oscillation 

- Designers use limited visibility to build tension
    - I am doing this currently with darkness and destructible terrain (eg. You could mine through a wall strait into a monster).

- "The build up to the scare is actually as important as the scare itself"

    - In a proceduraly generated game like Twin Miners it will be difficult to attempt to script these kind of build ups. What I can do is use idle monster audio so that the player knows prior to the encounter that there may be a monster there. This will create a bit of a tension build up and should prevent against 'unfair' deaths that may occur from not seeing the monster too.

    - On another note I think I might use audio as a kind of indicator for where the exit for the level is. It's vague enough that the player won't be able to find their way directly to it and it should also tune them into listening out for sounds. So I can play with them on an audio level.

- Many games use false audio cues to make us think there's something there when there isn't. So we can less
easily predict when the real scares are.

- They talk about horror games which are enjoyable because they're designed to make real life feel safe relative to the game world vs horror games where the horror lingers with you after the game has ended. They don't explicitly say why they're enjoyable but I assume it's because they fall into Roger Callois categorization of 'Vertigo'.
  - Create safe zones in the game which let the player relax and feel good about what they've just overcome.

    - At some point I need to decide which style of horror I want to go for but honestly I only think I'll get that answer further down the development cycle.