More Horror

[X-12]

I feel like it would be fun if there were more horror aspects of the game or maybe a "survival horror" game mode that has all the normal aspects of the main game but with new spawns.  Like maybe a deer that stalks you and howls, maybe when hit or when its night and the time is right it contorts into a monster. Or something of the sort im sure that they have some similar things planned but it would be a cool suggestion.

[Maelstrom]

Stay tuned.  1.20 may have more horrors.  There's been some concept art teasing released in the past couple weeks.

[X-12]

im stoked for that it makes this game terrifying lol.

[Dra6o0n]

Pretty sure it will come naturally, but too much horror at once and some of the more passive players who wants a sandbox experience, might not like it.

For instance the sort of horror that should be in the game, should be oriented to specific areas or trigger, so someone farming in base shouldn't suddenly get the chills like the grudge is stalking them.

[X-12]

Yea I guess I just want to walk through the forest and practically shit myself.

[Maelstrom]

The best horror has a set up.  Such as there's a quick introduction to unnatural critters (drifters), but there's other horrors out there, increasingly horrifying drifters, locusts of various types and temporal storms that don't come along the first night.  Watch some classic gothic horror (Alien or A Nightmare on Elmstreet) to see how horror is a buildup until you finally  meet the big bad boogie man - usually not until at least 1/3 or even 1/2 of the story is over.

[Dra6o0n]

Horror is basically not really a physical element, but the unknown lingering in people's psyche.

What people fear aren't the literal zombies or ghosts in games, but the concept of unknown behind these entities, like not knowing how many is around, how much of a threat they are, and if you are going to expect them to pop up or not.

Once the monster spawns and exists in front of you the fear will diminish over time the more you watch it move around and act.

[ifoz]

11 hours ago, Dra6o0n said:

Horror is basically not really a physical element, but the unknown lingering in people's psyche.

What people fear aren't the literal zombies or ghosts in games, but the concept of unknown behind these entities, like not knowing how many is around, how much of a threat they are, and if you are going to expect them to pop up or not.

Once the monster spawns and exists in front of you the fear will diminish over time the more you watch it move around and act.

I'm really glad people are pointing this out.
I keep seeing people talk about all these 'horror' mods for Minecraft, but they literally aren't scary at all.
Oh yeah, weird monster dude sometimes shows up, screams and one-shots you. The true terror is in losing all your items.

As much as I would like more horror elements in this game, I really hope it isn't 'horror' in the way of "big scary monster guy".
I'd much rather have the already quite dark lore expanded upon to create horror and unease than some drifter who hit the gym punch me through a cave wall.

[Dra6o0n]

The atmosphere and survival aspect of not knowing what to do, where to go, and what to gather creates that sense of dread.

But once you get knowledgeable of the game it's less scary to dive into caves and whatnot.

To add more dread is to have more 'unknowns' but that means players who play longer will get over it sooner.

Edited April 30 by Dra6o0n

[LadyWYT]

8 hours ago, Dra6o0n said:

The atmosphere and survival aspect of not knowing what to do, where to go, and what to gather creates that sense of dread.

But once you get knowledgeable of the game it's less scary to dive into caves and whatnot.

To add more dread is to have more 'unknowns' but that means players who play longer will get over it sooner.

This is true, to an extent. You do get used to the hazards after a while, which makes them less scary, but I'm not sure it makes them any less dangerous. Too much complacency can kill just as effectively as a lack of experience. For example, an experienced player may not need to bring healing items or the best armor while caving, but getting trapped in a ruin with higher tier drifter moaning at the door might make the same player wish they'd come better prepared.

One thing Vintage Story has done exceptionally well so far is give an underlying creepiness to the story that unsettles the player and makes the monsters feel more dangerous, without feeling unfair or stepping into outright horror territory(which, as others in the thread have pointed out, would absolutely be a turn off for some players). The two driving factors behind the creepiness, in my opinion, are as follows:

1. Atmosphere

Light is a valuable resource, whether it be daylight or some other light source, and not just for keeping monsters from spawning. Nights are actually dark, even with a full moon, and if you don't have a light source you're not going to be able to see the pitfall that might be right in front of you, or that bear that may be lurking nearby. Likewise, to properly explore most caves, you will need to bring a light source with you. Light sources, however, have a limited range, so unless you really sink resources into lighting everything up in your exploration, there's always going to be darkness looming. Sometimes there's a light source that isn't yours, further down the depths where you may least expect one(and it's not always clear whether it's a ruin, locusts, or glowworms).

In any case, the limited vision means that your mind now has to fill in the blanks on what could be lurking out there, and what one's imagination comes up with is often worse than what's actually there. A new player won't know what to expect, and thus may have wilder anticipations and be more easily frightened. An experienced player will have an idea of what to expect, and thus be harder to frighten, but still won't know exactly where the baddies are lurking or when they'll show up.

On a similar note, the lore of the world and "set designs" give you enough information to figure out that something horrible happened in the past, but leaves a lot of the details up to your own imagination.

2. Animation and Sound Design

What I consider to be the proverbial cherry on top of the cake, in many ways. I don't find drifters terribly scary, at least judging purely by looks. They look interesting, for sure, but they strike me as being derpy cave sloths, which is a little adorable. What creeps me out about them is the animations, and they currently have two types available--the standard hunched over look and the crawlers. The hunched over ones are bad enough, as they end up being a vaguely humanoid shape that comes running at you from out of the dark, often in packs. The crawlers are the ones that tend to actually scare me though, because not only do they typically end up being a blur of movement in the corner of my vision, but they can fit through one block holes. And I just never really know where or when they'll turn up in those underground tunnels.

The other creepy thing about drifters that I found--they don't just sit there doing nothing, waiting for a target to show up. They have actual idle animations they will play, provided they don't notice your presence. I encountered one in a cave once, on its hands and knees seemingly crying its eyes out on the ground. I've heard they worship the Jonas machines as well, though I have yet to encounter this. Why they do any of this, I don't know. There are some implications in a few of the lore books, but currently it's mostly left up to the imagination. The fact that they seem to have a "life" outside of "I need to kill the player" is incredibly creepy though, because it's not something I've really seen in other games(at least in this fashion).

The game's sound design deserves a mention as well. The drifters sounds menacing enough, without being over the top. The bells don't actually attack you, but nothing makes your heart race like hearing one go off, without actually being able to see where it is. Likewise, the machine-like ambience that comes with temporal instability(as well as the machines located in the Archive) is both cool and unnerving at the same time.

---------

Anyway, I've rambled enough. I'm not sure how much of it makes sense, as it's hard to put the thoughts and feelings into words. The closest example I can think, that's easier to explain, is how Subnautica manages to pull off the scare factor. It's not the creatures you can see that are terrifying, for the most part. If you can see it, you can identify it and therefore deal with it. It's what you can't see that is terrifying.

[Dra6o0n]

There are interesting new enemy variants and drifters that could make things harder on the player, with unique AI designs behind them... Ghosts could be an interesting enemy type and mechanic, with possession mechanics to give players hallucinations.

When you are awake and it's night time, you can get hallucinations from ghosts. Which makes you see or hear things randomly (not often creepy, but could be something to mislead you). If you attempt to sleep in a bed while possessed, you get a nightmare debuff, which will allows you to pass the time to day, but at a cost of your energy being sapped.

Light can be a factor to fend off possession, being near it will ward the ghost off and they will despawn if they can't reach you for a period of time. The presence of other players also wards them off but only if there is some light nearby. They automatically despawn once day arrives.

Edited May 2 by Dra6o0n

[RobinHood]

In my eyes the most awsome horrorgames was RETURN OF CASTLE OF WOLFENSTEIN ... ok, VS will never be such a hard game, but maybe you will see some inspirations here