What Scares Game Developers? 142
John Callaham writes "Gamecloud has a new feature this Halloween asking game developers from id, Epic, Gearbox (among others) about what games scared them and why." From the article: "Todd Hollenshead - id Software: 'DOOM 3! Of course.' John Romero - former id and Ion Storm designer: 'My personal second scariest game was probably the Ravenholm section of Half Life 2. Man, when those screaming, galloping zombies are tearing around on top of a building and coming at you or clawing their way up a drainpipe - it's INSANE!'"
He his afraid... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:He his afraid... (Score:3, Funny)
Really (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Really (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Really (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Really (Score:1)
Alone in the Dark (Score:3, Informative)
Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
(*Yeah, I know "human" contact is something of a stretch, since it's just a game, but I couldn't help thinking throughout the game that there's safety in numbers.)
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
I'd say the first two Dooms have a lock on that crown.
Re:Huh? (Score:2, Insightful)
At least Talk Like A Pirate Day is still easygoing fun, but thanks to that interminable Flying Spaghetti business, the joy is being driven even out of pirates.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
From your post it seems pretty clear that you're just getting more gloomy. Cheer up eh? It's all for fun!
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Moreso than most other holidays, Halloween is what you make of it.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
I guess the advantage that Sprite games had was that they were able to throw hundreds of opponents at you without your computer screaming
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
The flipside of that was that sprite games didn't have to clear away the corpses to make room for more bad guys, so you could leave bodies like a trail of breadcrumbs to remember where you've been.
A surprising # of FPSes still follow an NES-like "blink blink blink, bye bye body".
The first indie game jam [indiegamejam.com] took this idea to an extreme...they realized a modern machine could churn out 100,000 sprites without busting a sweat, and then gave some developers 4 days to see what they could do
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Nicely put. Thinking back, I can specifically remember the feeling of being completely alone and paranoid that System Shock 2 created. SS2 was far and away the creepiest game that I've ever played - it left me jittery even after I'd turned it off and left the computer.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
I need to hook up a new game of SS2, now (there's mod that updates all the graphics, too, btw!).
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
I was playing it late at night one time, and eventually gave in to the lateness of the hour. Before going to bed, I popped downstairs to grab a drink. Standing in the kitchen, looking out into the pitch dark of the wee small hours of the morning, I couldn't shake the feeling that any moment now, a hybrid was going to smash its way in through the glass door, muttering "Silence the discord...
Re:Huh? (Score:1)
Xbox, 5.1 audio system and Project Zero (Score:2)
So much that she makes me swap my xbox with a friends Cube so she can play Resident Evil.
Now the game that she likes/dislikes the most is Project Zero.
The sound is quite evil sounding, picture is always darkish, very well made, your only weapon is a camera, and you can't run...you can really speak about ambiance
and with 5.1, you really hear them coming at you from behind.
I know that my girlfriend don't want to play it too late
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
You're stuck in some dark loading bay with approximately three bullets left, and you can hear a monkey gasping and grunting, then as you cautiously creep forwards, it and another monkey start screaming and howling, and you're absolutely sure they're approaching and they're screaming and you know their skulls are sliced open and they're screaming
Ahem!
The last time I was anywhere near that terrified was in the latter p
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
I can't believe that they mentioned Alone In The Dark. That and System Shock 2 often get missed in these sorts of articles although they were extremely scary games.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
I played through both SS1 and SS2 when they were relatively new, and I sort of wonder at the SS2 fans on slashdot- did they not play the first one or did they just forget about it?
For instance:
The game robs you of human* contact, constantly holding the possibility of finding someone else still alive on the ship just out of reach.
Which is exactly what the first one did, so to me there was zero impact from retreading that concept. 'Oh, you say there's some huma
Oh gawd, I agree with Romero (Score:4, Insightful)
Going back further though, we have System Shock 1&2, which were both excellent.
System Shock 2 had me sitting wide-eyed the whole time.
So, I'll have to go with System Shock 2.
Re:Oh gawd, I agree with Romero (Score:1)
Re:Oh gawd, I agree with Romero (Score:2)
Fatal Frame 2 (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Fatal Frame 2 (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Fatal Frame 2 (Score:2)
And I think that's one of the things that makes the Fatal Frame series so scary. You're not walking around with a gun, you are walking around with a CAMERA. You're not as confident with your abilities when you've taking on something scary with a polaroid instead of an M-16.
Re:Fatal Frame 2 (Score:1)
Re:Fatal Frame 2 (Score:2)
I'll Tell You What Scares Game Developers (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'll Tell You What Scares Game Developers (Score:3, Interesting)
"The design isn't finished, and the art won't be ready until next month. Could you code up the interface this week?"
"Just make the code do whatever it is that it's supposed to do."
"How hard could adding a story be?"
"Don't worry, we won't crunch for long this time."
"At the publisher's behest, we're going to have a focus test. With the publisher's kids."
"Of course I put it in. That was a full system re-write. Besides, we have at least a
Scariest (Score:2)
The last level of Zelda 1, that music was eery. In fact, the whole northwest corner of the map was scary. The second quest even moreso.
Castlevania 2, all of it.
There's one more that I immediately think of, though I think a few will disagree, Legacy of the Wizard. It wasn't supposed to be a scary game, but there was just something about it where I was scared to shit whenever I was deep in the dungeons.
Re:Scariest (Score:2)
Yea, you don't want to be caught with your pants down at the lower level of a dungeon.
Back to basics (Score:4, Funny)
Scarier words have never been written into a game. Never thought that text games would give my nephews nightmares... boy was I mistaken.
Alien Vs. Predator (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Alien Vs. Predator (Score:1)
Re:Alien Vs. Predator (Score:1)
Re:Alien Vs. Predator (Score:1)
Perhaps (Score:5, Funny)
Thief: The Dark Project (Score:3, Insightful)
Try to stand calm in a corner of a room with four of those haunts in "search-mode". Eric Brosius, the sound designer, did a fantastic job with Thief and System Shock 2, other of my favourites. Also very scary.
Those two, Thief and System Shock 2, should definitely be topping the list of the scariest games ever made. Weird none of those designers even mention them.
The craddle level in Thief 3 was "good" too...
Just my two cents.
Re:Thief: The Dark Project (Score:1)
Re:Thief: The Dark Project (Score:2)
That level freaked me out like crazy. It was bad enough to see the electrical "experiments" walking around, but to be in an empty building always expecting to have something around the next corner walking right at you then hear loud knocking near the spiral staircase, getting louder as you go up
Re:Thief: The Dark Project (Score:2)
Speaking of Thief, anyone with a copy of Thief 2 knocking around who hasn't yet downloaded T2x: Shadows of the Metal Age [thief2x.com] really should do so. It has some of the best levels I've yet seen in the series. The missions set in the City are fantastic, and the first undead-themed mission was immersive and unsettling enough to make m
Re:Thief: The Dark Project (Score:3, Interesting)
Civ III (Score:1)
Dragon Warrior (Score:2)
Silent Hill 2 (Score:5, Informative)
Or being in a hotel at night and walking into a room with some... THING... in there, that's covered in rusty metal and dried blood that just turns and tries to kill you mindlessly. Don't even get me started on the nurses.
Anyway, the SH series of games has always been great for scares. They're my favorites.
Re:Silent Hill 2 (Score:2)
The worst was entering a hospital room: hearing their sound and only having time to brace yourself for the attack. For those who haven't played the game, passing through closed doors loads a new scene and resets the camera perspective making it hard to acclimate to the new environment and harder to aim. Entering a new scene also allows for the possibility of an enemy character to sudde
Re:Silent Hill 2 (Score:2)
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines (Score:4, Insightful)
My favorite part was when you fall into the basement laundry room and read a newspaper article about the decapitated child that was found there years ago. Then suddenly the washing machine turns on. THUNK-THUNK, THUNK-THUNK
"He's right behind you!"
Re:Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines (Score:2)
It's funny how something like a little toy car rolling out into the hallway can give you a chill. It was quite well done.
I enjoyed the thing-that-is-not-quite-a-vampire who was snacking on the reality TV show crew too.
Sudden Appearances/Disappearances (Score:2)
That said, after watching House on Haunted Hill [imdb.com] (no, not the lousy sequel [imdb.com]), anyone else think a game based on that would be interesting? Random creepy things happening, but you're armed with a gun that has a limited number of bullets and you can't shoot innocent guest
7th Guest! (Score:1, Interesting)
It's a shame that it and the sequel, "The 11th Hour", became fairly unplayable (with respect to system compatibility) once the new waves of com
That's Easy (Score:1)
My Scariest Game of All Time. (Score:2)
so close...
gaining...
the faint sound of 'wakka.... wakka.... (silence)'
so close... the air is chilled.
THEN HE GETS YOU! "Mwah mwah mwah".
*shiver*
F.E.A.R. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:F.E.A.R. (Score:1)
Re:F.E.A.R. (Score:1)
Re:F.E.A.R. (Score:2)
To me, it was just another run-of-the-mill FPS with some creepy moments thrown in. The most chilling were the sudden appearance of the girl right in front of me when I was on my way down a ladder, and then paxton at the bottom of same. But those were, really, the ONLY two moments that actually raised hair.
The rest of it was standard seek and destroy. The bullet time, er... slo-mo was a nice touch, even if it was an obvious ripoff of Max Payne.
That said, FEAR was infinitely bett
Re:F.E.A.R. (Score:2)
Ohhh... wasn't that some obscure Mac game from forever ago? Has some sort of lovecraftian theme as I recall.
If it makes you feel any better, you can 'claim' bullet time for the ancient game from an irrelevant platform while you wank off onto your iPod... but talk to the vast majority of people who play games on real computers and they're gonna say "Bullet time? That's Max Payne. And Matrix."
I also wonder how old the developers of FEAR are, and whether or not they were old enough to reme
Re:F.E.A.R. (Score:2)
I never heard of Pathways described as "Lovecraftian", but I suppose it does sort of fill that bill. End of the world scenario and all. Pathways was a game from Bungie, and a somewhat of a spiritual predecessor to the Marathon series, which was somewhat the spiritual predecessor to Halo. From tiny acorns do might oaks grow - or something like that. Anyway, it was a very creepy game, with some invisib
F.E.A.R. was great. (Score:2)
Worst scares for me? (Spoilers ahead naturally.)
Seriously, spoilers.
*The first time a vision of Fettel's victims flashes in your eyes.
*The early Alma attack that sends you flying out of the warehouse window.
*Alma surprising you from behind in the sewer access ar
7th Guest (Score:1)
Doom 3, I agree. (Score:3, Interesting)
"Sssssave me."
or
"This way."
or
"Follow me..."
*gah*
Towards the end of the game, the imp summoning was nothing. I'd wait until they were close, and blast them with my shotgun. But when I first started playing that game, I found I was more freaked out than the first time watching the Nightmare on Elm Street.
Space Hulk: Vengence of the Blood Angels 3DO (Score:1)
Not only was it a FPS, you can also fight hand to hand with the monsters.
The sound was awesome.I remember playing the game with a friend and the stereo was up. All you can hear were gene stealers coming closer and your brothers fighting them off as bet they could. Eventually our defense was breached I started fighting them off hand to claw. As soon as I killed one I turned around an
Re:Space Hulk: Vengence of the Blood Angels 3DO (Score:1)
An old AtariXL/C64 Game (Score:1)
Re:An old AtariXL/C64 Game (Score:3, Informative)
Re:An old AtariXL/C64 Game (Score:2)
I'd love to see a remake of that game. If my workload ever drops
The Problem with Doom 3 (Score:2)
The problem is that the game repeats the same scares over and over for too long until they're no longer scary. It's like watching Nightmare on Elm Street 1 to 6, by the time you get to part 6 it's no longer scary and you forget how scary
Ha! (Score:2)
That there next game might be.... (Score:5, Funny)
A Daitanka sequel? (Score:2)
Deus Ex Catacombs (Score:1)
Re:Deus Ex Catacombs (Score:3, Insightful)
RE2 (Score:1)
One level in Quake 4 (Score:2)
Don't know what it is called, but it is the level you walk through in its entirety without encountering a single enemy, and then switch some system on, and go back again.
The game never gave me any indication that this would now be a phase without enemies, and the further I went, the more my palms started to sweat (always play with dimmed lights and with good headphones) because "pretty soon something just has to happen", and I really began shadow hugging and turned around corners as if it was a stealth ga
Re:One level in Quake 4 (Score:2)
Zerst
Clive Barker's Undying (Score:5, Interesting)
I also remember Undying being pretty scary in parts... I thought that game was underrated.
Re:Clive Barker's Undying (Score:2)
Undying is underrated. I certainly find it more enjoyable than Doom. But I felt it kind of trails off after a while: I thought the designers used up all their best material in the mansion at the start of the game. From the monastery onwards it basically transformed into a fairly straightforward shoot-em-up (albeit a high-quality one).
Mind you, there was nothing quite like that moment when you walked up to a mirror, thinking that you were looking at your own reflection, only to realise a moment later that s
Max Payne (Score:1)
Of course, System Shock 2 as well... 7th Guest had its moments.
Let us not forget getting chased by those ghosts in Super Mario either..
this one is easy (Score:2)
Eternal Darkness (Score:2)
Shortly after that, I went upstairs, explored the bathroom, and realized my first instincts were probably right.
My list (Score:2)
Thief: Deadly Shadows (Score:1)
For example, the mansion with the grieving, insane, widow-in-denial. As you lurk about in the shadows, lightning flashes over the sea, sporadically illuminating the dark corridors and stairwells. The servants and guests at the estate wander about, humming to themselves, unaware of you, laughing nervously when they catch the sound of your footsteps.
What
Phantasmogoria? (Score:1)
Come get some! (Score:2)
What scares game developers? (Score:1)
Original DOOM w/Alient wad (Score:2)
pfft (Score:2)
Scariest.. ? (Score:2)
Re:Scariest.. ? (Score:3, Insightful)
Sometimes the scariest parts of games are the parts where you're left alone, wondering when the hammer will fall. I also liked the Aliens TC for the novel approach to door monsters... they'd have partially transparent walls, so you
Doom 3, right. (Score:3, Insightful)
The zombie grungily walking towards you is now "that model made by Kenneth Scott with the grunting made by that voice actor (we had some pretty fun times creating those grunting loops !) that gets triggered once you walk past that cabinet".
I think it's lame to call Doom 3 the scariest game : Not even because he is (partly) the creator of it himself, but because it just... wasn't.
My list (Score:2, Interesting)
2. KOTOR 2 - Sith Tomb
1. Half Life 2 - Ravenhome
Half Life 2 Scary? (Score:2)
Alien (Score:2)
There I was, watching the bright-gray scenery drift by as I was looking for aliens when suddenly one popped up right in front of me.
Took me about half a second to find the "Off" switch on the computer.
Tried playing the game again on several occasions but it never got anywhere even close to that experience again.
Re:King's Quest 2 (Score:2)
And yes, I remember the car, too.