Sub Genres
Thomas Grip of Frictional Games (the developers of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, 2010) states there are two types of horror game: "Horror simulation" and "horror wrapping". (Grip, T. 2014)
Horror simulation refers to games which try to "recreate the happenings of a scary movie/novel" such as Clock Tower (1995) and Alien: Isolation (2014).
Horror wrapping refers to games that have "a horror wrapping on top of standardized gameplay" such as a more action or adventure orientated game which takes place in a horror setting such as Resident Evil (1996) or Dead Space (2008). It is worth noting that the author also includes the survival horror genre in this category- a genre which is characterised by "limited ammunition and the need to run from enemies"(Taylor 2009) for its emphasis on weapons and puzzles,
Moreover, games journalist Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (2011) divides scares typically found in this genre in to three categories:
- You walk by a cupboard and a monster jumps out [jump scares]
- You look at a cupboard and realise there's a monster behind you and you're sure he's going to jump out at you at some point, but he doesn't [psychological]
- The monster appears at the other side of the room and advances towards you slowly, giving you plenty time to get away. [An example of this is the enemies of Knock Knock, see my previous post on 2D Horror Games]
The website TV Tropes.com also notes the differences between western horror and eastern horror. Western horror tends to be centered around the threat of pain and death whereas eastern horror favours psychological horror and tends to emphasise feelings of isolation and paranoia. (Tv tropes.com, no date)
Atmosphere and Difficulty
I stumbled across the website "Chris' Survival Horror Quest" which is a site ran by a programmer called Chris Pruett, who claims his goal is to identify "major characteristics that good horror games tend to employ" which has been incredibly useful resource for this project.
In one post he discusses the relationship between atmosphere and difficulty in the horror genre. He points out that an above average difficulty is common in horror games (most protagonists have little health, there are few save points and limited resources) which adds to the stress/fear factor of the game as death has more consequences.
However he goes on to discuss a cognitive science theory entitled the Two Factor Theory of Emotion and cites game designer Dan Cook's explantation of the theory:
"The theory states that in order for an emotion to be felt, two factors must be present:
- Physiological change: The person feels elevated heart rate, sweaty skin and other elements of physiological arousal.
- Cognitive label of the physiological change: Based off the context of the situation, the person assigns a label to the physiological change.
(Cook, D 2007)
Pruett elaborates:
"The idea is that if your body is in an elevated state and you are suddenly introduced to some unrelated context, your mind can misread the physical reaction you are experiencing and synthesize some emotion that you would have not otherwise felt. "
Jump scares cause a physiological change in the player and due to the context of a horror game - typically full of images we associate with horror - we label this emotion as fear. Stress levels caused by a high difficulty and consequences increase when the player thinks their player character is at risk and again, due to the context of the game, we label this emotion as fear also.
Therefore an unsettling, horror atmosphere is necessary in order for fear to be triggered in the player.
Without atmosphere, the high difficulty may feel unnecessary and unfair. Without difficulty there is less stress and thus less fear. (Interestingly, Pruett also comments that there is always an exception to the rule and claims the horror atmosphere of Silent Hill 2 is an exception to this).
In another post he sums up that for horror gaming "the Two-Factor Theory, high-stakes game play is a way to cause the player physical stress, which, when combined with scary images, sound, and backstory pumping out of your TV, is more likely to cause you to feel fear. High-stakes game play doesn't necessarily mean moment-to-moment difficulty ... it just means that the cost of failure is high and the threat of failure is imminent. I'm suggesting that stress, that which is usually considered to be the opposite of fun, is the key to fun in horror games. "
Anticipation and Pacing
Galuzin (2009) states that "Pacing and anticipation is knowing how to scare the player, what to do and when to do it. " For instance, if you reveal the big, bad monster at the very beginning of the game, you don't have anything to build anticipation. He suggests thinking of pacing as an arc. The beginning of the arc is the "Rising conflict," just before the peak is the "Calm before the storm" and the fall is the "climax/final showdown."
On the web page entitled "So you want to: Write a Survival Horror Game", the website TV Tropes suggests that sections of the game should be dedicated to building tension and anticipation with pacing. Allow the player to glimpse at the danger that awaits them and let their imagination run wild, for example by having the player walk through a sinister looking environment and having ominous looking shadows appear suddenly then flitting away - "Build up danger around corners,., then do not deliver that danger."
Eventually this tension will have to be broken to introduce action, however "even action scenes have their own kind of tension, putting pressure on the player to perform." Even simple actions can help build suspense if the player is stressed and this can be enhanced by making simple actions slightly (to avoid frustrating the player) more complicated - for example having to press multiple buttons to open a certain door.
After high tension segments of the game, allow the player to breathe, this is the calm before the storm. Perhaps give them a power up to temporarily aid them. TV Tropes describe this trope as "A Hope Spot" where "Suddenly, [the protagonist] finds a glimmer of hope ... only to be crushed cruelly by the bad guys returning in force" which arguably allows the horror elements of the game even more unsettling in contrast. (tvtropes.com, no date)
Environments
Certain environments are better at conveying horror than others in horror media. For instance, Galuzin (2009) suggests abandoned buildings and places are a more frightening setting for a horror game than a brand new building as they have "traces of human history in the environments" and this layer of mystery allows more opportunities for horror storytelling.
After identifying your environment he suggests introducing it to the player without the horror elements then adding them in after the player becomes familiar with the game's setting. Theoretically this will allow the player to identify with the environment and create a physiological connection between them. They now associate and relate to the environment, creating a much more unsettling mood when they witness what the environment used to be vs the horror it becomes.
Cliches and Tropes
I thought it would also be worth putting together some lists of common cliches in horror gaming. However Galuzin (2009) points out that cliches are cliches for a reason - they work and the trick is to recognise this and take them further. He remarks "Using cliches is easy; making the player remember them is hard."
He also suggests to watch horror films and take notes of the cliches you see and how you felt at that particular moment in order to understand what the psychological triggers of these events are and exploit them in your game.
Cliches:
Story
- Dark room with flickering lights.
- The abandoned building or an asylum.
- A little girl that shows up at the end of the hallway and then disappears.
- A phone that rings, when answered no one is on the other side, or you hear heavy breathing.
- Foggy environment with noises and sounds of creatures awaiting for you just around the corner.
- Characters that stay around in abandoned small towns.
- Flickering lights
- Seeing things in the mirror behind you
(Galuzin 2009)
Enemies
- zombies
- mutating viruses
- evil mega corporations
- not all vengeful ghosts need to be women
- tentacle monsters
-monsters hunched over with long arms
- monsters that bare their teeth and scream at the player
(Pruett 2013)
Levels
- passages blocked after a roof collapse
- littering a location with emotional weight with ammo etc
- don't just put scary encounters in cutscenes
(Pruett 2013)
Puzzles
- Puzzles involving: equalising presure; switches; reconnecting power; sliding bookshelves/statues/blocks; pianos; lockeded doors with engravings on them; paintings; inserting gems/crystals/objects; key-cards
Finally I've also been digging through the list of horror related tropes on TV Tropes.com for inspiration. To clarify a trope can be described as a significant recurring theme or motif in media, whereas a cliche is more overused and stereotypical. Following is a list of tropes and their descriptions that caught my eye in particular.
Useful Tropes:
Always Close - In timed game play sequences, the game will always seem like the player achieved
their goal in just the nick of time.
Body Horror - Horror involving body parts/mutation etc not induced by immediate violence.
Empty Room Psyche - Over the years players have been conditioned in to thinking there is no such thing as an empty room, keep the player on their toes will the empty room with enemies (essentially a trap room.)
Everything is Trying To Kill You - Even the environment around you seems to want you dead.
Grotesque Gallery - Someone/Something immediately scary on sight.
Hope Spot - The player finds a glimmer of hope only for it to be taken away.
Nightmare Fuel - Arguably he aim of the horror game experience, to give people "the creeps" for years.
Nothing is Scarier - Lack of event allowing the player to fill in their blanks with their imagination. Associated with the general atmosphere of the game.
Paranoia Fuel - When things that should be harmless or on the player's side, turn nasty.
Surreal Horror - Nightmarish in a literal way by being surreal, bizarre, dream-like, making no logical sense.
Stupidity is the Only Option - Forcing the player in to a trap.
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Though I'll be constantly learning about horror game design throughout the year, this information is extremely useful and will undoubtedly help kick start the design of my game.
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References
Cook, D. 2007. Constructing artifical emotions: a design experiment [online]. Available from: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130407/constructing_artificial_emotions_.php [Accessed 06 November 2014]
Croshaw, B. 2011. Amnesia: the dark descent. (zero punctuation) [online]. Youtube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXuIZstyM7E [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Grip, T. 2014. [online]. Alien: Isolation and the evolution of horror simulation. Available from: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ThomasGrip/20141015/227733/Alien_Isolation_and_The_Evolution_of_Horror_Simulators.php [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Galuzin, A. 2009. [blog]. Horror/survival level design: part 1 - cliches. 26 June. Available from: http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/horror-fear-level-design/part1-survival-horror-level-design-cliches.php [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Galuzin, A. 2009. [blog]. Horror/survival level design: part 2 - anticipation. 26 June. Available from: http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/horror-fear-level-design/part2-survival-horror-level-design-anticipation-pacing.php [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Galuzin, A. 2009. [blog]. Horror/survival level design: part 3 - environment. 26 June. Available from: http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/horror-fear-level-design/part3-survival-horror-level-design-story-environment.php [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Pruett, C. 2009. [blog]. Ingredients of horror: atmosphere and difficulty. 15 January. Available from: http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/post_view.php?index=7216 [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Pruett, C. 2009. [blog]. Ingredients of horror: more about the two-factor theory of emotion. 31 December. Available from: http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/post_view.php?index=7977 [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Pruett, C. 2009. [blog]. Ingredients of horror: two-factor and horror game design. 02 January. Available from: http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/post_view.php?index=7979 [Accessed 03 November 2014]
Taylor, L N. 2009. Gothic bloodlines in survival horror gaming. In: Perron, B. Horror video games: essays on the fusion of fear and play. Jefferson: Mcfarland & Company, Inc. 2009, pp.46-61.
Tv Tropes. [no date]. [online]. So you want to: write a survival horror game. Available from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteASurvivalHorrorGame [Accessed 03 November 2014]
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