original horror game ideas thread.

Y'know how all horror video games are relatively generic nowadays? zombies, demons, shit jumps out of you, lots of GRIMMDARK? well, i'm sure it couldn't be that hard to make a scary game that doesn't just use the old overused bullshit. in this thread: think up original, freaky ideas for a horror game. weapons, monsters, plot points, scenery, anything you think could be potentially brixing.

for instance, one time toothpick and i were having a chat on this topic and he was talking about how horror games always have monsters hiding in the dark that you have to illuminate to find. He suggested an enemy that would be completely docile until you shined a light on it. following that it would RAGE until the light left it.

Another idea: a monster that ONLY attacks when there's no light on it. Light would cause it to stop and meander about like a bored cow until it re-entered the darkness. this would be awesome if there were tons of them in a cave or something.

different forms of lighting and real-time light effects. you start out with a zippo that runs out of fuel eventually, eventually can get a flashlight or a floodlight. sandbox type of environment. i used to have an entire file that had the specifications for every little thing in a zombie horror game a friend and i were discussing. sandbox environment of an entire city, could pry boards off of the wall, throw rocks, stores would have related inventory. that would go good with the flash light idea, needing to find fuel or batteries to keep yourself from being lost in the dark.

a real-time body orientation system a la mirror's edge. you can be picked up, fall, climb, and the camera reacts accordingly with shaking and lolling of the head. can see body and arms below. if you run out of light and walk against the wall parts of the wall and what you feel around you will show up in green and your hand will press against the wall simulating "feeling" around.

also, with this system: a corridor made of flesh and limbs. legs kick you around, arms grab you or push you. if the floor was a slippery or rocky surface this would make for a very disorienting and freaky trek. more games should try to replicate our other three senses.

GO! IDEAS!

Have a logical protagonist in an illogical world.

When he first goes into an abandoned house during an investigation, have him do what you would do in that stuation; look for clues, etc. Then, the fun begins. You go in a room, you look around, but when you turn around, THERES NO DOOR ANYWHERE.
You spin around, and suddenly their's a trapdoor on the ceiling. The problem? You're on the second floor of a two story house, and their is no attic. You open the door, and fall through it to ground where their should be open sky.
You try to walk forward, but the controls are now reversed. The ground suddenly begins to melt and bubble randomly. A massive bump suddenly shoot you up into an infinite darkness.
Your suddenly watching a cutscene of your character standing in a bare room, holding an umbrella, looking quizzical. Suddenly, he's naked, and his penis is bending upwards. It has a grinning face. He screams, but the only thing that comes out of his mouth is an oily black liquid.

oh fuck, that sounds amazing. a whole game dedicated to making progressing difficult.

add some equally nonsensical enemies and you've got a fucking game of the year, i bet you.

also: added more stuff to my original post.

You guys should read up on Cuil theory.

I give you a hamburger...

Another idea: a monster that ONLY attacks when there's no light on it. Light would cause it to stop and meander about like a bored cow until it re-entered the darkness. this would be awesome if there were tons of them in a cave or something.

Did that in Silent Hill I think.

For actual landscapes I don't think you can go much father than a run down city, an old mall, a creepy school, the general setting for any scary game. But to be honest I don't see many museums in scary games, like a game based AROUND that museum unlike in Condemned: Bloodshot where it was just a level. Oh! Just thought of this now. What if you based it somewhere in the middle east like Afghanistan? Lots of crazy shit goes on there and you'd be able to open up to different possibilities for a plot.

Maybe some fucked up looking dogs or cats would be cool for minor enemies, more cats than dogs cause you see a lot of dogs.

Imagine this; You encounter a freakish.....thing, a travesty of the human form, limbs and legs and eyeballs roped together with sinews. But as it staggers forward, you realize it seems to be.....trying to control itself. And then, in a strangled, wavery voice, it speaks...."......run.....I can't fight it off....you can find...ahhhhhhh.....guns in the closet down the hall. If you do........if.....kill me. Please............"

Ordin and Toothpick's first posts were great ideas.

A game where light is your resource that keeps you from dying, or vice-versa if the enemy rages during light. Weapons should be unexpected things like, water hurts them but there's little water. Sometimes you come across water fountains on the ceiling, or toilets clipping through the walls. Bashing them, sends a spray and can keep the enemies away.

Let's say you also need randomly mundane things to solve puzzles like a spoon, plastic straw, and foot of yarn. Puzzles consist of vague hints like "Ultimate stocking stuffer" when you're in a house decorated for Christmas. Once you chop of the feet of all the dead family members and put them in the stockings hanging on the fireplace corresponding to their demographic (Dad, Mom, Katie), you solved the puzzle.

Lighter fuel should be scarce. Batteries for flashlight should be scarce. Eventually you should get a floodlight that can be placed in a room against an outlet. Ultimate light source in the game would be a shakable flashlight (infinite charge).

Continuing Toothpick's idea from the point where you rocket into the sky. Instead of being naked, your clothes are changed into 1920's style swing, you're crisp and dapper. Your normal clothes are folded neatly on a chair, you can't get up because gravity is too strong. A door opens to the room and a snarling rage sound is heard, instead of screaming, you spew black oil everywhere. You melt into the oil and wind up laying on the ground in front of the bizarre building you were at previously.

The place is waving as though there was heat and fire somewhere. The antagonistic beasts of the game swarm you in droves. There is a WALL of them in a phalanx coming at you. Your only choice is to run backwards. You get into an old beat up truck and drive to the town entrance but it is replaced with a huge water tower. Fog makes it impossible to see the hulking tower before you crash into it; the tower shatters like it's made of balsa wood and sends thousands of gallons of water down on the demonic army chasing you.

Not bad.

This is sounding like House of Leaves, the game.

Trevlac wrote:Ultimate light source in the game would be a shakable flashlight

ooh, idea for a wii game!

sometimes when people speak the text box that you read stays there as a physical object in the world. maybe a few of them start following you around and repeating what they say. there's a huge beast, the size of a mansion, that follows you around asking questions and puking bloody limbs.

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...No objections.