Create a Brilliant Horror Survival

So, after some practice on making video-games, you've decided you want to make a horror-survival, eh? Well, these simple steps will help you along to soiling the pants of the nation!

Steps

  1. Choose an effectual creature. Zombies are great and all, but they've just became un-scary since everyone started using them. Take a look at the popular Survival horror game Silent Hill, and look at its original creature design. Now, take the concept of something no one's ever seen before, and implement it to your game. The enemy doesn't always have to be a creature, the enemy could be a human. Making that human scary by make them innocent and twisted, a little girl covered in blood with a deranged laugh is effective.
  2. Avoid as many cliches as possible. Lots of great game ideas have been ruined by poor choice, and overuse of cliches. Cliches include: Zombies, abandoned areas, cardboard protagonists, etc.
  3. Remove the soundtrack. One thing great video game series do when they want to add fear, is to remove the soundtrack. Hard to believe but it's a lot scarier without Beethoven's symphony when you're fighting a deranged... thing.
  4. Use shock fear lightly. There's nothing more scarier, than your monster of choice leaping from something seemingly innocent, such as a locker, right? Then what's the point in making it too frequent? The shock will eventually go away when it happens so many times.
  5. The rumble-feature. If you're making your game for a console, you will have a tool PC users don't have, the vibrating pad. Simple clues, such as a heartbeat, or even some random and sporadic rumbles will shock the player to death when they don't expect it.
  6. Limited visibility. The old saying was true; Sometimes, more is less. Games like silent hill could terrify it's viewer by limiting the visibility to about five foot in front of the protagonist.
  7. Atmosphere is affective. One second the creature is in front of you and the next second it's behind you. Eerie sounds and noises in the background (whispers, laughs, footsteps).

Tips

  • For the love of god, make sure the controls are convenient!
  • Keep in mind that you're making a game for the world to play, not just for you, so try to avoid in-jokes.
  • Even if you don't have very good graphics, see if you can utilise it to your advantage, like they did with the first silent hill.
  • Have several friends to dispense opinion on your idea.
  • Don't expect everyone to like the game, not everyone's into gory mutilation.
  • Use sound elements as part of the game but don't overuse them.
  • Add darkness to the game; it adds to the care element.

Warnings

  • Don't try to copy other game-series. If you're making fan-tribute just for you and your friends to play, it's okay, but selling a game based on someone else's series is usually a breach of copyright, for which you risk being sued.
  • Do not make the game impossible. Game players like a challenge, but insane difficulty is too absurd. Make the game hard, but doable.
  • This is a horror game, so no subject is off the table, but if you include subjects that may offend, be prepared to defend your game as art. Video games deserve as much treatment as any other medium.

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