ITT Neat mechanics for horror games

I'll add in an option to start a playthrough with this feature on or off, but turning it off randomizes the danger around or even inside the safe room, so while it's entirely possible to log in months later on a playthrough with the feature off, you run the risk of suffering an attack even if you boot it up mere hours later.

So the player knows with in advance that a monster will be waiting for them after a long time not playing? How is this scary?

Maybe have it where most times when you do it, nothing happens. False sense of security and all that. Then, one time just jump them

>Monster designed to stalk and harass the player
>Will constantly do hit and run attacks, attacking you then running away
>Will booby trap or ambush supplies
>Can taunt the player
>May leave shotgun shells or a medkit you need at the end of a long hall, then as the player approaches, it snatches it and runs into the darkness
>Generally just whittles down health and supplies
>When the player is out of supplies, low on health, and behaving erratically, the monster calmly walks towards you from the front, and delivers the coup de grace

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the game Oneshot does this by reading your computer's set name.

The mechanic itself isn't meant to be particularly scary so much as it establishes a sense of consequences for cowardice and/or inaction during a specific play through.

The safe rooms are, in universe, stocked with plenty of food, water, and general necessities, aligning it in a meta sense with the player's own home when he's not playing the game. They are safe, but there IS an objective to complete. Establishing a consequence for not working towards that goal provides incentive to the player to subject themselves to the horror and risk involved, or in time, it will come to them.

But the player has had this explained to them with the option of it being random or timed. They won't develop a false sense if security.

>hello MR BIG DICK
>i see you MR BIG DICK
>i'm right behind you MR BIG DICK

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>Establishing a consequence for not working towards that goal
No it establishes a consequence for coming back to the game after not playing for a while doing real world stuff. The opposite of consequences for not working toward the goal. Literally telling the player not to go back to the game.

> You're going to die, admin

>Nobody posted them yet
youtube.com/watch?v=oAooU-fOEus
youtube.com/watch?v=xzKURj6u8Xg

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That's what the randomization option is for. If you have a particularly busy life, the game accomodates this by providing you with an option for the attacks to happen at random, exposing you to the thrill of the potential danger at your convenience.

Also, new tie-in mechanic; resting at the same safe rooms numerous times decreases the time required for the creature(s) to find you there in a non-randomized playthrough, and increases the chance of the same result in a randomized one.

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A big reason this would probably never be implemented is that most people play games on a regular schedule defined by their work hours and other routine responsibilities. There's effectively no real distinction in the player's knowledge from making it random.

Stop posting in Yea Forums, Jon.

Remember anons, Gorefield truly does care for Jon. He took him in and gave him lasagna. He just wants to absorb him so he can protect him.

I like sanity meters.

that's kinda unimpressive by know, i even think it's a bit of an immersion breaker

>monster can pretend to not do things that are established as impossible for monsters
>if monsters cant climb ladders then the one monster will pretend to not be able to do it untill youre a distance away from the ladder
>if monsters cant open doors then it will wait until youre looking away or investigating something to sneak in
>it can also do this to loading screen doors

>certain enemies can move after a while on the loading screen

>Enemy with extremely good AI and unique mechanics that has a VERY low chance to spawn to the point where people would have a hard time researching it due to lack of info

>enemies can install shit on your computer or change your wallpaper

I also wanted a game where if you played co-op online then the monster could mute your friend and attempt to mimic their voice to lure you to your death. Of course this is damn near impossible but it'd be fucking sick the first time it happens.

Doesn't work for those of us with dumb names for our computers.

>>Enemy with extremely good AI and unique mechanics that has a VERY low chance to spawn to the point where people would have a hard time researching it due to lack of info
There's already a few monsters like this in some games, but for the life of me, I can't think of any.

That sounds fucking awful
>Man haven't played Resident Hills in some time cuz Ninja May Cry:Razors Edge dropped a few weeks ago
>Let's see if I can finish the game
>Welp every time I load I have to fight a fight I can't win and I'm 20+ hours in
>Fuck it I'm playing Ninja May Cry again I gotta unlock Super Dante Hyabusa

Bullets doesn't work, Jon.

In the vein of enemies that just fuck with the player, so many horror games work off the same structure of
>enemy sees you and instantly roars and makes a beeline to kill you
it would be cool to have a monster that, if it sees you, it might pretend not to until you're forced to move closer. There could be a very faint visual or audio cue for keen players to listen to. Maybe it gets really excited and the closer you move it starts breathing heavier giving you a chance to get away.

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Playthroughs wouldn't nearly be long enough to justify a save that lasts more than 5-6 hours of play time tops. Playing normally on an average schedule will have you finishing a play through within 2-3 days

I hate sanity meters

enemies with tick rate different to the rest of the game and which don't exist on offticks
for added fun, one that also changes randomly, so it can't be predicted

Lumpy Touch on YouTube

>May leave shotgun shells or a medkit you need at the end of a long hall, then as the player approaches, it snatches it and runs into the darkness
All I can imagine from this is the monster tied the loot to a fishing line and then pulled it to him as soon as you walked up to it

>Monster can create loot
>puts in the end of a long dead end
>player picks it up
>Monster is waiting in the exit getting slowly closer cuz there is not other means to escape

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this sounds more annoying than scary

>All I can imagine from this is the monster tied the loot to a fishing line and then pulled it to him as soon as you walked up to it

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>Monster can mimic everythng.
>EVERYTHING.
>From furniture, to entire corridors, to your own fucking friends, everything! And if it IS your friend, it tries to act like them too, waiting for the right moment to strike.
>This leads to high amounts of paranoia. Where will it strike next? Was this hallway supposed to be there? Is it right next to me?

>monster can steal loot
>monster can use loot
>monster can heal
>monster can set traps
>monster can do whatever you do
>at the end of the game the player looks in the mirror and it's revealed the player is one of them

This seems more like something from an action game than a horror game
when the monster steals your loot you will likely be more of pissed off rather than scared.

>Enemy hides itself in shadows
>only way to spot it is to look at the shadows the lights create and spot the shadow that's not supposed to be there

prey almost had it right but then mimics were too easy to kill and they showed what it did to humans so all the magic was gone
>monsters that can patrol the whole game world
>monsters that can be drawn to locations via noise/activity/distraction
>monsters can be trapped in a section of the world

Thanks for spoiling the ending you fucker

I need horror that will scare the shit out of me and not through jumpscare fests like Afraid of Monsters or whatever other shitty halflife mods

One I can remember vividly was this piece of shit indie game I played back in 2010 or so, where unity wasn't really a thing and the only functional off the shelf engine was that abomination ogre3d. The monster would spawn after you went through a door at the end of a long hallway (think it was an abandoned hospital?) and the goal was to complete a series of tasks that took fixed amounts of time, in a labyrinthine level and the monster would always be path-finding directly towards you. You could cut between rooms via vents and small access tunnels it couldn't go through but the microsecond you were on open ground it was coming for you with zero chance of outrunning it, hiding, or defending yourself. Was honestly the only truly scary game I've ever played.

The mechanic only works if you're never actually safe and only just getting away in time to survive, so I doubt a successor would be made because muh cutscenes and muh story and muh multiplayer.

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The most consistently effective way to truly terrorize a player is to establish something they understand as their 'safe zone' and then slowly subvert it over time until suddenly it's dangerous.

Like your apartment in SH4. Just about everyone jumped out of their underwear when the fan fell down.

Any idea what the name is? Sounds interesting

Sounds like he's talking about Erie, but it's so vague to could be anything
Erie is a pretty good (and flawed) horror game, by the by.

Desura is gone, can you even download that game anymore?

Has any game done the brady snachers/they live trope well. Like an open world game where some the npcs are monster i disguise?

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Darkwood is the best horror game by a lot, and it has no jumpscares.

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>I'm not talking to you, Mordecai..
>I'm talking to YOU, cunnyiicker69

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This scared the shit out of me, goddammit.

Seems like it'd be better to JUST keep track of how many times in a row the player has saved in the same room.

If they save there more than three times in a row and turn the game off, the thing should be right outside next time they boot up.

> Cunny
pleb.

That has the side effect of turning it into a certainty, though. The problem is, the game doesn't tell you how much time it'll take for the monster to track you down to a safe room. It's different every playthrough, and the amount of time for an event trigger is randomized per save room, but that time remains the same throughout that particular play through.

The idea is, no safe room is truly safe forever, and stands the chance of being compromised the more you use it. The idea of a safe room not being a perpetual safe haven based on their playthrough will incentivize the player to work towards the goal of the player character they're playing as, since the sense of security that comes with a safe room is not guaranteed forever.

Should also mention, if the monster watches you go in, then it already knows about that particular spot, and they will wait outside for you to come back out. You wait for it to leave, or exit the game (which does not necessarily guarantee that it will leave,) and the time needed for that safe room to be compromised if you rest there falls drastically, representing the monster's familiarity with your habits as it's prey. It MIGHT even wait for you within, if you return to it outside of a chase.

>if you turn back the clock on your PC and boot up, the monster will know and be there in the safe room when you load. It will speak to the player character, but in a way that addresses the player him/herself. From now on, it will be extra perceptive, aggressive, and near invincible to any forms of offense.

>______________________boo!________________

I only completed the tutorial. When does it get good?

A monster that sees you and deliberately lets you know that it has seen you before walking off into the darkness without attacking sounds terrifying

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check out the hilarious and fantastic subreddit, /r/imsorryjon for all your epic spooky garfeild meemes.

I swear some of the Stalkers in DS2 were smarter than the others.

>you need to kill the monsters in secluded places to not raise suspicion
>mid game they realize you can see their true forms

game has to be played with keyboard and mouse. You're carrying a flashlight around as your only light source. If you flinch and shake the mouse, the character drops the flashlight.
I would love a game reacting to unusual "inputs"