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[Inanimate]

I don't think that Nayon will be telling people that the game has no enemies in it. We know 'cause we're discussing the ideas, but he won't be advertising the fact.

Yeah, I was just talking specifically about our group.

[nayon]

I don't think I will be telling anyone too much about the game... I want it to be an experience for the player to interpret.

The mist is intended, it is supposed to give a feel of "what's around the corner?". Now that I've woken up and gotten some stuff done, I can work on this again, yay! :D

[null & void]

This sounds like a failed former project of mine. Kind of. Since it seems you have a chance of actually doing it, I should send you a PM about it.

[nayon]

Alright people, I need your help. Here is a tech demo of my game: http://www.mediafire.com/file/o2yi0d1tjlz/horrorcity.rar

It takes place in a large city. What I want you to do is, explore it (WASD moves and shift runs) and take screenshots of places you find to be creepy.

I will take those locations and enhance them.

I also need you guys to look for bugs/oddities and help me fish them out.

Any questions/comments are also welcome!

[Hideous]

I think if you really want us to take screenshots, you should have a screenshot button

[nayon]

Um, yeah, you're right, but I couldn't get that to work... 

Can you do printscreens if I say pretty please? 

[Hideous]

Will do, later, when I'm not busy

[nayon]

Thanks! Be mindful that it's still only an empty city though. There are around 3-4 points of interest, but they are not easy to find!


don't expect too much though

[null & void]

Unfortunately, I'm getting FPS of 4. On average. And the level looks HORRIBLE -- the walls are all fullbright and the floor is a burning, searing white that destroys my eyes.

Is this tech demo supposed to work for really crappy old graphics cards? Like, oh, say a GeForce2 MX?

[Jóhannes G.]

I haven't tested your tech demo (planning to in a bit) yet but i've read this whole thread and your project seems to be exploring the same concept as the project I've been working on, or at least a very similar concept

"Less is more"

I am not aiming for an actual horror game, but it is a 1st person shooter, that rarely has any encounters, and the field of view is very limited (white fog) plus most of the textures will be "white-themed".  The thing I'm focusing on is atmosphere. I really want the setting of my game to affect the player. I'm not exactly looking for scary or creepy feeling, but more subtle version of it. more like eerie atmosphere.

How I am planning to create the atmosphere is mainly with the white washed-out art style in addition with heavy use of ambient sounds & music. The loneliness of the game world will also play an important role but there will be some minor encounters but the contrast between the emptyness & the encounters will (hopefully) double the effect of the encounters on the player. Sort of like if you were in a huge warehouse, everything is completely silent for a long time but thena small mouse or a cat passes by. Most people will be startled.

given the fact that our projects seem very similar then you are more than welcome to contact me if you are interested in sharing ideas or helping out each other in researching this concept.  

[null & void]

Update. FPS increases to 8 if I keep the sky out of my field of view.

And thus far, even knowing it's an empty city, with experience destroying graphical glitches, it is terribly frightening already. The blackish fog is so ominous.

EDIT: Also: all the stores have their textures reversed. I'm beginning to think this is never going to be quite playable for me, more's the pity.

EDIT2: Found a glitch (thankfully) not my computer's fault. If you hold two buttons, to run diagonally, then release one, footsteps stop. Suggestion: check the state of all four movement keys.

[nayon]

Unfortunately, I'm getting FPS of 4. On average. And the level looks HORRIBLE -- the walls are all fullbright and the floor is a burning, searing white that destroys my eyes.

Is this tech demo supposed to work for really crappy old graphics cards? Like, oh, say a GeForce2 MX?

Unfortunately it might not work on older hardware. And there is, for now, a bug with the lighting in the initial room which looks kind of weird. I would try to optimize, but I don't think it will work on GeForce 2, I'm sorry. That is because it requires DirectX 8, which I don't think GeForce 2 series support.

I haven't tested your tech demo (planning to in a bit) yet but i've read this whole thread and your project seems to be exploring the same concept as the project I've been working on, or at least a very similar concept

"Less is more"

I am not aiming for an actual horror game, but it is a 1st person shooter, that rarely has any encounters, and the field of view is very limited (white fog) plus most of the textures will be "white-themed".  The thing I'm focusing on is atmosphere. I really want the setting of my game to affect the player. I'm not exactly looking for scary or creepy feeling, but more subtle version of it. more like eerie atmosphere.

How I am planning to create the atmosphere is mainly with the white washed-out art style in addition with heavy use of ambient sounds & music. The loneliness of the game world will also play an important role but there will be some minor encounters but the contrast between the emptyness & the encounters will (hopefully) double the effect of the encounters on the player. Sort of like if you were in a huge warehouse, everything is completely silent for a long time but thena small mouse or a cat passes by. Most people will be startled.

given the fact that our projects seem very similar then you are more than welcome to contact me if you are interested in sharing ideas or helping out each other in researching this concept.  

Interesting, I will think about it.




I'm sorry for the negative opinion the demo might have caused to some, but that will only push me to work harder to make this better. I should get to fixing that lighting code first. It probably looks even more horrible on older cards than it does on mine.


Reply to your update:

I will try to optimize more, wait a sec :D

[nayon]

Try this, it is as low as I can currently get:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/q5obwmdz1iw/horrorcitylofi.rar

You have to have the download from the other link and replace the exe with this.

[null & void]

Thanks, I'll test it. But first, a screenshot of something COOL despite the terrible graphics.



EDIT: The thing doubled in creepy the moment I switched to the lofi. As a bonus, no more glitchy graphics and far less lag --  on average 13 FPS, more than good enough for me.

[Vylaroth]

I didn't take any screenshots but both the fog and the feeling of isolation/loneliness worked quite well. Lighting and such was a bit off for my idea of scary though.