Horror Level Ideas
These are a few of my initial ideas for my horror game. To start off, I am coming up with some ideas for the setting, monsters and puzzles that I want my game to include. For a small horror game these are important factors.
For the setting I came up the idea of an old bunker - this implies wartime, which is scary enough itself, but it also opens up other idea avenues of things that could create horror scenarios, e.g. radiation poisoning, bombs, corpses, nuclear explosions, radiation causing mutants, etc.
I like the idea of having lots of metal in the bunker - it creates a cold, uncaring environment and it also lends itself to the creation of a tense horror atmosphere, e.g. echos, metallic sounds (potentially jumpscares) using footsteps / bangs / dripping water onto metal, rusting and erosion, etc.
Dark corners, narrow corridors and dark rooms are great tools to make the player feel uncomfortable in a horror game setting. The darkness creates tension by playing on people's fear of the unknown - they don't know what could be lurking around the corner. Similarly, the idea of a narrow corridor plays on the players sense of claustrophobia - making them feel penned in and trapped.
By having the game cover only a small area (2 rooms and a corridor), the game lends itself to using claustrophobia as a horror asset - so I am going to heighten the players experience of it by having it set in a bunker (being underground is known to increase experiences of claustrophobia) and making the corridor narrow.
In terms of monsters, I have come up with 3 main ideas.
I think hands coming up through the floor would be a good way to make a jump scare. People are much more likely to be looking in front of them for any monsters or enemies, so using the floor or the ceiling is an unexpected way to introduce an enemy. I can use this as a jumpscare and make the hands appear suddenly.
I really like when games and movies use shadows or shadowy figures - not being able to see all the features of a monster makes it scarier - and shadows can distort shape and size, making the player question what they are seeing, and further preying on the human fear of the unknown.
The idea of using humanoid monsters goes with the bunker setting - it means I can explore the idea of a humanoid creature that was either the cause of war, or was caused by the war.
I like the idea of creating a monster and setting that fit together like this because it means I can create a sense of a story. Videogames are a great example of media that benefits from using the "show, don't tell" method. Without having to use heavy exposition, the player can use what is around them to create a narrative. The bunker tells them that it is wartime - I can include items within the setting to let the player know the era, and details of the war, and the type of monster tells the player more detail again through how it looks; that there was radioactivity, or that it was a war between humans and different humanoid beings, etc.
I want to make a VR horror game, so the type of puzzles I include have to be compatible with that - as well as fitting with the story and environment. Collecting items or finding information works well with this type of game, and would work with what ideas I have so far. Timed puzzles is another thing I am considering, as I think creating a sense of urgency would increase the panic and horror elements of the game.