Castle Paradox

Baconlabs · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:31 pm Post subject:

So I'm looking up the terms "Survival Horror" and "RPG," and the first thing that comes up as a clear combination is this:
Sweet Home, a Famicom game based off of a horror film apparently.

Check it out if you'd like an idea as to how a commercial game pulled off these two genres at once. I don't know a thing about it, but for an '89 game, it had some pretty appropriate graphics. Definitely check it out if your game's going 8-bit.

Example enemy

Gizmog1 · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:45 am Post subject:

I think anyone who ever played Final Fantasy 4 can attest to how scary RPGs can be. What other genre allows something as rough as a Behemoth to pop out of nowhere at random, and beat the living tar out of you?

At the same time, it presents a problem: RPG players are used to their exploration being interrupted by a terrible noise and their screen going crazy. In fact, they expect it as part of the random battle system. It'd be interesting to see a game that twists that expectation.

Baconlabs · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:43 pm Post subject:

Well, if you're going down that branch, Final Fantasy's been doing this sort of thing since it got started. Anyone remember the Hall of Giants, or whatever it was called? Before I learned about it I was pretty freaked out that I wouldn't make it out alive.

So yeah, in response to all of this flak on shock-type horror, I'm going a bit more towards subtlety and a touch of gore in my game.
EDIT: In addition to scrapping random battles.

Moogle1 · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:32 pm Post subject:

You need to play 7th Saga! In certain parts of the game, roughly half the encounters will make you crap your pants. If you play as certain characters, at one point the game dumps you halfway into the huge continent instead of at the beginning, so you have to go through enemies that can kill you in one hit in order to get to the more level-appropriate areas. It is the most unforgiving RPG I have ever played, but also generally very well-balanced.

7th Saga also has a really cool encounter system. If you're good at it, you can avoid a lot of battles.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

Charbile · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 106 Location: Blythewood

Gizmog has inspired me. Count me in.

I found 7th saga more grind-numbing than scary. If anyone makes a game where they get killed easily, I gar un giz tee it will get a bad reaction. Game did have some neat setups though.

Thinking about what games I found scary, I can't think of much. The ones that came close, it was more of how neat and interesting it was than being scared. Like Doom3's flashlight, RE 4 (before you get too many weapons), that gamecube one... what was it. Eternal Darkness--I would purposely let the sanity bar drain to see the weird effects. Like bugs crawling over the screen, a fake volume bar being lowered, your character's head falling off.

(PS Fenrir, if I win and you have trouble figuring out what to draw, you can always default to Hati and her cookie. OR FINISH VIKINGS)

NeoSpade · Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:18 pm Post subject:

Momoka · **When it's ready...** Joined: 25 Jul 2009 Posts: 5

Oh wow. I only just saw this. Wonder if I have time to turn in something complete. Hm. Oookay...

Gizmog1 · Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:54 pm Post subject:

Resident Evil 1 (The RE:Make, anyway) was scary, but it wasn't quite the same fright I felt in the start of RE4. You could run right past the zombies, and even some of the dogs. I used my shotgun a lot, and almost always ended up with magnum bullets and different grenade rounds left over at the end. I can't remember really being forced into a situation where I was like "OH NO, I'M GONNA FIRE EVERY BULLET IN MY MAGNUM, I DON'T CARE THIS THING IS GONNA KILL ME AND I CAN"T ESCAAAPE!"

Resident Evil 4, at least the intro/demo, would've been a fine scary game in its own right. There was just enough information to let you know that something bad was going on, but still enough unexplained to make you uneasy. You had bullets, but not so many that you'd feel comfortable taking on an army.

And then they throw an army at you.

I still remember pushing things in front of the doors and windows, and then escaping out onto the rooftops, kicking down ladders and just trying to keep moving. It was very exciting, but it wouldn't have been "scary" without the chainsaw guy, threatening instant death if your attention was off for even a few seconds.

The rest of the game never really captured the horror vibe. It always seemed like you'd fight a few guys at a time, gather up a big supply of ammo and powerful guns, and then expend them all against some kind of horde event or boss just to repeat the process. There wasn't, to my memory, anything that offered that same kind of a threat as the village.

RE:Make was, however, a lot more atmospheric and consistent with its horror/mystery vibe. RE4 turns into an action movie about halfway through and doesn't even look back to the horror roots in RE5.

Blue Pixel · Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 3:45 pm Post subject:

I'm very scared that my game wont make it in time Crying

. spoonweaver has completely stopped talking to me for the past majority of the month.

is there a chance i can get an extention?

(or if anyone's willing to help me with the coding for the time being PLEASE contact me on here, or Blue Train on slime salad)
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Baconlabs · Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:50 pm Post subject:

Blue Pixel · Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:35 pm Post subject:

I hope theres more people participating!

I've been working on this game since april (very little) and i dont wanna be one of two ._. is RMZ finishing halloween quest for this?
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NeoSpade · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:24 am Post subject:

I was gonna do an entry this year...but I could get anything together ontime, if I did start It'd be a VERY short tech demo...also I think this is probably the best ending to a horror/ghost based dungeon I've ever seen:

As the SpoonyOne would say...

HELL YEH! SUPLEXED A TRAIN!

Baconlabs · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:08 pm Post subject:

I should warn anyone who is going to work until the absolute last second that
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME TAKES EFFECT ON NOVEMBER 1ST.
And the deadline is 12:01 AM November 2nd.

Moogle1 · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:36 pm Post subject:

Do You Want to be a Hero?

Not really Halloween-themed at all until you get to world 6. Nonetheless, you ask for competition, you get it.

Oh, and first!
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design