Horror visual novels?

[jack_norton]

You think could be an interesting genre ?
I recently played Fatal Hearts by Hanako and found it cool. I was thinking that could have been fun to make a horror/thriller game. But not sure how it would perform since usually visual novel have lot of dialogues, while I think a horror game should have more "puzzles" or quests like a normal adventure.
There are however some games that could be adapted well I think, like "interior drama" (hope I wrote it correctly). Anyone knows about the game "I have no mouth and I must scream"?

Just an idea I had, of course the manga art wouldn't be suited with such theme. I might come up with something (probably short and cheap) for halloween to test the waters

[monele]

"I have no mouth and I must scream"

Kick ass. That's the kind of game I'd totally enjoy playing. It's not so much horror as "uneasy mystery"... far from the cheap "boo!" and visual gore kind.

[N0UGHTS]

Do you mean "moral dilemma," "psychological drama/horror," or both?

I think it's probably easier to make a game with themes concerning ethics and ("twisted") psychology than make a game intended to scare you like a movie like [REC] does. But I'm guessing if you add Western adventure game (point-and-click) elements, you could make something scary...

I don't have much experience with moral dilemmas (screw ethics ) or making things scary like a good horror movie, so I can't say anything (give advice) about making anything like that, aside from "don't taint it with Hollywood." But I think I have something to say about psychological dramas/horrors. If you want to tackle something that way, you'll have to be careful and make sure the characters deep; give 'em reasons to be crazy. :p And you probably also want to talk to someone who's been in deep psychological distress before: You won't understand the sorts of sensations people with anxiety disorders get when they're criticized (unconstructively) if you don't have an anxiety disorder yourself; you'll need a source to back you up on that. And this goes for everything else: (gaining pleasure from) indiscriminate killing, delusions, depression, hallucinations, night terrors, etc. And also... All right, this may be just me, but I suggest not having a score for the game; just SFX. And of course, this is just me...

I say moral dilemmas, psychological dramas/horrors, and horror games are good for any time of the year as long as they're good. (I think that actually goes for any kind of entertainment.) But, they'll be hard to pull off... I personally think they're the hardest sorts of games to pull off since you're likely going to have to write in other people's POVs and you're going to have to immerse your audience in something that could be so surreal, so alien to them... But to me, they're immensely satisfying to pull off. It's like... writer's orgasm. :laughs:

And another thing about psychological horrors/dramas: if they're intense (and immersive, of course), you're going to have to put disclaimers telling people that if they're susceptible to triggers, they shouldn't play the game.

[jack_norton]

Well for now I'll think only about making a first person view adventure, with inventory/items. Now that I got used a bit to python I think could program that kind of game without asking for help too often (for the joy of Pytom)!

[kuroi]

I would LOVE to see more horror VNs. There really aren't enough of them. Actually, I think that there isn't enough of any genre of VN exept for romance/dating sims. If we want more people to enjoy VNs then I think we really need to open expand the usual genres!

Having said that, Kuroi Games has a horror VN in the works but sadly, I can't tell you guys any more than that. =P

[LVUER]

While we are talking about horror. I notice that in horror movie (especially if the enemies are ghosts/spirits), the protagonist most often ends up dead. And the enemies simply unbeaten, roaming free to claim more victims.

Now, I want to hear your opinion, to make a good horror VN (and may be manga), how we should decide the fate of the protagonist?

Personally, I prefer a happy ending (or at worst the protagonist is barely survive alone) after a long struggle (and end the enemy using (a little bit of) brain (not pure luck or some mystical mumbo-jumbo).

[kuroi]

Personally, I prefer a happy ending (or at worst the protagonist is barely survive alone) after a long struggle (and end the enemy using (a little bit of) brain (not pure luck or some mystical mumbo-jumbo).

I totally agree about the ending. Surviving because you were smarter, braver, more skilled... ect is the way to go. I hate when the main characer survives but has done nothing to deserve survival.

[Wintermoon]

Good end = survive. Bad end = die.

If all ends are equally bad, then the decisions are meaningless. If the decisions are meaningless, then you might as well write a non-interactive story. If you write a non-interactive story, then this obviously does not apply to you.

[LVUER]

Good end = survive. Bad end = die.

If all ends are equally bad, then the decisions are meaningless. If the decisions are meaningless, then you might as well write a non-interactive story. If you write a non-interactive story, then this obviously does not apply to you.

I think it still applies regardless it's interactive or not. Either way, I want to hear you favorite kind of ending.

Why I prefer good ending? Simple, since real world is already harsh enough so I want to be joyed/happy when watching or playing something.

BTW, in one of his game, FIA tell us that he prefers bittersweet ending. So everyone must have their own preferred ending.

[azureXtwilight]

I like the ending where we can save our favourite character...
Not just the protagonist is saved...

[kuroi]

Maybe it'd be interesting to have a "good' ending where the main character does not surviver. Perhaps sacrificing himself/herself to save another character.

[rioka]

A horror VN would be cool. There's so much you can do with it. I've thought about it as well but considering I still have some games to finish, it's kinda tucked away atm. But yeah - make one! Make one! :3

[N0UGHTS]

( ' ' ) Why is it that everyone is making out the "survivor" endings to be the best?

The thing with trying to make a horror VN is trying to get the player to feel trepidation, the creeps, et cetera. It's fairly easy to get the player mixed up on what's "reality" and what's not, but those sorts of feelings... Good luck with that.

[Wintermoon]

Maybe it'd be interesting to have a "good' ending where the main character does not surviver. Perhaps sacrificing himself/herself to save another character.

I'm going to have to backtrack on my previous statement, because I really like this idea. I think it's important that the player can win, because otherwise the player can't lose. If the fight is futile from the beginning, I resign myself to death and the danger stops being scary.

However, winning doesn't necessarily mean surviving, and I'd rather sacrifice myself to save another character than sacrifice another character to save myself. My instinct to protect others (especially cute girls) is much stronger than my instinct to survive.

[LVUER]

Maybe it'd be interesting to have a "good' ending where the main character does not surviver. Perhaps sacrificing himself/herself to save another character.

I'm going to have to backtrack on my previous statement, because I really like this idea. I think it's important that the player can win, because otherwise the player can't lose. If the fight is futile from the beginning, I resign myself to death and the danger stops being scary.

However, winning doesn't necessarily mean surviving, and I'd rather sacrifice myself to save another character than sacrifice another character to save myself. My instinct to protect others (especially cute girls) is much stronger than my instinct to survive.

That is what we call bittersweet ending. Altough it has the charm on its own, I just don't like it. Perhaps we can have the mindset, "If I can't survive, why bother fight?". But it's not the case. It's far easier to kill your characters (I think it's also easier to just die in ral life, isn't it? But I bet there is no one that prefer the easyway). In fact, death is the easiest way in solving a love triangle (as an author, I mean ^_^) or putting an end to something.

Winning is not always surviving, but surviving sure feels like a winner ^_^