NOTICE

The following points in this document will likely ruin your perception of horror themes, with ‘Horror’ expecting it reduces the effect, the rest of this document will discuss the psychology behind why it is effective and understanding this will make standards raise subconsciously!

---

Document Abstract & Explanation

To begin this document will go over several aspects to Design, revolving around Game Design. We will discuss topics such as Player Emotion and Feeling and why it is so crucial to a Fluid Experience, predicting these feelings and habits of the player is what will be the general topic to aim for. We will also be attempting to discuss the psychology behind my thought process so that this may be useful to remember if you ever decide to focus on capturing emotion, as while this will focus on tension and 'horror', this understanding can be applied in other emotional fronts and cases.

Introduction

To begin we need to start with a question; What are you afraid of? Lets give that some time.

While we wait let me go over the core of the discussion, The topic is broad, so this introduction may be mildly long. While games have been getting better at captivating audiences and evoking emotion, they have always had a consistency issue connecting with players. The connection is typically falling into immersion with the world, the characters followed and introduced. This is in fact great story telling.

Geralt Fighting a Monster called a Fiend.

To truly understand what makes ‘horror’ have an impact is not the Content of the ‘horror’ i.e. Being chased in the Woods by a Stalker or Exorcising a Rampaging Ghost or Demon. It’s the interaction between the journey starting point and the goal.

Mild Tangent & Story Time

I relatively recently got heavily into a game, if you are reading this eagerly you may have heard of it – Phasmophobia[4]. This game is the moment I began FEELING what I Realized a long time ago with ‘Horror’. Horror and ‘Horror’ are Two very different concepts and this tangent aims to give some clarity by discussing my experiences.

This segment is for insight, Not meant to be a TL;DR for the document.

To those who did not look into the Wikipedia link for brevity I will give a very reduced explanation of Phasmophobia as well as its steam page[4b]. You are a (team) Ghost Hunter that has been hired to figure out what ghost is haunting a location or residence. You only have what you bring with you. Your key item is your Ghost Journal, you can track what has happened and holds information like the Ghosts Name, it also has all the potential ghost times and their key signatures of their presence.

That’s the whole game Synopsis, Why is this game appealing? Why is it Horror themed? Because you don’t know. It is not like you are a priest who is just exorcising a known type of Ghost, you are the Middleman. You have to solve the Ghosts Type while trying not to go insane from the ordeal or angering it enough that it kills you. You are in a severely dark location, with only being able to refer to a book that holds minimal information about each ghost. Hiding if the ghost goes on a Hunt. You are at the mercy of learning or dying. That is tension. Compounded by passable audio design, whether it’s the ghost humming as it hunts, it typically stresses you out, a vast majority of the ghosts are faster than you. If you are spotted and don’t have a plan. You will become another Ghost in the place.

Learning is understanding. Understanding is knowledge. Fear is nothing when you Understand it. When you Know what it is.

Which leads me to my journey, I began playing and I could never identify any ghosts. I always clung to the tailcoats of my more experienced ghost hunting friends. I never learned anything substantial. It was only when they weren’t around and I wanted to solve a mystery I booted it up Alone. I was terrified. That was horror, I knew what was coming, but I had no idea what to expect. I was blessed to feel this way, I love being scared. Sadly what followed as I became more proficient, I began identifying unique ghost tells. Each Ghost has special attributes that make it different from similar Ghosts. At this point the game was not “oh god how can I identify this ghost safely”? To “Hurry up and chase me—”.

Ghost hunting a Player.

Hunts are the most distinctive part of a ghost, they have similar non-hunting actions, the ghost’s hunting actions[4a] give them away.

Phasmophobia Obake 6 finger UV Handprint.

Here is unique evidence of an Obake ghost, it is the only Ghost that can have this UV handprint of 5 fingers + Thumb, the rest all have the usual 4 finger + a Thumb. This is not guaranteed and it made hide it, but if you see this you automatically know which ghost type it is!

I traded fear for knowledge, knowledge made me riskier, I understood what to do once I was getting hunted. Ironically, the scariest part of the game is the Maps, the only thing I could never learn and dealing with specific ghosts on those maps.
To wrap this tangent up. Fear is not what makes you afraid, Fear is the unknown and not knowing how to deal with something unnatural or new. Not something that makes you tremble.

Now back to my Question. I already know, few of you have actually have given it a thought, you just read on subconsciously. So here is where I ask you now what leads you to fear it? What makes it scary - whether its a phobia or a material fear, losing something dear to you. These are both valid fears, however this is NOT fear.

Fear is not what makes you afraid, Fear is the unknown, not knowing how to deal with something unnatural or new. Not something that makes you tremble. Fear is not a simple two dimensional emotion, it’s one of the hardest emotions to convey and to try force from someone in media or otherwise.

Fear Definition[1] - an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger

Curiously, while that is the definition, it does not stop anyone from fearing potential outcomes. It’s overdone, but its the simple truth; “The Mind is its own biggest enemy” - Only You know what scares you. Which is the beginning of this documents realization.

Problem Specifics

This is a study that will always be subjective so this is an attempt at bridging that which is what this segment will be going over. So to begin lets consider the aspects that are effective:

The Unknown: In pre-research investigations conducted even before this was a topic I wished to cover, the basis of all things scary is not understanding them nor their intent. Which is why some people will hear about a murder and be fascinated and want to solve it, others are terrified because they think they could be next as they do not have any insight or information. Lacking knowledge is not inherently horrifying or negatively impactful. It’s being stripped of your certainty, which leads me to my next point.

Uncertainty: The focal point of dread, not just fear, is feeling helpless in the face of danger. It is nature, we fight to survive our instincts are always going to be a part of us and when we are backed into a corner we lose reason, The Fight of Flight. Its no longer about their intent, it revolves around survival. So to invoke Fear or Dread, you need to attach a Player to their in game character. Then threaten them with something they cannot understand. Example of this is Eldritch Horror, it is haunting and famous because we do not know their goals, they are beings beyond our comprehension by design and to understand them makes them less intimidating.

These are the only aspects about Fear and it as an emotion that are Universal. We have two simple open ended tools at our disposal, everything else we try is cheap, a pale imitation of being what makes something Scary, this reinforces my earlier statement. Something intended to be scary will never be scary because we know it is ‘Horror’ themed, we are easy to frighten but it comes down to utilizing it in the right place. This factor above is why Horror is becoming dreary, we are anticipating what makes it eerie. This is basic Psychology and while rudimentary, it matters. We need to circumvent the innate desire to prepare Players for fear. Which is why my suggestions throughout this document are given.

Covering the Problem

The problem is not really a bad one to have, it is human to not desire fear, however, its due to fear and emotions as a whole being a subjective matter. So this document is not intended to put down anyone, nor any developers, this is simply me trying to extend onto the emotional work done before to make ideas going forward more intense.

There is several ways to influence fear and dread into a player, the ones I’ll be covering are:

1. “Removing something they had since the beginning”
1. Genre Specific, Changing the games theme
1. “The Silence will Fall”
1. Instill general paranoia

1. “Removing Something they had”

This is simple, easy to implement and effective. The one drawback is that if it is not balanced or well thought out this can lead to bad gameplay segments or inconvenient over eerie.

Example of this, Faith: The Unholy Trinity[2], done this immaculately, there is a defensive/offensive item; The Cross - effectively the enemies are possessed individuals or Demons, the cross wards them off or kills them, for a segment in the game to progress you MUST put down your cross. You cannot go forward until you relieve yourself of your possessions. Your defense is gone. What made the moment tense was it was not stripped from you. To progress, you had to Choose, to put it down.

Player Agency | even if minor via a prompt, made this moment so impactful, you wanted answers and to go forward. So you put yourself at a disadvantage you had grown accustomed to over a few hours.

2. “Changing Themes”

This one is harder to implement due to needing to make effectively another game. But incredibly simplistic. All you are doing is making a game scary by making players adapt to drastic changes on the fly, which later in a game can mean you can make it a true challenge, so it adapting and then dealing with the new objective and style.

Theoretical Example of this, would be if Super Mario Bros became a horror game, imagine Super Mario Odyssey if it had a Luigi’s Mansion - Resident Evil twist, Perhaps your hat companion is feeling under the weather and it was decided this was going to be a segment where you literally fight off the illness, but after you go in its a hoovering minigame then suddenly it switches to the mansion aesthetic and you have to explore the environment to get out but along the way you have to fight against the Hats past wearers, effectively zombies but kid friendly so they would just be sleepwalking and you’d need to wake them.

The fear is not in the themes | Granted that would be quite morbid | it is instead derived from a radical shift that you were not expecting.

3. “The Silence will Fall”

Now for those expecting a Dr. Who reference that was not intended but I do enjoy that use case. However, as you may find the key aspect to designing Fear/Dread and emotional swelling is through Tension. Tension and suspense and utilizing it is how you master Horror, these past points may ring true, they may not. THIS is the point you will come to realize is what makes or breaks not just a document but a Game, a Movie, a TV Series. You don’t get attached emotionally to something you A. aren’t interested in or B. cannot relate to. Struggling is human, fighting back is what we want to do, its breaking down the player or the viewers bravado by showing them even their favourite superhuman is still human, we all break down, no one is above dread. Your efforts won’t be remembered. But that is why we fight to make something that lasts, so that we are, Why we resonate with our favourite characters. That sense that we are not out of fight yet. That’s what makes you feel emboldened by reckless actions of our Protagonists. It’s why we relate. Their shoes, are Ours, we emplace ourselves where we want to be, it is why Fantasy is as big as it is. This is the power of Emotions, investment and correlations in media, in Horror Games in our case, it is this that makes the most effective storytelling and strongest bonds with characters. Even the Silent types.

3. “The Silence will Fall”

Now for those expecting a Dr. Who reference that was not intended but I do enjoy that use case. Curious, swore I Wrote a segment for this. No matter, Silence is an immaculately effective weapon in Games. This is due to audio being a crucial part of adding impact to our actions, whether it is the feeling or the sound of a sword meeting sword, metal on metal or metal on flesh, that difference between a “TING!!” And a “SHHK” makes everything feel more weighted.

Which is why pulling the rug out and removing that Auditory Impact, is eerie, you had feeling you could play some music and that feeling translates to the game, Example, playing a zombie game and clearing out hordes while listening to rock music gets you into a flow state, But then suddenly it goes away, you feel less powerful even if nothing changed. So with that let’s do a progressive exercise, continue reading but slow down with me for a moment.

Read this prompt, put on some music and slowly turn it down while thinking of this. Now Envision this;

You have the auditory imagination of being surrounded by trees, the crunch of the leaves under your feet, The birds chirping, maybe you even hear a faint sound of cars on the road nearby. As you walk in the cars get quieter, the birds get more active, you can now hear woodpeckers working and a river stream flowing. Oddly you don’t hear the woodpecker anymore. The birds chirps are fainter? No they are not present. You stand there unsure, all you hear is the flow of the river water, quieter somehow as you focus, and the leaves under your feet crunching more. As the music was toned out and you envisioned the scenery. Did you miss something? You were listening, motionless. Those Leaves weren’t crunching underneath Your feet. Simple scenario, cliché even, but the point remains strong.

4. “General Paranoia”

This one is dependent on what you want, implementation could be easy, could be hard, possibilities are even broader here as it could be a mix of all we talked about before or it could be instilled by altering an existing simple to follow and pleasant experience by something different, maybe it’s unhinged, maybe it’s better, but its different. Change is something we all ogle like it has 3 heads when we have something we are used to.

An Example of this would be Buddy Simulator 1984[3]. This one is special, So out of respect to the game and the point I am trying to make, I actually have to only link the Wikipedia, I simply recommend that you play the game, Experiencing this will do something words cannot do.

These are only a few ideas for creating Fear/Dread, not the end all be all of options. Because THAT is Horror, The Idea that sticks with the Player is the Idea the Player gave themselves. Nothing is scarier than being left with your thoughts. Left to wonder what could have been and what awaits for you behind you, That pressing sensation of something present, but not visible. That Sixth Sense of being Watched even when alone.

Progress & Iterations

To start Based on the Week One Feedback, I started by distinguishing what was ‘Immersion Breaking’ - For clarity in the case of my Companion Game getting distracted from the environment and being able to escape the mindset that you acting as the Character in game, this disassociation makes it hard to feel tense, example of this in horror is when you are feeling the tense pressure and then suddenly, something silly happens, such as a png sliding across the screen in full view. If it was obscured this can still work however, seeing something that is meant to ease your tension before building it back up again can lead to it being comical, which if you have a key moment coming up can utterly shatter any hope of making that key moment have an impact.

Here is a video that is meant to be a moment to relief some player tension, however, in this video this streamer simply shrugs it off by making it humourous. (This video[5c] is a playthrough of Dead Space Remake but if you wish to only understand my point you can return to the document after the cut at 1:06)

So To keep that immersion from being broken, I aimed to make less distracting features - This led to the Original Sphere Shape Obscurer be removed with No Lighting and a relatively thick fog.

Below I have examples of the Obscurers effect, it made itself very noticable - due to how it worked and for clarity it is the black sphere around the top of the screen - Still images make it seem more effective than when playing.

Idea being with the Sphere there was a very clear Black Shape that controlled how far you can see. It did work as a blocker, however its stagnation and visibility made it distracting for some.
The reason it was replaced with Fog and No Light was simply recreated that effect without allowing the player to see too far ahead and also not being incredibly obvious.

This had One True Consequence - Without the Obscurer you can see a LOT more detail about your surroundings, this led to ‘Seams’[6a]. In some cases it was being close let you see out of the world or at a distance you could see beyond the level and get some visual disparities of being in a dark area, only to see a very bright light in comparison(The Unity Skybox backdrop).

Very Distinct Seam breaking through the darkness.

So going forward these had to be fixed and this has taken a lot more time than I realized and even afterwards I missed some, I have taken some Playtesters from Week 2 and they still found more. But without them I would’ve never found these. Which wouldve led into more chances for players to have their immersion ruined. A player not immersed is a player I can’t scare.

Other Feedback I got was more player feel based which due to Immersion going hand in hand with Player Feeling I was far more diligent with compared to the Obscuring Sphere which I only removed recently - A big thing I have learned is that you cannot bend to 1 or 2 comments, it has to be with more purpose, hear them out and remember it, but to never act impulsively with gameplay changes.

So in this case where I did make a change it was due to it being elaborated on, the issue was this - “The shortcut corridor uses a Key, this is confusing as in all other cases interactables and particularly Keys are Progression related-Seventh Playtester. This point made sense so I have made the door non-interactable. I will investigate changing it in a way that still involves the reason I added the Shortcut, Player Agency and Choice even if it is after the game is finished/published.

Beyond this I have been giving more feedback, the Audio is resoundingly effective, every playtester has said the Audio has always had the desired effect of being tension building which is perfect. I have been told to make more inhuman noises, the less you know about your surroundings, the eerier it can be.

Based on the Week Two Feedback I took a lot of what they did suggest as at this point a lot of the players were very distracted by the seams[6] being incredibly noticable. But beyond that a lot of the feedback was actually related to what I could still do. A large portion was things I already planned on adding such as an Enemy and giving the lantern props some use, as while lanterns can be turned off, they should have an environmental purpose in a game as dark as the one I designed.

So to take their feedback into consideration I began fixing the immersion breaking seams, followed by;

Monster introduction and Logic; the hardest part of this whole ordeal was trying to apply the logic I had mentally mapped into an effective programming logic, the NavMesh fought me for a long while and it still is not perfect, but the monster is designed in a rudimentary way(against ideals, I’d have loved more time to make more monsters and gives them more fluid gameplay interactions and a sense of reasoning to their movements.) due to the conflict I had dealing with it. It currently only follows the player using path of least resistance and only respecting doors and walls as obstacles.

The Lighting system; this was not something I had planned entirely to have done for the project as I had(have) grander plans for it. In its current form it simply turns on all lights at once and deactivates them when the monster approaches, paired with audio and based on the prior playtesters, this should have the desired effect.

Sadly, In its current state the game works and does its job from what I have gathered from discussions but with No Playtesters as of writing and this being close to the Deadline I cannot guarantee there will be Playtester data from the progress made this week. - This segment will be altered if data is gotten

Conclusion

In conclusion I think I utterly captured a core aspect of how to grab someone’s attention in a tense atmosphere, I was able to in every scenario have people feel connected enough to the game with the audio to sink into a state of dreading every single noise that wasn’t their own. Of course there will always be people that play this with no information and still aren’t captivated. But the fact I understood what to look for to make those moments occur naturally made this a productive Research and Development project topic. I have more confidence in making tension even if only a little bit. As there is so much about emotionally investing Players to make them feel peril and fear I was not able to capture, but as a prototype I am proud with how it turned out.

Reflection

If I was to remake this with more time there is a lot I would change. Not just because I think I could’ve handled everything better but if I use the same tricks. It will be boring and annoying to play, Not Stress-Inducing, because as this document has gone over, True Primal Fear is derived from what you can’t expect. I’d most certainly have to make several non-horror themed games to even recreate this with moderate effect.

Being known for something can be a blessing, but for horror and its adjacent genres, it is a curse. It’s why Resident Evil 7 & 8[7] were so remarkable. Prior to this Point the series was in a remission that didn’t land well with everyone, it focused on coop action gameplay and most fans did not find it enjoyable. So they returned to form with Resident Evil 7[7b] and it landed incredibly well to a lot of people which gave the series a well deserved invigoration that led to the Remakes for Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 that came out afterwards.

So with that in mind that is what I’d need to do is simply come back to this later and use my current foundation and understanding to get more out of the current experience I have made. That is also something I would change. I’d design it as a game, not just an experience.

References

Definition of Fear.
Wikipedia for Faith: The Unholy Trinity.
a. The Cross/Crucifix.
Wikipedia for Buddy Simulator 1984.
a. Steam Page for Buddy Simulator 1984.
Wikipedia for Phasmophobia.
a. Phasmophobias Ghosts.
b. Phasmophobia’s Steam Page.
Youtube Videos
a. The First Playtesters Playthrough
b. The Seventh Playtesters Playthrough
c. Dead Space Remake Playthrough edit by Neocranium
Seam Errors
a. Stack Exhange Page discussing seam issues and how to fix that issue.
Resident Evil Titles
a. Resident Evil 7 wikipedia.
b. Resident Evil 7 Steam Page.
c. Resident Evil 8 wikipedia.
d. Resident Evil 8 Steam Page.
e. Resident Evil 2 Remake Steam Page.
f. Resident Evil 3 Remake Steam Page.
g. Resident Evil 4 Remake Steam Page.

Below are the reports I used and refer to for the gameplay feedback and playtester information.

Reports

Week 1

First Playtester

I sent a very early prototype game I am making alongside this research as a companion piece to a friend for uninformed opinions. The only input given prior was that I was working on a project and that I would send them this build at some point for feedback.

Following this I was surprised that they recorded their first playthrough, here is the Playthrough with their personal feedback at 22:48[5a], I have adapted some of the points here already. This was unexpected as I did not ask them to do that but it truly helped, without this I would not be able to give such a concrete image of what they percieved of the experience(Joys of the Internet)

Now the Above was to cover Two Aspects;

To showcase what they were made aware of before Playing.
To Highlight MY oversights That I will endeavour to avoid going into future Reports and tests.

As such this is more akin to a short term reflection piece going forward and will not be in All further reports.

Next I will be covering their reaction to the build.

1. The audio design had the desired effect - To make you uneasy and to accelerate tension built. This is the core of the build, to isolate the audible stimulation, The Map Layout was simply an environment to accentuate this. Humourously this was confirmed when they realized this was intended to be a “Horror Experience”. Perfectly illustrating my point, The game only had some basic audio design and darkness, simply not knowing made this Playtester wary of every noise not knowing if the ‘Monster’ was present.
2. It has been founded that while not perfect, the obscuration of vision i implemented was acceptable. I used a sphere that surrounded the player and followed their position to control how far they can see. Hearing noises and not being able to Identify their exact position will always cause stress when you are in an unfamiliar environment.

I have been given one piece of advice to make it more forgiving, I am not opposed to it, however, this is something that may defeat the purpose of having it be so close to you. The goal is to make you disorientated which seems to have been effective as they backtracked accidentally and got lost - Gracefully the map is small.
3. The Playtest also highlighted some bugs I missed, that could lead to problems, for example some doors will lose collision, which should not happen. Identifying this will be important as otherwise a player may fall into the void making the game unplayable without closing the game.

In conclusion I think for a first Playtest this is truly motivating. I have captured what I aimed to. Going forward the goal is to keep this up. If this is unanimous, this alone will prove my points here without a doubt.

Sadly once again the single underlying issue is that it is still based on perception and perspective, not everyone will be afflicted by this the same way, some may even be unphased. But that is okay, this is to be a highlight, not a determinant. The joy I felt seeing my hard work pay off to atleast some extent has helped, Perhaps this companion game may become a more involved project.

Second Playtester

I oversaw this Playtest directly. Player found the environment to be disorientating in a stalling way, the goal was to make the player feel lost however, this causes unnecessary issues as this led to Two Aspects that made gameplay feel clunkier these being:

1. Darkness was TOO suffocating - I aimed to make the Darkness intense and a direct nuisance to your sense of location. The issue was this worked too Well, this was a General Issue, it was a recurring point of both tension and frustration. In this playtest it made the player feel very directionally confused on top of the limited activities the player could have done at this point, this led to a direct problem for the user. I did not want to remove this if it was a few cases only.
1. Doors not being Interactable led to more confusion. At this point my doors were simply controlled by being active or deactivated and transitioned immediately without information being relayed to the player and without Agency that made the Maze even more problematic to traverse as the Same locations looked different after a door ‘Magically’ Disappears.

Third Playtester

I overseen this Playtest. This test made me realize Player Curiosity, leads to progressing faster or slower, in this case slower as if I was not present they would have presumed that the game was a single corridor. They Walked by the point I intentionally hid around a corner to make them backtrack if they did not investigate their surroundings. Beyond directional disorientation working;

1. The audio logic however basic, was still effective.
1. It wasn’t said by the Playtester in this case but I noticed that the Keys were very particular to grab. Which led to frustration.
1. Player pace was too fast, suggestion given to tone it down and I agreed as it made the sprint a lot less necessary.

Fourth Playtester

I was present for this Playtest. This playtest was with several people present, this helped gauge spectator reactions as well. Immersion proved to be effective as even surrounded by friends playtester was on edge. Too immersed to give constructive feedback, was more reaffirming that the Audio and atmosphere was intense. Darkness once again questioned but when explained did say that the goal of claustrophic vision was captured.

Fifth Playtester

This was final In person Playtest. Most aware of the game contents due to spectating and prior discussions. Due to Expecting the theme they had a fast run where they found all of the items and opened up the Level quickly. Did confirm that even when expected the Audio Design remained effective and threw them off.

Sixth Playtester

I was talking to this person actively and watched them play, however they were online and as a result I could not gauge facial expressions. This Playtest was more of a beginning of the refining process, added in some of the changes and made more responsive actions, e.g. I made the doors react to player agency, meaning they had to open the door and knew what was locked-unlocked.

1. Noticed some seam issues.
1. Fake Footsteps caused him a great deal of stress, first to notice these regrettably.
1. Darkness was an issue again.

Seventh Playtester

I was not present for this playtest. It had to be recorded. This playtest had some issues. I was in the middle of reworking some internal systems and as such the build I gave at first actually had a game breaking bug. So they had rough idea of the map Layout by the time they recorded the full runthrough.

I fixed this and once this was amended they gave back their playthrough[5b] and feedback at the end. This culminated in a few things:

1. Darkness was still an issue - later suggestions led to a fading effect or something gradual - less intense.
1. Player movement felt “Slippery” - accidental effect found out after this, I had not tweaked certain values that led to sliding behaviour when running.
1. Puddle Sound Effects not being on visually distinct terrain made it odd to hear - at this point the solid ground texture was used on both waterlogged corridors and regular stone ground.
1. The most controversial but interesting to consider was the Removal of the ‘Shortcut Doors’ these were simply designed to be another traversal method encouraged by player curiosity. But having a key item not be relevant to progression was the reason for its change. This does mean that I may later revisit this to make it more logically sound - e.g. perhaps add a crowbar item that acts as a key to wooden planks that you can pull down to open the shortcut.
1. Suggestion to make the Key item pickup more forgiving, I was looking into this but was unsure how to implement it, later a suggested fix was a simple collider change.

So to wrap up Week One - These tests have opened my eyes to the issues glaring and dim alike. So as we break it down we come across a recurring issue;

1. Visual Obscurer was far too potent at blocking the view and made it feel far too restricting, I needed a way to either make the obscurer less intense and noticable or remove it and replace it with something else.
1. Keys were far too hard to grab.
1. Doors being disabled with no input made new environmental changes very hard to pinpoint where progression was heading next.

After recurring issues there was isolated cases, some had valid logic and some I needed to see if it was a problem for others or a boon to the atmosphere, such as;

1. The Shortcut being good however, attaching a key to it made it seem more pivotal to progression.
1. Visual to audio mismatch - walking on what is visually stone but make puddle sounds.
1. Fake footsteps too subtle?

Week 2

First Iterated Playtester

This week I have iterated on my work and had a more fleshed out game with an ‘Ending’(Simply the game stops and displays some text and to either restart of quit). This was just after I implemented the Game with no Direct Obscurer - The Sphere Shape. So there was bound to be things I missed and I very much did. However, the best response to it, was this first Person. They did not know what I had sent them and were on edge the whole time. They were so tense they begged me to tell them Something, this does in fact help my point of the World was still able to build tension well - even in its messy state. So I told them there was “No Jumpscare” but that was intentionally vague, I did not tell them About the ‘Monster’ and so they remained on edge and vigilant. They also found a few positional issues like lights and such and Seams[6] in the world but overall seemed to enjoy the experience. The ending segment also does not work fluidly on all Aspect ratios.

Second Iterated Playtester

This playtester was more methodical but moved with purpose and knew quickly that the design was to build tension. As such they always seeked out the fleeting audio to attempt to get jumpscared so they knew what to expect. But with no in game Monster this made that impossible, the tension still built however simply expecting it made the game less intense. This also was hindered further when they noticed more Seam problems[6]. They began looking for them among the ending point but due to it being not entirely apparent(by design) they needed directions. Which I was happy to give. So as a result I got more information;

1. The ending segment does not work fluidly on all Aspect ratios.
1. Exit is meant be missable however, some way to figure out where to look may help.
1. Seams are funny issues in a vacuum or casual game space, but in an immersive horror experience they are one of the biggest tension killers and must be inspected at all angles and distances.

Third Iterated Playtester

This Playtester was the Least phased by the game as they noticed a lot of Seam Issues[6] and made it their goal to find as many as possible, they had a goal Above dealing with the layout and exploring the tense atmosphere which led to 2 things for me;

1. Realizing That what I was capturing was feeling of Immersion as well as general game feeling, as well as stripping them of having an escape from the tension builds it faster, immersion was what I needed to iterate on to make more natural and with less room to relax or laugh at the errors, which I was aware of before hand, the fact I forgot that and handed them such a bug ridden build made me feel guilty, I endeavoured to fix all of the Seam Errors after this point.
1. The ending segment does not work fluidly on all Aspect ratios.

To wrap up Week Two, we had a development stand-still minus fleshing out existing ideas. The seams were so aggressively problematic after removing the visual Obscurer that they made fresh feedback very hard to pinpoint. As a result only ideas to what to add from my foundation were all that was given.

But while limited feedback was present the Ideas themselves were actually my next intended features! So the fact I had already set expectations and that players agreed made me confident if I implemented these features right that everything would fit well for the short experience I aimed to create.

The features in question are the ‘Monster(s)’, I did in fact plan to add more but time was not on my side. Also the Lighting System.

Due to lack of further higher resolution playtesters I was also unable to confirm if the resolution fix attempt was successful.

Understanding Emotion and Playing the Player