Mystery Game needing Horror Elements

[rpgdreamer]

Salutations! Thanks for stopping to read my thread.

I'm currently working on a game; the main character, Knight (You), is going through his suddenly abandoned Estate looking for pieces to a broken mirror, in order to save someone who was trapped within. The game is mainly a mystery, I suppose, in which Knight cannot remember what has happened in the past few weeks leading up to the shattering of the Enchanted Mirror.

The game is primarily story driven, with little combat (just the bosses). I don't want it to he a horror game, necessarily, but I feel as if it has the potential to be "creepy" or "unsettling". What are game mechanics or something I can use to make the game feel unsettling?

Here's a breakdown of the game:

- Setting is a Medieval Manor...  stone walls, deep red carpeting. Pretty standard.

- While looking for Mirror Shards (there are 3 of them in total), you find Pages from what you find out is your Squire. They leave vague snippets of information about what has been transpiring over the course of a few weeks while you have been, apparently, "sick". They're no more than a couple of sentences long. Example from Game:  "I was instructed to secure the mirror's shards and disperse them to various parts of the estate. It was all I could do... I was shaking so much in fear. May God save us."

- The game takes place during the day. The servants have disappeared out of nowhere. However, after your 2nd boss fight, you black out, and the remainder of the game takes place during the night.

- There is a portion of the game in which the character is forced to physically harm themselves in order to progress through the story.

The story is supposed to be highly narrative, so most of the factors that amp up the weirdness factor are written (in the form of notes, etc). However, if there is anyone who can come up with something that effects the setting, environment, etc, that would really help me out.

Thank you!

 

[Banquo]

Well for one thing you could start with limiting the players field of view with a dark-transparent picture, so he/she cannot see to far ahead (for the night part of the game).

Then give the player the feeling that he/she is not the center of the game. Make the world feel alive and unpredictable moving with or without him/her. Randomize things,ranging from sound effects and maybe (non-hostile) encounters, so they player cannot see through the mechanics of the game. Maybe have some invincible threat roaming the place that can appear and disappear at any moment, forcing the player to run.

Make sure the player cannot completely predict what is happening/going to happen so he/she'll always be wary of his/her actions

 

[Kyuukon]

Srry, wrong thread >o<

 

[tlst9999]

A journal to keep track of the knight's progress using Quest Journal (http://rmrk.net/index.php/topic,45127.0.html)would be nice. I used it for my mystery game and love it. (For demo, my game link is on my signature)

 

[rpgdreamer]

Well for one thing you could start with limiting the players field of view with a dark-transparent picture, so he/she cannot see to far ahead (for the night part of the game).

Then give the player the feeling that he/she is not the center of the game. Make the world feel alive and unpredictable moving with or without him/her. Randomize things,ranging from sound effects and maybe (non-hostile) encounters, so they player cannot see through the mechanics of the game. Maybe have some invincible threat roaming the place that can appear and disappear at any moment, forcing the player to run.

Make sure the player cannot completely predict what is happening/going to happen so he/she'll always be wary of his/her actions

Wow, this is incredible advice. The vibe I'm going for is that you should think there is something magic/paranormal involved when there isn't. I think the ever-looking threat could work great in here somehow! Also, yes! The dark/transparent picture sounds incredibly spooky. Nothing to get worked up by wandering around in the dark.

I'm also thinking maybe some noise; not necessarily loud noise, but sound effects. The game has no main BGM, since it is supposed to be you wandering this suddenly abandoned manor, so there is music in choice places (major cutscenes, etc). 

 

[rpgdreamer]

A journal to keep track of the knight's progress using Quest Journal (http://rmrk.net/index.php/topic,45127.0.html)would be nice. I used it for my mystery game and love it. (For demo, my game link is on my signature)

Oh, that would be interesting... especially since he's collecting pages of a magic book. Maybe his thoughts on things as they progress would be cool. Thank you for the advice, I'll look into it!

 

[Kes]

rpgdreamer, please avoid double posting, as it is against the forum rules. You can review our forum rules here. Thank you.

If you want to reply to more than one person you should use the Multiquote button which you will see right next to the Quote button.

However, it is rarely necessary to quote entire posts.  It is much better to reply

@Banquo

blah...blah

@tist9999

blah....blah

They know what they said and don't need to be told again, and it makes scrolling down the page less tedious.  If you need to refer to something specific, then quote just the part that is relevant.

 

[Banquo]

Since the Rpg-Maker is visually rather limited, using soundeffects and background music is very important for the atmosphere and mood of your game.

Edit:

@ksjp17:

Haha, you got me there!^^

 

[rpgdreamer]

@Banquo

This is true about the visuals... and I don't want to really use the whole 'flash a scary picture' method for this. I think I'll try to check out some very low-key music for the BG, perhaps.

 

[Sharm]

One way to make things unsettling is to take something extremely familiar and make it slightly different from the norm.  A face with one of the features askew is unsettling.  Footfalls sounding like a sploosh instead of a clunk is unsettling.  A song with one note always played off key is unsettling.  You've got to be careful though, there's a surprisingly fine line between horror and comedy, being confronted with the unexpected is a key tool for both.

 

[rpgdreamer]

You guys helped me out a lot. You can find the result in the Completed Games thread now, under the title Valor! Thanks a lot!

 

[9tkitsune]

Discussion already over? Aww.

I wanted to mention, " Koudelka " is what came to mind when I read what you were looking for / want to present. 

Furthermore it had a curious battle system... ^^