[Jester]

i was just checking out all the mzx games on the game archive and noticed one intresting thing. where are all the horror games?

are there any horror games for MZX and if not, then why?

i do realize that MZX is very um....limiting for that kind of games, but it could be done although the "horror" could only be like, sudden loud screams and sounds.

share your opinnions.

[Dr Lancer-X]

We could either continue this discussion here or revive one of the older threads - might be better to continue it here though.

It usually ends up with at least one (usually multiple) people saying they are going to create a horror game in MZX. This of course is never done, but that's hardly unusual among MZX games.

[Nedemai]

Noahsoft and I created a DoZ game that could be considered horror, we recieved 4th place. I think it was the DoZ Christmas 2004. I don't remember our team #.

[Koji]

Wasn't that one in the "fear" category?

The one that was all like "Are you afraid of the dark?"

I loved the ending. It reminds me of ALOT of popular horror films.

[asgromo]

I was working on one.

But "horror" basically implied zombies and blood. =P

I've been considering working on stuff that could possibly be spooky... but honestly, the work for the payoff does not look good.

[Zenith Nadir]

to be effective, works in the horror genre must be realistic. that way when the shit hits the fan the observer is better disturbed by the subversion of the norm by whatever's supposed to be scary.

mzx is not realistic and it never will be.

[Revvy]

It's also hard to feel any kind of emotional attachment to a smiley face.

[Frobozz]

Revvy, on Jan 7 2006, 08:46 PM, said:

It's also hard to feel any kind of emotional attachment to a smiley face.

True. I imagine you'd end up thinking of it as humorous.

[asgromo]

Meh... I wouldn't be so doubting. I imagine it's possible to make anything scary... Even smiley faces. Or at least shocking. If you think it's impossible to make a disembodied head pop up on screen accompanied by a scream thirty seconds into an otherwise peaceful scene, it's because you just haven't seen it done yet.

[Dr_Dos]

You could possibly pull off some decent stuff if you're good with graphics.

5 Days a Stranger is only 256 color and it's got creepy vibes all throughout and a few surprise scares.

[Pyro1588]

yeah, but there's a difference between "shock" and "horror". you can't build a horror game off of startling shocks. ambience is a big part of it, too. iirc, sai`ke was working on an mzx horror game that looked pretty promising...

[Dr Lancer-X]

I made a thing where a very loud lightning bolt and scream as well as flashing colours randomly appeared near the start of what looked like a game - managed to startle a few people at least. I think I actually posted in on DMZX somewhere. That's not really 'horror' though.

[Bramble]

It seems that the category of "horror" goes more for movies. You wanna see shock and scare, I think a movie is what that's for. All the "horror" games I've played aren't really scary.. it's just like "oh look, another zombie with an axe about to kill me." I think horror games are good for startling, as Lancer's. Unless you're playing Thief. ButI think startling is about the furthest you could go with MZX.

Regardless of whether it scares you or not, horror games can be made, no matter how lame. If there are undead elephants out to stample you, it's horror. Maybe scary, maybe not (undead elephants would freak me out). I suppose my game Dream is sorta like a horror.. aw, I dunno what I'm saying..

[VinceP]

I couldn't see myself getting scared by looking at evil smiley faces.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Why are people bringing up smiley faces? A horror MZX game isn't going to have SMILEY FACES.

[Koji]

It will have frownies! and angries! NO SMILIES!

[Exophase]

I thought game genre had to do with the type of gameplay, not the type of emotional response it illicited? Is "horror" really an appropriate genre? A category of games might fall under it but traditionally speaking don't games like Silent Hill fall under other categories (like adventure or something)

- Exo

[Val]

A horror game would be possible with large, detailed charecters and good sound and music. Horror is all about the atmosphere.

This post has been edited by Guy: 08 January 2006 - 04:06 PM

[Bramble]

Yeah, Exo kind of said what I was trying to say.

[hob nado]

I don't think horror has to be all visual or all atmospheric. Basically, one good way to make the player scared, you have to give him the feeling that something bad is about to happen to him at any given moment, or that he's in danger somehow. That could be done in MZX.

[KKairos]

...If you're thinking survival horror...It can be done effectively, in some way or another. I remember playing an old ZZT game by Anthony Testa, claimed to be based on H.P. Lovecraft's works...I think it was called "Blind." I remember being scared at least a bit by it.

(For the record the style of game was much more prose, not so much actual game.)

But if that can be done in ZZT, why not MZX?

[Sai'ke]

If you're good at writing horror (I mean suspense 'n stuff, not just omg lotsa gore and that's it) you shouldn't have much of a problem of doing a horror in mzx... Just be really elaborate in describing things and it'll be like reading a book.

Droning ambient can work miracles too...

- Sai`ke

[Castlevania]

Sound is your best friend when making "horror" Megazeux games because I believe the scariest things are the things you don't see. So, if you create the right atmosphere with a good, chilling story then I see no reason why a decent MZX Horror game cannot be pulled off.

[paulguy]

Texas Chainsaw Zeuxicre!

[Chaos Theorist]

I created horror "Text" but I was in a hurry and deleted it,

This post has been edited by Doomboy: 09 January 2006 - 03:36 AM

[GetDizzy]

/me points to Fuzzy Love Horror and is smacked by Dr_Dos.

[weasel]

The "Silence" concept could be really easily applied to a horror game, really. Just equip the player with the four arrow keys, the space bar as an action button, and give them vague descriptions of what is around him. Force the player to rely on his ears to determine just what's going on - and use stereo effects to tell him where the zombies are coming from.

Oh, and another idea I came up with - instead of a health gauge or anything crazy like that, have another button set up to play the sound of an EKG machine for a few seconds. The faster it beats, the lower health you have.

[LostOne]

Horror is created by the reader (or in this case the player) knowing something the main character(s) do not. A sense of impending disaster. A crucial detail that is missing. It can either be explained blatently or left to the reader to put together, although the second is often better.

I started a horror game once. But I never finished it. Sad.

[Bramble]

Hey it's LostOne. What's up man, haven't seen you around in a WHILE--

[Galladin]

WOW is pure horror.