Your dream horror game?

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matt
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Re: Your dream horror game?

Post by matt »

Wow, that is a really cool idea! It might take some explaining of the rules though for those of us who haven't had experiences with diabetes. I was unaware it was so complicated, but it does seem terrifying to have to carefully balance everything.

In "Under the Dome" the novel (and I think the TV show too), they are trapped in a dome, and there is a limited amount of insulin, so all the diabetics have to fight over the resources. While it is completely different than your idea, you could also do a Walking Dead game sort of thing based on diabetes where you have to make hard choices choosing to take the insulin when someone else needs it.

(Off topic, but the book is completely different than the show and way better in my opinion. It's a slow build up, but everything came together in the end in an absolutely brilliant way! It's not super horrific, but I really enjoyed the book.)
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
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RightClickSaveAs
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Re: Your dream horror game?

Post by RightClickSaveAs »

Are you going to keep watching Under the Dome when it comes back in a month or so? I probably will, even though it's gotten incredibly goofy. Apparently Stephen King really endorses the show, and he's been vocal in the past about not liking something based on his work (The Shining), so I'm really confused. I love the guy's books, but his ideas on movies and TV can be really weird. Maybe he's just too close to the work.
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matt
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Re: Your dream horror game?

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Yeah, I'll keep watching it, but the problem with TV shows is that it is hard for it to go anywhere. The novel had this amazing slow build up were it put all the pieces into place, and then climaxed in a terrific way. If you don't know how many seasons you have to stretch out your narrative, it makes it difficult to pace and to make sure it goes somewhere.

Once they reveal what the secret of the dome is (which is apparently going to be completely different than the book), what are they going to do with the show? If they don't reveal the secret of the dome for too long, then it'll get boring...

It is weird that he was unhappy with Kubrick's the Shining for changing too much but is quite happy with Under the Dome despite it removing a lot of what made his novel so good. Interestingly, they did a TV adaptation that was pretty faithful (which I think Stephen King liked), but it was not very good... I think Kubrick's Shining is better than King's novel, but perhaps I'm biased since I saw it first. I did quite enjoy Doctor Sleep (the sequel) although it wasn't that much of a "horror" novel - at least in my opinion.
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Harry Sunderland
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Re: Your dream horror game?

Post by Harry Sunderland »

matt wrote:Wow, that is a really cool idea! It might take some explaining of the rules though for those of us who haven't had experiences with diabetes. I was unaware it was so complicated, but it does seem terrifying to have to carefully balance everything.
It's actually a nightmarish/exaggerated version of the disease. A lot of people with diabetes actually can just take pills to regulate their blood sugar, and those who require insulin can buy pumps that automatically administer insulin based on their blood sugar. It's much simpler in practice.

The mechanic was actually more based on how out-of-control/vulnerable I felt being hospitalized as doctors kept running tests on me and checking numbers. I actually never really enjoyed horror until that experience. I never really knew fear until that point in my life.
ranger_lennier
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Re: Your dream horror game?

Post by ranger_lennier »

matt wrote:Yeah, I'll keep watching it, but the problem with TV shows is that it is hard for it to go anywhere. The novel had this amazing slow build up were it put all the pieces into place, and then climaxed in a terrific way. If you don't know how many seasons you have to stretch out your narrative, it makes it difficult to pace and to make sure it goes somewhere.

Once they reveal what the secret of the dome is (which is apparently going to be completely different than the book), what are they going to do with the show? If they don't reveal the secret of the dome for too long, then it'll get boring...
It sounds like you could be talking about Lost there. I was totally onboard when that show started, and loved the sense of a mystery being slowly unveiled. But then they just kept piling on more mysteries and secrets and twists without anything ever really making much sense. And by the last couple of seasons you've got time travel and purgatory. At this point, I'm not even sure how I'd begin to summarize the plot.
Grabthehoopka
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Re: Your dream horror game?

Post by Grabthehoopka »

RightClickSaveAs wrote:I love the guy's books, but his ideas on movies and TV can be really weird. Maybe he's just too close to the work.
Well, I can try to tell you why, but I think it's best to let Mr. King explain why himself, from everyone's favorite quote source as of late, Dance Macabre, and the chapter specifically dealing with that subject, The Horror Movie As Junk Food:
Stephen King wrote:I am no apologist for bad filmmaking, but once you've spent twenty years or so going to horror movies, searching for diamonds (or diamond-chips) in the dreck of the B-pics, you realize that if you don't keep your sense of humor, you're done for. You also begin to seek patterns and appreciate when you find them.
So, I think that explains why he tends to prefer his work cornier and generally more awful when it's adapted. (although I loved the shit out of The Mist, and the film version is considerably more serious than the novella it's based on, and he has said that the film version has a bleaker ending than anything he is capable of imagining.)
matt wrote:Interestingly, they did a TV adaptation that was pretty faithful (which I think Stephen King liked), but it was not very good...
Stephen King didn't just like it, he wrote the screenplay and directed that entire miniseries himself! I'm sure he was confident based on the smashing success of the only other thing he'd directed up to that point, Maximum Overdrive! (ugh.)
But, curiously enough, I believe it was while he was really meticulously, faithfully adapting his book for the screen that he gained his begrudging appreciation for the Kubrick version that he still holds today. I guess there were parts that he didn't realize just don't work on the big screen, and didn't realize until he was out there doing it or watching it afterwords. I've been there, and it always sucks.
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matt
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Re: Your dream horror game?

Post by matt »

The mechanic was actually more based on how out-of-control/vulnerable I felt being hospitalized as doctors kept running tests on me and checking numbers. I actually never really enjoyed horror until that experience. I never really knew fear until that point in my life.
Ah, I understand. I felt similarly when I had my first asthma attack. It is crazy when you realize how fragile the human body can be. It is easy to take breathing for granted, but it is extremely important. I was so scared that I was hyperventilating, which only made my problems worse. I never understood the point of breathing into a paper bag, but when they gave it to me at the hospital, it made a huge difference. I actually felt really stupid that part of my problem was caused by my own fear.

While I didn't incorporate a full blown asthma attack, I am happy I was able to integrate the helpless feeling from asthma in the game, and it managed to be pretty compelling if I do say so myself.

On the subject of Stephen King, I do see the potential for Under the Dome deteriorating into a kind of Lost situation, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't!
But, curiously enough, I believe it was while he was really meticulously, faithfully adapting his book for the screen that he gained his begrudging appreciation for the Kubrick version that he still holds today.
I don't think he really appreciate it. :-/ In the author's note of Doctor Sleep, he said:
The Shining is one of those novels people always mention (along with 'Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary [sic], and It) when theytalk about which of my books really scared the bejeezus out of them. Plus, of course, there was Stanley Kubrick's movie, which many see to remember - for reason I have never quite understood - as one of the scariest films they have ever seen. (If you have seen the movie but not read the novel, you should note that Doctor Sleep follows the latter, which is, in my opinion, the True History of the Torrance Family.)
He seems almost frustrated and confused with Kubrick's success...

While I do enjoy Stephen King's analogy about panning for gold, I'm not sure if he'd argue that his work is best represented as cheese-y B-movie horror. Who knows! Some of his movie picks in the ending of Danse Macabre were a little questionable, so maybe you are right.
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
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