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Stairwells...

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 6:20 pm
by mykie
I remember seeing the game at PAX, and noticed that when the main character gets to a stairway, it just fades out and the next scene fades in.

Will there be any scenes with the main character going up or down the stairwells? I think stairwells are incredibly scary in the dark, especially when you can't see where you're going! Would love to see some scary stairwell scenes!

Re: Stairwells...

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:17 am
by Grabthehoopka
I agree. When I think back on my earliest memories of Resident Evil, the thing that sticks out to me the most are the loading screens, with the doors and stairs. I (falsely) assumed that they deliberately made the loading screens like that because they would put some jump scares in, and every time I went through a door for the first time, I held my breath because I knew that maybe, JUST MAYBE, this was gonna be the one. Code Veronica made it worse on at least one occasion by making you go to an area that they have been sure to let you know is very dangerous and has monsters you haven't come across yet. So you go to the door, and instead of the doorknob turning and the door opening right away, they play a heart beat and the camera slooooooooooowly zooms in on the doorknob, which sloooowly turns and the door opens...and there's nothing on the other side. At least not right away.

I'm not saying to put RE-style transition screens in, of course, but, like Alfred Hitchcock once said, and I'm paraphrasing him horribly, horror movies are unique in that, in any other movie, if you spent one minute showing someone opening a door, it would be boring, but in a horror movie, the audience will be on the edge of their seats. I understand movies and games are two very different things, of course, but the same applies to games, and I know you already know this because of the long, ultimately uneventful walk down the long hallway at the end of the demo.

So, I guess, don't be afraid to have some slower parts specifically to draw out time between the player and what they're dreading, because the player will use that time to speculate, interpret, and anticipate what they're dreading, which is, in more practical terms, a load of valuable work that you don't have to do.

Re: Stairwells...

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:34 pm
by matt
We actually had the staircases half finished before the demo, but had to cut them in the interest of time. We'll definitely be adding them in.

I agree that slower parts are important because it helps build anticipation. There definitely will be slower parts.

Re: Stairwells...

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 6:00 am
by gagaplex
In a similar vein, I'd really like to see animations for walking "upwards" and "downwards" (but for all I know they're already in there and just weren't in the demo I played yet).

Re: Stairwells...

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:55 pm
by matt
Yeah, they are on my wishlist as well. We will probably get them in, but it is a fair bit of work because we have different walk animations for the different objects the player can carry... For the time being, we are focusing ouranimaton efforts on prototyping new gameplay (enemy encounters and running).

At the very least, I think we need a walk away from the screen. For walking towards the screen, it doesn't look AS bad because it's a 3/4ths view.