138 - Tension

[matt]

In this video, I discuss the importance of tension and how we try to use it in Neverending Nightmares.

[gagaplex]

Really revving up the anticipation for the next build here.

[matt]

I can't wait to release it! We got the first pass on the music for the level, and I think it's going to be really intense once we get the remaining sound design.

[Grabthehoopka]

Alfred Hitchcock once said, and I'm probably misquoting him here, that suspense (so, horror and thrillers) are unique because you can devote a full minute of screen time to a character doing something that ordinarily only takes seconds, like walking down a hallway or opening a door, and the audience will be on the edge of their seats. Gus Van Sant boiled suspense down to being "You know, but you don't know when." You're supposed to know that there's a bomb on the bus, and it might blow up, and it becomes tense. If you don't know and the bus just blows up, then it's just startling, and it's a poorly executed jump scare. Ah, the poorly executed jump scare, the horror equivalent of a pie in the face...

I think the "you know, but you don't know when" is how Fatal Frame (the first one, haven't gotten to the second one yet) maintains such a high, constant level of tension compared to other games in the genre; because it's designed around doing it better than the others without being contrived.

[matt]

I think I've read that quote as well. Alfred Hitchcock always has the best quotes about suspense! You should definitely try Fatal Frame 2. I think the gameplay is better, but it's not quite as tense as 1 for me.

[Grabthehoopka]

Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film.

Someone once told me that every minute a murder occurs, so I don't want to waste your time; I know you want to go back to work.

Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house.

And of course, what should be the personal mantra of anyone making anything horrifying or suspenseful--

Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.

You should definitely try Fatal Frame 2. I think the gameplay is better, but it's not quite as tense as 1 for me.

As long as they fix the controls. In the PS2 version, you aim with the left analogue stick and move with the right analogue stick, so they went with the "southpaw" FPS control scheme that nobody in the history of anything has ever used. And the worst part is, there's like 8 control scheme configurations in the options menu, and that's practically the only thing that doesn't change in any of them! Ugh.

Anyways, I have the second one, but I haven't gotten around to beating the first one yet. I bought a PSN digital download combo of both games on amazon for like $8. Yeah, I didn't know they sold PSN content on amazon either, but it was one of those things that I saw and immediately bought so quick and so hard that I had to physically prevent myself from grabbing my wallet firmly in fist and punching a hole through my monitor with it. You seem like the collecting type, I'm sure you know the feeling.

[matt]

I played the Xbox versions of 1 and 2, which were director's cuts. I think they had control options to make them reasonable, but that may have been an Xbox only thing. However, I think Xbox 1 came out before Fatal Frame 2, so one would think that they would have fixed it.

Interestingly, Fatal Frame: Director's Cut had an option to play entirely in first person, which seems like it'd kind of ruin the game. The 3rd person camera was awesome and was pretty important to setting up scares.

I am a collector, so I know the feeling. Also, those are some great quotes!

[RightClickSaveAs]

Yeah, I didn't know they sold PSN content on amazon either, but it was one of those things that I saw and immediately bought so quick and so hard that I had to physically prevent myself from grabbing my wallet firmly in fist and punching a hole through my monitor with it. You seem like the collecting type, I'm sure you know the feeling.

I bet Valve is working on a way to allow you to make purchases this way. Introducing SteamFist: Punch your way to great discounts!

[ranger_lennier]

As long as they fix the controls. In the PS2 version, you aim with the left analogue stick and move with the right analogue stick, so they went with the "southpaw" FPS control scheme that nobody in the history of anything has ever used. And the worst part is, there's like 8 control scheme configurations in the options menu, and that's practically the only thing that doesn't change in any of them! Ugh.

When I used to play Goldeneye multiplayer long, long ago, I'd map aiming to the center analog stick (the N64 only had one), and movement to the right C buttons. Then I'd circle strafe around people who often didn't understand how I could do that.

I eventually learned to play the "normal" way once everything was dual analog.

[Grabthehoopka]

Interestingly, Fatal Frame: Director's Cut had an option to play entirely in first person, which seems like it'd kind of ruin the game. The 3rd person camera was awesome and was pretty important to setting up scares.

From what I understand, the Xbox version had reasonable controls, since that was the version I played years and years ago and I don't remember struggling with the controls; the wonky version is unique to the PS2 version. But seriously, I've wrestled with bad controls before, I know it comes with the territory, but switching the analogue sticks in a first-person viewpoint is like intensely practicing for a driving test for months ahead of time, and on the day of the test, the instructor tells you you have to push the pedals with your fingers and steer with your feet. If I had a nickel for every time I was in an urgent situation where I had to operate on gut instinct, and I pulled the camera out and immediately pointed it down and to the side while walking towards the ghost, I would have a small fortune.

Luckily, I've adapted (somewhat) and developed a system of sorts that helps me cope. If I need to readjust, I will do so, moving around without touching the left analogue stick. If I'm in a situation where I need to move, then I just jam the right analogue stick backwards and hold it there while I do all the aiming with the left stick. Nonstop backpedaling I can handle. Everything else is hand-pedaling foot-steering madness.

When I used to play Goldeneye multiplayer long, long ago, I'd map aiming to the center analog stick (the N64 only had one), and movement to the right C buttons. Then I'd circle strafe around people who often didn't understand how I could do that.

If I remember correctly, there actually were some bizzare control schemes that involved using two N64 controllers at once. In hindsight, it seems like they were really ahead of their time, including not one but multiple dual-analogue stick FPS control schemes, even if it meant implementing them in the most bizarre and roundabout method possible. Take the N64 controller, already one of the most awkwardly-designed controllers ever, and expect at least one player on planet earth to play with two of them, one in each hand -- someone on the dev team had to have said "Someday, they'll recognize my genius. Someday! And then they'll see! THEY'LL ALL SEE!!" at some point.