Some questions about zombie outbreak-esque horror games; what scares you?

[Swat 3]

I am working with Ike on a Zombie Outbreak roleplay that focuses on horror, and I want to see what makes you guys scared.

Some trigger(!!) questions:
What makes you have that "is there something behind me?" feeling?
If you were a zombie, list a few qualities that you would have that would scare people?
What are a few things that you think would make a survivor camp eerie?
What would be something in a zombie world that would be offsetting?

Ask yourself other questions and share them.
it's for science


Please be serious and stay on topic.
pls
this is not specifically about blockland so no it doesn't belong in general discussion

[Ad Bot]

[sir dooble]

Child zombies. Infants and young children/teens. Never usually seen in video games or even movies. Not just necessary to scare you in one-off instances, but to remind you that everyone is affected.
Also works well if they're common and there are children in your survivor camps.

For eerie survivor camps, you want some survivors who are malnutritioned. Adds to the atmosphere of how dire things are.

[WaterOre]

I don't know much about zombie apocalypse scenarios, but the survivor camp should be an absolute hellhole. The real horror of an apocalypse sets in when your group begins to run out of supplies, forcing you to risk either going out for more or watch as the survivors are driven to cannibalism, eating and/or stealing the other's supplies.

[sir dooble]

To add on to the hellhole of a survivors camp, we should see the physically disabled. Amputees and the like, people who've tried to survive zombie bites perhaps, or had other injuries.

Also, conditions should be poor.
Make-shift latrines and things.

[F3d323]

something i've always thought of is that in the case of a zombie apocalypse the scariest thing wouldnt be the zombies but the humans themselves

the fear and desperation of people would probably lead to more casualties than the zombies themselves

[AcornCake]

how high the gas prices are gonna be jeez just imagine it

[ThatRandomGuy]

Some trigger(!!) questions:
What makes you have that "is there something behind me?" feeling?
If you were a zombie, list a few qualities that you would have that would scare people?
What are a few things that you think would make a survivor camp eerie?
What would be something in a zombie world that would be offsetting?

Well, the "Whats behind me?" question can be very easily answered. Sounds of someone walking other than you, branches snapping, leaves crackling.

Zombie appearance shouldn't just be the traditional "Blood and gore" look, If there actually was going to be a zombie apocalypse there'd be corpses missing limbs and zombies that still look human but have VERY distinguishing marks such as flesh deterioration.

Malnutrition, Lack of government, LOTS of problems like PTSD, insanity, and General sociopaths.

The world looking almost like it did but stores and homes would be looted, Bodies line the streets, Rouge SWAT officers.

[IkeTheGeneric]

I don't know much about zombie apocalypse scenarios, but the survivor camp should be an absolute hellhole. The real horror of an apocalypse sets in when your group begins to run out of supplies, forcing you to risk either going out for more or watch as the survivors are driven to cannibalism, eating and/or stealing the other's supplies.

The best way to convey a sense of horror in a survivor camp is to make it cramped, run-down and cobbled together. Everyone is put on edge when living in a house of cards.

To add on to the hellhole of a survivors camp, we should see the physically disabled. Amputees and the like, people who've tried to survive zombie bites perhaps, or had other injuries.

Also, conditions should be poor.
Make-shift latrines and things.

In-universe, most people are brain damaged from the virus making it's rounds, so there's going to be a lot of crippled people, loads of injured folk and whatnot. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to set bots around the camp or not.

something i've always thought of is that in the case of a zombie apocalypse the scariest thing wouldnt be the zombies but the humans themselves

the fear and desperation of people would probably lead to more casualties than the zombies themselves

Zombies show up and fade away quickly. The worst thing that the apocalypse would bring is the lasting effects. After humanity is broken down and scattered, there's no hope for many to repair their community.

Some trigger(!!) questions:
What makes you have that "is there something behind me?" feeling?
If you were a zombie, list a few qualities that you would have that would scare people?
What are a few things that you think would make a survivor camp eerie?
What would be something in a zombie world that would be offsetting?

Well, the "Whats behind me?" question can be very easily answered. Sounds of someone walking other than you, branches snapping, leaves crackling.

Zombie appearance shouldn't just be the traditional "Blood and gore" look, If there actually was going to be a zombie apocalypse there'd be corpses missing limbs and zombies that still look human but have VERY distinguishing marks such as flesh deterioration.

Malnutrition, Lack of government, LOTS of problems like PTSD, insanity, and General sociopaths.

The world looking almost like it did but stores and homes would be looted, Bodies line the streets, Rouge SWAT officers.

The thing is that the server will be set in a small town in the middle of nowhere, Canada. The ambiance will draw heavily from the sense of loneliness and insignificance.

[AutoBahn]

A real scare factor for me IMO would be when something forgets up at precisely the wrong moment; Having your gun suddenly jam when you round that corner and face the big scary thing to shoot can be a good 'oh stuff forget' moment in some cases.

When it comes to the 'eerie' feeling, ambiance can do quite a lot. Having some form of 'sanity' come into action can also really unnerve some people because they're not really sure if that thing over there's real or not.

With zombies, you really want to have a varied box of them. You can't just have everything and everyone be your run of the mill 'i'm going to stagger towards you slowly!!!!!!!!' undead; it really pays off to have things where they seem not only cosmetically different, but physically different as well. I don't mean things like 'oh this one shoots spit at you' or whatever(although that is acceptable enough), I mean physically different as in 'oh forget stuff that's an undead version of the loving hulk, and all I've got is a loving wrench' kind of different.

[IkeTheGeneric]

A real scare factor for me IMO would be when something forgets up at precisely the wrong moment; Having your gun suddenly jam when you round that corner and face the big scary thing to shoot can be a good 'oh stuff forget' moment in some cases.

Ammo and guns are going to be extremely hard to come by. Most of the time, the two most reliable things you'll have on you are melee weapons and a small firearm. The few zombies staggering around will be extremely powerful, fast and hard to take down, so facing them head-on is not a good idea.

I want the players to start off feeling weak, that way it empowers them when they accomplish even the simplest of tasks.

When it comes to the 'eerie' feeling, ambiance can do quite a lot. Having some form of 'sanity' come into action can also really unnerve some people because they're not really sure if that thing over there's real or not.

That might be something worth looking into, having low sanity causes you to hold less weapons or in worst cases, cause "blackouts", making you pass out and be returned to the nearest safehouse or something.

When it comes to ambiance, the best thing to create an immersive ambiance is sound design. Sound design will be a heavy thing, and I will make sure it's easy to install all the sound packs for the full effect!

With zombies, you really want to have a varied box of them. You can't just have everything and everyone be your run of the mill 'i'm going to stagger towards you slowly!!!!!!!!' undead; it really pays off to have things where they seem not only cosmetically different, but physically different as well. I don't mean things like 'oh this one shoots spit at you' or whatever(although that is acceptable enough), I mean physically different as in 'oh forget stuff that's an undead version of the loving hulk, and all I've got is a loving wrench' kind of different.

I was thinking about having "stages" of zombies, where zombies start of extremely strong when they've just turned, and get weaker as time moves on. Strength comes in waves, so when a new zombie horde moves into an area, they'll be tougher and in larger packs, whereas in the areas with older hordes would have weak zombies and fewer numbers.

Also I'm thinking of putting RDMers (Random Deathmatchers) into the role of the special infected. That way they can have their DM without ruining other people's fun.

[F3d323]

yeah what most zombie games do is give you guns and put slow instakill zombies or fast weak ones

i'd like to have op as forget zombies and weak newly spawned players
guns should be extremely hard to find and ammo should be really limited too though once you get your hands on them you'll find it easier for a while

hell you could make zombies extremely rare but the moment you see them you'll be trying to find a way around them rather than through them

[ThatRandomGuy]

You could make it something like the system of Metro, Having very valuable ammo and then "Dirty" ammo. A gun cleaning mechanic would be pretty neat to see too, if you shoot too many "Dirty" rounds you loose accuracy and reliability so you'd have to clean your firearm every so often. 

[IkeTheGeneric]

yeah what most zombie games do is give you guns and put slow instakill zombies or fast weak ones

i'd like to have op as forget zombies and weak newly spawned players
guns should be extremely hard to find and ammo should be really limited too though once you get your hands on them you'll find it easier for a while

hell you could make zombies extremely rare but the moment you see them you'll be trying to find a way around them rather than through them

Zombies aren't going to be in a huge numbers. Horror is about brevity, and having too many zombies could ruin the effect, which would be bad.

Just throwing out there, I'm going to have a limited amount of guns circulating the server. I'll be using GSF's storage mod instead of spawning weapons, meaning that if a gun is lost, it's gone forever.

Melee weapons and stuff like crossbow bolts and bow&arrows will be in larger supply, but won't be as effective.

There will also be other kinds of alternatives to guns in the future, but that's a secret...

You could make it something like the system of Metro, Having very valuable ammo and then "Dirty" ammo. A gun cleaning mechanic would be pretty neat to see too, if you shoot too many "Dirty" rounds you loose accuracy and reliability so you'd have to clean your firearm every so often. 

I'll be using T+T, and modifying it will prove difficult since I don't have much scripting experience. Ammo will be treated like currency, though. I like the idea of value being placed in ammo. It's in limited supply, immensely valuable and useful to everyone.

[SquartleTurtle]

zombies that want to forget you right in the pusillanimous individual

[IkeTheGeneric]

zombies that want to forget you right in the pusillanimous individual

sorry, engine limitations don't allow zombies to forget her right in the pusillanimous individual :(

not even the likes of source 3 could execute that properly