More creepy horror elements

[Snorrsenkel]

The other day i thought about people (like friends of mine) talking about Zomboids gameplay like "boring" in the long term.
Maybe this is not about a lack in content, more like immersion and atmosphere.

Why not adding the world of zomboid more creepy and misterious elements in the singleplayer late game?
So players have more motivation for long sessions. And its also possible to simulate levels of insanity from isolation/poison/drugs

NEW EROSION FEATURES:

• spawning of creepy graffitis and drawings in the town areas
• rare spawning of items and corpses near the players range for wtf-moments (eg: Foreign Trap found. This trap wasnt here before, is there a NPC? Do i have to hide? Also: Spawning of poisened food = Who is trying to kill me?)

 

SOUNDS

• random sounds without definable source
• indoor-jumpscares!

 

NPC

• The Lategame-Stalker. This is going for some good creeps. After day-X, why not adding a insane person to the lategame that is hiding, following and watching the player?

 

RADIO

• strange radio-broadcasts from mentally weak people, like "i am going to find you (the players name)"... "i saw xyz-creatures near ABC"

Nasty stuff like that is missing in the lategame to bring players out of their comfort-zone. Is this going too far, or a good boredom-killer?

[Strats]

I like this idea; maybe the stalker could act like a late-game helicopter? In moments of psychosis, he decides to try and kill you by luring zombies to your location through some means, and you have to lose him by running between trees and what not. Eventually, he dies perhaps?

[Snorrsenkel]

On first contact, the meta-stalker is just stalking passive and tries to hide and runs away if the player moves towards him.
Weeks later he breaks into your safehouse, breaks windows, displaces furniture and writes creepy graffiti. Winter gives extra-creeps, as you can see his footprints in the snow. He could wait behind every door, and you hear him helicopter-metagame-style...

He could be the crazy army freak, whos living isolated in one of the cabins in the woods. If you manage to find him, you'll find a good loot in his house, plus his freaky radio-transmitter with a huge antenna and long range capabilities. You can use it to call for help outside the event zone, maybe.

[King jjwpenguin]

I would love to see zombies that notice you and will watch you for a bit before attacking you unless inside a certain radius. If one of those things was watching me i would flip out.

[King Kitteh]

I wouldn't like a stalker that's just gameplay elements... As in, you can never find them. When they add NPCs though they'll probably add the fear and creep factor.

Imagine waking up to an NPC standing over you. Or seeing an NPC staring at you from a window then disappearing.

 

Finding zombies in bathrooms is meant to be a jumpscare btw, you just get used to it.

 

Things like the dead people surrounded with bleach is also intended to be creepy. Also you will find random dead bodies that you didn't create.  Even if you set zombies to zero.

I've only seen this a few times, but sometimes you may go into a house and see one room is barricaded and you can hear thumping from inside.

 

Also I've never been blind drunk in this game, but I think you begin to see hallucinations of zombies that aren't real, or atleast you used to.

(I think there was also a glitch where they could hurt you, but that might have been a joke)

 

The devs are definitely interested in the creep factor.

 

On 3/31/2016 at 10:30 AM, King jjwpenguin said:

I would love to see zombies that notice you and will watch you for a bit before attacking you unless inside a certain radius. If one of those things was watching me i would flip out.

This would be pretty cool. The dormant zombie also kinda adds up with the reason the devs chose slow dumb zombies. You're always paranoid whether you didn't shake that one last zombie, and if they're slowly making their way to your safehouse. Knowing that the zombie saw you, and that it could follow you home is pretty creepy.

 

Also, instead of zombies instantly turning around when they hear noise. Maybe have them slowly cock their heads and turn. It could get pretty creepy if you thought they heard you but they were just moving a bit.

[MadDan]

I'm one for flickering lights, also. I'd love some more horror elements for sure, would make it more immersive. Flickering lights until they cut out and make use for the flashlight. Maybe a brighter flashlight with a smaller arc?

[Spracky]

Guys, think when basements are added and we can go underneath industrial buildings into the utility rooms and stuff... Flickering lights, water dripping, "dead" silence (sorry), and a shuffle of feet behind you...

[Livio Persemprio]

4 hours ago, MadDan2013 said:

I'm one for flickering lights, also. I'd love some more horror elements for sure, would make it more immersive. Flickering lights until they cut out and make use for the flashlight. Maybe a brighter flashlight with a smaller arc?

You mean flashlights actually do something? As far as i know they don't even project the proper come of light, they just make a cm or two around your PG a little brighter (though last time i tried was in build 31)

Is it any different now?

[Heporlathic]

I think you shouldn't be "artificially" adding the horror to the game.

Note that every game gets boring after a while, if you know how everything operates.

 

Maybe the key to surprising/scaring the player is to have unpredictable zombie behaviour,

darker nights ( I did a post on this ), and of course psycho npcs that fire their automatic weapons at 3 AM in the forest, hunting deers.

 

I think some sort of a late game stalker would just turn the game into something completely else,

not relying on the continuous horror anymore, but a quick scare moment.

 

All in all I think unpredictable things are the most scary

 

Happy times,

your heportlathic

[uberevan]

I don't think they're going for a horror feel.  I think anything that is scary should be situational and not because of some event.  Example: if you're scared you're going to starve, it's because of its own problem, not because its implemented solely to spook you.

Edited April 5, 2016 by uberevan

[DresdenBBQ]

Well still though late game things would be pretty spooky with npcs just imagining going to sleep in your base and in the night some npcs or a horde found their way to your base? Hordes find their attacking your strong hold would be pretty sick. Along with defending your base against npcs or just npcs that shoot at you once and then run off just to scare you.

[King Kitteh]

So... Maybe not so horrifying, but tense?

 

Although I should point out that horror =/= jump scares. Horror is paranoia, fear. Did that zombie see you? Who was that guy running into giga mart? The horde slowly walking towards you. You aren't in danger yet, but you could be. 

 

When gunshots and screams happen in the distance that are actually created by NPCs that will be kinda freaky.

[uberevan]

13 hours ago, King Kitteh said:

So... Maybe not so horrifying, but tense?

 

Although I should point out that horror =/= jump scares. Horror is paranoia, fear. Did that zombie see you? Who was that guy running into giga mart? The horde slowly walking towards you. You aren't in danger yet, but you could be. 

 

When gunshots and screams happen in the distance that are actually created by NPCs that will be kinda freaky.

I agree completely.  This isn't scary because it's a monster game, it should be scary because of the situation you're forced to survive in

[DresdenBBQ]

I think it would be good to have a perfect balance between tense and horror that kind of thing.

[Blasted_Taco]

In my opinion, all the creepy stuff could work along side with the Madness or Insanity factor the devs want to do.

 

Seeing things in the corner of your eye, hearing sounds, thinking maybe you saw an NPC and all kinds of stuff that could happen if you let your character go insane could do wonders for the game.

[Snorrsenkel]

Quote

I think you shouldn't be "artificially" adding the horror to the game.

The idea with stalking is not about horror-movie stuff.  Its about the strange feeling of being obverved and unsecure. Being alone in the lategame, but you have evidence that some NPCs out there know about you, but avoid contact. And maybe its because they have something to do with the knox event, or they just act more clever than you.

In a PZ-situation, human contact could become very dangerous because you dont know what others are about, and if their mind and intensions became twisted after a event like this.

I see lots of strange or dangerous people every day that make me creep, without civilisation this is a serious thread. This is what i mean: No contact -> Stalking first.
I think this quite a realistic aspect that would add some new strategy to the game. New ways to survive or die.

[Heporlathic]

1 hour ago, Snorrsenkel said:

The idea with stalking is not about horror-movie stuff.  Its about the strange feeling of being obverved and unsecure. Being alone in the lategame, but you have evidence that some NPCs out there know about you, but avoid contact. And maybe its because they have something to do with the knox event, or they just act more clever than you.

In a PZ-situation, human contact could become very dangerous because you dont know what others are about, and if their mind and intensions became twisted after a event like this.

I see lots of strange or dangerous people every day that make me creep, without civilisation this is a serious thread. This is what i mean: No contact -> Stalking first.
I think this quite a realistic aspect that would add some new strategy to the game. New ways to survive or die.

 

The way I see a stalking mechanism to be implemented would be if NPC's

were building crates/log walls in the area of your base. Maybe some banana peels, too (creepy!)

 

Any other way of giving the player the feeling of being stalked?

- items missing from crates?

- broken walls/furniture

- notes with death threats

 

like that?

[Snorrsenkel]

Thats what im talking about. I really like the banana-situation!
Monthly death-threats should be found in your mailbox, btw.
Nobody checks the mailbox.

The winter-situations:
- find footprints that lead to cabin in the woods

- find running generator and food
- nobody inside
This is where you should be able to hide inside a locker, underneath the bed or trashcan etc. to wait for someone and find out first what he/she is about and if this person is a thread.

- find footprints that stop near your safehouse

The hangover:
- you drank too much booze in your safehouse and wake up 2 days later naked anywhere in the wilderness with empty bottle in you inventory
Good luck finding home!

The stranger near the river:
- see a normal person standing on the other side of the river
- go there > nobody there
- find note with death tread

The safehouse-situation:
- come back to your safe house = find wooden sign with skull, door open, broken windows
- come back to your safe house = burned down with note: "you did this to your self" (too much maybe)

The grafitti-situation:
- grafittis with numbers and (radio-) frequencys spawn in the late game

Radio-transmissions:
- you get strange radio transmissions with religious nonsense, poison recipes and military codes


You know... if you manage to survive this PZ for a long time, this overall creepy environment with this little mind-games and traps is what you should get. Seeing civilisation fall, not only visual from erosion, but also from a psychological aspect. I hope something like minds that will become insane will be a part of the NPCs. This is very interesting. The longer you survive, the more likely people will overstep the bounds of good taste and start to play their games with you. You get to know persons darkest side, because of boredom, or because there is nothing left to live for.
Go for a 3 weeks trip with your friends in a camping caravan and you know what i mean. 8)

[King Kitteh]

On 4/9/2016 at 4:41 AM, Snorrsenkel said:

find out first what he/she is about and if this person is a thread.

Put the knitting needles down man! I SAID PUT THEM DOWN!

[MadDan]

I'm not for the stalker idea. I agree that NPCs should be unique and give you an unexpected horror feeling if they're getting angry and threatening your group, or is a tall big leader of an evil group. Something that gets you immersed, tense, heart racing. I know that is what's intended.

 

Here's something I post a lot and it's in relation to a horror element. 

 

Imagine walking through a deserted school, rifle and backpack visible on your character, limping through the dark hallways trying to escape a horde, an NPC or just scavenging. Lights flickering, they go out, or it's running on a generator and you have to go to the basement (of your own free will) to turn it on. The rooms are covered with erosion, there's blood on the walls, is it from a human or the undead? 

 

That'd have my hands sweating, my heart racing and would, I hope, suit PZ without going out of the way to intentionally try to scare people or annoy them. It creates a horrific atmosphere and is bound to immerse people in the game and make them active I'm sharing experiences like that.

 

That's one of the many ways I see this being tackled, if tackled at all.

Edited April 11, 2016 by MadDan2013

[DresdenBBQ]

On 4/8/2016 at 7:16 AM, Heporlathic said:

 

The way I see a stalking mechanism to be implemented would be if NPC's

were building crates/log walls in the area of your base. Maybe some banana peels, too (creepy!)

 

Any other way of giving the player the feeling of being stalked?

- items missing from crates?

- broken walls/furniture

- notes with death threats

 

like that?

First two are horrible ideas because i doubt there would be anyway to get a stolen item back and what if it was a sledge, and breaking walls/furniture would just be straight annoying.

[King Kitteh]

16 hours ago, Queen Glory said:

First two are horrible ideas because i doubt there would be anyway to get a stolen item back and what if it was a sledge, and breaking walls/furniture would just be straight annoying.

I'm a bit confused by what you mean here. Are you against the game mechanic where random stuff is removed from your base/stuff being broken.

 

Or are you against literal NPCs trying to break your stuff and rob you?

 

Or both?

 

Because I can understand the first one, but the second one is exactly what I want from the game.

[DresdenBBQ]

Nah if NPCs were coming to my house and breaking down a random wall for no reason and leaving that would be dumb now if i got robbed then i would be mad and if this feature came into the game there probably wouldnt be a chance to get it back at first.

[Snorrsenkel]

Stealing/break stuff shouldnt be in the purpose to annoy the player. In my idea its just about leaving evidence that another person was inside your house. If something is removed or broken it sould be a random onetime event.

Also:
"burglar trap"
-find blueprints
-put them under carpet
-chance to see visitors footprints

 

[Joshnpk]

On 3/31/2016 at 1:41 AM, Snorrsenkel said:

NPC

• The Lategame-Stalker. This is going for some good creeps. After day-X, why not adding a insane person to the lategame that is hiding, following and watching the player?

 

 

This is a good idea, but it shouldn't just be "spawned in" and should instead be an available behavior for an NPC to adopt given the right criteria.

 

So it might not just be your character who get's stalked, you could stumble across an NPC who is spying on another NPC. What you don't see, and which happened in the back ground in the land of RnG was that the stalker rolled unstable and jealous personality traits on spawn when the map was first created and eventually encountered an NPC who rolled charismatic and confident personality traits on spawn. After lets saying forming a group with other NPC's and seeing the NPC who eventually get's stalked getting close with other NPC's of the group, the NPC who eventually becomes the stalker triggers a roll due to having the jealous trait, a roll that determines that the NPC would become jealous long term of this individual instead of potentially just in the short term. Then lets say after there hole group was killed by zeds, due to the stalker having the unstable perk that event then triggers another roll that determines that the stalker would become permanently unstable as opposed to just potentially distressed in the short term. Because the stalker has now fulfilled the criteria of being unstable and jealous that then triggers another roll that determines that this individual will now stalk the NPC in question, there could even be another roll to determine the exact reason, cause he thinks it's the NPC's fault the hole group died (when it wasn't), the NPC was bad news etc. So if you where to speak to the stalker and where rather charismatic you the player could find out why he's doing it.

 

I know that's all rather convoluted but I hope the NPC system works along these lines as opposed to that of "spawning in" characters like stalkers. Because what makes the idea of a stalker like character following you around cool isn't just the fact that an NPC is following you, it's about the context and the background as to why he's following and a system that allow's for such a thing to exist is what makes that idea and NPC's in general cool.