Hey I’m planing on making a horror game/possible arg, I want it to be for windows 9x and ms dos and can be played on real ms dos pc’s. And I want to use old software to make the game like 3ds max 1.0 (from 1996) and the quake game engine (from 1995) I have an old 90s pc I play old games on that I can test the game’s performance on old hardware. I would love for you to hear any suggestions from you to take advantage of the hardware limitations and possibly make an even creepier experience then silent hill.
@@Caleb-fv5fp I'm flattered that you would ask man, but the truth is I'm neither a dev nor a hardware expert. So really all the observations/ideas I could offer you are probably already present in this series. There's also a whole genre of polygonal horror games out there now, studying those and older games will be the key to draw your inspiration from. And I guess the one piece of advice I could give, however, is that for whatever subversive technical effect you're using in your game, try to make it seem atleast semi intentional. As in, try to avoid any effect that your audience could mistake for an unintentional error in your art or programming, rather than an intended "bad graphics" or "old game" effect. You don't want your game's style/aesthetic to be mistaken for technical incompetence, tho don't take that as advice to avoid experimentation. Anyways, best of luck to you with your game dude.
@@Ryan-Petre I just thought I’d ask sense after watching all three of your videos it seems like you know a lot about horror and the uncanny-ness of low fidelity graphics and I wanted to know if you had any advice on how a game developer could take advantage of real hardware limitations. But anyway I’m already doing research on the game development part. If you are interested I can show you pictures of my progress when I start modeling the enemies and stuff, sense I probably won’t make it public incase I want to do some sorta arg thing like petscop. I’d appreciate some input if your interested. I haven’t started yet I’m still researching but I’ll let you know when I start making some progress.
I’ve been saying for years that silent hill 1 has extra added creepiness because of its simple visuals. The PS1 lacks Z-buffering, which is why walls and floors wobble and distort as the camera moves. It makes silent hill feel dreamlike, as if what you’re seeing isn’t quite all there. That and the lack of visual definition in the monsters and environments gives the game this nightmare quality. It’s a feeling the sequels don’t really have.
I always felt like SH1's biggest strength was the horror and atmosphere while SH2's was its storytelling, while SH3 does its best to combine the two together to make for the best experience of the three (though SH1 is still my personal favorite).
Okay, as someone who’s been mostly playing older games my whole life, I could never nail down that vibe in a coherent way. You have earned a subscription ^V^
I totally get you. Silent Hill is indeed strange beyond what you see, it's feeling of emptiness and hopelessness that remains even when you complete the game several times. There's a sense of urgency, you rush into the unknown without truly understanding the reason why. Unlike other similar games there is no joy or reward in killing monsters in the game. It's a relief because in every encounter you feel like you've barely survived. It's really a masterpiece even if some of it's genius details were unintentionall.
Fascinating dissertation topic and one which I've often thought about but been unable to pin down. I've always thought that SH1 had something that the others didn't and your point about this being an unintentional side effect of the limitations of the hardware is just spot on in my view. The sequels, as you say, are trying to achieve the same thing as the first game but they are perhaps more straight in their success. They succeed because the team then had access to more refined technology and more experience so they were perhaps more readily available to meet their vision as they saw it. And that's a good word to describe the sequels; refined. Cinematic and representationally accurate (again as you say, to a certain extent), but the limitations of the original add this skew to the setting and the way the narrative is delivered inside it that is just perhaps one of the great accidents of gaming. You can imagine that if the SH folks didn't get around to making their game until a few years later, it might not have had to've been held back by the limitations that the first game faced, and perhaps we wouldn't have been blessed with the game that we agree has something that the others don't, borne by it's own imperfection. Looking fwd to pt. 2!
interesting video! as an avid fan of horror games, especially survival horror games from the 90s i agree and i feel like that feeling will never be recreated in modern games
This era of real-time 3D was dominated by sharp slabs of geometry, artifact-heavy Gouraud shading and low resolution textures, which existed somewhere between abstract and representational. It's so crude that it's not quite uncanny valley, but still detailed enough to be uncomfortable and "off" because we know what is being depicted.
Ocarina of Time was both magical and horrifying to me when it came out when I was 8. Even the music was simultaneously enchanting and creepy. I actually didn't complete it until I was in my teens because it scared me so much. I had an older friend help me get to the adult stage of the game and once I saw redeads I put the game down until I could handle it. I beat Wind Waker before I went back and played the game at all beyond wandering Hyrule Field and Castle Town as young Link
This was great, and I'm looking forward to the next two episodes. Thank you for drawing attention to the emotional effect of the style artistically, I very much empathize with your ideas.
This is a phenomenon that I have tried to explain but people think it's just nostalgia. Very early CGI has a similar creepiness to me. Even new CGI that has very low quality too. I don't know if it's connected but I find some Clay animation creepy also.
the way u described the feeling u get from the visuals of mario 64 is what i’ve been feeling and struggling to describe for years. u said that maybe u only feel this way because u played mario 64 as a kid but i don’t think that’s it because i get the exact same vibe (always have) and i did not play the original game as a kid since it was kind of before my time. i did play 64 DS a little bit as a kid but not enough for it to sneak into my subconscious and tbh i feel like the improved visuals of 64 DS kind of take away from the surrealist vibe that the original has
Great video man. Everything from the editing, the ideas and topics at play, and the way you describe both Silent Hill and Mario 64 was brilliant. I'll be keeping an eye on your channel as you go forward.
Definitely get what you mean! Even a game like Syphon Filter could be scary as a kid playing PS1 or Tomb Raider. The draw distance plays into the idea that creepy stuff or at least danger could be lurking beyond your view.
If low poly models and unpurposely lifeless environments make you feel uncomfortable, I'm sure playing "The Nomad Soul" would give you some weird vibes.
Good job, man! Very impressive for such an early video in your career. Though if I did have to give one suggestion, I'd probably try to speak a little faster. I know you're speaking slowly and in a low tone for dramatic effect, but I think you should deliver lines like that sparingly. It'll be better for the pace of the video and give those moments of emphasis even more power. Hope that helps. Looking forward to seeing what comes next! Edit: Also with the VHS effect you're going for, you should avoid making the lines go off screen for games in 4:3. In fact I think you could get away with exporting these videos in 4:3 since most of the footage is in that aspect ratio. 16:9 is only really necessary when the vast majority of the footage is in widescreen. 4:3 is good for people with weird monitor resolutions and also look a lot more clean overall.
Hey thanks a lot dude, I appreciate the advice and I agree. This is def stuff I'm going to keep in mind in the future.You might be right on the 4:3 front, I'll that out for the upcoming segments and see how that flies.
Awesome! I'll keep watching your videos and be sure to hand out constructive criticism whenever I can. Looking forward to what you got in store next! I think you have quite a bit of potential. Saw you in the comment section of Derek's stream. Anybody influenced by Derek is a good guy in my book!
regarding the super mario 64 deaths not being meant to be as harsh, i have a feeling they were considering super mario galaxy's deaths are overly brutal in the near same style as 64's
I liked most of the video. The fake VHS lines can go though along with the chromatic aberrations. It just makes it hard to watch and everyone knows it's fake. The chromatic shifts actually hurt my eyes.
Have to say I agree with you for the most part. Though I've already kind of committed to the style, I'm lessening it for episodes 2 and 3. Either way, thanks for watching.
I think the Mario 64 reading is a bit of a learned one, not sure. I think this type of game environments were made creepy in time with the media and other games produced upon it, urban legends and all. If you start looking at it from that perspective, sure, it could be creepy, but I think most of Mario 64 players just played it without feeling the creepiness. Anyone who has similar question mark can open a walkthrough video and see themselves if it's creepy or not, for me it's definitely not. That aside, the ambiguous visuals can definitely boost a horror game, so if Mario 64 had this type of intention it would work very well.
Pretty interesting. Do you know Rayman 2? I think I have the same feeling with Rayman 2 in some part of the game. Like when you have to select a level you have that giant black star space who give me this dread of absolute void. Good video and can't wait for episode 2.
Glad you liked it, homie. I haven't had much experience with Rayman 2 beyond seeing some let's play clips of it back in the day lol, and I kinda wrote it off in regards to this vid as it has a more cartoony aesthetic. But looking at the clip you're talking about now, I can definitely see what you mean. The level select does have a bit of a strange vibe to it.
Good video, tho I don't really find Super Mario 64 creepy besides the standard piano and eel lol. The "Lapras" definitely looks mechanical, but I don't know about creepy. I'll still stick around for part 2 and 3. Also your voice changed at the end and I liked your ending voice more than the video voice.
That's fair, and thanks. I definitely get that what I'm talking about is not a universal thing. And even tho I really pushed the "creepy" card a lot in the script, it's honestly kind of a misnomer. "Haunting" is probably a more accurate description. It's not overt in any way, it's just this weird feeling of disconnect, which as a kid I probably found scary but is now just kind of bizarre.
This is good and yes already he scares you. because the graphics are obscure very obscure. Wow just wow it is amazing how retro PS1 graphics are beautiful if you really pay attention.
Yeah, I'm aware of it and I spoke to him. He acknowledged my vids at the end of his video, so even though it was still pretty disingenuous there's no reason to try and start anything. That's kinda just UA-cam. You make something good and imitators jump on the bandwagon. What can ya do?
@@Ryan-Petre yeah honestly though believe it or not I was trying to find this stuff 2 years ago but nothing really touched it. That part of gaming fascinates me. But still better late than never I really enjoyed the topic
@@geekume5539 Yeah. I was honestly in a rush to make this video because I figured with PS1 graphic horror games and mario iceberg vids and shit being hot rn someone was bound to beat me to the punch. But it's a uber niche avenue of gaming so I guess it makes sense so few people have talked about it.
Well written video, but could do without the cringey whispery vocal fry. It’s clear you were trying to add to the creepy factor, but it just came across as annoying and made the video hard to watch
Thanks for watching everyone! Be sure to subscribe for the many videos on video game aesthetics and art I've been continuing to put out!
Hey I’m planing on making a horror game/possible arg, I want it to be for windows 9x and ms dos and can be played on real ms dos pc’s. And I want to use old software to make the game like 3ds max 1.0 (from 1996) and the quake game engine (from 1995) I have an old 90s pc I play old games on that I can test the game’s performance on old hardware. I would love for you to hear any suggestions from you to take advantage of the hardware limitations and possibly make an even creepier experience then silent hill.
@@Caleb-fv5fp I'm flattered that you would ask man, but the truth is I'm neither a dev nor a hardware expert. So really all the observations/ideas I could offer you are probably already present in this series. There's also a whole genre of polygonal horror games out there now, studying those and older games will be the key to draw your inspiration from. And I guess the one piece of advice I could give, however, is that for whatever subversive technical effect you're using in your game, try to make it seem atleast semi intentional. As in, try to avoid any effect that your audience could mistake for an unintentional error in your art or programming, rather than an intended "bad graphics" or "old game" effect. You don't want your game's style/aesthetic to be mistaken for technical incompetence, tho don't take that as advice to avoid experimentation.
Anyways, best of luck to you with your game dude.
@@Ryan-Petre I just thought I’d ask sense after watching all three of your videos it seems like you know a lot about horror and the uncanny-ness of low fidelity graphics and I wanted to know if you had any advice on how a game developer could take advantage of real hardware limitations. But anyway I’m already doing research on the game development part. If you are interested I can show you pictures of my progress when I start modeling the enemies and stuff, sense I probably won’t make it public incase I want to do some sorta arg thing like petscop. I’d appreciate some input if your interested. I haven’t started yet I’m still researching but I’ll let you know when I start making some progress.
I’ve been saying for years that silent hill 1 has extra added creepiness because of its simple visuals. The PS1 lacks Z-buffering, which is why walls and floors wobble and distort as the camera moves. It makes silent hill feel dreamlike, as if what you’re seeing isn’t quite all there. That and the lack of visual definition in the monsters and environments gives the game this nightmare quality. It’s a feeling the sequels don’t really have.
And that's nice very nice game!👌😏
I always felt like SH1's biggest strength was the horror and atmosphere while SH2's was its storytelling, while SH3 does its best to combine the two together to make for the best experience of the three (though SH1 is still my personal favorite).
Okay, as someone who’s been mostly playing older games my whole life, I could never nail down that vibe in a coherent way. You have earned a subscription ^V^
Thank you :)
Really enjoyed this, didn't expect to watch the whole way through. Definitely will tune in for the next episodes.
Thanks bro, glad you enjoyed it.
I totally get you. Silent Hill is indeed strange beyond what you see, it's feeling of emptiness and hopelessness that remains even when you complete the game several times. There's a sense of urgency, you rush into the unknown without truly understanding the reason why. Unlike other similar games there is no joy or reward in killing monsters in the game. It's a relief because in every encounter you feel like you've barely survived. It's really a masterpiece even if some of it's genius details were unintentionall.
Fascinating dissertation topic and one which I've often thought about but been unable to pin down. I've always thought that SH1 had something that the others didn't and your point about this being an unintentional side effect of the limitations of the hardware is just spot on in my view. The sequels, as you say, are trying to achieve the same thing as the first game but they are perhaps more straight in their success. They succeed because the team then had access to more refined technology and more experience so they were perhaps more readily available to meet their vision as they saw it. And that's a good word to describe the sequels; refined. Cinematic and representationally accurate (again as you say, to a certain extent), but the limitations of the original add this skew to the setting and the way the narrative is delivered inside it that is just perhaps one of the great accidents of gaming. You can imagine that if the SH folks didn't get around to making their game until a few years later, it might not have had to've been held back by the limitations that the first game faced, and perhaps we wouldn't have been blessed with the game that we agree has something that the others don't, borne by it's own imperfection.
Looking fwd to pt. 2!
interesting video! as an avid fan of horror games, especially survival horror games from the 90s i agree and i feel like that feeling will never be recreated in modern games
This era of real-time 3D was dominated by sharp slabs of geometry, artifact-heavy Gouraud shading and low resolution textures, which existed somewhere between abstract and representational. It's so crude that it's not quite uncanny valley, but still detailed enough to be uncomfortable and "off" because we know what is being depicted.
Ocarina of Time was both magical and horrifying to me when it came out when I was 8. Even the music was simultaneously enchanting and creepy. I actually didn't complete it until I was in my teens because it scared me so much. I had an older friend help me get to the adult stage of the game and once I saw redeads I put the game down until I could handle it. I beat Wind Waker before I went back and played the game at all beyond wandering Hyrule Field and Castle Town as young Link
This was great, and I'm looking forward to the next two episodes. Thank you for drawing attention to the emotional effect of the style artistically, I very much empathize with your ideas.
This is a phenomenon that I have tried to explain but people think it's just nostalgia. Very early CGI has a similar creepiness to me. Even new CGI that has very low quality too. I don't know if it's connected but I find some Clay animation creepy also.
All three parts of videos are amazing, but they gave me serious chills...
Haha, thanks, and good!
the way u described the feeling u get from the visuals of mario 64 is what i’ve been feeling and struggling to describe for years. u said that maybe u only feel this way because u played mario 64 as a kid but i don’t think that’s it because i get the exact same vibe (always have) and i did not play the original game as a kid since it was kind of before my time. i did play 64 DS a little bit as a kid but not enough for it to sneak into my subconscious and tbh i feel like the improved visuals of 64 DS kind of take away from the surrealist vibe that the original has
Theres nothing scarier than a giant body of water that you dont know whats in it
Great video man. Everything from the editing, the ideas and topics at play, and the way you describe both Silent Hill and Mario 64 was brilliant. I'll be keeping an eye on your channel as you go forward.
Thanks bruv, glad you enjoyed
Soothing voice and good writing.
Consider me a fan.
Thanks my friend, happy to have you on board!
Definitely get what you mean! Even a game like Syphon Filter could be scary as a kid playing PS1 or Tomb Raider. The draw distance plays into the idea that creepy stuff or at least danger could be lurking beyond your view.
That's a very good point actually, one I don't think I ever brought up in the series.
If low poly models and unpurposely lifeless environments make you feel uncomfortable, I'm sure playing "The Nomad Soul" would give you some weird vibes.
great video
Thanks!
Saw your post on GameFAQS and came from there. Awesome video! Definitely subscribing to see the rest of this series and more of your work!
Dope, thanks man. Happy you got something out of it :)
This was great! Looking forward to the other segments. Thanks!
Thanks man.
Your content is great!
Good job, man! Very impressive for such an early video in your career. Though if I did have to give one suggestion, I'd probably try to speak a little faster. I know you're speaking slowly and in a low tone for dramatic effect, but I think you should deliver lines like that sparingly. It'll be better for the pace of the video and give those moments of emphasis even more power.
Hope that helps. Looking forward to seeing what comes next!
Edit: Also with the VHS effect you're going for, you should avoid making the lines go off screen for games in 4:3. In fact I think you could get away with exporting these videos in 4:3 since most of the footage is in that aspect ratio. 16:9 is only really necessary when the vast majority of the footage is in widescreen. 4:3 is good for people with weird monitor resolutions and also look a lot more clean overall.
Hey thanks a lot dude, I appreciate the advice and I agree. This is def stuff I'm going to keep in mind in the future.You might be right on the 4:3 front, I'll that out for the upcoming segments and see how that flies.
Awesome! I'll keep watching your videos and be sure to hand out constructive criticism whenever I can.
Looking forward to what you got in store next! I think you have quite a bit of potential. Saw you in the comment section of Derek's stream. Anybody influenced by Derek is a good guy in my book!
This video is good. Keep up the good work!
When I was a kid playing super mario 64 ds bowser's laugh when when you died always scared me. So I never played it cuz I was bad at it
regarding the super mario 64 deaths not being meant to be as harsh, i have a feeling they were considering super mario galaxy's deaths are overly brutal in the near same style as 64's
If you feel this way about Silent Hill 1, I have to wonder what you think of the game it was inspired by: Alone in the Dark.
nice content
I liked most of the video. The fake VHS lines can go though along with the chromatic aberrations. It just makes it hard to watch and everyone knows it's fake. The chromatic shifts actually hurt my eyes.
Have to say I agree with you for the most part. Though I've already kind of committed to the style, I'm lessening it for episodes 2 and 3. Either way, thanks for watching.
@@Ryan-Petre It can be a cool style. Maybe just limit it a little? Good work nonetheless. I look forward to the next one.
Thanks bro will do.
I think the Mario 64 reading is a bit of a learned one, not sure. I think this type of game environments were made creepy in time with the media and other games produced upon it, urban legends and all. If you start looking at it from that perspective, sure, it could be creepy, but I think most of Mario 64 players just played it without feeling the creepiness. Anyone who has similar question mark can open a walkthrough video and see themselves if it's creepy or not, for me it's definitely not.
That aside, the ambiguous visuals can definitely boost a horror game, so if Mario 64 had this type of intention it would work very well.
Pretty interesting. Do you know Rayman 2? I think I have the same feeling with Rayman 2 in some part of the game. Like when you have to select a level you have that giant black star space who give me this dread of absolute void. Good video and can't wait for episode 2.
Glad you liked it, homie. I haven't had much experience with Rayman 2 beyond seeing some let's play clips of it back in the day lol, and I kinda wrote it off in regards to this vid as it has a more cartoony aesthetic. But looking at the clip you're talking about now, I can definitely see what you mean. The level select does have a bit of a strange vibe to it.
Good video, tho I don't really find Super Mario 64 creepy besides the standard piano and eel lol. The "Lapras" definitely looks mechanical, but I don't know about creepy. I'll still stick around for part 2 and 3. Also your voice changed at the end and I liked your ending voice more than the video voice.
That's fair, and thanks. I definitely get that what I'm talking about is not a universal thing. And even tho I really pushed the "creepy" card a lot in the script, it's honestly kind of a misnomer. "Haunting" is probably a more accurate description. It's not overt in any way, it's just this weird feeling of disconnect, which as a kid I probably found scary but is now just kind of bizarre.
This is good and yes already he scares you. because the graphics are obscure very obscure. Wow just wow it is amazing how retro PS1 graphics are beautiful if you really pay attention.
Subscribed for part 2
*vocal fry* The mid NINETIESSSSS 🐸🐸🐸🐸
Lmao, accurate.
Some guy named daggz made a carbon copy of this video and yes it's more that the concept. The choice of wording the same
Yeah, I'm aware of it and I spoke to him. He acknowledged my vids at the end of his video, so even though it was still pretty disingenuous there's no reason to try and start anything. That's kinda just UA-cam. You make something good and imitators jump on the bandwagon. What can ya do?
@@Ryan-Petre yeah honestly though believe it or not I was trying to find this stuff 2 years ago but nothing really touched it. That part of gaming fascinates me. But still better late than never I really enjoyed the topic
@@geekume5539 Yeah. I was honestly in a rush to make this video because I figured with PS1 graphic horror games and mario iceberg vids and shit being hot rn someone was bound to beat me to the punch. But it's a uber niche avenue of gaming so I guess it makes sense so few people have talked about it.
does playing super mario 64 on 3d all stars count?
why do you sound so depressed?
He sounds like he is just DONE
Well written video, but could do without the cringey whispery vocal fry. It’s clear you were trying to add to the creepy factor, but it just came across as annoying and made the video hard to watch
Thank you for being the first one to bring this issue to my attention.
bro about to fall asleep