BA7 | Concept and Pre-Production #11

Brief History of Survival Horror

Following on from my research into the types of sub genres found within horror fiction games and how they appear aesthetically to the player I found a really interesting video that showcases the history of survival horror. I watched it and made notes that might be able to help me when I design my environment for BA8. Whilst watching the video I made sure that my notes were only associated with the environments, anything that affects the design of a survival horror environment is key to me as I want to hammer in the genre/theme within my environment project in order to inject horror into its hypothetical narrative.

 

“Surviving the Horror - Survival Horror History” by ‘koosjuh75’

VIDEO SOURCE 

• A game designed around a vulnerable character placed in a dangerous world.
• The game needs to be constructed around or within a horrific environment in order to scare the player.
• Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil and Sweet Home all located in a mansion environment.
• The environment needs to be aesthetically threatening and dangerous to promote emotions in the audience such as fear and anxiety which are common in survival horror (as well as psychological horrors).
• The element of unknown in environments caused terror in the player, for example, in Resident Evil whereby you would walk into a room and hear a zombie but due to the fixed camera angles you were never quite sure where the zombie was which promoted panic and terror.
• Environments must appear to have made an impact on the player, it relates to how the narrative is being told in order to scare the player, something must appear to have happened.
• Negative space is used in games to emphasise fear and uneasiness.
• “Not knowing is generally scarier than knowing", you let your mind fill in the blank and this is usually scarier than anything the developer could design as its personal to the player.

Quick! Research Report Opportunity!

The video makes reference to a Gamasutra article in which audience emotion manipulation is discussed and described. This is helpful to me because the article, written by Daniel Cook, refers to the mechanics behind audiences emotional responses and reactions to visual stimulus on screen. Cook explains the theories of emotion from psychologists Stanley Schater and Jerome Singer who state that there are two separate but associated states a person goes through in order to achieve an emotional response and feeling. They are: 

Physiological change: This refers to the persons physical state when faced with emotionally provocative stimulus, it affects heart rate, causes sweaty skin, nervous shakes and “other elements of physiological arousal”.

Cognitive label of the physiological change: This refers to the persons association to the situational context which in turn assigns a label to the physiological change. 

Cook puts the terminology in an easier to understand manner: “Simply put, when your body reacts physically to some stimuli and you mind assigns meaning to your physical state, you synthesize an emotional response.” 

I have selected pieces from the article which can be found here. Although I have gone off on a research report tangent here, as the title suggests, having read through the article I was happy to realise that there was information relevant to both my research report AND environment 3D project. I have tried to separate highlighted notes between the two projects so its easier to see what I am referencing to and why. Yellow highlight is linked to my research report and blue is linked to my 3D environment.  

• The two formerly mentioned terminologies for describing and explaining emotion within audiences can be far more practically applied to game design.
• Game environment artists understand how to ensure their environments communicate the correct narrative to the player whilst provoking the appropriate emotional response to visual stimuli within the level.
• Noise, memories, personal responses to real life, phobias and other forms of physical reactions affect the sympathetic nervous system.
• The audience has to rely on their brain to link corresponding memories, experiences and relevant situations together to determine what an activity within a game actually means in order to create an emotional response.
   

  

• Audiences need to have the correct physical state in order to produce the desired emotion such as nervous shakes and sweating may lead to the emotion fear.

  

• Game design, and other forms of media, require their audience to recall on emotional memories which is referred to as an aspect of “basic human cognition”. The audience has a physical response to visual stimulus and thus has a physical response such as shaking or sweating, this is then linked to the cognitive label the audience member applied from their experiences of the physical reaction. 

 

 

• A point that I am trying to make central in my 3D environment project is the use of visual semantics. This refers to symbolism, visual stimulus, narrative told through environments with a common goal to create and inject horror into an environment. Reading this article helps me determine how I can better do this with a basic core understanding of how audiences become emotionally manipulated and why. Symbols can be considered crucial triggers to human emotion, they set off memories in our mind which are associated with specific emotions.
• By associating the media with pre existing memories the audience can begin to link them with sounds, images and physical or social situations.
• Tapping into their own memories and experiences help designers are able to find common ground with audiences in order to create realistic emotional responses to visual stimuli as they have a core understanding of how it affects them. 

 

 

• “Relevant stimuli” is something I want to re create within my horror environment, ensuring I inject themes of horror correctly in order to evoke the appropriate emotional reaction from the audience. Understanding how detailed stimuli and personal stimuli work is going to prove incredibly helpful regarding how I approach the design and assets within the environment.
• Emotional memories can help determine successful visual stimuli, relating aesthetics to pre existing memories and experiences help clarify an emotional response. 

 

• Game designers must communicate themes, genres, ideas, narrative and emotions through their environments so that the player can read the level correctly and show the appropriate emotion. The use of stimuli is incredibly helpful in persuading the player to feel a specific way and relates to Ivana Mullers visual semantics theory.
• The environment must rely on the portrayal of human experience that the player can associate with or, at least, understand in order to demonstrate the correct emotion intended.
• Ambiguous messages are okay because it leaves the interpretation open to the player, so long as the visual semantics are correct the stimulus behind them will enable the player to show the correct emotion. 

 

 

• There are some elements to consider that may deter from the correct emotional response from your audience however. Players can start to ignore visual stimuli that is crucial in determining the appropriate emotional response, they become cold to the visual semantics within the environment and this can cause incorrect emotions. For example, less is more, and when in a horror level, if the player is faced with gallons of blood, the blood no longer acts as an functioning visual stimuli because the player gets to used to it. Blood in God of War has an entirely separate emotional reaction being communicated in comparison to games such as Outlast where blood means danger and causes fear.
• Every audience member is different and its impossible to determine how every member will emotionally respond to various visual stimuli placed within the medium. 

 

 

Conclusion

Okay so having gone off on quite a tangent, a helpful tangent, but a tangent none the less I feel it is appropriate to write up a conclusion referring to both my projects separately with regards to how this Gamasutra article has benefitted me in terms of research and studies. 

Research Report

• The article gives me a new terminology closely associated with Ivana Muller’s named “visual stimuli”.
• I have learnt a theory on how emotion is artificially re created and enforced within visual media, this also has terminology too which are “physiological change” and “cognitive change”. Physiological refers to the physical ways in which visual stimuli affects the player, sweaty palms, nervous shakes, feeling queasy for example. The cognitive change refers to how our human emotion and experiences draw links and connections to previous occurrences and the visual stimuli in order to create a form of emotion in the audience.
• Emotional reactions from audiences come from the experiences we have already had in life, these are a cognitive response that are triggered by the physiological reaction to the situation and/or visual stimuli.

3D Environment/BA8

• The article reaffirms how important it is for an environment to communicate some form  of narrative visually to the audience by using techniques/mechanics such as visual stimuli and semantics.
• Environments can have ambiguous meanings behind them because as humans we tend to apply our own personal experiences and meanings to subject matter, this is the same with environments.
• Symbolism plays a large part in ensuring an environment communicates and provokes the correct emotional response in the player. Symbols that players understand from pre existing media, narrative or experiences (such as blood tends to mean danger, a cross could be religious etc) lead the player to a physiological change and then onto the cognitive. 

And To Finish…

The last segment of this research post is linked to another video series I watched on survival horror. I am watching these to ensure that my own personal feelings, thoughts and assumptions about survival horror (including psychological and surreal horror) games is accurate so that I can insure my 3D environment reflects the appropriate and correct themes of horror. The two videos cover the fundamental approaches to survival horror games and I have taken notes but tried to keep in mind that I am working towards building an environment, not a gameplay demo, so my notes reflect that. Here are the videos and my notes, enjoy :)

      “Video Game Genres - Survival Horror” Part 1 VIDEO SOURCE        “Video Game Genres - Survival Horror” Part 2 VIDEO SOURCE 

• People have a love of being scared, play on the fact that people are curious.
• "Areas inaccessible until the appropriate item has been found"
• Puzzles?
• Item collection and management is an important function in survival horror games and plays a part in emphasising the psychological emotions provoked in horror games. In a 3D survival horror environment you need to consider that items would be collected.
• Consider places where enemies could be hiding.
• Consider obscure and distorting angles with regards to lights, cameras and asset placement.
• Items, notes, journals, diaries, crystals, money, collectables etc.
• Playing a character within a game is scarier than watching a film is scarier because we become emotionally attached to the avatar, this links to the physiological and cognitive changes.
• Fear of the unknown.
• Monsters become a part of the atmosphere of a horror game.
• No over powered characters, this needs to be reflected within the environment. It can't have an array of melee weapons etc laying around because it reduces the idea of vulnerability.
• Confusing the player can cause more fright in the audience than blunt horror.
• Don't over saturate the environment with obvious horror, create surreal subtleties.