So, I am a new developer, just starting out with game design on any real scale. I've decided to try making a small part of an idea I have for a Lovecraft inspired top down survival horror game. If it's well received, and I'm able to develop my skills and the skills of those working with me, we might expand it. But, for it to even get off the ground, I need to do research and figure out if I can make people scared from such a distant perspective.

My thoughts on it are that I might be able to get the camera to work for me. Lovecraft is all about making humans insignificant. If I play it right, I might try to hit a sweet spot where you can see a good bit of the world around you, your character appearing physically small on the screen. The downside of that is that any combat is happening far away. So a dynamic system might work where combat zooms in while travel zooms out. But then it gets into the horror itself of if people will be scared of monsters and environments they can only see downward.

Any thoughts? I'm mostly just rambling on ideas and thoughts so any of that would be great.

Checkout Darkwood by Acid Wizard Studio. It's a horror game that uses a top down view.

Checkout Darkwood by Acid Wizard Studio. It's a horror game that uses a top down view.

Awesome! I will most definitely check it out.

I remember OnlyOneInAll did a fairly good job for the OHRRPGCE.

Graphics may be very dated, but the ambiance worked on a number of occasions (and I did jump a bit on a few quick dirty tricks).

http://www.castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=750

I remember OnlyOneInAll did a fairly good job for the OHRRPGCE.
Graphics may be very dated, but the ambiance worked on a number of occasions (and I did jump a bit on a few quick dirty tricks).

http://www.castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=750

Stellar! I'll be sure to check it out.

There's a ton of examples of well done horror top-down games. A great many of them were made in RPGMaker back when that was really popular. Corpse Party, Ib, The Witch's House, Mad Father, etc are all fantastic examples.

The way I saw horror done in those games is a mixture between gory cutscene art/narratives and jump scares mostly, which is about all you can do. The issue is that perspective is really fighting you in a lot of cases, especially in the art direction. What you lose in scary monster art you gain in being able to set up environmental atmosphere that might not be possible in first person effectively, and top-down horror games tend to keep that in mind.

Yeah, that's a bit along the lines of what I was thinking. What you lose up close you gain in distant. I should really check out those rpg horrors. If love to see if I can utilize some of those themes in a survival horror.

There needs to be a distinction between horror and suspense. The original xcom was extremely suspenseful, but not horror.

I don't really think I've played a horror game that's top down, and stayed in that viewpoint for horror scenes.

There needs to be a distinction between horror and suspense. The original xcom was extremely suspenseful, but not horror.

I don't really think I've played a horror game that's top down, and stayed in that viewpoint for horror scenes.

It's Lovecraftian horror, which goes have a lot of suspense in it. Mostly focuses on a blend of the two. That's a lot what I'm going for, a looming unease, knowing something is out there bigger than anyone, mixed with envionmentla cues and the effects that these dark gods have on the world.

Lovecraftian sounds just right for a very distant top down perspective. Give the player wide vistas of creepy places, get them used to very small characters and features before giving them glimpses of horrible things that fill up (or can't fit) in the screen. He was big on hinting at monsters without showing them, I can imagine you could use the same to good effect. Perhaps the player is fleeing some mysterious evil through the woods, you've got this huge mostly black screen, with a tiny character holding a torch fleeing through the dark woods, assailants potentially anywhere. Maybe if you run too fast you trip over branches and down hills, so you've got the tension of needing to run but being forced to proceed cautiously.

Alienation, loneliness, helplessness: drab colors and a remote view support these themes. Perhaps the player walks through an ageless rural town and these little pixel people in somber colors flee ahead of him, hiding behind locked doors. Everyone is indistinct, nobody will speak with you, even the hero is a distant being instead of a first person self.

Lovecraft was big on filling in all the mundane, moody details and just alluding to the horrible, so your mind fills in the details for you. Great art for the setting and then almost impressionist glimpses of the scenes of a massacre or a non-euclidean castle shifting into and out of existance might accomplish the same effect.

First person is better for things jumping out at you, close views of horrible scenes and creatures, making you think just briefly that it's you in this terrible world. A remote view distances you from the action, but I think that amps up the sense of helplessness and lonliness that underly a certain brand of psychological, literary horror.

Lovecraftian sounds just right for a very distant top down perspective. Give the player wide vistas of creepy places, get them used to very small characters and features before giving them glimpses of horrible things that fill up (or can't fit) in the screen. He was big on hinting at monsters without showing them, I can imagine you could use the same to good effect. Perhaps the player is fleeing some mysterious evil through the woods, you've got this huge mostly black screen, with a tiny character holding a torch fleeing through the dark woods, assailants potentially anywhere. Maybe if you run too fast you trip over branches and down hills, so you've got the tension of needing to run but being forced to proceed cautiously.


Alienation, loneliness, helplessness: drab colors and a remote view support these themes. Perhaps the player walks through an ageless rural town and these little pixel people in somber colors flee ahead of him, hiding behind locked doors. Everyone is indistinct, nobody will speak with you, even the hero is a distant being instead of a first person self.


Lovecraft was big on filling in all the mundane, moody details and just alluding to the horrible, so your mind fills in the details for you. Great art for the setting and then almost impressionist glimpses of the scenes of a massacre or a non-euclidean castle shifting into and out of existance might accomplish the same effect.


First person is better for things jumping out at you, close views of horrible scenes and creatures, making you think just briefly that it's you in this terrible world. A remote view distances you from the action, but I think that amps up the sense of helplessness and lonliness that underly a certain brand of psychological, literary horror.

This sounds really fantastic. I can imagine some great scenes of these. The world I'm working in is one where the dark gods have returned to the universe, destroying the Sun and all the stars. Human societies have become isolated, and each as created their own delusions lesser than that of reality. So imagine walking into a new city, talking to a vender about your terror outside its relative safety. Slowly, people lock themselves away from the mad man in their city. This setting also means opportunity for vast wilderness and claustrophobic cities. I love the tripping mechanic as well. Having to be careful amongst this vine and moss or risk the monster(?) catching you.