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Kojima on Silent Hills camera perspective & world design

This has been done so many times lately that I think it might be it's own Horror genre, like generic non generic combat. I hate hiding mechanics. Oh yeah and escape mechanics, I hate those too. Except with a certain part in Silent Hill 2.

To be clear, I wouldn't want to play as someone utterly helpless who has to hide or trap everything that comes their way. I would just want a kind of horror experience where the solution to every problem isn't to spray bullets or bludgeon/stab everything you see. I would rather things be more dynamic.
 
Personally, I think horror games are best played in a first person view.

Third person views always feel like you're controlling a character; versus first person feeling like there is no character.. you are the character. Obviously, Norman will throw a dent into things; as they want you to be Norman. Regardless, I feel like you get a better sense of urgency and harm; when something is up close and personal with the screen. When a character attacks a third person controlled person; the danger feels minimized. Also, the fight or flight senses are damaged by dealing with rotating a camera around a character and fumbling to get him to move in the directions you try to push him. First person views combine the two elements and you get a better sense of control.

I think there is still a long way to go with making first person views feel correct when in cover or hiding in or behind various elements. If a game can capture the feeling of looking around a wall, or creeking a door open for a slightly better view and make it feel natural; than the horror elements will also come naturally to that. Having your character hidden in a 3rd person perspective; but being able to control the camera separately to see what's coming on the other side of cover... just dampens the experience. It literally separates the urge to tackle your curiosity and sense of exploration; from the direct danger of the character you're controlling.
 
I would just want a kind of horror experience where the solution to every problem isn't to spray bullets or bludgeon/stab everything you see. I would rather things be more dynamic.

Ala Resident Evil (1 (and 2)) and Silent Hill (1-2 (and three)) combat. NFL quarterbacking your way through was often needed, especially in RE1, as not only faster, it was often the only way to save precious bullets. Now that's more dynamic without unnecessary mechanics.
 
While I agree with most everyone's sentiments regarding 3rd person outside, 1st person inside (even though I am nostalgic when it comes to Silent Hill and am used to 3rd person, and feel more attached to the character in that respect) I also would love to see more static camera shots like the opening of SH2 when James exists the bathroom and you see the trees and Toluca Lake in the distance. It gives a sense of grandeur, almost like the opening credits of The Shining, and I think forced camera angles gave the series, especially 1, its unique aesthetic.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Personally, I think horror games are best played in a first person view.

Third person views always feel like you're controlling a character; versus first person feeling like there is no character.. you are the character. Obviously, Norman will throw a dent into things; as they want you to be Norman. Regardless, I feel like you get a better sense of urgency and harm; when something is up close and personal with the screen. When a character attacks a third person controlled person; the danger feels minimized. Also, the fight or flight senses are damaged by dealing with rotating a camera around a character and fumbling to get him to move in the directions you try to push him. First person views combine the two elements and you get a better sense of control.

I think there is still a long way to go with making first person views feel correct when in cover or hiding in or behind various elements. If a game can capture the feeling of looking around a wall, or creeking a door open for a slightly better view and make it feel natural; than the horror elements will also come naturally to that. Having your character hidden in a 3rd person perspective; but being able to control the camera separately to see what's coming on the other side of cover... just dampens the experience. It literally separates the urge to tackle your curiosity and sense of exploration; from the direct danger of the character you're controlling.
Obviously subjective but the best horror games ever released are not first person.
 
Honestly, Silent Hill needs to be third person since it's a long tradition. They can implement first person views in some parts, but I would rather them stick to third person primarily first and foremost since there are so many first person horror games and games in general on the market. An option for both imo would be nice also and possibly not too difficult to accomplish to make everyone happy. I am not too sure how I feel about an open world Silent Hill since open world is being shoehorned into everything these days, but I think Hideo can make it work. Yeah, 2016 does sting but hopefully Phantom Pain will be out in 2015.
 

kunonabi

Member
Woah, you are the only person Ive seen who didnt like the room mechanic. Was a great way to take a breather, and the way the room changed to actually become a danger later was great.

lots of us hated the room segments. A glorified hub with poor framerate and item detection is of little value and mediocre puzzle/horror elements didn't do enough to lift it up.
 
Obviously subjective but the best horror games ever released are not first person.

Especially when you want the audience to focus on the character as part of the story. Which I feel is very important for a strong horror game. I like both views but all my favorites are third person.
 
Ala Resident Evil (1 (and 2)) and Silent Hill (1-2 (and three)) combat. NFL quarterbacking your way through was often needed, especially in RE1, as not only faster, it was often the only way to save precious bullets. Now that's more dynamic without unnecessary mechanics.

Agreed, a "fight or flight" approach would definitely be more popular with me. I like my survival horror to have truly limited resources. Early RE games often came down to evaluating your supplies and deciding to trade ammo for life, or life for ammo. I always enjoyed that mechanic because I felt like I was forced to make a decision that might have consequences later. My earlier comment about trapping/hiding would be something I would like to see in more of an optional stance--rather than a forced stealth approach, I think it would be fun to have the ability to truly tackle situations in multiple ways--murder everything, hide/evade/stealth, run for your life, etc. Being compelled to mix up those approaches based on your limited supplies would make the game have more variety without having forced stealth, combat, etc scenarios that only give you one option.
 

Eknots

Member
3rd person linear, idc if it sounds childish demanding that. i'm so sick and tired of this first person horror games and silent hills are open enough imo
 
Obviously subjective but the best horror games ever released are not first person.

And they'd be ruined in 1st person, which is way too restricting. You can do much more in 3rd person and I don't see the bigger immersion in 1st person view. It's too unnatural to actually feel like ,,being'' the person, especially once combat comes into play. There's more important factors that determined the stellar atmosphere of a SH2 or REmake.
 
Agreed, a "fight or flight" approach would definitely be more popular with me. I like my survival horror to have truly limited resources. Early RE games often came down to evaluating your supplies and deciding to trade ammo for life, or life for ammo. I always enjoyed that mechanic because I felt like I was forced to make a decision that might have consequences later. My earlier comment about trapping/hiding would be something I would like to see in more of an optional stance--rather than a forced stealth approach, I think it would be fun to have the ability to truly tackle situations in multiple ways--murder everything, hide/evade/stealth, run for your life, etc. Being compelled to mix up those approaches based on your limited supplies would make the game have more variety without having forced stealth, combat, etc scenarios that only give you one option.

Yeah I could live with that. Have you played (the first, at least) Siren? It pretty much is everything you said there, but didn't exactly nail any of them.
 

ItIsOkBro

Member
Personally, I think horror games are best played in a first person view.

Third person views always feel like you're controlling a character; versus first person feeling like there is no character.. you are the character. Obviously, Norman will throw a dent into things; as they want you to be Norman. Regardless, I feel like you get a better sense of urgency and harm; when something is up close and personal with the screen. When a character attacks a third person controlled person; the danger feels minimized. Also, the fight or flight senses are damaged by dealing with rotating a camera around a character and fumbling to get him to move in the directions you try to push him. First person views combine the two elements and you get a better sense of control.

I think there is still a long way to go with making first person views feel correct when in cover or hiding in or behind various elements. If a game can capture the feeling of looking around a wall, or creeking a door open for a slightly better view and make it feel natural; than the horror elements will also come naturally to that. Having your character hidden in a 3rd person perspective; but being able to control the camera separately to see what's coming on the other side of cover... just dampens the experience. It literally separates the urge to tackle your curiosity and sense of exploration; from the direct danger of the character you're controlling.

What if you're not the character though. I'm not James Sunderland in SH2.
 

Eknots

Member
Personally, I think horror games are best played in a first person view.

Third person views always feel like you're controlling a character; versus first person feeling like there is no character.. you are the character. Obviously, Norman will throw a dent into things; as they want you to be Norman. Regardless, I feel like you get a better sense of urgency and harm; when something is up close and personal with the screen. When a character attacks a third person controlled person; the danger feels minimized. Also, the fight or flight senses are damaged by dealing with rotating a camera around a character and fumbling to get him to move in the directions you try to push him. First person views combine the two elements and you get a better sense of control.

The most scared I've been by a game has been in 3rd person, so I don't think that statement is true for all people, 1st person doesn't make me feel anymore attached to the character or make me feel like the character.
 
Yeah I could live with that. Have you played (the first, at least) Siren? It pretty much is everything you said there, but didn't exactly nail any of them.

I have played some of the original Siren on PS2, as well as Blood Curse on PS3. I never got around to finishing either one, but that wasn't so much a dislike of the games so much as I found the difficulty would often get to a point where I would get stuck and I would end up not getting back to them. I enjoyed the atmosphere in the Siren games. If Kojima's Silent Hill has elements of them but better mechanics, I think it could work out well. But admittedly I haven't had the complete Siren experience, so I may be off-base.
 

Get_crazy

Banned

Because, it allows developpers to make everything fit perfectly in the gameplay rather than giving the players the choice betwen 1st person or 3rd person and giving up on scary things only possible in 1st person (like the moment the ghost bitch grab your head and twist it) and vice versa.
 

kunonabi

Member
The most scared I've been by a game has been in 3rd person, so I don't think that statement is true for all people, 1st person doesn't make me feel anymore attached to the character or make me feel like the character.

same here. it just feels like a floating camera moving through hallways. completely killed amnesia for me when items would just float in front of you when holding them.
 

PooBone

Member
I think first person works better for horror games, honestly. I like that they are going to apparently be doing a mix of first and third. 2016? Good. Take your time.
 

PooBone

Member
Out of curiosity, how much content from Guillermo Del Toro's canceled THQ horror game "TWISTED" do you think will wind up in Silent Hills?
 

Get_crazy

Banned
Out of curiosity, how much content from Guillermo Del Toro's canceled THQ horror game "TWISTED" do you think will wind up in Silent Hills?

You mean inSANE?

insane_1313667540.jpg
 
I love this....

" Hey guys I have an idea for a game!"

"Awesome, we should make a teaser!"

"Yeah lets get the teaser out and then we can start work on the game."
 

Lord Panda

The Sea is Always Right
It has to be 1st person only. Why ruin the immersion by having it switch from 1st-person to 3rd-person?
 
I actually enjoyed the room segments, so if they could make those but with scary shit happening it'd be great. Of course then it would be just like every other horror game that's been released in the past 5 years or so.
 
Make it 2017 for all I care, just make it good.

Until then I'll remain excited. I just hope they nail the 'feel' of silent hill.

Such beautiful games.
 
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