Sorry if this is the wrong spot to post this, I'm fairly bad at figuring out where to post on forums. My very Canadian apology out of the way (I'm Canadian thus the joke) I'm currently writing and the head developer of a psychological horror game, and while I'm very invested in the project I realised I have one major flaw, I don't find written things scary. Even Creepypasta aren't scary to me. So I'd like some help and advice on how to make a setting scary, what makes it scary and uneasy. Also note that the entire horror side is based on the story since the game is a text adventure game. It's nature as a game also means I can't create fear out of the loss of control, which is my main personal fear. Thanks for anyone willing to help
Sounds interesting! Have you looked at other games of a similar vain? What kind of setting are you working with- abandoned hospital, forest, city etc? Ghosts/monsters or serial killers? With these sort of things as the story unfolds I think fear of the unknown and the suspense built up around that would be something you could play on, the feeling the character is being watched or followed becoming heavier in a cat and mouse style chase. You can play with the mind of the player (I guess? in this situation?) as the character gradually realises what is happening to them, or whether it's in their mind and the ultimate feeling of helplessness.
I hope you already have specific guidelines because we might look silly speculating without specifying what you're trying to achieve. I am rather skeptical instead of intrigued by the idea you've coined here. I'm not sure I can help because if you are experienced with writing and if it's about writing then you might understand there are two ways in the creative process you have to keep in mind when creating the story; if you haven't already; either all at once or making it up bit by bit. I personally think doing it all at once has advantages to reach the qualities of being intimidatingly original, which is creepy, but if you have an original idea that still needs work then tell it. If you have an original idea or stream of ideas you don't have to worry that much about trying too hard to be scary, which is my only warning that you should not let yourself down by because most scare tactics are still effective regardless of being overused and repetitive.
I'm going towards a "breaking" of the character AND player, I want to blurr the line between the game and reality and use the Buddhist concepts of "The four noble truths" and "The Five clinging-aggregates" to try and cause the player to either give into their own misery (as the character) leading to the "Dark ending" or forsake suffering and lead to the "light ending" with a few variations throughout... I dunno if it makes sense. as for the setting, I want it to be a laboratory-style setting, much like many horror games with the whole "scientists want you to go through this hell" type of ordeal. The idea is to call it Mnemosyne and the character's chemically kept from remembering their past by administering themselves with a medicine that also prevents hallucinations, forcing the player to decide whether they want to meet hallucinations but know more about themselves or remain ignorant in the safety of no hallucinations, apart from those brought about by the fear and traumas the character undergoes. Honestly if you ask a precise question it'd be much easier to explain, but the player character wouldn't be the first one to undergo that experience, as they can find collectible "logs" to reveal a bit of the story
I assume you have enough people working on the project, don't be too skeptical if you're not easily scared by their ideas. Maybe post them in the Workshop on the forum, there is a horror section, and while an ingredient might be patience, there are people going to be invested into looking to help improve the stories/story you'd like to use.
