- Apr 20, 2010
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Warning, it contains spoilers of a new mob-type, so don't read if you don't want to know about it.
I think it sounds effing awesome.
http://notch.tumblr.com/post/8208212863/the-psychology-of-the-reticle-and-the-feeling-of
Here is the snippet:
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
Last weekend, I started working on a new mob because I was frustrated with the slow progress on some town code I was writing, and for some reason I decided to make yet another creepy one. Its dark, it has long and narrow limbs, moves very slowly, and will pick up blocks and move them around. I wanted this to be a mob you only saw in the distance and a mob youd be afraid of, but when I playtested it, it mostly felt like a regular zombie. Theres was a distinct mismatch between looking creepy and not actually playing creepy. When I made it move faster towards the player when attacking, and deal more damage, it got more difficult and I started respecting it, but it never felt creepy or scary.
So I thought some about what creepy actually is, and its more about trying to avoid something from happening than it is about actually having that thing happen. If you know something bad can happen if you do the wrong thing, you will start thinking about your actions, and that might make things more scary.
So I made it passive until you looked straight at it. And that was scary. Suddenly you could walk up to these looking beasts (theyre three meters tall) and watch them as they moved their blocks around, but as soon as you happened to look straight at them, theyd attack. And by straight at them, I mean putting the reticle on top of them. You can keep them visible on screen and actually look straight at them in real life, but as soon as your in game character looks straight at them, boom.
Still, that was more scary than creepy. Its like a jump scare in a movie. You know it might happen at any time, and when it happens you freak out a bit. I wanted something a bit more psychological. So to really drive home the point of looking at them being bad, I made the Endermen freeze and turn towards you when you look at them. As long as you look straight at them, they stand perfectly still and look straight at you. As soon as you look away, they will run (very fast) towards you.
And they teleport. If theyre too far away to reach you in a short period of time, they will teleport about once per second. They try to make sure they always teleport to somewhere you can see, as I dont want to confuse the player as to what is happening.
I think it sounds effing awesome.
http://notch.tumblr.com/post/8208212863/the-psychology-of-the-reticle-and-the-feeling-of
Here is the snippet:
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
Last weekend, I started working on a new mob because I was frustrated with the slow progress on some town code I was writing, and for some reason I decided to make yet another creepy one. Its dark, it has long and narrow limbs, moves very slowly, and will pick up blocks and move them around. I wanted this to be a mob you only saw in the distance and a mob youd be afraid of, but when I playtested it, it mostly felt like a regular zombie. Theres was a distinct mismatch between looking creepy and not actually playing creepy. When I made it move faster towards the player when attacking, and deal more damage, it got more difficult and I started respecting it, but it never felt creepy or scary.
So I thought some about what creepy actually is, and its more about trying to avoid something from happening than it is about actually having that thing happen. If you know something bad can happen if you do the wrong thing, you will start thinking about your actions, and that might make things more scary.
So I made it passive until you looked straight at it. And that was scary. Suddenly you could walk up to these looking beasts (theyre three meters tall) and watch them as they moved their blocks around, but as soon as you happened to look straight at them, theyd attack. And by straight at them, I mean putting the reticle on top of them. You can keep them visible on screen and actually look straight at them in real life, but as soon as your in game character looks straight at them, boom.
Still, that was more scary than creepy. Its like a jump scare in a movie. You know it might happen at any time, and when it happens you freak out a bit. I wanted something a bit more psychological. So to really drive home the point of looking at them being bad, I made the Endermen freeze and turn towards you when you look at them. As long as you look straight at them, they stand perfectly still and look straight at you. As soon as you look away, they will run (very fast) towards you.
And they teleport. If theyre too far away to reach you in a short period of time, they will teleport about once per second. They try to make sure they always teleport to somewhere you can see, as I dont want to confuse the player as to what is happening.
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