Spoiler Cabin in the Woods: the Game

[Sir Quaffler]

I really want someone to create a game that plays out similarly to Cabin in the Woods.

What I mean is, I want an online multiplayer horror game where two teams are fighting against each other, 5 being the campers trying to survive whatever horrors come their way, and the other 5 or so behind the scenes trying to kill off the campers in specific ways. At the beginning, the computer randomly picks which players belong to which team, what their roles are, and what the overall objective is.

For the campers, it's pretty simple. You're either Dana the "virgin", Jules the "loose one", Curt the "athlete", Holden the "scholar", or Marty the "fool". Your task: to survive by any means necessary and to play your part. Which is a lot harder than it may seem, as you have no superpowers, no special training, nothing. You control like a normal person, and you have to survive once you choose your fate. And if you happen to win, you're judged based on how well you coped with the situation and with how well you stuck to the role (or if you went really off-track like Marty did in the movie, how well you pulled that off).

For the control group it's a bit more complicated. You're either one of the two head honchos behind the controls, or you're switching off between the monsters, the "Harbinger", or security guards if things turn against you. While the campers only know to survive, the control knows exactly who must die and in what order. The Harbinger is really more of a gag, and he can pretty much say whatever he wants as long as it gets the campers unnerved before they arrive at the cabin. The control station guys are the heart of the team, manipulating the scenario according to what the campers have chosen to kill them according to the scenario. And if the campers manage to bungle things for you and make their way down to your base, then you have to fend them off and whatever other tricks they have up their sleeves (like in the movie, the campers have the opportunity to turn the monsters against the facility workers if they get down there).

I think this is a really awesome idea, because it puts co-op competition into the horror genre. How horrifying would it be to try and fight to survive with 4 other strangers against monsters which someone else is controlling? Or how awesome would it be to pull off a hitch-less ritual behind the scenes?

What do you guys think? Is there anything you'd add or change? Discuss.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Multiplayer and horror will never mix. Horror is brought on by isolation, the fear of what's waiting for you just around the corner. When you take away that isolation, you take away the horror. The game you're suggesting is just the Left 4 Dead multiplayer.

 

[Dan]

Multiplayer and horror will never mix. Horror is brought on by isolation, the fear of what's waiting for you just around the corner. When you take away that isolation, you take away the horror. The game you're suggesting is just the Left 4 Dead multiplayer.

Left 4 Dead isn't suppose to be scary however. I agree that when playing a horror with other gamers around it does take out some of the fear factor, same as when watching a horror movie. I think they can still mix however and the game can still isolate you by detaching you from your friends, maybe each player has to go off and do a task of his or her own. Leaving the comforts of the group could be more so nerve racking as you're taking away a safety net, I think taking away safety nets is another great way of creating some fear factor.

Although I can still imagine four gamers getting together having a voice chat half drunk while playing it utterly destroying the horror altogether ;p, I believe their are a couple co-op horrors around but yeah they aren't so popular but I'd love to see one work.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Left 4 Dead isn't suppose to be scary however. I agree that when playing a horror with other gamers around it does take out some of the fear factor, same as when watching a horror movie. I think they can still mix however and the game can still isolate you by detaching you from your friends, maybe each player has to go off and do a task of his or her own. Leaving the comforts of the group could be more so nerve racking as you're taking away a safety net, I think taking away safety nets is another great way of creating some fear factor.

Although I can still imagine four gamers getting together having a voice chat half drunk while playing it utterly destroying the horror altogether ;p, I believe their are a couple co-op horrors around but yeah they aren't so popular but I'd love to see one work.

If the players are still in communication with one another, then it won't be scary. And if you're going to have players go off and do separate tasks while separated and without voice communication, why not just develop a single-player horror game? It's better than trying to incorporate a token multiplayer element.

 

[Moonstone]

If the players are still in communication with one another, then it won't be scary. And if you're going to have players go off and do separate tasks while separated and without voice communication, why not just develop a single-player horror game? It's better than trying to incorporate a token multiplayer element.

I dunno. I like it. I think it would be quite terrifying to be playing with a group of people, go off on your own a little way... you can still hear them chatting. A loading screen... you can't hear your companions anymore. You look behind yourself and you're stuck in this new zone, alone and afraid. What's happening to your friends? Can they get to you? After tense minutes, you realize they aren't loading in. You're alone in here now. And you have to find a way to get out.

Maybe you meet up with different players along they way, and the cycle of grouping and getting separated repeats.

I think that this could work out very well. It would just depend on how they instance out the zones.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

I dunno. I like it. I think it would be quite terrifying to be playing with a group of people, go off on your own a little way... you can still hear them chatting. A loading screen... you can't hear your companions anymore. You look behind yourself and you're stuck in this new zone, alone and afraid. What's happening to your friends? Can they get to you? After tense minutes, you realize they aren't loading in. You're alone in here now. And you have to find a way to get out.

Maybe you meet up with different players along they way, and the cycle of grouping and getting separated repeats.

I think that this could work out very well. It would just depend on how they instance out the zones.

If you play with friends in a horror game, the game stops being horrific and starts being funny. You'll be joking with each other, shrugging off aspects of the game that might be terrifying in singleplayer.

 

[Moonstone]

If you play with friends in a horror game, the game stops being horrific and starts being funny. You'll be joking with each other, shrugging off aspects of the game that might be terrifying in singleplayer.

That's why I'm saying to have both. One minute you're joking around with your friends the next... all alone. Silence. Are you thinking this game would be split screen, and you'd be sitting right next to all your friends? Because that's not how I imagine it. Even if it were, there are ways the game could still make it intense.

"Ok, Jim says he turned right down this corridor.... um... Jim... there's no door here... we can't get to you."

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

That's why I'm saying to have both. One minute you're joking around with your friends the next... all alone. Silence. Are you thinking this game would be split screen, and you'd be sitting right next to all your friends? Because that's not how I imagine it. Even if it were, there are ways the game could still make it intense.

"Ok, Jim says he turned right down this corridor.... um... Jim... there's no door here... we can't get to you."

Intense? Yes. Scary? No. If you're in communication with people, you're not isolated. It won't be scary.

 

[Moonstone]

Intense? Yes. Scary? No. If you're in communication with people, you're not isolated. It won't be scary.

Ok, so if you want the experience to be scary and isolated, you could the option to queue up online with random people. Then, when you get instanced away from everyone, you can't communicate. If you want to play with friends and have it be scary, you can queue with them online while they're at their own homes or wherever.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Ok, so if you want the experience to be scary and isolated, you could the option to queue up online with random people. Then, when you get instanced away from everyone, you can't communicate. If you want to play with friends and have it be scary, you can queue with them online while they're at their own homes or wherever.

But if you're always in communication with those people—hell, if you always know those people are around—the game stops being scary.

 

[Moonstone]

But if you're always in communication with those people—hell, if you always know those people are around—the game stops being scary.

If you're put into a different instance (entering a new room, walking too far ahead, falling too far behind, otherwise losing sight of your teammates, etc.), that instance will cut your communication to the rest of the players.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

If you're put into a different instance (entering a new room, walking too far ahead, falling too far behind, otherwise losing sight of your teammates, etc.), that instance will cut your communication to the rest of the players.

Then you might as well just make it singleplayer.