AntiDark Matter - a horror game?
Horror game. This is one overly used term in nowadays indie game development scene. Everything becomes horror as long as there are ghosts or zombies or other supernatural creatures which only big achievement they really need to get in their existence is to kill you. But is it really that simple? What makes AntiDark Matter a horror game?
Negative Space
The classical example of negative space in art
This picture demonstrates what exactly the idea of negative space is. Applied to a horror atmosphere it is everything which cannot been observed directly in the first place, but can be sensed by all the other things that seem to be clear. In other words, the idea is "the less the player know, the more he fears the unknown". That's why nearly every single horror game uses some form of supernatural creature - because people can't understand such phenomena. In AntiDark Matter the use of negative space can be seen everywhere - the darkness and the sounds. Everything what can be heard but not seen will make an impression in the player's mind. And in theory, the more the fear becomes angst, these images in the head will grow darker, creepier and "nightmare"-isher. But one very important point must be checked for an interactive, action horror experience: the ability to die.
"AntiDark Matter is too hard!"
Dying - it's very common in AntiDark Matter
So it seems that quite a few people couldn't pass the first contact ingame because the monstrous enemy was too fast. Well, there are many build in mechanics which cannot be seen in the first place. For example, the creature will show up after the elevator shaft depending on it's distance from the door. This decision was made to get the most possible authenticity in a RPG Maker XP game. Unfortunately, many people didn't expect such mechanics in the game. On the other side, even an excellent Dark Souls player couldn't play through this point.
The critical point
I apologize for making a too-hard-game. Although I believe, horror games must be difficult to spread some kind of helplessness, it is important to give the player a chance to play through the game. This game was made in 2 weeks, so somewhere, something had to be cut. And in this case it was the testing. It was planned to send beta versions to a couple of testers two days before release, but technical issues delayed everything. When you work with an engine, which is new to you, make sure you know the limits. This will boost the efficiency of your time schedule. The only testers who were involved were just my roommate and me. And both had no problems at this point.
After hearing the third complain, I decided to make the game easier. The door in the demonstration is not there anymore. You can download the new, complete full version V1.11 here for free:
To hope that this was the last patch would be very naive, so let's see where the next critical point is. Maybe I replace the creature with a fluffy bunny then. And this bunny won't kill you. It will kill you with cuteness. Sounds like a plan for the next update.
Indie Contest 2014 - user voting extended
As a small reminder, this game is participating in the Indie Game Maker Contest 2014 (by RPG Maker and Humble Bundle). There are tons of very interesting games, which were made in a month or less. If you like AntiDark Matter, I'd be so very thankful if you could give me a +1 on the website! :)
Here you have the link to the contest and the link to the AntiDark Matter submission. The official team judging period is over and the user voting period was extended to the end of July. Creating an Disqus account won't cost you anything but 1 minute of time. Don't miss to vote for Indie newcomers! Feel free to write me a message if you have questions. Enjoy the game!
- Johann
