Game Making: Start By Healing the Player

Glancing at the brightly lit corridor, Sun Yixie let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Such a well lit place should be safe, right? A jumpscare couldn’t possibly be good here. Regardless, a bright setting was much more comforting than a dark one.

With this in mind, Sun Yixie moved forward, and the protagonist began squeezing his way through a narrow gap of shelves that were moved into the corridor.

Without warning, a low and gravelly voice whispered into his ears.

“Little pig.”

The screen shook violently as something grabbed the protagonist and dragged him backwards. Sun Yixie, tightly curled on his chair, let out a panicked scream, just like the character in the game.

His hands instinctively reacted and covered his face again, while his eyes remained glued to the screen, peeking through the gaps between his fingers.

A huge, grotesque figure stood towering behind the protagonist. His head was bald and seemed to have undergone horrific mutilation.

The giant of a man grabbed the protagonist, and threw him down from the upper floors.

As the protagonist smashed into the ground floor, his eyes grew blurry and his ears rang. He had to take a moment to steady himself and recover from the impact.

But soon, an NPC in priestly garb appeared by his side. His approach went unnoticed as the protagonist was struggling to get his bearings.

The priest held the camcorder in his hands, going through the footage captured thus far. And as he did, he seemed to come to a realization.

“I… I see. Merciful God, you have sent me an apostle. Guard your life, son, you have a calling.”

And with that, consciousness finally slipped away, immersing the screen in a short moment of darkness before the protagonist woke up again.

After struggling to stand, a new mission prompt appeared:

[Escape the asylum. Access Security Control to unlock the main doors]

“Shit! Fuck these jumpscares, man! Holy shit!” Sun Yixie let out a string of curses as control of the character was once again granted to the player.

Looking through his inventory, he noticed the camcorder had only a single bar of battery left.

This, combined with the earlier happenings, left him with a growing sense of unease. He felt completely exposed.

What if that big bastard of a monster comes for him again?

But thankfully, now that the scary parts had truly begun, Sun Yixie was able to let go of some anxiety.

In fact, he started to think that maybe meeting the fat monster wasn’t such a bad thing. Unlike the ghosts that most game designers used, the monster was human, albeit a scary looking one.

As he explored the surroundings, he came across other human NPCs, but they were all just sitting around, staring blankly into space.

“What’s up with these people? Are they turning into monsters?” Sun Yixie wondered.

He cautiously moved the protagonist closer, but there was no reaction. The asylum patients simply sat unresponsive.

As if they could not see him.

Feeling slightly reassured, Sun Yixie scoured the room and found some batteries, all while speaking to his audience to ease his nerves.

“Ok chat. Chat. Look, this style of horror game is usually all about setting the atmosphere. These guys aren’t enemies, they are just set pieces, there’s really nothing to be scared about here.”

As then, as if the game heard his comment and wanted to fuck with him, a patient npc sitting on a wheelchair lunged forth, tackling the player and filling the screen with a terrifying visage.

Intense music and sounds filled the previous eerie silence, the protagonist let out a scream of shock as he wrestled against his ambusher.

Sun Yixie was jumpscared so hard, his mouse was flung off the table.

He hastily paused the game and slumped into his chair, covering his face and letting out a string of curses that could barely be picked up on the microphone.

Just as he was beginning to calm down, he heard a slow creaking noise behind him.

“Oh Fuck!! Who’s here?!” He spun around and grabbed whatever was next to him, a tissue paper box in this case, and held it high above his head, eyes wild with fear.

“What do you mean who? It’s me. What’s going on, Sun? Why is the room so cold? And you… what happened to you?”

The once dark room was now lit up with the flick of a switch, and near the door stood a large, chubby man.

His head was clean shaven, so much so that the lights on the ceiling reflected a sharp gleam. He had a short, thick neck and a sleek pair of black glasses framed his widened eyes as he took in the state of his friend.

Sun Yixie, for lack of a better term, was somewhat in a state of shock. His face was pale, drained of color, and his form was cocooned in a thick, downy jacket.

“Brother Lemon! You’re finally back!!!” He exclaimed in relief upon seeing that familiar face.

Glancing at the active stream setup, Huang Donglai, otherwise known by his online moniker, Brother Lemon, came to understand what was happening.

“Ah… you were playing a horror game? Looks like one finally got to you.” Brother lemon shook his head playfully.

“Nevermind that! I’m just glad you’re back,” Sun Yixie said joyfully, feeling the refreshing sensation of gaining reinforcements. He picked up the thrown mouse and readjusted the stream camera.

“Chat, we had a lil’ mishap’ just now, just a lil’ oppsie, no big deal. Now, let’s get back to it!”

He sat down and put his headphones back on, handing Brother Lemon a separate pair. With his friend now beside him, Sun Yixie was surging with confidence.

Inside the game, the protagonist was woefully equipped. Currently carrying nothing but his damaged camera.

At this moment, Sun Yixie couldn’t help but miss the shitty horror games he was used to playing. At least those always gave him a weapon to fight back with.

“I’m back.”

The voice of Brother Lemon could be heard faintly through his headphones, animatedly engaging with the chat to catch up with recent events and asking their thoughts on the game so far.

The comforting presence gave him courage, and so he soldiered on, dodging the numerous asylum patients and reaching the security room without further incident.

As soon as the storyline had progressed, Sun Yixie noticed that the chat activity had begun to speed up significantly. This was a bad premonition, so he pulled up his hoodie and braced himself.

Brother Lemon was, understandably, confused. “Why are you doing that?” he asked.

Sun Yixie pointed at the zooming chat, so many emotes were being spammed that it was obvious the viewers were excited that something was about to happen.

“Eh?” Brother Lemon looked at the screen, where the protagonist was standing in a fully lit room. Then spin his head to look around the now brightly lit recording studio.

“It’s so bright that it’s ruining the atmosphere! What are you even afraid of? Besides, horror games shouldn’t be all that intense anyway.”

As he finished speaking, something happened in-game. The priest appeared on the monitor, looking to be inside a generator room of some sort.

After a quick prayer, he reached out and pulled a lever, shutting down the power of the facility and plunging the environment into darkness.

“Damn it!” Sun Yixie despaired.

“Good lord, Sun, steady yourself! Nothing’s happening, there aren’t even any monsters on the screen! Why are you like this?” Brother Lemon’s visible confusion intensified.

This was simply not the normally confident Brother Sun he knew. Was he acting? Playing it up for the stream? But he’s never done this before, it was starting to concern him.

Just as he was about to speak again, an ominous thud broke the silence of the game.

For a moment, nothing happened. And then it came again, louder, and more forcefully.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Something was slamming the door from the outside, something so strong that it shook the door from its hinges.

Each slam sent a chill down Sun Yixie’s gut, and he grew frantic.

“Damn it! Shut up, Lemon!” he shrieked as he finally noticed the game’s pop up on the side of the screen.

“A locker? Yes! I can hide in the locker!”

He fumbled the controls and shakily pressed the interaction button.

CRACK!

As soon as he got inside, the door snapped and broke. The same large monster that terrified him earlier came lumbering into the room.

In game, the surrounding sounds were slightly muted as the sound of the protagonist’s heartbeat echoed.

Through the gaps of the locker, Sun Yixie saw the large monster’s horrific visage and pulled back, closing his eyes to take a break.

A minute passed, followed by two more…

“Sun. Sun, why are we still hiding? The monster left a minute ago.” Brother Lemon, reading the chat and seeing Sun Yixie turtling up, asked curiously.

“Alright. Just give me a sec. I got this…”

Taking a deep breath, he slowly emerged from the locker.

“C’mon man. I’m telling you, that’s how horror games work. That was probably just a cutscene. Sure, it’s scary now, but you’ll get numb to it later on when It keeps repeating.” Brother Lemon stated with certainty.

“Don’t lie to make me feel better, Lemon.” Sun Yixie replied without taking his eyes off the screen, feeling the paranoia take hold.

“The fuck would I lie? They gave you a hiding mechanic so it’s probably going to just repeat and won’t be as scary eventually! C’mon, the chat is getting excited, let’s keep going!”

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