After discussion, the official name of the new game was decided to be "Mountain Village Memories."

This is a suspense horror game.

The gameplay is a mixed bag; it not only has the puzzle-solving and exploration aspects of traditional suspense horror games but also includes some unique elements like parkour and real-time combat.

"Parkour?"

"Yes, parkour!"

Chen Ba explained, "Unlike other horror games, the map of ’Mountain Village Memories’ will be quite large, covering an entire village including the back mountains, which is pretty vast."

Why create such a large map?

In other horror games, the story usually takes place in one house or a standalone building, without much space to move around. When encountering danger, players either hide in cabinets or under beds...

This is also to use the cramped space to give players a sense of insecurity and crisis.

In simpler terms, it’s best not to make the map too large in horror games!

But "Mountain Village Memories" goes against the norm by creating a large map, allowing players to explore an entire village instead of being confined to a single building.

This left Lu and Liu Jinfu puzzled. Why make such a big map? Did Ba intend to create a kind of semi-open world in a horror game?

The purpose turned out to be for parkour!

According to Chen Ba, the reason the map of "Mountain Village Memories" is so large is mainly to facilitate players in being chased by monsters, allowing for parkour and hide-and-seek.

"Hide-and-seek?"

"Exactly, classic horror gameplay: you chase and I run, you hide and I seek..."

Chen Ba explained, "Horror games always have chase elements to stimulate players’ adrenaline. Especially when a blood-soaked face suddenly appears on the screen, scaring players into a panic, it’s always effective."

"Mountain Village Memories" enhances this segment, making the hide-and-seek phase very crucial.

The village seems large, but when playing, it feels small. As players flee in panic or excitement, the village doesn’t seem as vast as imagined.

Moreover, there’s a horror element within it!

Chen Ba tried to depict a scene: A player, frightened in Building A, is chased by a monster and flees to Building B to hide. Hearing the footsteps growing fainter, the player breathes a sigh of relief, only to turn around and see...

"The monster is right in front of you?"

"No!"

Chen Ba said with a slight smile, "A family of four wearing funeral attire, looking like the dead, is seated around a wooden table, on which lies a bloody, unidentifiable animal’s head..."

When this family of four all turns to look at the player, the sense of horror immediately hits.

As players are chased out the door by the knife-wielding family in the dark night, they will experience a third wave of fright and thrill when seeing low stone and wooden houses not far away.

"I get the gist..."

Liu Jinfu pondered, "Ba, you want to create a feeling that although the village is large, players don’t feel safe anywhere, and every place feels like a danger zone?"

"That’s about right!"

Chen Ba nodded, "The game features two scenarios: day and night. During the day, villagers have smiling faces, kind and amiable."

"At night, everyone has expressionless dead faces, their faces pale as paper, with no trace of life..."

This is also why the map is made large.

When Chen Ba was a child, he once went with Old Chen to visit relatives. Because Old Chen got delayed with drinking, they returned to the village in the middle of the night.

Coincidentally, there was no moon that night.

In pitch-black darkness, standing at the village entrance looking inside, one could vaguely see rows of houses, like monstrous gaping mouths, exuding a strong sense of horror.

But that’s not the main point; the main point is that in such a terrifying atmosphere, not yet ten years old, Chen Ba instinctively wanted to grab Old Chen’s sleeve, but when he turned his head, Old Chen was gone.

"I burst into tears, only to find out later my dad just went into the bushes to relieve himself!"

After sharing his own experience, Chen Ba brought up a crucial setting: the feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land!

The game’s protagonist grew up in the village, which might make them braver. But for the players controlling the protagonist, had they ever been to this village before?

No!

For players, every blade of grass and tree is unfamiliar, and this sense of unfamiliarity amplifies the terror.

Consider this:

If players were to experience the protagonist’s journey themselves in reality, they might pass out from fright before solving the first puzzle as night falls.

Of course!

Creating a truly terrifying atmosphere and triggering players’ adrenaline is a deep art, not something that can be explained in a few words.

The storyline is one aspect, visuals are another, and sound effects are crucial!

Additionally, there are details...

Things like scattered Netherworld Currency, paper figures in corners, blood-stained rags, mysterious claw and footprints, uneven footsteps, and so on.

All these elements together make for a truly qualified horror game.

By the way.

A horror game doesn’t necessarily need to feature truly terrifying creatures or ghostly apparitions.

Psychological horror outweighs visual horror!

A truly excellent horror game doesn’t actually feature supernatural phenomena or entities throughout the game; it consistently uses psychological suggestions and atmosphere-building to make the player scare themselves.

"Scare themselves?"

"This concept is pretty good. It seems like those popular horror games do really well in this regard," Lu agreed.

"It’s originally about scaring yourself. If you can ignore those underlying psychological suggestions and the impact of environmental atmosphere, then so-called horror games are as simple as Snake."

Luo Ji, who hadn’t said much, expressed his deep understanding of this: "Different people have varying adaptability to these aspects."

Some people are naturally bold and reckless.

So when these people play horror games, they might at most feel a rush of adrenaline. But to say they’re scared due to psychological suggestion and environmental atmosphere is impossible.

"Such people exist?"

"They do!"

Chen Ba replied: "The world is big, and there are all sorts of marvels. There indeed are people who just find horror games stimulating, without feeling scared or panicked."

However, speaking of it, such people are exceedingly rare.

Out of ten thousand people, it’s hard to find even one such person. Most people find it difficult to go against their physiological instincts, feeling fear towards unknown existences.

"Maybe I should quit this project. I’m too timid and afraid I won’t be able to keep up with your pace!" Lu said weakly.

"Timid? Well, that’s perfect..."

Chen Ba chuckled: "If you’re timid, then don’t even think about running away! People like you are most suited to test horror games!"

Is the game up to standard?

It depends on whether this game can scare Lu to tears. If it does, then it’s considered a success! If Lu finishes testing without any reaction, then the game shouldn’t be released.

"Have some human decency!"

Lu wailed: "You know I’m timid, I’ve been afraid of these things since I was a kid, and yet you want me to be a tester. Do you have no conscience?"

"How am I inhuman?"

"You’re not the only tester. We’ll find several people for testing..."

Lu is part of the timid group; besides that, there should also be a "normal group" and a "bold group."

By comparing the tests from these three groups, one can understand the true situation of the game and how terrifying it really is.

This can’t be done recklessly!

Many people might think, with horror games, naturally, the more terrifying, the better; the scarier, the better.

But that’s a misconception!

Horror games have a range; if the level of horror is too low, it loses the meaning of a horror game, making it a failure.

At the same time, if the level of horror is too high, it can easily trigger heart attacks or other medical conditions in players, which is also a failed horror game.

Not just a failure!

Games that are too scary can cause health issues and might not even pass legal approval, dying before they’re even released.

So horror games must strike a balance, not being overly terrifying or completely devoid of horror. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Then to what extent of horror is considered appropriate?" Lu asked.

"Very simply!"

"Even players with strong tolerance will break out in a cold sweat; that’s the appropriate level of horror."

Chen Ba explained: "Normal players will experience accelerated heartbeats and adrenaline surges, while timid players will lose control of their emotions."

This is pretty much the upper limit.

Games that exceed this boundary aren’t impossible to make, but once made, no one dares to play them, and even laws and regulations won’t allow such games to be released.

Online, people often joke saying, ’XX game - heart disease and high blood pressure patients shouldn’t play!’

This tone is usually a joking manner, implying that XX game is very frustrating.

But with horror games, especially those with high levels of horror, one truly cannot let heart disease and high blood pressure players play; it’s likely to cause something bad.

As the saying goes, behind every ridiculous school rule, traffic rule, or company regulation, there’s a shocking story.

In the gaming industry, the "gentle reminder" on the game’s loading page is just the same.

When game developers advise certain players against playing the game, you should know there’s an untold story behind that advice.

"Actually, sudden incidents caused by horror games aren’t few each year."

Chen Ba sighed: "That’s why most horror games now remind certain players on the loading page to avoid or limit their gameplay."

These are lessons learned the hard way!

Just like the photosensitive epilepsy warning and disclaimer on Horizon 5’s loading page; perhaps 99% of players don’t know what photosensitive epilepsy is.

But that’s not important; what’s important is reminding players, along with a disclaimer.

Numerous colleagues have proven with real actions that if such games don’t carry disclaimers, it might be fine, but if something goes wrong, you’ll definitely be blamed, with various compensations unavoidable.