All the way back in 2018, some friends and I went out to some abandoned buildings in order to get audio/video/photo reference, as well as some inspiration, for the horror game we were making.
That game is the next thing I'm working on as a personal project. Shadows of the Mind. It takes place in an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. Fitting. It's a survival horror game, heavily inspired by Silent Hill. It's also a sequel to a horror game jam entry I made in 2013. It'll be cool.
@lina by the time this game comes out the friendslop craze will probably have died down lol
my goal is to make something familiar to the survival horror genre but still unique
salty_apollyon 
then again i've been discovering how terrifying it can be to be alone, in silence in the middle of darkness after playing too much voices of the void
@rlier23 the current way i'm planning on doing things generally is to have the game split in two, kind of like a silent hill otherworld situation. during the day, you'll be the only person in the building. during the night, things get a little twisted and you're being hunted. there will be certain things you can only do in day or night.
i intend on having music that drones. extremely slow tempo stuff. during the day it'll be jazzy, during the night it'll be like doom metal kind of stuff. i do know that silence speaks volumes though so for key moments, i can retract the audio to put the player on edge.
i don't want to give too much away, but i'm also planning on some elements of taking away or altering gameplay mechanics to make sure the player doesn't feel as comfortable. nothing major, though.
for horror, nothing is more unsettling than no music at all, just background noises you would expect wherever you are
I think the mix of the familiar noises that would be expected in a normal setting plus the unsettling elements that you can build in makes for a far better experience than tryharding atmosphere through unsettling music
it's a "less is more" sort of deal, taking an otherwise normal setting and then adding a few tiny details that feel out of place can can do wonders
@rlier23 @Kagekokoro i agree! Maximum horror and tension usually comes from subtlety. I hate it when movies and games have scores with shrill violins and jumpscare cues. I'll just turn that shit off.
I'm taking inspiration from two places on my approach to music. Silent Hill, and old mystery adventure point and click games. The former is more of something I want to use for the night time sections and things like theme songs, and the latter for the daytime sections. Those are much more like an adventure puzzle game, and they sort of get you used to exploring the same region and understanding your goals when the night falls. So think of the music from a noir film and slow it down, that's pretty much what you'll get during the day. When it's night, add some distortion to fit the grungy vibe alongside with the general demeanor of the denizens that inhabit the "otherworld" version of the mansion.
Rest assured, I know that silence is needed and it will be used. I'm going to have to see how everything gets laid out and feels to make those kinds of decisions though so all of this is just in the theoretical phase.
@Kagekokoro i wish i did too. this was 7 years ago ;_;
LMK if you want audio of coyotes howling.
@BiggusDiccus will do, I'll have to look into the spot we chose for the game to take place in and see if coyotes are a thing over there, and any other critters. We actually found a city on Google maps with everything we were looking for and based it off that. If I remember right, I think it was in Maryland? We actually put a lot of research into this, I remember we spent an entire day driving all across the county trying to find a Barnes & Noble with a toy train for a specific puzzle.
When it's night time, you can't leave or enter the house, but you can freely come and go during the day to go back to your car for rest and supplies. Kind of general idea right now is that the main resource in the game is energy, but not sure how well that will work in practice quite yet. Anyway, it is possible to basically be stuck outside until daytime rolls around (or you sleep until then) so I'll need some ambience for sure.
nice to meet you 
That sounds like an incredible project nothing beats real-world exploration for authentic atmosphere and inspiration. Silent Hill-level psychological horror is a high bar, but if you’re capturing that eerie, abandoned-building essence, you’re on the right track. Looking forward to seeing ‘Shadows of the Mind’ come to life!
@beardalaxy gives peak Source mod era vibes kinda mwahaha
@arc I actually considered using source or goldsrc because I really like the way they look when used for horror. They're not really suited for 3rd person though and that's what I'm going to try to aim for. I'm currently looking into RPG In A Box, which is made in Godot and uses voxels. It's getting an update soon(?) to use simple polygons though too which intrigues me even more. Either way, I'll be able to get a good retro vibe going with it.
