[Cowey42]

I would definitely not want to have phobias in the game, because if something is dangerous enough to cause a traumatic experience (Cause you a lot of injuries [I don't think there's a health bar] or attack you repeatedly), then it would be a huge danger to lose some control/accuracy/speed when the danger is real enough already.
Packs of zombie dogs and zombie hordes will cause the player themselves to panic and be afraid, and losing full control of the character would mainly be frustrating when you need to react quickly.

[| Rigorous Member]

I would definitely not want to have phobias in the game, because if something is dangerous enough to cause a traumatic experience (Cause you a lot of injuries [I don't think there's a health bar] or attack you repeatedly), then it would be a huge danger to lose some control/accuracy/speed when the danger is real enough already.
Packs of zombie dogs and zombie hordes will cause the player themselves to panic and be afraid, and losing full control of the character would mainly be frustrating when you need to react quickly.

[TheArhive]

Sakenyi wrote:

Maybe your character already has a phobia by default, but you don't find out until you encounter said phobia?

I can live with this.
Maybe check before creating your character, do you want him to have a random phobia?

[| Lingering Member]

Sakenyi wrote:

Maybe your character already has a phobia by default, but you don't find out until you encounter said phobia?

I can live with this.
Maybe check before creating your character, do you want him to have a random phobia?

[Islington430]

I'm trying to get on board with the idea of a phobia or some negative character trait you pick up from events, but in good cases these things happen without even knowing they have happened to you. If you get attacked a lot by Z-dogs you will probably start to fear being attacked by them in the game because you don't want your character to die. So why bother attaching a negative trait to something that happens naturally in a game.

[| Member]

I'm trying to get on board with the idea of a phobia or some negative character trait you pick up from events, but in good cases these things happen without even knowing they have happened to you. If you get attacked a lot by Z-dogs you will probably start to fear being attacked by them in the game because you don't want your character to die. So why bother attaching a negative trait to something that happens naturally in a game.

[Gazz]

It's kinda cheesy to make the character afraid.

Much better to make the game / monsters scary and make the player afraid.
Give the player a phobia! =P

[| Rigorous Member]

It's kinda cheesy to make the character afraid.

Much better to make the game / monsters scary and make the player afraid.
Give the player a phobia! =P

[Linsy Soronely]

Just make it so all phobias are purely cosmetic audio/visual hallucinations (like Havjk said), that an experienced player can identify apart from in game "reality", and that won't interfere with controls or stats. The draw back being simply being, that if you're a noob and you shoot that rare shimmering silhouette that vaguely resembles a zombie shambling right at the edge of your peripheral (right at the edge of the screen) and disappears the second you look directly at it, you waste ammo (if applicable) and end up attracting real nearby zombies if your weapon is loud. Only other side effects I'd say I would like to see is a elevated heartbeat sound and heavy breathing (like SaKenyi said) that gets triggered along with some more frequent hallucinations when you're low health (or in danger of getting infected? depends on how system works) around what you have phobia of... which could make for an audio/visual force multiplier for attacking hordes. The heavy breathing sounds while making a turn in a BF3 jet enhance the immersion, why not this?

On the topic of how to get a phobia is I'd say that if you go on a pharmacy run there is a chance for them to be stocked with antipsychotic medications. If you don't know drug names and just randomly take meds that you don't know what they would do in real life (they would have to be named similarly to real world antipsychotics) there is a small chance you might take an antipsychotic by accident (well... entirely the fault of the player) and gain a phobia as a side effect. What the phobia is of is determined by the first type of enemy that attacks you after taking the medication for the first time and triggers the heartbeat and breathing to confirm you now have a phobia ...maybe make it so that if no enemies attack a player within a certain time of taking medication no phobia is developed. Once you develop a phobia you can begin to suppress it by taking more antipsychotics.

It's also worth noting that players should be able to solve the problem I'm suggesting completely in game without resorting to solving it by wiki...lock up some zombies and have [insert-your-smuck-friends-name-here] take all medication first to test it's effects for the group by fighting some zombies in a controlled environment. Once a phobia is developed in test subject you simply test for inverse results where an antipsychotic suppresses the phobia during controlled tests and wait for meds to clear their system after another positive result. Alternatively, have a very rare dead (body...possible zombie) pharmacist that spawns random places (higher chance in pharmacies) and has a medication guide in their backpack (would have been the first thing they packed) that would reveal the purpose of every medication you can find.

[| Member]

Just make it so all phobias are purely cosmetic audio/visual hallucinations (like Havjk said), that an experienced player can identify apart from in game "reality", and that won't interfere with controls or stats. The draw back being simply being, that if you're a noob and you shoot that rare shimmering silhouette that vaguely resembles a zombie shambling right at the edge of your peripheral (right at the edge of the screen) and disappears the second you look directly at it, you waste ammo (if applicable) and end up attracting real nearby zombies if your weapon is loud. Only other side effects I'd say I would like to see is a elevated heartbeat sound and heavy breathing (like SaKenyi said) that gets triggered along with some more frequent hallucinations when you're low health (or in danger of getting infected? depends on how system works) around what you have phobia of... which could make for an audio/visual force multiplier for attacking hordes. The heavy breathing sounds while making a turn in a BF3 jet enhance the immersion, why not this?

On the topic of how to get a phobia is I'd say that if you go on a pharmacy run there is a chance for them to be stocked with antipsychotic medications. If you don't know drug names and just randomly take meds that you don't know what they would do in real life (they would have to be named similarly to real world antipsychotics) there is a small chance you might take an antipsychotic by accident (well... entirely the fault of the player) and gain a phobia as a side effect. What the phobia is of is determined by the first type of enemy that attacks you after taking the medication for the first time and triggers the heartbeat and breathing to confirm you now have a phobia ...maybe make it so that if no enemies attack a player within a certain time of taking medication no phobia is developed. Once you develop a phobia you can begin to suppress it by taking more antipsychotics.

It's also worth noting that players should be able to solve the problem I'm suggesting completely in game without resorting to solving it by wiki...lock up some zombies and have [insert-your-smuck-friends-name-here] take all medication first to test it's effects for the group by fighting some zombies in a controlled environment. Once a phobia is developed in test subject you simply test for inverse results where an antipsychotic suppresses the phobia during controlled tests and wait for meds to clear their system after another positive result. Alternatively, have a very rare dead (body...possible zombie) pharmacist that spawns random places (higher chance in pharmacies) and has a medication guide in their backpack (would have been the first thing they packed) that would reveal the purpose of every medication you can find.

[Gazz]

This isn't Call of Cthulhu where madness isn't a rare occurrence but pretty much the inevitable end of every character's adventuring career.

Sanity check required.

[| Rigorous Member]

This isn't Call of Cthulhu where madness isn't a rare occurrence but pretty much the inevitable end of every character's adventuring career.

Sanity check required.

[Exodus]

Phobias could work. But then again. It might not. All depends on the player I suppose. I personally don't want phobias to be in the game

[| Rigorous Member]

Phobias could work. But then again. It might not. All depends on the player I suppose. I personally don't want phobias to be in the game

[Xilstealth]

Really cool idea, but it is over-thought. I don't believe something like this would be added into the game.

[| Member]

Really cool idea, but it is over-thought. I don't believe something like this would be added into the game.

[Zag]

Xilstealth wrote:

Really cool idea, but it is over-thought. I don't believe something like this would be added into the game.

That's not how that works. There's nothing wrong with over-thinking a feature. Far better than not thinking enough about it. Complexity wouldn't stop us from adding a feature.

[| Design Director]

Xilstealth wrote:

Really cool idea, but it is over-thought. I don't believe something like this would be added into the game.

That's not how that works. There's nothing wrong with over-thinking a feature. Far better than not thinking enough about it. Complexity wouldn't stop us from adding a feature.

[Deveak]

Perhaps a drawback in character creation that allows more points or better stats if you pick it? Like zomboid, but later on you could find a way of fixing it but it takes a long time or resources. A way to sacrifice early on for a better survivor later.

[| Member]

Perhaps a drawback in character creation that allows more points or better stats if you pick it? Like zomboid, but later on you could find a way of fixing it but it takes a long time or resources. A way to sacrifice early on for a better survivor later.

[DanielAdrianG]

When I first started reading this thread, it sounds like a horrible idea.

Then when BreezeX came out and explained his system he had in mind, it suddenly sounded much better.

Then, when it was thought out to be purely cosmetic, but still cause errors if you're new to the phobia, sounded just as good.

I would love to see either one incorporated, however if I'm trying to escape through a sewer and my character says "No", I'm going to flip a table and make some holes in the wall.

The Buff/Debuff sounds good as DarkBreezeX mentioned, if you tone it down to the point where it is not detrimental to game-play.

Cosmetic sounds good, the surprise that would hit me, shivers I might get from a zombie right next to me as I try to shoot/stab it, only to realize it was my mind, sounds fun.
This of course would have to be semi-rare, as to prevent a player from getting too used to it.

Instead of calling it "phobia", I'm thinking on a sanity kind of level. Zombie apocalypse occurs, I'm sorry but there's a good chance you will start losing it.
This would have to be subtly put into the game to have people immerse themselves into their character, but not be implemented as a distraction or bother.

[| Member]

When I first started reading this thread, it sounds like a horrible idea.

Then when BreezeX came out and explained his system he had in mind, it suddenly sounded much better.

Then, when it was thought out to be purely cosmetic, but still cause errors if you're new to the phobia, sounded just as good.

I would love to see either one incorporated, however if I'm trying to escape through a sewer and my character says "No", I'm going to flip a table and make some holes in the wall.

The Buff/Debuff sounds good as DarkBreezeX mentioned, if you tone it down to the point where it is not detrimental to game-play.

Cosmetic sounds good, the surprise that would hit me, shivers I might get from a zombie right next to me as I try to shoot/stab it, only to realize it was my mind, sounds fun.
This of course would have to be semi-rare, as to prevent a player from getting too used to it.

Instead of calling it "phobia", I'm thinking on a sanity kind of level. Zombie apocalypse occurs, I'm sorry but there's a good chance you will start losing it.
This would have to be subtly put into the game to have people immerse themselves into their character, but not be implemented as a distraction or bother.

[TheArhive]

No, character refusing to go into sewers is baaad.
It's better if he gets some debuffs while in there.
Lol, a lot of people misunderstood it.
Tnx Daniel!

[| Lingering Member]

No, character refusing to go into sewers is baaad.
It's better if he gets some debuffs while in there.
Lol, a lot of people misunderstood it.
Tnx Daniel!

[Darcurse]

An yet again, it's is still the same thing you mentioned at the OP.

By rare chances you get phobias, but these are TOTALLY random.
In most cases you'll get punished for having bad luck (yeah life sucks, hurr durr, but at some point the game has to go gameplay > realism) .
Not to mention that in the normal game mode the survivor is simply going to save his stuff and charge naked into the horde for a happy all-cleaning suicide.

[| Lingering Member]

An yet again, it's is still the same thing you mentioned at the OP.

By rare chances you get phobias, but these are TOTALLY random.
In most cases you'll get punished for having bad luck (yeah life sucks, hurr durr, but at some point the game has to go gameplay > realism) .
Not to mention that in the normal game mode the survivor is simply going to save his stuff and charge naked into the horde for a happy all-cleaning suicide.

[ScottKrieger2015]

Phobias take a long time for you to fully discover them. You don't just start hallucinating after getting attacked by a pack of zombie dogs. In fact, Most phobias are just fears, like fear of height, and you can't really portray 'fear' in a viable way in the game that wouldn't be frustrating and a turn off (that I can think of.)

[| Unyielding Member]

Phobias take a long time for you to fully discover them. You don't just start hallucinating after getting attacked by a pack of zombie dogs. In fact, Most phobias are just fears, like fear of height, and you can't really portray 'fear' in a viable way in the game that wouldn't be frustrating and a turn off (that I can think of.)

[dash]

Gazz wrote:

It's kinda cheesy to make the character afraid.

Much better to make the game / monsters scary and make the player afraid.
Give the player a phobia! =P

I personally agree with this one^

The game itself should be scary enough so that I jump from my chair a couple of times.
Not meaning, "make a zombie Amnesia game", but just so that if you are once almost killed in a mine shaft, you think twice before going back there!

[| Rigorous Member]

Gazz wrote:

It's kinda cheesy to make the character afraid.

Much better to make the game / monsters scary and make the player afraid.
Give the player a phobia! =P

I personally agree with this one^

The game itself should be scary enough so that I jump from my chair a couple of times.
Not meaning, "make a zombie Amnesia game", but just so that if you are once almost killed in a mine shaft, you think twice before going back there!

[TheArhive]

Darcurse wrote:

An yet again, it's is still the same thing you mentioned at the OP.

By rare chances you get phobias, but these are TOTALLY random.
In most cases you'll get punished for having bad luck (yeah life sucks, hurr durr, but at some point the game has to go gameplay > realism) .
Not to mention that in the normal game mode the survivor is simply going to save his stuff and charge naked into the horde for a happy all-cleaning suicide.

Oh no, gameplay>realism, my only weakness!

[| Lingering Member]

Darcurse wrote:

An yet again, it's is still the same thing you mentioned at the OP.

By rare chances you get phobias, but these are TOTALLY random.
In most cases you'll get punished for having bad luck (yeah life sucks, hurr durr, but at some point the game has to go gameplay > realism) .
Not to mention that in the normal game mode the survivor is simply going to save his stuff and charge naked into the horde for a happy all-cleaning suicide.

Oh no, gameplay>realism, my only weakness!

[ScottKrieger2015]

There's already enough in the game that's out to kill me, overcomplicating things won't help.

[| Unyielding Member]

There's already enough in the game that's out to kill me, overcomplicating things won't help.

[Darcurse]

TheArhive wrote:

Darcurse wrote:

An yet again, it's is still the same thing you mentioned at the OP.

By rare chances you get phobias, but these are TOTALLY random.
In most cases you'll get punished for having bad luck (yeah life sucks, hurr durr, but at some point the game has to go gameplay > realism) .
Not to mention that in the normal game mode the survivor is simply going to save his stuff and charge naked into the horde for a happy all-cleaning suicide.

Oh no, gameplay>realism, my only weakness!

It's not the only one, but moreover the one that would - among others - hit your idea the hardest.



... thinking about what others already mentioned:

Wouldn't "realism>gameplay" also punch you in the face?
We don't know how long it was since the outbreak and yet "we" (the players) survived.
How would that be possible with phobias that would actually hinder you in combat?
And regarding that "you will get some phobia instantly", ScottKrieger for example already mentioned that you won't suddenly get a Phobia.

(While TheArhive is out cold after a Shining Wizard from Gameply, Realism finishes him with a Piledriver!!!)

[| Lingering Member]

TheArhive wrote:

Darcurse wrote:

An yet again, it's is still the same thing you mentioned at the OP.

By rare chances you get phobias, but these are TOTALLY random.
In most cases you'll get punished for having bad luck (yeah life sucks, hurr durr, but at some point the game has to go gameplay > realism) .
Not to mention that in the normal game mode the survivor is simply going to save his stuff and charge naked into the horde for a happy all-cleaning suicide.

Oh no, gameplay>realism, my only weakness!

It's not the only one, but moreover the one that would - among others - hit your idea the hardest.



... thinking about what others already mentioned:

Wouldn't "realism>gameplay" also punch you in the face?
We don't know how long it was since the outbreak and yet "we" (the players) survived.
How would that be possible with phobias that would actually hinder you in combat?
And regarding that "you will get some phobia instantly", ScottKrieger for example already mentioned that you won't suddenly get a Phobia.

(While TheArhive is out cold after a Shining Wizard from Gameply, Realism finishes him with a Piledriver!!!)

[POKEY CLYDE]

Well, I think gameplay will actually give you (the player), and not your avatar (in game-model) the phobia. For example, I'm sure a lot of you have played Amnesia Dark Descent. Now in that game, you get scared... you, holding the mouse, get terrified.

Other examples, Deathclaws in Fallout 3, first time I saw one of those, and experienced just why they're called Deathclaws, I didn't want to get close to one. HELL! Even seeing one frightened me.

I'm sure the same thing will happen in TDL. You have a bad experience with certain gameplay, say 3 Z-dogs maul the hell out of you, you're now scared of encountering Z-dogs.

You think it's wise to go out at night, you go looting, have a flashlight or whatever, it's eerily quiet, going up and down the aisles of a grocery store, you hear a groan. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" You say to yourself, look around, nothing. It goes quiet again, you turn into the next aisle... BAM! Walker eats your face. And now you're terrified of going into dark grocery stores at night because of the experience the game gave you.

Having your avatar get the phobia is just so... bleh. What if I revel in killing Z-dogs, I'm not terrified of them, I like to go out and find these pups. But my avatar is scared crapless of them... hinders my experience.

Where as if I'm actually scared of fighting Z-dogs, me.. myself, when I see one idle, maybe eating some flesh and it hasn't noticed me yet.. I'm going "NOPE NOPE NOPE", B-lining it away from that dog ahahahaha.

/rant

[| Rigorous Member]

Well, I think gameplay will actually give you (the player), and not your avatar (in game-model) the phobia. For example, I'm sure a lot of you have played Amnesia Dark Descent. Now in that game, you get scared... you, holding the mouse, get terrified.

Other examples, Deathclaws in Fallout 3, first time I saw one of those, and experienced just why they're called Deathclaws, I didn't want to get close to one. HELL! Even seeing one frightened me.

I'm sure the same thing will happen in TDL. You have a bad experience with certain gameplay, say 3 Z-dogs maul the hell out of you, you're now scared of encountering Z-dogs.

You think it's wise to go out at night, you go looting, have a flashlight or whatever, it's eerily quiet, going up and down the aisles of a grocery store, you hear a groan. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" You say to yourself, look around, nothing. It goes quiet again, you turn into the next aisle... BAM! Walker eats your face. And now you're terrified of going into dark grocery stores at night because of the experience the game gave you.

Having your avatar get the phobia is just so... bleh. What if I revel in killing Z-dogs, I'm not terrified of them, I like to go out and find these pups. But my avatar is scared crapless of them... hinders my experience.

Where as if I'm actually scared of fighting Z-dogs, me.. myself, when I see one idle, maybe eating some flesh and it hasn't noticed me yet.. I'm going "NOPE NOPE NOPE", B-lining it away from that dog ahahahaha.

/rant

[d_cover]

Maybe not everything has to have a positive or negative effect. Now don't shoot me down just yet.

The is probably some people here that have played HL2's mod Nightmare house. That was a damn scary mod. It made me s**t bricks. But the thing that got me the most was when the character started to breath fast and deep because you knew something was out their in the dark. So my idea.

The only way I can think about it is for small sort of cool things like if you are afraid of the dark maybe when travelling around in dark or low lit buildings. You can hear yourself breathing deep and quickly. You know when you was a kid and you used to wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe you saw things but you didn't quite know if you did or didn't. Maybe you heard something or was it in your head? I think things like that could really work in terms of phobias. The outbreak is where you really need to have your head in the game. You go through a dark building you can barely hear anything only you breathing you open a door shine your torch around and something escapes the light. Like a shadow. It goes into the bathroom. You get prepared by drawing your gun as you pop round the corner taking aim nothing is their. It was all in your head. The darkness got the better of you. So you can have like hallucinations.
Like seeing shadows in the dark and hearing things that are simply not their.

Of course to indicate you have a fear of the dark your breathing will increase and become quicker and maybe something visually will happen to indicate your scared. I haven't got any ideas for that though.

So in short. Fear of the dark. You will hear things that aren't their, see shadows moving.

This really could screw with the player. Imagine looking round a room and hearing foot steps behind you. You look and nothing is their.

I'm scaring myself now :(

[| Lingering Member]

Maybe not everything has to have a positive or negative effect. Now don't shoot me down just yet.

The is probably some people here that have played HL2's mod Nightmare house. That was a damn scary mod. It made me s**t bricks. But the thing that got me the most was when the character started to breath fast and deep because you knew something was out their in the dark. So my idea.

The only way I can think about it is for small sort of cool things like if you are afraid of the dark maybe when travelling around in dark or low lit buildings. You can hear yourself breathing deep and quickly. You know when you was a kid and you used to wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe you saw things but you didn't quite know if you did or didn't. Maybe you heard something or was it in your head? I think things like that could really work in terms of phobias. The outbreak is where you really need to have your head in the game. You go through a dark building you can barely hear anything only you breathing you open a door shine your torch around and something escapes the light. Like a shadow. It goes into the bathroom. You get prepared by drawing your gun as you pop round the corner taking aim nothing is their. It was all in your head. The darkness got the better of you. So you can have like hallucinations.
Like seeing shadows in the dark and hearing things that are simply not their.

Of course to indicate you have a fear of the dark your breathing will increase and become quicker and maybe something visually will happen to indicate your scared. I haven't got any ideas for that though.

So in short. Fear of the dark. You will hear things that aren't their, see shadows moving.

This really could screw with the player. Imagine looking round a room and hearing foot steps behind you. You look and nothing is their.

I'm scaring myself now :(