Can you mix Real Time Strategy with Horror ?

[16Bitnights]

Hey,

What do you guys think of RTS mixed with Horror? Is it possible? Is it a bad mix for PC gaming communities?

I want to try out this design on my project but first I take a look at the past:

"They are billions" - very good RTS game with a nice Zombie theme but very far from being a horror game.

"Classic Xcom/Ufo" - the best tactical game that got a nice horror vibe/feel to it but not in real-time

"Darkwood" - good thriller & horror but not an RTS

This been said I will now present my core pillars for this project and you can do a "nay"-"yay" vote if you want

- Empathy for characters: This is not an FPS so emphasizing with the situation will be a bit hard but I plan to achieve that through Example:1. Each character will be unique( equipment/stats and most important personality, personality is shown trough out randomly generated speech text in result with triggers and situations) 2. The game got Perma-death .3 Character customization

https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/66/663120/3285063-wakemeup.gif

- Adrenaline of making a choice: I want to make players feel each choice matters and increase their adrenaline by not only having perma-death but also saving game cannot be done at any time and it also costs resources according to how many people you got in the squad.

https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/66/663120/3285064-pfobia01bugs.gif

- Phobias: I plan to use as many phobias as possible, for example, there will be a room full of bugs that player must cross (optionally) to get an extra reward

https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/66/663120/3285065-halfteamchromosomeevil.gif

- The mystery of the unknown: many random generated algorithms and difficult based on how you play the game

https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzI0Mjc4OTEuZ2lm/original/8JGujp.gif

- Mechanics & visuals: for example, we have a monster that got eggs on his back, from those eggs worms come out and if not killed fast the worms keep growing larger and larger. Another example: a huge tentacle monster that only hides in the dark and snatches player characters. Anxiety can be very fast achieved with such gameplay especially if the player will have the possibility to barricade himself inside buildings and try to survive the coming monsters

https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzU1MjEyMjkuZ2lm/original/U%2BxUvx.gif

- Theme/plot: I am going for a Lovecraft-alien invasion - demon zombie plot

- refs: many refs from classic horror movies like Maximum overdrive, the thing, the mist, aliens, invasion of the body snatchers, and so on, mainly J. Carpenter movies and Stephan king classics

Example: I made a map within the layout of the movie "The Mist"
https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzM1MzQ2NjMuanBn/original/vRs5%2Bp.jpg
https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzU2ODQxMzUucG5n/original/kN4jCY.png

The actual Game banner is a mix of the movie the thing and color out of space
https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzU1OTA0ODIucG5n/original/%2FhJ2hv.png
https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzU2MDI0MzYucG5n/original/R0Dqu%2B.png


ANd a vehicle interior similar to APC from ALiens.
https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzUxODYwMjYucG5n/original/yyIbhB.png


If you have any suggestions about the RTS+HORROR mix let me know.

Thank you so much!

[Angra]

Why permadeath? Sounds like a game for hardcore Dark Souls gamers.

[16Bitnights]

Why permadeath? Sounds like a game for hardcore Dark Souls gamers.

Hey Angra,

Why Perma-death, I will try to explain by example:

1. you send your squad into a danger zone but you know that no matter what happens or what characters you lose, you can always restart things to do it better. What is your adrenaline level/thrill factor?

2. you send your squad into a danger zone but you know that each action will have permanent consequences that cannot be reset and you may lose characters forever. What is your adrenaline level/thrill factor?

[Angra]

So can a player chose between the two?

[16Bitnights]

So can a player chose between the two?

It was like this during the first alpha test session we had on our Discord but many choose no perma-death from a desire to play safe and missed out on the actual game experience we wanted them to have so in the second test session we made perma-death non-negotiable and the results were very positive regarding the tester experience, with this experiment in mind we decided to go for fixed Perma-death without giving the player the choice for it.

[16Bitnights]

Here is some creepy monster design that gets in character minds and stuns them.
To spice things up each character will have a different reaction to the telepathic attack, some of them will say "help I am on fire","arghhh it is in my minds, GET OUT" and some will say "it is so beautiful here... so many colors...".

This creature is not very strong alone but combined with other creatures it can create a deadly situation.

https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzM1MDM2NzkuZ2lm/original/R%2BTdhV.gif

[16Bitnights]

All assets for scenario 06 are done.

I aimed for simple gameplay here, also by this point the player will be familiar with all basic mechanics.

Mainly you must fix the vehicle(doing so you will unlock the workshop menu) by looting components from the map(or if you already have components from the previous exploration even better)and during this time you must also protect the perimeter against the undead. After the vehicle is fixed and you have the key, the exit grid will appear

And a small twist at the end, the player will have a choice. increase Action points permanent + 1 during travel map but get permanent x2 prices in the workshop or do not get the bonus AP and have normal prices in the workshop.

preview of vehicles(all art was made in windows Paint):

https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzYzNDIzOTUucG5n/original/VhBVjP.png

[16Bitnights]

Hey,
Its been some time but I finally got a first gameplay video of this project



https://youtu.be/2k7FBGNhg2E

[16Bitnights]

Good news! ::cool::

After 4 years of development, we finally posted a free demo on Itch.io.

https://16bitnights.itch.io/chromosome-evil

The full release on Steam will be on March 24 2022 (3 days away from my post)