Making normal enemies seem scary

[darksmaster923]

In most games, it is difficult to convey the psychological effects of combat, and fear. It usually results in people mindlessly slaughtering normal enemies. My game, I hope to aim to something different, like your average raider seem like a real threat, even though he is pretty weak. Right now, I want the ai to attack you, then retreat into the fog for some 2 or 3 minutes, so it seems like you're safe. Then he attacks again. This is only scary when you first play though. I was thinking about having them do some inhumane scream when he attacks you, like a warning. I also want to have the player watch them do some pretty messed up stuff. What do you think?

[paradoxnj]

Nobody does it better than Resident Evil. Moments like these come when you least expect it.

You don't want your enemies to be scary, you want the player to fear what comes next. The best way to do that is to randomize your AI. In otherwords, your AI should "roll the dice" to decide what it is going to do. It sounds complicated but it really isn't. Just decide how many different outcomes there could be and generate a random number between one and the number of outcomes to decide which outcome to use. Use a case statement to execute the appropriate AI commands.

[metal_head]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPy8JmmYOE0
This is what I call scary! F.E.A.R. is the game with the best atmosphere....and the first stage....ah, I'll never forget that one!

[darksmaster923]

Cool. I'm going to throw in some stuff like that