ADVANCED GAME DESIGNINTRO LECTURE

DePaul University – Brian Schrank, PhD

STEPHEN KING’S HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud”

—Stephen King

HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

1. Terror2. Horror3. Grossed-Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror2. Horror

3. Grossed Out

GORE GENRE RELISHES THE GROSS OUT

GORE GENRE RELISHES THE GROSS OUT

It gets its tension by juxtaposingor ruining the “attractive.”

It’s often misogynistic.

ABOUT AS INTERESTING AS FAKE POOP / VOMIT

GROSS OUT GAMES

1. Terror2. Horror

3. Grossed Out

NES gametorture using light gun

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror

2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror

2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HORROR

Fear based on EVIDENCE SHOWS you what to be scared of Cause is EXPLAINED or easily inferred

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror

2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror

2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HORROR VS. TERROR (STEPHEN KING)

Horror:the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it's when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm

Terror:when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It's when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there's nothing there...

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror2. Horror3. Grossed Out

HIERARCHY OF FEAR / DISCOMFORT

1. Terror2. Horror3. Grossed Out

STEPHEN KING’S HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud”

—Stephen King

HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

1. Surrealist Horror2. Terror3. Horror4. Grossed-Out

SURREALIST HORROR

Reality itself becomes warped but it is NOT EXPLAINED. Can only be interpreted.

There is a concrete cause (underlying logic) but it can’t be easily explained.

Emotional or paranoid logic rather than rational logic.

HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

1. Surrealist Horror2. Terror3. Horror4. Grossed-Out

HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

1. Surrealist Horror2. Terror3. Horror4. Grossed-Out

HIERARCHY OF EMOTION

1. Surrealist Horror Games2. Terror3. Horror4. Grossed-Out

YOUR GOAL IS TO DELIVER AN *EXPERIENCE*

A high quality experience trumps what we traditionally consider “good gameplay.”

Break familiar tropes and conventions to achieve a powerful experiential effect.