Make Gen Z scary again

Feedback/Feature Requests
1

Generation zero for the most part is actually pretty eerie. And most of the fear is accomplished by the obviously massive robots.
However when you’ve reached the level cap and are as powerful as ever, it becomes less of -

‘Oh God look at that thing! Let’s sneak around it’

And more

‘Ugh I’m low on ammo let’s kill some big Bois’ or ‘ugh this big ones in my way’.

We need to restore the fear of generation zero somehow so even the best players get worried.

I propose ideas and actuall feedback.

1 Make the night actually dark.
I won’t be the first person to say the night is way too bright in Gen z, the light should be the only thing giving us illumination other than lights elsewhere. This gives the real alone in the world vibe.

2 A bigger threat.
Tanks let’s face it, aren’t scary anymore. And if you were to add another machine the same thing would end up happening. It becomes another harvesting tool. So create a new machine that actually strikes ‘fear’ into the player. It could be through running, jumping, human like screaming or even looks in general.

3 Sound design.
The sound alone is great in this game, the music is a bit repetitive but that’s fine. Maybe when it’s night time play more eerie music or wind whistles. Also make machines crunch leaves and make random other noises to scare you as you navigate your surroundings. Having a hunter make an ear piercing screech from far away would be scary. And you could change the music when something ‘big’ is coming.

4 Machine intelligence.
Add more behaviour to show that you are infact never alone or not being watched. Maybe have a hunter and a tank look at each other change their light colour to bright green and have them produce random noises. This could be them sharing info. Maybe with a pack of hunters, after you switch from one house to another with them suspicious of you they could shoulder bust barn doors down or even normal house doors. Have the machines track even the slightest knowledge of you.

5 End of the world vibes.
Maybe add places with totaled buildings or fires. We’re it’s completely desolate and that there is nobody else to help you. Just a sense of not belonging in a world like this.

17 Likes
2

I agree, we need more scary enemies or change some of the games physics to make it scary cool.:sunglasses::scream:

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3

I saw this and thought " another asking for crazy things and talking nonsense ".
Actually i was wrong, and i agree.
The night should be much more dark.
And in another post i gave an idea for some scarier enemies:

  • A scary spider machine (similar to a Runner, weaker than a Hunter)
  • A new type of Hunter, scarier in appearance, same Hp and armor status as other Hunters, but with some new moves and animation and with a superior boost in visual range detection armed with silent weapons (but no flamethrower or rocket pod).
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4

100% this. It needs to be more along the lines of nighttime in The Hunter: Call of the Wild.

7 Likes
5

Of any survival /scary game actually :sweat_smile:
See Metro series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Dying ligth, The Forest, Resident Evil series, Amnesia etc etc, Darkness is an important factor .

1 Like
6

I really love the moonlight in GZ but I totally agree. Some times it should be pitch black. I have walked Swedish forests at night and I couldn’t even see my hand when I held it in front of my face.

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7

I also love the moonlight in GZ, but it should have a dynamic light cycle (and it has, just not enough dark).
What were you doing in dark cold Swedish Forests at night ? :open_mouth:

2 Likes
8

There is always the issue between player power and content in-game.

In the beginning, everything is new and tough. Once you’ve seen it all and learned the best tactics, new content is needed to keep things challenging.

Devs also know that. In one of the dev streams, it is talked about, at 00:41:01,
link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/554470149?filter=archives&sort=time

For a darker night, there’s easy fix: dim the brightness of the monitor/TV. :+1::grin:

5 Likes
9

Hiking. Sweden is a beautiful country to visit if you like the outdoors. Check out allemansrätten. I had no light and had to make it back to my camp a few kilometers away. The only way to follow the trail was to look up as I could see a strip of sky between the treetops.

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10

Smarty-pants :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: …

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11

I`m deeply sorry for thinking of you as a crazy killer from Northern Europe :sweat_smile: ,sometimes i forget there are countries where hiking and camping is fun and makes sense.
Here in the Southwest the countryside is basically boring, farms and Orchards, not many mountains or forests, too many towns and roads.

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12

Nice one " dim the brightness" :rofl: .

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13

Just look at my profile picture, I’m as gentle as a big, black bull :wink:

Anyway, regarding my night walk, I was rather grateful that I didn’t hear a twig snap from between the trees, followed by heavy, fast paced stomping towards me … :scream:

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14

Swedish militant shouting ‘HUNTER IMBOUND!’

This game would make an insane movie.

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15

I completely agree with the ideas on how to make this game scarier. My most memorable moment playing this game was terrifying, it was early in the game where I was walking into a town that was covered by fog, and I heard something big. I hid in the nearby church and watched in fear as a tank slowly came out of the fog, walking down the road I had just come down from. I decided to run, but it noticed me. It blared it’s siren and I heard the footsteps getting louder as I ran blindly through the fog, and when I looked back, the only thing I could see was that red light staring at me.

This moment was amazing, and absolutely terrifying. I do wish that they made the game scarier, with more ambience and mystery surrounding the machines.

Our greatest fear is fear of the unknown, and the devs should absolutely take this into consideration. I like to use Subnautica as an example of how to scare the literal shit out of someone. It’s the fear of the unknown that makes that game great, and with Generation Zero, it would be amazing if given a ‘fear of the unknown’ treatment. :slight_smile:

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16

I think that “Alien” used that to perfection. You never really saw the monster until the very end of the movie. Yes, after playing the game for so long, it isn’t scarry anymore. “They” should definitely do something about that.

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17

I thought exactly about that. Or use shades… this way you wouldn’t need to hassle with the monitor settings :sunglasses:

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18

Or switch off the monitor if you can’t find your shades.

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19

Intelligence 10000000

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20

I agree with most points mentioned by the TS.

However: Making the game more dark (darker nights), will only make it darker.
It would not add much in terms of scaryness. Just makes things harder to see, but if you crank up your Gamma settings… the whole point is lost again.

Improved AI and machine combat routines and especially navigation would certainly make a bigger impact.

A more immersive and post apocalyptic world would certainly add to the atmosphere.

But the most important thing, I think, is Player Skills.
The weapons are not massively OP, which is good. (No idea about the Experimental weapons however, since I hate them and do not use them for personal reasons that have nothing to do with this topic :slight_smile: )

But once the player gets a high enough skill level/points, more damage is dealt to the machines, making the game easier. A lot easier.
I think that this is the main cause of the “problem”.

Making the machines act differently, more aggressive and more damaging could be a partial solution to it.
But that would affect new / low skill level players in a bad way.
Or it could turn the machines themselves into bullet sponges, which also is very bad.

And I think it is also related to how people play GenZero.
Some folks only run around in the open, amidst whole packs of hunters and runners while others play a tactical game, picking fights, avoiding fights, fighting from cover (like houses).
I could imagine that to this last group - which includes me, the game is quite easy.
To me, it is.

I can not think of any proper solution at this point, sadly.

2 Likes