Each of the NS2 maps focuses on a different part of the Refining facility, and putting cafeterias, bathrooms (which don't work well for multiplayer games, as they are essentially small dead end rooms, and if they aren't made that way they don't look like bathrooms), and living quarters in every map would both get repetitive and generic. The Tram map is focusing on the working areas, the packing, storing, shipping and receiving part of the refinery facility. As mentioned there is a map in the works, NS2_Docking, which has a cafeteria, locker room, and other areas based more around the employee leisure and recreation aspects.
Also, being a primarily single player game, Dead Space can be darker with the lighting, and the areas can look more lived in, more at a human scale with lots of props like desks and chairs etc. scattered around. Because of gameplay Ns2 maps generally have to have rooms which are more open and more empty, to accommodate techpoints and all the buildings, and still have plenty of room for a lot of players to be able to move around.
<!--quoteo(post=1829963:date=Feb 6 2011, 02:49 AM:name=Insane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Insane @ Feb 6 2011, 02:49 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1829963"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The good news is that your comment is a high contender for the most generic dismissal of a bunch of other people's hard work ever.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It wasn't dismissive, I said it was generic, I didn't say it was bad.
The art is of very high quality and looks good, it just doesn't look unique. I could probably paste screenshots of NS2 into any scifi movie or game you can name and it would fit.
Most scifi games look generic, but most games do not have the same level of quality behind their assets and NS2 does. NS2 has good art, but the techno-industrial or techno-laboratory or techno-whatever look has been done a lot of times before, so it's become generic.
I did say both, and dead space 2 is also highly praised for its art, as was halo when it came out, as was unreal 3, aliens vs predator, starcraft 2, doom 3, quake 4 etc. They all have the same metal corridors filled with pipes and shiny things and boxes and barrels and spotlights etc. Doesn't stop them from being pleasant to look at, but it does make them look very much the same.
Dead space is probably the closest to NS2 if only because it's got a comparable level of detail and is out at the moment along with NS2, also neither of them have much backstory, all you really know is you are in SPACE and there are BAD ALIENS who are TAKING OVER and GROWING STUFF ON THE WALLS and you must KILL THEM because you are a SPACE MARINE. Basiclally the backstory to most scifi games with aliens. Not that it really needs to be more complicated than that. It does make them feel just that bit more generic though. The necromorphs are an interesting idea for all that they are basically the flood from halo, and the NS aliens look kinda unique I guess, being based on animals which not a lot of movies do, usually aliens are guys in suits, so they tend not to look very animal like, but still NS and dead space do feel <i>very</i> much like stock settings even for scifi. At least to me.
But like I said, it doesn't stop them looking very nice, just makes them a bit forgettable afterwards because they kind of blur together with everything else and get filed under 'scifi stuff' rather than in their own little category.
<!--quoteo(post=1830076:date=Feb 6 2011, 08:53 PM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Feb 6 2011, 08:53 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830076"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Also, being a primarily single player game, Dead Space can be darker with the lighting, and the areas can look more lived in, more at a human scale with lots of props like desks and chairs etc. scattered around. Because of gameplay Ns2 maps generally have to have rooms which are more open and more empty, to accommodate techpoints and all the buildings, and still have plenty of room for a lot of players to be able to move around.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> A Multiplayer title can't be dark with the lighting? Whats the flashlight for? Can the aliens see in dark like they could in Natural Selection 1? There tons of multiplayer games which have a lot of stuff in it, which make it even more realistic. For example Valve Games, they have a lot of stuff in it, L4d, Tf2, Day of Defeat and all the other valve games.
<!--quoteo(post=1830076:date=Feb 6 2011, 08:53 PM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Feb 6 2011, 08:53 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830076"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Each of the NS2 maps focuses on a different part of the Refining facility, and putting cafeterias, bathrooms (which don't work well for multiplayer games, as they are essentially small dead end rooms, and if they aren't made that way they don't look like bathrooms), and living quarters in every map would both get repetitive and generic. The Tram map is focusing on the working areas, the packing, storing, shipping and receiving part of the refinery facility. As mentioned there is a map in the works, NS2_Docking, which has a cafeteria, locker room, and other areas based more around the employee leisure and recreation aspects.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> The thing with the bathrooms, like i said for example there can be a hole broken by aliens which doesnt let the toilets end in a dead end.I dont know its only the refinery theme, somebody said there 3 maps for NatSel2 planed. Dead space 2 has multiplayer!
<!--quoteo(post=1830305:date=Feb 8 2011, 06:00 AM:name=RTV)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RTV @ Feb 8 2011, 06:00 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830305"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The thing with the bathrooms, like i said for example there can be a hole broken by aliens blablabla<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
what is it with you and bathrooms, admit it, you just want lockable toilet stalls so you could lock yourself in and hide like a sissy, SO REAL!
<!--quoteo(post=1830308:date=Feb 7 2011, 09:04 PM:name=sheena_yanai)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sheena_yanai @ Feb 7 2011, 09:04 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830308"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->what is it with you and bathrooms, admit it, you just want lockable toilet stalls so you could lock yourself in and hide like a sissy, SO REAL!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Yay insult me, you have no arguments and just insult me, so immature.
<!--quoteo(post=1830309:date=Feb 8 2011, 05:05 AM:name=RTV)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RTV @ Feb 8 2011, 05:05 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830309"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yay insult me, you have no arguments and just insult me, so immature.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
wait, feeling insulted and talking about being immature
internet is for sure srs bznis with this one
i was just making a joke ffs :p if you want to talk about realism, dont use bathrooms as example, bathrooms are like.. a different sphere of reality, unreal and paradox things happen in them
edit: <!--quoteo(post=1830310:date=Feb 8 2011, 05:08 AM:name=IeptBarakat)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (IeptBarakat @ Feb 8 2011, 05:08 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830310"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Ramirez! Turtle up in the bathroom!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Kouji_SanSr. Hινε UÏкεεÏεг - EUPT DeputyThe NetherlandsJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
<!--quoteo(post=1830311:date=Feb 7 2011, 08:14 PM:name=sheena_yanai)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sheena_yanai @ Feb 7 2011, 08:14 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830311"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->bathrooms are like.. a different sphere of reality, unreal and paradox things happen in them<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Your toilet is a portal into another universe, I'm betting :P
<!--quoteo(post=1830312:date=Feb 8 2011, 05:19 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Feb 8 2011, 05:19 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830312"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Your toilet is a portal into another universe, I'm betting :P<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> from your relative point of view, and subjective perspective it is. im thinking like that about guys bathrooms aswell
cern told us about worm holes..and micro black holes, this is just a cover up
the large hard-on colliders only purpose is to study these glory holes in marine toilet stalls
<!--quoteo(post=1830311:date=Feb 7 2011, 08:14 PM:name=sheena_yanai)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sheena_yanai @ Feb 7 2011, 08:14 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830311"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->if you want to talk about realism, dont use bathrooms as example, bathrooms are like.. a different sphere of reality, unreal and paradox things happen in them<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Doom 3 taught me very well that nothing good ever comes from going to the bathroom.
Evil_bOb1Join Date: 2002-07-13Member: 938Members, Squad Five Blue
I don't think NS2 intends to be neither realistic nor scary. There might be allusions to reality and you might have a scary moment but the game isn't centered around those ideas.
<a href="http://www.naturalselection2.com/overview" target="_blank">NS2's intentions: the four pillars</a>
I'm sure dead space 2 is much more about the experience than the visuals. Those screen-shots you show are neither realistic nor scary. Ok, there is blood on the walls and its all dark which I guess gives one some sort of rush but its a pretty easy trick. I guess Dead space 2 relies on the common silence than a monster jumps out of nowhere to scare you.
I don't think the darkness and the blood on the walls will add anything to NS2.
NS2 being a fast paced multi-player game you never know when an alien is going to jump out at you, which might create the occasional scare but that is very rare and is mostly because you on your side created the tension. If you stay focused an alien jumping out of nowhere ain't a scare, it's a victim :p
i think the current placeholder maps have quite some lively feel to them, like every worker just dropped his tools, and left his work undone and ran away to the evac area. there is a lot of detailing like makeshift bypass cabling and opend panels.. what i still dont get is having lights behind almost every fan , just for the sake of having awesome shadows lol
<!--quoteo(post=1830326:date=Feb 7 2011, 11:40 AM:name=sheena_yanai)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sheena_yanai @ Feb 7 2011, 11:40 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830326"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->i think the current placeholder maps have quite some lively feel to them, like every worker just dropped his tools, and left his work undone and ran away to the evac area. there is a lot of detailing like makeshift bypass cabling and opend panels.. what i still dont get is having lights behind almost every fan , just for the sake of having awesome shadows lol<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah that is probably the biggest gripe with the current leveldesign, most of the times there's not even any lightsource up there to speak of. Maybe it could be seen when an area is powered down so the emergency lighting kicks into gear (maybe the ventilation needs to be overlooked so having a lamp there is not impossible). But who cares really, it just looks awesome and is pretty much defining for the sci-fi genre.
When I look at the screens of DS2 I see more cult or aperture science kind of environment. I think the environment of DS1 looks a lot more like NS2.
But anyway, I don't think it will adding some bathrooms will immediately make it better. I think a room should have a purpose in the game. I mean in games like L4D or deadspace it can have a purpose. you can hide in there against a horde, find some supply crates in DS or to get people out of the closet. but after that you just run further. In NS2 you don't really have to hide or find stuff. it would serve a purpose if it was a shortcut. (with e.g. the other wall blown out, except I haven't seen any sort of large destruction in the current maps, so I don't know if that would be fitting to the rest of the map.) it could also be a alien exclusive advantage with having a vent in it to get you quickly away from the marines. (bathroom crawlers aah!)
there are already a lot of details of that people were/are living there. I remember a bulletinboard in Tram where were all sort of ads for "Khaara free vacantions!" etc, which I thought was quite awesome :P I don't think a lot of darkness and blood would make NS2 more scary. I mean when you play DS what scares you more? the music + the sudden attack of gruesome enemies or only the leveldesign? I think the experience is more important for 'being scared' than the map itself.
<!--quoteo(post=1830343:date=Feb 7 2011, 11:55 PM:name=Jer9-Carver)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jer9-Carver @ Feb 7 2011, 11:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830343"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I don't think a lot of darkness and blood would make NS2 more scary. I mean when you play DS what scares you more? the music + the sudden attack of gruesome enemies or only the leveldesign? I think the experience is more important for 'being scared' than the map itself.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
rooms need to be darker than they are now. currently once power nodes go down, the red light helps see too much within the game. And if indeed it was darker, picture walking into it room without your flashlight or even while you have it on, something jumps at you out of nowhere. Now, add random noises into rooms where power nodes go down, steamy pips, red lights flickering and random other noises - environment would completely change, especially how you (marine) would feel entering it.
Mr. EpicJoin Date: 2003-08-01Member: 18660Members, Constellation
edited February 2011
Now that is a good point, the way the emergency lighting works right now makes it difficult to get the light level right when the power goes out. The only option right now is to "ignore power level", rather than the ability to make lights that are "emergency only". Having lights specifically for emergency mode would let the mapper adjust the light level for each room and it wouldn't have to be the ubiquitous blinding red as seen in the maps now.
The only scary thing about bathrooms is cold toilet seats, aliens you can kill but you can't warm up a toilet seat if you are already in trouble of ruining your pants.
Besides that; what OP means is that familiar things in an unreal world create a contrast, a contrast catches your attention and if your attention is pointed to a place like a public bathroom you might notice if something is wrong with it. In this case the bathroom is empty, abandoned like the rest of the facility. Realising this can (or should) create an uneasy feeling. It's not necessarily bathrooms, everything that reminds you of a life-filled every day life scene would do. If you want to see this element applied very well play Silent Hill 2. Dead Space is not even doing it that good tbh. What OP seems to forget is the fact that in a fast paced shooter you don't stop to look at the scenery, especially not if the commander is yelling at you or a skulk humping your leg. The most important point though is - that a multi player map you don't play once but hundreds of times. The above described process of realization works best while exploring a new scenery, which you don't do in a fast paced multi player shooter, most people won't even do that the first time they play the map, no one will the tenth or hundredth time.
I hear what cron's saying, so my suggestion is to get everything working in a playable sense, then much, much closer to release, update the art for beauty and scariness; because first impressions are important. People will forget about it as they play, but those first few moments is what they'll show and tell their friends about, I bet.
Dead Space 2 wasn't scary at all. It just tries to startle you but there is no real horror-atmosphere...just...space-atmosphere. Besides, DS2 is trying to tell a story based on humans in realistic environments (and fails at it BTW). NS2 maps are part of one big facility and the only official map is Tram. Also, NANITES!!!!
EDIT:<b> I didn't see any toilets in the TERRIBLE DS2 multiplayer, did you?</b>
While there's nothing wrong with some neat enviro detail, the maps primarily have to be functional. As Cron said, <i>NS2</i> is a fast-paced game, moreover, it's a <u>multiplayer</u> game, which means, that a lot of bells and whistles would clash with playability. Toilet cubicles are small dead end-rooms and as such, apart from being an invitation for campers, would be nothing but a waste of space. You could throw in a few vents, of course, which would make toilets a damn fine place for skulk spawning, but that could easily result in a "battle for the loo" :D .
Basically it's up to the mappers if they want the maps to be scary. There's only so much you can do in multiplayer games to make things scary. The scary moments in games are usually specific set pieces.
The most nerve wracking multiplayer game I've played is that Half Life 2 mod where all players are on a team of special ops police except for one guy who is an almost invisible psycho mutant human who has to go around stealthily taking down each enemy. Playing the police is stressing because your enemy can kill you in one hit and he's VERY hard to see so you're always covering your back and looking out for teammates. 2nd, playing as the invisible guy can be scary because you're all alone and can be killed easily.
NS2 can have those elements plus others, here's how: - When the stealth/cloak ability is implemented the tension will go right up. - When we get larger maps there will be time for suspense to be created, which can't be done in small maps like rockdown. - The on going performance optimizations will help us feel more immersed; a fade isn't scary if its moving at 5fps, or takes 1 minute to land a hit on you because of server problems/hit registration issues. - There are lighting improvements which will be implemented to create more atmosphere.
So NS2 will be scarier than it is right now, however if you want to play really scary games then you need to stick with single player ones.
<!--quoteo(post=1830795:date=Feb 9 2011, 11:31 AM:name=peregrinus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (peregrinus @ Feb 9 2011, 11:31 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830795"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The most nerve wracking multiplayer game I've played is that Half Life 2 mod where all players are on a team of special ops police except for one guy who is an almost invisible psycho mutant human who has to go around stealthily taking down each enemy. Playing the police is stressing because your enemy can kill you in one hit and he's VERY hard to see so you're always covering your back and looking out for teammates. 2nd, playing as the invisible guy can be scary because you're all alone and can be killed easily.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
"The Hunted"? I remember that game. It was really fun but super early in the development phase when I played it. I have no clue how it ended up turning out.
The cool thing was when you saw your teammates killed by an invisible guy and you were the only one left. 'The Hidden' player could also carry the bodies of dead players and pin them up, so the players remaining would see their teammates dead bodies hanging from ceilings. If you watch the video above you can feel the tension building up. Maybe NS2 could have a game mode like that? A team of marines versus one fade with cloaking ability? When you kill the fade, you become the fade :D
Going off topic now....let me post this as a new topic in the modding section.
Comments
Also, being a primarily single player game, Dead Space can be darker with the lighting, and the areas can look more lived in, more at a human scale with lots of props like desks and chairs etc. scattered around. Because of gameplay Ns2 maps generally have to have rooms which are more open and more empty, to accommodate techpoints and all the buildings, and still have plenty of room for a lot of players to be able to move around.
--Cory
It wasn't dismissive, I said it was generic, I didn't say it was bad.
The art is of very high quality and looks good, it just doesn't look unique. I could probably paste screenshots of NS2 into any scifi movie or game you can name and it would fit.
Most scifi games look generic, but most games do not have the same level of quality behind their assets and NS2 does. NS2 has good art, but the techno-industrial or techno-laboratory or techno-whatever look has been done a lot of times before, so it's become generic.
I did say both, and dead space 2 is also highly praised for its art, as was halo when it came out, as was unreal 3, aliens vs predator, starcraft 2, doom 3, quake 4 etc. They all have the same metal corridors filled with pipes and shiny things and boxes and barrels and spotlights etc. Doesn't stop them from being pleasant to look at, but it does make them look very much the same.
Dead space is probably the closest to NS2 if only because it's got a comparable level of detail and is out at the moment along with NS2, also neither of them have much backstory, all you really know is you are in SPACE and there are BAD ALIENS who are TAKING OVER and GROWING STUFF ON THE WALLS and you must KILL THEM because you are a SPACE MARINE. Basiclally the backstory to most scifi games with aliens. Not that it really needs to be more complicated than that. It does make them feel just that bit more generic though. The necromorphs are an interesting idea for all that they are basically the flood from halo, and the NS aliens look kinda unique I guess, being based on animals which not a lot of movies do, usually aliens are guys in suits, so they tend not to look very animal like, but still NS and dead space do feel <i>very</i> much like stock settings even for scifi. At least to me.
But like I said, it doesn't stop them looking very nice, just makes them a bit forgettable afterwards because they kind of blur together with everything else and get filed under 'scifi stuff' rather than in their own little category.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A Multiplayer title can't be dark with the lighting?
Whats the flashlight for?
Can the aliens see in dark like they could in Natural Selection 1?
There tons of multiplayer games which have a lot of stuff in it, which make it even more realistic.
For example Valve Games, they have a lot of stuff in it, L4d, Tf2, Day of Defeat and all the other valve games.
<!--quoteo(post=1830076:date=Feb 6 2011, 08:53 PM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Feb 6 2011, 08:53 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830076"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Each of the NS2 maps focuses on a different part of the Refining facility, and putting cafeterias, bathrooms (which don't work well for multiplayer games, as they are essentially small dead end rooms, and if they aren't made that way they don't look like bathrooms), and living quarters in every map would both get repetitive and generic. The Tram map is focusing on the working areas, the packing, storing, shipping and receiving part of the refinery facility. As mentioned there is a map in the works, NS2_Docking, which has a cafeteria, locker room, and other areas based more around the employee leisure and recreation aspects.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The thing with the bathrooms, like i said for example there can be a hole broken by aliens which doesnt let the toilets end in a dead end.I dont know its only the refinery theme, somebody said there 3 maps for NatSel2 planed.
Dead space 2 has multiplayer!
what is it with you and bathrooms, admit it, you just want lockable toilet stalls so you could lock yourself in and hide like a sissy, SO REAL!
Yay insult me, you have no arguments and just insult me, so immature.
wait, feeling insulted and talking about being immature
internet is for sure srs bznis with this one
i was just making a joke ffs :p if you want to talk about realism, dont use bathrooms as example, bathrooms are like.. a different sphere of reality, unreal and paradox things happen in them
edit: <!--quoteo(post=1830310:date=Feb 8 2011, 05:08 AM:name=IeptBarakat)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (IeptBarakat @ Feb 8 2011, 05:08 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1830310"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Ramirez! Turtle up in the bathroom!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
oh i lold
Your toilet is a portal into another universe, I'm betting :P
from your relative point of view, and subjective perspective it is. im thinking like that about guys bathrooms aswell
cern told us about worm holes..and micro black holes, this is just a cover up
the large hard-on colliders only purpose is to study these glory holes in marine toilet stalls
Doom 3 taught me very well that nothing good ever comes from going to the bathroom.
<a href="http://www.naturalselection2.com/overview" target="_blank">NS2's intentions: the four pillars</a>
I'm sure dead space 2 is much more about the experience than the visuals. Those screen-shots you show are neither realistic nor scary. Ok, there is blood on the walls and its all dark which I guess gives one some sort of rush but its a pretty easy trick. I guess Dead space 2 relies on the common silence than a monster jumps out of nowhere to scare you.
I don't think the darkness and the blood on the walls will add anything to NS2.
NS2 being a fast paced multi-player game you never know when an alien is going to jump out at you, which might create the occasional scare but that is very rare and is mostly because you on your side created the tension. If you stay focused an alien jumping out of nowhere ain't a scare, it's a victim :p
Yeah that is probably the biggest gripe with the current leveldesign, most of the times there's not even any lightsource up there to speak of. Maybe it could be seen when an area is powered down so the emergency lighting kicks into gear (maybe the ventilation needs to be overlooked so having a lamp there is not impossible). But who cares really, it just looks awesome and is pretty much defining for the sci-fi genre.
I think the environment of DS1 looks a lot more like NS2.
But anyway, I don't think it will adding some bathrooms will immediately make it better. I think a room should have a purpose in the game. I mean in games like L4D or deadspace it can have a purpose. you can hide in there against a horde, find some supply crates in DS or to get people out of the closet. but after that you just run further. In NS2 you don't really have to hide or find stuff. it would serve a purpose if it was a shortcut. (with e.g. the other wall blown out, except I haven't seen any sort of large destruction in the current maps, so I don't know if that would be fitting to the rest of the map.)
it could also be a alien exclusive advantage with having a vent in it to get you quickly away from the marines. (bathroom crawlers aah!)
there are already a lot of details of that people were/are living there. I remember a bulletinboard in Tram where were all sort of ads for "Khaara free vacantions!" etc, which I thought was quite awesome :P
I don't think a lot of darkness and blood would make NS2 more scary. I mean when you play DS what scares you more? the music + the sudden attack of gruesome enemies or only the leveldesign? I think the experience is more important for 'being scared' than the map itself.
rooms need to be darker than they are now. currently once power nodes go down, the red light helps see too much within the game. And if indeed it was darker, picture walking into it room without your flashlight or even while you have it on, something jumps at you out of nowhere. Now, add random noises into rooms where power nodes go down, steamy pips, red lights flickering and random other noises - environment would completely change, especially how you (marine) would feel entering it.
The devs said the maps already out are just test maps so we can play the beta.
Besides that; what OP means is that familiar things in an unreal world create a contrast, a contrast catches your attention and if your attention is pointed to a place like a public bathroom you might notice if something is wrong with it. In this case the bathroom is empty, abandoned like the rest of the facility. Realising this can (or should) create an uneasy feeling. It's not necessarily bathrooms, everything that reminds you of a life-filled every day life scene would do.
If you want to see this element applied very well play Silent Hill 2. Dead Space is not even doing it that good tbh.
What OP seems to forget is the fact that in a fast paced shooter you don't stop to look at the scenery, especially not if the commander is yelling at you or a skulk humping your leg. The most important point though is - that a multi player map you don't play once but hundreds of times. The above described process of realization works best while exploring a new scenery, which you don't do in a fast paced multi player shooter, most people won't even do that the first time they play the map, no one will the tenth or hundredth time.
Besides, DS2 is trying to tell a story based on humans in realistic environments (and fails at it BTW).
NS2 maps are part of one big facility and the only official map is Tram. Also, NANITES!!!!
EDIT:<b> I didn't see any toilets in the TERRIBLE DS2 multiplayer, did you?</b>
:D
The most nerve wracking multiplayer game I've played is that Half Life 2 mod where all players are on a team of special ops police except for one guy who is an almost invisible psycho mutant human who has to go around stealthily taking down each enemy. Playing the police is stressing because your enemy can kill you in one hit and he's VERY hard to see so you're always covering your back and looking out for teammates. 2nd, playing as the invisible guy can be scary because you're all alone and can be killed easily.
NS2 can have those elements plus others, here's how:
- When the stealth/cloak ability is implemented the tension will go right up.
- When we get larger maps there will be time for suspense to be created, which can't be done in small maps like rockdown.
- The on going performance optimizations will help us feel more immersed; a fade isn't scary if its moving at 5fps, or takes 1 minute to land a hit on you because of server problems/hit registration issues.
- There are lighting improvements which will be implemented to create more atmosphere.
So NS2 will be scarier than it is right now, however if you want to play really scary games then you need to stick with single player ones.
"The Hunted"? I remember that game. It was really fun but super early in the development phase when I played it. I have no clue how it ended up turning out.
The Hidden: Source
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNRRn2-zS0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNRRn2-zS0</a>
The cool thing was when you saw your teammates killed by an invisible guy and you were the only one left. 'The Hidden' player could also carry the bodies of dead players and pin them up, so the players remaining would see their teammates dead bodies hanging from ceilings. If you watch the video above you can feel the tension building up. Maybe NS2 could have a game mode like that? A team of marines versus one fade with cloaking ability? When you kill the fade, you become the fade :D
Going off topic now....let me post this as a new topic in the modding section.