Dissapointed by the Cradle...

kamyk on 13/3/2006 at 22:44

The Cradle sent shivers down my spine, but only because I had myself hyped up for it. I don't scare at all easily, and actively look for things that will. That was actually what led me here in the first place. Someone I know on another board was threading with me about horror games, and told me about the cradle, which led me to TDS, which led me here, and to the rest of the games by LGS.

Yes, I do think the cradle could have been better, but it wasn't a slouch by any means. I must admit that other than the pounding on the attic door (that got me), [SPOILER]I was kind of dissapointed that there wasn't anything in the outer cradle.[/SPOILER]

The fetch objectives did kind of get monotonous, and break the immersion a bit.

Other than Fatal Frame though (and maybe RTTC), the cradle is the closest media attempt to making me tense in a looong time. The only part of bonehoard that had me really tense was the part with the interconnected round rooms.

I actually find it rather amusing how many people find undead so frightening. My FM should have people sweating, if I ever finish the damn thing.

LittleTaffer on 14/3/2006 at 14:34

This banging on the attic door thing, it seems to be very frightening to most of you.

How can a simple banging on a wooden door possibly be so scary? Pounding BAMBAMBAM like a maniac? That reminds me of cheesey horror movies..:idea:

Anyone care to elaborate?

Rolander on 14/3/2006 at 16:56

The more you let your imagination run wild, the more scary it seems.

When I was a kid, I used to feel queasy about visiting a graveyard at night. Until a youth training camp had myself and my yearmates on a forcemarch before taking a break in the middle of a graveyard just for kicks. We were so exhausted that we just looked at the tombstones, go:"Oh, we're in a graveyard." and ignored the place totally.

The undead inmates are not that scary unless they surprise you, at which point they move and attack fast. And there are only nine of them spaced out through the place. The Bonehoard had MOBs of zombies crowding around you in the halls...

If you replace the zombie mobs with the same number of undead inmates ... MUMMY!

Motley Fool on 14/3/2006 at 18:05

Quote Posted by LittleTaffer

This banging on the attic door thing, it seems to be very frightening to most of you.
How can a simple banging on a wooden door possibly be so scary? Pounding BAMBAMBAM like a maniac?

It's daytime; you're inside watching TV. A member of your family tells you they're going outside to bring in some groceries from the car. They go out and the door closes behind them. A minute later you hear "BAM BAM BAM!" from the door. After maybe a split-second of disorientation, you quickly realize that they have their hands full and are kicking the door to get your attention. You go over, open the door, and let them in.

Now consider this:

It's 1:30am. You've been up late reading a book and have just finished. You've turned out all the lights in your house and head to bed. Tonight you happen to be alone in the house - your whole family is gone for the weekend. You've settled into the covers and are starting to feel sleepy. Suddenly you hear your front door go "BAM!" After a few seconds of silence, you hear "BAM BAM!..... BAM BAM BAM!..... BAM!..... BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM"

Same door. Same noise. But two very different scenarios. What is it about one that seems perfectly ordinary, and the other that freezes your blood with terror?

I think it's the fear of the unknown.

And that's one of the main factors that's going to determine how much The Cradle affects you.

I'll admit that I also didn't find the Cradle quite as terrifying as I had feared. The main reason for that was that I already knew a good deal about it before I ever entered the building. For instance, I knew:

* [SPOILER]that there would be no enemies in the Outer Cradle[/SPOILER]
* [SPOILER]that whatever enemies I would face in the Inner Cradle were not indestructable, but could be handled by flashbombs and fire arrows[/SPOILER]
* [SPOILER]that the enemies I would face were undead or similar, and could be handled as such[/SPOILER]
* [SPOILER]that the enemies were particularly FAST if triggered[/SPOILER]
* [SPOILER]that the ambient sounds would be part of the terror, but which I was already used to having listened to the T3 soundtrack MP3s[/SPOILER]

Now for me, it was an acceptable tradeoff. I don't handle "horror" terribly well, so even though I lost some of the thrill of discovery, it also reduced the terror level of the Cradle down to manageable proportions for me. The #1 and #2 items I listed above probably singlehandedly made the level much more bearable.

But a part of me wishes I HADN'T known that. #1 in particular would have been a very "fun" thing to gradually discover on my own.

So the more you know about the Cradle before you start, the less terrifying it will be, but also the less "cool" and "amazing" it will be. That's the inevitable tradeoff.

I did purposely refuse to find out one thing. I knew there was something to be scary about the Attic, but I had no idea what it was. I only knew that several players had said they were unable to open the door without stopping for a while to get up their nerves. I didn't read any further spoilers of that part, and hence the Attic turned into the scariest... and coolest... part of the Cradle for me. You already know more about it than I did before I played, so the rule I mentioned in the last paragraph applies.

Motley Fool on 14/3/2006 at 18:12

My, that was a wordy post. I probably could have summarized it like this:

Scenario #1
Me: "Here, play this level called Robbing The Cradle."
Your terror level: Neutral
Your interest in playing the level: Neutral

Scenario #2
Me: "Here, you've GOT to play this level. Oh MAN, I was so scared, I lay in bed for an HOUR before I fell asleep!"
Your terror level: Raised.
Your interest in playing the level: Raised or lowered, depending on whether you like scary stuff.

Scenario #3
Me: "Here, play this really scary level. Now, when you go through this door, a guy will rush at you from the right. Also, when you reach this point, you'll hear this particular sound. Go over and open this door, and here's what you'll find inside."
Your terror level: Lowered.
Your interest in playing the level: If you hate scary stuff, probably raised from scenario #2. If you love scary stuff, probably lowered from scenario #2

kamyk on 14/3/2006 at 20:01

Good breakdowns in the last few posts Motley Fool...

I experienced the cradle as it should be, with one exception. Without meaning to, I inadvertently found out how many residents were in the place before I played it. That chopped my fear factor down to a corpse head count unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, the puppets still made me VERY tense. Very fast, very dangerous. It did help a bit that I was expecting 9, and only found 8 (I was playing on normal), so I spent a lot of time expecting to bump into that last inmate (that wasn't even there)...

Dia on 14/3/2006 at 20:06

Instinctively one just knows that it's what you don't see that will probably kill you. And over-active imaginations.

Dussander on 14/3/2006 at 22:15

I think it would have spoiled it for me if I knew there was no enemies in the Outer Cradle before I played. You are right, the fear of the unknown really gives the level its credibility. For me particularly, fear leads to thrill, like riding on a rollercoaster.

CD Set on 15/3/2006 at 11:23

The Cradle almost scared me to death. I had read some posts about how scary it was and I remember when I first started playing T3. I knew the level was coming (eventually), but somehow I just couldn't imagine it fitting into T3's otherwise general gameplay.

I mean, just look at the guards of the City Watch, and listen to some of their lines "Go ahead then an' run, taffer!"

They just seem too silly for being in a game which includes one of the creepiest missions I have played.

Anyway, the only thing I knew about the Cradle was it being an Asylum/Orphanage, and that it included the undead.
When I first played it I was like: "Ok, this is really eerie... but c'mon it's not THAT scary."

Even when I went up to the attic door and heard the banging on the door, I for some reason dared open it almost immediately.

Then... there was this nice little section called "the Inner Cradle"... heh heh heh... :rolleyes:
The Puppets. These incredibly freaky, twitching little monsters made my time in the Cradle last for only a short while. I think I'm so scared of them due to my first confrontation with one of them.
They are what keeps me from playing the level, and what had me forcing my friend to sit and watch for the entire time (to be honest, I had him play much of the level :o )

Yes, I know. I'm WAAY too easily intimidated but still, it's an interesting level. Besides, it's what brought me to the incredible universe of the Thief games, and the always so helpful folks of the TTLG forums.

I hope you enjoyed my opinions in one of the most boring posts for a while :joke:

Palantir on 15/3/2006 at 12:40

Well, let's say, "Different people have different taste, well, in terror":)