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Learn Unity, especially for 2d games (uses scripting language: C#). This is how everything will interact and move.
Learn your artwork creation tool. I.e., learn 2d art to get started bc it's budget friendly, not a ton of lighting, materials, etc so it's friendly over all platforms. Use photoshop for enviornemntal scenes -> import layers + files into Unity -> start animating w/ Spine2d (allows you to add bones + make skeletons to animate them).
Learn your sound design tool of choice (i.e, audacity).
How to build a game
Build something with replay value: pvp + pve
Strong progression + sense of achievement: i.e, leaderboards, ranks, cosmetics, items, levels, currency
Establish target audience: cater to casual (play anywhere) + competitive play (grinding to be the best)
Memorable and appealing characters with unique designs (e.g, FNAF, slenderman)
Backstory + lore or lack of
Target audience (e.g, kids, teens, adults)
Unique gameplay
People to study
Scott Cawthon (FNAF)
Retention
Ranking system that brings the player coming back and want to play for longer - creates a competitive environment where the player strives for accomplishing something.
Short term goals + a long term goal.
Horror
Core aspects of horror: lack of control/feeling of helplessness (e.g, nothing you can do to a monster in chase sequences), unpredictability, fear of the unknown.
Why is the ocean so scary for some? Because you're given such little surface information, knowing that there is so much underlying information amd underneath the surface the possibilities are endless.
In order to keep people getting scarred, there needs to be a fear of the unknown. When players are able to develop optimal strategies, it removes fear of the unknown from the equation and thus the horror game is no longer scary. In order to prevent this from happening, the developer must have the scenarios randomly generated so it is unpredictable + affect what the player decides to do. This converts the original One Optimal Strategy (OOS) system to a system that allows for Multiple Possible Strategies (MPS). E.g., shutting off your equipment or an audio device may not always work - RNG is involved and so that would change how the player reacts and decides how to proceed, maintaining the dire unknown factor. This ensures that using the same strategy over and over will grant the player victory. You wont always know what the enemy is doing. This is what fear is. Not knowing enough information to be safe. The take-away: having no way of guaranteeing your plan will work is the key to designing a good horror game.
Fear of the unknown. Make the player use their imagination to fill in the blanks. The aim is to provoke uneasiness. E.g, stumbling upon a wire being cut (what could of done it?) or seeing lights flicker at the end of a hallway (what could be down there?), turning a corner w/ a dim light (what could be waiting behind the corner), walking down an alley way at night.
Sound: creeping sounds from low volume to high volume - speed of the sound, distance of the sound all cause you to think different things. E.g, the distance and speed of the steps could indicate someone starts to walk then run towards you, making you feel like they're getting closer. Mix this with a heartbeat that gets faster and heavy breathing that becomes ever-so struggling. The mixture of sounds can create different moods and can make or break an atmosphere. Imagine an eery, dark room with only a flashlight, cutting off the peripheral of your vision.
Contrast: the lighting of an atmosphere is integral to the visualization of fear. E.g., a dim light in a room when creaking open a door. Seeing a flashlight shine through your window suddenly and reflect off onto nearby objects.
The anticipation of something is much scarier than the actual something. When our minds are active we are able to conjure up thoughts that far outweigh realities. When a jumpscare is used it is the peak of horror bc its an instant shift that is unexpected, bringing the primal fight or flight reaction out of us. However, anything less than a jumpscare becomes less scary bc you've just experienced peak horror. You wont be able to reuse it either bc you'll condition yourself to that aspect too and there is only so much you can configure in a jumpscare.