The Bus Stops Here
Terrors of Nowhere is a game created in VR Chat note by the user Beyond.
Inspired by Slender Fortress and Midnight Horrors note , Terrors of Nowhere has each player - previously a passenger of the 'TIME-BUS' - try to survive repeated hunts launched by numerous entitiesnote as they break into various locations through a 'thorn'. It also borrows a fair bit from Lobotomy Corporation and its sequels: using Enkephalin note as the primary source of currency to purchase items from the shop, displaying information on each Entity in-game alongside a danger rank, their method, etc., borrowing several Abnormalities, etc.
Beyond has also created a number of other worlds in VR Chat, several of which tie into the lore of Terrors of Nowhere. note
- Bus to Nowhere
- smileghost
- Waiting For Nothing
- Kuro's Apartment
- After Ruin
Terrors of Nowhere contains examples of:
- Abandoned Warehouse: The appropriately named 'Warehouse' location, a large and looping two-story location filled with plenty of boxes. Its entry quips, "Is that why they call it a warehouse? Because it’s full of wares?"
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The appropriately named 'Sewers' location - which also happens to have an abandoned train track and a storage area, which is more than large enough for a dozen or so people and an angry alien spider robot (and then some) to run around in.
- Achievement System: A wall of achievements (and a green screen) lay hidden in the back of the court, with more than 70 challenges for a player to complete, from surviving certain entities and building up enough Eph to unlocking certain items... or pushing certain buttons.
- Ambiguous Situation: Why are the passengers there? Why are they being put through chase after chase and death after death? Some Entities either wish to be left alone or are outright malicious. Others play on guilt or fear, and still others are implied to have been riders or drivers on the bus(es) alongside the passengers. At least one claims that it only harms evildoers. note
- Closet Shuffle: Ambush and Rush, both originating from Doors, require that passengers stay attentive and hide inside a closet - lest they be quickly slaughtered. note Oddly averted in the case of the Ao Oni, despite their death animation displaying it opening up a closet to find its prey.
- Dungeon Shop: Somehow, a merchant has set up shop in the Court. The merchant provides passengers with three separate sub-shops: The Enkephalin Shop - where they can purchase items using currency earned between each round, the Survival Shop - where they can unlock items after racking up enough wins across all play sessions, and the Event Shop - where they can access items which they've earned by completing certain achievements or doing certain things. note
- Enemy-Detecting Radar: A passenger can purchase a Radar, and can unlock a Radar Coil. The former lists the names of any Entities which may have spawned into the world while the latter offers a meager speed boost. Both also serve to warn a passenger if an Entity draws near.
- Holiday Mode: Terrors of Nowhere had a Winter Event - dubbed 'Winterfest' that ran during the winter of late 2023 to early 2024. During Winterfest, Entities wore festive Santa hats and the Court was bathed in snow which formed into both shapeless piles and decorated snowmen. Passengers could unlock a 'Snowy Speed Coil' by plucking it from a pile near the merchant, or a 'Torch of Obsession' by surviving a rare and difficult Cold Night found.
- Hub Level: Inbetween each round, the passengers are brought to the 'Court', with the Overseer keeping watch - ever ready to send them into the next round. While there, they can access a shop, go through a list of Entities, Locations, and Moons they've encountered, view their Achievements list, and collect crystals for extra Eph.
- Indie Game: Terrors of Nowhere was created in Udon by Beyond, who collects donations through his Patreon.
- Interface Screw: A number of things can mess with the player's vision or HUD, such as a fog being cast throughout a location, the screen growing dark and staticky as an Entity enters a new phase, or by directly popping up onto a player's wrist-side display to adjust the timer.
- Jump Scare: Though optional (the player can turn them off while joining the world or at any point in the Court), Jump Scares serve as the primary punishment for a passenger being caught and killed by any given Entity - this can include the classic FNAF-esque 'jump into their face', a combination of visual assault and text a la Spooky's House of Jumpscares, or a moment of Controllable Helplessness as a group of smiling cartoon characters giggle and dance in a ring around you.
- Luck-Based Mission: Beyond knowledge of how each Entity works, luck frequently factors into how a given round will go. From each round having a random entity to various rounds having special modifiers. Players must also encounter certain maps and entities in order to unlock certain items. Certain items ALSO have a factor of luck to them, such as Have's Mysterious Brew granting various harmful/helpful effects note , the Teleporter items teleporting a passenger to a random location, or randomly being cursed by Gran Faust.
- Sprint Shoes: A number of items can grant a passenger a boost in speed including, but not limited to, the Coil items - which provide passengers with a flat speed buff, certain items which can grant a temporary boost in 'swiftness', such as Teleporter variants and certain magical swords, or... a can of RedBull.
- Survival Horror: Given the expense and cooldown time of any weapon, generally the best course of action by a player is to run and/or hide from an Entity - indeed, in many cases it may be their ONLY option.
- Unique Items: Aside from any items unlocked by being a Patreon supporter before the game officially released, a few items are exclusively given out by Beyond. These include an 'Overseer Plush' - given to victors of a random Battle Royale in test instances, and the 'Carrot', a contributor item designed for the creator of the aforementioned Old-School Fan Website, MaraRizer.
