Not a big fan of spiders either and in games I usually find that they are making me mostly uncomfortable - they are too huge and somewhere in my head a thing clicks in and add the not plausible factor.

However - Might and Magic - Dark Messiah -[Edited: Marund's post made me remember the correct name - huga...] I couldn't play through a second time due to the spiders. In Skyrim - I have a problem with them sneaking up on me - and while I do get scared or jumpy might be a better word for anything that creeps up on you and suddenly unleash a digital hell on your character in FPV -spiders just isn't fun on any level.

Also - for everyone talking about movies and books and other crap - it is easy to see that you haven't experienced any phobias - you wouldn't reason like this if you were. While my problems aren't as troublesome as others - I do think that arachnophobia is a valid reason and among mods - the no spider is usually a rather quick mod to appear.

My suggestion would be to take this up with the developers directly.

It's exactly this, it's irrational and it's pretty inexplicable. That's why it's a phobia. I don't know why they bother me, but they do, they very much bother me.

It is hard to understand such fears when you don't have them yourselves. People who have true phobias are genuinely scared to death of even imagery of their fears. It may not be real to you, but it is a real problem for many people.

I get the point someone made earlier about how they're supposed to be scary, but that misses how bad a phobia can actually be. As an example, let's look at another game with spiders, Dark Messiah. I cannot play this game past a certain level. It's not just that I'm scared of spiders, I have such a fear of them (and yes, I know it's irrational) that it's not just scary parts for me, it's parts that I cannot play; I have to turn the game off, I am so overcome with some dread that's indescribable that I can't bring myself to even want to play the game anymore.

The same thing is happening with this game. The way the spiders move and attack, etc., is animated in such a way that gives me that same feeling. I'm unable to continue on in this game that I was enjoying very much because I react so negatively to the spiders that I can't even bring myself to want to play anymore. To put it another way; games are for fun. Being scared can be fun. Being so repulsed, physically, that I can't play the game isn't fun.

Someone earlier talked about removing things impeding the creators vision. I see the point, and that's why I don't ask for the spiders to be removed; I don't expect the developers to bend to my whim. Instead, I want exactly what the art showed, an option. If I can't stand the spiders, let me turn them off. If you want them in, you can have them. This way, the developers make the game they want to make, you get the enemies you want, and I don't get shut out of a game I truly have enjoyed so far because of something I can't control about myself. I'm not asking for anything more than that; let me change a thing about the game that makes it unplayable for me, in my copy. If an analogy helps, think of it like being able to fast-forward through a part of a movie that makes me uncomfortable; I like the rest of the experience, but one part of it stops me from enjoying it, so why not have a method to let me get past that problem?

Just a reminder: There are approved psychological techniques for getting rid of most phobias. Arachnophobia is one of those. Contact a psychologist and ask for help, it CAN be done.

i am on a level with some spiders & wow i opened a door & guess what was there loads of them nasty things,,,,, so i closed the door and ran away lol.

oh well i will have to return there & try to kill them all.......

Dont be a tit

Just went to http://www.grimrock.net ;)

There is a "Modding"-section in the forum. For now it is locked but this looks like they will support modding. It may well be that in the near future we get something like a "no spider"-mod.

Oi, it's not stupid to ask politely, which the OP did. People who have arachnophobia can't control the aversion reaction as well as people who don't have it. Anyway, someone will probably mod them out soon enough.

After this game, I think I've developed a far worse phobia.

An irrational fear of sentient fungus.

If you are arachnophobic, you can use this video to test if games spiders have effect on you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydyRes2N7BA

you too, dont be a tit, its ridiculous and completely irrational

DONT for gods sake whatever you do:

play flight sims for fear of crashing
play driving/racing games for fear of same
play shooters 3rd and 1st person for fear of death/pain/dismemberment
play rpg's for fear of dragons/fire/poion/getting lost/trolls/stabbed/large creatures/crazy names/SPIDERS....etc
play anything at all, in fact id go away and lock myself up if i was you.

my advice for someone like that, stop asking STUPID questions about a GAME and go away a smack yourself.

I see where the disconnect is here. Someone made the assumption that you were above the age of 12. I'm sure it won't happen again.

While I'd never, ever, support the developers spending time and effort on phobia-proofing games, I'd just like to point out that you're a tool. A phobia and fear are two entirely different things. You don't fear crashing in a game, or being dismembered, because you can rationally tell that it is not real; you know, rationally, that there is nothing to be afraid of. Fear is a natural response to a great many situations, but is also relatively easily overcome in situations where you have the opportunity to rationalize what's going on - for example, bungee jumping; you're doing something that is basically throwing yourself off a bridge, tied to nothing but a rope.

But you can rationalize it by realizing that there are safety mechanisms, and that it's not really "just" a rope. Sometimes, this process of rationalization is automatic or so subtle that we don't even notice it. An example of this is cars, or inner-city traffic. We've completely lost respect for objects that are basically terminal-velocity death-machines capable of dislocating your head from your shoulders.

A phobia, on the other hand, is irrational. It is the definition of a phobia. Now, I don't think even half of the people that says they have a phobia of something actually has that phobia; most often, it's just a light fear. But that's beside the point; Phobias are phobias because they're defined by being irrational fears. You can't argue away a phobia just like you can't stop someone with OCD from "just" having to flip a switch six times. Or tell someone with ADHD "just do it" when they have trouble with getting things done.

Pearls before swines, I know, but I felt someone needed to tell you.

Of course it's irrational, you dolt. As Luckmann already explained to you, a phobia is an irrational fear of something. People who have real phobias know that; they just can't control the fight-or-flight response. Perhaps you're so socially maladjusted that you're incapable of empathy, but even if that's the case, parading your ignorance and rudeness here doesn't make you look all that clever. It makes you look like you need therapy.

I have arachnophobia but I try to fight it whenever I can (and feel like it :)

so when I see a spider somewhere I force myself to look at it, blow on it so I can see it move/run... it's REALLY unpleasant but it's getting better.

I believe that some day I'll be able to grab it in my hand and throw it out of the window without dying :D

if there are spiders in the game, that's not nice as well, but watching or fighting them in the game does help too. this is a kind of therapy so why not use it? you don't want to be afraid of them for the rest of your life (expecially when you're a guy) - I don't.

EDIT: what a lovely coincidence :)) just after posting this and coming back to the game there it was, a spider came to tell me hi! but it didn't repel me much as I didn't watch it - I had to click on weapons to attack and spells to cast... I'll load the game now to actually take a good look at it :D

Hey, good luck! There are some walking toadstools coming up later that are even more annoying...well, to me anyway. They keep killing me.

I'm kind of enjoying the spiders, actually. It's surprisingly satisfying anytime I can smack one and then close a gate in its face before it can counterattack. Not the smoothest of tactics, I grant you, but very fun.

<grin!> Yup, that one worked for a room full of the stupid buggers for me!