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+--- Thread: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? (/thread-19123.html)
Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - cav500 - 11-07-2012
I am new to playing Amnesia custom stories but so far I have downloaded and played through around 100 of them. This has taken me several months to do. One thing I have noticed is how similar many of them are. Lots of them have this same formula:
1. Starts off in the same typical bedroom with a door that is usually locked for some strange reason.
2. Then you move to the hallways of the same typical house on a search for keys and tinderboxes. Tinderboxes are always a sign that the story is going down to the cellar, as usual.
3. Then it moves down to a typical underground/cellar/basement/prison area where you spend most of your time with the monsters.
Why do so many of these custom stories follow the same pattern?
I also play a pc game called Thief where fans of the game have created some AMAZING fan missions using the engine that created the original Thief game. These missions are all so extremely different. But with Amnesia, it doesn't seem that way unless it's a full mod with it's own bat or exe. file.
Just wondering. I've never tried to create a custom story so I don't know how limited the software is for creating custom stories. Has anyone else here wondered why these custom stories are so similar?
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - Adny - 11-07-2012
Simply put: you're playing the wrong custom stories.
There are some promising projects that have been made or are on the Horizon that utilize new models and mechanics. There are even a few unique ones that use only assets from the original game (building sets/models/music/etc) but are well put together. But, seeing as how you've played 100 mods, I'm sure you've already picked through the best ones.
The HPL2 is rather simplistic engine to work with (as far as basics go) so there is a lot of lower quality modding.
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - johnbox - 11-07-2012
And, after Sir Pewdie started playing Amnesia, many many people wanted to make him play their custom stories. So they tried to just do something, so you can say, "MY CS GOT PLAYED BY PEWDIE :33".
They didn't had the aim, to create something new... They followed the first tutorials they found, and the most famous tutorials simply start up like this. Of course, not only pewdie-fans did that, probably everyone got to those tutorials, when you start making mods.
Let's create a Startroom. Fine, now we'll do a hallway and yay, you got your very first map !
the tutorial-guys simply explain everything by the most famous/easy setups. That's a fine idea, because starting with new, and complicated things would be... not that awesome.
And those tutorial maps, often get posted on moddb. I mean, that's not bad, you can get feedback for your really first map, it's fine, and you obviously mainly got those maps.
Just view the best rated for example, and you'll get other ones, really good maps. Like White Night, La Caza, House of Creep. (edited, yes, it was sarcasm)
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - Hardarm - 11-07-2012
(11-07-2012, 05:34 PM)johnbox Wrote: And, after Sir Pewdie started playing Amnesia, many many people wanted to make him play their custom stories. So they tried to just do something, so you can say, "MY CS GOT PLAYED BY PEWDIE :33".House of Creep? wut no. maybe the "(trololo)" could be marked as making the last thing sarcastic, but not sure everyone will understand lol
They didn't had the aim, to create something new... They followed the first tutorials they found, and the most famous tutorials simply start up like this. Of course, not only pewdie-fans did that, probably everyone got to those tutorials, when you start making mods.
Let's create a Startroom. Fine, now we'll do a hallway and yay, you got your very first map !
the tutorial-guys simply explain everything by the most famous/easy setups. That's a fine idea, because starting with new, and complicated things would be... not that awesome.
And those tutorial maps, often get posted on moddb. I mean, that's not bad, you can get feedback for your really first map, it's fine, and you obviously mainly got those maps.
Just view the best rated for example, and you'll get other ones, really good maps. Like White Night, La Caza, House of Creep. (trololo)
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - johnbox - 11-07-2012
fine... edited.
Of course I won't list HoC as one of the best custom stories. No hate against Skashi, but ... no.
But let's end this, sorry for that confusion.
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - cav500 - 11-07-2012
Thanks Johnbox. That explanation seems to explain the reason for all the similarity pretty well.
Quote:after Sir Pewdie started playing Amnesia, many many people wanted to make him play their custom storiesPewDiePie cracks me up. I love watching his videos on youtube. That dude is extremely funny, in my opinion.
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - cav500 - 11-07-2012
Quote: And this matters, how?It doesn't matter. I just like Pewdie. He's really funny.
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - Kreekakon - 11-07-2012
(11-07-2012, 05:55 PM)cav500 Wrote: It doesn't matter. I just like Pewdie. He's really funny.Yeah, but whether he's funny or not is kinda beside the point here. What we're discussing right now is the reason why so many maps are so similar.
Personally I agree with Andy. There are so many similar wallsets, and items which are pre-made inside Amnesia ready for use. Most people will be able to make a typical custom story with minimal effort by using those assets provided. As for plot, a lot of generic plots can be executed easily when using the "wake up not knowing where you are trick".
It's much rarer to see someone willing to take their work a "bit further", whether it's in uniqueness, modeling, or story-telling.
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - cav500 - 11-07-2012
Quote:It's much rarer to see someone willing to take their work a "bitI agree with that. It would be nice to see more of that.
further", whether it's in uniqueness, modeling, or story-telling.
RE: Why are so many Amnesia custom stories so similar? - Kreekakon - 11-07-2012
(11-07-2012, 06:38 PM)cav500 Wrote: I agree with that. It would be nice to see more of that.It takes much more effort than your average custom story, but there are plenty of people who just settle for this:
Just replace GoAnimate! with HPL2 editors which are used very lazily.