Weapons (please read and discuss)

[Cranky Old Man]

Ok so I'm currently playing Amnesia the Dark Descent and loving it well not really actualy its to scary for me to love it but uhm well ok lets just say I'm playing it and I was thinking... wouldn't it be flippin awesome if we could replay the game but with a weapon(s) hidden in the starting area(s) this way we could get even with the monsterfuckers that make us crap our pants

It would be just as "awesome" as robbing a convenience store to get even with them for taking your money.
It would be just as "awesome" as introducing lightsaber duels into chess.
It would be just as "awesome" as creative mode in Minecraft.
It would be just as "awesome" as extra lives in tennis.
It would be just as "awesome" as no-clip.
No. No. No. No. No.

[Traggey]

''It would be just as "awesome" as introducing lightsaber duels into chess.''

Dude, are you saying that wouldn't be awesome..?

[Cranky Old Man]

''It would be just as "awesome" as introducing lightsaber duels into chess.''

Dude, are you saying that wouldn't be awesome..?

It would be missing and going against the entire point in chess.

[Nice]

Weapons in amnesia ? hell no, wouldn't be scary anymore.

the only thing "scary" that horrorgames with weapons have are jumpscares.

[Cranky Old Man]

That weapons go against the entire point of a horror theme, doesn't just apply to Amnesia. It applies to all horror, because it takes away the vulnerability, danger and the ability to relate to the character. It takes away horror itself. That's why Resident Evil isn't true horror. That's why FEAR isn't true horror. That's why even Silent Hill isn't true horror.
Op, you don't get horror.

Further, you don't get that the challenge that a game poses to you, is to be respected and played by. It's not a hard challenge either - hiding and waiting is something that anybody can do.
...so you don't seem to get games either.

This is why I simply said "No.".
It's not as bad of an idea as introducing comedy to Amnesia, but it's pretty bad.

[Streetboat]

Underpowered weapons can work just as well at promoting helplessness as having no weapon. It's all about implementation. There were times when I was frustrated that hitting an enemy had no effect in Amnesia, or that I didn't bring that huge fucking sledgehammer from the torture rooms with me. I did, however, understand the reasoning behind it; helplessness is scary.

There can be different levels of helplessness, though. It can be slightly reassuring to have something that you know is there to help you along. Just because it's a horror game doesn't mean positive reinforcement isn't allowed. Therefore, having a weapon at your disposal is a kindness and won't ruin the atmosphere, just so long as it's done right. The monster should still not be able to be killed (not without GREAT effort and risk), and running away should always be a better solution. But just in case, it's there.

This is the philosophy I am undertaking with my Standards of Hell story. It being a Diablo story, weapons are completely necessary, simply due to the lore of the game. However, that doesn't mean it'll be a hack n slash, seeing as you play as a simple villager; the damage you can do to monsters is nil compared to what they can do to you, but wouldn't you still try to pick up a weapon in that scenario?

Now, I just need to find a way to include the system in Penumbra; it was clunky and unwieldy, but there. This makes it perfect for my interpretation of weapons in an HPL2 engine game.

[Cranky Old Man]

Underpowered weapons can work just as well at promoting helplessness as having no weapon. It's all about implementation. There were times when I was frustrated that hitting an enemy had no effect in Amnesia, or that I didn't bring that huge fucking sledgehammer from the torture rooms with me. I did, however, understand the reasoning behind it; helplessness is scary.

There can be different levels of helplessness, though. It can be slightly reassuring to have something that you know is there to help you along. Just because it's a horror game doesn't mean positive reinforcement isn't allowed. Therefore, having a weapon at your disposal is a kindness and won't ruin the atmosphere, just so long as it's done right. The monster should still not be able to be killed (not without GREAT effort and risk), and running away should always be a better solution. But just in case, it's there.

This is the philosophy I am undertaking with my Standards of Hell story. It being a Diablo story, weapons are completely necessary, simply due to the lore of the game. However, that doesn't mean it'll be a hack n slash, seeing as you play as a simple villager; the damage you can do to monsters is nil compared to what they can do to you, but wouldn't you still try to pick up a weapon in that scenario?

Now, I just need to find a way to include the system in Penumbra; it was clunky and unwieldy, but there. This makes it perfect for my interpretation of weapons in an HPL2 engine game.

A desperate struggle is still a struggle. The substances for fight and flight are two separate substances. By being given the option to fight, you are given a shelter (no matter how small) against fear. "Can I take him on with X?" shouldn't even spring to mind.

[Kman]

Just because you aren't defenseless doesn't mean something isn't horror, or isn't scary for that matter. If you're given very little resources, like guns and ammo, it can lead to a whole new aspect of horror. Games that do that make you conserve your resources for when you really need them, and if you don't use what you're given wisely it can end up bad. When your options slowly start to run out and you have nothing to fight back with it can make enemies seem even more terrifying and a bigger threat. It all depends on the execution, if it's done well weapons and horror can work well, but if done poorly (giving the player way too much ammo or guns) it can end up turning it into and action FPS with horror elements. It's all in how it's balanced.

[Adny]

I must disagree with street boat. In Penumbra:Overture, the player was given "tools" that functioned as weapons. Frictional Games made sure the combat was clunky so they would be used as a last resort; but inevitably, many players found ways around it and were able to easily kill all enemies, thus greatly reducing the horror experience. At that point, it turned into a "hack-and-slash" ordeal.

tl;dr no matter how bad/clunky you make combat, it doesn't even remotely compare to no combat at all because people can find a way to make it easy/not scary.


The planets must be aligned, because I just agreed with CrankyOldMan :O

[CorinthianMerchant]

Terrible idea.

Quite.