Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[Tiger]

imo the "a-monster-is-here"-music should start if you physically see the monster. When it starts to chase you the normal music should also play.

[Deep One]

I agree with the point about monster music. I'd like them to keep the chase music though, because it is vital to get clear feedback when a monster has spotted you and it also increases the rush of adrenaline.

I'd also like more interesting insanity effects, too, the blurry screen did indeed get annoying after a while. In general, I hope insanity will be handled in a more subtle way. In Amnesia it was basically the same as your health - a numeric stat you had to kinda keep track of while playing. After a while it stopped being atmospheric and the insanity effects felt more like simple feedback, just there so you wouldn't have to look at the insan-o-meter in the inventory...

There is few cool insanity effects in ATDD, though. For example, hanging bodies and creepy painting. I hope there's going to be more things like that in AAMFP.

[Randomguy9900]

They claimed that "Old tricks won't work" So I really do think that they will somehow incorporate a new system to how sounds and music play with the monster. It did get easier/annoying when you could just hide until the music goes away.

Possibly an idea where the music stays until you actually go out and see if the monster would still be there. Makes sense doesn't it?

[maarten12100]

They claimed that "Old tricks won't work" So I really do think that they will somehow incorporate a new system to how sounds and music play with the monster. It did get easier/annoying when you could just hide until the music goes away.

Possibly an idea where the music stays until you actually go out and see if the monster would still be there. Makes sense doesn't it?

Then the music would stop even if you didn't really go arround the corner sort to speak.
Just like how sometimes the music starts while you didn't even see the monster.

Played the penumbra tech demo today ofc not as good as the full blown black plague game.
But geez it was very realistic more realistic than Overture > I'm walking down those stairs bzzz AAW GAWD WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY FLASHLIGHT if I had encounterd the monster at that point I would've failed completely running with that glowstick fails unless you've seen the environment before for a while.

[bluel0bster]

I would personally prefer them to keep the chase sequence music, it freaks me the hell out when I hear it, and the not knowing where the monster is just adds to the fear. It may seem like you'd be less scared without the music, but audio has a special, unparalleled psychological effect on the brain. Also, it'd get pretty annoying if you just die from behind without any sort of indication something is happening.

Imo the biggest problem with TDD was how heavily scripted the gatherer encounters were. A couple places were fine, like the first time you encounter one and have to hide in that cabinet, but the formula of "complete objective -> monster shows up" was very overused and coupled with the poor monster AI added way to much to their predictability, subsequently hurting the fear factor. In fact, there's only a couple points in the entire game where monsters seem to move around randomly (choir).

The devs have teased us for a while now with promises of different AI behaviors, so hopefully this isn't a problem anymore...

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Though come to think of it, I don't recall any sort of fear music in the gameplay trailer with that pig-monster encounter.

One reason taking out the chase music wouldn't work (imo) is that if you count on the player actually visibly seeing the monster, well you'd see the monster. That's always a bad mistake when you show the player/audience too much of the monster. The less you see, the scarier it is. You're imagination will always come up with something way scarier than what it actually turns out to be. This is why the ending of both Insidious and Mama were so disappointing (to me atleast). The demon thing wasn't nearly as scary after you saw it.

Of course, they could take out the music and replace it with audio cues from the monster, which seems to be what they're going with if the trailer is any indication.

[TiberiusBond]

IMHO, l0bster says it right, if the monster's behind you and there's no music, you just gonna die for what seems like no apparent reason.

I say, keep the screeching chase noise, maybe change it a bit, but it only plays when you see it, or it's ridiculously close.

The thing that I hope they dumped in AAMFP is the fact that pretty much every time a grunt shows up in TDD, it announces it's presence with a loud "BWWUUAAGG", which let you know it was time to find a closet.

Also, music can add to the horror of a chase, however, I don't know about you guys, but silence scares the shit out of me, so I think it could be beneficial to have no music during scary parts as well

[Diz]

Get rid of the "monster has spawned and is looking for you" music. I mean, all you have to do is wait in a closet 'till the music stops, and you know it's safe to continue.

I disagree. Music, even monster themes, has too big of a potential in games like these, in my opinion. If exploiting the music is a problem, I think it would be a better idea to come up with a new system for introducing music rather than getting rid of it.

I would definitely like for scripted monster encounters to be de-emphasized.

Hehe, I'm the complete opposite. Scripted monster encounters are swell, just make them less predictable. :)

Kotch: I believe you can already play Amnesia without the blurry effects - you can turn them off in the settings.

I also like the monster music because it's very ambient and sets the mood, but it does lead to the kind of playstyle that Dogfood described. I think the best solution would be to link monster music to perceived monster proximity: if the monster is close enough that the player can hear it or see it, start ambient music. :)

This would be the best solution, I feel. If possible, link the music as far as possible to what the player/character can see or hear. If the player hides and stays out of sight or can no longer hear any sign of the creature, have the music fade away, even if it might still be there. If it is possible to introduce such a system, you not only eliminate the fact that players can get any actual aid in the music, but also potentially maximize the emotion and feeling, like horror.

Another thing in TDD is that the monsters have a tendency of simply despawning and not really coming back on their own, and I think this is a bigger issue than actually having a monster track for whenever a monster is in the near.

Another thing which could be done, I believe, is having the monster theme for the first 1/3 of the game, and then have it more subtle or disappear for the rest of the game and keep terrifying ambience music instead, so that those who think "no monster music = safety" will have a surprise.

Edit:

Though come to think of it, I don't recall any sort of fear music in the gameplay trailer with that pig-monster encounter.

The first teaser has what appears to be search music when it breaks in the door and walks into the room, and a very creepy piece at that, however this may merely be temporary music as part of the teaser. ;)

[Googolplex]

I prefer the way of Penumbra: Overture, where monsters never disappear.
Monsters in Silent Hill also never disappear. OK, in both games you are able to fight back, but this is more an option, not what the game really wants. And this method would also work when you are defenseless.

In Amnesia you could hear when the music stops the monster was removed and gives you a feeling to be save. This is not good in a horror game.

[failedALIAS]

In Amnesia you could hear when the music stops the monster was removed and gives you a feeling to be save. This is not good in a horror game.

Well it really depends. The monsters seemed to be there only to serve the purpose of threatening the player. While in Penumbra, the aspect of the threats you faced were treated in a more enlightened case. In Penumbra, however, I found many elements of the setting itself, utterly horrifying. I didn't feel comfort in knowing there was just a foot of wood and stone between me and the world. But I admit to abusing the music elements. . . heavily.

[felixmole]

I prefer the way of Penumbra: Overture, where monsters never disappear.

^ This. I find it too bad that in TDD it is obvious that the monsters despawn. For example in storage, you can see a monster head into a dead-end. When you head into the dead-end, you don't see it any more (because it has despawned meanwhile, and won't respawn on your approach) and you get the "music stops-area completely safe" trick.