[SPOILER] A Machine For Pigs, As It Should Have Been

[NanaPharcyde]

Hi,

I've seen a few people start mod projects on here with the task of remaking AMFP to be more like The Dark Descent in terms of gameplay, but all of them either evolved into their own separate story or disappeared altogether.

I was just wondering if there are any (indev or released) that actually fulfill this idea?

If not, someone should totally do it. Every now and then I remember what an odd disappointment AMFP was, even though I liked the setting and story (for the most part) very much.

What would you add, remove or change about the game and/or story?

I'd add more encounters and outdoor environments (also combine them as we thought would happen anyway), reduce the length and frequency of notes, outline a clearer story and, if possible, add Dan Pinchbeck's original ending of Mandus drowning himself and the Machine in sewage.

I'd also call it We Are The Pig (the working title of AMFP).

[Potato]

If this became a reality I would certainly like to help, primarily with sound and ideas, since that's all I really can contribute with atm. Also, where did you hear about that original ending with Mandus and the Machine? That sounds pretty awesome.

[NanaPharcyde]

Dan mentioned that ending in an interview about three months ago, can't remember what website, he may have linked to it on his or The Chinese Room's twitter. He said something like; it would turn out that the machine's temple was directly under the sewer and Mandus would have to destroy the ceiling supports to flood the chamber and "literally drown himself and the machine in shit".

Even though it's a far more fitting ending, they didn't use it apparently because they were technologically limited.

Doesn't sound hard to make though, as surely all they would have had to do is take a few of the gushing blood assets from the earlier sections (around the room waist deep with blood), recolour it brown, re-size them, put them near the distant chamber walls and have the chamber slowly fill with sewer water from... well... the sewer level. Add a slightly edited version of the last monologue as he drowns, fade to black, cue "When I Was A Laddy", roll credits.

Awesome.

[i3670]

Why would you improve a perfect product?

[Potato]

Why would you improve a perfect product?

That's certainly subjective, as much as I love AMFP, I would say it's far from perfect.

Also, there was an unused bit of dialogue between Mandus and the Machine that'd be really great if implemented.

[Obba]

I liked the way the story can easily get into my thoughts and make me think about it more and more. All the "why's" and "could it have been's" are the reasons I love the game.

But to be honest, while watching the trailers and seeing the letters and pictures etc I would have expected much more. When I think of it more, the game wasn't exactly violent.
http://www.onlysp.com/wp-content/uploads...line_3.jpg
http://gametrone.com/wp-content/uploads/...r-pigs.jpg
What happened to those places? I don't remember the pigline being like that.

What about the children from the orphanage? They were mentioned in the game, indeed, but they had no real role. Maybe my ideas could be described as tasteless horror, but the kids from the orphanage would have made a great jumpscare. Instead, most of them were most likely dead even before the events of the game. I would indeed have liked more monsters.

How about the ending? It left many questions so it was a good one, but ATDD had many endings. Imagine, if there was a possibility of getting to choose what happens to Mandus? Maybe the Machine could have changed his mind. Or maybe, though this sounds pretty idiotic, the Machine could have brought the children back in life and as an exchange it could have told Mandus to give his whole soul and body to the Machine and after that the Machine could have killed him..

So many possibilities. I bet most of you had your own theories on what the game would be all about before you even played it. I didn't think there would be pig monsters, though that's pretty stupid of me.

[i3670]

Those pictures were merely concepts and it's nothing special to AMFP, TDD had them aswell.

The children of the orphanage were, as far as I can tell, the pig monsters.

It is believed that AMFP were supposed to have multiple endings but that they were removed before release (there are audio files that confirm this).

[Alardem]

Those pictures were merely concepts and it's nothing special to AMFP, TDD had them aswell.

The children of the orphanage were, as far as I can tell, the pig monsters.

It is believed that AMFP were supposed to have multiple endings but that they were removed before release (there are audio files that confirm this).

The children were eaten by the Pigs.

To be honest, TCR's take on this concept was far "colder" than I'd envisioned a human slaughterhouse. I was picturing something vastly bloodier, far more intense than what we got. The Pig-Line should have been drenched in gore and viscera, and the ending should have been a macabre carnival of humans being destroyed. They actually left TOO MUCH to the imagination.

I still enjoy A Machine For Pigs, but it was not nearly as vicious or extreme as its premise allowed for. I'm not a fan of shock for shock's sake, but certainly the idea of humans being treated as pigs lends itself to horrific imagery. This is a story where 'gorn' would actually be appropriate.

[WALP]

Would have been nice if there was a level were you explored a disabled pigline prior to everything going bananas, and then when it did you could imagine that people were being put through those machines and processes you had explored.

[Alardem]

Would have been nice if there was a level were you explored a disabled pigline prior to everything going bananas, and then when it did you could imagine that people were being put through those machines and processes you had explored.

You should have been forced to actually go THROUGH the Pig-Line, as the concept art implied. I suspect the main reason why that didn't happen was because the Amnesia engine isn't very good with NPC animations...