[NO Spoilers] How to dare...?

**veeria** · 09-10-2010, 08:54 PM

I had this idea to record my playing session with fraps. And suddenly I was progressing much faster, moving towards scary noises instead of away from them. It really helped as I felt I had an "audience" that I didn't want to bore, and of course, I don't want to use up all my harddrive.

Not 100% immersive perhaps, but It's not like I enjoyed the game less for it.

**brrrrainz** · 09-10-2010, 09:11 PM

a good thing would be to hide as soon as you hear a spine-chilling grunt. thats a quite reliable warning if the monster approaches, so lock yourself in a room and crouch behind furniture or a barrel (if you can't see it, it can't see you, right?). as in similar games like silent hill and dead space the music can also help you to decide what to do next. if it changes back into a slower, quiter tune, you are safe to venture forth.

and closing doors is a really good hint. this thing following you needs some time to break through doors, time you can use to find a good spot to hide.

**Alterforest** · 09-10-2010, 09:21 PM

(09-10-2010, 08:54 PM)veeria Wrote: I had this idea to record my playing session with fraps. And suddenly I was progressing much faster, moving towards scary noises instead of away from them. It really helped as I felt I had an "audience" that I didn't want to bore, and of course, I don't want to use up all my harddrive.

Not 100% immersive perhaps, but It's not like I enjoyed the game less for it.

Yeah, me and my friend had that idea too, but the purpose was to make a recording with you voice too, so we could laugh at each others reactions after we both completed the game individually Tongue

But we did not preform the idea because lack of disc space and would probably lessen the immersion a little bit like you said.

(09-10-2010, 09:11 PM)brrrrainz Wrote: a good thing would be to hide as soon as you hear a spine-chilling grunt. thats a quite reliable warning if the monster approaches, so lock yourself in a room and crouch behind furniture or a barrel (if you can't see it, it can't see you, right?). as in similar games like silent hill and dead space the music can also help you to decide what to do next. if it changes back into a slower, quiter tune, you are safe to venture forth.

and closing doors is a really good hint. this thing following you needs some time to break through doors, time you can use to find a good spot to hide.

The audio is what makes me tense, and this is good information, but I really can't trust the audio entirely. After I played the first 30min I learned that many sounds are imagination, but what if the next sound is the real deal? I noticed when I followed the advice to watch a Let's play of what I already played that some things are random.

When I arrive to a new zone I thread carefully and the same imaginary sound can fool me several times because I think: "what if the developer knew we would think 'ah this is just my imagination' and they make the next creaky sound the real deal".
I have heard no spine-chilling grunt yet though, so I guess those are the real deal. Probably will I find that out in time. Confused

**brrrrainz** · 09-10-2010, 10:33 PM

yeah, at some point in the game you can hear it and the sound is quite distinctive. you'll also be able to tell whether this monster is still wandering around by listening to changes in the music. although this seems to be a pattern throughout the game, it never got old if you ask me =)

**sacroid** · 09-10-2010, 10:41 PM

Another nice way to expect something coming is, in a veeeery dark area, don't get scared, think like this: ok, at any moment a grunt is going to spawn, so each step I do, I must stay alert.
Thinking like this makes you stay calm, because you are trying to expect a monster coming, and if he comes, you wont get THAT scared, because you were more or less expecting it.

**Alterforest** · 09-11-2010, 09:51 PM

(09-10-2010, 10:41 PM)sacroid Wrote: Another nice way to expect something coming is, in a veeeery dark area, don't get scared, think like this: ok, at any moment a grunt is going to spawn, so each step I do, I must stay alert.
Thinking like this makes you stay calm, because you are trying to expect a monster coming, and if he comes, you wont get THAT scared, because you were more or less expecting it.

It's a good tactic, I'll just have to learn to think "what's the worst thing that can happen?" because I think I'm too much immersed and every sound and dark corner delay my progress. Confused

That's when the "rush with lantern"-tactic helps me to progress.

Maybe late to mention but my biggest fear is to be chased, especially when I flee and can't see how close the enemy is, even though I know that if I fail to get away I'll be given another chance, but that thought does not pass me when playing of course.

Today I finally had a friend over who gave me mental support and pushed me to continue playing when I wanted to quit. So I'll progress forward but the game also gets more disturbing the further I travel into this story which tempts me to stop playing entirely. Hopefully I will change my mind tomorrow when another friend will visit.

**Matkins85** · 09-13-2010, 08:32 PM

This will probably appear to be some rather bad advice... but last night i played after i had 4 pints of beer. I was relatively sedate. I played for probably 3 or 4 times longer than i normally play for, got through loads of incredibly scary parts, and really enjoyed all of it.

I found that I had a lot more courage this way and was a lot less tentative unless given a real strong reason to be. I got chased on two occasions, which were really terrifying. I was still getting scared and getting adrenalin rushes, but i seemed to have a higher tolerance to it and thus could keep going much longer.

I'll be doing this again no doubt. Wink

**dvow** · 09-14-2010, 01:45 AM

There's usually a place to hide when a monster shows up. Be aware of your environment. It may seem that you're trapped, but you might of missed those pipes you can crouch under to hide, or that little dark spot behind the slaughtered pigs. Only a handful of times do you need to run like a little girl. Most of the time there's practically a hiding spot right beside you.
And I know people say the tinderboxes are useless, but I don't think so. You get an incredible amount of them. I used mine to track my progress so I wouldn't get lost. This helped a lot in the prison. Getting lost is a great way to suddenly make something tens times scarier, which is why I think so many think the prison was terrifying.

**xgatto** · 09-14-2010, 02:03 AM

I always just think, "why am I so scared, I'll just respawn" but for some reason, it doesnt matter if I think that, i'll just run with fear and shit my pants anyways...

**spung3** · 09-14-2010, 06:29 AM

(09-13-2010, 08:32 PM)Matkins85 Wrote: This will probably appear to be some rather bad advice... but last night i played after i had 4 pints of beer. I was relatively sedate. I played for probably 3 or 4 times longer than i normally play for, got through loads of incredibly scary parts, and really enjoyed all of it.

I found that I had a lot more courage this way and was a lot less tentative unless given a real strong reason to be. I got chased on two occasions, which were really terrifying. I was still getting scared and getting adrenalin rushes, but i seemed to have a higher tolerance to it and thus could keep going much longer.

I'll be doing this again no doubt.

This is literally the only way I can bring myself to play amnesia. you have to hit a happy medium though. Too much and every attempt at puzzle solving devolves into hitting scenery with a book.