Monsters AI is like 5 years ago

[SmokeSum]

I think Frictional need someone who is expert at making good AI into the monsters, and also need to put some more moves into the monsters....I know this gonna cost some money but i know if they spend a little more money on this game and fixed the minor bugs/glitches and bad AI this game would be perfect.

Believe me that many people are downloading this game illigal way cause they don't wanna spend money on a game that's only playable for 8 hours and then get's removed from PC, i know this isn't fair for what these developers did but that's how it works these day's... why do you think people only buy Big Bugget shooters like: Half-Life, Call of Duty, Resident Evil, Left4Death etc.
Cause these games have a gameplay value of unlimited, i know this game is only 20euro and i bought it on Steam but many people i know on Steam just downloaded it illigal way cause they don't wanna spend money on one-day-fly games...

My opinion: this game is worth maybe 8euro cause there are no extra's only 1 storyline, i bought Left4Death2 for same price as this game and still playing it while Amnesia is already deleted from my PC just cause i don't feel like playing it all again...

I think this game came out to early and the Developers became sloppy on this game leaving any bugs/glitches unrepaired...you realy can see that they became sloppy when leaving the sewers cause there was no more real scares and the gameplay became terrible easy, it felt like they had no more mood in this game and just made the ending in a few day's or so...

Sorry to say but for a game i paid 20 euro for this dissapointed me and i sure hope sponsering you guy's with buying this game will make you guy's think realy good about Amnesia 2 cause i never spend my money anymore on a game that has a gameplay value of 8-10 hours for me this game feels unfinished and to much money asked...(i know you guy's spent many time on this and haven't got many money, but at least make this game cheaper, then people will buy a game that's short at gameplay)

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I found out week ago when i first played this game that when you hide in Candle light monsters often don't even see you...example of a Bug in the AI system..

Just try some different way's for hiding for monster and you will discover you can even hide in a dark hallway and yes i alway's try to find bug/glitches in games but this game i didn't even had to find them they just found me

I think most people that scare for the whole Amnesia game till the end never played Death Space before, it use the Atmosphere and Soundeffects like in Amnesia only in 5.1 Surround so you realy get spooked, i know Death Space is a horror/scienfiction survival shooter but this game got me scared till the end cause monsters can jump from every corner, ventilation shafts or behind a door and these monsters you realy don't want to meet cause some of them realy get you hard times...

Amnesia scariest game ever...nahh..just some good scares for 2 hours gameplay
Death Space still remains on my number 1 scare list, the sounds of monsters climbing in vent shafts and coming closer towards you while you can't figure out where they come just scares the shit every time outa me xD

[Bulbatron]

I certainly encountered a couple of annoying bugs, but nothing to do with the monsters, which I think were done really well. In fact, I think Amnesia has been just about as perfect a horror game as anybody could ever ask for. It's one of the few games which is not only creepy, but at times, genuinely scary.

I think the developers truly understand horror. Since the monsters seem to be the problem here, they are what I'll talk about.

The point of not looking at the monsters is (I assume) to increase the players' desire to see them and check where they are. I thought that worked really well when I knew a monster was close but daren't look to see where it was, because I knew my fear would give away my position.

The monsters didn't always disappear for me, and that was good too, because eventually I had to look round - and fear that the monster would be really close to me and then I'd be in trouble. But what usually happened was even scarier. There were no monsters near me, but I knew they were nearby, in the dark, waiting for me. Great stuff!

OK, you can jump on a table or whatever to evade them, but you can't stay there forever.

But really, if you're just playing Amnesia as an ordinary game rather than as an experience, then I think you're missing the point.

And yes, I have played 'Dead Space', and while it is certainly a scary game, it's not a patch on Amnesia, and while I have no desire to play Dead Space ever again, I'm really looking forwards to my next playthrough of Amnesia!

[Rocko]

I personally think SmokeSum missed the whole point of the game and keeps repeating the same thing over and over : ''AI is crap; AI is not good; AI this; AI that''. They are monsters. Monsters are not necessarily supposed to have remarkable intelligence in the first place. Amnesia in not meant to have you killed at every corner you turn or every door you open. The game means to actually play with your mind: ''What's that noise? Where is it coming from? Oh no something bashes at the door! Quick I must hide somewhere!!'' It uses atmosphere to create a sense of dread. If the AI would have been as you wanted it to be, then the game would not have been playable. Remember you don't have any weapons and hiding is basically the only ''weapon'' you have in the game. If the creatures would be able to smell you, then they might as well see you in the dark, right? In that case the fact of not having a weapon to defend yourself in a game where the monsters can find you anytime would have been pointless and Amnesia would only have been a frustration of a game.

Oh, and BTW: I played and finished Dead Space (which was a great game, I agree on that...) and although there were times I jumped because a monster appeared out of nowhere, It never spooked me as much as Amnesia did. No room or corridor in Amnesia had me feel completely safe, which was not the case with Dead Space or Resident Evil or anything else out there.

[Zanderat]

The problem with Dead Space or Ravenholm is that I simply wasted the baddies and moved on. Fun but not scary. People are missing the point trying to play Amnesia like shooter.

[Blackhand]

For me, for a large part of the game the enemies were terrifying, largely because of the big unknown about them. I did eventually start to pick up on their patterns, spawn sounds, that they actually have VERY low perception etc. and ultimately this started to eat away at my experience towards the end. The enemies started more to become... obstacles.

Things I would change that I think could improve enemies are:
1. Their perception needs to be bumped up. Not drastically, but them being in direct line of sight, practically rubbing up against you and not noticing you in well lit areas regardless of looking at them or not was probably what killed the the enemy experience for me. I wasn't out to "win" at all, but the enemies lose all their power over you when you realize you actually have to be almost deliberately clumsy for them to see you. In my opinion, they should be able to spot you very easily in well lit areas, 1.5+- metres after a second or two in darkness, of course with line of sight. Poor sanity could also be a bigger giveaway.

2. The music associated with enemies is probably the first pattern anyone notices about them. When the music stops playing, you know the enemy has despawned and its safe to proceed. I would probably remove the music entirely (and its not that I don't "like" the music =) ), possibly only play it when being actively persued. It keeps you uncertain, not knowing if its safe or not, keeping you checking around those corners.

3. Spawn sounds. When an enemy spawns, it makes a very distinct LOUD noise, combined with the enemy music, you know for certain that one has spawned and is prowling nearby. It entirely removes the need to peep around corners and there is little to no chance that you might catch the fright of your life as you stumble very close to one, possibly leading to a heart pounding, door slamming chase. I'd remove the spawn sound and lower the noise enemies make in general, the enemies can make terrifying amounts of noise while chasing you.

I actually want to make the changes and try out some of these ideas, though I'm not sure if the AI changes would be possible at all without the game's source code, I suspect not =(

[SHODANFreeman]

I think Frictional need someone who is expert at making good AI into the monsters, and also need to put some more moves into the monsters....I know this gonna cost some money but i know if they spend a little more money on this game and fixed the minor bugs/glitches and bad AI this game would be perfect.

Perhaps you didn't get the memo, but they barely had enough money to even finish the game, much less "spend a little more" on it. They quite literally almost went out of business during development.

i bought Left4Death2 for same price as this game and still playing it while Amnesia is already deleted from my PC just cause i don't feel like playing it all again...

You do know that Left 4 Dead 2 was $50 when it came out, right? Not to mention that Valve is one of the biggest developers in the industry and makes more money than they could ever hope to spend on their games...

I think this game came out to early and the Developers became sloppy on this game leaving any bugs/glitches unrepaired...you realy can see that they became sloppy when leaving the sewers cause there was no more real scares and the gameplay became terrible easy, it felt like they had no more mood in this game and just made the ending in a few day's or so...

There are bugs and glitches because they are not a perfect machine. They are a couple of guys with a passion for what they're doing. They don't have the same resources that studios like Valve have. They can't afford to have a department of 50 QA guys testing the game full-time, therefore, there will be problems. Given their resources, I'd say they did a damn good job of releasing a relatively bug-free experience.

Sorry to say but for a game i paid 20 euro for this dissapointed me and i sure hope sponsering you guy's with buying this game will make you guy's think realy good about Amnesia 2 cause i never spend my money anymore on a game that has a gameplay value of 8-10 hours for me this game feels unfinished and to much money asked...(i know you guy's spent many time on this and haven't got many money, but at least make this game cheaper, then people will buy a game that's short at gameplay)

For the cost of this game, you could go see 2 movies in the theatre, without counting the cost of any concessions you might desire during the movies. That will provide maybe 4 hours of entertainment at most, yet millions of people are willing to spend $20 for that experience. How is it not worth $20 for a deeply immersive and interactive 8-10 hours of entertainment? Simply because other games, with budgets 1,000 times larger, can provide more content? $20 for me is 2 hours of wages, it was EASILY worth 2 hours of my time to purchase and experience Amnesia.

I think most people that scare for the whole Amnesia game till the end never played Death Space before, it use the Atmosphere and Soundeffects like in Amnesia only in 5.1 Surround so you realy get spooked, i know Death Space is a horror/scienfiction survival shooter but this game got me scared till the end cause monsters can jump from every corner, ventilation shafts or behind a door and these monsters you realy don't want to meet cause some of them realy get you hard times...

I think you're wrong. I own the Ultra Limited Edition of Dead Space on Xbox 360, Dead Space Extraction on Wii, and have Dead Space 2 pre-ordered. They are great games, and I love them, but they are NOTHING compared to Penumbra/Amnesia in the horror department. "Monster pops out nearby, monster gets shot in face with extreme prejudice" does not equal scary for me, sorry.

[Tanshaydar]

SmokeSum
Give me your paypal adress, and I'll sent you your $20 back, and you'll shut up your mouth.

[Jinix]

SmokeSum
Give me your paypal adress, and I'll sent you your $20 back, and you'll shut up your mouth.

Now, now, lets not get tiffy.
He has every right to voice his opinions and some points are not that far off the mark either.
We all know by now the difficulties that FG has had to complete and I'm sure they would have liked the luxury of another few months on it.
But it's out and we have what we have and it's getting raves reviews by almost everyone who plays it.
Well positioned critical remarks will help form their future endeavors and we'll all win.

[Tanshaydar]

I don't believe his point is to help FG to get better.

[Hannibal]

Believe me that many people are downloading this game illigal way cause they don't wanna spend money on a game that's only playable for 8 hours and then get's removed from PC

Of course there are Daniels in the real world, who have no trouble doing the unethical, as long as they can convince themselves it really isn't so. The rest of us pay if we want more than a demo or do not play.

For me, $20 for 10 hours of enjoyment was a good deal. I supported this game, and look forward to supporting Frictional's next game. It's too bad the Custom Story creator doesn't support adding new enemies and they have no plans to add expansion packs--those would add replay value and be worth another $10 to me.