Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[Kman]

Since when twelve months of working on a game is "rushing"?

That's pretty true ^

Didn't you make White Night in like a year? (pretty much 12 months) And it was really good.

Yeah, but that was a mod, not a game, and even though 4 hours is impressive for a mod a full length game should be longer than that. Then again though, you have to consider there are two groups of professional game developers working on it at once, instead of just one man. I trust that frictional has left enough time for them to finish it though and have it be good.

[eliasfrost]

Since when was time and efficiency the same thing? If the game is put together just fine then there is nothing wrong with "just" a year development time. Just because the game has been under development a long time doesn't make it polished and good, man look at Duke Nukem Forever, that game was horrible.

[Tanshaydar]

Didn't you make White Night in like a year? (pretty much 12 months) And it was really good.

Ten months to be exact. I didn't work every day and I didn't work 8 hours in a day. I wasn't a professional game designer either. It's just a mod but it was pretty much a total conversion and could be a game with more work.

12 months for an entire game isn't shit. A proper game takes anywhere between 2-4 years.

*Proper game*
That's quite a delusive definition. I'd like to hear what were you referring at with it.
And how did you get the idea that a game development should take between 2-4 years? Urban legends?

COD takes 2 years and that is considered rushing.

COD is considered a game, so rest is irrelevant. I'd like it to be developed for 80 years so I won't have to see another cr*p.

Since when was time and efficiency the same thing? If the game is put together just fine then there is nothing wrong with "just" a year development time. Just because the game has been under development a long time doesn't make it polished and good, man look at Duke Nukem Forever, that game was horrible.

I couldn't agree more...

[EJM]

As they said, they are "aiming" to get it done on halloween, that means in case they can't finish it by then, they'll postpone the date, it's as easy as that. I doubt they'll be rushing into things.

[Kein]

So, how long until Half-life 2: Episode 3 will be mentioned?
oh wait...

[Peci]

Hello from a forum newbie!

I decided to open a new topic for this because this will be quite a long post. The idea is to theorize the game’s plot and try to answer the question: what is ‘a machine for pigs’. Here is my version:

What we know about the plot so far (9.3.2012):
a) year was 1899 when the character last remembers something
b) his name is Oswald Mandus
c) he is a wealthy industrialist
d) he came back from a disastrous trip from Mexico, which ended in tragedy
e) when he wakes up, he doesn’t know how much time has passed
f) I remember that somewhere it said the plot takes place in London, so he probably is an Englishman (please verify)

I did some research on industrialization in Mexico in the late 19th century. An arcticle (links in the end of the post) said the following:

“The financing of Mexican industrialization therefore fell to a small clique of foreign-born merchant-financiers”

I therefore assume Oswald Mandus is very wealthy. He might have an industrial –empire– therefore seen as an emperor. Emperor can also be called “the king of kings”.

There is a teaser trailer on youtube named “Ozymandias.avi”. Some have said they believe it to be fake, but for this theory, I assume it to be legit. The tags of the video include the words “King of Kings”.

Ozymandias is a poem which describes how even powerful figures of history will eventually be forgotten and lose their power. It describes the statue of the forgotten King which only has it’s legs and head left. One can say the only thing left of the king is the severed limbs and head.

My theory:

A machine for pigs is a metaphor for Oswald’s nightmare. As he is an industrialist, the nightmare appears as an industrial complex which is built for the purpose of slaughtering pigs. He himself is the pig to be slaughtered. Rich, powerful and merciless people can be referred as pigs. He might have a guilty consciousness about the things he have done. Like “emperors” before him, his destiny is to be forgotten and left limbless like the king in Ozymandias, because he deserves no better.

Just my two cents.

Greetings from Finland
Peci

Links:
Game teaser site: http://www.nextfrictionalgame.com/
Article: http://www.innovation.hoover.org/media/F...Mexico.pdf
Teaser trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHtkZjnNWk

[palistov]

Might want to keep AMFP discussion confined to the existing thread.

http://www.frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-13197.html

[Peci]

Ok. Thought of that but personally I'd like to see more new threads about the game because the massive thread is hard to navigate.

If this is better there, the mods can certainly move it!

[Wooderson]

The difference is that EA and Infinity Ward and the many other popular developers have thousands working on the game. Frictional Games have had a tiny amount of people working on their games and the results have been amazing considering it.

[Kein]

Someone from general thread put it in a bit more simple and grounded interpretation (forgive me my english while I'm trying to relay it):

The year is 1899. Wealthy industrialist Oswald Mandus has returned home from a disastrous expedition to Mexico, which has ended in tragedy. Wracked by fever, haunted by dreams of a dark machine, he recovers consciousness in his own bed, with no idea of how much time has passed since his last memory. As he struggles to his feet, somewhere beneath him, an engine splutters, coughs, roars into life...

The slaughtering machine for pigs Oswald saw/inspected in Mexico left a deep scar on his soul + plus he caught some kind of disease/fever there. Struggling with both of those and with his own inner conflicts he loses his mind for some time (described as "short blackout" in premise), but he is not actually unconscious during this period. His crazy genius develops this "dark machine" the roar of which he will be hearing. And his discovery of what happened and the reason why this machine exist will be his own self-discovery (hello Dear Esther).

I wish I could link to the post but I can't find it.