Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[Joshua]

A certain randomization would be an improvement, it shouldn't be as simple as hiding in the corner. The player should have to think as to how he will avoid the enemy's inquisitive nature. *blah* and hide in the corner is fun - but it isn't amazing.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

That was actually the brute that broke down the door.

It was? Well sorry for the inaccuracy - I didn't exactly hang around to have a good look at him, y' know... I was kinda busy staring at a wall in the darkest corner I could find.
To be honest I didn't even notice there were two kinds of enemies in the game until I checked the wiki after playing through it. They didn't make that much different gameplay-wise...

[Oswald Mandus]

randomization/unpredictability is a must. other indie horror games like SCP series, Slender have this. they are scary even if you play them 2nd time, it adds replayability. it also that means you dont need a long build up, they are scary very early on (atleast to me), but these games are very short and making a full and long experience seems hard. Amnesia lost its scaryness as it was very scripted, BUT ITS STILL THE SCARIEST GAME IVE PLAYED, there are few things that still scares me to this day: the Water part, Sewers ladder chase and a bit of prison/choir. however that doesnt mean the game should me 100% randomized, but making less scripted events, adding a bit of randomization, no disappearing monsters. Im very excited to see what thechineseroom has to offer.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Well, yes, but after thinking about it some more, I think randomization is also kind of a tricky thing to have if you're trying to have a perfect pacing in your game. (I mean you wouldn't create a painting like the Mona Lisa by randomly throwing buckets of paint at a wall, right? )
From a Game Design point of view you might need stressful parts as well as contrasting more peaceful parts to keep the player in the mystical "flow" that every game tries to achieve. You also might want to know exactly when these parts will occur, so your whole level design and monster appearances serve to create a maximum of emotional impact.
The downside is of course, that this will hurt replayability. But, couldn't it be that replayability is a bit overrated anyway? Personally, I think, I would rather live through the perfectly staged horror experience once, instead of being able to play through a less perfect and more random one several times.

And last but not least, since the player has no means of fighting back, randomization always bears the danger of creating an unfair situation in which the player dies - something amnesia absolutely has to try and avoid, until they find a way to make the death experience in itself frightening. (Which, I think, is almost impossible because player death always destroys the tension created beforehand.)

In the end, it's sort of like the difference between a sandbox game and a more structured, linear game - they both have their strenghths and weaknesses and they generate entirely different experiences. And I wouldn't want Amnesia to be like SCP - Amnesia is more masterfully crafted moments of perfect horror for me than "horror-sandbox"

[pinkribbonscars]

Unless we designed the entire audio experience to be binaural, but then
that limits it to only headphones, and I don't know of any game that has
ever gone that route.

Oooooh you mean like those crazy binaural beats? But wouldn't that be awesome? I mean aren't they supposed to have all kinds of fun effects on the brain? Good way to break the fourth wall with the insanity mechanic

Now, slightly different - what sounds put you on edge? Let's say you were in a dark room and you heard something that really didn't sit well - what is it? Always good for research for Pigs and interesting to read!

That sawing sound in the torture chambers..... it's the most creepiest thing I've ever heard.

[pinkribbonscars]

No closets, please. Closet is too safe, boring and overused place to hide from monster. But I'm 100% sure that boys from thechineseroom know this.

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No closets, please. Closet is too safe, boring and overused place to hide from monster. But I'm 100% sure that boys from thechineseroom know this.

They should add a closet scene where you hide in it, then a monster walks upto it and pulls it open and stares at you, before dissappearing in a puff of smoke. It'll be a neat little warning that closets are NOT safe in AMFPs

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I think one of them might have been the morgue. You know, when THE GRUNT knocked down the door and you had to retreat into one of the rooms filled with corpses?

That was actually the brute that broke down the door.

That was pretty cool moment, actually.

It was awesome, until the part where you just camped in a room until he left. There should've been another horror element in there, where he might've broken down another door, and you would have to find shelter behind the crematoria in one of the rooms.

They should have added a scene where you had to climb into a crematoriam "oven" thingy. Watching a monster inspect the room behind the grate of the oven would have been eerie as hell o .o

[Deep One]

No closets, please. Closet is too safe, boring and overused place to hide from monster. But I'm 100% sure that boys from thechineseroom know this.

They should add a closet scene where you hide in it, then a monster walks upto it and pulls it open and stares at you, before dissappearing in a puff of smoke. It'll be a neat little warning that closets are NOT safe in AMFPs

I think that wouldn't be a good idea. I scared grunts like hell when I had not seen them close, but when i did, I think I laughed a bit. My point is, seeing monster as dark, shadowy figure(like in wine cellar or refinery) is scary, but seeing a monster from close drives the tension away.

Seriously, look at him.

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[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Yeah...he does look kinda cute, what with his chubby body and eyes staring in different directions ^^ If it wasn't for that claw you could almost give him a hug.

I think you could easily show that closets aren't safe by just having the monster bust open a few of them while searching for you. So you're hiding and you just hear it smash stuff and when it's gone you see that it has searched almost every other hiding place in the room O.O

[Oswald Mandus]

HAhA indeed. the more you look at his face the more cute he looks

imo grunt isnt scary due to his retarded looking face, brute is SO much scarier, due to his blade, sounds and well he doesnt really have a face....

[Damascus Rose]

The grunt looks too derpy and his AI is too passive. I think more aggressive AI in AMFP and a more sinister looking face to the monsters would be great.