(02-27-2012, 09:22 PM)pimpinitalian Wrote: Frictional Games better have some female monsters this time because after having a suitor put his little pecker in your face I think you'd agree boobs are a nice change..
Nah, female monsters aren't scary at all...
You've never married, have you? :V
+rep to you, my good man.
(and that is the shittiest suggestion I heard in a while along with multiplayer)
Am I the only one who thinks those trailers look completely fake?
Either way, I recently had some lectures about Ozymandias in my school - it's a poem that represents the power of time over man and how gods and kings will bow to it eventually, no matter what they do.
But that's just wrong, that is not what happened. If you did follow the small conversation between us, you would have noticed that he started so-called "immature argument" about the game in general with his phrase "If you could call dear Esther as a game". And I replied to him in the same key, slightly pointing at the fact that his words and position regarding the game is quite silly and have no argumentative basis behind it except his hate/disliking. He totally missed it so I decided to skip it. Now I find it funny how it turned out that it was me who started all this "immature argumentation" (oh, here is this word again; sure it is a buzzword now). Especially consider the fact that the person in question heavily implied that sequel is going to suck just because thechineseroom is working on it and they didn't produce anything that worth to be called a game.
Again, the fact that you didn't like the concept of DE does not make it is a bad game. The guys knew that their creation won't be that popular (in fact, this prediction turned out incorrect, 50k+ sales first few weeks!) among the people like you yet they decided to continue their work on the concept and idea I love them for that, because I loved the game. And yes, it IS a game. Just like "The Artist" is a film of the year (perfect analogy btw, love it).
I, for one, believe that Amnesia's universe will gather much from TCR experience in deep storytelling and of course they do know what they are working on and they will try to stay in the border's of Amnesia's concept and composition set up. If Frictional Games crew can trust them - I see no reason why shouldn't I or you. This is kind of disrespectful to the original creators, you know?
Can we agree that we where both retarded and move on?
(02-27-2012, 09:19 PM)The Bright Side Wrote: Hey Sam, thanks so much for posting here and sharing insights into your work with the community. This means a lot and is just one more reason why I love the independent gaming world. From what you have been writing so far, I do have a few questions and concerns.
Not sure I understand the comment about no 5.1. You say that implementing 5.1 surround requires "investment into the engine", but the engine already supports 5.1. I played through Amnesia TDD in Surround and it worked splendidly. Do I understand correctly that you are saying its successor will be in stereo? And here I was, thinking that era ended somewhere around Doom/Duke Nukem 3D.
Amnesia TDD had 5.1 sound and to me, it was one of the main reasons why it worked so well. I was under the impression that 5.1 sound is a standard in modern games? It's been a while since I've seen any that didn't support it (discounting adventure games or 2D platformers). EDIT: I'm planning to give Dear Esther a spin tonight or tomorrow. Heard some of its beautiful sound in youtube clips already, and look forward to it. Makes me hopeful either way, and happy to see you on board.
Especially for a horror game, which relies so much on positioning sound effects (e.g. the sound of something chasing you coming from the rears), 5.1 Sorround sound is obligatory, no?
Regarding your method, on the one hand, I applaud you for not succumbing to the "Loudness War", and actually counting on dynamics. On the other hand, I am a bit scared (and not in a good way) that this could go the way of most mainstream horror movies, which trade real suspense and dread for cheap jump scares. I just can't help thinking of that when you mention scares accompanied by sudden spikes in sound. TDD didn't need that, and I'd hate for Pigs to rely on it.
When playing the first Amnesia, I didn't exactly monitor my sound levels, so I don't know how much dynamics are in there. I do know that its sound design was nothing short of a masterpiece. Here's the thing though: at no point did TDD rely on jump scares à la "BOO! It's just a cat". The terror was always real and tangible, and rarely ever surprising - it crept up on you and you knew it was coming. I truly hope Pigs won't go in the cheap-thrills direction instead.
Anyway, just kicking around ideas. Love to read your comments. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi there,
Sorry for the confusion on this the engine does indeed output to more than stereo speakers but at the moment the technology to monitor this and tweak it isn't there, and by that I mean being able to hook the engine up to audio hardware to tweak levels.
So you'd be able to play the game in 5.1 if you were able to before, but baring in mind that the game was designed and mixed in stereo so if at any point you hear something missing or odd in the BL, BR or C speakers, then that will be due to the fact that the game wasn't designed in that manner.
Also there seems to be some confusion about the use of dynamic range, we certainly aren't using it as a gimmick. It allows us to have much stronger and foreboding ambiences, much more tension and a lot more detail in the sound that doesn't get lost trying to compete with other sounds. Whilst it gives us the chance to have events that will stand out more, it also allows the subtle details in the sound to shine through, so the soundscape is truly immersive.
(02-27-2012, 10:04 PM)Atwa Wrote: What a pleasant surprise to see you take time out of your day to visit us here at the frictional boards!
First of all I am happy to hear that the same mixing will be implemented in 'A Machine for Pigs' as Battlefield 3. While it does not exactly tell me that much I think Battlefield 3 is the best sounding game, perhaps ever. So of course this is exciting.
Thumbs up for the sound levels though, as I always blast my headphones to max volume when playing Amnesia/Penumbra because that is how I feel it should play. When the monsters do show up the volume should be loud to amplify the fear.
Regarding the mixing, I always use headphones and not speakers. Is there some way to enhance headphones similar to the method you posted?
Anyway, thanks again for dropping by! and I hope to hear more as work progresses on the game.
Hey Atwa,
What headphones do you use? Whilst it's hard to calibrate headphones specifically there are some tips I can give. How are they connected? Straight in to the computer or do you have some kind of headphone amplifier?
Finally got done reading through these 153 pages. So much frustration, so many stupid posts, so many good posts, so many interesting ideas and thoughts.
Although I'm a bit late, very nice work solving the ARG.
(02-28-2012, 10:28 AM)Shadowfied Wrote: Finally got done reading through these 153 pages. So much frustration, so many stupid posts, so many good posts, so many interesting ideas and thoughts.
Although I'm a bit late, very nice work solving the ARG.
Good thing they cracked the code and made them spill the beans and confirm some details. Let's hope more is on the way.
I'm not sure about that monster, as scary as it is, the video looked a bit laggy when the image faded through.
samueljustice00, could you post an example (youtube or otherwise) video, or audio track, about a great example of the use of sound design you're going for. Text is all fair and well, but without a real example, I have difficulties understanding what you're really going for. Plus, if you yourself post an example, you can put here whatever you think is a great example. If I search myself, I am bound, not being an audiophile, to get a bad example from the internet
Thanks, Sam! That does clear it up. Zeemeerman2, try some of the music by Pink Floyd, e.g. Dark Side of the Moon or (not their best album, but an excellent example) The Final Cut. The latter has a huge dynamic range and showcases how to use it for dramatic effect. If you listen very closely, you will hear a plethora of details and sounds in the music, and then there will be loud passages that grip you without overwhelming or slamming your ears.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2012, 01:08 PM by The Bright Side.)
It's good to read how much thought you're putting into the process, Sam. I honestly think that all your efforts will shine through when the rest of us can finally get our hands on the finished product.
On that note, the wine cellar was probably scariest part of the first Amensia for me, even though it's really perfectly "safe" from a gameplay perspective. A large part of that had to do with the ambient sounds in that space; the creak of the floorboards, the scuffle of debris in the distance. It's amazing what can be accomplished with sound design, and it's honestly something I hadn't put much thought to before you began this thread. I really look forward to seeing how your work contributes to the experiences in this new game.
Yeah, those trailers look really fake; especially with the font effects at the end. It's just blurry pictures with audio from the first game anyway.
Also, I'm not sure if it's already been linked or not (I haven't seen it posted in this thread yet), but it's interesting to read some of Thomas's thoughts on Korsakovia in the blog. I'm pretty sure both teams understand the strengths and weaknesses of that game, so I wouldn't use it as a be-all-end-all strike against TheChineseRoom.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2012, 02:11 PM by TheGrandHero.)
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Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1
