Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[FlawlessHappiness]

Yes, Amnesia depended quite heavily on the player willingly "playing along", that is, on him pretenting that the monsters were smarter than they actually were and that dieing was an actual threat (which it wasn't). But I think that's okay. Most games require some suspension of disbelief and if someone's trying too hard to break the game then he wasn't willing to immerse himself anyway

Still, a bit of AI improvement won't hurt, especially in places where their dumbness decreases immersion. (Pathfinding etc) But keep in mind - if the monsters become too smart they could also ruin the experience because they become too unpredictable for the person designing the level and fleeing or hiding from them could be too hard thus making the player die too often.

I mean think about it: Having the monster for example search every possible hiding spot in a room after breaking the door sounds awesome in theory. But in practise all it means is that you'll either have chase sequences all the time because the player has to jump out of his hiding spot and run or that the player will get killed every time he tries to hide somewhere. But if you make the monster so that it only ever searches the places where the player isn't, players will notice that what seems like intelligent behaviour is nothing but a facade.

Its a problem with stealth games in general. Most maneuvers from stealth games would be near impossible to pull off in real life because they depend on the enemies being somewhat stupid and predictable. If a real life security guard heard a suspicious sound, he wouldn't have a half-hearted look around and then simply forget about it. He'd search the whole damn place and he'd probably also have a pretty good idea of where he would try to hide if he was the intruder

Though this would make the monsters even more scary, because that would force the developer to rarely use monsters.

[Kein]

If A Machine for Pigs is an "Expantion pack" for Amnesia, woudln't it be wierd to release yet another demo?

You confused it with Justine. The latter is an example of EP.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Another thing which is a running occurrence is that they NEVER LOOK UP! They could save themselves a lot of trouble if they did that in their relaxed mode.

Haha, yes! How often did I sit comfortably right above some silly guards head without him noticing! But then again it opens a lot of gameplay possibilities and rewarding moves. Like those inverted takedowns in Batman where you'd swoop down from our gargoyle, grab a guard and dangle him upside down before disappearing into the shadows again. I loved those ^^

Though this would make the monsters even more scary, because that would force the developer to rarely use monsters.

That's true. But clever developers don't need to be forced to do that
But that whole AI talk gives me an idea - imagine a perfect horror game in which there's only one enemy. And he's so intelligent that he comes up with ways to psychologically torture you on his own... so that not even the game developers themselves can predict what he'll come up with next. Kind of as if the evil AI in System Shock was a real, functioning AI with its own agenda... Of course that's absolutely impossible to achieve right now. But I hope it's what horror games will be like in 10 years or so (but considering that AI has barely improved in the last years while graphics have always gotten royal treatment... it's unlikely.)

[Deep One]

Re-capturing the unpredictability that Amnesia gradually lost is high on
thechineseroom’s priority list. Enemy AI is being tweaked, to ensure
players can’t use their experience from the first game to tackle
problems presented in the second. “How perceptive are the enemies going
to be? How fast are they going to move? How do they react to sound?”
muses Pinchbeck. “We’ve played around with stuff like 360-degree
perception, just to try and stop the player from being able to predict
what’s going to happen in the game on the basis of what happened in The
Dark Descent.”

Copied from Beefjack's aamfp interview.
"
players can’t use their experience from the first game" I find this very interesting. Maybe monsters don't disappear and they search rooms very carefully?

[Piacesi]

If A Machine for Pigs is an "Expantion pack" for Amnesia, woudln't it be wierd to release yet another demo?

You confused it with Justine. The latter is an example of EP.

I read your message, and now i remenber of the justine, great pack...


In Justine pack we cant save the game, but in amnesia we can, and in the machine for pigs??!! Get your opinion to: have save or not (HARDCORE, but i like, if you cant save, you stay more scary and attention to the noises and enemys) in machine for pigs...

i never see any game so scariest and great


''shhhh! The first hint to dont die is stay quiet and hide and wait''

[Piacesi]

I'll try to translate...

This is not my question but...

In my opinion the lighting and physics of the monsters need to be improved, the monsters ai is bad, one passed in front of me but did not see nor attack me. Another time I take cover with a box and they simply don't attack me.

Please don't be negative about my opinion.

thx to help me, i use your translate in my message....

[CorinthianMerchant]

Do you know what you need to improve?

Your grammar.

[Kreekakon]

Do you know what you need to improve?

Your grammar.

Respect the fact that not everyone is fluid at English. As long as we can understand the message he's trying to give us, I don't see a point in complaining about it, especially since this is at most a casual conversation, and not something that demands good grammar.

[Piacesi]

My now opinion...


I THOUGHT MORE PLAYNG THE AMNESIA AND:


Is hard to improve reactions in the monsters, but (IN MY OPINION NOW) other idea is to the monsters, use tactics to kill you, for example, hide and wait to you pass... Get a improved reaction of the monsters to you, and too, the reactions of his character, for example, you ( in game) get screams of fright, if you receive some damage, you scream and start move more slow...

I GET THIS PHOTO OF A HUMAN BRAIN


''Photo: Amnesia Destroys Imagination as Well as Memory, Study Finds''


If you (in game, your character) have fear your sanity going down, but i hope the FRICTIONAL creat a new reactions of the brain, for example, if you receive damage your sanity down to 60% or to 50%, or receive a beautiful fright, your sanity down to 50% or 25%...

The brain is interconnected with everything from body.


The monters have too, and can use, to kill you, but you can be more smarter and escape...


All actions have consequences, you show your end of the game...


Im working on more ideas for the Machine for pigs. See you later guys

---

you can see my message ( up her) in a new topic in the forum

[Piacesi]

IS My opinion now...


I THOUGHT MORE PLAYNG THE AMNESIA AND:


Is hard to improve reactions in the monsters, but (IN MY OPINION NOW) other idea is to the monsters, use tactics to kill you, for example, hide and wait to you pass... Get a improved reaction of the monsters to you, and too, the reactions of his character, for example, you ( in game) get screams of fright, if you receive some damage, you scream and start move more slow...

I GET THIS PHOTO OF A HUMAN BRAIN


''Photo: Amnesia Destroys Imagination as Well as Memory, Study Finds''


If you (in game, your character) have fear your sanity going down, but i hope the FRICTIONAL creat a new reactions of the brain, for example, if you receive damage your sanity down to 60% or to 50%, or receive a beautiful fright, your sanity down to 50% or 25%...

The brain is interconnected with everything from body.


The monters have too, and can use, to kill you, but you can be more smarter and escape...


All actions have consequences, you show your end of the game...


Im working on more ideas for the Machine for pigs. See you later guys