Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[maarten12100]

What?

He means that most people WOULD very much want to play the game more than once. I trust such is the case for most of the people here. You just can't get the most out of a game by playing it only once

Penumbra Black plague and Amnesia TDD and Justine still scare me so yeah.
Completed Black plague 3 times amnesia 4 times and Justine 2 times.
Most of those replays were because I was at friend and they were to scared to continue playing.

[Kreekakon]

Amnesia started out as my tormentor...it devastated me...it horrified me. It sent my way countless horrors. After what seemed like so long, it slowly begun to change. Something small at first, but then I realized: Amnesia was evolving into something more, and something greater. Was I being assimilated into it's twisted mindset? Was this meant to happen? Before I could come to realize the answers to those questions, I realized that this was what I truly wanted, and needed, and that this was for the best. The once-tormentor had now become my mentor.

[Oscar House]

Nah, I'd say that this "professor" that Oswald is talking to is the sane one, trying to talk Oswald out of his crazy plans. It is Oswald's factory, after all.

[GoldenFalcon101]

Nah, I'd say that this "professor" that Oswald is talking to is the sane one, trying to talk Oswald out of his crazy plans. It is Oswald's factory, after all.

It sounds more to me like Oswald's the curious one (like Daniel, always asking questions) and the professor is the morbid but calmer one like Alexander. But if your theory is true it could be the professor sneakily hinting at 'you're such a pig i'm going to turn you into one'.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

He means that most people WOULD very much want to play the game more than once. I trust such is the case for most of the people here. You just can't get the most out of a game by playing it only once

Well, personally I think that replay value is overrated sometimes. I'm not saying its a bad thing for a game to have a certain amount of variety in different playthroughs or to have other features that make you interested in playing it more than once.
But if the goal of the game is to deliver a perfectly crafted experience, to touch you emotionally and to make sure that it has the greatest impact possible, adding "replay-features" can sometimes do more harm than good in my opinion.

Take Skyrim for example. Having replay value is pretty much the main focus of that game - its like a huge playground where you can do anything. But in return, it feels shallow in its randomness. The world is created to be generic to a certain point, to give the player maximum variety on different playthroughs - so the only moments where some sort of emotional impact can be felt are those that have been specifically staged for certain quests. And even there they are inferior to other games, because they have to fit a huge variety of possible player characters.

Now compare it to, say, Journey. That game is linear as hell and - at first glance at least - has no replay value at all. But by being so restrictive, it can really focus on delivering a perfect experience. Everything in that game - the music, the views you see when arriving at certain spots, the overall pacing of the plot, everything is designed for one goal: To give you an emotional journey that makes you cry after those two hours of playtime are over. And it works. After only two hours I was through the game, but the experience stayed with me for weeks.

Now getting back to horror. Horror games are all about emotions. There is no fun in playing horror games, no sense of achievement (other than overcoming your fear maybe). They're not a way to simply pass the time, their sole purpose is to deliver the strongest negative feelings they can. Therefore, it is my opinion that a more restrictive style of Game Design fits horror games better, even if it means that replay value has to be sacrificed. The emotional impact will be the greatest on the first playthrough anyway, so why not focus on making that playthrough really good instead of going for more randomized options that might benefit replay value, but may diminish the experience of the first playthrough?

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Professor: "My dear Mr. Mandus, I admire your vision, I truly do! But surely there are not enough pigs in the whole of London to feed the appetite of such a machine."

Oswald Mandus: "That all rather depends, professor, on what one considers to be a pig."

I think you're confusing the two characters Clearly Mr. Mandus is the crazy one here!

My bet is that Mr. Mandus needs the help of a professional to build the machine. He's a rich industrialist, but not an engineer after all. He therefore asks the professor - an old friend maybe? The "dear" makes it sound like they are quite close - to help him out with his knowledge.

We don't yet know how the professor reacts to Mandus' suggestion of expanding the definition of "pig"... but what we do know is that the machine got built, one way or another. We also know, that Mandus made an expedition to Mexico, after which he was delirious in a fever for several months. During this time, the machine got finished, I guess, OR it was already finished before he departed and his expedition has something to do with it ...running away from what he created maybe?

[GoldenFalcon101]

Professor: "My dear Mr. Mandus, I admire your vision, I truly do! But surely there are not enough pigs in the whole of London to feed the appetite of such a machine."

Oswald Mandus: "That all rather depends, professor, on what one considers to be a pig."

I think you're confusing the two characters Clearly Mr. Mandus is the crazy one here!

My bet is that Mr. Mandus needs the help of a professional to build the machine. He's a rich industrialist, but not an engineer after all. He therefore asks the professor - an old friend maybe? The "dear" makes it sound like they are quite close - to help him out with his knowledge.

We don't yet know how the professor reacts to Mandus' suggestion of expanding the definition of "pig"... but what we do know is that the machine got built, one way or another. We also know, that Mandus made an expedition to Mexico, after which he was delirious in a fever for several months. During this time, the machine got finished, I guess, OR it was already finished before he departed and his expedition has something to do with it ...running away from what he created maybe?

Aah, I'm an idiot DX Thanks for pointing that out c:
So I'd guess that if he were running away from what he created, the illness would wipe his memories of creating it, and there'd have to be some sympathy story for him otherwise players will be constantly trying to put him in danger as payback. Or, of course, who would want to finish the machine for him.

[Lucas]

Could this deep and dark antagonist be Mandus himself? Making himself suffering for the machine he created.

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So I'd guess that if he were running away from what he created, the illness would wipe his memories of creating it, and there'd have to be some sympathy story for him otherwise players will be constantly trying to put him in danger as payback. Or, of course, who would want to finish the machine for him.

Aye, I believe that's whats happening. Not only similar to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but also sort of Silent Hill 2 - style... having a protagonist who's done terrible things but can't or doesn't want to remember them and who fights mainly against the horrors of his own psyche. (Whoah...I'm so deep right now, I bet you can't even see me anymore! xD )

Thats also what I hope the monsters will be like - not real pig-mutants or shredded humans, but something more symbolic and dream-like... just like in Silent Hill. But eh... from what we've seen in the trailer so far they seem to be more standard horror. But we'll see!

[Oink]

He means that most people WOULD very much want to play the game more than once. I trust such is the case for most of the people here. You just can't get the most out of a game by playing it only once

Now compare it to, say, Journey. That game is linear as hell and - at first glance at least - has no replay value at all. But by being so restrictive, it can really focus on delivering a perfect experience. Everything in that game - the music, the views you see when arriving at certain spots, the overall pacing of the plot, everything is designed for one goal: To give you an emotional journey that makes you cry after those two hours of playtime are over. And it works. After only two hours I was through the game, but the experience stayed with me for weeks.

I'd say that the same applies to Dear Esther (also by thechineseroom) - also, when replaying it some of the narrative changes, the placement of some objects is different and, as a result, you come to understand more of the story and how you wish to interpret it. I'd say that Dear Esther and Journey are shining examples of how to tell a story that the player can become thoroughly absorbed in and interpret how they so wish (within reason).