Announcing: A Dark Night In London (FC)

[R. Peters]

Hey guys. I'm happy to announce that my 2nd Custom story is currently on its way. This one might be a while in development, as I want to get some custom entities in it if possible, and I am currently planning on making it a FC and messing about with some of the game settings.
I'm going to use this thread as a sort of 'advertisement' I guess, uploading pictures and the like to it to keep people interested. I'm planning on having it out by August if possible, and out before AMFP release even if I have to cut out some features. So anyway, here's a brief introduction. Enjoy!

"One dark night, Thomas is late coming home from his work in London. As he takes his usual route back through the park, he stumbles across a horrific scene, and is forced to stray from the route home by the howl of wild dogs nearby. Panic stricken, he runs to the nearby Park mansion to find help, but all is not as it seems..."

Below are pictures of the park. The first one is in game (Captain Obvious) so it's quite dark. The park is a massive outdoor environment so if you're not actually playing it you quite capture the scale of it. To remedy this i've attached a development screen shot too, which shows roughly 1/4 of what will be the size of it once it is finished.

  ParkSS1.jpg (Size: 74.87 KB / Downloads: 272)

  ParkSS2.jpg (Size: 214.06 KB / Downloads: 303)
EDIT: The first custom entity has been made! Thanks to some great guides on the forum, i've made this 19th century lamp post. I think it really adds that old fashioned feel to the park area - the texture isn't for sure yet, if I can make something better I will, but for now here's a screen shot of it in game. Let me know what you think

  lampSS1.png (Size: 427.03 KB / Downloads: 222)
EDIT: Ok, here's another entity I made for the story. It's called the 'channelling_gem'. Again the texture isn't brilliant, i'm not sure how to make convincing looking skins like they do on 'proper' models so I just used the one from the emerald orb piece. I guess it'll have to do unless I get a lot better at graphics XD Anyway, here's a screen shot:

  ChannellingGemSS1.jpg (Size: 209.18 KB / Downloads: 205)
EDIT: Well, i'm happy to announce that the first section (out of 3) of the game is fully mapped out and almost finished now I'm still trying to make a convincing model for a cultist enemy, but i'm still very much the noob at modelling. By the looks of things, this will run over into AMFP, but that will only make it better because of added 'industrial' looking models, fitting of London really.

[SilentStriker]

Just remember to use Billboards, lights and particles If you use them well they will create a great atmosphere

[R. Peters]

Just remember to use Billboards, lights and particles If you use them well they will create a great atmosphere

Yes I have improved my work with lighting since A morbid New Year, thanks to some good advice on that thread. I like to think that i've done quite a good job with the billboards overall. I don't use particle systems quite like they did in the main Amnesia game as they seem to use a lot of random fog areas. I can't quite fathom why they do that but I suppose the location of amnesia is a crumbling, old castle, whereas my stories have both been in relatively well kept locations so far.
Certainly sound advice I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the finished product. Here, have a screenshot ;P


  3rdFloorSS1.jpg (Size: 126.8 KB / Downloads: 224)

[SilentStriker]

To learn about how to use particles, look in FG's maps and look at the settings on how they did it

[R. Peters]

To learn about how to use particles, look in FG's maps and look at the settings on how they did it

Oh I have I do know how to use them, I just don't use in the same way as Frictional did. I guess it's just a style thing. I like my environments to twist the normal ever so slightly, a spot of poor lighting in the right place etc. A dark corridor is an every day, spooky situation for example, but I wouldn't fill it with Red Mist. While I agree that doing fog areas like that is creepy and gets the desired effect, I think the premise of frictionals Amnesia allowed for the use of things like that, whereas mine doesn't. You are right though, the best way to learn these things is to look at the amnesia maps in Dev. mode, which I do regularly for inspiration and learning

[Adrianis]

In the dark picture, which is very dark indeed, the rain looks illuminated which is a tad inconsistent with how rain works Just something to think on

Looks good otherwise, good luck mate

[R. Peters]

In the dark picture, which is very dark indeed, the rain looks illuminated which is a tad inconsistent with how rain works Just something to think on

Looks good otherwise, good luck mate

Good point. That hadn't actually occured to me. Perhaps I can change the colour values of the PS's. I'll take a look at it. Thanks for pointing it out

[lllDash]

Doing outdoor maps with amnesia does present with a few challenges. terrain is probably the biggest problem. Try adding short but wide hills (I'm sure you can repurpose the game's debris) and then place the grass and trees on top in somewhat large quantities. This will give it a more natural look to it.
I don't think people should get too discouraged if their outdoor maps don't look amazing because Amneisa isn't great for that sort of thing. I mean, even the outdoor map in The Dark Descent main campaign looked average at best.

[R. Peters]

Doing outdoor maps with amnesia does present with a few challenges. terrain is probably the biggest problem. Try adding short but wide hills (I'm sure you can repurpose the game's debris) and then place the grass and trees on top in somewhat large quantities. This will give it a more natural look to it.
I don't think people should get too discouraged if their outdoor maps don't look amazing because Amneisa isn't great for that sort of thing. I mean, even the outdoor map in The Dark Descent main campaign looked average at best.

Yeah Amnesia really isn't built for outdoor environments. I've done the best I can and it's passable as being in a park ATM, but the vast majority of the game actually takes place inside buildings at the moment, I just wanted to do a big park between areas you see I might try the hill suggestion though, having only flatland doesn't quite look right.

[Mine Turtle]

from the screenshots id say this is an average "house in the woods" story. if you wanna have the feel of london in your story, you'd probably wanna make old 19th century lightpoles, houses, building, apartments, roads etc etc.

a mansion in the middle of the forest reminds me more of a haunted house in the woods story than london, so i HIGHLY concider making an actual city scene if you wanna do this properly.