The map's architecture

[Prelauncher]

so my point still stands: why is everything locked and unsolved? Why does Agrippa greet you like you've never met before? Although it's a large castle, there's a pretty linear line from intro to the sanctum.

tl;dr - I am confuz

With this I agree, I doubt Daniel was asleep for a long time. So who is this mysterious person that locked every bloody door?

[cantremember]

When he enters the ransacked guest room he says something like "my journals, what would they want with my journals" so I'm thinking his journals could have been scattered around by the gatherers.

He has been to the orb chamber before, but probably not right before he took the amnesia potion, but when he was still gathering bodies for vitae and such. Alexander could have stolen Daniel's orb and lock himself when Daniel was anywhere. The elevator still worked, the refinery wasn't blocked by red sludge yet, the archives wasn't flooded with water, Alexander had the keys to pass through the prison and he didn't have to go through the sewers the first time he went to the inner sanctum.

The only thing I find a little strange is that he never saw Agrippa (perhaps he entered the nave via the Chancel, and didn't walk further than the two doors to the torture rooms, assuming Agrippa was just a dead man, he can't speak to you telepathically until you pull the switch).

Also why Daniel would hide a key to the elevator machine room behind a painting in his room.

[zeemeerman2]

I'm very impressed with those maps; did you make them yourself?

Anyway I think some overlapping can be excused, as this game is not "free-roaming" (no loading screens) like the first two Thief games. The levels were probably all mapped separately and even though it obviously had some sort of overall design I doubt it was followed 100%.

I didn't. I got them from someone's deviantART. I'm hoping she doesn't mind though. Here's her deviantART: http://hidethedecay.deviantart.com/

I never thought of the big doors of the Rainy Hall and the Main Hall not being the same. Then; where does the Rainy Hall door lead towards? Another door to outside is implausible, as it leads in the same direction the player is going. Only the player goes left first and then right again, walking in rooms and hallways just next to the place the big door in the Rainy Hall leads to.

My impression is; the shadow roars at the Rainy Hall door (if it leads to the Main Hall), giving:
- The player a first impression of horror and a jump-scare.
- Daniel isn't advised to go through the door, but it might not be locked so he can pass through the door. It's only the shadow that warns him to stop and not go through the door. That, and the door-opening cursor disappears. Instead, Daniel is supposed to get the lantern in the Old Archives first, before entering the castle Main Hall.

Then, when he is in the Main Hall and he wants to go outside (towards the Rainy Hall and, if the shadow cleaned up the rubble for him at the Rainy Hall, go outside the castle), he's prevented by the shadow roar and the red goo on the door, preventing both Daniel and the Player from going back.

Well, that's my impression. Let's hear yours.

[Fomzo]

I reckon rooms with no purpose serves the authenticity of the game. They prove that you explore the place which exists on its own self and it is not created just for the player.

[asciipornstar]

Hi guys,
I've started a new thread just about the geometry of the castle itself, with an attempt at putting together a complete map. Take a look here and let me know what you think.

[spukrian]

I doubt Alexander would spread the notes around

In the guest room there is a flashback of Daniel looking for his diary, it's implied that grunts had taken it. So it was the grunts that spread the pages around.

[failedALIAS]

Not efficient at all. Yet you have a locked door somewhere. Do you know where it leads? Perhaps to other chambers which then fit in the design as a whole? And maybe it also leads to (for players hidden) chambers in other levels which make up for the weird design you encounter?

Locked doors, crumbled rocks, etc... all stuff where the player can't enter, but you can make up something in the lore for it.

Lastly, not all levels should be lore-wise designed as a whole. Some "levels" could be built modular: one chamber was enough for its time, but after a while another chamber should be built. But because there was no place to build it as other chambers next to it already exist (the ones not accessible for the player), some engineering tricks should be pulled out: create a tunnel and perhaps a corner, then build the next chamber after that. And so on...

From a game-technical point of view, all levels don't fit as a whole castle. Some levels overlap in the greater architecture, or are just positioned wrong. Re-creating Amnesia in Minecraft as one big castle, I saw that the big door in the Rainy Hall and the big door in the Entrance hall, which "should" be the same, actually are tens of metres away from each other in reality. Daniel's Chamber and the Study basically overlap, as the two doors are next to each other in the Back Hall. The Archive Tunnels has two exits who lead to the same door in the Back Hall. I could go on...

So please only complain about the lore section, then make something up to address your issue. Thanks.

I do like to point out that although this is a perhaps 'unfair' excuse, all these areas are seen through the eyes of a drugged borderline schizophrenic. When I say borderline I mean "possible/currently improvable".
Daniel represents many symptoms such as: poor emotional responses, auditory delusions, paranoia, and randomly triggered delusions dumbing vision and movement, regularly followed by the "hearing or voices".
Also there's the belief that one's actions are being controlled or heavily influenced by another. . .
Random bouts of fear occurring from delusions of "being watched". Or that their very thoughts and memories are being broadcast to others. Such trivial and laughable thoughts easily guide me to my conclusion.
And I'd like to remind any who may argue with this query, their only alternative is "Dark Magic", or the even more ridiculous, "It's a PC game."