Level Design advice.

[candlejack131]

What scares you the most?

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and do you respect or hate jump scares

[Ghieri]

Following the narrative of the story, constantly reinforce the idea that there is something going on. Build up tension, don't release a monster or jumpscare(Not a cheap one, mind you) until the environment is ready for it.

Basically, you marinate the player in the atmosphere and tension, then you fry that sucker.

[Adny]

What scares you the most?
and do you respect or hate jump scares

I'm terrified of bad grammar in notes, flickering textures in the environment and poor scripting. Sometimes I even wake up at night in a cold sweat.

There is no one singular part of Amnesia that scares me; as a matter of fact, after playing poorly made mod after poorly made mod, I'm rather desensitized.

The most important part of atmosphere (aside from some decent mapping) is the sound effects. My god. If you can properly pace very subtle sound effects and sound events throughout your level, it can really put someone on edge. If someone's on edge/paranoid, they're much more susceptible to jump scares (not randomly appearing objects/naked people) and other various scare-events.

tl;dr - Amnesia (and true horror in general) is all about subtlety.

[Damascus Rose]

What scares you the most?
and do you respect or hate jump scares

I'm terrified of bad grammar in notes, flickering textures in the environment and poor scripting. Sometimes I even wake up at night in a cold sweat.

There is no one singular part of Amnesia that scares me; as a matter of fact, after playing poorly made mod after poorly made mod, I'm rather desensitized.

The most important part of atmosphere (aside from some decent mapping) is the sound effects. My god. If you can properly pace very subtle sound effects and sound events throughout your level, it can really put someone on edge. If someone's on edge/paranoid, they're much more susceptible to jump scares (not randomly appearing objects/naked people) and other various scare-events.

tl;dr - Amnesia (and true horror in general) is all about subtlety.

^This. Of course it takes a lot of experience with the editor and you should have a few stories out to be able to do these effectively. (Not that I can say I really know what I'm talking about, I'm new to this too.)

[FlawlessHappiness]

So how would you light an outside area that takes place at night if you were working on one? this is a genuine question out of curiosity

Also in the forest you can make differences... There could be a bonfire-place. or something else where you've got more space than just walking between pine trees. Also think about if other people have been using the road you are using, then there might be something that lights it up a bit. Like torches.

[The chaser]

Here is my how-to make a good level guide:

-Take a LOT of time with lighting. Lights mark the difference.
-Add the most details as possible.
-If the map is a castle, put things of a castle. The entities and static objects mark the difference.
-Put a LOT of sounds. Our world is filled with them, a CS without sounds isn't a CS that should be downloaded.
-Remember: Billboards are very useful when you add light. Here is a photo of what the billboards can do:

-Don't put unnecessary notes, add messages, ideas from the character. That will add life to a CS.
-Make the player care about what's going on.
-The music. Never forget it. I play the guitar, and, as a musician, I can tell that music adds a LOT of quality. Without going far, the amnesia enemies have each one it's music. Every song "shows" how the enemy is. The grunt is a song that tells you "he is searching you...". The suitor. It has very fast music, because the suitor gives a lot of stress.
-The particles aren't the most necessary thing, but if you can add them, do it.
-Of course, no cheap jumpscares.

So, here finishes my guide. I hope that helps you.