No safe place at all?

[bluel0bster]

Imo Dan's response to my question gave me the impression there will be safe areas, but it won't be as cut and dry as the predictable safe hub level progression we saw in TDD. In other words, I'd predict there will be some safe areas, but it won't be as blatantly obvious (think the first 15-30 minutes of TDD, before you actually ran into a real monster, but still felt constantly in danger).

[maarten12100]

According to Dan Pinchbeck, there won't be safe zones.

We all remember the Lab with the redhead doctor in BP right.
Safe?
what is safe.

[Magnum66]

Good horror comes from the contrast of safe moments, and dangerous ones. Constant peril will numb the senses after too long, and will start to be annoying/tiresome instead of scary.

This is exactly what I wanted to say.

The best method is when you think to be in a save place, but it is not save.
For example the Back Hall. When you enter this place you felt very save, but later in the game the Back Hall turned into a scary place. Music changed, the fountain is spying blood, a corpse lies in it and the shadow comes in. This would transform a beautyful place into a place in hell.

An amazing point and also a good example of how to do it right. I really hope you're not just constantly under fire and staring down an imminent threat. It would be scary as hell at first, but then get tiring and annoying. Also the more you're exposed to this terror it starts to become a lot less terrifying as you're quite used to it. It will become old and not scary anymore.

[TwiK999]

I still found the safe hubs in the dark descent, the nave for example, to be spooky.

[Diz]

I second Dan's quote: When I played The Dark Descent for the first time, I never felt safe, and neither was I supposed to ever feel safe. For instance, there was that hub with the really sweet and soothing musical track, it did calm me down a little bit after roaming in there, but while it did help me cool down a bit, I still was scared that something might lurk around the corner. Something felt wrong, and nothing happening made me feel even more uneasy.

Amnesia felt to me more like a dreaming nightmare experience than an actual game, and the soothing music even made me a little uneasy because I never knew what could occur whenever I made another next step. I never actually thought of the areas as actual hubs, even less safe areas, and this area in question did change from gradually losing its soothing aura to becoming entirely overtaken by supernatural force. I always felt like something was slowly coming, even if I could not see it.

[Zixalf]

The last time I played a bit of Amnesia (regular story), which was yesterday, I had to explore the Morgue and I was TOTALLY immersed in the atmosphere! I gasped at every slight noise that came and almost jumped off my chair when I heard someone pleading for help (an imaginary voice that was)
But then, after injecting myself with vaccinated blood, a monster broke down the door and I got the scare of my life. So I hid in the next room and guess what? Nothing. I could just walk out of there as if nothing had happened.
So I guess there should indeed be less places to hide or monsters should have a better AI (a smelling AI maybe?) to make the game even more exciting to play.

[maarten12100]

The last time I played a bit of Amnesia (regular story), which was yesterday, I had to explore the Morgue and I was TOTALLY immersed in the atmosphere! I gasped at every slight noise that came and almost jumped off my chair when I heard someone pleading for help (an imaginary voice that was)
But then, after injecting myself with vaccinated blood, a monster broke down the door and I got the scare of my life. So I hid in the next room and guess what? Nothing. I could just walk out of there as if nothing had happened.
So I guess there should indeed be less places to hide or monsters should have a better AI (a smelling AI maybe?) to make the game even more exciting to play.

The correct term is no monster despawn like in penumbra

[DavidS]

One game that explores this concept to some extend would be Hellknight or "Dark Messiah" for the PS1. Check it out. I think it is from the guys that made the Clocktower games and published by Atlus.

[HorrorElementFilms]

safe?

Did you just call Amnesia SAFE?

[LordOfDragons]

According to Dan Pinchbeck, there won't be safe zones.

Well in the trailer, we saw one i think. Anyone remembers the cage scene?And the part where the monster breaks down the door? Weren't that safe zones to hide?