No safe place at all?

[supernanafu]

Oh, Imagine this for the new game...

What if there is absolutely no sense of a safe place in the game? What if the monsters are constantly hunting you and you have to hurry up and do what you gotta do? Like if you take too long in one place a monster will come.
And since the new game isn't going to let you just hide in a closet... Won't this just be an awesome feature of the game? No? That would be cool indeed.

[Kreekakon]

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.

[supernanafu]

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.

That's a good point. But the thought of being chased all the time is a terrifying one according to me.

[Draug]

From the Q&A with Dan Pinchbeck from thechinesroom:

• Q.
  Are we going to see the same "safe hubs" that were present in tdd? Is
  the level design in "machines" at all similar to this formula, with
  danger-filled levels surrounding these hubs? [from bluel0bster]
  
  A. Safe? Safe? What is this "safe" of which you speak? Sorry, we don't do "safe". You must be thinking of another game.

Don't know which this mean for the gameplay, but it sounds evil. But I'am sure a "constantly hunting" will not be the case.
Here's an interesting article how Dan defines horror:
http://www.relyonhorror.com/in-depth/def...pinchbeck/

"It’s terrifying because of what is missing. And what is missing is a monster."

[Deep One]

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

[Kreekakon]

Okay I suppose a constant sense of dread may be okay as long as it's not you being actively hunted with imminent threat of dying all the time

[TwiK999]

Okay I suppose a constant sense of dread may be okay as long as it's not you being actively hunted with imminent threat of dying all the time

Yes.

[cantremember]

I would take that "Safe? safe?..." statement with a pinch of salt. I'm pretty sure there will be places where you can just stand still forever.

That said there were too many safe places in Amnesia TDD. The first time I played each part was scary because I heard monster noises which I tought were nearby, then the hint pops up saying "Hide in darkness to be safe from monsters" and I was in constant agony/anticipation to run into a monster.

When I play it again, monsters appearing & leaving si very predictable with the music cues. Most of the monsters in the first hub are just noises and appearances who can't kill you, the game only really starts with the water monster after the refinery and the rest is just like a haunted castle at Disneyland to me now.

So for AAFP, scary noises should be real danger, and make you creep forward slowly, peeking around corners to try to see where the monster is before he sees you. Instead of the "instant spawning" of TTD when you reach a spot.

That's my 2 cents on danger.

[Googolplex]

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.

[cantremember]

What I found extremely freaky was that you enter the back hall and there is no body on the fountain, but then you look elsewhere and then it appears, without loading the map in between. That freaked me out like hell.
Still, even with the change of music, the shadow, the dead guy, the torso and the bloody fountain, I still felt very safe in the hub because I knew there wouldn't be any monsters.

I really do think that a grunt should have been able to break out of the storage if he was chasing you.