Some flaws...

[tonewww]

I myself was wondering about what kills you in the dark. i looked up the note in Hpl Helper heres what it says

Efficiency Assessment as sanctioned by Eloff Carpenter, Elevated.
Subject: Wilbur Frisk, Chief Overseer, Shelter Research Station, Greenland
Report filed by Garett Quinn

February 20, 2000

My assessment of Frisk begins today. I have taken up station as his Personal Assistant, and my report will run for 6 months. Since taking over control of the facility from Bren Stafferson in 1980, Frisk has turned up precious few results, and I intent to discover why.


March 5, 2000

Having observed Frisk for two weeks, it seems my earlier assumptions may have been quite incorrect. He displays passion, efficiency, and above all commitment to the cause. These qualities are ably demonstrated by his recent discovery of what is being called the 'Tuurngait Tomb' at the Primary Excavation. He has, of course, called for a full scale investigation.


April 28 2000

A small scale epidemic has resulted from the opening of the tomb. This will be a perfect opportunity to fully observe Frisk's ability to deal with high pressure scenarios.


May 24, 2000

The epidemic has developed beyond all control. There have been many casualties, and it is hard not to highlight Wilbur as the primary cause.


June 13, 2000

Frisk has lost all control. While a number of survivors have fled, and others have holed themselves up in the mess hall, Frisk has chosen to lock himself away in the kennels with the remaining dogs for 'protection'. I have had no choice but to follow him here in order to complete my report.


September(?)

I've lost sense of time, but Frisk seems to almost be enjoying himself. He's become very close to the canines - everyday he leaves the compound to 'forage' for food in the main base, which he then feeds to the animals - despite a number of them being infected.


October(?)

Frisk has developed some strange symptoms. He's becoming sensitive to light - the slightest light scares him away. He's also displaying almost animalistic tendencies - he's been digging out some of the walls, and hiding behind them. Further, I suspect he may be sneaking out of the facility at night, possibly even into the mines. Some of the dogs have turned up dead.


Entry 8

I have been observing Frisk for some time now, and I believe I can conclude my report: Frisk displays outstanding efficiency, though I am now forced to call his judgement into doubt. Despite plenty of rations remaining, I believe he may have begun eating the canines.


Entry 9

When I woke this morning, there was a corpse lying on the floor beside me. I broke out the flashlight, fearful Frisk may have been savaged, or taken his own life. As I did so, I could not help but see, at the corner of my vision, Frisk fleeing back into the shadows. The dead man was Dr Roberts, a scientist I was sure had escaped into the mines at the first signs of the epidemic.

He had bite marks in his side, and looked to have been dragged some way. In addition, his tongue was missing.

I will continue to observe Frisk, while taking additional security precautions.
_______________________________________________________

I am sure that frisk is probably something linked to the hunter

and this doctor roberts guy seems to be around the lines of the spider hater. <missing tongue and dragged away.

and the name of the note, Monster Note,
which i think is pretty unusual
My final thought is that "Frisk" is probably something Cut from the tech demo.

[Kedjane]

What kills you in the dark is indeed relatively surely Frisk. Either a dog, small rock worm or Frisk but since we know Frisk killed Spider Hater (Roberts, yes) we know he's also capable of fitting through the small tunnels making it more likely it was him. And he hangs around the kennel, too.
I haven't noticed the note being named "monster note", but I don't think Frisk is related to the hunter since it was cut already in the tech demo and Frisk wasn't in the tech demo.

[gbee]

I think the Amabel situation could have been handled better.

Just as an example the tuurngait/Amabel could have been on the other side of a window in a quarantine/isolation chamber or similar, Amabel having hoarded supplies and locked herself in. We (as Philip) would have been manipulated to push a button releasing poison into the room killing the tuurngait/Amabel before being able to open the door. Or the illusion could have not portrayed Amabel as a turngaait at all but changed the labelling on buttons, so that 'Release poison' was replaced by 'Open door'.

Of course the possibility that we don't kill Amabel, that Amabel could have survived if we'd just ignored what we saw would have made the impact of the event much stronger. What if I'd pressed the other button? (95% of people wouldn't have pushed door open to release a turngaait, not on their first play through)

That of course leaves the potential that Amabel doesn't die there, but I'm sure another death shortly after that might have been arranged, so leaving us still alone.

[Kedjane]

If you didn't kill her directly it wouldn't be as powerful and if she was alive they would have to give her a proper model and animate her, would take a lot of work. That's probably the reason you don't meet any live NPCs in the game, other than Tuurngait which just go straight at you and try to kill you. If she was alive they would have to animate her and lots of stuff that could go wrong.
Also having a button like that making the game multi-choice would require two entirely separate stories, also tons of work.

[gbee]

Well you don't kill her directly in the game anyway, instead of my proposed button you turn a wheel instead. That was just an example anyway, it seems most of us agree that there were too many holes in the sequence as it appeared in the game, so I proposed one example of a way in which some of these issues might have been addressed - largely the question of why Amabel chases, injures and ultimately will kill you if she's not really a turngaait. (And why Clarence, who wants to live so badly, would create an illusion capable of killing both of you)

The exact method by which you kill her doesn't have to change. How about we keep the location, method of death the same, but with one small change, we enter that room on a platform/walkway above the warehouse floor. There is a door visible on the other side and so we believe that it's necessary to kill the Turngaait to reach the door and rescue Amabel. Amabel/Turngaait can't get to us to kill us, but we can access the pulley system to kill her/it. Yes, it takes out the fear and urgency out of the scene and diminishes the experience, but it doesn't remove the horror of killing her and it avoids those nagging questions about what happened.

I'm sure there are other ways to do it, better ways, maybe even a way that maintains the fear and urgency. I still believe the horror of murdering an innocent person is greater if it's a choice, even one we made based on incorrect information, than a matter of pure survival.

Of course we can't change the game now, it's already out there. We're just discussing this for fun and in case it influences the choices made for Amnesia or future Frictional games.

[Sexbad]

The thing is

about Clarence,

he did the trick for laughs. I'm sure everyone forgets about necessary things every once in a while, such as when you have to go to work or school in the morning and you're up until 1:00. Clarence wanted to scare the living daylights out of you first and foremost as much as you want to keep playing a game at 1:00 in the morning, living in the moment, doing something really clever, and not caring about survival for a second.

[Spooder Wekd]

Well, as I interpret things Frisk evolved to take on a few characteristics from the Rock Worms (burrowing for example).

I am unsure about the green blood. The green blood is all over the kennel i Black Plague, implying that Frisk has green blood. But green blood is also all over the UV-room in Overture, but the hole there is not dug by Frisk, it was burrowed by Rock Worms.

Or was it?

[spukrian]

Or was it?

I can´t be 100% sure about that. But why is the hole in the UV room so much larger if it was dug by Frisk then? I guess you could argue that Frisk first gained size and then shrunk again as he mutated and the hole in the UV room was made when he was as large as a Rock WOrm.

[Elisius Von Pryde]

I think with the Swanson thing. Maybe Clarence made you hallucinate the whole fight scene too? Hell, maybe she was already dead.

[Quakeman224]

you must understand that you can't keep sane in the dark. Its not possible. When having no one to help with a push of a button or yell down a hall, you have to think clearly. Yes Frisk isn't there but remember, There is rarely any contact. Remember Red? You never see him, only hear him. Which really spooks the nightmare. Think of this as if you were really trap in some shaft mine with a partly insane man guiding you through the dark horrors, then trap in some facility underground with someone helping you to get out. You have no friends or family to contact, no police to investigate with. No one. Penumbra isn't some game thats trying to be like everyone else. Its trying to be different, which is the best in the gaming world. The Atomosphere is what really is important, add some sounds effects that affect your mind, believe whats around you. plus the notes left behind for 30 years before, It spooks the mood and really works. Don't worry on the flaws, worry of the experince of the story, Be Phillip in the horrors of Penumbra.