Custom Story Collaboration

[SkyeGU]

Hey, guys!

After lurking around the forums, experimenting with the map editor, and toying around with story ideas in my head i've come to the conclusion that I would like to join the many who have gone forth with the creation of one or multiple custom maps.

As it stands, I have thought out a large number of possible in-depth stories all of varying styles / themes / genres (all still horror-genre by default, of course) that could be implemented... but I am stuck by several issues.

I currently have very limited experience with the map editor (though, in time, I will learn) and no experience with scripting for this game. This has made me reach a simple conclusion: why not collaborate? Multiple minds working together on a variety of tasks will, inevitably, create a better final map.

I am also more than willing to openly share my story ideas here in this thread, as I don't mind others taking them up and creating them independently. My desire is not to have my own name attached to a map, but rather to have the ideas that I have created so that players can experience them.

tl;dr: Who wants to team up to make a custom story?


Edit: I'll probably go ahead and post one or two of my story ideas tomorrow or the day after. Right now i'm just wondering how much interest there is in this sort of thing.

[palistov]

I felt the same way about all of this about a month ago. My advice? Make little maps and scripts and build your knowledge. It's awesome to share, but if you wanna create your own experience for other players, don't let anything stop you!

[Melamoto]

I have a small amount of experience with the map editor, and know some coding, and the HPL2 engine seems simple enough to use, although I'm still quite a novice with it. In short, I'm not highly experienced/trained, and I haven't really made any good quality projects yet. But I'm still not useless, and if you need help with anything on the project then I can lend some help here and there.

[Mapsnacker]

I've been searching around the forum looking for something like this.

I've got about a month's worth of experience for the Level Editor and I can make some really nice maps. If you want to see a sample map I can whip one up for you.

Just today I looked into scripting, I'll be working on some basic stuff later on tonight.

Yeah, I'm down for joining up with you to create something. I like to do a bit of writing every now and then so don't hesitate to ask for help with plots, notes, etc. Infact, I've got a story I've been working on for the past week. Just a few paragraphs down in notepad though, the rest is in meh head.

Jus' let me know whats up.

[SkyeGU]

Excellent and thanks for the interest, and tips, so far!

@palistov: I definitely will, and seeing how wonderful and supportive the community here on the forums is, i'll definitely turn to all of you in my moments of panic or brilliance to get or give help when I can. It's good to know everyone is supportive and helpful and awesome. The more I work with the editor and script the more I learn... and the more I realize I don't know. Ha.

@Melamoto: Always good to have anyone on board who's willing to lend a hand. I'd say you're probably more skilled than even I am with the engine and editor, then. For now, i'd definitely love to have your input for some of the stories as well as implementation of the tales themselves into the workings of Amnesia itself. Primarily how we can make use of monsters, areas, and items throughout.

@Mapsnacker: I'd love to hear your story idea if you're willing to share it. As this entire thread will be a collaboration for one or more maps, it's always good to have some healthy discussion going about multiple possibilities. As for level making, it's good to know you're willing to help out with that aspect too! I don't want any one person to be solely responsible for all the levels everywhere, but I definitely don't want to discourage participation. I'd definitely love to discuss implementation of things into the engine itself and have a bit of experienced feedback that can say "Yeah, that can be done" or "You're insane, this game can't do that".

Right now I think we should all plot out the custom story itself and figure it out here so that it is available for anyone in the future to read through and know the situation in case they want to jump on board and help in the middle of the project. I mean it when I say I want this to be a collaborative effort.

In order to give the option for players to be completely unaware of the story as it is being developed, we'll have to spoiler tag a lot of the content portions... But it will still be here!

I just hope i'm making sense with my intentions.

Before I forget, here are some story ideas that have run through my head:

"Mad Science" - Our Hero wakes up within a cage that is surrounded by cages in what appears to be an abandoned lab. The levels would be primarily stone and the cages would be the prevalent feature in every area. At first, it all seems abandoned. But as our Hero makes his way through, he realizes that there are other 'experiments' that are still alive. Some are locked up, some have broken free. One thing is for sure... they're dangerous. Do you, the hero, flee in terror? Do you give up your life to take down the monsters with you? Or do you live up to your name and become a hero and take down every monster AND live to tell the tale?

"The Lighthouse" - After a friend's message convinces you to visit his newest purchase of 'modern living', you find yourself at the top of a lighthouse after just having stepped off of an elevator. The area around you is impressively furnished and the lighthouse itself is impressively massive. You soon remember, however, that your friend has been dead for years and the elevator that you just stepped from has been broken and, just like the lighthouse you're in, has grown old and broken with time. How did you get here, and why have your memories betrayed you to this extent?

"The Fun House" - A pure mess of disturbing rooms and experiences. A hall of mirrors(?). A corridor of doors. Rooms with twisted floors and rooms with twisted walls. Various carnival pranks await you throughout this fun house, and you can't wait to leave; especially because you can't remember why you entered.

"Deep Ocean" - Science has brought the miracle of living beneath the sea to fruition. The rocks around you allow constant streams of water to drip through and fill the bottom of every corridor. The ocean itself refuses to be kept out and continues its relentless pressure to break every wall in on you. Despite this, you find your new submerged home to be paradise. The sound of water is like music to your ears. You think you'll likely be dead before the water fills your home enough or the structure collapses around you; that is until you realize that the ocean has something in mind for you that is undoubtedly lethal. (ie: The ocean itself manifests the monster within your home to chase you down)

"Clock Tower Engineer" - After recently hiring an engineer to keep the town's clock tower in peak condition, a strange groaning noise seems to accompany every toll of the clock's bells. Upon investigating the gear rooms of the tower, you find the engineer dead; killed while doing his duties. Not wanting to face any legal issues, you decide to cover up his death and you bury him in the cellar of the clock tower. Several weeks later, the groaning returns. This time accompanied by the scratching of something across the wooden walls and floors of the tower... and the grave you buried the engineer in is empty.

Discuss / Thoughts / Anything? Go wild.

[Mapsnacker]

Maybe you should rethink how open you want to be with your work. Despite the lovely red highlights and the seemingly innocent forum members, I think you should keep things that are under-development, under lock. This thread should be used to get people working together, not as SpoilerAlert parade IMO.

Moving on...

I really like "The Lighthouse". Although, without a dedicated modeler, I don't think its something we should tackle just yet. There are way too many limitations (material wise) to construct something like that with the Level Editor. Unless somebody can prove me wrong....I think it should be put in the "Secret Stash of Stories Box". (In a folder on your desktop.)

Today I built the first map for a story I thought up today and learned a bit of scripting. Although, I barley understand what I'm doing. So later on this week, I might post a helpwanted thread for that specific project.

Anyway, I've got a story thing for you.

[CHAPTER 1-Intro]

(Text) I've began this journal to record what I believe to be...my last hours.

(Music Que)

(Voice-Player)
That page...
It was the smallest piece of information, the smallest thing to remember him by...
(Pause)
Below that sentence was a warning, scribbled with fading ink.
(Eliot's Voice begins overlaps the Player's during this line and the Player's fades out leaving only
Elliot's voice)

"This is my account of a phenomenon unexplainable through science. A fraction of the truth,
which cannot be described by any number of words. To protect yourself, I would advise you to
simply burn this and forget you ever came into contact with it. Although, I do know of the
trappings of human curiosity, for that is what pushed me into this. Just know...what you learn
through me will have a effect on more than just yourself. For what exists beyond...
will send a shock wave that will, without a doubt, change the course of the world."

(Voice-Player)
The page was signed by, Eliot Bane, my closest friend.

[Chapter 1- Research]

(Voice-Player)

The envelope, in which i received that page included a small stone statue me and Eliot had acquired three years ago.

In 1876 Eliot and I were greatly intrigued by the discovery of a archaeologist who had
come across a strange artifact in Russia which (According to the Media) pointed to a drastically
different version of the beginning of human history. Eliot, being a man of many connections, was able to
find the fellow who conducted the dig and contact him about his findings.

Through a series of letters, we obtained small snippets of information about what was found at
the dig. But it was all too sporadic and random to be pieced together.
The Archaeologist, who claimed his name was Abel Colbert, had a few trusted friends who had
gone with him to Russia. In his letters, Abel revealed that his friends grew superstitious after
they uncovered the artifact. Why...he didn't say. But they had left Russia to pursue more "sensible endeavours"
only a few days later.

In the last letter we received, there was only one line of print.

"Be wary of knowledge you gain, for the human mind can only comprehend so much."

Included in the envelope in which the letter came, was a small stone statuette of a what appeared to be a Slavic-Warrior of sorts.
Carved on the bottom were coordinates, to what we assumed was Colbert's findings.

(Voice-player-Distressed)

Eliot insisted that we go and talked of the infinite discovery that awaited us. He went on about
how we could be the men who uncovered the "First Chapter". I objected and tried to talk him out of going,
"We have lives, responsibilities to tend to, we cannot simply abandon what we have in search of
adventure. I-I have a son! You have a wife!"

He only shook his head, (Voice-Eliot)"This could rewrite history."

(Music Fade)

He left the next morning, taking the letters and the statue with him. I never saw him again.


Now, three years later...I follow in his footsteps.
---

Just snipped that from my full plot.

Thoughts?

[SkyeGU]

In that case, should we perhaps have a very limited amount of information here and proceed with the bulk of actual planning and development in a more private manner?

As for the lighthouse: I havn't had the opportunity to toy with the limitations of the level sizes themselves in the editor, but is there a limit to how high we can build? I certainly feel that the prison and sewer (official) levels are a prime example of how large levels can be... I assume there are downsides to making larger levels? (ie: longer loading times)

As for your story snippet, I'm already geared and ready to play that map in a heartbeat. It gives me some nice reminders of the terror that made the original plot so wonderful. The unknown awaits. Hopefully that statue isn't of Cthulhu or anything (Lawsuit! D: ...). The only question I have is of the length of the notes / voice recordings. Would that entire section be something that is voiced over while the player explores, or would it be in a single note, or spread out over a series of notes? I also find the careful omission of the player name to be interesting.


Off-topic but on the topic of custom stories: Has anyone pondered having the "player character" be female? I recall that one story did this, but there is still the issue that it uses Daniel's gasps and labored breathing when frightened. This could make for quite the nice change (if possible) in a custom story.

Edit: I do hope that the content from the Justine Trials (released today) will be available via some manner other than Steam soon; because I can't use Steam. It looks like the lead character may in fact be female(EDIT: No, i'm wrong. Probably male due to a "Monsieur" at the start of a note)... but more important than that is that there is a new enemy monster (EDIT: Ha ha; i'm wrong again. Two new enemy monsters!).

[Mapsnacker]

In that case, should we perhaps have a very limited amount of information here and proceed with the bulk of actual planning and development in a more private manner?

As for the lighthouse: I havn't had the opportunity to toy with the limitations of the level sizes themselves in the editor, but is there a limit to how high we can build? I certainly feel that the prison and sewer (official) levels are a prime example of how large levels can be... I assume there are downsides to making larger levels? (ie: longer loading times)

As for your story snippet, I'm already geared and ready to play that map in a heartbeat. It gives me some nice reminders of the terror that made the original plot so wonderful. The unknown awaits. Hopefully that statue isn't of Cthulhu or anything (Lawsuit! D: ...). The only question I have is of the length of the notes / voice recordings. Would that entire section be something that is voiced over while the player explores, or would it be in a single note, or spread out over a series of notes? I also find the careful omission of the player name to be interesting.


Off-topic but on the topic of custom stories: Has anyone pondered having the "player character" be female? I recall that one story did this, but there is still the issue that it uses Daniel's gasps and labored breathing when frightened. This could make for quite the nice change (if possible) in a custom story.

Edit: I do hope that the content from the Justine Trials (released today) will be available via some manner other than Steam soon; because I can't use Steam. It looks like the lead character may in fact be female(EDIT: No, i'm wrong. Probably male due to a "Monsieur" at the start of a note)... but more important than that is that there is a new enemy monster (EDIT: Ha ha; i'm wrong again. Two new enemy monsters!).

Private is better IMO. If we just go about the normal was of doing things (Demos, Trailers, Screenshots...) I think that its a safer route.

For the lighthouse, level size isn't really the issue. Its just the limitations of the time period we are stuck in using the Level Editor. I've heard of some type of Modern pack but I dunno. It is supposed to be in the near preset time right? You said Modern Living....and elevator.


Having the player character be female is totally possible now with the voice for Justine from the update. But ya, your female in the expansion, I've only played a few minutes because its daylight outside.

As for the story I posted, that whole thing was going to be the intro. Similar to the way penumbra opened up. If you read it aloud to yourself it really isn't that long. You will have the journal entry he describes but the rest you find in the form of notes. (You only have one page of what I planned to be a entire diary written by Eliot.) You will find more as you progress through the story. I would go into more detail but I don't really want to give away much for the particular plot. Thanks not mentioning all my grammatical errors! I'm stuck with notepad for scripting and writing.

I've got one other story I've actually started work on. The first level is partially complete and some of the script is done(I'm terrible at scripting).

The story so far is merely a introduction, but I think that with a little work it can become something special. I'll be working on that tonight before I play through Justine.

So if you want to start working on something let me know. If you have Gmail or something we could chat tonight or something. This forum posting takes awhile...

Email-Theadidasbandit@gmail.com

[SkyeGU]

Now that you mention it, it really isn't that long when spoken all at once. I hadn't thought of it as a full introduction, but it does work quite well in that manner. I was imagining it spread out through a level. But as you see it, that's a great way to bring players into a level and get their minds reeling right from the start.

As for the grammatical errors, I didn't see any on my first read-through. Though I wasn't particularly looking for any, either. It's a draft copy here on the forums anyway; so it's always open to change. :)

As for the female voice in Justine (and for our use in the future): Undoubtedly awesome. A+++ news.

I'm usually on Google Chat (through Gmail) whenever i'm home. I'd be glad to chat; i'll shoot you an email for now.

For anyone else who would like to collaborate, work together, help out, or get help, feel free to shoot me an email as well. I won't be getting particularly active with any of my work until early May (due to finishing up some finals work until then) but discussions will be happening and plans will be in the works until then.

I am contactable through AIM (in Profile) and Gmail.
SkyeAcadia at Gmail dot com


EDIT: Oh right. As for the Lighthouse idea, the elevator concept came from the official game's elevator scene. Something like that, probably. The modern living can be interpreted many ways. But the use of some variety of modern textures would help. I just have to find and/or make them.