[REQUEST] OLitD: Looking for brainstormers!

[palistov]

Yeah multiple uses for items has crossed my mind. I try to approach items with a VERY open mind. Crowbars can be used to break open doors, but hell, they can be used to smash things too! What's to stop you from using a crowbar to open a wooden box?

By the way, your idea of using lantern oil for puzzles has crossed my mind but I'm trying to devise ways for players to synthesize their own oil, instead of just walking around looking for it. Even in TDD there were inexplicable oil placements. In the dungeons, there was oil in one of the cells....why would a prisoner have lantern oil?!

[Immersion]

Haha yeah the story is based around a researcher gone missing in a supposedly abandoned castle, and you play a novelist trying to find inspiration for a book and decide to document your search for the missing researcher.

Timed puzzles do sound fun. The last room in Justine was REALLY scary for me haha. Just lookin for what people would find interesting in a mod, and what would make them feel like the story is real, not just searching for X items while running from Y monsters.


Immersion: Your idea for the barracks sounds interesting. I'd have to make use of DonProtz's weapon models The mountains would be cool too, but it doesn't quite fit the setting and outdoor levels are hard to optimize and make look realistic at the same time.

Ahh you have a story, sorry i havent been on here much and my brain malfunctions a lot when im tired .
Anyway, I was thinking, to me the story feels real when you find a lot of notes. It doesnt really matter who the authors are, it could be Servant X or Worker Z but having a perspective of the haunted place from different people really boosts the atmosphere. To tie in with that, a LOT of random rooms for the notes, so the level isnt one long scary corridor and feels like it has a backstory. Moreso, you could make the level nonlinear, and give the player freedom to explore and choose how he completes the area, does he make use of the cellar, or risk the monster infested kitchens
Other than that I really dont know, weather maybe...can rain particles be used?

[palistov]

Immersion: Yeah I'll definitely go with the nonlinear experience, that sounds like it'll be much more interesting then proceeding down Dark and scary hallway A to dark and scary room B just to be confined in dark and scary hallway C. Haha.

By the way one of my outdoor levels could make use of mountains. I think I'll try my hand at that.

[Leu Radu]

I have quite a few suggestions...

Try to make the game as different as possible from TDD in general atmosphere (sounds, lighting, music, sanity effects, general level design, puzzles). This way, by having an original experience, old time players can also get immersed (and also do not get bored).

If you do not have ideas on how to instill fear, I suggest looking for inspiration in the library. To name a few horror writers: Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft (the game engine isn't called HPL for nothing ), Ambrose Bierce, Clive Barker, Stephen King. Considering that your are trying to create episodes, focus on the short stories. Try to look deeply into what creates atmosphere, tension and dread, and think about the way they all culminate at a certain point to give the reader a powerful shock.

Another element that is important for immersion is including elements of the culture and society of the period in which your story takes place, giving players the sense that they are living in that time. Take Alexander and his castle for example: his type is the a 17th-18th century scientist (even though story takes place in 19th), who dabbles in all areas of study: chemistry (remember mixing substances?), anatomy, botany (studied toxic fungi), mechanics (elevator and others) etc. etc.

You say the PC is a writer? Make him a fan of one of the aforementioned horror writers (maybe you could also quote them in the loading screen). He is looking for a doctor... so try to understand how medicine worked in those years, what tools or medicine he might have used or what doctors did not know then and wanted to discover. Implement it in the story. A baron? Again, try to discover the life of barons from that period (maybe even search for stories about shady barons).

Consider your level design a bit, that it might make sense. Maybe some pictures of real castles and dungeons could give you ideas? Areas should certainly feel realistic and well thought, but they don't necessarily need to connect to each other (having a completely realistic castle might be boring and too large). Again, look at how TDD had large areas that made sense.

It might be worthwhile to get some facts straight to give the player a sense of reality. When exactly does the story take place? In what country/region? Maybe add a bit of flavor from that region to the story? A folk horror tale might fit in. You could flesh out the 2 main characters, the doctor and the baron and give them some kind of back story.

To do everything "right" would take hours of study, but don't forget that the player isn't an expert in history and you can improvise without giving the sense that something doesn't fit.

I hope I've been helpful in some way. I wish you and your team the best of luck!

[Immersion]

Damn Leu Radu you know some interesting stuff, hopefully it'll help me as I just started using the editor! Btw thats great palistov I hope they turn out nice.

Off topic: Using the editor when i select items I still havent found a way to move them up/down before they are placed, which is annoying as dragging candles to desks gets repetitive.

[Danny Boy]

well i could help whit the loading screen part just tell me what to do and what you want and i make it real

[palistov]

Wow Leu Radu you've given lots of great suggestions. I'm definitely gonna look into some history. To be frank I still haven't decided on a country/region for the setting. Of course it takes place in a castle. I've actually begun creating many characters, even for ones not entirely related to the main story, just so there are side stories and the like, so the castle feels like it once was alive, not like it was built, messed up, and abandoned. Hopefully the feeling will be that the castle was a place that was alive and housed many people in the service of the baron, but everything stopped dead in the water. Thanks very much Leu Radu!

Immersion: Place one candle, raise it to your desired height, and press F. This locks the height in place so every item you place after that will be at the same height. And you can reset it by pressing F on an object on the ground, or by entering 0 for the height in the bottom left.

[Immersion]

Palistov: I love you my friend. Sorry to pester some more, but one more thing has cropped up ( first of many I suppose). In the sound files i cannot find the soundtracks, like the creepy ambient music and stuff, do i have to search through every numbered folder :O? Thanks

[palistov]

Most of the music is called 01_amb or 02_amb, etc. It means it's the ambient file for the corresponding level in TDD. I think some music files are actually inside those numbered files, but I know for a fact there are multiple music files in the music/ folder. Just gotta find em!

[Immersion]

Thank you my friend! Good luck with your project.