Facebook Twitter YouTube Frictional Games | Forum | Privacy Policy | Dev Blog | Dev Wiki | Support | Gametee


Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Discussion about the Darkness
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Away
Posting Freak

Posts: 935
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2012
Reputation: 54
#4
RE: Amnesia Custom Story: The Darkness

Well... I believe you that there are interesting puzzles and whatnot in your CS - but unfortunately, from the trailer alone, it looks like it consists solely of straight, empty corridors and almost empty rooms. That's not good. I understand of course, that you wouldn't want to spoiler the most exiting parts in the trailer, but leaving a bland first impression won't help either!

How about you make a nice Mod DB page instead/ in addition to the trailer? Put some intruiging screenshots there, tell people a little bit about what the setting and story will be like - that sort of thing. I think it would create more attention Smile

_________________________________________________

Okay I gave it a try. I couldn't finish it though, because at some point in the big red foggy hall it kept crashing. And I mean the nothing-goes-restart-your-PC kind of crashing. I don't know if it's your fault, or if my PC is just being weird - but in case several people report that problem, you might want to have a look at what could be the problem there.

Anyway even so I could make some notes for feedback!

1. More detail:
The rooms aren't quite as empty as they looked in the trailer, but even so they still look pretty dead. Some are better than others - the library for example - but most of them just have too much empty space. You don't need to cram every room full of stuff, but try to avoid large empty planes, especially when they have obviously tiling textures on them. At least put a carpet there or a decal, some rubble - whatever fits and makes it look more believable.

2. Believable/ realistic rooms:
Before making a room, take a moment and think about what exactly you're creating. Take the library for example (The issue is apparent in several rooms though). I assume it's a library because there are several bookshelves there and a "reading corner" with a table and chairs. But if it's a library, why does it look like its also a storage room at the same time? Naked stone floor and walls, barrels and crates - you wouldn't find that in a library. All in all the room doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look like a real room you'd find in a building is what I'm sayin'.

3. Too much unneeded tinder and oil:
Not much to add to that statement. There's tons of tinder and oil but the map is fairly bright so you never need it.

4. Way too many monster encounters and jumpscares:
Now this one might be a matter of taste. But if you want to go for the "Amnesia-style" of horror (which I find to be the most effective kind of horror) then you're doing it wrong - more suspense, less actual jumps and monster spawns is the way to go here. The thing with jumpscares is that they lose their effectiveness very quickly - the more often you use them the more the player starts to expect them.

Also you have to keep in mind that all suspense is lost as soon as the player dies (Think about how rarely you actually encounter monsters in the original Amnesia - but how often you are afraid of running into one! Thats Frictional's secret trick...). Why are you killing the player every few minutes by spawning brutes without a real way to hide from them? (Especially in the big red room - although it could be one brute who isn't de-spawning.) That doesn't create horror, that just gets annoying after a while.

So all in all - more focus on suspense and atmosphere, less action and player deaths. The result will be closer to Frictional's vision of horror.

5. Story?
Can't say much about the story since, like I said, I couldn't play to the end. But it was quite confusing. Where am I? And why? And why am I trying to destroy a machine? I get that the original is called "Amnesia", so yeah, amnesia is probably also the case here. Wink But in the original I had at least some sort of clue what my next goal was (follow trail - find letter - find alexander - open door to refinery to proceed...). Here its all a bit more fuzzy.

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh - I don't mean to be an asshole, just trying to help with some constructive feedback. Smile
(This post was last modified: 11-15-2012, 10:19 AM by xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.)
11-15-2012, 09:05 AM
Find


Messages In This Thread
Discussion about the Darkness - by SpheRe - 11-14-2012, 10:19 PM
RE: Amnesia Custom Story: The Darkness - by xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx - 11-15-2012, 09:05 AM



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)