Am i capable of making a CS ?

[Dogfood]

Greetings, Amnesia community & CS developers.

Before i get to the main point, i'd like to point out something about myself so my question/intention will be much clearer and so you'll know what i'm blabbering about I love writing stories, novels and everything that allows me to express my imagination. So far the only way i've been able to show my stories was with a paper and pen or my keyboard. I love writing any kind of stories from romantic to horror, but my favourite to work with are horror adventures. My stories, usually take time from 14. century to 16. i guess my addiction to history is to be blamed here.

Now i didn't come here to boast, Amnesia is one of the greatest games i've ever played. Especialy because of the story the game has are just my taste and i could just make myself feel like Daniel (yeah sounds a bit gay). But then everything became even better when i discovered that Frictional gave us the tools to create our own story.

I have so many ideas of what i could make and how, i can already picture my custom stories. But here comes the problem: I have absolutely NO experience with scripting. i'm not a coder or scripter. I havent even tried using the tool to make custom stories so i dont really know how it looks like to actualy develop a CS.

So here (finnaly) comes my questions :

1. How difficult is it to make those events (that look simple) like once you enter a room a book falls, or a door opens/closes
2. How difficult is it to change the music which plays in a specific zone ?
3. Is custom story developing something that a non professional scripter can handle ?

And please do note that i intend to keep it very simple. I will not focus on complicated puzzles, or monsters.. Actualy i do not even plan on adding any monsters at all. I just want to bring my hand written stories into gameplay. My CS would be like just wandering great halls and rooms, maybe outdoors... Read notes and explore.

4. Is something like that possible for a non scripter guy like me ?

Anyway I'd like to apologise if i sound a bit funny, English is not my first language and i'm having a lot of difficulties to actualy explain whats going on in my mind. Hopefully you understand what i mean

Thank you for your patience with reading my big post

[ThoseRandomGuyz]

I'm in your shoes. If someone answers these questions, let me know.

[Putmalk]

How good are you at scripting and mapping? That will determine what level of difficulty there is to do anything.

If you are completely noobish at scripting, then you better look at tutorials before you attempt to do anything scripting related, and then practice your syntax and stuff without getting too complicated in your attempts. Trust me, I personally tried to script for Call of Duty when I was only 13 - not an easy task, mind you, and it took me a lot of time to understand what I was doing and clean up my scripting.

You should always start small. Open up a map that Frictional Games map. Look at how they laid out their map. Then, make a room in the LevelEditor. Don't add any scripting things, just make a room and get it playable so you can move around and interact with objects. Just try to make a great atmosphere.

When scripting, the same principle applies. Think small scale for the beginning. Make a key that can open a door. Have a door that slams shut when you approach it, etc. They are not hard to implement, you just need to know how to begin. You'll receive a lot of errors when scripting, it's natural, you just have to know how to debug them. We can help with that.

Now, to answer your questions:

1. Depends on the event. The ones you described are extremely simple, with the door opening/closing being easier than the book falling.

2. One line of code will do the trick. It's just a simple function that controls it.

3. I'm no "professional scripter" (yet at least, I want to become one). But I can handle it, so yes, you can. You just have to learn how to do it.

4. Yes, you just have to not get frustrated and expect errors.

Check the Frictional Games wiki for some tutorials. I'll link a few handy ones that I like:

Level Editor, the Basics
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/tut...tutorial_1

Light Tutorial (this one nobody seems to follow, but it's super important!
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/tut...tutorial_2

Adding Water
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/tut...tutorial_4

Intro to Scripting
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/tut...t_beginner

Beginning to Script
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/tut...y_tutorial

Amnesia Script Functions List (every function that you can use in your scripts to make things happen in game!)
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/amn..._functions

Hope these resources help you. Good luck on your creation!

[Dogfood]

Thank you very much Putmalk, good answer

[FlyingFruitcake]

Like Putmalk said, it's not that difficult. I started with CS about 2 months ago, and it's pretty easy to learn.
If it soesn't work out that good for you, I can make you some maps too, if you want.

[Homicide13]

Difficult? no
Time consuming? yes

I would highly suggest learning script, but it's really not that difficult to learn and there are loads of examples.

However, doing any kind of project like this will take a lot of time and motivation, so make sure you're willing to put forth the effort before you start. It took me about 3 months of work to make my first custom story, but I am glad that I did.

In order to make something really great, you must be patient and you must be willing to be creative.

[BeeKayK]

You know you can't start out either being capable of making a custom story, or not being capable. You only get capable by making the stories. I started out half a year ago, making a custom story. I didn't even finish it. Then i started making a new one, and i got better and better! Just try

[Stepper321]

Just want to say; You don't need to be a proffesional scripter at ALL . You dont ven need to be a scripter. Check the wiki tough, it can be a bit hard for the beginning, thw scripting and mapping. You can also always ask the forums for help if you need it, you can ask to put up an team with scripters and mappers, so you can do the story, and maybe a bit of mapping etc...

Making 1 good map is hard, it will take atleast 1 week, if its not short. Hallo scripting of the full map can be done in an hour or day. Im on the forums everyday, so if you need Ny help regarding scripting or mapping ask me

[DaAinGame]

Lets just say I started out with little to no scripting abilities other then LUA coding (which I knew very little of), no experience AT ALL in a 3-d map editor, and no creativity, and I managed to pull one off. Although not very good imo, I still pulled it off. After that first story though, you have experience and are ready to get in there for a second go, putting your new skills into action. Already I find myself doing better and more efficient work inside the editor, and with a couple of good programs, scripting can be fairly easy, as it helps you fill in the correct parameters. While I'm not the best, if you find yourself needing any type of help, feel free to ask me, and I'll help you out to the best of my ability.

[Juby]

(05-19-2012 08:25 PM)CowardlyDog Wrote:  So here (finnaly) comes my questions :

1. How difficult is it to make those events (that look simple) like once you enter a room a book falls, or a door opens/closes
2. How difficult is it to change the music which plays in a specific zone ?
3. Is custom story developing something that a non professional scripter can handle ?

And please do note that i intend to keep it very simple. I will not focus on complicated puzzles, or monsters.. Actualy i do not even plan on adding any monsters at all. I just want to bring my hand written stories into gameplay. My CS would be like just wandering great halls and rooms, maybe outdoors... Read notes and explore.

4. Is something like that possible for a non scripter guy like me ?

1. Simple with basic HPL knowledge
2. Real simple as well
3. Definitely, a brilliant map with sounds and the whole nine yards can be quite an experience.

I would suggest finding unique ways to express your story, such as cinematic events, flashbacks, etc.

4. Yes, as long as you got the will, there is a way . Try to learn as much as you possibly can, because it can really help you. I learned most of what there is to know in this scripting language in a little less than a week and created some pretty crazy things. (I'm bragging here: an economy, pressure plate puzzles, moving platforms that reset, more)

I could teach you some basic scripting kinks if I get time later btw.