Try something new! Amnesia Custom Story - The Game

[Wapez]

A good idea for mapping practice I heard somewhere on the forums (I think it was from Khrypa?), is to pick a level from the original game (In your case, a simpler level such as the entrance or back hall) open it in the editor, and try to reproduce it yourself in a separate editor. I've never tried it, but in theory it sounds like it would work excellently; it will help you to pick up on details and ideas you've perhaps never seen before and make you an all around better modder.

Who better to learn from than the very people who created the game?

It is a good way, but personally I prefer the "learn what works" strategy, as this way you're not reproducing someone's style but carving your own. I mean, my style is simillar to Frictional Games in quite a few ways but at the same time the levels tend to be darker, more focused around story than scares etc. Doing this helps you learn how to make good maps yes, but it won't let you develop your own style. Personally, if I ever needed an idea of how to do something I'd just glance at how FG did theirs and then tried to recreate it.

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Just thought I'd bring this up, it being your first mod shouldn't effect the quality and shouldn't be used as an excuse. Many people's first mods are amazing, and not because they were just born with a talent, but because they waited until they had honed their skills to a level where what they released was of high quality. The reason so many people say that the first story is always bad is because too many people are eager to release something as soon as they learn to make something. I can understand why people would end up doing this, the first time I made a map I remember how badly I wanted to release it (and holy fuck it was a terrible map) but instead I didn't and kept working to improve my skills. Now, almost a year later, I've become a very skilled mapper and modder in general, and I can guarantee you that my first mod will be very good.

This is all true, and I guess I weren't as smart as you. You know, I just wanted to show people what I had done, I learned first afterwards that this was not very good. But yeah, all of this has really improved my skills significantly, and I did just that; looked at the real maps. Even though I didn't recreate the whole maps, I took a closer look on lights and decals and stuff like that. Found out how they solved problems I couldn't myself, at the time. And I think I've made huge improvements. And since you guys actually are here commentating, I would love if you could take a look at my full conversion, which I think will be kinda good, not the best, but fairly enjoyable to play, for everyone.
And maybe provide some more feedback after that. Thanks.

If you ever want help with story, or anything really, just send me a PM and I'll do what I can, you seem like a nice guy and someone who's eager to learn so..

Thanks, I will. Means a lot to me.