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Also chiming in with my appreciation of the way you're doing this lp. I'm kind of sad that there seems to be something actually chasing you, I was really enjoying the growing tension and the threat of something being there more than something showing up. Either way, I look forward to more! EDIT: Since I put us onto a new page I'm going to quote the update so it isn't missed. davidspackage posted:
JohnOfOrdo3 fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jun 15, 2014 |
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Jun 15, 2014 01:12
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I also really like the way you do the subtitles. What program do you use, out of curiosity? Also, in the subtitles-only videos, could you maybe leave the pages on screen for just one second longer? I usually don't have my hands on the keyboard while watching and sometimes it's a bit of a reflex game to mash the spacebar before they go away. It's a really minor complaint, this is a great LP.
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Jun 15, 2014 01:39
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In the same drawer you find the May 1st, 1899 note of "...happily accept fealty to a God thrust upon them..." you find a bible. Oh ho, I see what you did there game makers. It's right now that the meaning behind the word 'beast' starts to blur. I don't think anyone is going to be surprised by the end, but it's really fun to find these little points in the game that indicate not everything is quite right. Lastly "Oh man, these rotting pigs are disgusting" *plays with one on a hook for a minute*
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Jun 15, 2014 01:49
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Sanguinary Novel posted:In the same drawer you find the May 1st, 1899 note of "...happily accept fealty to a God thrust upon them..." you find a bible. Oh ho, I see what you did there game makers. It's right now that the meaning behind the word 'beast' starts to blur. I don't think anyone is going to be surprised by the end, but it's really fun to find these little points in the game that indicate not everything is quite right.
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Jun 15, 2014 03:38
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Ah, yes, Machine of Pigs. I remember the launch thread, all of us slowly going "It's so atmospheric!" to "... really? REALLY?" I am going through all the early videos though, the first part of the game is a great time.
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Jun 15, 2014 03:45
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Sanguinary Novel posted:In the same drawer you find the May 1st, 1899 note of "...happily accept fealty to a God thrust upon them..." you find a bible. Oh ho, I see what you did there game makers. It's right now that the meaning behind the word 'beast' starts to blur. I don't think anyone is going to be surprised by the end, but it's really fun to find these little points in the game that indicate not everything is quite right. I'm expecting more than a few nods to "The Rats in the Walls" myself.
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Jun 15, 2014 04:45
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The thing I'm liking most about the monster, even if it's basically Frankenstein's Pig (as far as I can tell from what the game's saying), is the scream. A pig squealing is already unnerving enough, there's nothing quite like the sound of a pig screaming its lungs out; then it goes farther from there. Really, I'm liking the game's audio work a lot so far.
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Jun 15, 2014 06:33
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I'm really enjoying the LP so far, thanks! Nthing the great narration remarks, you could be a pro. Is there a way to turn the Polsy background black/dark grey or something? The contrast between the dark video and the light background is kind of eye-straining. I prefer watching the videos windowed because I am a colossal babby. Haerc fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Jun 15, 2014 |
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Jun 15, 2014 06:56
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Sanguinary Novel posted:Lastly "Oh man, these rotting pigs are disgusting" *plays with one on a hook for a minute* It's impossible not to. They made proper ragdolls out of the pig carcasses, so you can pull each of their legs, snout, head, back, etc. Also, it later occurred to me that (spoiler for this video) it's funny that once you start filling the gas cannister, you can't pick it up until it's filled all the way... even though you only need it to move the truck three feet. But, to be fair, if you just sit and wait by the pump, the creature eventuallt stops hammering the door, screams and goes away. Which is why the journal entry says "got to get away before it returns" In response to the question, I use Adobe Premiere for the subtitles, with some video effects copy-pasted (motion, blur, tint). And sure, I can leave the pages up a little longer.
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Jun 15, 2014 07:01
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Haerc posted:Is there a way to turn the Polsy background black/dark grey or something? The contrast between the dark video and the light background is kind of eye-straining. I prefer watching the videos windowed because I am a colossal babby. You could set your desktop background to something dark, set your browser window to whatever size your heart can tolerate, and use Polsy's "Fill browser window" button. Or you could use an add-on like Color That Site!
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Jun 15, 2014 07:48
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I can't get over how perfectly this all fits together. The game does a fairly good job speaking for itself (whatever issues I might have with the Amnesia series as a whole), and your infrequent subtitles along with the narration add a whole lot of needed context. Really digging this so far - I'm selfishly glad you're updating so frequently.
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Jun 15, 2014 08:21
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RoeCocoa posted:You could set your desktop background to something dark, set your browser window to whatever size your heart can tolerate, and use Polsy's "Fill browser window" button. Or you could use an add-on like Color That Site! Thanks, didn't think about resizing my browser window.
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Jun 17, 2014 05:46
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Glad to see you doing another LP, I'd forgotten you were planning on this game. The character knowledge gap vs the player seems to match the slow boil of the game world vs the notes. I wonder if they realized the game was starting off a bit too slow, and tried to compensate by moving up some of the documents.
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Jun 17, 2014 09:39
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That September 28th missive, is it just me, or is someone coming over a bit Rorschach? Reminds me of that one rant of his that was in every trailer for Watchmen.
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Jun 17, 2014 10:45
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LordGugs posted:Really enjoying this LP, your narration really adds to the game. I feel that the setting of late Victorian industry really adds to horror for some reason. Probably the rank dehumanization of the era. It took a lot of doing to turn the self-reliant country farmer into a brute shadow of a man whose death crushed in the gears of a factory is more than he deserves.
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Jun 17, 2014 23:24
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Enjoying the LP so far. In the OP, you mention that it's like a Poe story, but to me it feels more like HG Wells' Island of Dr Moreau, with an added emphasis on industry and body horror that's more like David Cronenberg. How long is the game? It feels like it's moving at a pretty fair pace so far, and I'd hate it to get bogged down in too many repetitive gameplay mechanics just as things start getting explained.
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Jun 18, 2014 21:55
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mrbasehart posted:Enjoying the LP so far. In the OP, you mention that it's like a Poe story, but to me it feels more like HG Wells' Island of Dr Moreau, with an added emphasis on industry and body horror that's more like David Cronenberg. This is how it feels to me as well, though it remains to be seen whether it turns out to be a reverse-Moreau. With the note rebutting the concept of AI as being no better than making people into pigs, combined with the ambiguity of the 'product' being fed laudanum and being calmed by music and well-lit areas before being processed. Of course, there's also the note that says he has 'seen first hand' that uplifted 'brutes' have no concept of God but will gladly worship anything put in front of them and the aforementioned AI note where he says that one should be made to be as a God rather than as a man, so maybe the Machine enacts the final sentence of Animal Farm.
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Jun 18, 2014 22:21
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mrbasehart posted:Enjoying the LP so far. In the OP, you mention that it's like a Poe story, but to me it feels more like HG Wells' Island of Dr Moreau, with an added emphasis on industry and body horror that's more like David Cronenberg. I'm not sure, but if the blurred video titles in the OP are any indication, we're 25% of the way through.
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Jun 18, 2014 22:48
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A common complaint about the game is that it's much shorter than the original game. I think that may be more because of a lack of backtracking in this compared to its predecessor though, I remember some of those puzzles being a pain because of that.
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Jun 18, 2014 23:09
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mrbasehart posted:Enjoying the LP so far. In the OP, you mention that it's like a Poe story, but to me it feels more like HG Wells' Island of Dr Moreau, with an added emphasis on industry and body horror that's more like David Cronenberg. I think the first two parts, in Mandus's weird house, are kind of Poe-like, and after that it starts feeling more like Lovecraft (non-Cthulhy mythos). But then, while I know the story of the Island of Doctor Moreau, I haven't read the actual Wells story. There's 16 "chapters" to the game which I'll each give its own video. So, we've had 4 so far. I don't think it gets bogged down in repetitiveness though, new elements and revelations are pretty well spaced out. As far as the game being shorter than the Dark Descent, Machine for Pigs was originally supposed to be a much shorter game than this. They only started expanding it when they got a good response to the early promotional material. I've been watching an LP of the Dark Descent recently and I don't think it's necessarily longer, but because of the much less linear path, you'll probably spend more time playing through it. Next update's coming in two or three days, just a little polishing and then rendering to do.
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Jun 18, 2014 23:33
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Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs on sale for US$4.99 on Steam today as one of the 24-hour sales. I think that's the cheapest it's ever gotten. 
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Jun 20, 2014 18:09
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tlarn posted:Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs on sale for US$4.99 on Steam today as one of the 24-hour sales. I think that's the cheapest it's ever gotten. drat. Go hog wild!    Mandus seeks refuge in St. Dunstan's Church. This was one of my favorite places in the game - the moment when you enter the church and the organ starts playing, and you see the bloody mess at the altar... pretty creepy.  Journal pages this update: Found documents this update:
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Jun 20, 2014 19:34
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The found documents and journal pages make fleeting references to some people and concepts from the late 19th century. I got curious about these and did a bit of five-minute research to learn a little more. ODIC FORCE A diary entry found in Against the Rising Waters mentions, in passing, the Odic Force, a term coined by Baron Karl von Reichenbach in 1845. Von Reichenbach was one of those 19th century nobleman geniuses responsible for several important discoveries in the fields of (among others) magnetism and chemical compounds. Like many alchemists and philosophers, von Reichenbach theorized about a universal life force, present in humans, animals and plants. According to von Reichenbach, this Odic Force could be expunged, which was supposed to explain hypnotism, among wilder ideas. There wasn't much scientific basis for the concept – von Reichenbach relied on supposed “sensitives” who claimed they could see the force as a colored aura, and only when immersed in darkness. The same diary page also mentions Helena Blavatsky, a Russian writer, occultist, philosopher and comtemporary of von Reichenbach (and Mandus), who theorized about the existence of multiple souls or spirits in each human being. There is no readily obvious reason why the developers chose to namedrop her, other than that she fits the timeframe. BEDLAM AND MATTHEWS These receive some mention in a journal entry in Livestock and Bibles. The origin of “Bedlam” referring to a place of chaos or madness comes from the Bethlehem Hospital in London, one of the first mental institutes in Europe. The “Matthews” mentioned in the journal entry is James Tilly Matthews, a famous inmate of Bedlam, and one of the first known paranoid schizophrenics. He lived a fairly interesting life before that, though. Like many paranoid folk, Matthews liked to get involved in politics. In the late 18th century, he travelled to France to stave off a war between Britain and France, and was taken seriously by the government for a while before he was suspected of being a spy and arrested. After three years they concluded he was a lunatic and let him return to England. Back home, he turned into a fulltime conspiracy theorist, and after an incident in the House of Commons where he kept shouting “treason!” at a Lord he'd become somewhat obsessed with, he was committed to Bedlam hospital. But that's not all. Matthews believed a gang of spies were targeting him with a machine he called an “Air Loom,” some kind of giant raygun that caused him physical pains. He gave the members of this gang mysterious names like the Middleman, the Glove Woman, and “the King.” He claimed there were multiple gangs operating Air Looms around London to affect and read the minds of politicians. That's not to say that he spent all his time thinking people were trying to kill him, though. While still a patient, Matthews entered a contest to design plans for a new Bedlam hospital. Even though his entry wasn't chosen, the judges were very impressed, gave him a cash prize, and elements from his design were used in the new building.
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Jun 20, 2014 20:35
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Great update perhaps I'm a bit slow but was the text implying the church was made for the monsters? Or from the stain glass window is the church devoted to the god of progress and steam, the narrator wanted to create? Also from that last update I'm starting to get real "Time Machine" vibes with a race of the underclasses working below the metropolis of London. Or well I guess it applies to regular London circa 1899 too. When is this game set compared to the notes, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out the timeline.
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Jun 21, 2014 03:39
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The date on which the game takes place is December 31st, 1899, so it's all very recent. a edit: heads up, not only is Amnesia: a Machine for Pigs still on sale on Steam, Amnesia: the Dark Descent is 80% off (which makes it €3,29 in my region), so pick it up while you can! davidspackage fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Jun 22, 2014 |
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Jun 21, 2014 06:19
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That was pretty intense towards the end there, trading in its general sense of dread for something a little sharper. Okay, so based on this episode, I'm guessing that it's not only a little like Island of Dr Moreau, but it's also a bit of a Victorian Soylent Green. No matter what the influences, it looks quite clear that things won't be terribly pleasant for anyone involved.
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Jun 22, 2014 22:36
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Good LP! I like your low-key approach to narration. I've been interested in both the original Amnesia and AMFP. But after watching this (and a LP of Amnesia) I realize I'm way too chicken to play them myself, so this is the only way for me to experience them.
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Jun 26, 2014 13:30
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Captain Scandinaiva posted:Good LP! I like your low-key approach to narration. I definitely agree with this. I was particularly impressed by your approach and comments upon entering the main chapel; they just felt so natural. That chapel actually unnerved me a bit more than it probably should have. I'm a Christian, though not much of a churchgoer, and it just felt wrong to see a church desecrated in that manner (or much other manner, I suppose). Nothing viscerally horrifying, but more of a disquiet and anger. Not with the game studio, mind you, but with the perpetrator of the desecration.
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Jun 26, 2014 14:47
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Sorry to be the voice of disagreement, but so far, the game kind of fall flat for me: it feels like it's trying too hard with a lot of SPOOOOOKY things (not so spooky). Furthermore, the gameplay really feels lackluster. TDD wasn't that great, but here it feels even weaker, especially regarding maintaining pressure. I agree you are doing a seriously good job on the commentary and note reading, though.
Iceclaw fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Jun 26, 2014 |
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Jun 26, 2014 18:43
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There really isn't a game here at all, is the problem. It's an interesting yarn, though.
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Jun 26, 2014 21:33
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I've always liked how the Amnesia games introduce the first actual nonscripted enemy. There are so many fakeouts and glimpses during the first portion of the game that when the abomination is actually loosed in the same labyrinthine corridor as you it takes a good few seconds for it to register in your head. I distinctly recall Dark Descent having instances of gameplay hints along the lines of "move quietly to avoid attracting enemies' attention" popping up well before you encounter any actual threats. It was a really clever way to make the player paranoid.
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Jun 26, 2014 21:52
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DumbRodent posted:I've always liked how the Amnesia games introduce the first actual nonscripted enemy. There are so many fakeouts and glimpses during the first portion of the game that when the abomination is actually loosed in the same labyrinthine corridor as you it takes a good few seconds for it to register in your head. That is pretty neat. Machine for Pigs has a distant monster scream sound just before informing you that you can hold down shift to run - that makes you at least a little nervous the first time you see it. Iceclaw posted:Sorry to be the voice of disagreement, but so far, the game kind of fall flat for me: it feels like it's trying too hard with a lot of SPOOOOOKY things (not so spooky). Furthermore, the gameplay really feels lackluster. TDD wasn't that great, but here it feels even weaker, especially regarding maintaining pressure. I agree you are doing a seriously good job on the commentary and not reading, though. I'm inclined to agree, actually. Dark Descent's sanity system and lamp oil could get real annoying, but they also really piled on the pressure. And when an enemy appears, it's like the end of the world every time. Machine for Pigs is a lot more restrained, and I guess you can't really do exactly the same thing again, but it takes away much of the charm. You can tell that this game was made by the Dear Esther guys since it does feel more like a set of triggers you walk through than a game. Still, I really like the game's atmosphere, and it is a lot of fun to play through at least once or twice.
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Jun 26, 2014 22:41
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I'm just starting this LP but I really want to chime in and say that your reading of the notes and such is drat impressive, really adds to the game. You could have told me it was a part of the game and I wouldn't have blinked.
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Jun 26, 2014 23:05
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 Escaping the church, Mandus finds himself on the factory grounds.  Journal pages this update:
Found documents this update:
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Jun 27, 2014 19:19
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Really enjoying this playthrough. Your whole presentation really elevates what appears to be totally linear, routine gameplay into a thoroughly interesting experience.
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Jun 27, 2014 21:26
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 The April 30th, 1899 entry. You really screwed up, Mandus.
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Jun 27, 2014 22:19
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In the Games thread for Hamnesia, one of the people commented that this game was a steady sequence of him saying "Dammit Mandus, what did you DO?" It's nice to see a game set in Victorian London actually acknowledge London's water table, though. Steampunk is often lacking in proper sump drainage. Those pistons and the coal run were nicely realistic too, although they shouldn't be anywhere near each other. Those boilers raised steam remarkably quickly too! This is nitpickery. Obviously some solid research went into the workings of the machinery here, and I appreciate it. Genuine Victorian machinery was huge and majestic.
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Jun 27, 2014 22:53
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Loxbourne posted:In the Games thread for Hamnesia Hamnesia, the Pork Descent?
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Jun 27, 2014 23:25
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Loxbourne posted:This is nitpickery. Obviously some solid research went into the workings of the machinery here, and I appreciate it. Genuine Victorian machinery was huge and majestic. And extremely deadly! Can't forget that. You know, Thief: Deadly Shadows did the same flickering lights thing in Shalebridge Cradle, and the reason they gave is that the now-undead mental patients were subjected to a disturbing amount of electroshock therapy. I don't think it was spelled out, but it was clear from their design and their actions. Does Amnesia ever explain why our porcine friends do the same?
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Jun 28, 2014 00:13
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e: I never connected the dots it was the shock therapy that did it for the patients in the Cradle, but it makes too much sense now.tlarn posted:
Yup. Though it means poor Daniel survived his ordeal  . However, wow, Mandus, you seems to have gone off the deep end there. Admittingly, this chapter worked a bit better for me, considering I don't like a) loud noises and b) complete darkness. And the stern refusal of referring to humains as such, only as product (yeah I think that's a given that they are humans) reminds me of nazi documents I studied regarding the first plans for ethnic cleasing. No mention of killing is ever made, only "treating a certain amount of units" with the utmost efficiency. Ghastly stuff.
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Jun 28, 2014 00:33
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