Blogs - Ragendar

I've been very scatterbrained recently, however I have the layouts of several maps figured out and put together. I just need to do detailing and scripting on them now. The custom story itself should only be one or two hours long by my estimate, but it could well be longer depending on where I go with it.

I'm very excited with what I have so far and I look forward to progressing farther with the idea.

On an unrelated note, I turned twenty last Tuesday.

In my last post I gave you a small teaser of what my first custom story would be. Today I began construction on the Amnesia custom story: Reincarnation.

Reincarnation

1845 was a harsh year for Germany, suffering a great depression, poor harvests, and rising inflation. This makes it the perfect setting for the tragic tale of Vincent Hartmann. Hartmann was a renowned scientist and philanthropist, however he was afflicted by a fatal illness which would eventually take his life. As his condition worsened, he had given up on traditional medicine and expended many different, more unconventional treatments to no avail. He had just about given up when something was brought up to him by a colleague. He had very little interest in religion, but the idea of reincarnation piqued his curiosity. After tearing through various books and scrolls, he dug up a rather ancient piece of information. The orb carried by buddha in his various sculptures traced back to an ancient artifact which was able to carry a person's spirit while it was between bodies.
He brought together many of his colleagues to form a covert sect intent on discovering the means to preserving their minds over generations, and thus becoming immortal.

This has been the first chapter of the prequel to Amnesia: Reincarnation.
Please check in later for the next installment.

So I have this idea for an Amnesia custom story, and it's meaningful to me. I haven't quite gotten the title yet, but I have it narrowed down to a selection of: "Rebirth," "Metempsychosis," and "Reincarnation." Can you guess what it's about? Probably not exactly, but the idea is definitely there.

The setting is the year 1845 in Germany where a secret sect conspires around a new theory. A man named Vinzent Hartmann heads the group with his neoteric ideas of the afterlife and consciousness. Following the discovery of a mystical artifact with extremely interesting qualities, Hartmann is ready to put his theories to test.

Want to know what his theory is?
In good time. I hope you will keep an eye out for this mod.

So I've signed up to beta test this mod, and so far there's been some interesting use of the level editor. I won't go into detail, as it would definitely spoil it. It's got a lot of good ideas, but so far it is more interesting than scary. Changes definitely have to be made in terms of lighting and sound. The strong point of this mod so far is definitely the voice acting and story telling. The protagonist has a very strong backstory which appears and is utilized in the game. I haven't gotten far yet, several rather large bugs have caught my immediate attention, but I greatly look forward to seeing this mod to the end.

So I downloaded this custom story from ModDB last night, but only got to playing it today, and I have to say, it is pretty damn well-done.
The entry is rather ordinary, and it's definitely not strong, but otherwise the mod is pretty good. The scares are a bit predictable, but it does have its moments, such as in the storage room of the laboratory. Now at first, I wasn't impressed, but that final sequence was terrifying, and completely unfair. I loved it.
Anyway I took a small break so that I could grab a bite to eat and stop crying so much, but I'll go back to it to finish it in a few minutes. I need one more rod for the elevator, which is located in the "torture rooms." Isn't that lovely?

Wish me luck!

So I've decided to start a blog through which I hope to be able to keep track of my ideas involving new Amnesia custom stories and whatever else I feel is relevant.

Alright so my first idea, and this is the one that I entered the Amnesia world with, is to put a man in a coma, he wakes up in a room that is familiar, and yet he is sure he's never been in it before. As if he had awoken into an immediate deja vu state. The room is well furnished, comfortable, and well-decorated, and he feels completely calm and at ease despite his curious circumstances.
Unknown to the man, he is still in a comatic state. He has awoken in the stable part of his conscious, where he could remain for the rest of his life, but to do so would certainly mean that he would never be able to awaken, and so he is forced to travel deep within his own unconscious to discover the cause of his comatic state, battling repressed fears, dark secrets, and the evil machinations of his own mind.
The plan was for him to voluntarily leave the calmness of his conscious and dive deep into the perils of his unconscious, facing fears which might include heights, water, darkness, and many others, whilst evading his own mind's shadow, which represents doubt and depression. If he succumbs he shall surely never awaken.
Along the way he finds various notes which he vaguely remembers reading, which attributed to some of his fears, but also his own rationalizations and ideas which can be used to solve puzzles. He also finds entries from his journals which have similar values, and also clear up how he was put into a coma.
The conclusion would consist of him overcoming his various fears, and then finally his doubt, which enables him to awaken from his nightmarish subconscious.

The theme I would choose for this custom story in terms of music would be Scarborough Fair, as I feel the idea of a person posing a series of impossible tasks upon a person to prove themselves is an acceptable theme of song for this story, and the song itself is fairly solemn, and yet it's catchy and I find it to be enjoyable. I might consider using it for other custom stories as well.