A great gamemode idea. (NOT roleplay.)

[Jazer]

I'm not completely sure how to categorize this game, but at the moment, it is a survivor-horror last man standing game. It borrows elements from Penumbra and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but breaks off at some points to make the game function correctly and perhaps just for the sake of retaining originality. It is definitely not based in either of those game's world though.

A quick story, definitely not finished.

A group of Europe's most critically acclaimed authors, philosophers and chemists of the 19th century received an invitation to Duke William Alander Omera VI's castle in honor of their intellectual efforts towards humanity. Duke Omera VI was one of the few remaining in a royalty bloodline. Due to the fast modernization of Europe, the need for royalty had greatly been tossed aside.

Not much was publicly known about him.  His father died of unknown causes in his own chamber when Omera was only 10 and had never known his mother. Presently, he had no known spouse or heirs, and presumably lived alone with the exception of some servants that previously worked for his father.

Upon the group's arrival, it was noted that the keep was not well kept except for the sections used by the Duke most frequently. None the less, it was evident that generations of lords had built the castle into something of it's own world and was quite a marvelous sight to see.

Their first meeting with Omera VI was tense. He seemed drained, tired, and spoke somewhat like he appeared to feel like, despite his rather young age of 34. The servants also acted strangely. They restrained from talking to the guests and even Omera himself as much as possible.

Shortly afterwards, the guests were served to an unexpectedly large feast, which all those invited and possibly even the servants felt was out of place in such a dreadful atmosphere. Omera IV quietly waited with his head slightly down as everyone finished and turned their attention towards him. The Duke slowly looked up with an unreadable expression, arms relaxed at both sides, and announced they would be told the true reason of why they were invited tomorrow. Without another word, the guests were shown to their chambers for the night.

The tomorrow they expected never came, and never would. During the late hours of night, the ground from deep beneath shook and jolted harshly. The air shifted and created a draft throughout the castle, carrying reverberating sounds of horrid unknown origins.

Their nightmare was about to begin.

Here is some foreknowledge since this is not about discovering what is going on during this hellish nightmare. Omera VI had for years been dabbling with dark magic and rituals. He ran into a great discovery that he wanted to share with some of the greatest intellectuals in Europe. Unfortunately, his obsession with these arcane arts and rituals became too great. On the night that these people are here, an accident in Omera's chamber occurred during one of his rituals that unleashed tainted souls and evil auras.

Now let's break down the game. One player will be selected as the monster, a former human that was used in Omera's experimentations, but was taken over by a tainted, evil soul on the night of the accident. The remaining players who are the guests and servants are all trapped in the castle and must avoid the monster who hunts them. The players do not have any weapons and must use their wits to get away from the monster if they are seen. The players have substantially greater speed than the monster, but the monster has better stamina, so players must use their speed to quickly get away, turn some corners, and hide again, or else run out of breath and risk the monster catching back up to them with it's greater stamina. There may be an inclusion of puzzles that unlock some advantages or new areas. Also, like The Dark Descent, there may be a sanity meter, which will force you to expose yourself in the light to gain some sanity momentarily, then run to the safety of darkness once again.

When a player is killed by the monster they become an invisible spirit, tied to the recent phenomenons that have happened, that can roam the castle. Players who are spirits, while having lost the game, can help make others lose faster and make the game start over by tipping off the monster of where the remaining players are. They can do this by letting off a moan that can be heard throughout the castle. Not only is this a pant-shitting experience to suddenly hear a spirit moan near you, it also means the monster will be heading in your fucking direction, shit! Each spirit player can moan every few minutes, and have a maximum amount of moans they can make, so they must be used wisely. The use of spirit players helps the game stay in balance since it would become increasingly frustrating for the monster player to be looking for so few players in a castle with no help. The spirits also keep the players moving around the castle, risking being seen by the monster.

Under all these circumstances, if the players can endure a certain time period, they win.   

More to come about how the game will work.       

[Bl★ck Star]

Awesome Idea

+Support

Even the story was great you written

It has a feeling of Amneasi (like you said) and The Hidden (awesome Mod)
I would Love to play this mod 24/7 as I really enjoyed Playing Amnesia =D

[Locke]

That would be amazingly fun, I can imagine this in a really dark castle. Players should have some kind of items too, like a dim lamp that runs out after a while ( A modified flashlight ? ) and maybe a distraction item of some sort. I would love to see this as a real game mode O:

[Bl★ck Star]

And I think the Ghosts should Scream like you said every minute but without a limit ^^

[lolKieck]

You should make spirits help the players too.
But cool idea.

[Jazer]

Thanks for the support! Maybe one day this can be a reality.

And I think the Ghosts should Scream like you said every minute but without a limit ^^

Considering that there might be 20 survivors in the beginning, and about 15 spirits and 5 players towards the end of the game, the moaning would get a little crazy with each of them being able to infinitely moan every minute.

[lolKieck]

Thanks for the support! Maybe one day this can be a reality.

And I think the Ghosts should Scream like you said every minute but without a limit ^^

Considering that there might be 20 survivors in the beginning, and about 15 spirits and 5 players towards the end of the game, the moaning would get a little crazy with each of them being able to infinitely moan every minute.

The gamemode reminds me a bit of a game in cyberpunk book...
Still, the spirits could help like making something fall on the monster, blocking the way after the survivor etc.

[Bl★ck Star]

Thanks for the support! Maybe one day this can be a reality.

And I think the Ghosts should Scream like you said every minute but without a limit ^^

Considering that there might be 20 survivors in the beginning, and about 15 spirits and 5 players towards the end of the game, the moaning would get a little crazy with each of them being able to infinitely moan every minute.

The gamemode reminds me a bit of a game in cyberpunk book...
Still, the spirits could help like making something fall on the monster, blocking the way after the survivor etc.

It would be cool if the Spirits could decide to help the Monster or the Player

Like they scream, righto ? Sooo why dont they just fly into a corner where noone is and the ghost screams to disorriented the Monster so it walks there and the Survivors can flee.

Another thing is how about Hiding in a Cabinet so the Monster can't see you.

[Jazer]

The cabinet idea is plausible. I'm just worried that the monster player would check them all the time, rendering them useless.

I'm glad you guys like the story, it just kind of rolled out naturally when I started typing. There are some rough and sudden event transitions, but I still think it was nice for an hours worth of thought.

[Locke]

Add a cabinet in every room, so that if they check every cabinet they lose a chance to chase someone or might lose their prey.

[Bl★ck Star]

Add a cabinet in every room, so that if they check every cabinet they lose a chance to chase someone or might lose their prey.

Yeah. I would lol if you try to go into a Cabinet, the Monster is in there and says in The voice of the Sniper "Hey there, Mate." xD

[Dragon]

A simple change could be that the monster has to wait a certain amount of time to open the cabinet.
For an example, ill just use a situation:

A persons running, the monster is chasing him, the person runs around a corner, and the monster loses sight of him as he does so.
Now, the monster has a choice, investigate the cabinet next to him, or check the corner, if he chooses the cabinet, he has to wait precious time until he can manage to open the cabinet to search inside.

What im trying to say is that once you use the cabinet to search it as a monster, you have to wait afew seconds until it opens, giving anybody nearby time to escape at the expense of one person and make an even scarier effect for anybody inside because of the scrabbling going on outside, of course, the cabinet COULD be empty.

[Bl★ck Star]

A simple change could be that the monster has to wait a certain amount of time to open the cabinet.
For an example, ill just use a situation:

A persons running, the monster is chasing him, the person runs around a corner, and the monster loses sight of him as he does so.
Now, the monster has a choice, investigate the cabinet next to him, or check the corner, if he chooses the cabinet, he has to wait precious time until he can manage to open the cabinet to search inside.

What im trying to say is that once you use the cabinet to search it as a monster, you have to wait afew seconds until it opens, giving anybody nearby time to escape at the expense of one person and make an even scarier effect for anybody inside because of the scrabbling going on outside, of course, the cabinet COULD be empty.

Good Idea

[Locke]

That would be scary, the monster has to force the cabinet open, and it takes him a few seconds to do so, once it's been pried open, no one can hide in it unless they take time to close it, or maybe it just becomes broken and it can't be used to hide in again.

[Bl★ck Star]

Get those Scripters in here !

[Jazer]

I really like the delayed cabinet opening idea. It solves the issue as far as I can think, and it's practical because knowing a monster is about to open the cabinet while you are inside would just give a horrible feeling.

As far as a map goes, I am looking into it. I'm looking at castles from different regions and I find the best approach would be Spanish castle layout such as Resident Evil 4's castle because it suits the gameplay best with it's complexity and ergonomic design for living conditions (not just a castle built to withstand sieges, but an actual living space). Furthermore, I would like to take visual and architectural styles of castles from different regions, which is in some way what Resident Evil 4 did as well, since much of their stuff was Gothic architecture despite the layout being that of a Spanish type castle. The reason why I disfavor full Spanish architecture is because it doesn't suit the mood. The castles in Spain can often look like the Disney castles, with the circular high sloped roofs and what not.

A decent example is Windsor Castle in England that was first built for fortification, but it was later turned into residence for Queen Elizabeth II. I think the RE4 castle remains the best example so far.

[Ping-Pong]

Having read all of what the first post was, I support this fully, played both Penumbra and Amnesia now, I want this even more.

[Cutch]

Get those Scripters in here !

What scripters? The only scripter we have is SK and we all know how that'll end.