A Very Bad Place, Part Two

This week, I created the upper level of the very bad place that I wrote about in my previous post. Although the area that I am making is supposed to be a fortress, I continued to use the crypt tileset with excellent results. This tileset is wonderfully versatile, allowing modders to create sewers, castles, and, of course, crypts.

With the right placeables, lighting, and visual effects, I was able to set the kind of mood that should get players' internal alarm systems ringing like mad. This place is dangerous, no doubt about it.

Despite having poured a lot of my time in developing this area, I haven't finished it yet. There are still a few more rooms that I have to furnish and illuminate. I'm seriously thinking of creating custom paintings to hang on the walls. The ones that are in the toolset or at the Vault are too pretty to decorate a psychopath's castle.

Originally, I envisioned this area to be laden with combat encounters. It's supposed to be a fortress after all, so it should be teeming with soldiers. After taking screenshots of this area, however, I've been having second thoughts about this plan. I feel that I can raise the level of suspense by having fewer but deadlier combat encounters interspersed with lethal traps and puzzles. I'm sure I can get players' adrenalin pumping even more by imposing a narrow timeframe within which they have to accomplish their mission. I'm not decided on this matter, though. It's something for me to think about.



Comments

Wyrin said…
nice foreboding screenshots. And I like the idea of fewer deadlier encounters with other bits thrown in to spice it up
July 6, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Elf des coquillages said…
You know, the colors and lighting reminds me a bit of the planes of Oblivion and the insides of their towers. So yes, should be pretty tense (and all the more if you can complement the visuals with appropriate effects and music; or no music at all?).
July 8, 2008 at 6:03 AM
EC said…
Looks like a real house of horrors to me. Not sure I look forward to meeting the owner :)

Tile texture swapping is a great feature indeed.
July 9, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Frank Perez said…
I didn't have Oblivion in mind when I designed this area, but perhaps I should try to capture the fear and tension that Oblivion elicits in its players. The Oblivion experience nicely sums up the edginess that I'm trying to achieve here (minus the boredom of playing through scenarios that are similar to the last fifty or so).
July 12, 2008 at 3:15 AM
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