Development Diary 9 - Back From The Dead (again) news - Year Zero mod for Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Hello everyone!

It has been a long, long time again. Yet again, here I am.

The last year of time has been incredibly rough for me in many ways, and I simply did not have time for Amnesia. However, the dust has begun to settle and things are looking clear - I am back in Amnesia again!

I have been working on the mod for a couple of weeks now. I was not hesitant to write an diary here immediately, but instead, I made sure I know exactly the point where I am at the moment and that I have clear plans for the future. And that is what I have done.

Progress

There has been a great amount of overall progress. Couple of maps have been finished, some puzzles have been completely scripted to the end and the overall picture is starting to be clear.

The major puzzle in the midway of the mod is now almost completed. The most time consuming area for both the developer and the player, this serves as the "main" puzzle of the mod. That is now only missing some final touches, and after that is done, I can move into developing the ending maps and areas.

The first "chapter" has also seen the birth of two new maps. Living Quarters and Archives are now a thing, and I've made great progress for both of the maps already. As a sidenote, there is a possibility of a third new map aswell, as well as two new maps for the Underground Section. Whether or not I decide to need them, I'll make them if needed.

Personal goals with the mod

As I still lack the personal magnum opus, I am trying accomplish that with Year Zero. The two full mods I have released in the past do not satisfy me other than with nostalgic bias. Hence, Year Zero should then become the magnum opus of mine.

The mod itself will be a vanilla asset mod, as can be seen from the screenshots. This is completely opposite when compared to my early mod-on-works, Conquest of Life. This was the intent with Year Zero - to see what I can do with the base assets.

Year Zero will offer complicated (but not frustatingly complicated) puzzles, nonlinearity, storyline with many side stories, psychological horror and gameplay made to follow common logic and sense. An example of this: Why would an abandoned area have lights on, when no one has been there for months?

Confirmed: What will be scrapped, and what won't?

I figured out that if I was to implement all the features I have announced, the gameplay itself would be far too flooded with things not related to the story itself. A couple of sidequests are fine, along with other small gimmicks - but the biggest of them all which I have implemented, is now scrapped.

The Ghost feature will not be coming to the mod. This straightforwardly correlates with what I said earlier - after all, I want the story be the main focus. However, I might make an "Amnesia-Phasmophobia" mod in the future, after Year Zero. Along with that being a factor, another thing was the tremendous amount of extra work that would have required.

However, the rest will still be there. Achievements, Quincey Mansion Lore books and Gameplay Crosses will be there. You can read about these from the articles prior to this one.

Release Dates?

Despite the great progress, I simply can not provide a release date for the mod. I do not want to give me unnecessary pressure by setting deadlines I am not able to follow. I'll enjoy the modding process, and when I am at the correct point, I'll announce the release date.

That is all for this time, what a wall of text. Anyways, I hope there are still people excited for this mod! Stay hyped!