A Vampyre Story
Encyclopedia
A Vampyre Story is a 2008 point-and-click
adventure game
developed by Autumn Moon Entertainment
for Windows
, published by Crimson Cow. The game is set in Europe
during the 1890s, and follows a young female opera
singer turned vampire
as she attempts to make the journey back home to Paris
in search of fame and normality. The title's distinctive spelling of vampire with a y was derived from the seminal western vampire tale The Vampyre
by John Polidori
.
, Froderick the bat.
The game is divided into two main areas: Castle Warg—the home of her kidnapper, Shrowdy von Kieffer, and his mother, the Baroness Vasilia von Kieffer, - and the town of Vlad's Landing. The cliffhanger ending suggests an upcoming sequel, which has since been announced: 'A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat's Tale'.
developers, and is similar to some of their previous games (such as The Curse of Monkey Island
or The Dig
) in presentation and style. As such, the game uses a point-and-click
interface with a context-sensitive
radial cursor
, much the same as Monkey Island: upon clicking an interactive item, a graphic menu will appear around the object, displaying the available actions and abilities. As the game progresses, Mona will gradually learn how to use her new supernatural abilities. Consequently, her newfound powers and weaknesses will play a large role in the game's puzzles, requiring Mona to use her abilities to overcome certain challenges and progress through the game.
2006, but the loss of publisher backing in April 2005 left the game in unpaid preproduction for the following year. During this time Bill Tiller, Autumn Moon's founder and creative director, generally worked with no more than one or two other people on staff at any one time. This helped to reduce the cost of production while the project was still unfunded. In early July 2006 however, Autumn Moon announced that they had finally acquired a new publisher for A Vampyre Story, the Hamburg
-based Crimson Cow, and that full production on the game would begin shortly thereafter, stating an expected 2007 release. In September 2007 however, the first trailer for A Vampyre Story was released, specifying a new date of early 2008. While Autumn Moon has mentioned their interest in the Nintendo DS
and Wii
as potential release platforms, no official announcements have yet been made.
, featuring soprano vocals by Carla Isabel Moniz and violin solos by Carlos Freitas. The soundtrack was released as an extra to the collector's edition of the game. According to an article in Develop Magazine
, and an interview in The Pumpkin Post, John Williams’ work on the Harry Potter film series and Michael Land's work on the Monkey Island (series) were Camacho's main influences.
Several websites mentioned the soundtrack as one of the game's best features and described it as 'absolutely fantastic', 'memorable and melancholy', 'great', and 'ingenious'.
decided to create a sequel. The next episode of the franchise will continue the action right after the events of A Vampyre Story. It is currently unknown when the next chapter will be released.
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
developed by Autumn Moon Entertainment
Autumn Moon Entertainment
Autumn Moon Entertainment is a computer game developer founded in 2002 by former LucasArts employee Bill Tiller. They have released two games to date: A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island , with a third, A Vampyre Story 2, still in development.-Company strategy:Autumn Moon...
for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, published by Crimson Cow. The game is set in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the 1890s, and follows a young female opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer turned vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
as she attempts to make the journey back home to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in search of fame and normality. The title's distinctive spelling of vampire with a y was derived from the seminal western vampire tale The Vampyre
The Vampyre
"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...
by John Polidori
John Polidori
John William Polidori was an English writer and physician of Italian descent. He is known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. His most successful work was the 1819 short story, The Vampyre, the first vampire...
.
Synopsis
Mona De Lafitte, the game's protagonist, is a young and talented Parisian opera student who becomes the object of obsession for a rather pathetic vampire. As a result, Mona is swiftly kidnapped and taken to his castle in Draxsylvania, where she is turned into an undead vampire. Mona must find a way to return home and fulfill her dream of becoming a famous opera singer, while also dealing with the unfamiliar problems inherent in her new condition. Mona is not alone throughout the adventure however, but is followed by her newly acquired and sarcastic sidekickSidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
, Froderick the bat.
The game is divided into two main areas: Castle Warg—the home of her kidnapper, Shrowdy von Kieffer, and his mother, the Baroness Vasilia von Kieffer, - and the town of Vlad's Landing. The cliffhanger ending suggests an upcoming sequel, which has since been announced: 'A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat's Tale'.
Gameplay
A Vampyre Story was created by a number of former LucasArts adventure gameLucasArts adventure games
From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, LucasArts was well known for their point-and-click graphic adventure games, nearly all of which received high scoring reviews at the time of their release. Their style tended towards the humorous, often irreverent or slapstick humour, with a few exceptions...
developers, and is similar to some of their previous games (such as The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the Monkey Island series. It was released in and followed the successful games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge...
or The Dig
The Dig
The Dig is a graphical adventure game developed by LucasArts and released in 1995, and a game based on an idea for an Amazing Stories episode by Steven Spielberg...
) in presentation and style. As such, the game uses a point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface with a context-sensitive
Context-sensitive
Context-sensitive is an adjective meaning "depending on context" or "depending on circumstances". It may refer to:* Context-sensitive grammar* Context-sensitive language* Context-sensitive help* Context sensitive user interface in computing...
radial cursor
Pie menu
In computer interface design, a pie menu is a circular context menu where selection depends on direction. A pie menu is made of several "pie slices" around an inactive center and works best with stylus input, and well with a mouse...
, much the same as Monkey Island: upon clicking an interactive item, a graphic menu will appear around the object, displaying the available actions and abilities. As the game progresses, Mona will gradually learn how to use her new supernatural abilities. Consequently, her newfound powers and weaknesses will play a large role in the game's puzzles, requiring Mona to use her abilities to overcome certain challenges and progress through the game.
Development
A Vampyre Story was first announced in the June 2004 issue of The Inventory, an online adventure gaming magazine, as the winner of their "Most-Awaited Adventure Game" award. The game was originally given a tentative release date of HalloweenHalloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
2006, but the loss of publisher backing in April 2005 left the game in unpaid preproduction for the following year. During this time Bill Tiller, Autumn Moon's founder and creative director, generally worked with no more than one or two other people on staff at any one time. This helped to reduce the cost of production while the project was still unfunded. In early July 2006 however, Autumn Moon announced that they had finally acquired a new publisher for A Vampyre Story, the Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-based Crimson Cow, and that full production on the game would begin shortly thereafter, stating an expected 2007 release. In September 2007 however, the first trailer for A Vampyre Story was released, specifying a new date of early 2008. While Autumn Moon has mentioned their interest in the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
as potential release platforms, no official announcements have yet been made.
Audio
The A Vampyre Story Original Soundtrack was composed and produced by Pedro Macedo CamachoPedro Camacho
Pedro Macedo Camacho, born September 4, 1979, in the city of Funchal, Portugal, is an award-winning film and video game composer.-Biography:Pedro Macedo Camacho started learning composition with Argentinean composer Roberto Pérez in his home city's Conservatoire and Arts School.After three years,...
, featuring soprano vocals by Carla Isabel Moniz and violin solos by Carlos Freitas. The soundtrack was released as an extra to the collector's edition of the game. According to an article in Develop Magazine
Develop (magazine)
Develop is a monthly trade magazine for the video games industry. Based in Hertford, Hertfordshire, the magazine allows participation by anyone working in the video game industry. Develop is the only European-based website and print magazine aimed exclusively at the development community...
, and an interview in The Pumpkin Post, John Williams’ work on the Harry Potter film series and Michael Land's work on the Monkey Island (series) were Camacho's main influences.
Several websites mentioned the soundtrack as one of the game's best features and described it as 'absolutely fantastic', 'memorable and melancholy', 'great', and 'ingenious'.
Sequel
Even before the game's release, Autumn Moon EntertainmentAutumn Moon Entertainment
Autumn Moon Entertainment is a computer game developer founded in 2002 by former LucasArts employee Bill Tiller. They have released two games to date: A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island , with a third, A Vampyre Story 2, still in development.-Company strategy:Autumn Moon...
decided to create a sequel. The next episode of the franchise will continue the action right after the events of A Vampyre Story. It is currently unknown when the next chapter will be released.
External links
- A Vampyre Story
' s official website - A just-before-release interview about A Vampyre Story and the forthcoming A Vampyre Story 2 at Adventure Classic Gaming
- Interview with Bill Tiller about the game at The International House of Mojo
- Another interview with Bill Tiller about the game at HonestGamers
- A Vampyre Story preview at La Isla del Mono (Spanish)