A Vampyre Story

A Vampyre Story
Developer(s)Autumn Moon Entertainment
Publisher(s)Crimson Cow
The Adventure Company
Jordan Freeman Group
Designer(s)Bill Tiller
Dave Harris
Composer(s)Pedro Macedo Camacho
EnginePanda3D
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X[1]
Release
  • EU: November 21, 2008
  • NA: December 2, 2008
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

A Vampyre Story is a 2008 point-and-click adventure game developed by Autumn Moon Entertainment for Windows and 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.[2]

Gameplay

A Vampyre Story was created by a number of former LucasArts adventure game developers, and is similar to some of their previous games (such as The Curse of Monkey Island or The Dig) in presentation and style.[3][4] As such, the game uses a point-and-click interface with a context-sensitive radial cursor, much the same as Monkey Island:[5] 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.[4]

Plot

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.[2] Mona is not alone throughout the adventure however, but is followed by her newly acquired and sarcastic sidekick, 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.

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.[5] The game was originally given a tentative release date of Halloween 2006, but the loss of publisher backing in April 2005 left the game in unpaid preproduction for the following year.[6] 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.[2] 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.[7] 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,[3] these were later cancelled.

A "Super Digital Deluxe Edition" was released by Jordan Freeman Group on ZOOM-Platform.com on March 31, 2023. In addition to the game, a number of bonus content items, such as concept art and behind the scenes photos, are included. The game would also be re-released via Steam on July 30, 2023.[8]

Audio

The A Vampyre Story Original Soundtrack was composed and produced by Pedro Macedo Camacho,[9] 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,[10] and an interview in The Pumpkin Post,[11] 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',[12] 'memorable and melancholy',[13] 'great',[14] and 'ingenious'.[15]

A Vampyre Story Original Soundtrack
No.TitleComposerLength
1."Mona's Tragedy" (soprano vocals by Carla Isabel Moniz)Pedro Macedo Camacho2:11
2."Home Sweet Home" (violin solo by Carlos Freitas)Pedro Macedo Camacho2:05
3."Adventures in the Dark"Pedro Macedo Camacho2:58
4."Mister Froderick"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:38
5."I Remember Paris"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:42
6."Memories"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:52
7."Where is Pyewacket" (violin solo by Carlos Freitas)Pedro Macedo Camacho1:25
8."The Ghost Apparition"Pedro Macedo Camacho2:49
9."It Came from a Dessert"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:29
10."The Bear, the Vampire and the Fireplace"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:51
11."The Arrival"Pedro Macedo Camacho2:19
12."Cursum Perficio"Pedro Macedo Camacho3:36
13."The Autumn Moon and the Gravie Tree"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:38
14."Jazzing with Ghosts"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:27
15."A Vampyre's Meal"Pedro Macedo Camacho2:05
16."Edgar's Waltz"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:42
17."Misty World of Madame Strigoi"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:51
18."Here comes Shrowdy"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:10
19."Streets of Draxilvania"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:30
20."Books and Candles"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:38
21."Ice Ice Baby in a Hole"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:13
22."Can't someone help me?"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:46
23."Rufus Theme"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:42
24."The Unknown"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:31
25."I Smell Voodoo in the Air"Pedro Macedo Camacho2:34
26."March of the Dead Monkey"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:58
27."The Lake Fog"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:53
28."I See Undead People"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:55
29."Shrowdy was Here"Pedro Macedo Camacho2:22
30."Vamprock"Pedro Macedo Camacho1:52
31."End of Chapter 1"Pedro Macedo Camacho4:01
Total length:61:57

Reception

A Vampyre Story was commercially unsuccessful. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2013 that it "sold between 30,000 and 35,000 copies, well short of the expectations to move 80,000 units."[16]

Sequel and prequel

A Vampyre Story was intended as the opening chapter of a larger saga, and Autumn Moon Entertainment commenced production on the sequel prior to the game's release. A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat's Tale was described as picking up directly after the events of A Vampyre Story, which ended with a cliffhanger. Originally slated for a release in 2009 or 2010 - a much quicker turnaround than the first installment - the sequel's development has been indefinitely stalled due to budgetary contentions between Autumn Moon and the game's publisher, Crimson Cow Games.

With the publishing rights to the sequel owned by Crimson Cow, Autumn Moon decided to work independently on an episodic prequel called A Vampyre Story: Year One. The series will depict Mona's first year of captivity in Castle Warg, including her introduction to Froderick the bat. Bill Tiller initially announced the project in 2010, stating that he was working on the game in his free time. He later considered collaborating with MunkyFun, where he was at the time working as the studio's art director and which had previously been commissioned to assist in the building of Autumn Moon's graphic adventure engine.

Ultimately, Tiller announced that he would attempt to get the game funded via Kickstarter, and launched the project on June 1, 2013. Though the campaign proved unsuccessful, Tiller and a skeleton crew from the previous Autumn Moon games decided to keep the project going. The effort to convert the Autumn Moon engine to Unity led to Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler!

See also

References

  1. ^ "Apple Store Search Results". www.apple.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Tiller, Bill (2006-07-04). "Adventure Advocate - Interview with Bill Tiller - A Vampyre Story". Adventure Advocate (Interview). Interviewed by Ellesar; Fallen_Angel; qrious. Archived from the original on 12 July 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
  3. ^ a b Tiller, Bill (2006-11-06). "A Vampyre Story on Wii & DS? AME Games Tells All!". Cubed³ (Interview). Interviewed by Adam Riley; Mike Mason. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  4. ^ a b Tiller, Bill (2006-07-11). "Interview with Bill Tiller". working-title (Interview). Interviewed by Fabian Walden. Retrieved 2006-10-28.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b Manos, Dimitris (June 2004). "Top 10 Upcoming Adventures". The Inventory (16): 28–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  6. ^ Autumn Moon Entertainment (2005). "Autumn Moon and Bad Brain Part Ways". Just Adventure+. Archived from the original on 2006-03-17. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  7. ^ "Crimson Cow and Autumn Moon Entertainment sign worldwide publishing deal" (Press release). Autumn Moon Entertainment. July 2006. Archived from the original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  8. ^ "A Vampyre Story: Revamped and Re-released on Steam". Adventure Gamers. August 2, 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  9. ^ "A Vampyre Story (Collector's Edition)". Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  10. ^ Broomhall, John (November 2008). "Heard About A Vampyre Story". Develop Magazine. No. 59. p. 57.
  11. ^ Mekes, Jan Jacob. "Q&A: Pedro Macedo Camacho". Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  12. ^ Dickens, Evan (20 December 2008). "Adventure Gamers review: A Vampyre Story". Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  13. ^ Jason. "International House of Mojo review: A Vampyre Story". Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  14. ^ Todd, Brett. "GameSpot review: A Vampyre Story". Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  15. ^ Grimm, Matthias (20 November 2008). "Vorsicht bissig! Das Vampir-Abenteuer der Monkey Island-Macher". Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  16. ^ Martens, Todd (June 21, 2013). "LucasArts vet turns to Kickstarter to revive a 'Vampyre Story'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2013.