''Vespers'' is an

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

game written in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

by Jason Devlin that placed first at the 2005

Interactive Fiction Competition The Interactive Fiction Competition (also known as IFComp) is one of several annual competitions for works of interactive fiction. It has been held since 1995. It is intended for fairly short games, as judges are only allowed to spend two hours pl ...

. It also won the

XYZZY Award The XYZZY Awards are the annual awards given to works of interactive fiction, serving a similar role to the Academy Awards for film. The awards were inaugurated in 1997 by Eileen Mullin, the editor of ''XYZZYnews''. Any game released during the yea ...

s for Best Game, Best NPCs, Best Setting, and Best Writing.

Summary

Set in a 15th-century

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, it is chiefly a horror-themed

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

ity game, where the player takes moral decisions, which then affect the ending. However, whilst playing the game, it isn't obvious that these are moral dilemmas, and the game actively encourages the player to take the

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

path.

Awards

Vespers has won the following awards: *1st place, rec.arts.int-fiction competition 2005 *Finalist, Best Individual PC, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Winner, Best NPCs, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Winner, Best Setting, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Winner, Best Writing, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Winner, Best Game, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Finalist, Best Individual NPC, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Finalist, Best Puzzles, Xyzzy Awards 2005 *Finalist, Best Story, Xyzzy Awards 2005

Remake

Vespers3D is an in-progress

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the game created using the

Torque Game Engine Torque Game Engine, or TGE, is an open-source cross-platform 3D computer game engine, developed by GarageGames and actively maintained under the current versions Torque 3D as well as Torque 2D. It was originally developed by Dynamix for the 2001 ...

. The written text interface is being carried over from the original but the remake team are adding 3D animated graphics, voice acting and music. Vespers3D: Living the Adventure
, Blog post from Orange River Studio. URL last accessed 2007-09-29.

References

External links

Baf's Guide entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vespers (Video Game) 2000s interactive fiction 2005 video games Video games set in the 15th century