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🎮 Denoire Manor

from Archives by Vincent Rubinetti

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about

A 3d story puzzle game about the caretaker of a large country-side manor and its surrounding grounds, and his dream that takes him into the past to solve the problems of all of the manor's previous owners.

Here are some notes I had on the game, to paint a picture of the atmosphere the game intended to convey.

____________________

General

Denoire Manor 1645 - 1898

main character, Alton, is manor's caretaker
he has been the caretaker for 60 years

whole game is the caretaker's dream/fantasy

dynamic dialog - example:
the man in the mirror. if you go to him first during the day, then fix his problem at night, he will thank you for doing it. if you find him first during the night and fix his problem somehow without him telling you what the problem was and come back to him in the day, he will first ask if it was you who fixed the problem (he wouldn't know because he didn't tell you; you just fixed it without knowing somehow).

Gamplay

game play is largely talking to characters, and logical lateral thinking puzzles (like a mystery), with a small dungeon element, and a small action element

anything said by a character is recorded in a log for later reference. this eliminates the problem of talking two a character multiple times and them saying the same thing every time.

ghosts, characters

errie environments, visual effects, rain, sound effects, abstract characters and dialog

When the player goes out of boundaries or somehow kills the character, they reappear at the front door. After all, this is just Alton's dream. And the reason he has this dream is because he has the subconscious desire to resolve these issues. If the player goes far out into the forest, they will be turned around unknowingly so by walking further they will come back to the manor (on the same side they left from, or perhaps the opposite side).

Besides all the places in the manor, Alton can go inside the dreams or memories of the ghosts that inhabit the manor. For example, the composer ghost can take you back to a recital of one of his symphonies. Alton can move around the environment of the theater.

There is a grandfather clock in a big, elegant room on the second floor. This will allow Alton to "fast forward" through time.

Each day is a different season. Every four days the cycle repeats. There are clocks in some rooms that will tell you the time, and their hands move quickly. However, the player should mainly be able to tell the time of day (and perhaps the season) just by the lighting in the manor and outside (with color temperature and etc). The transitions between the seasons happen at night. For example, from Fall to Winter, snow gently starts falling at night and acculmulates for a full ground coating in the morning. It then snows in the late afternoon as well.

Any work done for each goal is saved automatically. If half of one goal is done when the player moves to another, that half progress is still saved.

Characters/Goals

pianist ghost appears every night at midnight to play
he misses playing his piano
plays Chopin's nocturnes, disappears when he's finished, or abruptly if someone sneaks in
you walk in to the library at midnight. the windows are open and the curtains are waving. candles
above the piano light the player's area. suddenly, he notices you. he turns his head around to see
you then immediately vanishes into a wisp of blueish smoke. the candles are extinguished

a writer
always speaks poetically.

man who drowned in the pond on a boat.

young girl who plays violin at day by the waterfall - birds, trees, flowers, butterflies

man searching for mathematical proof. has a secluded area with a pedestal for a statue, but does not yet know who the statue will be of.

man and woman living together. something wrong with their love. Alton helps them be together forever.

crazy scientist convinced aliens would land in a matter of days

Tertre Denoire, architect of Denoire Manor

Gabor De Mooij

Places/Locations

Manor floors 1,2, and basement
outside the manor
below the fountain

below the pond
behind the waterfall
inside the mirror in the steeple
minature Alton - in manor plumbing and underneath floorboards
in the sky/in the heavens/stars
fireplace?
inside the large tree by the lake

Specific Gameplay Elements

A special underground labyrinth beneath the fountain.

Mirror in steeple that transports to an ethereal location. Grassy meadow, beautiful blossoming flowers, butterflies, birds. Blurry, semi-slow motion movement. Similar to the open field inside the moon in LOZ: Majora's Mask. The mirror world only opens when the sun shines on it through the window on the ceiling, which is only during a certain part of the day. As a clue to this fact, the wall the mirror points at has a faint outline and sparkly pattern burned into it, suggesting that light reflects off the mirror at a certain time of day and something special happens. It also opens when the moon shines on it, for a night version of the parallel world. A man is trapped in the world. Getting him out involves doing things while he is asleep, however, time does not pass for the player inside the mirror ("time has no meaning here"). So to get to the trapped man during the night, the player must enter the mirror when the moon is shining on it. The man is being harassed by creatures in his sleep (during the night) and alton must get rid of them.

One of the characters, perhaps the mathmatician, must give the key to alton that opens the grandfather clock. "time is most mysterious.."

Perhaps a diary or a book that Alton can be stuck inside of.

Certain characters affect certain things in the manor, making things different for characters later on in time. For example, the man who drowned in the pond also caused a cave in of one of the passages in the basement. For all characters who lived after his time, that passage is blocked off. Since the player has much freedom in the order of the goals they pursue, it might be difficult for them to keep track of the dates and what has happened and what has yet to happen. A newspaper displaying the date will always be available in the entrance room. In one time, the player may leave a note or important item hidden inside a picture frame, to be recovered at a later date. There may be a certain box or corner in the manor where alton can put a piece of note to be recovered at any time, even the past.

Certain items can be used as item portals. For example, jumping into a large chest or walking into a grandfather clock will allow the player to transport to any other item portal.

Story

Alton wakes up to get ready for the day. The camera shows him as an old man, with a lot of history, in a suit. But when he looks in the mirror, a 20 year old version of himself in ragged clothes looks back. He then realizes he is now in Denoire Manor, in his old caretaker's room. Alton looks confused. He knows that the manor burned down ten years ago; he left to go on a vacation, and came back to a burning house. There is a white fade transition.

He is now in a small shack just ouside the gates of the manor. On a table lie 10 gate keys.

There are ten "goals" to accomplish. These goals are the unresolved conflicts of the people and things in the manor. They may be done in any order except for two that must come last, and one that must come before another. The last might possibly be finding out that he himself caused the fire (indirectly). Each time a goal is completed, there is another white fade transition to where Alton stands at the manor's front doors. There is an insignia above the door with another orb lit, signifying another completed task. Each of the ten goals involve ten different people from ten different times, meaning a change of furniture, clothing, and technology for the corresponding era. This means that before going inside the manor, the player must select which goal to pursue so the details can be set. This selection will be done somewhere around the gates to the Denoire Estate property, in a small shack.

END:

Scene of the manor burning.

Alton is driving to a business sale. It turns out the house he was assigned to was Denoire Manor. He drives up the driveway, and searches through the rubble and ash. He finds old pictures and memories. He finds a diary of one of the main people he helped in his dream/fantasy. It says that a spirit guided her and resolved her troubles. Alton smiles. He finds a statue of himself in a secluded area in the back woods. Camera shows a wide angle side view of him looking up at a mirror image of a stone him looking back. He finally finds the tombstone of Mr. and Mrs. Somerherss with a cross on it. Alton cries.

Music Used

Anitra's Dance
Ase's Death
Nocturnes

credits

from Archives, released May 12, 2020

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Vincent Rubinetti Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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