It’s been nearly 20 years since the first doors opened at Stauf Haunted House, revealing dark secrets, sinister riddles, and spooky inhabitants. Retro Gamer crosses the threshold again in search of a true story.
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From beautifully animated 3D mansions to groundbreaking videos, Trilobytes Puzzler introduces players to something new – creativity, imagination and CD-ROM to achieve.
“robbery [Landeros] And I really liked the old TV series Twin Peaks,” says co-creator Graeme Devine. “The Virgin Games we worked with had the rights to the board game Clue. So our first thought was to create a version of Clue with a Twin Peaks feel. We also liked the old movies House On Haunted Hill and The Haunting, so the idea slowly turned into a haunted house.”
The house became the home of the vicious toy maker Henry Stauf, who took the lives of several children via a strange virus. At the beginning of the game, players enter the mansion in search of ghosts roaming the halls that tell a tragic story and a mansion full of bizarre mysteries to solve.
“His initial name was Henry Steeple,” Graeme admits. I guess we just wanted to find a creepy angle. toy maker? scary… “
The Villa
Players have to solve an impressive array of logic puzzles, including word games, mazes, pie-cutting, classic board games like Reversi and Chess, and pattern cracking. But the real star of the show was the luxuriously moving mansion itself. From the stained glass windows in the entrance hall to the iconic staircase dominating the downstairs, every location was a stunning artistic feat and far from the usual block graphics. Time.
“Our original idea was to find the mansion, take the camera there, set it up on a tripod in the middle of the room, and then use it for a 360 degree scan,” explains Rob. “So we looked for the biggest house in Oregon, but none of the mansions had a 100-foot art gallery. They were very claustrophobic and didn’t work. Then one of our artists, Robert Stein, used 3D Studio to assemble the room and We animated it and made the furniture haunted. It was kind of a revelation at that point and we thought, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do this.'”
blue screen
Assembled cast members from Oregon’s thriving acting scene, the team captured the ghosts living in the house and set out to reveal Stauf’s creepy story. “We shot two days with SVHS. We actually shot it against a blue screen rather than a blue one. We broke it (one of the actors fell) and secured it with blue painter’s tape. All in all, the best way to shoot a ghost is No. It couldn’t be cleaned, so I left a halo around the actor and made it turn into a ‘ghost aura’,” he said.
A game befitting the size and ambitions of the 7th Guest required massive storage space and advanced multimedia features made possible by the introduction of CD-ROMs. “The timing was right,” Rob said. “The tool was there and we were one of the first people to use it. When we first started investigating, very few people had a CD-ROM drive in their computer. “I was thinking about working pixel-by-pixel and building graphics the old-fashioned way. The debate was how do I fill a CD-ROM, so how can I watch the video? That was the question. And we solved them.”
Graeme Divine
The game was released for Mac and PC in 1993 and has sold over 2 million copies. The game also gave birth to a sequel, The 11th Hour, and was ported to iOS in 2010. “We expected some success,” Graeme admits. We were overwhelmed by the response. Moving the real 3D that looked good. The puzzles were fun and the story was a bit silly, but it got my attention.
“More than anything else, it was a game to play with family members. It wasn’t fate. We’ve been writing to you that Scooby Doo is a spooky game you can sit down with your family, while a lot of people take turns playing with the mouse and most of the gameplay is spooky. Still, people seemed to be really afraid of playing alone in the dark.
This feature was first implemented in Retro Gamer 108. Subscribe to Retro Gamer Magazine More features like this here, delivered directly to your home.
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The making of The 7th Guest: “A lot of people thought what we were doing was impossible”
It’s been nearly twenty years since the doors of the haunted Stauf mansion were first opened, unveiling their dark secrets, fiendish puzzles, and ghostly inhabitants. Retro Gamer crosses the threshold once more in search of the real story.
From the beautifully animated 3D mansion to the groundbreaking videos of ghostly apparitions, Trilobyte’s puzzler introduced players to what could be achieved with ingenuity, imagination, and a new thing called a CD-ROM.
“Rob [Landeros] and I were really into the old TV show Twin Peaks,” says co-creator Graeme Devine, “and the company we worked for, Virgin Games, had the rights to the board game Clue. So our initial thinking was that we would make a version of Clue with a Twin Peaks feeling to it. We also loved the old movies House On Haunted Hill and The Haunting, so slowly the idea morphed into a haunted house.”
The house became the home of Henry Stauf, an evil toymaker whose creations claim the lives of several children through a strange virus. As the game begins, the player enters the mansion to find it populated with bizarre puzzles to solve, and ghosts roaming the halls playing out a tragic story.
“Initially his name was Henry Steeple,” Graeme admits, “Matthew Costello came up with Henry Stauf because he thought it was good to have his last name be an acronym of Faust. I think we just wanted to find the creepy angle. Toy maker? Creepy…”
The mansion
Players had to contend with an impressive array of logic puzzles involving wordplay, mazes, slicing up cakes, classic board games like reversi and chess, and deciphering patterns. But the real star of the show was the lusciously animated mansion itself. From the stained glass window in the entrance hall, to the iconic staircase that dominated the lower floor, every location was an impressive artistic feat and a world away from the typically blocky graphics of the time.
“Our original idea was to find a mansion, take a camera in there, set it up on a tripod in the middle of the room, then scan 360 degrees and use that,” explains Rob. “So we found the largest house in Oregon… but there were no mansions there that had 100ft art galleries. They were very claustrophobic and it didn’t work. Then one of our artists, Robert Stein, played with 3D Studio and put together a room, animated it, and had furniture floating around eerily. It was kind of a revelation at that point and we said ‘Yeah, we’re gonna do it that way’.”
Blue screen
Assembling a cast from Oregon’s thriving acting community, the team set about capturing the spectres that would inhabit the house and reveal the terrible story of Stauf. “We filmed for two days on SVHS,” says Graeme, “against a blue screen that wasn’t really blue and that we broke (one of the actors fell through it), then repaired with blue painting tape. All in all, that’s not the best way to film ghosts. We left the halo around the actors in place because we couldn’t clean it, and made it into a ‘ghostly aura’.”
A game of The 7th Guest’s size and ambition required huge amounts of storage and advanced multimedia capabilities, something made possible by the arrival of the CD-ROM. “It was timing,” states Rob. “That tool was there and we were one of the first to use it. Only a handful of people had CD-ROM drives in their computers when we first started looking into them. People were still thinking of doing things the old fashioned way, pixel by pixel, and building up graphics. The debate was how do you fill up a CD-ROM? And even if you did, how can you screen video? Those were the questions… and we solved them.”
Graeme Devine
The game was released on the Mac and PC in 1993 and sold over two million copies. The game also spawned a sequel The 11th Hour, and was ported to iOS in 2010. “We were expecting some success,” admits Graeme, “but we didn’t expect people to rush out and buy CD-ROM drives just so they could play a game. We were blown away by the reaction. Moving real 3D that looked nice. The puzzles were fun and the story, while a bit goofy, held your attention.
“More than that, it was a game you could sit down with as a family and play. It wasn’t Doom. There were a lot of people who wrote to us saying they took turns with the mouse to play the game, and while a lot of the game was spooky, it was Scooby Doo spooky, which you can sit through with a family. That said, people did seem to get really scared playing the game alone in the dark.’
This feature first ran in Retro Gamer 108. You can subscribe to Retro Gamer Magazine here and get more features just like this one delivered straight to your doorstep.
#making #7th #Guest #lot #people #thought #impossible
The making of The 7th Guest: “A lot of people thought what we were doing was impossible”
It’s been nearly twenty years since the doors of the haunted Stauf mansion were first opened, unveiling their dark secrets, fiendish puzzles, and ghostly inhabitants. Retro Gamer crosses the threshold once more in search of the real story.
From the beautifully animated 3D mansion to the groundbreaking videos of ghostly apparitions, Trilobyte’s puzzler introduced players to what could be achieved with ingenuity, imagination, and a new thing called a CD-ROM.
“Rob [Landeros] and I were really into the old TV show Twin Peaks,” says co-creator Graeme Devine, “and the company we worked for, Virgin Games, had the rights to the board game Clue. So our initial thinking was that we would make a version of Clue with a Twin Peaks feeling to it. We also loved the old movies House On Haunted Hill and The Haunting, so slowly the idea morphed into a haunted house.”
The house became the home of Henry Stauf, an evil toymaker whose creations claim the lives of several children through a strange virus. As the game begins, the player enters the mansion to find it populated with bizarre puzzles to solve, and ghosts roaming the halls playing out a tragic story.
“Initially his name was Henry Steeple,” Graeme admits, “Matthew Costello came up with Henry Stauf because he thought it was good to have his last name be an acronym of Faust. I think we just wanted to find the creepy angle. Toy maker? Creepy…”
The mansion
Players had to contend with an impressive array of logic puzzles involving wordplay, mazes, slicing up cakes, classic board games like reversi and chess, and deciphering patterns. But the real star of the show was the lusciously animated mansion itself. From the stained glass window in the entrance hall, to the iconic staircase that dominated the lower floor, every location was an impressive artistic feat and a world away from the typically blocky graphics of the time.
“Our original idea was to find a mansion, take a camera in there, set it up on a tripod in the middle of the room, then scan 360 degrees and use that,” explains Rob. “So we found the largest house in Oregon… but there were no mansions there that had 100ft art galleries. They were very claustrophobic and it didn’t work. Then one of our artists, Robert Stein, played with 3D Studio and put together a room, animated it, and had furniture floating around eerily. It was kind of a revelation at that point and we said ‘Yeah, we’re gonna do it that way’.”
Blue screen
Assembling a cast from Oregon’s thriving acting community, the team set about capturing the spectres that would inhabit the house and reveal the terrible story of Stauf. “We filmed for two days on SVHS,” says Graeme, “against a blue screen that wasn’t really blue and that we broke (one of the actors fell through it), then repaired with blue painting tape. All in all, that’s not the best way to film ghosts. We left the halo around the actors in place because we couldn’t clean it, and made it into a ‘ghostly aura’.”
A game of The 7th Guest’s size and ambition required huge amounts of storage and advanced multimedia capabilities, something made possible by the arrival of the CD-ROM. “It was timing,” states Rob. “That tool was there and we were one of the first to use it. Only a handful of people had CD-ROM drives in their computers when we first started looking into them. People were still thinking of doing things the old fashioned way, pixel by pixel, and building up graphics. The debate was how do you fill up a CD-ROM? And even if you did, how can you screen video? Those were the questions… and we solved them.”
Graeme Devine
The game was released on the Mac and PC in 1993 and sold over two million copies. The game also spawned a sequel The 11th Hour, and was ported to iOS in 2010. “We were expecting some success,” admits Graeme, “but we didn’t expect people to rush out and buy CD-ROM drives just so they could play a game. We were blown away by the reaction. Moving real 3D that looked nice. The puzzles were fun and the story, while a bit goofy, held your attention.
“More than that, it was a game you could sit down with as a family and play. It wasn’t Doom. There were a lot of people who wrote to us saying they took turns with the mouse to play the game, and while a lot of the game was spooky, it was Scooby Doo spooky, which you can sit through with a family. That said, people did seem to get really scared playing the game alone in the dark.’
This feature first ran in Retro Gamer 108. You can subscribe to Retro Gamer Magazine here and get more features just like this one delivered straight to your doorstep.
#making #7th #Guest #lot #people #thought #impossible
Synthetic: Vik News
