Dear Esther is part of a research project, creating experimental game mods, based at the University of Portsmouth, UK. The aim was to use Source to create something radically different from normal: an interactive story that dispensed with traditional gameplay and focused instead on an open-ended, semi-random narrative.

More information about the mod and its aims, and the overall project can be found on the website. Also look out for two more mods coming soon: Conscientious Objector (Doom 3) and Antlion Soccer (Half Life 2 Deathmatch)

Thanks for looking - any feedback would be fantastic.

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Dear Esther Remake - update 25/10/2009 Dear Esther Remake - update 25/10/2009 Dear Esther Remake - update 25/10/2009
Blog RSS Feed Report abuse Latest News: ModDB Halloween Extravaganza!

32 comments by Henley on Oct 31st, 2009 digg this super bookmark


Ghosts, Zombies, Vampires and other monster boggiewoggies. Halloween is a great time to get into the scarier movies and games to give yourself a good fright. Last year on ModDB I created a video for the top ten voted spooky mods by our community, it had some interesting results to say the least with the popular but not always scary mods took the cherry. This year we will do something a little different, I have compiled a list of singleplayer mods (because we all know being alone in the dark really sets the mood) for different engines that you should check out if you want to get your spook on.

Mistake -1 (Half-Life)

Mistake -1 is the prequel to 'Mistake' and tells the story of Steve Rick, a patient from the Andrew Parker asylum, who harbors a dark secret. A very spooky mod that uses the Goldsource engine very well. Creepy lighting and visual map changes creates something very unique and exciting.


Hollow Moon (Unreal Tournament 2004)

You arrive to the moon research station to work as heavy machinery engineer. From now on you are on your own. Created as more of an experiment for different means of showing audio-visual styles Hollow Moon boasts no environmental sounds, but what is produced is a thick atmosphere that few games or mods can come close too.


Paranoia (Half-Life)

You will play the role of a Russian officer of the secret service. Your first impressions are that this mission will be just like any other, but you really have no idea what nightmares future events have in store for you. Paranoia is one of the very best mods to come out of Half-Life for both engine expansion and content. A must download!


Curse Episodes (Half-Life 2)

Curse episodes is an Egyptian themed action/horror/puzzle/exploration FPS where the further you creep into the world of Curse the harder and more frightening the entire experience gets, its up to you how you want to play. A very unique and very amazing mod worthy of your attention and bandwidth!


Dear Esther (Half-Life 2)

A deserted island... a lost man... memories of a fatal crash... a book written by a dying explorer. Dear Esther is a ghost story told using first-person gaming technologies. If you want a very spooky interactive ghost story Dear Esther should be the mod for you, highly recommended by all the staff here on ModDB.


There are hundreds more mods and games out there that will help create a fantastic Halloween experience for you all, these are just some of the truly stand out mods that deserve to be the major source of your ghostly ahhs and eeiies. Hope you have a very frighting Halloween!

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Dear Esther v1.1 (fixed)

Dear Esther v1.1 (fixed)

Jan 22, 2009 Full Version 36 comments

Updated Dear Esther with fixed link to level 4. This fully replaces v1.0, please delete that and unzip this into your SourceMods folder

Dear Esther - Soundtrack

Dear Esther - Soundtrack

Jul 11, 2008 Music 17 comments

Jessica Curry's soundtrack for Dear Esther: 8 tracks as MPEG4s.

Dear Esther script

Dear Esther script

Jun 30, 2008 Guides 14 comments

This pdf contains the script for the interactive story Dear Esther, as requested...

Dear Esther.zip

Dear Esther.zip

Jun 27, 2008 Full Version 12 comments

Zip file for the Dear Esther mod. Unpack it into your source mods folder, restart Steam and it will show in the games list.

Comments  (0 - 10 of 432)
Zickleinmorder
Zickleinmorder Nov 4 2009, 12:07am says:

This is an absolutely brilliant piece of work. Atmospheric, and the narration and music beautiful. Honestly I don't think this "game" could be any better.

+1 vote     reply to comment
PieceOfThePuzzle
PieceOfThePuzzle Nov 1 2009, 4:44pm says:

Fantastic voice acting and music. But where is the gameplay? I found myself bunny-hopping along a more or less fixed path through a non-interactive map.

+1 vote     reply to comment
manzermias
manzermias Oct 25 2009, 4:39pm says:

I demand a reasonable explanation of the storyline.

I've came up with countless theories, but I'd want something to confirm them.

In my opinion, if you plan on releasing -art games- as such, one author should at least have the decency to spare us the countless sleepless nights analysing and coming up with the conclusions!

0 votes     reply to comment
chineseroom
chineseroom Oct 29 2009, 8:07am replied:

Ah, but there is no definitive explanation, that's kind of the point. There are a couple of 'most likely' readings as far as I'm concerned, but I think any explanation is OK...

+2 votes     reply to comment
Repzik
Repzik Oct 29 2009, 8:31pm replied:

What I love about Dear Esther is that the story is whatever you make it. You interpret what is going on, who is who, etc. I love exploring the narrator's mind, listening to his words and turning them over and over, trying to discover the meaning.

This is why I gave Dear Esther a 10 before I even realized the map was being remade. The voice acting and writing alone is just THAT good. Which I believe Dan did both of them... so good job!

+1 vote     reply to comment
chineseroom
chineseroom Nov 3 2009, 7:27am replied:

I wrote it, but credit to the voice acting belongs to Nigel Carrington, you plays the prison governor on the ferry in The Dark Knight, trivia fans...

+1 vote     reply to comment
FootBallHead
FootBallHead Oct 31 2009, 9:11am replied:

I tried to explain this mod to my brother... with little success. I wanted to tell him about the story line without my own interpretations added in so that he would play, but it was so hard! I think I eventually gave up.

Everything is so beautifully crafted. That the music, graphics and gameplay, and storyline just tie it all together to make one hell of a mod. I enjoy listening to the soundtrack and have been trying to play them on the piano by ear.

By the way, congratulations on making on the Halloween Extravaganza list!

+1 vote     reply to comment
1PlayerD
1PlayerD Oct 20 2009, 4:26pm says:

This is a masterpeice

+1 vote     reply to comment
ben_andrews
ben_andrews Oct 17 2009, 4:27am says:

Hey guys, check out the latest issue of Wired UK magazine for an article on Dan, Rob and Dear Esther plus a little bit of my DE artwork. Its on page 57

Enjoy!

www.ben-andrews.deviantart.com/

+1 vote     reply to comment
jarethenator
jarethenator Oct 12 2009, 4:48pm says: +1 vote     reply to comment
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chineseroom
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Released Jun 19, 2008
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