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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Blog RSS Feed Report abuse Latest News: Live performance project by thechineseroom

6 comments by chineseroom on Nov 20th, 2009 digg this super bookmark


The Second Death of Caspar Helendale by Jessica Curry and Dan Pinchbeck has been selected by The Royal Opera House and will be performed live at the Linbury Studio Theatre as part of the Firsts 09 season, "showcasing some of the most talented and genre-defying artists in the UK today."

The performances will be taking place simultaneously at the ROH and in Second Life on
27th and 28th November at 9.15pm GMT / 1.15pm PST
The Second Life avatar Caspar Helendale invites you to attend his death; a funeral service held simultaneously in the real and virtual worlds. He has been exploring mortality since he was first created, and in his last twenty minutes of existence he will share his thoughts with collected mourners. He will be accompanied by his widow-to-be, Trixiebelle Landar, whose requiem will be performed live and streamed back into the virtual world over the course of the service. Via live onstage musicians and a giant projection screen, the theatre audience will join Second Life residents to reflect and mourn, as the real and virtual worlds collide at the point where Caspar's light is forever extinguished.

If you cannot attend in first life then we would be delighted if you and your avatar would join us in Second Life for the duration of the performance. Teleport to Slurl.com, on the night, or to book a place, please email, or IM either Dan (dan.pinchbeck@port.ac.uk) or Jessica (jessica@jessicacurry.co.uk) beforehand.

If you want to attend the event in London, tickets are only £5 and are available from the Royal Opera House - Roh.org.uk

And to the Gods I tell you this: we shall outlast you all...

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Dear Esther v1.1 (fixed)

Dear Esther v1.1 (fixed)

Jan 22, 2009 Full Version 37 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 441)
Vcc2cc
Vcc2cc 20hours 3mins ago says:

Im a bit confused. I downloaded the mod after seeing the pics and... it looks nothing like the pics displayed on the front page.

Upon looking at older pics I began to see what I had played. Im guessing the mod is being updates with custom content to look a bit (like stalker to me) better?

I hope I'm right. I hope that this mod releases a better texture quality version. I wasn't too impressed by the level design but being pretty simple it gave me that older HL2 mod charm that didn't have much to go on, but still provided a good game experience (like riot act, and now, Dear Ester).

The only suggestion I have is to make the narrating voice a bit louder. I kept haviing to turn up my volume to hear him speak, then back down again cuz the foot steps were too loud lol.

+1 vote     reply to comment
m82sniper
m82sniper 4hours 3mins ago replied: Online

A new team (or person) is remaking the mod, to what you see in the screenshots section.

+1 vote     reply to comment
chineseroom
chineseroom Nov 17 2009, 1:36am says:

hi all,

feature on us in edge-online: Edge-online.com

+1 vote     reply to comment
TheScorpion
TheScorpion Nov 12 2009, 2:15am says:

The new mod update is ten times more beauty then previous release!

The old one was too bright - but this I nearly fall inlove lol!!

I hope to hear same person describing/reading the story line.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Ekonk
Ekonk Nov 12 2009, 4:12pm replied:

Yeah. From what I gather, it will be exactly the same on the areas of voice acting and script, which is great, because both of the two couldn't be better.

Graphically however, it could get A LOT better, as these screenshots show. Perfect graphics + perfect voice acting + perfect script = MASTERPIECE.

Can't wait.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Ekonk
Ekonk Nov 12 2009, 1:25am says:

Dear Lord, can anyone give an approximate time of waiting for the remake, because I wanna mark the date on my calender and count down to that glorious day.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Zlandael
Zlandael Nov 11 2009, 6:43pm says: Online

I'm so curious to the final release of this mod. I might actually like it. But now, it's up to my computer specifications...:p

+1 vote     reply to comment
kfhammond
kfhammond Nov 11 2009, 3:34am says:

I played the game today, and I was deeply drawn in by the story and concept, but I was dissapointed with the typical HL2 world looks. I just saw the more recent update... OH MY GOD IT LOOKS GORGEOUS.

+1 vote     reply to comment
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.

-2 votes     reply to comment
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chineseroom
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Released Jun 19, 2008
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