Vampires Dawn
Vampires Dawn [ væmpaɪə (ɹ) for ˌdɔːn ] (. Engl dawn of the Vampires ) is a three-part, German-speaking Freeware - RPG series by Alexander, Marlex 'cooking. The fantasy game series is very popular in the RPG scene because of its great complexity and precise editing. Among other things, the series can look back on publications in various video game magazines and the presentation on the television program GIGA Games as well as numerous awards from the RPG scene. There are now several follow-up games, but their content is not directly related to the two Vampires Dawn episodes. In addition, the two original games Reign of Blood and Ancient Blood in the form of a novel by Cairiel Ari were published by Weltenschmiede Verlag .
development
Both Vampires Dawn episodes were created in 2001 and 2005 with the RPG Maker . The first part is subtitled Reign of Blood ("Rule of Blood"). The successor, Ancient Blood, follows on from the predecessor, but is much more elaborate.
On August 28, 2007, an official story called Vampires Dawn: Deceit of Heretics appeared for mobile phones. This project has been available for PC on the website for registered members since the end of October 2010 and was managed by Dawnatic Games , to which the author of the first two parts also belonged. Vampires Dawn: Deceit of Heretics works on Windows , Mac OS, and Linux . It is also the first game in the series to be released in English as well as German.
Dawnatic Games released another mobile game in 2009 called Vampires Dawn: Battle Towers . This is not another role-playing game, but a tower defense game in which you have to fight off vampire armies together with Vincent Weynard. The game was released in German, English, Italian, French and Spanish.
Alexander Koch stopped all work on Vampires Dawn in January 2010 for professional reasons. He also announced that despite the popularity of the series, there will definitely be no sequel. Shortly afterwards, the project was taken over by Brian 'Brianum' Saydak, who had announced a relaunch of the Vampires Dawn website and the associated forum . This was completed in August 2010. The newly built website also included a browser game .
In December 2011, a port of both Vampires Dawn parts based on Wine for Mac OS was published; this was updated in 2017 to fix compatibility problems.
Vampires Dawn title
Vampires Dawn: Reign of Blood
| Vampires Dawn: Reign of Blood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title picture of the first part | |
| Studio | Alexander 'Marlex' cook |
| Senior Developer | Alexander 'Marlex' cook |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
2001 |
| platform | Windows , Mac OS X |
| Game engine | RPG Maker 2000 |
| genre | Computer role playing game |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | keyboard |
| medium | Download |
| language | German English |
| Current version | 1.31 |
| information | www.vampiresdawn.org |
The player is put into the role of Valnar, a human who is transformed into one by the vampire Asgar shortly after the game begins . The involuntary hero, who does not want to assume his new identity at first, has to cope with several conflicts of conscience: On the one hand, he needs blood to live, on the other hand, his human side suffers from sucking the blood out of other people ( NPCs ). He hates his creator for making him a vampire, at the same time Asgar becomes his mentor and offers him protection.
Alaine used to be a person Asgar fell in love with. Due to her disturbed mental state, she was later executed and resuscitated by Asgar as a vampire. It acts as a counterweight to Valnar and Asgar and prevents some situations from escalating . However, it quickly becomes apparent that this equilibrium is very unstable.
In the course of the story, the protagonists are increasingly confronted with the past and the origin of the vampires. The Holy Crusade took place several hundred years ago, led by the simple priest Vincent Weynard. Back then, the vampires appeared out of nowhere and threatened to destroy humanity. Asgar also became a vampire during this period. Weynard proved to be a capable fighter and gradually eradicated the vampires (almost) completely. Eventually he was appointed High Priest of the Church and received fame and honor. Valnar, Alaine and Asgar finally learn that Weynard is still alive and that he was actually the first vampire ever. As a simple person he found a magic book with which he could create the vampires. His goal was to terrify humanity and then act as their savior, which was finally achieved.
The end of the plot depends on Valnar's disposition and his relationship with Alaine, these factors change during the game based on the choices made by the player.
Vampires Dawn was released in 2001 and was created with the RPG Maker 2000 . Negotiations to turn the game into a commercial offshoot for the Nintendo DS were dropped. An English translation of the game was released in November 2012.
Vampires Dawn II: Ancient Blood
| Vampires Dawn II: Ancient Blood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cover picture of the second part | |
| Studio | Alexander 'Marlex' cook |
| Senior Developer | Alexander 'Marlex' cook |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
October 30, 2005 |
| platform | Windows , Mac OS X |
| Game engine | RPG Maker 2003 |
| genre | Computer role playing game |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | keyboard |
| medium | Download , CD |
| language | German English |
| Current version | 1.25 |
| information | www.vampiresdawn.org |
Vampires Dawn II was released on October 30, 2005. The technology, music, graphics and animations have been improved. The turn-based combat system of the predecessor was replaced by an ATB combat system. It was also created with the newer version of the RPG maker, RPG Maker 2003 .
There is more brutality in Ancient Blood than in Reign of Blood . For example, new and more explicit types of death have been added for the various characters. In addition, much cursed , insulted and tortured - you have people Elras and other creatures on a magical stretching rack torture to obtain important information. By not dying but simply passing out after the information was disclosed, the brutality in this regard has been somewhat softened.
The protagonist is again Valnar, who has since started a family with Alaine. The two of them live inconspicuously with their daughter Jayna, who they created out of a person, and live peacefully with people. Asgar was killed in the first part. Nevertheless, his mind cannot find rest, as he is condemned as a blood spirit (dead vampire) to eternal agonizing existence. He meets the thief Strife, who helps him to take on physical form again through Vincent Weynard's magic book. In doing so, however, he unintentionally sets completely different things in motion: The spell revives a damned and disembodied Elras spirit, which takes Asgar's body unnoticed. At first Asgar wants to get revenge on Valnar and seeks him and Alaine. Before that happens, however, he meets Jayna, whom he takes to his castle, where he initiates her into the dark arts. Valnar and Alaine search everywhere for their daughter until they find her on the top of Asgar's castle. They also encounter a strange skeleton army. After a short and very cool greeting, Asgar, whose will has now been completely taken over by the Elras spirit, begins to cast a very complicated and debilitating spell. This changes the entire game world, and moves the time back to the era of the Elras magicians - cruel monsters who now want to prevent their foreseen doom. Then the ghost leaves Asgar, who has been weakened to death by now, and takes control of Jayna's body. Asgar finds himself away from his castle and sets out to find Valnar and Alaine. Together the three of them begin to find their way around the completely new world. They are helped by a mysterious being called Jinnai, who explains to them that the Elras only reshaped the world in order to get to the stone tablet they had created, which contains a magic with which one can rule the whole world. However, it was already destroyed in nine fragments during the time of the Elras, which were distributed among nine castles for defense. Valnar, Alaine and Asgar have to conquer them to get the fragments and stop the Elras.
Later in the game, the question of the real origin of the vampires and Vincent Weynard's book of magic is finally cleared up. According to this, hundreds of years ago, various normal mortal people got together who practiced dark magic and eventually became the Elras magicians. The Elras have u. a. the ability to continue to exist as so-called shadow spirits after their death and to gain possession of other beings, as was the case with Asgar. In the same epoch, the Pharaoh Ustra ruled over a desert people whom he enslaved. After the Elras became more and more powerful, the Clan of Holy Warriors was founded to fight the Elras. A struggle broke out between these three powers for world domination.
The Elras created a tablet of stone that contained a spell so powerful that it gave power over the world to anyone who uttered it. However, before using the tablet, the leaders of the Elras wanted to defeat Pharaoh Ustra. However, this was too powerful and killed the Elras leaders. He locked her in her own spellbook. Then he set out to kill the last of the Elras. In battle, however, the book was thrown into a ravine and eventually a lake, making it undetectable for many years. Some of the last Elras tried to activate the stone tablet, but Pharaoh Ustra came before them and destroyed them. Before he could use the tablet himself, however, he was killed by the troops of the clan of the Holy Warriors because he was too weakened by the battle. When their leader tried to use the tablet himself, it shattered into nine fragments, since you basically need the souls of humans or animals for magic, which he didn't have. He concealed the fact that he wanted to use the board himself and claimed as the only survivor - he had previously killed another soldier after he pleaded for destruction - he had smashed the board. The fragments were finally taken to the nine castles of the clan to be able to protect them.
Pharaoh Ustra was dead, but he had previously used the magic of the Elras to become a shadow spirit even after his death. In this form he looked for a new host (Jinnai), fought again against the clan and actually managed to put the nine fragments together and use the board. In contrast to the clan leader, he did have the necessary souls, but the magic of the tablet still didn't work. The Elras had set up a protective mechanism that must first be deactivated by an Elras. The world was reshaping and the fragments were lost. Through this transformation of the world, the magic book of the Elras was also driven to the surface, where it was found by Alaine and brought to Vincent Weynard. By casting a spell, one of the Elras leaders was freed and wandered into Vincent's body. This is where the plot of Vampires Dawn I starts.
Like its predecessor, Ancient Blood also has several endings, a total of six, which can be reached depending on Valnar's attitude and the chosen difficulty level. An English translation was published in August 2016.
Vampires Dawn: Deceit of Heretics
Vampires Dawn: Deceit of Heretics was released on August 28, 2007 and is an official pre-story for Vampires Dawn: Reign of Blood . It's about the vampire Vince Neras, his skeleton servants Romus and Manok, and the recently transformed Lara Vynus. The game is set four hundred years before the first part and takes place during the Holy Crusade. A priestess to Vincent Weynard by the name of Ayrene Molana Trevos made special rings that vampires can subdue; she is the main antagonist of the game. The game was awarded the German developer prize for computer games in 2007 as the best mobile RPG adventure.
Vampires Dawn III: The Crimson Realm
| Vampires Dawn III: The Crimson Realm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cover picture of the third part | |
| Studio | Alexander 'Marlex' cook |
| Senior Developer | Alexander 'Marlex' cook |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
2020 |
| platform | Windows |
| Game engine | RPG Maker MV |
| genre | Computer role playing game |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | keyboard |
| medium | Download |
| language | German English |
| information | www.vampiresdawn.de |
In August 2012, the notice "Vampires Dawn III - information will follow in September" appeared on the official website. This and the fact that Alexander Koch had created a new signature in the forum, in which you could see the characters Alaine and Asgar and the words "Every suffering has an end ..." underneath, sparked speculation about an official successor to the Series from. Koch himself had asked in the team area of the forum that from now on all threads that revolve around an unofficial fan sequel be closed or renamed. At the end of August 2012, Brianum answered the fans' many questions on the official Facebook page of Vampires Dawn about whether the game was from Koch with: “Yes, it is from Marlex. More information will follow in September. ”It was also written that Koch had not yet started the project. Brianum also mentioned, also on the Facebook page, that the trio known from the first two parts - Valnar, Asgar and Alaine - was represented again.
Initial information was also leaked at the end of August . Accordingly, the game should have the subtitle The Crimson Realm , which literally means "The blood red realm", but officially is the English name for the "level of blood spirits". The sequel should combine the stories of Vampires Dawn: Reign of Blood and Vampires Dawn: Deceit of Heretics . The project should be financed through crowdfunding . It should be the first commercial offshoot of the series and be created with the Torque 2D Engine from GarageGames . The game was to be published in both German and English for Windows, Mac OS and, for the first time, also for iOS .
In September 2012 the official page for the crowdfunding project was released. € 170,000 should be collected by February 28, 2013 in order to realize the project. In the meantime, so-called stretch goals have been introduced, according to which it was announced that the game would be implemented in the style shown for a sum of € 120,000 and additional content would be relocated to later expansions. However, if at least € 45,000 remained at the end of the promotion, the new part would be realized in a simpler style that is based on the predecessors. However, the project only brought in just under € 40,000. Backers of the crowdfunding campaign got their money back.
In July 2014, Marlex announced that he would like to start another crowdfunding attempt when Kickstarter is also available for Germany from autumn ; he would also like to finance part of the book sales of the novel adaptation . In contrast to the previous project, this time it should be a successor and not a predecessor. Also in terms of content and style, he would like to orientate himself more on the two predecessors. Therefore, a RPG-Maker-like variant is sought and no longer relies on HD graphics. However, he still does not want to use the RPG maker to enable the game for other platforms. The original story of The Crimson Realm should nevertheless flow into the form of flashbacks.
On June 5, 2016, the first prototype of the game, which was created with the RPG Maker MV , appeared, which enables multi-platform development for the first time, as it supports the full range of Windows / Mac / Linux as well as Android and iPhone. A first demo with a playing time of approx. 8 to 9 hours was published on December 8, 2018. At the same time, a new crowdfunding campaign with a target of € 15,000 started. Already on the first day, two thirds of the donation amount was collected and over the next few weeks exceeded with over 50,000 €. This second crowdfunding brought in more than the first and took place until the end of April 2019. At the beginning of May 2019, the developer reported that the crowdfunding had reached and exceeded the target amount. Until it is published, interested parties will still have the opportunity to pre-order the game by means of a donation option. At the same time, the release of the new website including an official trailer for the game was announced.
IGN Entertainment reported on the new offshoot of the series in December 2018 and said: "The series has made a big leap forward and gained quality, especially with character graphics." After the publication of a first teaser and a trailer, more followed in July 2019 Reports at GameStar and 4Players . The full version should appear in 2020.
Characters
main characters
- Alaine Frynia (Vampires Dawn 1, 2 & 3)
- She worked as an assistant to the priest Vincent Weynard. One day when she was looking for herbs, she found a magic book. She brought it to Vincent, who studied it with interest. Vincent seemed to have changed then, he wanted to create vampires to get power. When Alaine rejected Vincent, he cursed her out of hand. She fell into an eternal swoon from which she could not wake up, but could not die either. Alaine Frynia was resurrected as a 1st generation vampire by Asgar. At the beginning she is Asgar's friend, but she changes a lot over the course of the story.
- Asgar Serran (Vampires Dawn 1, 2 & 3)
- Asgar was already alive when vampires flooded the land. When he and his stepparents went to Asran, they were ambushed by the vampire Abraxas in a forest very near Asran. Abraxas killed Asgar's parents. When he wanted to turn to Asgar, he had already partially sucked him out, Vincent Weynard intervened. Abraxas had to let go of his victim, turning Asgar into a vampire. After Vincent's death he took over the "Castle of the Aldaines". He killed the current residents or turned them into undead (zombies, skeletons). He is a 2nd generation vampire.
- Valnar Darnus (Vampires Dawn 1, 2 & 3)
- A young warrior from the city of Limm, whose parents died early. In love and naive, he doesn't notice that his wife Aysha is a vampire. Even transformed into a vampire by Asgar Serran, he tries to get rid of this oppressive existence. So the conflict with Asgar takes its course. He is a 3rd generation vampire.
Supporting characters
- Abraxas Ethar (Vampires Dawn 1 & 2)
- Abraxas is a 1st generation vampire and one of the antagonists in the first part. In the second part he only has a brief appearance in the plane of the blood spirits before his existence is extinguished forever by a machine.
- Aysha Darnus / Ayrene Molana Trevos (Vampires Dawn 1, 2, 3 & Deceit of Heretics)
- Formerly a priestess who fought alongside Vincent Weynard in the Holy Crusade. After her transformation into the 2nd generation vampire by Vince Neras, she went into hiding and became Valnar's wife. Later, through a spell, she becomes Abraxas' sidekick and thus an antagonist in the first part. In the second part it appears only as a memory fragment and imagination of Valnar.
- Jayna Erys (Vampires Dawn 1, 2 & 3)
- Jayna is the vampire daughter of Valnar and Alaine. In the first part it appears only briefly in the epilogue. In the second part it plays a bigger role. She is a 2nd generation vampire.
- Jinnai (Vampires Dawn 2)
- A strange creature who pretends to be the helper of the three main characters. In reality, he is possessed by the shadow spirit Pharaoh Ustra throughout the game and his true personality remains unknown.
- Nyria Erys (Vampires Dawn 2 & 3)
- Nyria is Jayna's sister and serves in the king's army. She is a person and plays a major role in the second part.
- Lara Vynus (Vampires Dawn 3 & Deceit of Heretics)
- Lara was recently turned into a vampire by her father and then taken in by Vince. Together they look for their father.
- Pharaoh Ustra (Vampires Dawn 1 & 2)
- A powerful pharaoh associated with the Elras. In the first part only an image of the pharaoh appears. In the second part, however, he plays a major role.
- Ronak (Vampires Dawn 1, 2 & Deceit of Heretics)
- Ronak is Asgar's loyal servant. He is a talking bull and takes care of Asgar's castle in the first and second part. In Deceit of Heretics, he has another master named Lyle.
- Vince Neras (Vampires Dawn 3 & Deceit of Heretics)
- Vince is the protagonist of the Deceit of Heretics mobile phone offshoot . He has two skeleton servants, Romus and Manok, and also takes in the recently transformed Lara.
- Vincent Weynard (Vampires Dawn 1, 2 & Deceit of Heretics)
- Vincent is known as the savior of the people. He lived in the city of Asran 400 years before the first game started. At first just a simple village priest, he fought the vampires in the Holy Crusade and thus gained respect, the trust of the people and finally the highest rank of the church, high priest. But actually he is a 0th generation vampire himself, the first of all vampires and antagonist in the first part. Like Abraxas, he appears in the second part in the plane of the blood spirits before his existence is extinguished forever by a machine.
Browser games
There are two browser games based on Vampires Dawn:
- The Vampires Dawn - the browser game by "Sogil", which has existed since 2005, is based on the castle battle system of Vampires Dawn 2 . The aim of the game is to get hold of as many fragments as possible and to take ritual points from them. When a certain limit is crossed, the nation or race that crossed that limit wins. It is also called Vampires Dawn Online (VDO).
- In addition, a second Vampires Dawn browser game was published in 2009, which is based on a different game principle. The focus there is on expanding the infrastructure of a castle; the browser game is more of a building strategy game. This game was integrated with the relaunch of the Vampires Dawn website by Brianum and is currently administered by Brian Saydak.
Fan projects
After the huge success of the series, many projects were started by fans. Either parodies or an unofficial successor are listed below:
- Vampires Dawn II: What Really Happened!
- Vampires Deaf I & II
- Vampires Peal
These games are also featured on the official website and can be downloaded from there.
Adaptations
Novels
- Vampires Dawn . Weltenschmiede Verlag, Hamburg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-9445-0408-7 .
- Vampires Dawn II: Ancient Blood . Weltenschmiede Verlag, Hamburg, 2016, ISBN 978-3-9445-0439-1 .
Vampires Dawn: Reign of Blood was published as paperback and e-book on October 31, 2013 by Weltenschmiede Verlag. The book is 220 pages and was written by Cairiel Ari himself with the assistance of Marlex. The foreword was written exclusively by Marlex and the editing and cover design was done by Toni Kuklik. A book trailer was published at the end of September and a reading sample followed on the Facebook page of Weltenschmiede Verlag at the beginning of October. Marlex's share was to be used to raise money for a prototype of Vampires Dawn: The Crimson Realm to use either for the second crowdfunding or for presentation to a publisher.
In December 2013, Cairiel Ari announced that the second video game would also be released in book form. The novel version of Vampires Dawn II: Ancient Blood was also published by Weltenschmiede Verlag on March 31, 2016. Marlex also signed the first 30 copies. The cover design was again done by Toni Kuklik, while Marcel Weyers took care of the editing.
Web links
- Official site of the two games
- Official site of Vampires Dawn: The Crimson Realm
- Vampires Dawn 2: Ancient Blood at MobyGames (English)
- Official website of Dawnatic
- Vampires Dawn , information on computer illustration
Individual evidence
- ↑ GIGA Games : RPG-Maker and Vampires Dawn , broadcast on January 17, 2002
- ↑ Publications. Retrieved on May 8, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Official homepage, area downloads: Vampires Dawn: Deceit of Heretics . Retrieved February 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Marlex: Official Homepage, Article: Marlex: "The End of an Era" . January 18, 2010, accessed January 18, 2010 .
- ↑ Brianum: Official Homepage, Article: It goes on! March 28, 2010, accessed March 28, 2010 .
- ↑ Brianum: Official Homepage, Article: The relaunch of Vampires Dawn * finally * . August 13, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010 .
- ↑ Brianum: Official Homepage, Article: Vampires Dawn and Dark Shadows now also for the Mac . December 7, 2011, accessed December 7, 2011 .
- ↑ Brianum: Photographs, articles: Download new versions . July 17, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Vampires Dawn - The RPG Maker Hit is coming to Nintendo DS! December 13, 2008, archived from the original on October 5, 2013 ; Retrieved December 13, 2008 .
- ↑ Winner Chronology | German developer award. Retrieved May 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Official homepage, article: Vampires Dawn III - information will follow in September . August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012 .
- ^ Official Facebook page of Vampires Dawn. Retrieved October 1, 2013 .
- ↑ Vampires Dawn 3 - The Crimson Realm first information revealed. August 30, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2012 .
- ↑ Facebook post with updates. June 26, 2018, accessed June 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Marlex: What an incredible support! Thank you! - Vampires Dawn. Retrieved on May 8, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Kathleen Hellbarth: Lonely Hero: Vampires Dawn receives a sequel after 13 years. December 9, 2018, accessed December 9, 2018 .
- ↑ Dimitry Helly: Vampires Dawn 3: Continuation of the German cult RPG is taking shape. In: GameStar . July 2, 2019, accessed July 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: Vampires Dawn 3 - The Crimson Realm should appear in 2020. In: 4Players . July 4, 2019, accessed July 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Official homepage, Parodies section. Retrieved February 2, 2013 .
- ^ Vampires Dawn Weltenschmiede Verlag. Retrieved March 12, 2016 .
- ↑ Book trailer # 02 - Vampires Dawn - Reign of Blood by Cairiel Ari and Alexander “Marlex” Koch (HD). Retrieved September 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Reading sample: "Vampires Dawn - Reign of Blood" by Alexander Koch and Cairiel Ari. Retrieved October 8, 2013 .
- ↑ Facebook Cairiel Ari. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
- ^ Vampires Dawn 2 Weltenschmiede Verlag. Retrieved March 12, 2016 .