Sepulchre

[Lewis]

Download Sepulchre for free!
[Special editions available for $2.99]
Please note - name/email required to redeem free game code. We're looking into a way to nuke this. In the meantime, we promise we won't spam you.

       

Sepulchre is an adventure short from Owl Cave, written by Ashton Raze (Richard & Alice) and drawn by Ben Chandler (everything ever), and with other awesome contributions from lots of lovely people.

It's a game featuring horror, trains, and huge bags. It should take most people around half an hour to play through.

Sepulchre is free. That means it doesn't cost money. It's like stealing... but legal.

Here's the launch trailer:

[embed=601,315]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FCFfxCrsI4[/embed]

The Special Edition

Oh, hey, so why not consider picking up a copy of the special edition?

For $2.99, you get the game (obviously), as well as...

+ The full original soundtrack, written and performed by Jack de Quidt
+ Two desktop wallpapers
+ A digital copy of 'Bright Lights & Glass Houses', a collection of short stories written by Ashton Raze, set in the same universe as Sepulchre

Head to the website and make it yours!


owlcave.net/sepulchre

[kaput]

Played and completed. A perfect game to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. Quite enjoyed it, guys. Well done

The puzzles were quite easy but the story carried it well. The music and sfx set the scene nicely.

I'll never look at a massive bag on a train quite the same .

[Khris]

I'm really enjoying this so far, not finished yet though.

Maybe people would like a direct download of a zip file? I would have

Also a small "bug": while trying to save, I got a screwed up version of the default game's icon bar, and it's now covering the inventory, which means I have to start over. Speaking of inventory, tab still brings up the default one.

[Andail]

Looking good.
Could you please clarify in your post that a registration (with full name and email address) is needed in order to download the game?

[Lewis]

Good shout. We're looking into a way to remove this, actually, but I'll note it in the meantime.

[Lewis]

Also a small "bug": while trying to save, I got a screwed up version of the default game's icon bar, and it's now covering the inventory, which means I have to start over. Speaking of inventory, tab still brings up the default one.

Ouch. Well spotted. We'll tweak and re-upload asap.

[frenzykitty]

The links appear to be broken :/

[Lewis]

So they do. How infuriating. All our store seems to be down, in fact.

Have just submitted a ticket to our distributors.

[Lewis]

So, our delivery partner got DDOSed. Fingers crossed it'll be sorted asap.

[Lewis]

Seems to be working again, I think.

[qptain Nemo]

I almost feel like I've joined DDoSing in my attempts to grab the game.

And while I understand the idea of knowing exactly how many people have downloaded the game is very attractive, I must say it would be terribly nice of you to consider hosting the free version of the game on Google Drive or something else with a direct download option.

[frenzykitty]

Just finished it...

That... Was f&#king glorious!

Beautiful, smart, subtle and mature.

[Andail]

Ok, completed it, a nice little horror story
The heavy symbolism and fateful tone of voice made me think of Eternally Us.

Especially background and character art was gorgeous (apart from maybe the bending down animation, ahem...), however a tad too much walking back and forth those corridors, for my taste.

[Lewis]

Thanks to everyone who's played so far! We've seen some very lovely things written about Sepulchre today, too, which is lovely enough that we thought we'd share, 'cause we're all proud and that.

"As a vignette, it gets things right. The story is slight, but despite this, impressively under-told."
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun

"There's a strangely dream-like quality to the narrative and dialog, and some wonderfully subtle but deliberately excruciating use of sound... genuinely unnerving"
- USGamer

"A creepy, intriguing horror game that has you piecing its plot together after it's provided its last, satisfying twist."
- IndieStatik

[dopster]

Really enjoyed it, short but sweet.

Gorgeous artwork, and really good voice acting, especially the main character.

Leaves me wanting for more, and also leaves me with questions. That's not a bad thing - the best games are the ones that leave you thinking about them afterwards.

Great job.

[Stupot]

Also a small "bug": while trying to save, I got a screwed up version of the default game's icon bar, and it's now covering the inventory, which means I have to start over. Speaking of inventory, tab still brings up the default one.

I experienced this too.  Luckily I wasn't so far into it.  I get the impression from the lack of 'Load' option in the main menu that this game is supposed to be played through in one sitting and doean't really need to be saved anyway. So next time I'll just do that.

I did notice another small thing: when I went to open the first door, the player character opened the door whilst facing away from it.

Anyway, nice game so far. suitably creepy. I'll be back with a proper verdict in due course :-)

[Shadow1000]

I still am unable to download the link doesn't work.

Edited to say that it did work eventually. I installed and played it. Very polished and well done.

SHADOW

[qptain Nemo]

Ok, I've played through this. Not a huge fan of the storytelling structure where the entire narrative is being turned into a guessing game, and every single element of the story is treated as is if it was some brilliant subtle mystery to the last drop, when in reality of course there are some mundane bits that don't benefit from obscuring nearly as much as actual exciting subtle mysteries, but still I dig this a lot. The mood, the style and most importantly the approach to horror are great. I was fucking terrified the entire game and you pulled it off entirely without monstrosities, excessive darkness, jump scares or indeed pretty much any kind of vulgar scare. Instead, you made it with mystery, weirdness and ominous dreadful feel. Well done. We definitely need more of this kind of horror. With plenty of weirdness and clever unsettling subtleties.

Having finished it, I have a very vague idea of what the plot means, which I both like and not. So I can only assume there are mundane elements in the plot, because otherwise, well, logically, then it'd be impossible to even deduce what it is about. But I'll keep thinking about it and I admit it does prove to be a moderately pleasant puzzle to try and unfold. And regardless, again, I'd like more of this sort of thing. Imperfect maybe, but more importantly, daring, tasteful and playful. And just simply damn cool.

And I really liked the voice acting. The main character was very charming.

Spoiler

Also, not being able to make the protagonist look in the bags is a brilliant move that goes against many horror cliches. Again, well done.

[close]

[Lewis]

I get the impression from the lack of 'Load' option in the main menu that this game is supposed to be played through in one sitting and doean't really need to be saved anyway. So next time I'll just do that.

The menus are contextual. The game saves automatically when you quit. When you re-launch it, there should be both a 'continue game' and a 'new game' option on there. :-)

[Lewis]

Game is now bugfixed.

[Calin Leafshade]

Not sure what I think about this one.

I like the fact that its not another DOTT, monkey island or *insert other lucasarts or sierra title here* tone-clone (seriously, stop making those, people) but it does feel a little... amateurish and i'm not entirely sure why. I can't put my finger on it.

The excessive umms and hmmms and ahems in the dialogue certainly don't help but besides that I think the dialogue is fairly well constructed (except for an apparently scottish man using the word "boyo" which is a welsh/irish expression)

The constant corridor walking was also an issue and the multiple artificial gates bothered me. Some of that I can forgive since I realise this is supposed to be a kind of nightmarish experience for the player character but from a player's perspective I think it could be a little jarring.

I actually didn't like the music much. I felt it lacked coherence as a soundtrack and there wasn't enough meat to it. I don't think it was necessarily bad but I think a lot more could've been done with it and it was an opportunity wasted.

The story was "light" if i'm being generous, "empty" if i'm not. The problem with the reveal is that it's sort of evident quite early on but also nonsensical with the information available at the time. So you kind of go "I think I know what's going to happen but that makes no sense" and then it happens and the fact that it doesn't make sense is just hammered home twice as strongly. I don't mind ambiguity but ambiguity that is telegraphed very early in the story is problematic when it tries to resolve later.

On the plus side, I enjoyed the lead actor's performance. I always enjoy that particular class of British voice actors in games because it seems exotic for the medium to me somehow (see Dear Esther for another excellent example). I also really loved the

Spoiler

huge bags.

[close]

They were superbly creepy.

The visuals were good except for that massive, ugly font obscuring the screen. It should have been half that size *at least* unless you can provide a justification for it.

The interface was very solid but I'd expect nothing less from a game with 304's involvement.

All in all I think it was a positive release and I had fun playing it. Despite my perceived problems it's still a head and shoulders amongst the competition. Seven stars out of 4 and a half elephants.

[Armageddon]

Well after I put my e-mail and fake name into your site I get a link to a setup .exe. Well That's okay I guess, but for such a tiny game a .zip would have been nicer. Go along setting it up and then it wants to create a shortcut, mmm, what's this? No checkbox for saying no thanks to a shortcut being created. Oh well, I'll wait for someone to mirror it. (I know I'm very petty)

[Gilbert]

What? You call a 170MB AGS game tiny?

I have downloaded it yesterday but haven't installed it yet. I'm actually okay with the register-to-download thing, as long as it only needs my e-mail, and not my credit card number or other personal info. If it tries to create a shortcut I'm also okay with it, as long as it doesn't force me to install those "awesome" google search bar or quick launch icon, etc.

There is one problem though. Since the game has been updated I have to go through the registration procedure once again to download it, as the previous link to the "purchase page" in the e-mail no longer works (it now shows the file as 0b). Seeing that there can be yet other fixes to this game in the future I decided not to go through all these hassles again ATM. Personally I think a more appropriate method is either make the fixed game available from the same link, or auto-send a notification to those who have already downloaded the original file to a new download link.

[Khris]

I'd mirror a zip file if circumventing the setup were the only issue. But even the setup isn't that big of a deal, and you can in fact choose not to have it create a desktop icon. I always install to a temporary directory, copy game relevant files to my usual place, then deinstall it right after. Takes a minute or so. And the setup doesn't create registry entries afaik, so simply deleting the directory should undo it completely.
While I hate setups (in case of AGS games at least, where it's completely unnecessary from a technical pov), I understand that bringing a game to a broader audience than just the forums as a zip file is guaranteed to do more harm than good.

Got the new version, and pressing F5 out of habit no longer messes up the game.

And I played through it, and liked it quite a bit. I would've liked it even better if the story made more sense in the end though, as Calin already mentioned.

[Lewis]

Hey all.

There is a strong rationale for the way we're doing it but we're hearing people's comments and will look into what else we can do.

For those who ordered the game and then lost their download with the patch: please do just grab the free version again, it should ping you a new download link.

For those who ordered the Special Edition and lost their download: please email and we'll do what we can to sort it out as quickly as possible. We've been quite amazed by how many people have been playing the game, so we're all pretty busy, but we'll do what we can to rectify asap. In the meantime, please consider getting the free version and we'll sort you out a treat when we're able.

[Chicky]

It was nice to see you guys on Joystiq today Congratulations!

[ThreeOhFour]

Thanks to everyone who has played it, you're great, and it was a cool project to work on!

[dbuske]

Thank you, I am downloading.

[SarahLiz]

Been waiting for this one, gonna grab the special edition version now.    Congrats on the release!

[Crimson Wizard]

I played it. It left me with couple of hypotheses about what's going on.
I don't know, maybe I see things differently, but those bags made me chuckle, not scared .
What scared me was the painting...

Since I can't help it, few notes on bugs and things that stand out for me.

Spoiler

1. First of all, there's no link to winsetup created in programs folder, which may make it difficult for players outside AGS community to figure out how to configure graphics. I would also suggest to add "Run setup" option to the last installer's page (if installer's engine allows that).
2. The LMB/RMB interactions are largerly inconsistent. Although quick "tutorial" on startup teaches me that LMB = interact, RMB = look, in reality RMB acts as "use" on many occasions.
3. Player can open main menu with Esc key, but can't close it with the same key.
4. Sometimes the player character fails to face the conductor when talking to him. To reproduce - stand to the left of him, then click on him to trigger conversation).
5. The middle door in the second carriage lacks "walk to" point; unlike other doors player does not come close to check if it's locked.
6. Barman keeps repeating "No thank YOU mr Lang" if you keep clicking on him after all dialog options are used, which does not make much sense on its own.
7. The main character's voice actor is ssss-ing really loudly in his mic, this makes me cringe. Also barman's voice is one level quiter than others, I think.
8. The opening&closing inventory produces very annoying sound, IMO. At first I did not realize it is even related to interface and thought the door has opened somewhere.

[close]

Also, I was almost sure that in the last scene

Spoiler

I must click on his own bag to get inside
.

[close]

And the last thing.
Have you ever saw "Madame Tutli Putli"?

[Cogliostro]

Okay, I tried to download it, entered in name and email, and waited.  After an hour, repeated the process.  It's been two hours and there are still no emails from the OwlCave.  Is the server on the fritz?

- Cogliostro

[SarahLiz]

Yep yep. I bought the special edition and got the confimation email, but no download link--only a purchase invoice.  Also tried downloading the free version and had the same result.

[Khris]

I went through the process again and got the email immediately. Did you check your spam folders?

[kaput]

Will there be any clarification on this at all?

[Obko]

Spoiler

I think the protagonist never was a passenger. Did anyone else get this?

[close]

[SarahLiz]

I went through the process again and got the email immediately. Did you check your spam folders?

I went through the process twice, and immediately got an email each time, which both did the same thing:  nuttin'.

[Tenacious Stu]

Just played this and really quite enjoyed it for what it was. Although I don't really understand what is going on, but perhaps that's the point? Leaving the interpretation to the player and letting them think about what everything means. Perhaps reading some of the short stories will help with that.

Artwork was great (As ever, Ben). I kind of liked the music too, was really subtle. Although there seemed to be a high pitched noise that changed when you moved between carriages? (Intentional?) There is a lot of walking around, but I felt this kind of added to the creepiness. Like, I'm just wandering around on this empty train... Creepy.

Nothing really stuck out in a negative way, although I agree with Calin about the "Boyo" line of dialogue. That was really something that broke my immersion from this game. Like when you are reading a book and you see a typo and it reminds you that you are reading a book and breaks your immersion, when I thought "Wasn't he supposed to be Scottish?" that did it for me.

Voice acting was great. Really good choice for the main character, but when he said his very first lines, I was like "What the F*ck is he on about?", but then I warmed up to him. It's a shame that all of the speaking character's dialogue wasn't all to the same recorded quality, but you can still hear everyone and understand what they are saying.

Spoiler

Although I like the story, some elements I just did not get. Like, why was he apologizing at the end? What was with the Victorian photos? Why did the bartender act like he knew him? The train inside the dirt box I get, but a lot of stuff is really left to interpretation.

[close]

I'd like to see a thread discussing the interpretation of this game.

[MaximumJohnny]

Hey there folks!

I did the voice of Don in Sepulchre and wanted to just chime in on the "boyo" thing quickly. I can get how that would be a little bit immersion-damaging if you've got ideas about how a person from a certain area does or does not talk.

The thing is that I added the line myself with permission from Lewis and Raze. As an actual real life Scotsman I was given a bit of room to inject my own speech patterns into the character's dialogue (to a point, obviously!) and it was me who slipped "boyo" into that one line.

It's something we say, I promise. It's also something that you'd usually see or hear coming out of the mouth of a stereotypically Welsh character, or to a lesser extent an Irish one, but I guarantee you Scots throw the term around too. I even went around asking family and friends to confirm for me in case I was deluded!

Of course it probably shows poor judgement on my part to have used it when it is so widely considered something that Welsh people say, but that rests on me as opposed to on either of the game's lovely word-smiths.

[kaput]

I'd hate to continue this heated debate, but I'm Scottish and I've never heard anyone say boyo . I would expect something more like 'lad' or 'son' or even just mate/pal in that context. But I'm sure you'll agree that here we mostly address each other as c*nt. Each to their own I guess! It did sound a little put on in any case. But all in all the rest of your performance was fine Mon' the Scots!

[Tenacious Stu]

I don't doubt for a second that there are Scots that do say this, but I guess it's all about stereotyping. I mean I'm from Hull and some of the phrases we say in Hull don't apply to the whole of Yorkshire and you wouldn't link them to a a stereotypical Yorkshire person, even though we say them all of the time. But if I were to have a Yorkshire character in a game which used this phrase, people may feel disconnected to them as this doesn't line up with their stereotypical view. I was at a talk with Charles Cecil last year, where he said that stereotypes are your friend when you design your characters. If you use stereotypes, then people can instantly relate to the character and feel as though they know them. For example, the 'old drunken Scottish train conductor' conjures certain images and expectations in your mind, which unfortunately "boyo" was not a part of. For me at least.

I don't think that it's inclusion damaged the game in any way, I really enjoyed it. It was just something that stuck out to me, that's all.

But I'm sure you'll agree that here we mostly address each other as c*nt.

I laughed out loud at this

[MaximumJohnny]

Could just be localisation then, but you're right; if there's one thing all Scots share it's using 'c*nt' as if it means 'person'. Perhaps it would've been a better fit

Great to see people are enjoying the game!

Mon the Scots

[selmiak]

Now that's a cool game with a great atmosphere and some smaller bugs that could have been avoided.

[Obko]

It surprizes me how so few people have tried to discuss the hidden meaning of this game, especially considering they have recognized there is a hidden meaning and have an opinion about it, only they won't reveal what that is.


Well, this is what I think happened:

Spoiler

The protagonist is a modern person, and the train is from Victorian times. It has a lot of cadavers in it, which the protagonist perceives as large bags. It is buried under ground, which is implied to have happened quite a while ago; probably when the train weren't buried. The guy said the train's destination was some kind of island, but I don't think that is literally the case, since the ghosts seems to be unfamiliar with that place. I think that is the place they intended to move the train before it was buried again. The protagonist is some kind of archeologist or paleontologist who was called to examine the buried train, but was caved himself. When he woke up, his mind created a fabrication that he was on a train to... the train and that it was still moving; because he really didn't need to panic and use up all the oxygen. His mind replaced the bodies, either with a bag or a "ghost". They are all probably an invention of his mind, but I still think there is some actual "ghostness" to them.
There is probably more, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.

I soiled my trousers every time a monster didn't jump out of a closet and shout "boo"

[close]

And that's what I think.
The game was great. I'll bill you for the trousers.

[Anian]

Atmosphere and art is nice, voice quality was unusual (nothing wrong with it specifically, but just seemed "off").
Story was a bit too vague and script was...

Spoiler

the "sorry" in the end was just out of nowhere, what's with the photos, the people know the player in one sentence, but in the next sentence they don't, am I suppose to read the mentioned book to understand any of this?!

The only part I got was train in dirt and train underground, and I guess he was coughing because he was suffocating, but why were the windows shut, why is it falling apart now and one of the biggest things - unless it was a tunnel collapse, how does a train end up underground?

There just seemed to be a lack of payoff from the mystery and horror in the end, as Calin mentioned, just kind of reminded me again that I didn't get what was going on.

[close]

[Crimson Wizard]

It surprizes me how so few people have tried to discuss the hidden meaning of this game, especially considering they have recognized there is a hidden meaning and have an opinion about it, only they won't reveal what that is.

I kinda suspect those people sort of telling something .

Spoiler

[close]

EDIT: updated.

[selmiak]

So the ticket inspector is some kind of charon bringing you over the styx into hades. If you don't have a ticket you pay him, just like you need coins to cross the styx.

[nuverian]

Looking very nice, will have to play it :-) Good job

[TheBitPriest]

What a great little game!  I think the fact that we're all talking about it is a testimony to its quality.  I liked the atmosphere, the look, and the dramatic timing.  At one point, I asked the children to leave, because I was sure that the next part would be too scary. 

It's a little buggy.  It's hard to catch them all.  I think Crimson Wizard did a fine job of listing them, but I don't remember him listing...

Spoiler

It looks like the conductor's bag has the background painted around the object's sprite.  When you walk behind it, you walk behind the immediate background.

[close]

[miguel]

Just finished this game, and I enjoyed it mostly because of the cool setting and ambiance. It kept me going until I knew what the hell was going on that train!
The mood is scary like twilight zone scary and the moving bag gave me the shivers.
Backgrounds art and character art are all high quality and the music was fitting for the genre and slow tempo of the game.
Voice work was a nice asset to the game, it's always cool to have them. I'd say they do the job well.
I could have had more story given to me but after playing it I didn't feel disappointed regarding that aspect.
There's a unsettling feeling along the game that kind of transported to "The Shining" movie and that is something hard to achieve with a minimalistic structure like Sepulchre. Bravo!
The puzzles weren't really puzzles in difficulty but simply a way to "hold" the player from completion and I think this was the only "weak" point of this game.
There are some easily fixed bugs as well that were already mentioned but nothing that really stopped my immersion on the plot.

My overall feeling of the game was pretty good and I wish it could have be longer. Although every minute of it is played with that good uncertainty and thrill. A good short game with high quality production that every one should play.

[Mati256]

Just finished it. I was not scared and I didn't really get it. I mean, I think I understand what is going on, but not why. And of course, some things I just don't understand at all.

Spoiler

The train is buried, but why? If it's not rally a train, why was I imagining I was on a train? Who is the Girl? Are her initials engraved on the flask? Why? Why Victorian dead pictures? Why was I acting like an alcoholic to the bartender? Did I know him? Who is the guy with the box? Why did the conductor said he saw a girl but then he says he didn't? Why the paper dogs? Why did the guy with the box wanted a paper dog?

[close]

[kicker04]

Wow man, great adventure that's Sepulchre, really! I love the atmosphere and even the voices. Very well done. Keep on!

[waheela]

Kind of late to this thread (as always), but I finally got the chance to play this game. I think I agree with a lot of the other posters here that the story was a little too ambiguous, but the phenomenal mood-building, voice acting, and art really made this game for me. I feel like most horror games these days have really become clichéd, unoriginal, an sadly un-scary. I was watching an LP of a game called "Outlast" recently, and found myself repeatedly rolling my eyes at the lazy uses of gore to "shock" the player into becoming scared. It's so refreshing to play a game that delves into psychological horror more than trying to frighten me with violence and jump scares. The haunting ending left me in a troubled, contemplative state afterwards. I know it's late to say, but wonderful job on the game, guys. I hope we get to see more stuff like this in the future.

[strazer]

Looking to try it, but the download/shop doesn't seem to be working. Anyone have a mirror?

[Ilyich]

You can download it as a Demo to The Charnel House Trilogy on Steam. Not sure if it's up anywhere else at the moment, though, I'm afraid.

[KONEY]

So today I officially started posting in the forum here I am with another question

Can anyone help me downloading this game? http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1725/ the link from their site doesn't work and they don't answer my emails.

I already reported the broken link.

Thanks!

[Ilyich]

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

This game has been updated and became a part of "The Charnel House Trilogy". You can still play Sepulchre for free by downloading the demo from Steam, or by following this link.

[KONEY]

excellent, thanks!