New Game: Sterling's Gift

[Diane Merkel]

This looks interesting. I've ordered it and will let you know.

Alone in a house that General George Custer commandeered as a hospital in 1865, you discover a tattered old diary written by his young wife, Libbie Custer. She searched for and found Sterling, a blind orphan displaced during the Civil War. As Reconstruction raged, Libbie received a gift that unlocked a miracle but forced her to keep a secret. That secret is finally revealed in STERLING’S GIFT. Decipher the hidden message left by Libbie and find the Gift that she carefully concealed. Relive the magic. A fascinating blend of historic fiction and computer based adventure.

www.sterlingsgift.com/index.html

[kirkahub]

We released the Sterling's Gift computer adventure game a couple of months ago. One of the common questions is how we came up with the idea.

The house/museum is here in Austin, Texas where I live. When I took a tour of the house I learned all about the architect (Abner Cook, who also designed other famous houses in Austin in the 1850s such as the Governor's mansion) and the period furniture and how the house was also used as a school for the blind.

There was a very brief mention during the tour of how George Custer used it as a hospital after the Civil War. Not much more was known about this aspect of its history. I then researched the house from state and national historic records and read several books written by Libbie Custer, one of which is mentioned on www.sterlingsgift.com, and came up with the idea of an adventure game to tell the Custer part of the house's story.

Based on this history, a fictional story was written about a blind student named Sterling (former student at the house) and how he impacted Libbie Custer and about a gift he gave her on Christmas 1865 (it was magic).

In the game, you explore every room of the house (even those that say "do not enter"), learn about its history, and discover a secret that Libbie Custer carried to her grave.

Half way through production of the game, one of the museum managers told me about an old piece of furniture in one of the rooms that had a secret compartment. We took dozens of pictures of the piece so that it could be manipulated during the game to find the compartment (inside is a clue to Libbie's secret).

High quality soundtrack and pictures, several unique puzzles/treasure maps, and a great story that ultimately reveals a link between Sterling and George Custer on the battlefield and how it changed Libbie's life forever.

So far we have had excellent feedback from those who have played the game.

Kirk

[harpskiddie]

Thanks for the background, Kirk. Don't be a stranger to the board. We also play games here.

Gordie

[Diane Merkel]

I received the game yesterday (quickly!) and played around with it for a couple of hours today. The photos are excellent, but I'm afraid the game is too slow-going for me.

At the beginning, you can select if you want to get hints throughout the game, if you want to activate the "spoiler" (mega-hints), and/or if you would like additional history tidbits throughout the house. I started with history (only saw one item), then started over again with "hints" activated (didn't really help), and then, finally, tried "Spoiler."

The directions say it can take up to six hours to play. Without the Spoiler hints I doubt I would have ever figured out what to do with a couple of the items.

Two hours and not close to solving the little mystery!

[kirkahub]

Lot's of folks like the "adventure" style computer game. It is reflective and requires a lot of thought to realize that there is a puzzle in front of you. Once realized you then need to solve the puzzle.

Don't get discouraged and if you get stuck feel free to email me and I'll give you another hint.

Thanks for the comments :-)

Kirk

[Scout]

The secret message is; d-r-i-n-k-y-o-u-r-o-v-a-l-t-i-n-e!

[Jas. Watson]

There is a Titanic game very much like that--a mystery you must solve (before the ship sinks...and once the ship hits the iceberg the game goes into 'real time'!). Being also a Titanic nut I had a great time with it. Really learned my way around the Titanic!
I for one much rather like the more cerebral type mystery games than the shoot-em-up typical computer game.

Jas~

[Diane Merkel]

You would probably like this one very much. You've hit the answer: it's too cerebral for me!

I never was quite sure what to do in this game. I found things but was never sure where to go or what to do next. For example, there was a set of maps that you had to study to find one clue among many images, which I only figured out by clicking the advanced help button. I would still be looking at those maps if I didn't seek help.

Perhaps I need to try again and hope I'll get the hang of it. I will try again during the next hurricane when there's nothing else to do. I'm sure I will be at the brink of solving the mystery when my laptop battery dies.

[fred]

Quite frankly my friends, I am done ordering games via the "unknown." The last time I did that the guy cashed the check in January 2006. I'm still waiting for delivery.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[elisabeth]

Don't know if this might be of interest to game-players?

www.decisiongames.com/html/issue_236.html

[Diane Merkel]

Here's an excerpt from a review of Sterling's Gift:

Sterling's Gift is a solitary, first-person slide show adventure. Each slide is made up of photographs of the Neill-Cochran House and its grounds, which have been beautifully preserved as a museum to this day. As the game is based on a historical home, working with real images provides the game with an authentic feel. A historical house tends to have a lot of personality, especially one in such good shape as this, and it is a lot of fun to explore. I spent a long time checking out all the architectural details, the furniture, and appointments. The house has lovely period pieces, including plenty of art displays and furnishings that are nice to examine in greater detail. There is no character interaction, but the game does make use of two very short videos. Both are filtered in a way to give them a sort of dreamy feeling that works well and offers a welcome change of pace from the otherwise static photos.

Review: tinyurl.com/27btnw