La Abadía del Crimen

Infobox VG|title = La Abadía del Crimen

developer = Opera Soft
publisher = Opera Soft
designer = Paco Menéndez, Juan Delcán
released = 1988
genre = Arcade adventure
modes = Single player
ratings =
platforms = Amstrad CPC, MSX, DOS, ZX Spectrum
media = Cassette, Floppy disk
requirements =
input = Keyboard, Joystick

"La Abadía del Crimen" (The Abbey of Crime) is a computer video game programmed in 1988 by Paco Menéndez based in the novel "The Name of the Rose" written by Umberto Eco. The graphics were made by Juan Delcán.

This game is a videoadventure with 3D isometric graphics, where a franciscan monk, Fray William of Occam (William of Baskerville in the book) and his young novice Adso of Melk have to discover the perpetrator of a series of murders in a medieval Benedictine abbey.

Gameplay

The player controls the movement of Fray William. The player has also the possibility to control the movement of the novice Adso within the same screen in which Fray William is. If the key for controlling the novice is not pressed he follows Fray William most of the time. The game features other characters representing the monks of the Benedictine abbey who behave according to programmed artificial intelligence to move throughout the mapping of the abbey and show a series of dialogs shown by written text which is moved along the lower part of the screen.

An extensive mapping of the abbey is represented in a large series of screens with 3D isometric graphics. A series of objects has to be collected in order to successfully complete the game. The action occurs in 7 days subdivided in different Canonical hours. The time (day + current hour) is indicated at the bottom left of the screen.

The game stars with the abbot welcoming Fray William and explaining that a monk has disappeared. He also explains to Fray William that he is obligated to obey the orders of the abbot and the rules of the monastery: attend Religious services and meals and stay in his cell at night while the research of the crimes is pursued. During the game the novice Adso will remind you when you have to attend offices and meals, and you can just follow him if you forget the way to the church or the refectory.

If you disobey any orders, or are late for services, etc., then your "obsequium" level, indicated on the bottom right-hand-side of the screen, will drop ("obsequium" is Latin for "subservience" or "obedience"). Once this "obsequium" level drops to zero, the abbot will not tolerate your disrespect any longer, and you will have to leave the abbey and the game is over. Some actions, such as missing a prayer office altogether or being caught wandering around at night, result in immediate expulsion and the end of the game.

Versions

The game was developed for the Amstrad CPC 8 bit platform and ported to other systems: Spectrum, MSX and PC. A remake of this game was made for PC Windows, Game Boy Advance and MSX2. Also a complete disassembly of the original Z80 code for the Amstrad CPC and a rewritten of it in C++ was made by Manuel Abadia (Vigasoco project). There is a SDL port of Vigasoco that runs on Linux, PS2 and Dreamcast.

The only Spectrum version was for the 128 platform, being considered one of the perfect ten games for the machine according to Retro Gamer [Spectrum 128 perfect ten games. Retro Gamer 48, pages 64 and 65] .

Miscellanea

The music played in the game corresponds to the album Anna Magdalena and the sonate for Flute BWV 1033 from Bach, and Crystal Palace from Gwendal. The original DOS version also featured the Ave Maria from Haendel.

The game was originally conceived as a version of Umberto Eco's book"The Name of the Rose". However, Paco Menéndez and Opera Softreceived no reply from Eco in order to secure the rights for the name, so the game was released as "La Abadía del Crimen".

Critical reaction

The game was programmed making the most of the capacities of 8 bit computers, and taking a high level of care for details: plot, mapping, graphics, artificial intelligence of the characters, sound, etc. All of this made the game to be regarded as one of the best videogames made for 8 bit computers. In spite of its quality, the game was never officially released outside of Spain.

References

External links

* [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0000047 Entry of the game in World of Spectrum (English)]
* [http://www.cpczone.net/reviews/index.php?title=767 Review (English)]
* [ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-info/a/AbadiaDelCrimenLa(AbbeyOfCrimeThe).txt Instructions of the game (English)]
* [http://www.computeremuzone.com/abadia/abadeng.php Solution, maps and download (English)]
*es icon [http://abadiadelcrimen.com Reconstruction for PC]
*es icon [http://soft.mundivia.es/mpazos/abadia Remake MSX2, maps and other documents]
*es icon [http://www.abadiadelcrimen.com/vigasoco.html Dissasembly of the original Z80 code]