Topic: What happened to Castlevania: Dark Abyss?

[nicoduches]

Hello.

I've been a fan of castlevaniadungeon for many years now.
I recall several years ago, there was a page for the fangame Castlevania: Dark Abyss.
I remember that it was played on PC, had a main protagonist named Sasha Belmont, son of Richter, and the gameplay was similar to SotN with two intro stages before the castle. Maria Renard was in the game, living in a cottage built over Alucard's Crypt where he confined himself after the events in SotN. You could even get to play as Alucard after a sidequest. The final boss was the Orefyn, some kind of demon from hell summoned and "adopted" by Dracula.

I remember that much (because it made a strong impression) and I wanted to know why has all the info been deleted from castlevaniadungeon about this game?
Second, I'd be very grateful if all the info, scenario and screenshots could be reuploaded, or at least sent to me via private mail or any other means.

I'm asking for this because I would like to know how to contact the creator of the game and if it is still available somewhere. Also, whatever I search on google there is no info on the game, as if it was completely erased from the universe. I have tried to find it by other means before posting here, but now this forum is my last hope. I suppose the admins or the webmasters could help me here.

Thanks to anyone who can answer my questions.

[Super Waffle]

Maria Renard was in the game

I believe I would also be interested in playing this game.

[thernz]

I remember a game with Sasha Belmont, but that game he's associated with, got canned.

[uzo]

I remember a game with Sasha Belmont, but that game he's associated with, got canned.

That was CV Online.

[nicoduches]

Yes. Castlevania Online has nothing to do with the game I'm talking about.
Let me add some more info to my previous post...

In CV Dark Abyss, Sasha Belmont's sprites was based off of Richter's. He was wearing green and black, and a green headscarf.
I recall you could use the whip and other weapons as in SotN. There was also magic rings to make your weapon launch fireballs and other stuff... And I think you could level up and get money to buy stuff too.

The first level, if I'm not mistaken, was a village under fire (with level and background graphics taken from CV Dracula X, etc.). Second level was a mountain road. Then you entered Dracula's Castle and had to wander the areas, fights bosses, get items such as the double jump to reach other areas, etc.

The game took place about 20 years after SotN I think, since Sasha was around 19 and being the only son of Richter. In the dialogs Sasha referred to Maria as "Aunt Maria".

After completing the subquest to meet Alucard and defeating the last boss as him, Dracula said something like "I will always return for I am as the wind" which was a cool allusion to SotN's ending credit song "I am the wind"
Alucard then met Maria again (she was now in her late 30's) and she says to him something like "don't leave me again" and the two of them hugged and watch the castle crumble.

The complete script was included on the late game page of this site. The scenario was really interesting and the game seemed terrific. It's really a shame the info got removed from castlevaniadungeon.
Again, please, may I ask the admins or webmasters or anyone else to look into this matter.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I remember this.
It was a homebrew project.  I believe Sonic Reaper may have had a hand in it, and there was a forumgoer who went by "Sasha Belmont".
The character in the game was designed by him.  He wears a military-looking green/black outfit with a headband.

I can probably find out more information for you but it will take some time.

[Aridale]

hes talkin about this


Thats all I have of it. =(

[uzo]

hes talkin about this


Thats all I have of it. =(

And that is CV Online.

[nicoduches]

Alright! Thank you for your comments so far.

@Jorge D. Fuentes: I'm glad you remember too. I'd be very grateful if you could find some, if not all, of the script and screenshots that were once on the website. Take your time. I also notified Sonic_Reaper via PM.

@Aridale: YES! Thanks a lot for this screenshot! Now more people might remember the game.

@uzo: I'd have to shout "Objection!" and present strong evidence. CV Dark Abyss is not CV Online. At least not the two games I found googling "Castlevania Online." Here are the links to those games:
http://www.mofunzone.com/online_games/castlevania.shtml
http://www.experienceproject.com/play-free-games/Castlevania/767
They have nothing to do with Dark Abyss and besides they are free. As I recall, Dark Abyss wasn't.

[thernz]

Well, that sprite was definitely in CV Online. The game you linked isn't the CV Online he's talking about. I think the site for that one is down since it was hosted on Geocities.

I'm not really sure if Sasha Belmont was probably in another game other than Online though. The whole thing seemed to faded away before I became a member in the Castlevania community, so I can't help. Sorry.

[Sonic_Reaper]

lol oh man where do I begin?

I have all of Sasha's sprites.  They're saved on a disc somewhere.  He was actually completed, and props to the creator, he did a good job.  If I remember correctly, Sasha Belmont was actually a pirate/seafarer, and one of his special skills had him utilizing a giant anchor. 

I know nothing of the project you speak of.  Where did you get this information?

For Castlevania Online, we (Anapan and myself) were approached by the creator of the Sasha Belmont sprites, and he said he would be interested in inserting Sasha as a playable character into Castlevania Online.  We were never able to finalize how he would fit into the original storyline alongside Sofia and Wilhelm, two other original characters, but Sasha Belmont was to be included in in some capacity as a playable character.

Looks like his FTP is no longer online ...

ftp://cvo:cvo@atomu.ath.cx:6872/

Sadness.  I have most of the stuff saved on disc though.  Since no one has access to any of it anymore, perhaps I could start uploading some of it.

[X]

There was a CV: Online as I remember it being called. It stared three characters; Sasha Belmont (son of Richter) Sasha's wife or girlfriend (I can't remember her name) and one final character whom I'm pretty sure was a decendent of Grant Dynesty. It featured the castle from SotN and it had a village just outside the castle for multiple character interactions, shops, one on one duals, unlockable characters I think, etc. I believe there were also levels outside the castle as well and also the game would allow the player to construct their own versions of castlevania to challange other players. The unlockable characters were the other members of the belmont family and by collection certain items, would give them abilities that would allow them to travers castlevania like Richter. In this game Richter was also given the ability to whip in eight directions like Simon. I remember this game being a hot topic back in 2001 I think. It's been a while so I'm not sure if the site still exists anymore. I visited it not too long ago though.

-X

[Sonic_Reaper]

It was an ambitious project.  By collecting cards, the player would be allowed to play as ANY and ALL Castlevania characters and monsters.  Some would have limited functionality, and as such, the player would first choose a "base" character to begin the game with (one of three of Sasha, Sofia or Wilhelm), and by equipping different cards, could transform into fan favorites of any number of past Castlevania characters and monsters.

The online "world" would essentially be a massive recreation of all of the Castlevania games linked together (ones compatible with the SotN style anyway, so Rondo, IV and Bloodlines to name a few).

Sofia, one of the original characters, is near completion.  There's some frames in this old topic here;

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php?topic=627.0

[nicoduches]

Alright.
I don't know anything about this Castlevania Online but it certainly does seem connected to Sasha Belmont.
Thank you Sonic_Reaper for your reply.

[Sasha Blemont]

 

Well I believe I can clear this little question up. 

My name is Steve Krikorian, I am the creator of Sasha Belmont.
I just got an email from nicoduches who got my address from Jorge.  I must say I am absolutely FLOORED that people still remember Sasha and the Dark Abyss story!
Floored and flattered beyond reason.

So unfortunately, the crux of the matter is that there never has been a game with Sasha in it.  I tried really hard about 10 years ago to make this happen, but these fan projects always fall apart. The screen shots you guys are referring to are just pics that I made.  (That one someone posted of Sasha and Alucard was from the Dark Abyss fan fic, not CVO.)  I do have full sprite sheets for Sasha, but he has never been in an actual game, homebrew or otherwise.

I may still have the text nicoduches is referring to at home (I can look) for the Dark Abyss script.  I absolutely have all of thegraphics I did though.
Perhaps I can post some stuff here for some nostalgic fun...

But as for the history, this is basically how it all went.

In the late 90's, on the Castlevania Dungeon site, I submitted the Dark Abyss script with some fake screen shots, as a fan fic.  I joined the site for a while to see what people thought, and got to know some cool people like Eric Roman, Jorge, Dark Moon, and Anapan.  I am also friends with DarkShire in real life, I don't know if he still posts here or not.  I had a couple of people ask I they could put Sasha in their games.  One I remember was called Castlevania RPG which I actually have a REALLY early build of and some screenies at home.  But that project eventually was dropped by it's creator.

Eventually I stopped going to the forums.

Then a couple years later in 2001 (ish) had gotten an email (much like today) where people were for some reason talking about Sasha.  So I rejoined the forum (not called the Inverted Dungeon) and reacquainted myself with the community at that time.  I had another offer on the table for including Sasha in a homebrew game.  This was Castlevania Online.  I joined the project as a spriter and portrait artist.  I did a TON of portraits for the game actually including Sasha and Sonic Reaper's two characters.  I finished all of Sasha's sprites and came up with a story to get him in the game (since it took place in a totally different time period than Dark Abyss did). But sadly as you all know, that project fell by the wayside as well.

And that's pretty much that.

Although for the heck of it, once I Googled Sasha Belmont and found a fan sprite of all face graphics and Sasha was actually one of them.  I never found out who made that.  Do you guys know what I'm talking about?

But just because I stopped posting here doesn't mean I stopped thinking about the character...

I have numerous ideas for stories, 4 at the moment, that star the character.

I have decided to take away any reference to Castlevania so that I can actually write these stories and not get sued by Konami.  So, no Belmonts, no Dracula, no Dark Abyss. He'll still be the most recent son of a line of great heroes, but that's where the similarities to CV will end.  I will most likely change the last name, but I have never decided on one.  In my head he's still Sasha Belmont. 

I truly hope that one day, I can somehow get some of these stories that are dancing around my noggin published and adapted into something.  Books, Comics, Movies... I don't know yet, but something.  I am unsure of the best route to take, but for now, I am writing a novel for young readers that is totally separate from Sasha.  But Sasha is definitely lurking around in there.  I think he's a cool character and I like the ideas I have for his adventures.  And clearly some other people like him or I wouldn't be typing this.

Thanks for remembering him and hopefully someday he will amount to something more than just scuttlebutt on a forum.


PS----------
I have also written lyrics for a trilogy of songs based on Sasha for my band Torrential Reign.  I'll post the first one here for the heck of it. This song has never been actually written, it's just lyrics for now.

'Rhapsody in Blood'
Chapter 1

Blood by Moonlight

(intro)
Son of heroes – the last in a line
Destined for greatness, or so they say
Wanting no part – of their design
I forsook my birthright and sailed away

(verse 1)
All live in fear of the things in the night
Fiendish monsters, ghouls and the like.
They've taken a child, so pure as the snow
Just how and for what no one knows

(verse 2)
So far from home, near a year spent at sea
But something’s amiss I’m not where I need to be
The sun has not rose since the last week of June
And something is wrong with the moon.

(chorus)
Blood by moonlight, torch and starlight
What is waiting for us, we don’t know!
Chaos reigning, hope is waning
We are abandoned, tell us where did the son go?

(interlude) (Oliva style “half spoken”)
My people cry in terror and my cottage smolders still,
I should have taken up the role I was born to fulfill.
The shame of my selfishness burns deep inside,
Now it’s the wicked ones who have no place to hide!

(verse 3)
My path has lead me to dark answers and worse
A lost human child was the key to this curse
They froze her in time in a crystalline tomb
A ruby prison as red as the moon

(verse 5)
It shatters like glass, releasing the light
The moon fades from blood red back into white
She falls to the ground, opens her eyes
And bless her, the girl never cries

(chorus x2)

(outro)
There will be blood by moonlight
Where did the son go?
There will be blood by moonlight