Nancy Drew Dossier: Ship of Shadows! (lost build of unreleased PC game; 2010)

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Nancy Drew Dossier- Ship of Shadows! Cover Art.jpeg

The cover art for the unreleased Nancy Drew Dossier game Ship of Shadows.

Status: Lost

Nancy Drew Dossier: Ship of Shadows! (hereafter referred to as Ship of Shadows; also commonly abbreviated as "SOS") was intended to be the third installment of the Nancy Drew Dossier series, a hidden object PC game series developed by Her Interactive. The Dossier series launched in 2008 and was designed to be a casual series complimenting the long-standing Nancy Drew Adventure series.[1][2]

Shelving

Ship of Shadows was teased at the end of the second installment of the Dossier series, Resorting to Danger, which was released in 2009. Although the teaser trailer did not include a release date, it is estimated that Ship of Shadows was going to be released in 2010 since one Dossier game had been released per year up to that point.[3][4]

On March 15, 2011, then-Her Interactive Community Forums administrator Inter_Sleuth posted an announcement about the game on the "Notes from Her Interactive" message board. According to Inter_Sleuth, Ship of Shadows was originally delayed in order to make the game "the best the series had to offer," in response to feedback from fans on the first two installments. Development of the game was further held up due to work on other projects, including the Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries series. This unfortunately led to the removal of Ship of Shadows from the company's release schedule and the shelving of the Dossier series.[5]

On October 14, 2011, then-Her Interactive CEO Stuart Moulder indicated during an interview with GameZebo that there were no plans to continue the Dossier series at the time. According to Moulder, fans of the Nancy Drew Adventure series "didn’t feel that the Dossier line met their expectations." He went on to say that "if we [Her Interactive] were to try our hand again at a Dossier game or something like it, we will need to figure out how to ensure that any new game meets the expectations of our current fans."[6]

Since 2011, then-Her Interactive marketing coordinator Little Jackalope has confirmed in a few comments on the company's Amateur Sleuth Blog that there are no plans to continue working on Ship of Shadows.[7][8]

Game Premise

The game would have followed Nancy Drew aboard a haunted cruise ship. The following is a transcript of the teaser trailer audio, as spoken by Nancy:

"When a recently renovated cruise ship invites me on a "sneak peak" passage, I immediately say yes. I mean, spending a couple of days aboard an antique luxury liner? How fun is that?

But as soon as we leave port, it becomes apparent this is not your ordinary cruise ship. Ghostly faces at portholes, eerie lights in the dead of night, people vanishing into thin air -- things quickly go from slightly weird to downright scary!

Help me figure out why before I end up going down with the ship in my next case, 'Ship of Shadows'..."

Lost Materials

Although it is rumored that Ship of Shadows was close to completion at the time it was shelved, Little Jackalope contested in a comment on the Amateur Sleuth Blog that the game "only had some art and some rough design done." It is unknown how much artwork and design was completed for the game, but some images have been found (see "Found Materials" below).[9]

In a follow-up comment, Little Jackalope indicated that she was unsure of the whereabouts of the game's script and could not find it in the company's archives.[9] As such, it is believed that the script for Ship of Shadows is lost.

Found Materials

On October 28, 2011, Little Jackalope posted the cover art for Ship of Shadows to the Amateur Sleuth Blog.[10]

Additionally, nine images from the game have been posted online by artists who worked on the game. These include the following:

  • 2 background photos posted by Cody Flynn to Drawing Thunder.[11][12]
  • 1 puzzle background posted by Jeff Fisher to his personal website.[13]
  • 1 puzzle background posted by Zack Rock to his LinkedIn page.[14]
  • 1 art asset posted by Jeff Fisher to his personal website.[15]
  • 4 character concepts posted by Ayu Othman to her personal website.[16]

Gallery

Videos

EmbedVideo is missing a required parameter.

Images

  • 2D view of the cover art for SOS.

    2D view of the cover art for SOS.

  • 3D view of the cover art for SOS.

    3D view of the cover art for SOS.

  • Unidentified artwork of the SOS ship.

    Unidentified artwork of the SOS ship.

  • Background photo for SOS.

    Background photo for SOS.

  • Background photo for SOS.

    Background photo for SOS.

  • Background for a matching puzzle.

    Background for a matching puzzle.

  • Background for a token puzzle.

    Background for a token puzzle.

  • Art asset showing a diagram of a heliograph.

    Art asset showing a diagram of a heliograph.

  • Character concept art for Aiden Bodh.

    Character concept art for Aiden Bodh.

  • Character concept art for Eva Morucchio.

    Character concept art for Eva Morucchio.

  • Character concept art for Julia.

    Character concept art for Julia.

  • Character concept art for Maurice Badeau.

    Character concept art for Maurice Badeau.

References

  1. ↑ Nancy Drew Dossier Series Launch Tomorrow- Her Interactive Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  2. ↑ Her Interactive Collaborating with MSN Games Announcement, including official description of the Nancy Drew Dossier series. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  3. ↑ Product information page for Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses, including the retail release date. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  4. ↑ Product information page for Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting to Danger, including the status/release date. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  5. ↑ Her Interactive Community Forums post by Inter_Sleuth, announcing SOS and the Dossier series being shelved. Retrieved 25 Mar '22
  6. ↑ Interview with Stuart Moulder, including plans for the Nancy Drew Dossier series. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  7. ↑ Amateur Sleuth Blog post, including comment from L.J. about SOS' status as of April 21, 2017. Retrieved 27 Mar '22
  8. ↑ Amateur Sleuth Blog post, including comment from L.J. about SOS' status as of November 2, 2020. Retrieved 27 Mar '22
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Amateur Sleuth Blog post, including comment from L.J. about how far along in production SOS was. Retrieved 27 Mar '22
  10. ↑ Amateur Sleuth Blog post, with SOS cover art. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  11. ↑ Background photo 1 by Cody Flynn. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  12. ↑ Background photo 2 by Cody Flynn. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  13. ↑ Puzzle background 1 by Jeff Fisher. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  14. ↑ Puzzle background 2 by Zack Rock. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  15. ↑ Art asset by Jeff Fisher. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
  16. ↑ Character concepts by Ayu Othman. Retrieved 26 Mar '22
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