Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (Windows)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (Windows).

Promotional Screenshots#

Some of the screenshots used to advertise the game on the publisher's website contain differences to the final version. ¹

Promo	Unused	Used

Zoomed-in version of this unused view of the stairs (note the shading under the tapestry and the picture frame).

Promo	Used

The lamps became brighter, the pattern on the ceiling was changed and the doors were fully closed. Despite not appearing in-game, this unused view of the hallway can be seen on the inside cover of the physical release ² and other promotional materials.

Promo	Used

The wood part of the wall is lighter in the pre-release screenshot (similar to other early shots of the Parlor that were left in the files), some decorations were moved and some of the framed pictures are different.

Trailer#

(Note: The trailer originally appeared on Her Interactive's website ³ as part of a TV background image, which is the reason for the overlay in the video. There doesn't seem to be a version in a higher resolution than 144p.)

Watch on YouTubeThe 2000 trailer for Message in a Haunted Mansion contains some differences to the final game.

• No view of San Francisco is present in the final.
• The framed picture of Rose in the parlor is absent, replaced with a different picture in the released version.
• A photo of Rose is used during the final game's intro sequence, however it has a different frame, pose & background and is shown on top of Nancy's letter.
• The shot of some jars breaking is only partially used, during the seance. (It can sort of be viewed by going to scene 8601 using the debug menu, but it's buggy and crashes the game.)
• The crystal ball "smoke" has a reddish hue instead of being yellow.
• Characters in the trailer are suspiciously still and the only character who moves, Louis, has much jerkier movement than in the final game. This might suggest animations weren't finished at this point in development yet.
• Oddly enough, the start of the video has a mansion that looks like the one in the final version, while the ending has one more similar to the unused version.

References#