Alone in the Dark

Developed and published by Infogrames, Alone in the Dark first appeared for MS-DOS in 1992. Designed by Frédérick Raynal, it established the Derceto setting that later entries in the series would revisit. The game combines an adventure structure with real-time encounters against supernatural threats.

The story takes place in 1920s Louisiana at Derceto, the isolated mansion of artist Jeremy Hartwood. Hartwood's death is ruled a suicide, but the house has a reputation for a sinister past. The investigation leads through its rooms, attics, and underground areas while documents and objects reveal details about Derceto's former occupants and the forces connected to the estate.

At the beginning, the player chooses between two protagonists. Edward Carnby is a private investigator sent to recover a piano for an antiques dealer, while Emily Hartwood is Jeremy's niece, looking for evidence about her uncle's death. Their introductions differ, but each character explores the same mansion and pursues a route out of it.

Exploration is shown from fixed viewpoints that change as the player moves between parts of a room. Three-dimensional polygonal characters, enemies, and objects appear over two-dimensional rendered backgrounds. This presentation lets each screen frame a portion of the mansion while the player controls the character's movement and interactions.

Progress depends on examining rooms, opening and closing doors, moving selected objects, reading papers and books, and using found items in the appropriate places. The layout opens in stages: the initial attic and upper floor sequence gives way to more of the mansion, and later events lead below Derceto. Some obstacles have a direct item-based solution, while others involve avoiding a danger or understanding how it behaves.

The game includes an inventory with limited carrying capacity measured by the weight of the objects held. Puzzle items, restorative supplies, readable clues, and weapons all occupy that inventory, so players decide what to keep or drop. Discarded objects can remain available for recovery, including objects required for later progress.

Combat occurs alongside the investigation rather than replacing it. Carnby or Emily can use unarmed attacks and locate firearms and other weapons, but ammunition and healing supplies are finite. Certain enemies can be defeated conventionally, whereas others require a specific response or are best bypassed.

Alone in the Dark is commonly identified as an early foundation of the survival-horror form. Its combination of a haunted-house setting, scarce resources, puzzle-led progression, fixed camera views, and polygonal figures over pre-rendered scenery became a point of reference for later games in the genre, including Capcom's Resident Evil.