Sanatorium is the 1st map in the Slenderman's Shadow series, released in August, 2012.
In Sanatorium you play as a middle aged man who, from the intro sounds like he is running from something, there is also an unlocking sound which might be him entering the Sanatorium and since another sound similar is heard after, that can be assumed it was a locking sound, entering the complex to possibly hide from that something. Like the game it is based on, Slender, the goal is to collect 8 pages scattered in a derelict asylum, instead of a forest. The pages are located about the facility, but unlike Slender and future installments of the series, the pages do not move or randomize to different parts of the map.
Your character is armed with nothing but a flashlight, similar to the original Slender. The flashlight is capable of illuminating anything in front of you, and is controlled with the camera controls. The player is armed with no other items, and has no defense until the player has collected the 8 pages. Once that happens, the player can take out a pistol and attempt to shoot the Slender Man, but this has been removed in the newer versions.
The player must collect all 8 pages and escape the sanatorium before being captured by the Slender Man. Fortunately the pages stand out very brightly and are very easily visible. [1]
In the Unity remake, pages do randomize and have changed to a brown colour, sometimes difficult to see.
Sanatorium Alpha[]
On September 23 2021, a pre-release version of Sanatorium was dug up by Marc Steene. It was compiled on August 3 2012. What's interesting to note is that it was originally called "The Sanatorium". The map is vastly different from the one in the full release. The pages are on the floor instead of on the wall, and six of the eight rooms that have pages have different textures, whereas the other two share the same texture as the rest of the building. Once the player collects a page, the thumping sounds will start playing like normal, but the ambience will not cut out like in the other games. The death sound is also very different, and the game will simply close itself once the player gets caught.
In this version, the normal FPS Creator menu will appear when the game is launched, and the game can also be paused by pressing Escape. Saving and loading is also possible, but it will reset the page counter, making it impossible to beat the game if it is loaded from a file where the player has already collected more than one page.
Once the player collects all 8 pages, the music will cut out, and Slender will disappear, leaving the player free to explore the building. The player does not need to escape the building, making this the only Slenderman's Shadow game to not have a definitive ending.
Trivia[]
- This is the first map in the Slenderman's Shadow Series.
- The gun used in v.9.5 was a golden Desert Eagle, but was then changed to what looks like a USP.45.
- Marc has found a very early version of this map on a forum which has been dubbed the "Alpha" version. Footage of it can be seen here.
- The versions that have been discovered are v1.1, v1.2, v1.2.5, v1.3, v1.31 and v1.4, but v.9.5 and v1.0 have not been found and is probably lost to time.
- The gun was only available from v1.0 to v1.2.5. In version v1.3, the gun was removed and a new ending was added, where you have to get back to the elevator you spawn at.
- In v1.31 and earlier, the camera has a slight movement when standing still. This no longer appears in v1.4
- If the player shoots Slenderman, there is a short after note in which the player says that they become Slenderman.
- The after note reads: "I did it. I had escaped the nightmare that was hunting me. Or so it seemed. It was then that I discovered Slenderman does not let his victims escape. He only chooses to. I have taken his physical body, and in doing so, he has taken my mind. I am Slenderman."
- In the Alpha version, sound clips from PewDiePie can be heard. These possibly play if Slenderman is right behind the player. The sounds were later reused in the removed PewDiePie minigame.
- In the Alpha version, Slender can occasionally be seen floating above the map.
- In the Alpha version, the models for Slender and the pages will occasionally turn transparent.
- In versions v1.0 to v1.3, the blood on the pages looked like drawn blood rather than actual blood. This was changed in v1.31 where the blood looks more realistic.
- There is a bug in this map where the player can collect pages through walls.
- In versions v1.0 to v1.3, the "nowhere to run, nowhere to hide" page was written as "no where to run, no where to hide", making this the only page to differentiate between versions text-wise.
- This is the first map to be indoors.
- This is first Slenderman's Shadow map where the player has to collect pages.
- This is the first time the player plays as a man, unlike in the first and second Slender games.
- Slender Man's model is different from Parsec's Slender. He has visible hands, longer arms and legs.
- There is not a sniper rifle in Sanatorium, as seen in a trailer for the map. It was used for a PewDiePie minigame the player could unlock by beating the game or typing 'brofist' while playing. The minigame was removed before release because it made the file size too big, though. This results in the player being sent to a screen saying "Game Complete" if typing 'brofist' is attempted.
- Slender Man can apparently move in this map, as he actually slides inside rooms and in front of doorways, creating a new type of scare for players. However it was found to be a glitch and was supposedly fixed in the latest version of the old map.
- This is the first and only Slenderman's Shadow map where you can shoot the Slender Man.
- This is the fourth map to have randomised item locations. This happened in the Unity remake.
- This is the sixth map to introduce glowsticks. This happened in the Unity remake.
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