Comments - PhilG

This is the chapter 2 background map (which isn't clear from the description). This one could be better, I think...

Fear not, the mod is alive. It's been going through a quiet period due to real life getting in the way. I am currently in the middle of porting the source files to the Ep2 engine (which is not a trivial task!).

It's very true that almost everyone (male and female) wore a hat when outside during that period.
Currently we don't have hats for the NPC civilians, but we might add them later if we have time.
Of course, then there's the problem that if a civilian gets killed, the hat shouldn't stay stuck on their head (it should be replaced with a physics prop), otherwise it looks strange.

Ah...um....no.

The night-gaunts habit of tickling their victims into submission is one of Lovecraft's less frightening concepts.

They actually originate from a recurring nightmare that he had when he was 6 or 7 about these creatures snatching him from his bed and carrying him off over distant and strange lands.

Well, HP Lovecraft created the fictional city of Arkham, which then served as the inspiration for Gotham City's Arkham Asylum. According to the Wikipedia entry on Arkham Asylum "The Arkham Asylum is named after the fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, found in many of H.P. Lovecraft's short horror and science fiction stories,...". However, Lovecraft used the word 'sanitorium' rather than 'asylum' in his fiction.

Both Lovecraft's and Batman's Arkham Asylum are believed to be based on the real-life Danver's State Hospital, which is believed to be the birthplace of the pre-frontal lobotomy. Truth, as always, is stranger than fiction...

Several of the chapters will take direct inspiration from a Lovecraft story. Innsmouth will appear, but probably not as you expect. As for the Whisperer in Darkness, wait and see...

Yes please. If you can email me some samples of your work (philg (at) xs4all (dot) nl), I am sure that we can use your help.

That's correct. On our ModDB main page, we state that we are re-using a bunch of NPC models from Vampire: Bloodlines just to give ourselves a wide variety of characters. We hope that this will not detract from the story that we are trying to tell...

As with the HL1 Cthulhu mod, you will be visiting lots of locations throughout the course of the story, none of them happy places...

Something you probably don't want to be that close to...

Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed it.
Keep an eye on the sequel, Cthulhu 2, that I am working on with a bunch of other people. Progress is slow, but steady...

Each chapter will take place in a separate location. Some will be in or around Arkham, others will venture further afield.
I can tell you that we won't be taking you to the Antarctic for the Mountains of Madness - sorry!

That's a hard one to answer. It's definitely going to be on the longer side. Each chapter should take at least an hour, I think. I would hate to have spent sooooo long making the damn thing for someone to complete all of it in under 2 hours :-(

There will definitely be boss battles in the mod, but whether the big C himself shows up is something I am not going to answer!

That's a tough one to answer...I'll make a guess for the first release (chapters 1-5):

Coding: 98%
NPCs, Weapons, Props: 80%
Mapping: 75%
Sound: 25%
Choreography: 10%

Hence our need for voice actors & sound effect artists! All the development team spend as much time as they can on the mod, but annoying things like jobs and other commitments keep getting in the way.
The best way to describe it is: progress is slow but steady.

No :-)

The Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol (see the mod banner and the end of the trailer video) first described in Robert W Chamber's book of horror short stories "The King in Yellow", published in 1895.
HP Lovecraft was a great admirer of Chambers and the Yellow Sign has since become inextricably linked with the Cthulhu Mythos.

Long answer to a short question...

I forgot to mention in the description for the trailer that the music is taken from the Midnight Syndicate album "The 13th hour".

Good question!

Well, HP Lovecraft created the fictional city of Arkham, which then served as the inspiration for Gotham City's Arkham Asylum. According to the Wikipedia entry on Arkham Asylum "The Arkham Asylum is named after the fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, found in many of H.P. Lovecraft's short horror and science fiction stories,...". However, Lovecraft used the word 'sanitorium' rather than 'asylum' in his fiction.

Both Lovecraft's and Batman's Arkham Asylum are believed to be based on the real-life Danver's State Hospital, which is believed to be the birthplace of the pre-frontal lobotomy. Truth, as always, is stranger than fiction...

Whoops - it's been a long while since I checked this page.
The mod comes with a walkthrough text file. It is installed in the mod directory.
Hope this helps!

What a wonderful mod, brilliantly designed.

My favourite part was the mannequins, which was really creepy (also reminded me a lot of the 'Weeping Angels' in Dr Who). Inspired!

Be very proud.

I know, I have been watching his posted videos. While painful to watch, it has been very educational in seeing what works and what doesn't.
One thing that he was definitely correct about though; in several places there needed to be a lot more player guidance. Watching a player wandering around going "what do I do now?" is humbling.
Ah well, lots of other people have said they enjoyed it, which makes me happy!

Hi
We definitely are in need of sound effects and voice acting skills.
Send me an email (philg@xs4all.nl) with some description of what you can do, and I will be more than happy to find some stuff for you to try out.
Thanks
PhilG

Hmmm...trying to reply to insomniabob, but my post keeps coming up as a new comment. Oh well...
Read the post below...

We are on the lookout for quality input for this mod.
Contact us via the mod website and let us know what you can do.
Sanity is not a requirement.

Hi
Yes, this mod is still alive. Having said that, progress is very slow, because of jobs and families (my 3 year old son takes up most of my time!). When I did the Cthulhu mod for HL1, I was single and not a parent and boy, does that make a difference.
Check out the website for updates - I am currently working on the map for the area surrounding the Miskatonic University and have made a couple of props. Loki is working on the Arkham Asylum map and animating monsters. NeroTBF is making several props.
I have no idea when we will be finished, but I have no intention of letting it go. It'll be done when it's done :-)

Hi

Just to remind everyone, the mod comes with a Walkthrough, so if you get stuck, have a look in there!

Also, I am working on a sequel (using Half-Life 2), which is listed here at ModDB.com and is hosted at cthulhu2.loke.be. This one will be a direct sequel, starting where this mod finishes and I am developing it as part of a team (no longer a one-man show). Loke is my main partner in crime and has done an excellent website and is doing the 3D modelling (which was never my strong point).
PhilG

Hi
Sorry for the long wait, but I don't check moddb much these days (I mean the mod is a couple of years old now!).
The letter on the table should work as long as your resolution is set to at least 640x480 or higher.
If it is working properly you should just look at it and press use, just like a button.
Regards
PhilG

Hi
The mod comes with a walkthrough included (walkthrough.txt). A shortcut should be created in your start menu. This will tell you where the weapons are.
The first weapon is the swordcane, which is found on a table in Sir Henry's country house near the grandfather clock.
PhilG

Hi
Yep, the intention is that the training level just shows you how to use stuff, but you don't get to keep it when you start the game proper.
It's like the Hazard Course in Half-Life 1 - you get to train using the machine gun, but in the actual game you don't get that weapon until about half way through.
So listen to what the training level is telling you, and then start a new game. You will get all the weapons and spells at some point ;-)
I hope you enjoy it.
Regards
PhilG

Make sure that you have your resolution set to 640x480 or greater, otherwise you won't see anything...