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Will there be Cthulu references?
Haribo78
Member Posts: 2
I've not seen any Cthulu like mobs or NPCs in screenshots yet, wondered if anyone else had? Would be nice to see some references in a quest or 2 like there was in some of the stories.
Comments
Here is a reply I made to someone asking the same question in another thread. It has links to artwork and vidoes that have Cthulhu stuff in it....
I think you will be pleased. I have been reading Howards original stories over and over for the last three months, and in my opinion, each of REHs stories have at least some reference to the Cthulhu mythos.
In fact, while I was researching a little while back I came accross an entry somewhere (of course cannot find the sources) that the Hyborean age was actually Lovecraft's universe set back in the far past (10,000 BC), and that the folk of that time didn't immediately flip the brain pan when they came in contact because contact with the cosmic critters was a bit more prevalent, and Freud hadn't been born yet.
Here are some links to good info on the connections between Conan and Lovecraft...
The Kings of the Night: Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos, by G. W. Thomas
Wikipedia's Reference to Howard in the Cthulhu Mythos
Wikipedia's Entry on the 'Lovecraft Circle' Under REHs entry
Also here some things from AOC which are evidence of Cthulhu influence...
Renders of the Black Ones...
http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=img_full&func_id=1252&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT
http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=img_full&func_id=1253&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT
A still from the E3 2006 Conan Trailer...Cthulhu's cousin Earl shows up at the end...
http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=img_full&func_id=1223&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT
The whole video, just because it rocks
http://www.gamershell.com/tv/1833.html
Hope this helps!
Howard and Lovecraft were pen-pals, they traded ideas while they were writing.
Unfortuntately, Funcom didn't get the rights to include any material directly from the Cthulhu mythos, but they'll likely have things that are reminiscent of Lovecraft's influence in the game (like his cousin Earl in the video of the above post
) since that stuff was incorporated into Howard's writing.
Well...it would be hard to have the proper mindset.
See, Cthulu and the Great Ancients...there is an insanity concept here. I am also unsure how you could turn that to be interesting in the long term, cause clearly, you shouldn't play the same character for more than a month or two (with a few exceptions been extremely funny, but by no way uber). I am more thinking in the term of developping a village maybe, the tools(character) are expandable, your village is what really matter. Instead of leveling up your character, you might be "leveling up" your village...and what does that means exactly? There are soo many ways to do this...
Seeing old characters running insane and mumbling weird and incomprehensible stuff (worser than me) would be just normal and natural.
You would need an HORROR factor, and definitely very little combats, if any.
Cthulu would be a great setting. Not for a fighting game. Not for a genocide game. For an insanity game! Muahahahaha...ralala...pouet pouet!
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I always love comparing protagonists from the two authors. Lovecraft's main character end up in a padded cell (if they're lucky) while Howard's heroes end up with the hot babe (where they always get lucky!
)
Your right. I was considering it more...litterally.
Althought the idea that my character cannot ever be better than at start (little exageration, but not much) could also be appealing depending on the other features of the game...aka, if the focus is not on my character(s), but on something else.
It could be a funny jab at every other MMO. On the tutorial you kill a wolf (automated), but at the end, if you meet a wolf when exhausted/older, your character died.
(could have 30 years jump in a Lovecraft setting, as you would be developping something, rather than be the characters, so you can move ahead and backward in time).
Lovecraft setting would prolly require more work, as you wouldn't be just around a fighting setting...the fights and the characters would be secondaries. For example, it could be the developpment of a village or whatever, which would turn the green lush forest to a damp city eventually, connecting villages to villages and so on, the world would become darker and worser...yet you would developp YOUR village and it would become stronger and more uber...at the expanse of nature...all fitting for Lovecraft setting...maybe you would have more characters available as you developp, and more "class options". I see this as a "strategy" or "puzzle" type of game, and playing with small group/solo as much as possible...and crossing other peoples villages all the time, since all these villages represent 1 player, in the world...of course some villages would stop developping, be dormant...just as in RL...maybe a dormant village could be assimilated and integrated by his neighbors (and the player would get the same elsewhere if he returns 3 years later, so he doesn't "lose" his achievements).
I actually find it incredibly hilarious to see my characters get the shaft and weaker all the time, as I developp something else...seeing an old character which I ditch wasting his time at the tavern! LOL. Why take your level 5 soldier if you now can take a sergeant instead (leveling up should both be good, and a curse, weaker and stronger aspect...assuming the toon is not completely nut). Yeah...seeing an industrialised zone take over green pastures would definitely fit the bills.
EDIT: Would prolly need a warning for the players: DO NOT ATTACH YOURSELF TO YOUR CHARACTERS ON AN EMOTIONAL LEVEL. It has to be clear, so nobody is confused...the tutorial would actually prolly need you to lose a few characters in dumb ways...and the leveling should focus on both, what you wins and what you lose! With a reminder that you can always pick a new character and leave that one at the Inn. I already see overpopulated Brothels with tons of ex-cuties. :P You know what time does too big boobies girls? :P
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I believe the catholic church in rome who is rumored to having the original necronomicon bound in human flesh would call this blasphemy. Sumerian's rejoice!
Nice post cpauls, thankyou. I couldn't get the image links to work though, just got some script language type error.
Was awesome to see that E3 trailer, I hadn't seen it before. I'm really excited to do missions in AoC that would have me end up on a quest such as the Conan story I remember where he meets that creature with an elephant like face that was screaming Lovecraft. As a fan of both genres I hope they keep the style of the books.
Anofalye
I didn't really mean if the game would appear to be in the Cthulhu universe or follow a Lovecraftian horror story line. I was more interested that in the Conan books monsters and side references were often heavily based on Lovecraft's idea of monsters and sometimes based on his Cthulhu universe. But it was nothing more than a reference the same as we saw the Alien skull in a Predator ship in Predator 2. I still want a Conan game but if I saw a Cthulhu tentacled scary boss monster I might squeel with delight
For examples I mean like the end boss Shub-Niggurathin from Quake 1 or the monster at the end of the Hellboy movie. If you ever read the Hellboy comics the whole way way he came to be was unashamadly a Lovecraft based story. I really enjoyed these poetic use of Lovecraft's style.
Intriguing - I never knew of this relationship. A bit of Cthulu would of course be very welcome in any MMO... and interesting to see it in a high fantasy scenario.
Sorry, that bad link was from the old website. here is another link...
http://www.mmoz.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=480
Well Funcom am also making the secret world, a mmo rumoered to by directly in cthulhu
http://www.massively.com/2007/11/16/in-development-the-secret-world/
so it wouldent be to difficult for them to put abit of cthulhu in AOC, which woulbd great