i always feel Lovecraft popping up in these games, not so much the obvious like "Dunwich" in Fallout 3 but just the way the story is handled. especially the cults and MQ in Morrowind.

but i just stumbled across Hackdirt for the first time and the first overwhelming feeling I got was that it reminded me of Innsmouth, so I decided to see what would happen if I rented a room for the night and, as i was expecting, i was attacked within an hour of falling asleep! Not to mention their "Bible of the Deep Ones"

so i looked up Hackdirt on UESP to see what the deal was, and lo and behold, "The village and quest appear to be based on the town of Innsmouth from the novella A Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft."

:D obviously the guys at gamesas read a lot of Lovecraft!

I love that quest, I heard there was a book on it but never got around to reading it. If I know the story of the quest does it ruin the book?

I need to read me some Lovecraft!.

Theres a fantastic potential for a lovecraftian horror rpg..... I play a boardgame (cooperative) based on HP lovecraft that is really cool.

I'm part way through a lovecraft anthology. The Dark Brotherhood could be a reference to HPLs work too but then it's a commonly used name. I think Haermaeus Mora (apologies if the spelling is wrong) is supposed to look like an insane C'Thulu sort of creature

I think the Grummites too are based on one of Lovecraft's creations.

His daedric artifact is in fact a book, and this daedra sees all to become.

Does nobody play the "Cthulu" game Bethesda is selling? I will probably play it eventually, just trying to milk Oblivion for all it is worth . . .

Agree that Hackdirt feels very Innsmouth, and some of the cults a bit Lovecraftian.

I probably read pretty close to everything Lovecraft wrote when I was a teenager. The one that sticks out in my memory is "The Mountains of Madness."

I am another big Lovecraftian fan. Funny you mention The Mountains of Madness Anthropoid, because that has always been my favorite Lovecraft story. I was so geeked when I discovered Hackdirt!

I did try Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth a long time ago. It was buggy on my system, and I had trouble just walking around and seeing things. I was never able to get past the very beginning of the game. I am thinking of trying it again however. I have a different box now, and a different monitor. So hopefully it might run better.

And note, the quest that involves the town is called "A shadow over Hackdirt", so yeah, definitely.

It does make sense that the Hackdirt quests are inspired by a writer. That quest does have a different feel than many others for sure.

I've never actually read any H.P. Lovecraft, maybe I should check him out!

Lovecraft wrote mostly short stories for magazines, with a few novellas like At The Mountains of Madness. So you will mainly find compilations of his work. Good starting points for short stories to read are Pickman's Model, The Outsider, The Shadow Out Of Time, Rats in the Walls, The Whisperer In Darkness, At The Mountains of Madness and of course The Call of Cthulhu. There are so many it is hard to point out only a few.

Awesome thanx! I'm heading over to my library soon so I'll keep this in mind.

no disrespect to Lovecraft fans - but just reading the Wiki write-up, I think the Hackdirt story line is much better than the inspiration behind it.

Bethesda, however, really should have created a foggy cloud of permanent mist to conceal Hackdirt and add to that atmospheric isolation.

I'll mention again though, my assertion, that if you stare at the Hackdirt wall hangings - like in Moslin's Inn - you can make out the shape of 'bodies' in the bulges and patterns. Can you imagine the horror of that.......

Lovecraft is like a Geeks version of a romance novel: totally over the top, escapist, atmospheric. If you are in the mood for anything remotely resembling realistic or concrete, it will probably disappoint. But if you are feeling a bit dreamy, imaginiatively open, and ready to have the vague outlines of something shudderingly, spine-tinglingly horrofic lurking in the shadows, oozing slime, uttering obscene ancient riddles in unspoken tongues, summoning vile forms . . . that sorta thing, you'll love it.

woah everybody reads lovecraft! that makes me so happy

but i realized another one! i just did the Benirus manor quest in Anvil, and as I was completing it I realized that it really resembles the lovecraft story "The Shunned House" (what with the demonic presence dwelling underneath and draining the life energy of the living & haunting the house)

oh and a BIG TIME laugh at Rick -- wikipedia is real handy isn't it! go read a book!

I don't

I've never done that quest sadly, likewise I've never been to the Dunwich building in Fallout (which is probably just as well, the metro tunnels creep me out).

I'll definitely make a note to gently nudge one of my characters that way though, I love Lovecraft (haha). I bought "The Necronomicon" (a compilation, I think it's all of his work, but I'm not sure) a while back and I'm slowly reading through it. It blows my mind.

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=756f2b031031388901b4ecf1818e0aad&topic=481.0

I'm gonna start a thread in the Spoilers section. I wanna know if there is more to this Hackdirt quest than I've found out so far or not.