{"id":137,"date":"2025-08-25T10:14:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T10:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foolhardyhorizons.com\/?p=137"},"modified":"2025-08-25T10:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T10:14:50","slug":"the-cathedral-beckons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foolhardyhorizons.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/25\/the-cathedral-beckons\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cathedral beckons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s about time we told you about our debut project: Cathedral of Sorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cathedral is a year-long passion project. It\u2019s an experimental game using AI to give you a completely new experience. And to share the most exciting part: It\u2019s going to be available completely free of charge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are giving you the chance to experience the Cathedral without cost for three reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Development was started as a graduation project at the National Film School of Denmark, meaning that all our great actors agreed to take part in the project at school-budget friendly rates and generous terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the artists, designers and programmers who helped bring you this experience since 2021 worked for free on the project as part of their education at various institutions, and profiting from their work without sharing it would not be fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want the game to reach as many players as humanly possible to honor the work of all these amazing people who volunteered their time and labor to this weird project and showcase their efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is the game actually about?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cathedral of Sorrow is a mechanics-light experience. More Mouthwashing<\/a> than Resident Evil. Your tools for fighting back against The Entity are very limited. But as you adapt to the rules that govern the Cathedral you will be able to survive long enough to pillage its secrets. And if not; you can always go again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game is procedurally generated every time you die or exit the game and you will never be able to memorize the layouts of the level. But death is merely a setback in the Cathedral; and all your story progression is saved and carried across your attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As all good horror does, Cathedral explores the horrors of the human psyche. As you learn the fate of Thomas and the other inhabitants of the Cathedral, you\u2019ll explore how our greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide in a story about AI and grief. If you survive long enough to learn the secrets of the Cathedral, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the labyrinth that Thomas Ward finds himself unable to escape; we developers of the Cathedral project have been fighting to finish this game since it\u2019s original conception in 2021. All story development, systems design, gameplay systems and about 80 minutes minutes of motion capture was in a somewhat decent state as we left the National Film School of Denmark in 2022. But it was not in a state where we felt it honored the work of the more than 20 people who had so generously labored to bring the project to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have spent lonely nights after work chipping away at polishing all that animation. We\u2019ve spent weekends divining the entrails of gameplay systems through unholy haruspicy<\/a> with our debuggers. And with the launch of our new Foolhardy venture; we decided this should be the project we want to introduce ourselves to the world with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through the next couple of weeks until we launch later this year, we\u2019ll be sharing more insights about the game. We\u2019ll show you how one person managed to (barely) stay sane despite wrangling more than an hour of motion capture footage. We\u2019ll show you the guts of the wicked machine learning system governing the game. And we\u2019ll bring you back to those more innocent Film School days where we improvised the script and co-wrote it with the help of the amazing actors of the Cathedral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cannot wait to unleash the Cathedral on you all. For you to experience Magnus Bruun\u2019s (Eivor in Assassin Creed: Valhalla) haunting performance as our protagonist Thomas. For you to experience a horror game governed by an AI algorithm. And to share this curse that has haunted us for years with the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cathedral beckons. Wishlist it today to be notified when we release!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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