The Lore of Cultist Simulator (Part 1): The Game & The World
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Cultist Simulator was a game released by the developer Weather Factory and released in 2018. It is probably one of the most interesting games I have ever played. It's lore is deep and complex and it deserves to have as much attention as it gets.
Most of the content of this video save my voice aren't my own. I do not own them, nor do I make any such claim. All of the music, and most of the visuals are from the game itself. If this interests you, please go play it.
If this video for some reason interested you, I have plans to make more. Feel free to subscribe or follow me on twitch (www.twitch.tv/aditopian) where I have been known to stream from time to time.
First, I'd like to thank anyone who watched this video, I worked hard on it and I'm looking forward to making more going forward.
Second I'd like to issue two corrections:
The first is the pronunciation of Sulochana Amavasya. I pronounced the ch as /k/, when it would probably be /t͡ʃ/.
The second is that I mentioned that Knock is used in every ritual. This is not entirely true as it is used in every summoning ritual, but not in every ritual. Hopefully, when I go more in depth into rituals I will get a chance to speak more on that specifically.
not to nitpick, but while the CS wiki has 31 headings for endings, there are technically 39, as (SPOILERS AHEAD):
- there are two different anti-victories, Fruitfulness and Where We Go (+1)
- Apostle failures include both dying in a dream-confrontation + a Rival ascending before you and teaming up with the Immortal Enemy (+1)
- standard ascensions include Sensation, Power, and Enlightenment (+2)
- Dancer endings include Old Form, New Form, and Balance (+2)
- there are 3 different types of variant ascensions, one for each standard ascension (+2)
00
You rock.
@@gobbowarboss2914 Thanks!
This is possibly the best video about Cultist Simulator I have ever seen. Thank you so much
We have been waiting for someone like you. We pay you homage, and ask for you to guide us.
Let's nominate him for priest to open us the WAY.
@@lelinskok8923 Agreed brother
Loved how winter had no caption as to encapsulate the silence it represents
I was really hoping someone would notice that. Initially I was debating between that and '...'. Some people thought the lack of quote was a mistake which was a worry for me but I'm glad I went ahead with it. If you look closely It also doesn't fade in as much as the other symbols.
Alexis Kennedy on his writing style:
_'Get in late, leave early, keep the rhythm of choices going. You want people to feel that each time they get to another chunk, it's a fun detail or legit plot beat that's fun to read, not another piece of homework. Story is like water. It's essential, but you don't want to drown in it. And you need to leave space for what the player wants and thinks-without abandoning them to their own devices. I always talk about 'fires in the desert.' The story points you provide are like little stops beside a camp-fire in the night, where you and the player know exactly what's going on. But how the player gets from one of those fires to another, and what it means to them, is up to the player, not you. What happens out in the desert night of the rest of the game belongs to them, and you need to leave your stories open to that.'_ ('Failbetter co-founder Alexis Kennedy on indie storytelling and guest writing for BioWare' for PC Gamer)
AK on worldbuilding:
_'Worldbuilding... I wish we didn't use the word. I've started to be suspicious of it, and I want to persuade you to be suspicious of it too. If you know anything about my work, that'll seem perverse, I know... But my problem isn't with the concept. It's the word we've come to use for the activity of creating story settings. That word drags at the activity like a homicidal small child hanging on a steering wheel, until we swerve off the road into a snowbank... Having an invented language or thousands of years of history doesn't hurt the vitality or appeal of a fictional world. But they're rather beside the point... Dates, king lists, invented languages, and lots of maps... these things aren't the core of secondary creation. They're plumbing. I wouldn't want to live in a building without plumbing. But I wouldn't want to visit a building where the architect had sat down at his desk and said "Okay, this building is all about the plumbing".'_ ('Against Worldbuilding' for gamesindustry.biz)
Thank you for the quotes! They are inspirational🎉
I really love the water simile, so instead of ‘fires in desert’, I wrote up my own version of the said metaphor (incorporating my own ideal and experience in writing):
情节像是世界之下清澈的流水。ta是必要的，但ta不过是没过你的脚踝浅浅地流动。像是一条明确蜿蜒的溪流，从这处流向那处，中间水草丰茂、鱼儿簇拥，你可以抬起眼看看这美丽的大自然，躺在溪边仰望星空。等你享受够了、休息好了，再启程。Plot（情节）会带你穿越崇山和海岸，由高山流向大海，那道路是必然的，就像是旅途中的信标，’finding water’当你探索这片大地、fashionably and deliberately lost了足够久，想要找回前进的路时，那条溪流就在那里等着你，等着你重新找到ta，带着你奔向既定的终局。
thank you, i found this very productive to consider
no offense but i found this unwieldy and a bit self-involved... it takes something simple and elegant in the exact way the description and style he's talking about doesn't, layers unnecessary levels of metaphor all over it, complicating it@@lilithdeandela4824
When you presented the Principles in that circular form, I started thinking about how each one can be converted into the next... And then ti started to look cyclical. From seeing finality, we live and derive comfort. From living, we derive passions. Passions without experience lead to confusion and chaos and dreams. But from confusion, chaos and dreams, we derive understanding. With understanding, we seek to create and shape. When we shape, we need to define. And when we have defined all we could define, we have reached our conclusions in finality. And this entire wheel is predicated on chances and the opening of doors.
Legit never realized how the Principles are connected till now. Greatly appreciate this video as someone who often forgets to take a chill pill and read all the text. Looking forward to more!
11:53 Formula Fissive, my favourite lore fragment. The laws of the world that are known now, and not then, were available to the mystics of old. And we wrested the tools from the invisible arts
I love your use of the sounds. I have very fond memories of the game and its play on language. The sounds bring back these joyful memories
I've never even played this game, but the editing and visuals are awesome! Subscribed.
Thanks! :) It was a honor to have your help gauging the audio!
@@aditopian I didn't do jack - you've got a very good voice and a much stronger command of audio editing than I do
Hell yes. This game needed a lore channel of your caliber, and this is an excellent start!
Lmao, thanks! I appreciate all the kind responses I'm getting, tho it's really not that good
@@aditopian It's very good.
Based and 'Douglas, A Reshaper' pilled
This is incredible, very well told if they ever make a film of Cultist Simulator you need to be the narrator
Thanks 😊, hopefully as my skills and resources grow for audio I can get it even better
I am so glad I found this! When I first played Cultist Sim, I did not realize it had such a solid mythology. I thought it was just scraps of mysteries meant to get the imagination and intrigue going.
Now that Book of Hours is out, I realize that's not true! I was happy to, not only realize my mistake, but that Book oh Hours exists in the same world, and build upon its lore! At that point, I was really eager to find more about the lore!
Thanks for making these videos. I hope you expand them with Book of Hours!
One quick note: the playlist is not sorted correctly.
Thanks! 😊
Also I changed the playlist order, that should fix it
Thank you so much for giving attention to this masterpiece.
If you allow me to indulge myself, I really like the author's choice of imagery, both in large aspects and in small details. The principles might be arbitrary, but after seeing them once, you can't help but start seeing them everywhere. And the archetypal symbols make the ideas so vivid.
The Wood around Mansus, where everything is dark and confusing, reminds me of shallow dreams. The idea of secret histories borders between conspiracy theories and parallel universes.
It feels like everything in the game might just be real, you know. That's a rare thing in fiction.
Yea I know. It's the fealing of nonsense giving sense or something along those lines. I fell into that hole myself so I should know.
It is so SO great to revisit this series of lore drives after 100%ing the game. I wish you continue this series because it is honestly fantastic! Anyways I'll go watch the other two videos and hope for more.
@@mhmmadaluoll1910 I want to make more of these and also remake these ones with newer better audio, but I’ve kinda got writers block on that front
You can really tell the two developers have done a lot of reading on various real world systems, and I love how they throw it all into one big atmospheric RNG mish-mash. Cultist Simulator really does capture the path of the adept.
Great presentation and a welcome deep dive into the game and the subtle clues in its writing.
You mention in the beginning that Cultist Simulator was a modest success; however, I would give it more credit, given that it was developed by two people in a short time (a year and a half or so) and treated to many post-launch updates, quite a number of content DLC's (rather than cosmetic ones) for an indie game, a mobile port and localization to many languages. There are AAA games that spend years in development, employ dozens if not hundreds of people, run enormous budgets, sell millions of copies and still fail.
Ah, this was delightful to watch. I am oddly attached to the people and principles in Cultist Simulator. When you were showing people belonging to different aspects, I was waiting to see Enid. Ah, Enid. She sees things others don't. It's getting harder for her. She was the one who opened so many doors for me.
the book of hours is coming but we have no clue when it will be available , looking forward to it
Wonderful opera.
Your charismatic voice along the armonious editing made it possible to have a peek at this game's true beauty.
Can't wait for your next showoff...
I do not usually leave comments on UA-cam videos but I simply had to this time. This game absolutely deserves to have videos upon videos exploring its lore and I'm so happy to see it done finally. Your voice fits so well with the tone of the game and it's lore. I could listen to you speak for hours. Well done! You have earned a new subscriber and I'm excited to see more from you!
Awesome Video! As well as thank you for doing what many of use wanted to be done, Lore videos.
Obsessed with this game at the moment and there really isn't that many individuals covering its deep narrative. Can't wait for part 2!
Beautifully done! Thank you so much for this. So fun to know that others out there are enjoying this deliciousness too.
Amazing video, really fits the vibe of the game with how everything was presented and connected. I can't wait for the following part(s) keep up the amazing work!
Really enjoyed this! I played a ton of cultist simulator and this was great refresher and deeper analysis on the lore. Book of Hours is already sucking me back into Weather Factory's world building. Thanks for this great analysis and Im excited to watch parts 2&3!
This was bloody excellent, especially the dive into the principles. For me, the subversion of grail to moth is the least well understood. But then, it should only make sense that the nonsensical be opaque as the blood of the grail.
_think of it this way: Grail is hunger, right? wanting something you don't have. thing is, Grail is never satisfied, and eventually its honey begins to spoil. the lush forests become tangled, the pleasurable becomes ever more out of reach._
_eventually, you begin wanting something you can't even touch. the buzzing in the brain. and that's where we come in._
*'Interviews With The Invisible', Venice, Italy, December 1928*
@@marinveloso6083 Is this from Lady afrerwards or Exile? I don't have frist one and didn't fully explored the second one. Or was this a book that I forgot about?
Just let me, please, say that i love this game and found your vídeo great. One can see how much effort you made tô achive this.
I loved It and cant wait for the sequence.
Omg YES!! Someone finally did a lore video about this game. Great stuff
Well Done! and the only corrections i wanted to suggest you have already noted yourself in the comment, so all I can do is congratulate you on a good birds-eye view summary of the game and its components.
I've tried so hard to dig into the lore of this game. I've only really managed to find details somewhat deeper than those in this video. Whenever I've tried to dig a little deeper than this it truly becomes maddening, which I suppose is the full intention of the writers of cultist simulator.
True, there are the wikis (there are multiple). If you haven't seen them I highly recomend them.
"There are Seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient." I often think about this Tokugawa Ieyasu quotation when I look at the different principles. Secret Histories, of course, the most powerful of all- as it is history which gives us the language that gives birth to the very ideas and principles we discuss- it is the vessel in which all other principles participate out of. Alexis Kennedy, for my money, is the 21st century Gene Wolfe- he makes interactive literary masterpieces.
Currently playing Book of Hours. Can't even imagine the amount of work put into this, and you still make all the information so easy and a treat to digest. Thank you!
I do want to note that the hours don't just *shape* reality, they *are* the aspects of reality they have domain over. Or at least it seems that way from everything I've seen.
so what about the hours that were originally people like the Colonel and Mother of Ants, did their aspects of reality not exist before then, or did they like supplant reality when they ascended or something
@@acblook The lore is not particularly clear there, but based on the rest I'd be inclined to say yes, they are supplanting parts of the world as they take power from whichever hour embodied that aspect of reality before.
@@acblook didn't the wolf come before the colonel?
After I finished my first Cultist Simulator run this was the perfect video to sate my thirst for more of its brilliant lore. This games writing is just so good and I hope youl keep this series going.
This video is amazingly done, can't wait for further parts! I really hope you'll get around to explaining the story of the Hours as well.
I'm 1 minute into the video but I just wanted to say I am very pleasantly surprised by the production value!
Thanks! I really worked hard to make sure it sounded and looked good, so it’s great to know people are appreciating that!
For a game like this, one would assume there would be a lot discussion videos. There aint many and yours are the best among the few. Please keep up the good work!
This is really cool, I am looking forward to your future uploads. BTW, how long did this take to make? It is very good.
Thanks! And sorry for the late reply. It took from around February to June. Though I also wasn't working on it 24/7 and there were times where I couldn't do much of anything because of work and school. If I had to guess how much time was actually spent making it, I might say a few weeks of truly productive effort spread throughout that time. Hopefully, I can take what I learned making this one and get the next one out a bit faster than that though!
Can't wait for part 2!
Man please do more. It is great!
I certainly plan on it
This truly does justice to the lore. Eager to hear more from you!
Can you do one huge video about everything we know about cultist Simulator lore please?! I love these videos ❤
I’m currently planning on eventually going back and doing an updated version of the series with better audio and newer lore from the Book of Hours, but imma wait a bit before then and work on some other projects first
In a movie i love Unfortunate Events 2004, Enola, Sherlock Holmes. That's why when i first try this game i feel something the same as watching those movies ❤
Fantastic introduction into the lore and wonderful video! Can't wait to hopefully see even more of this series. Alas all I can offer is a like, comment and sub for the algorithm worms.
12:09 why ya gotta do my boy Laidlaw dirty like that?
joking aside, this is very well done
This was quite an enjoyable video
You just helped me remember what aspect subverts to which one, so a very useful video
Such knowledge and style. It suits thee
Phenomenal voicework
I encourage you to make part 2!
I don't know how I ended up here, but you got a sub here! It was a really interesting video!
Ive been waiting fot this video for years. I beg you to not stop before all is made clear.
Love from a TheBurgerKrieg and Vaush fan!
Great first video! Can’t wait to delve more into the world of Cultist Simulator!
Be prepared since fascination is a dangerous thing.
@@lelinskok8923 hahah at least it isn’t despair 😩 You get that like every three seconds lol
Saliba and Douglas have the best character descriptions imo
I'm quite the fan of Ysabet and Cat Caro, personally
Thank you for the brilliant video
THIS WAS SO WELL EDITED!!!
This video is all I wanted from Internet. Thanks a lot. Please make more!!
Listening to this while doing some art based off the game, heavily enjoy the narration and the visuals for the video. Good stuff!
Ah! A scholar whom which J. Sinombre has hoped for! Our light! Guide us to the Mansus!
Great video, great concept! New subscriber here.
You're gonna be famous one day with this kind of effort and knowledge 🙏
I like this. Thank you
l really want to watch this, but I'm scared I'll get too spoiled ;-;
I guess I'll come back after _another_ one hundred hours of playtime.
@@moroi3397 spoilers aren’t really something to worry about, this is about the background lore, it shouldn’t affect the game experience too much, tho I understand if you wanna play it safe
Excellent video.
Yours truly - Matthew
Loved it! Looking forward to more
Great video! Can't wait to see more from you!
Great video!
GOD FINNALLY
Back here again, your video truly is a great introduction, Bird or Worm?
Man, you are amazing, I was thinking of making a video about the lore of the game for the people who live here in Brazil and dont understand english like I do... I'll for sure mention you, I already sub to your channel and I wish Someday we can chat abou this game and other things, thanks for your awesome video, and Im already waiting for the next one, be safe.
Thanks! That sounds really cool! If you’re making a video for Portuguese speakers I’ll have to keep an eye out for that cause I’ve got some friends who I could send it to!
Love the video!
I found this and I love it and I really hope you make new videos because of Book of Hours.
This is probably the best of all the games that I only wanted to like.
The worldbuilding and writing are fantastic. But the actual gameplay of watching timers go down and bruteforcing your way to find out which thing is allowed to go into which other thing is its own kind of horror. My frustration is probably the intended experience but it was just a bit too much. Which is a shame, because I wanted to experience more of the good parts - but at some point it felt like some kind of ascent of knives...
cant wait to see more of this series
finally a lore video!
Love this vid
Well when I still played this game I got bit too much into it and well....Fascination is a dangerous thing. I got absorbed into this game it's lore and everithing around it. This is a first video I found that hints at the lore of game but still leaves a lot of things to explore about the world. So I have to say nice job about everithing in there.
My personal favourite begining/ending is Medium/Rememberance. (Priest/Treshold is close second) What is yours?
This makes me realise i have been pronouncing half of the characters' names and place names differently in my head
Great video, well done. This game indeed carries such thorough and profound lore and it is beautifully put together in the video.
Do you think the Lone and Level Sands and The Evening Isles also correspond to real locations? I thought about Northern Africa and the Caribbean (I saw in the wiki that the Rending Mountains probably refer to Zagros mountains).
Thanks for posting this, I always want to know the story but I'm so lazy and I keep forgetting to write the things I see
I desperately want someone to write a story following their cult set in this world!!
This is amazing. subscribed!
Lollll bought this game about a week ago. Fing love it. Nice to see a vid on it.
Btw i think the strongest evidence of the game being centred around London is Teresa tell you she wrote one of her books while ironically living by Camden Lock
What a remarkable video ! Fascinating
Here's a cool way of thinking about the cycle: *moth* is restlessness that leads to --- > *lantern* as realization/knowledge moths fly towards flames which evoke - - - > *forge* where the physical fruits of knowledge are made such as --- > *knives* which can be used to accomplish some kind of end such as --- > *winter,* the death of summer and a living being which can them be harvested for it's --- > *heart* and it's vitality and sustenance in general which is then consumed in a --- > *Grail* which leads to hunger and restlessness like that of the *moth.*
Knock is at the center because all transformation open the way to further transformation.
love this man! I have played through the game many times and I always knew there was an actual deeper lore but I was too retarded to ever fully piece it together. This vid is perfect!
Thanks! I'm hard at work on part two right now and hopefully it'll be even better!
I am impressed by the quality of this video, hoping for a part 2 :3
This game was so frustrating to me and made me feel stupid because no matter how much I played it or adopted different strategies I always ended up dying. Really wanted to give it a go and spent hours trying to figure out out, but alas
Very well presented. Excellent work.
I rarely comment but well done video! I cant wait for more!
Good lord, your video on the Hours (if you make one) would need to be an Hour Long to cover all the Names there are.
I'm not sorry.
Don’t remind me. I’m definitely dreading that one. I’m tempted to split it up to avoid it taking too long to make.
@@aditopian That's fair
woah such a good video
Magnifique
Super COOL. ty.
I bought the mobile version recently, and as much as I thoroughly enjoy the gameplay so far I feel like I need the lore broken down for me in video because I'm just trying not to die lmao
Fascinating video!
i would love to see a layperson, or someone without imagination, try to decipher this intentionally ambiguous lore in universe. I feel like you'd have to subscribe to the simplest principles to get anything done