Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

124 ratings
Call of Cthulhu: DCotE Game Fix (All in one package! :D)
By Blair Bunny
An all in one package for the most-used fixes for the game (ENB Bloom + SweetFX + the DCotE v1.5 Patch fix) plus an easy-to-understand explanation with how to get it all set up!
4
6
2
   
Award
Favorite
Favorited
Unfavorite
Getting Started
First off, I have to give MAJOR props to the user Dr Nilsson for pretty much creating the whole guide to fixing this broken game and making it better for those still wanting to enjoy it to this day.

Here, my goal is to create a somewhat simpler guide to getting everything setup and provide all of the things you would need to get the game set up in one folder that's easy to access and pull from. In trying to get everything set up myself, I found it to be a bit difficult to understand what to do, but after looking around and making adjustments, I found it to be a lot easier than I anticipated. This guide is just for those who may find the explanation for SweetFX to be a bit overwhelming, or any other part, and help to provide straightforward instructions to getting the game up and running and looking gorgeous!

------------------------------------------------------

All sources will be linked at the bottom of the guide for anyone who may need them.

Here is the link to the .zip folder you will need to download:
Call of Cthulhu Mods[drive.google.com]

Let's get started!
Stuff To Note
First off, I want to make one thing clear. The patch is the main thing that everyone will be wanting to use for this. It fixes just about every game breaking bug that that has been discovered and makes it pretty much 100% playable. The other two files you will see in the folder are the ENB Bloom & SweetFX mods for the game. These are only visual "upgrades" to the game and are only here to make the game look smoother, cleaner, and brighten the colors and make the environment stand out. Even though these are not necessary, I would HIGHLY recommend using them if you want to experience this game properly. They add SO MUCH to the environment and immerse you even further into the wonderful game that is Call of Cthulhu: DCotE.

PLEASE keep in mind that this guide is written in order of how these modifications should be installed. You DO NOT want to install the Patch first, you want it to come last! The ENB Bloom mod has to replace the original .exe (the file type used for opening the application) and this could make things wonky with the Patch install since it pulls from the .exe. SO, with that said, the guide will be covering the ENB Bloom and SweetFX mods FIRST, then the patch, exactly in order as you should do it.

Also, you CANNOT use the SweetFX mod UNLESS YOU HAVE THE ANTIALIASING SETTINGS SET TO "NONE"! Please keep this in mind before playing! ;^.^
ENB Bloom mod
So we're going to start off first with the ENB Bloom mod. This mod is going to make the dull colors of the game stand out and be more vivid and purrdy. You will like it. I like it. Everybody likes it. It's the BEST. You know it, I know it, it's just the BEST.

For those who don't know, you ARE going to have to dig through some files for this ♥♥♥♥, so get ready. Fortunately, the only file for the game itself we are going to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ around with is the Engine file, which you'll easily find in your Steam games folder.

If you don't know where that is, you can normally find it under:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\

Then you will click "Call of Cthulhu" > and then > "Engine"

This is the main folder we will be working with.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go ahead and open up the ENB Bloom folder and you're going to select everything there, and copy it.

Then, you're going to open up the Call of Cthulhu "Engine" folder and paste the files into the Engine folder.

Upon doing this, your computer is going to prompt you with a few options for the .exe file. You're going to want to go to "Replace" and it will replace the old .exe with the new one you pulled from the folder. After that, you should be good to go for the ENB mod!

Congrats! Wasn't too hard was it?

MOVING ON
SweetFX
So this is where things are going to get a little weird, but it shouldn't be too bad if you just follow along.

SweetFX is essentially the same deal as ENB in that you pretty much only have to move it into the Engine folder as well. So, go ahead and open up the "SweetFX" folder and "copy" everything in there just like you did before, and drop that hoe in the Engine folder and you should be good to go there as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is where it gets weird.

You should now see a file mixed in with all the others called "d3d9.dll".

You're going to right click on it and choose "Rename", and then use the gifted phalanges your mother gave you to rename it to "d3d9_sweetfx.dll". Sweet! Now we just have to do one more thing, then we can move on to the patch....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SweetFX is amazing in that it gives you SO MANY options for changing the lighting and look of the game! And when I say SO MANY, I really mean a metric f*ckton of options that can be super intimidating for someone who, like me, doesn't really know jacksh*t about lighting adjustments for the game.

But OH do I have a solution!

Praise be to the wonderful user Phantasm[sfx.thelazy.net] for creating a preset for we lazy ones! This preset looks FANTASTIC (You can see a screenshot I took from the room with the pulpit and letter entry from the opening sequence showing off the outstanding lighting effect!)

So because we're lazy, we're going to go ahead and use this preset for our settings for the SweetFX mod!

To do this, go into the folder with the preset and double click to open up a .txt file. Here, you will press "CTR + A" to select it all and then press "CTR + C" to copy all of the text.

Then, go back into the main game folder we've been using, "Engine", and find the .txt file named "SweetFX_settings". You're going to double click to open it, then press "CTR + A" again, and then "CTR + V" to paste the new preset over the old.

Now you're going to click "File" and then "Save", and go ahead and exit out of the setting window. BE SURE TO SAVE THE FILE BEFORE EXITING

Now your settings should be completely set up and ready to go for when you start up the game!

(((If you want a visual representation of doing all this, I HIGHLY recommend giving this video a view! Click here)))

!!!! WARNING !!!!: Before starting the game, you have to select "None" under the option "Antialiasing" in the launch window for you to be able to use SweetFX. Don't ask me why, just do it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now we're done with SweetFX! :D

If you are curious and want to try out some presets made by other players, go to https://sfx.thelazy.net/games/ and type in the search bar on the right "Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth", and there should be some presets there for you to play around with! All you have to do is find one and click download, then use the same process for changing the settings as you did before! That simple!

Now, on to the Patch!
The Patch
As I said before, this should be the LAST thing that you do because it will go all wonky on us if you replace the .exe file and sh*t afterwards.

BUT the good thing is, the patch is easy as hell to use! All you have to do is go into the patch folder, and run the Patch program.

In the top left you will see a little button that says "Load", and you're going to click that. Then, it will open up your folders again and you will need to go back to the "Engine" folder we have been using.

Once you've reached the engine folder again, you're going to find a file called "CocMainWin.exe". This is the file you need to load. Click it once to select it and then click ok, and all of the options in the Patch should load up, and you should be good to go! :D

From here, you can change all sorts of options for the game including cheats, so have fun!
Congrats!
Ya dun did it, you smarty pants. From this point on you should have everything ready to go for Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth!

I /believe/ that the only thing you have to do is run the Patch before you start playing, but it may actually be a one time only thing. (I honestly don't know for sure, I'll come back to update upon finding the answer.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I really hope that this reaches out and helps any people who were confused at the process, and more importantly makes it easier to access everything that you need to get the game up and running.

With that, I say "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"
(In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.)

Enjoy the game!



"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,
and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

-- H. P. Lovecraft
References
Dr Nilsson's Original page: https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=113168887

Download site for the Patch: http://www.moddb.com/games/call-of-cthulhu-dark-corners-of-the-earth/downloads/dcote-unofficial-patch-v15

Download for ENB Bloom Add-On: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Ro9N8B-CFbeUdaOUNLaTZJQUE/edit?usp=sharing

Download site for SweetFX: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23364/?

Download site for SweetFX presets: https://sfx.thelazy.net/games/

Download site for SweetFX preset by Phantasm: https://sfx.thelazy.net/games/preset/1302/

Video for assistance in SweetFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwdp9flySs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, special thanks to user Dr Nilsson for contributing to this game being fully functional and pulling everything together, and to everyone that has put in so much time and effort into making this game come alive again and be appreciated by those willing to play it. You all rock! <3
23 Comments
Urtoroth 5 Oct, 2024 @ 9:14am 
Ye, after installing the patch game still crashes while pushing a library which hides a save symbol. The one after you crawl under the floor with the rats during the episode "Attack of the fishermen". It crashes too if you ignolre the saving point and try to push the box to open the door in the same room.

Patch 1.7 seems to have fixed this :)
Ze Lectrode 12 Aug, 2024 @ 6:47am 
Question, should I copy the files from the folder "SweetFX files"? Or the one named "SweetFX"?
Noob Herder 11 Aug, 2024 @ 7:15pm 
Followed the instructions to the letter, game doesn't launch now :/ Already tried a few times, maybe should update with the latest 1.7 patch? Also I've read up about issues with dxgi.dll, what's that about?
lazyguy69 25 Apr, 2023 @ 11:06am 
does not work for me my game crashes after clicking launch :steamsad:
Blair Bunny  [author] 26 Oct, 2021 @ 4:21pm 
Hey all, I've gotten quite a few requests from users here for the .zip file on Google Drive, so I went ahead and fixed the link and updated the security settings so you all can have access again, but please note that this guide is probably very out of date and there are probably some significant changes to the mods to make the game more functional since this was posted!
Melber 26 Feb, 2021 @ 10:41am 
This package include old patches.!
So don't use it anymore. Use DCoTE Unofficial Patch v1.7 for fix all the issues.
DeathAngel 10 Jul, 2020 @ 7:45pm 
K, did the patch ( I know how to do patches lol) , said "Files Patched" . Loaded game. Still crashed. Yikes.
DeathAngel 10 Jul, 2020 @ 7:34pm 
Getting ready to patch this POS. Will see if works. Having the crash at the first door hatch/ ladder problem. Link to the ENB Bloom add on is dead anyways. Atleast for me it is.
+]3D[+NuclearRodent 19 Feb, 2020 @ 6:33pm 
it keeps saying that it needs CreateDXGIFactory2 and can't find it
hagakuremoi 3 Feb, 2020 @ 3:03pm 
It doesn't work in my case I still have the white sky bug.