From what I understand, there are several ways in Alone in the Dark to save your game in an unwinnable situation, forcing you to restart from the beginning because you didn't do something that you now can't go back and do.

What I'm wondering is, is there some kind of list of things that can render the game unwinnable? I'm not looking for a walkthrough, since I want to figure out as much as possible in the game by myself, but without having to worry about missing some detail that forces me to start all over.

I believe there was also something about making sure not to damage a pair of mirrors to avoid getting stuck on the top floor, right?

Also, is it possible to run out of ammo and thereby being unable to beat some of the monsters, or can they be taken down in hand-to-hand combat (or via puzzle solving)?

Well, you're right about the mirrors, but I didn't list them because a./ they're not that easy to break unintentionally, and b./ the top floor part is just appr. the first 10 minutes of the game, so it wouldn't be too taxing to replay that part. I only listed the situations where you'd be absolutely screwed up and having to replay hours.

Almost every monster could - and often MUST - be avoided or could be defeated in hand-to-hand combat, so it's not a big problem if you run out of ammo. There are some monsters which only could be defeated in a specific way, however (but these solutions doesn't involve guns).

I seem to recall getting stuck on a monster I couldn't seem to kill. Turns out after reading a walkthrough for sake of curiousity that you need the sabre from the attic, which kept breaking for me when I used it to fight with.

Any other people who might be interested to know how to progress from that part (SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY):


The knight who is standing next to the double doors after you have killed the gargoyles, has a sword you need in order to fight the pirate in the room next to the exit. I'm not sure if he can be killed with the old sabre before it breaks: guns are useless against that ninja bastard. You kill the knight by throwing [A HEAVY STATUE] at him.

And by the way, the old sabre is actually used in a room opposite of the ninja pirate (and one room away from the room with the smoking cigar), and you unlock a path to the caves by placing the old sabre (or if it's broken, both parts) next to another sabre hanging in the wall. So technically the old sabre isn't even meant to be used for fighting.

Nah, that's optional and way to dangerous, so it's not advised.
When crawling through the small passage, the character will move barrels on his/her own. Give it a try by yourself, if you like. There's even a video on youtube to confirm this.
The only thing that is important is, that you either have the cellar key to unlock the door or have unlocked the door before entering the catacombs.

From a spoiler post in a review, it mentioned there's on puzzle I won't mention here that you need to keep a bullet with you to get past.