Oct 20, 2024
In the first installment of a new Into the Depths series, we dive into the brilliant Caves of Qud. This sprawling open-world roguelike has been in development since 2007 and Early Access since 2015, and we're celebrating it as it nears a v1.0 release. Doug and Rob, together with guest host and Qud-head Jack Schlesinger (Puzzmo, Knotwords, Good Sudoku), talk to Caves of Qud creators Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat all about post-apocalyptic worldbuilding, building an emergence-focused game engine, and what it takes to keep a project and partnership going for nearly two decades.
Don't forget to join our discord and play along with the series. Try to get a character to Level 5 before our next episode, where we'll get into some basics around the early game and Qud's many interlocking systems. You can purchase Caves of Qud -- still in Early Access, for now -- on Steam or GOG.
Discussed in this Episode
Gamma
World
Dwarf
Fortress
Kitfox Games
Data-Driven
Engines of Qud and Sproggiwood, talk by Brian Bucklew @ IRDC
2015
A Data-Driven
Object System, talk by Scott Bilas @ GDC 2002 ("Looks like the
paper isn't available but here's a talk on the same subject
matter")
The
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Ancient Domains of
Mystery (ADOM)
Tracery for context-free grammar
generation
Emergent
Narrative in Dwarf Fortress, talk by Tarn Adams @ Progression
Mechanics 2017
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Clark
Ashton Smith
Sam Wilson (pixel artist)
Craig Hamilton
(OST)