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)