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Caves of Qud: The New Best Roguelike in Town

Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered User regular
edited February 2011 in Games and Technology
Note: Search is disabled, so my efforts to make sure that there wasn't another thread floating around might have been in vain. Also, I ripped a majority of the OP from the Something Awful one written by one of the developers.

Give it to me now
If you'd just like to directly download the game without registering here are the direct links, these are always the latest public build:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/CoQ/setup.exe
https://s3.amazonaws.com/CoQ/coq.zip

Mojo, what is this?
You ADOM? That glorious roguelike with glacial development speed (which now seems to be being developed for the iPhone or something). Well, this is a roguelike really along those lines. It also claims inspiration from OMEGA, if any of you are familiar with that.

I'll highlight the salient points
  • A combination of random generation and set pieces
  • A modern interface
  • Very fast development and a dev team who interact with the userbase on a daily basis
  • Ancient Gods From Beyond Time and Space (TM)
  • Shotguns
  • A post-apocalyptic setting
  • Mutant powers

The team have gone out of their way to make the word a living entity, so in their own words
The world is deeply simulated; each monster is as "real" as the player -- they wield equipment, suffer all the same effects, and interact with the world in the same way as the player. Everything in the world -- creatures, items, walls, etc -- has a physical presence and can be destroyed, frozen, set on fire, etc. The whole world is contiguous, so if you want (and have the patience) you can go down a few levels and dig your way across the entire world. Though this physical simulation means that the game is fairly resource intensive for a roguelike.

What do you mean modern interface?
The philosophy taken to the interface is the polar opposite to something like Dwarf Fortress. So, it's quite rare to actually need to look up the key-binding table as in most cases you can just press space.
We've tried to update the roguelike interface to be as modern as possible, providing user interfaces for conversation, trade, quests, and skills that should feel pretty modern, even though they are provided via a terminal interface. We provide the plethora of commands a roguelike player expects, but also provide a single "smart use" command (bound to 'Space' by default), that chooses the most "reasonable" thing to do in the square. So, for common interactions you can simply walk up to a door and hit 'Space' to open it, walk up to an NPC and hit 'Space' to talk to them, or walk up to a chest and hit 'Space' to loot it. Though if you want to run over to a pool of acid, fill up your canteen with it, and hurl it at a nearby enemy, all of the manual commands are available as well, and may be freely remapped.

Does it have beautiful graphics?
No, it's a roguelike. So, while one day in the distance future you may be able to get tilesets that obfuscate what is going on, for now, we have to deal with basic ASCII. For some reason, this is actually one of the uglier roguelikes, but in general the usual symbols are used and you can just look at anything you don't understand to get a nice description.

1Map.jpg
The static world map

2Talk.jpg
Talking to people

3Town.jpg
Look at stuff in town

4Stuff.jpg
Stuff. Lots of stuff

5Quest.jpg
A very modern quest system

6Skills.jpg
More skills than you can shake a stick at

7Tinker.jpg
Create your own grenades and guns from junk

8Trade.jpg
Most NPCs will trade with you, letting you offload your crap for valuable fresh water.

Is it finished?
No, the devs are calling this an "open beta" - although really this is the state that most roguelikes reach and never pass. You can merrily download, play it, and get the latest version every couple of days.

If you want to talk to the developers directly, head to their

forum

Any Tips?
  • Guns are your friend - Buy a gun. Any gun. Kill things before they get near enough to kill you
  • Mental-type Mutant powers will level up automatically if you have a high Ego
  • Tinkers can make any ranged weapon(i.e. those hundreds of shortbows you keep finding) into turrets that don't seem to use ammo and provide covering fire
  • Water is heavy, keep some but carry your wealth in trade goods

Can't make it work?

Here's the .NET 2.0 framework if you need it:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en
I get an IOError when saving, or I get a Prognition.SAV isn't found: I'm bad a programming and I'm creating saves under program files in Vista and Windows 7. Run as administrator, or re-install outside of program files (c:\games\coq or whatever)

My screen is all black or all white and nothing happens: Post your video card in the Freehold bug reports forum, and then try the 'Caves of Qud - Console' shortcut, it will probably work till I can fix these issues.

The font is hideous: Try the OpenGL Filtered shortcut.

I resized my screen now it's even more hideous: Download the latest and hit escape once you're in-game. Select the "reset aspect ratio" option and it should automatically resize based on your width to a correct aspect ratio.

How do I run in filtered or console mode from the zip installer?: Make a shortcut to xrl.exe with the -filter or -console argument, respectively.

I'm mysteriously getting slower and slower!: I fixed it! Download the latest.

Now lets all bitch about how unfair it is to start with a knife and get killed by a two-headed boar as soon as we step out town.

Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Mojo_Jojo on

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    eobeteobet 8-bit childhood SwedenRegistered User regular
    edited January 2011
    "Modern interface?"

    I'll stick with Dungeon Crawl and Powder, thank you...

    ..."modern interface"... very funny. :P

    (It does look ambitious, though.)

    eobet on
    Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    By modern I mean they have actually questioned why things are a certain way, and if there is no positive design reason then they have been kicked out the door. Possibly not the best choice of words.

    So far, I mainly play mutant tinkers. Beguiling creatures to serve you is really handy except that they tend to start fights they can't finish (so never return to the first town with a beguiled creature more than once or he'll target the Warden, who has a massive gun). Run can be a useful skill when your good for nothing pet boar has attacked a beetlebum and you need to get the hell out of there.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    TheKoolEagleTheKoolEagle Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    when i saw the first screenshot all i could think of was dwarf fortress.

    i think tilesets have ruined roguelikes for me forever

    TheKoolEagle on
    uNMAGLm.png Mon-Fri 8:30 PM CST - 11:30 PM CST
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    Hexmage-PAHexmage-PA Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    i think tilesets have ruined roguelikes for me forever

    Me too. It's especially bad for me because my first roguelike was Powder, which looks like this:

    powder.png

    I also found while playing Qud that water seemed to move around; the shapes of bodies of water changed sporadically. Why is that?

    Hexmage-PA on
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    Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Bah, tilesets are for the mentally atrophied. ASCII is the one true roguelike visual style.

    Anyway, I haven't played a roguelike in ages but this sounds pretty neat. If nothing else, playing a non-fantasy roguelike will something different. And I like the idea of an updated interface; something like, say, the key scheme for Dwarf Fortress in Fortress mode works really well, but I got pretty fed up just with roguelikes using multiple keys just for scrolling in a couple different screens.

    Ninja Snarl P on
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    Adam BombAdam Bomb Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Looks promising

    Adam Bomb on
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    Hexmage-PAHexmage-PA Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    To get back on the subject of graphics, I've played Alphaman, which uses ASCII, and find it much easier to understand than I did the graphics in Caves of Qud.

    I'll still give Caves of Qud another try tomorrow, though.

    Hexmage-PA on
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    SokpuppetSokpuppet You only yoyo once Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Always interested to try a good roguelike even though nothing has yet surpassed Nethack.

    Thanks!

    Edit: hrmmm. wants to be run as an administrator? pass for now.

    Sokpuppet on
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    undeinPiratundeinPirat Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    when i saw the first screenshot all i could think of was dwarf fortress.

    i think tilesets have ruined roguelikes for me forever

    actually thats because it really does look a lot like dwarf fortress, at least the world parts, not so much the inventory etc

    i might try this out though, doubt itll take me from my love of my life nethack

    undeinPirat on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] steam: undeinpirat
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    DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    This looks pretty damn cool.

    Downloading. Not sure when I'll get around to checking it out (whoa Steam sale), but if I keep it on my desktop long enough, I'll play it sooner or later.

    Drake on
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    New Version
    New patch posted:

    *Point-buy for attributes
    *All-new confusion effect for the player
    *1 new utility item
    *3 new tier 3 monsters
    *New monster subtype Swarmer: This creature receives +1 to its to-hit and penetration rolls for each other swarmer beyond the first who is adjacent to its' target.
    *New monster subtype Swarm Alpha: As long as this creature is adjacent to its target, it grants +2 to the swarm bonuses of each other swarmer who is adjacent to its' target.
    *Removed some test item data disks
    *Made some items tinkerable
    *Cells are now tinkered fully discharged
    *Tinkering I now grants the 'Recharge Cell' ability, which uses tier 0 red (scrap power) bits
    *Tier 1+ scrap is now somewhat more common
    *Robots will now ocassionally drop scrap when killed, and the Scavenger power now functions as intented
    *Chem cells now require a tier 1 bit, Solar cells now take a tier 2 bit
    *Tinkering Lead Slugs and Shotgun Shells now yields 5, down from 50
    *Monster buffs: Drillbot drills have a higher penetration bonus, Agolot Cultists have more HP
    *Monsters will swap positions with each-other much less often
    *Fixed an issue where more than one monster would sometimes stack up in a square
    *Slumberlings and Great Saltbacks now have the proper natural weapons
    *The time should no-longer overlap the first ability slot in the ability sidebar view
    *Statistic boosts should now expire correctly after a save and load (fixes incorrectly permanent boosters and mutations)
    *Disoriented will correctly expire after a save and load (fixes incorrectly permanent DV decreases)
    *Heightened Speed is now correctly tagged as a physical mutation
    *Security Doors are now much heavier
    *Mutation generated slime and acid pools are no-longer always perfectly square
    *Added an animation for slime and acid spitting
    *Many powers will no-longer be incorrectly used through walls by monsters
    *Various wall materials are now less likely to catch on fire
    *Higher level security doors are now more durable
    *Increased the base cost for repairing an item at a merchant
    *Increased the cost to identify unknown items at a merchant
    *Raised the baseline temperature at which objects vaporize, up to 10k from 4k
    *Monsters below the player's tier grant reduced XP
    1.0.4024.33026
    Sokpuppet wrote: »
    Always interested to try a good roguelike even though nothing has yet surpassed Nethack.

    Thanks!

    Edit: hrmmm. wants to be run as an administrator? pass for now.

    Quite a lot has surpassed Nethack, I really don't like that one, I can't understand why it is in the least bit popular.

    And yes, it needs to be run as admin. The annoyances of Vista.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    brynstarbrynstar Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I might have to try this out, thanks for posting about it. I haven't played a roguelike in a while, but the interface ideas and the world simulation stuff seem really interesting.

    brynstar on
    Xbox Live: Xander51
    PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
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    peterdevorepeterdevore Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Dang salthoppers, those things are vicious. I like this game so far.

    peterdevore on
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    FremFrem Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    Sokpuppet wrote: »
    Edit: hrmmm. wants to be run as an administrator? pass for now.
    And yes, it needs to be run as admin. The annoyances of Vista.
    Um, no. That's just lazy programming in this day and age. *NIX developers have been writing programs that don't need to be run as admin for decades. Even Microsoft is on the bandwagon.

    Frem on
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    FatsFats Corvallis, ORRegistered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Install it somewhere other than Program Files and you won't need to run it as an admin.

    Fats on
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    JarsJars Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I will never use a tileset for nethack but holy shit that first picture gave me a seizure.

    Jars on
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    MahnmutMahnmut Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I play DCSS and DoomRL in ASCII, but I think that's workable mainly because they're not hyper-busy, visually.

    Mahnmut on
    Steam/LoL: Jericho89
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    There's currently a bug I've run into where if you are playing a mutant with the dominate ability you can get some monsters to drop their natural attacks. If you can do this to a slugsnout, you can get an infinite ammo ranged weapon for your trouble. This will be fixed soon, but it is pretty funny.

    That said, I've moved over to playing True Men now that point buy stats are in. Largely as playing a mutant is tricky with the need to spread points over so many areas. I've not got past Grit Gate yet, although I am not sure the storyline currently has been implemented much past this point.

    Also, be careful if you are going to the jungle town, if you get lost around there the local wildlife are a real step up from the stuff around the starting point.

    Jars wrote: »
    I will never use a tileset for nethack but holy shit that first picture gave me a seizure.
    Fortunately, that is just the world map, still it is super busy compared to ADOM
    adom6c.gif

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    MindLibMindLib Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I can't get butchering to work. It's supposed to be automatic?

    MindLib on
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    MindLib wrote: »
    I can't get butchering to work. It's supposed to be automatic?

    Yep. Buy butchering and then killing an animal makes a check to see if you get any delicious meat.

    Buy it to the max level and you'll be dumping boar meat every so often and gaining access to nifty weapons and armour.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    MindLibMindLib Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    So I'm level 12 now and I just got done clearing those ruins NE of Joppa. I started as a True Man Eunuch (I know, I know...but +2 INT/AGI? can't beat that.), specializing in pistols and tinkering ATM. I'm still working a regular pump shotgun and a pair of borderlands revolvers, dieing for an upgrade. The data discs are wicked expensive, though. How good are the items for that third rank of butchering? I'm also keeping an eye out for key-cards to open those freakin' security doors....

    Game is awesome, way better than Stone Soup. I hope they keep rolling updates.

    EDIT: You weren't kidding about that jungle town, those goatfolk are crazy mofos.

    MindLib on
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I've come across some pretty decent, but heavy, armour from third tier butchering. I don't quite remember the stats.

    Also, acid grenades can open those security doors.

    For data discs, make sure you're on the latest version. There's a tinker skill that gives a small chance to learn a recipe when you disassemble something which is really handy for boosting your options.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    VicVic Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    This is pretty indecipherable when starting out. Real oldschool character creation with only vague hints about what stuff does and what combinations are useful. Carapace gives +3 AV and -6 DV you say? Marvellous! Still I can see this could be really cool if you put some effort into it so I'll try to take my time and give it a fair shot.

    Vic on
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Vic wrote: »
    This is pretty indecipherable when starting out. Real oldschool character creation with only vague hints about what stuff does and what combinations are useful. Carapace gives +3 AV and -6 DV you say? Marvellous! Still I can see this could be really cool if you put some effort into it so I'll try to take my time and give it a fair shot.

    Indecipherable? Really? It's pretty clear and goes out of its way to explain what the various numbers mean.

    Heavy Armour gives an AV bonus but a DV penalty? Whatever could that mean? Looks like a job for Poirot to me.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    VicVic Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    So what does AV mean? Armor value, I presume, but how is it calculated? Is DV dodge value? Why does +3 AV make up for -6 DV?

    But I shall not argue further, it is clear you have a very strong opinion on this game. I am not saying it is bad by any means, just that I do not understand it.

    Edit: Just found the help section :)

    Vic on
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Vic wrote: »
    So what does AV mean? Armor value, I presume, but how is it calculated? Is DV dodge value? Why does +3 AV make up for -6 DV?

    But I shall not argue further, it is clear you have a very strong opinion on this game. I am not saying it is bad by any means, just that I do not understand it.

    Edit: Just found the help section :)

    Excellent, I'll call Hercule and tell him his services aren't required this afternoon.

    I can see there being an argument that roguelikes generally have a steeper learning curve than other games, but this one goes out of its way to be straightforward, transparent and loaded with explanation.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    VicVic Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Actually, maybe you can clearify something for me. The carapace mutation says:

    You may tighten your carapace to recieve double the AV bonus
    Cannot wear armor

    There seems to be no stated downside to tightening your carapace, unless it is only when you have done so that you cannot wear armor.

    Vic on
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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I would imagine there is some cool down on it. It's how most mutant powers work.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    ClevingerClevinger Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Sounds cool, but I'm gonna wait for the (hopefully) eventual tilesets to try it.

    Clevinger on
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    DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Finally got this installed and started up a character. I'm loving the interface, it really is quite nice. I haven't done much yet, besides kill and butcher a couple of crocodiles. This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

    Does registration have any kind of benefit besides the obvious important one of supporting the game and its developers?

    Drake on
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