jmacApr 16, 2024

I played one of this game’s endless march of pre-release versions last year on #SteamDeck. It provided some of the finest hours of gaming I’ve ever experienced, stopped dead by one of the absolute worst single moments.

I hope they’ve tuned that balance a little better! (Though honestly that mostly means “make non-permadeath the first option on the new-game screen, and rename the options to suggest it’s the best starting place”) #CavesOfQud
https://mastodon.social/@gamingonlinux/112280874814360993

Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac When I started my first game of #qud, I'd not read or watched anything, had no idea what was good or bad, which is how I wanted it. I've played lots of roguelikes, and I wanted a true first impression. "No spoilers!" 1/
Show threadpyrrhlin
@jmac But after playing a while, and getting somewhat lost/stuck, I had lots of questions (often centered around "How can I survive/get out of this mess?"), so I found the wiki. 2/
Apr 17, 2024 at 7:04pmWeb
Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac #cavesofqud has such a richness of systems and lore, it benefits, or needs, the wiki. The wiki is like a handbook, or the "missing manual". Sure, you might spoil something for yourself, but you'll have more fun if you learn some things by reading about them, rather than dying. It's okay! No one has time to learn by permadeath trial-and-error (which is also no fun!). 3/
Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac The developers seem feel that way too: they are hosting the official wiki (which began life as unofficial, elsewhere), and have written about why it's okay for a game to need one:
https://mixedinitiatives.net/blog/apologia-for-game-wikis/
4/
Apologia for Game Wikis | Mixed Initiatives

Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac Later I also watched (and took notes!) an excellent "teaching" run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_GpgtWLPUg
That didn't answer all my questions, but it was more than enough to let me explore and experiment with -some- confidence I wasn't blundering into a dead-end or certain death. 5/
CoQ Beginner Guide Playthrough [Stream VOD]

YouTube
Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac Players also use the #qud discord server to ask for help, and I have been there sometimes also (and I wanted to contribute to the wiki). 6/
Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac Years ago I discovered that DCSS had online play https://crawl.develz.org/play.htm
and there's an awesome feature where others on the server can watch, and there's a chat window that player and spectators can converse!. 7/
Play - Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

Show threadpyrrhlinApr 17, 2024
@jmac You can see a player's location and experience level from the lobby, so you can go watch people who are better than you, to learn from them, and vice versa: more experienced players can drop in on your game and give advice. I haven't seen this feature in any other roguelike; it feels like the other glove to a wiki. Between these two features, there is no better way to learn a rich, deep, difficult game. 8/8