Last week, a note was left in our weekly Maw liveblog about a player-made map of Caves Of Qud, the highly acclaimed sci-fi roguelike RPG that allows you to “chisel through layers of thousand-year-old civilizations”, represented as 2D Dwarf Fortress-esque layouts. As a newcomer to the game, I was intrigued by the creator’s mention that Caves Of Qud is technically 2,147,483,646 levels deep.
I asked Brendy, “Is Caves Of Qud really 2,147,483,646 levels deep?” like a curious child inquiring about the existence of dog heaven. Brendy wasn’t certain, so I reached out to one of the developers, Freehold Games co-founder Brian Bucklew. In short, the answer is yes, with some significant caveats.
In essence, Caves Of Qud is theoretically limitless. The game’s world is procedurally generated, adding more levels as you descend, with the only real limitation being hardware. Bucklew explained via email, “You can go, in practical terms, until your computer’s storage fills up with zones you’ve visited.” While the game is designed with a certain depth in mind, the systems will adjust to support further exploration beyond the designed maximum of about 50 levels deep.
Discovering unique items serves as a key motivation for delving deeper. Bucklew mentioned, “I’m not sure the deepest place players have reached, but advanced players in the endgame often go hundreds of levels deep using tools like spiral borers to farm for extremely rare occurrences.”
However, the challenge lies in the game’s code becoming less stable with depth, as if the critical mechanisms were being overwhelmed by the weight of rock. Reports of zones with laggy performance and merchants in every room highlight the technical hiccups faced by dedicated explorers.
Bucklew acknowledged the issues encountered by players pushing the limits of the game. “I’ve received bug reports and performance reports from players doing this,” he said. He cited a case where a player descended at least 500 levels deep, duplicating their inventory multiple times, leading to performance issues due to the sheer volume of items.
Personally, I may not have the endurance to navigate 2,147,483,646 levels of Caves Of Qud. Yet, the concept of an endless world is both daunting and comforting, knowing that there is always more to discover. I appreciate terrain generators that behave unexpectedly when explored extensively, akin to the surreal geology encountered in certain versions of Minecraft.
Regardless, Caves Of Qud exits early access on 5th December, promising entertainment even for those who prefer to stay above ground. Apart from the vast catacombs, the game offers mushroom infestations, goat-charming, spider possession, and “a novel’s worth of handwritten lore”. The current version is already recognized as one of the top roguelikes available.
