Aecius' Quest 2 - The Neighsayer
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- An edited, illustrated and narrated playthrough of the game Caves of Qud
Aecius Rudius continues onwards to the 6 Day Stilt! Will he be able to figure out this horrible mess of a world? Boy, I sure hope so!
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Thanks to everyone who helped out with this episode!
-Mrs K for her unending support
-Kruggsmash theme created by Topherlicious: topheranselmo.com
-All of my patient, patient patreon patrons who I couldn't do any of this without: / kruggsmash
-Anyone who bought any of my overpriced Teespring junk: kruggsmashs-ba...
-And of course, you, for watching, my bearded bastard.
the animations were AMAZING, I know they must've taken an absolute ton of work but that horse combat was absolutely worth it
This is the advantage of didn't have such level of details as in dwarf fort.
The level of details put in non 3D animations scale veeeeery poorly with time spend in it.
The usage of "stance" is a very smart choice.
I'd say focus the scenes of stuff like the horse fights and don't worry about animating all the NPC mouths and stuff. It's better than without of course but not worth any absurd time!
The writing is so obtuse sometimes, like
Me: "a red blanket"
Qud: "here before you lay the work of a mind and body stilled with patience, the crystallization of effort and forethought of a thinking thing. The warp ambulates precisely about the weft in a meticulous and insentient dance of crimson bast fibre, as if the sanguine hues would ward against those gelid gales breathed forth from the winter air."
You're getting a thumbs up for writing out that description lol.
That's part of the fun! It's supposed to feel like you're exploring an alien and unintelligible world.
You nailed it, that was good qud man. As they say, if the game's to difficult, "get qud man"
The purple prose is one of the reasons this game is so beloved, frankly.
@@_Jay_Maker_ Every piece of writing that happens with you obtain more and more Ego is amazing. You aren't just watched, you're being seen by a new type of light, one that you don't know how to hide from. Chills.
My favourite loading screen tip:
"Who inhabits the colossal desert freehold of Nanru? The Gathered Men.
The fiefdoms of Odrum? The Kneeling Men.
The jungles of Yyp? The Breathless Men.
And the rust-caves of Qud? The Screaming Men."
-Dromad travelogue
Me when a quzdu rusts my obviously valuable unidentified artifact
11:46 "A little nub of cork swells with moisture" = A small, brownish fruit that feels fresh and moist. The most notable thing in a world where money is water is wetness. Like it happens in Dune, people hold wet things in an almost mythical status. Water is extremely precious in both settings.
"It was watered over hot weeks by a splayed frond, vested with inhuman patience, who sucked one mote of rain from a hundred-mile wind." = It lives in a very hot climate and hydrates itself through a excruciatingly slow process. The environment is so dry that all the wind in a hundred miles radius only gives you just around a drop of water once it has passed, so the plant must have adapted to drink very, very slowly in order to survive. You could not possibly expect a human to even sit and watch all that happen, since it's so subtle and slow.
I am not annoyed by you being mystified. I think's it's extremely cool to have a place to discuss these images and their meaning with other people :)
… The ergotic poetry this game paints its world in is a feature I wish more game developers try their hands at. It’s so captivating. >):^]
pro military industrial complex profile pic
@@jiaan100all I see is an extraordinarily abstracted representation of a beach
@@jiaan100 The C in your's then must stand for -
@@uponeric36 C is alright but I should've made it an N
First rule of Qud: Never fire a gun in the same direction as a horse. 😂
Like warfare, Qud has a lot of First Rules.
I loved the detail of the horse wiping blood off a single scratch off it's cheek, it really feels like that!
Glad to see more of this series, it's a refreshing change of pace
mm mm. it's been fun to try something new, for sure.
Agreed.
Krugg, you can play any game you want, just make sweet drawings and a sick voice over and the video becomes epic lol.
A good hint:
Always exchange your fresh water for copper, silver or even gold nuggets
They weigh way less than a full waterskin and their value remains everywhere the same
Also gems still maintain their value everywhere, but they are rare to find and even rarer to find a merchant with gems in the wild (except in Six Day Stilt, there is always 1 gemcutter in there)
* Squints at the comment *
Was this secretly written by a thirst thistle in disguise? /j
@@Cyfrik Me looking at the field of desicated corpses:
N-No...
there isnt always a gemcutter (in my experience there usually isn't). the only guaranteed stilt merchants are an alchemist, a kipper, an apothecary, and a gutsmonger.
There's no gemcutter in six day stilt in my current game.
@@asturias0267 They probably made it that it can spawn but not every time
I love reading Qud descriptions because it's a constant tug of war in my head between "wow that was beautiful, what an awesome use of language" and "this English major bent over backwards and sideways describing a lawn chair"
It makes sense with the world of the game - the descriptions reflect how any speaking creature might describe it. So a metal folding chair becomes "a strange assortment of tubes" and so does a rocket launcher. It's less trying to be quirky and more trying to make you feel how alien the world is even to it's inhabitants, Qud is a very strange place with very powerful technology often scattered around creatures barely intelligent enough to use a sword.
@@uponeric36 Well said. It's also truly evocative of Qud being what's essentially a huge graveyard for a much, _much_ more powerful and technologically advanced race, to the point where they even see a folding chair as a definer of lost superiority.
"Maybe im dumb, but I dont know what that means." "What the hell does that mean?" This is the Caves of Qud experience. You have not even begun to see/find the really weird stuff with even weirder descriptions. Its honestly one of my favourite things about this game. Makes it feel so unreal and alien.
Qud definitely has a very strong feeling that pervades *everything* from the music, to the graphics, to the text, to the way it plays, to everything. It's a mood.
@@heartwarmingparadise1925 And it's the only game where eating random stuff is not considered an eating disorder.
and he's got it right with having to learn the vocabulary of the game... it gets easier when you can distinguish what is randomly generated content and what is supposed to make sense.
Can't wait for him to find a book!
that explosion was the arconaut throwing a grenade at an ameoba.
it was also hilarious
@@purplemilk4453 … Truly, an Arconaut moment. >)X^D
This is a sentence only Caves of Qud can generate. 😆
The equimax illustrations are just... chef's kiss right there!
A few general tips:
* Don't forget to re-equip your shield after you're done with the torch. (You can eventually find a "floating" light source or gain nightvision and not worry about it ever again.)
* Berate is hilarious. Great choice.
* In town, backspace will bring up a list of the interesting people and places (trader, oven, Oo-eee OO EE OO, etc) that you know about and let you "go to" them. It's super handy.
* Most of the villages and ruins of Qud are not on your map (yet).
* Spacebar will usually interact with nearby things (open chests, etc). To force an interaction in a specific direction, use control-spacebar instead.
* The food you get from village ovens will give you special benefits beyond putting garbage in a pot and stirring.
Live and drink, bastard.
When Aecius dies, I recommend making your next character a mutant of some kind - they usually have more interesting things going on right away & are better suited to your sporadic style, whereas truekin require more progression & deliberate action to access their features.
IF
YES
I really hope so too! Not sure if it's been this way for a while, but I know truekin used to be the "recommended" starting type by the game and that was always wild to me, Mutant has a far more traditional leveling system with you effectively spending Mutation points like skill levels for abilities. Truekin requires you to hunt for pieces to upgrade your character with which makes it more luck dependent, requires becoming nooks, and like you say more deliberate planning.
Yeah, when seems right.
@@uponeric36 I believe it was "recommended" because Trukein are very much in line with traditional Rogue archetypes, rather than the more traditional, easygoing RPG archetypes of Mutants, particularly with how Mutants level and how Truekin progression is tied _extremely_ heavily to gearing, stats, attributes, etc. Mutants can get by on their basic kit alone for a _long_ time, to the point where a lot of the fundamental systems of the game can be hand-waved away unless they're strictly incorporated by your build. Truekin feel like they need everything to succeed.
Remember how in Star Wars, Luke’s family are “moisture farmers”? Vinewafer is like that.
I enjoy this little series very much.
May Aecius live and drink for many weeks to come.
The horse fight felt very Adventure Time and I love it!
I think it was meant to be more Ren and Stimpy. Either way, glorious art it is!
@@leXie1337_chan oh yeah! I can see that now!
I always thought of caves of qud as an adventure time kind of world.
I absolutely loved the animations on this one, I was laughing pretty hard at the Equimax! Congrats on taking one of them out by the way, those are no joke for a lower level character!
Many items [clothes, weapons, pretty much any item] and tiles [like the pillar, including walls, furniture etc] have different colors and/or names, this mean you generally can examine in detail and discover it's unique in some way, or has some writing that contributes to your knowledge
Also it's really useful for having more info on the sultans
Info on the sultans are always useful for favors when you perform the water ritual
some advice on the topic of auto explore. It's a useful tool that can be used to sweep the map before you leave to make sure you didn't miss any loot or miss examining anything that will give you a lore entry.
Directional autoexplore is useful because you can just point in a direction and go, but you get auto-stopped on seeing an enemy, while holding a key down will get you killed.
I know its probably been mentioned but I really like the Ren and Stimpy influence on the animations and expressions. You've done a great job learning the game. Qud is one of my favourites
Oh hey it's my other favorite TH-camr
He looks like he would be in the market for some rubber walrus protectors.
The thoroughly silly take on caves of qud is a perfect contrast to the sort of detail that we get from your dwarf fortress. Doing both AND doing art for both is really quite something on top of that! Thank you again!
Don't worry, I find your mystification wonderful. Takes me back to my first run when everything was gibberish. The item descriptions, books and dialog are very unique in this game, even in the endgame, it never loses it's sense of wonder and discovery.
We do not deserve quality animations like this, and yet you bestow them upon us. What a joy.
the fight with the electrofuge will be burned into my brain for a while.
Oh wow, I never noticed the procgen villages have procgen descriptions on the worldmap! Wasn't expecting to learn something new after having played so long lmao. Great to see more Qud from you.
You can hold ALT to quickly see what units in the zone are hostile! Very handy.
Travelling on foot is actually a pretty decent idea in certain places like early-game areas (can't get lost in a bad situation if you're not fast travelling!). The real dangers are dead ends that may take fast travelling to get out of, and the jungle areas that make up a majority of the map being really dangerous to linger around in.
English is not my first language. I play Qud with a sense of wonder mixed with "What are you trying to say, game?".
That is why I never bought the game, half the english is too arcaic
That one S on the back of his notepad is a cool touch lol.
One hotkey that would serve you well in your starting village is the one that walks you over to points of interest on the current screen. When you ask for work and someone tells you to talk to someone else, that hotkey will show you a list of people to walk to and you can just wander over for a chat.
In the point of interest menu, it only walks you to people or interesting things that you have already seen. So it's not like autoexplore where it takes the mystery out of it.
I am NOT annoyed by you being baffled as you experience Qud! I am DELIGHTED!
However you play it. If it feels mysterious and alien, then you are playing it correctly!
That Dromad character design looks like Joe Camel
More COQ I love COQ! I'm glad Kruggsmash likes COQ too!!
"Sun and Moon, Hit and Run, Live and Drink" - Aecius
Wow, I didn't expect the feeling of instant joy that leapt up in my chest when I saw your little dwarf guy run onto the screen like that at the beginning of the video! It's always so good to see you post :)
I absolutely love wacky adventures of this goofy, little, Aecius guy. Keep them up Krugg! :D
Caves of Qud make me have Gamma World memberberries.
*Thanks for sharing another story with all of us Kruggsmash*
… Huh, ya know what? Caves of Qud would be such an awesome setting to home brew into Gamma World system, eh? >):^o
@@toryumau6798 Parts of it really do, yeah :)
@@toryumau6798 Makes sense because Caves of Qud is literally based on Gamma World
I am really enjoying watching you go through the new player experience in Qud. Being overwhelmed at first is the norm, and you will learn with experience.
Travel on the map screen is nearly mandatory as the game goes on, both to avoid tedium and issues with world generarion making some areas nearly inaccessible otherwise. It also is not without its own risks, as you can Become Lost and find yourself in strange and interesting places.
I liked all the extra animation but feel free to scale back a bit so you can play and learn and experience more of the game itself.
Also, if Aceus heaven forbid does die, try starting up a mutant esper for a big shake up to the gameplay!
The little cave that Qud.
Mix of joy and pain to watch Krugg play one of my favorite games! Everyone had a heck of a time early on, then you keep playing and look back and think "what was I, blind and brain-damaged?" once you actually get used to it. I look forward to seeing Krugg try a mutant in the future, I'm sure he'd enjoy the dynamic of gaining new mutations as you level.
I don't like how many people are rooting for aecius' death.
@@JerryS-zb2lf I'm not rooting for it, but it's gonna happen. Krugg's playing blind and picked the option with permadeath knowingly. Besides, for the sake of a series it works better than him just playing one character the whole time. As a fan of the game I'm excited to see Krugg depict his idea of a mutant with physical mutations, and I look forward to some day seeing Krugg try and make a series playing an Esper (and the foes he'll attract playing as one).
@@EliseGray-rx5dl Yeah he'll likely die, although he's playing super safe and running from things fist time me wouldn't know to run from, so he's likely to stay alive till the game starts hitting you with things that can one shot you.
@@JerryS-zb2lf Yeah he's playing smartly for knowing relatively little; I'm 100% certain that I'd have just been killed by the equimax if I was in his place. XD
@@EliseGray-rx5dl yeah, he even aggro'd several more in the process I would have died.
i like the idea that aecius works on a disco elysium type internal monologue where he regularly encounters things that his brain is able to correctly identify but fails to communicate to him
9:22 lol love that. Now Aecius needs to recruit that horse as a party member
… Knowing this game, the chance of that actually happening isn’t zero. >)X^D
CoQ suits your style of video so much. The writing is some of the most unique and evocative I've ever seen in a game. Really takes this world and its characters to a whole other level.
I LOVE the art style in these, the shift between goofy and serious depending on the situation is fantastic.
No advice to give. Youll figure it out, if you like the game and keep playing. Watching you completely subvert the usual play patterns is honestly refreshing. And very funny 😁
Ooh, caves of krugg
hell yeah
Caves of git Qud scrub.
I vote for more frequent gameplay videos, then just animate the most interesting things that happen later. (Then you could go back and an edit them into a supercut video of the whole series.)
Aecius as Bobby Hill after he just learned Berate is my favorite thing I've seen this week.
"That's my purse! I don't know you!"
26:35 never change Krugg never change
I love the animations and voice overs iy makes it sound like an old Macintosh game
Very cool.
Yes! I'm so psyched to see part 2!
well, good! hope it was worth the wait
@@kruggsmash It sure was!
The animations were incredible and totally worth a 3 week wait
DV is Dodge Value and AV is Armor Value
DV decreases the chance of being hit
AV decreases the damage you take after being hit
Light Armor decreases AV, but in creases DV
Heavy Armor decreases DV, but increases AV
You need to focus on which you feel is best or balance both stats
The armor and damage system is intuitive if you've play DND but yeah I honestly just recommend it's wiki page to new comers, there also might be a help section in game IRRC. Basically you do dice rolls for damage against AV, which you have to beat to do any damage at all which comes out their HP. DV like you say is their ability to dodge, and your chance to miss. Primary difference is that DV can avoid attacks all together while AV can reduce damage even when it's beat, but likewise can have other effects apply on hit.
Each 'parasang' square, is made up of 9 zones with the central zone displayed on the map. Use it to navigate and find POIs, the game is absolutely jam packed so definitely narrow the search for useful things (they also happen to be the more scenic and beautiful set-pieces!). Hope that clears the navigation up a bit.
Enjoying how your video style blends with the game! Hope to see more in the future
This game is so incredible. What did you think of the molting update? I was taken aback. What a major glow up!
😮 it feels like it’s been 3000 years since the last episode🎉🎉🎉
basically has been yeah.
So you are now in Qud's era. Hows the ruins of our poor world doing? XD
The lesson here is: never piss off a horse
I am just happy when I see you upload something, but the animations do make me smile every time.
There are random villages and stuff all over the place, especially on the left side of the map, they just don't appear on your map until you discover them.
You are right about auto explore it would make bad video. BUT you are entirely wrong about map travel being fast travel. It is integral to the game and you will get lost often and getting unlost will be more fun than just trudging along. There's even artifacts that you find that modify how that works.
I was so worried when you killed that dragon fly - if another had seen you do it, you'd have had angry dragon flies AND equimax after you! (I'm loving the drawings and animations, and I expect that you'll naturally need fewer new ones as things start becoming more familiar - like you're already set for drawings of many common critters)
Loving this playthrough! Don't worry about being mystified by everything- That's the quintessential Caves of Qud first playthrough experience
Amazing!! The additional effort really showed through, and I love the slow pace and attention to detail. I smiled so much my face hurt!
I think the little drawings and pictures bring it to life in its own way.
I feel that the longer production time is fine to bring the world of qud to life in your own unique art style.
I also didn't use auto explore to begin with. Felt more meaningful.
Definitely recommend using the overworld map. You will get lost randomly when using it, forcing you to explore to find your way, so you get plenty of exploring in anyway. But I'd never tell someone that the way they play a game is wrong. Especially role playing games. Whatever feels fun and immersive!
Watching you run away from the fungicide mine layer was a beautiful moment that reminds me of my early playthroughs.
The pictures and animations are what make your videos really special to me so I personally wouldn't mind waiting. It's like I get to see the game through your minds eye. Completely different than my own.
caves' "getting lost or stumbling on a ruin or town on the over-map" design makes it such a stand-out game. at a certain point it's easy enough to just take a jaunt out to grit gate or whatever to pawn off wares, but still find new things to explore along the way and come back to.
- Runs screaming from a robot whose only method of attack is dropping fungicide (is not a mushroom)
- Thinks he can just slay Don Dragonfly without summoning the Horse Mafia
I adore this game, in all its bizarre beauty, and I am sincerely enjoying your playthrough! You also play how I like to -- nice and slow, smelling the vaguely sapient murder roses.
Also 100% yes, permadeath is the way to do the game
Everything about the art and animations you add to this is just... worthy of everything our cohort stands for.
i thought that horse was going to demolish aecius. you're definitely right that rifles aren't your strong point xD kind of a necessary evil though for survival's sake
Wonderful video as always. Really love that you're giving this game a chance.
A quick small no-spoiler tip. You have a bunch of torches in your inventory- If you equip a torch in one of your hands it will act as a lightsource, allowing you to explore the dark caves of qud or move about on the surface during the night.
I was hoping to see another episode, I love the littles arts and interpretations of things
I neeeeed more of this. I love your narrative style and when i am watching other's narrative lets plays - i miss the little pictures. They really are very special. Love the content!!
Its incredible how you draw every single snapjaw with accurate equipment and weaponry. Hope you keep playing Caves of Qud for a long time
Something I love to hear actually is how overwhelming some descriptions feel. They're supposed to, as most things are described by an individual who doesn't understand what they're looking at all the time, and is describing it to the best of their ability.
I'm definitly willing to wait for longer. That preatorian class was definitly a lucky pick, since it has that rare hood and also a gun.
I don't mind waiting another week if the drawings and animations are so good and funny. Love all the weird faces Aecius does. I hope he will live for many more episodes!
With the bouncing back and forth between a long running Dwarf Fortress series and what I assume will be many short CoQ series (it's very easy to die) I feel we are entering into a fantastic new era of Krugg! I love both of these series!
im so glad you ran into a salthopper and got into a fight with an equimax, those are kind of a rite of passage for new qud players. as soon as you fired the gun towards the equimax i knew what was going to happen. the cute little drawings made it even funnier. im loving this series!!
I tend to listen to your videos moreso than watch them. The pictures were always more than necessary to me, but it is very nice to glance over and see some interesting art or animation to go with the story. I'm probably not your typical viewer though.
This is a masterwork video, all craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. It is adorned with the image of Acius Rudius, the legendary true kin. Acius Rudius Is watching an equinox and a snapjaw. The equinox and snapjaw are fighting. The equinox is striking the snapjaw, the snapjaw is crying, Acius Rudius is afraid.
Loving the little animations and pictures.
i personally dont mind the longer wait bc the animations and extra art are all Very charming
biggest general tip I can give for a new player is tips about artifacts. They are "lost to time" or bizarre contraptions that will be displayed as something like "wierd artifact" or "strange tubes". Most of these are items that your character can hold and use, some are furniture that is stationary in the world. To try and figure out what strange furniture is, go to look menu or hover over it, hit enter, then go to examine. Works pretty much the same for things in your inventory.
Tonics are especially useful for tough encounters, the Salve Injector your character has rapidly restores health over a few rounds and they are somewhat common to come by.
Amazing storytelling! The drawn animations and the voice acting for certain characters always add richness to these videos. The section at 27:30 and onwards was really well made.
Loving the drawings and animations in this. I hope this becomes a full series!
lets go! I loved the first video on the series so much and was hoping you'd post more on it!
thanks mister Krugg, im loving the video so far!
I love the exaggerated art style for this series! I'm excited for it to continue!
Those equimax illustrations were GLORIOUS!
Actually hanging around and leveling up seems to be the smart choice!
Also, fun fact and might have some extra info: the game is directly inspired by a ttrpg called Gamma World.
started playing this game after seeing your first video, and i've gone way down the rabbit hole. there is SO much in this world
I absolutely adore Caves of Qud, and I'm so glad to see you picking it up and running with it. The general recommendation seems to be "prepare with a guide" but honestly, just screwing up and dying a few times is a fun way to discover Qud's secrets. Try a mutant next time!
I’m really enjoying this series and don’t mind if it’s less frequent, it’s more enjoyable to watch when you’ve clearly been enjoying it and taking your time with it 😊
I think the animations and illustrations are hilarious, so I would love to see them continue, but I also want to see more of your journey into qud, so I think that a quicker release schedule might be better.
Books are really valuable
Both in water value and in experience
In Six Day Stilt there's a librarian that, if you bring books to him, gives you free exp
I got around 4-5 levels thanks to it
Those adorable pictures animations make my hart melt
The cool S on his journal! Aahh
you keep playing this game the way i do, just wandering off in some interesting direction and then pawning crap off. it's a great time. i might decide to play the main questlines but this stuff is so much fun. and your art is great this episode, i love the more cartoon-y animated style of them.
Loving the addition of animations?! You improve constantly even though you already by such a wide and far margin the king of this kind of content. Forever may he reign.
I seriously enjoyed this episode, I understand taking longer and I get excited after a while when I finally see an episode.
… These “Looks Maxed Ponies” are so majestic, I am trembling in awe. >)X^D
the glaring equimax drawing was an instant laugh out loud, powerful mr. horse vibes
your animations and illustrations for this series are so fricken hilarious. I love it