Procedurally Generating History in Caves of Qud

Explore the innovative approach to generating histories in the game Caves of Qud in this 31-minute GDC talk from 2018. Delve into Jason Grinblat's method of creating historical events and rationalizing them after the fact, avoiding the need for a full historical simulation. Learn about commonalities in games that generate histories, constraints and aesthetics in procedural generation, and how historical events are resolved. Discover the process of generating gospels, painted objects, player journals, and relics to create a rich narrative context. Gain insights into the challenges of procedural history generation and how Caves of Qud overcomes them. Understand the concept of causality in generated histories and explore resources for further learning on this topic.

Intro
Overview
Procedural Generation
Fortress
Dwarf
Epitaph
Epitaph Explained
Challenges of Procedural History
Caves of Qud Overview
Constraints and Aesthetics
Generating History
Gospels
Painted Objects
Player Journal
Relics
Historical Events
How Events Resolve
Generating a Sultan
Causality
Narrative Context
Resources
Summary
Question