Dicealot News

[p]This week on Behind The Dice, we're showing off a bit of concept art and how the UI has evolved![/p][p][/p][p]
                               [/p][p][/p][p]Here's one of the characters from concept days to what it looks like now! The original sketch captured the vibes the devs were going for, but you can see how much more personality and detail emerged in the final iteration. Those colours alone are so cool![/p][p][/p][p]Check out what Dicealot used to look like - [/p][p]This is at least a year old now![/p][p][/p][p]It's giving old, medieval tavern vibes. I have no idea why I'm so reminded of my Old School RuneScape days looking at this.[/p][p][/p][p]From the devs: [/p][p]Originally the game was supposed to be a much cosier, tavern themed roguelike. I wanted to do a full 3D tavern interior, angry mailed fist slamming against the table top when your opponent loses etc., but we basically didn't have the time to do any of that if we wanted to have a presentable prototype for publishers in any sort of timely fashion. So, the original UI was attempting to echo this initial vibe. However I don't think it landed, and we ended up with something that felt very ''generic medieval'' to me, which I was not a fan of.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We tried a few things, but through this process I also learnt that I am very bad at UI design, so I settled on something that would use a minimalist approach to the UI, allowing the character and dice art (the visual stars of the show if you ask me) to really shine through. There is always room for improvement of course, but I think what we ended up with allowed new retro-arcade vibes to blossom through the game, much for the better.[/p][p][/p][p]Pfff, bad at UI design? Who would have ever guessed? I love seeing the evolution of games from early days to what they look like now, and this one is amazing. As cool as the tavern theme is, this retro arcade style just feels so unique and special.[/p][p][/p][p]Reminder: We're at MegaCon Manchester tomorrow! If you wanna come by for some chats or to get yourself one of these cool Dicealot sets, be sure to drop by! We'd love to meet you guys:)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I've just noticed the dice in the picture and now it will forever irk me that it was so close to being an Albion's Road right there.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Another week, another Behind The Dice![/h2][p][/p][p]We hope you've all been enjoying the Dicealot demo so far! We've loved seeing all your feedback, screenshots and more in the Discord so keep them coming! (also because I'd totally start a community spotlight section in the BTS with extra content duhh)[/p][p][/p][h3]This week, our question for the devs was: What were you inspirations for making Dicealot?[/h3][p][/p][p]We love playing farkle in person, we have done it at group gatherings for years. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]As game developers we had wanted to make a farkle roguelite (our favourite genre), for some time. We’re big fans of medieval European history, hence the setting. Originally it was going to be a much more slow paced, cozy game that told the story of King Harald and the Norman conquest of England. However, we realised we lacked the development power to deliver all of that and also a mechanically fun experience. So we focused on mechanical enjoyment, and sprinkled in our own medieval world around it.[/p][p][/p][p]And that's what's led to what you see today as Dicealot! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Megacon Live Manchester - We'll Be There![/h3][p][/p][p]Megacon is next weekend! If you're around, do come by! We have a booth set up there and you'll be able to meet Sirens (one of the devs) as well as Isaac and I (Carnotaur/Tvesha) from Yogscast Games - we also have some sweet goodies if you're around playing our game 👀[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We've only got a limited amount of these so be there or be square (like a die. Although that's a cube. You know what I mean.) Come say hi![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]See you in next week's BTS (and Megacon hopefully!)[/p]

[h2]Hello, and welcome back to Behind the Dice![/h2][p][/p][p]This week, we asked the devs: What is something you have recently finished working on? They told us that they recently finished the enrage system, where the foes get angrier the longer the fights last.[/p][p][/p][h3]Read on to find out more about what their thought process behind implementing the enrage system: [/h3][p][/p][p]The enrage system was a solution to the problem I created with re-rolls. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here's what the enrage symbol looks like in the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Re-rolls are necessary in the game, as they allow much more player agency within a ruleset (the ruleset of Farkle) that relies almost completely on RNG. Without rerolls the player would have even fewer ways to express their control. However, if we give the player too many re-rolls, they have too much control, and basically nullify the challenge of the game. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]As you can see, the enemy really doesn't like you re-rolling and is now enraged x2. Oops.[/p][p][/p][p]Currently there are ways to amass great amounts of re-rolls, but because that is a build choice, it comes at the expense of other things like multiplication and raw PWR. This would lead to a situation where players understandably chose builds that gave them the most control, but they actually ended up playing a very boring game, of lots and lots of tiny scoring hands. This is not what Dicealot is about. We want big numbers. [/p][p][/p][p]The worst thing about these builds is that whilst reliable, they make the game incredibly slow. So the enrage system is a simple mechanic that essentially makes the enemies hit you harder the longer the fight lasts, by rolling extra opponent dice. Because of this, these boring slow builds are no longer viable.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Look at those extra dice. That hurts.[/p][p][/p][p]Like everything else, its also another fun variable to play with. So we are adding some things that react to enemy rage, and including the rage timer as a variable when it comes to higher difficulties.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you want to know more about enrage, or have any other questions about the game and its development process, ask us here and we may just include it in our next Behind the Dice![/p]

[p]We've been chatting with the developers about Dicealot and asked them some questions we thought you'd find interesting. Welcome to our new series: Behind the Dice! With each Behind the Dice, we'll be diving into different aspects of the game's development and design.[/p][p][/p][p]For our first Behind the Dice, we're exploring the burn damage mechanic. We asked the devs: What's been going well recently? Tell us about something you made that you're really proud of, or something that came together easier than expected.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's what they had to say:[/p][p][/p][p]Since getting some early feedback about this, I had wanted to include a way for players to deal damage and win fights, which feels quite different from the ''regular'' way of building PWR and striking. There are only really a few inputs the player has, so having this new DMG source react to one of those was important, and tying it to ''on roll'' meant that a build utilising it would focus more on rolling than striking. [/p][p][/p][p]However, since striking is generally the only time a player gets hurt, it was important to try and balance it so striking would still be necessary, and you couldn't just ''roll your way to victory'' without ever running the risk of taking DMG in return. We also added some stuff like cleansing all burn stacks on Farkle, to keep this new method tied to the underlying rules of the game. [/p][p][/p][p]I settled on the idea of building up large numbers of ''Burn'' on the enemy, and having them take damage every time the player rolled, but also losing stacks when they take damage, to prevent the values getting out of hand or making it too strong. Also I chose burn over poison because it felt a little more thematically appropriate, and poison is a bit boring (albeit more recognisable for most players.).[/p][p][/p][p]Here's what the burn dice look like:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Funnily enough, while our producers were testing the burn damage, we uh... realized it may need some more tweaking[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Not a single strike was made and they have nearly wiped out the enemy which is pretty much what the devs didn't want![/p]

[h2]Hail and well met, noble subjects![/h2][p][/p][p]'Tis with great merriment that we proclaim Dicealot doth be a part of a wondrous showcase! We are most honoured to be chosen amongst such a fine fellowship of remarkable games.[/p][p][/p][h3]🌑 Moonlite Madness Summer Showcase[/h3][p][/p][p]Orchestrated by the good folk at NeverMore Niche, behold the Summer 2025 edition of the Moonlite Madness Showcase! 'Tis their third and grandest spectacle yet, so prithee show them (and us!) some love. There will be three main shows and demo streams throughout the event, starting today:[/p][p][/p][p]Thursday, June 26th at 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EST / Friday, June 27th at 12 AM BST / 1 AM CEST: The Teasers and Trailers show on their YouTube channel.[/p][p]Friday, June 27th at 5 PM PDT / 8 PM EST / Saturday, June 28th at 1 AM BST / 2 AM CEST: Gameplay Spotlights. [/p][p]Saturday, June 28th at 12 PM PDT / 3 PM EST / 8 PM BST / 9 PM CEST: A special sneak peek of extended gameplays.[/p][p][/p][p]Watch on YouTube Watch on Twitch Showcase Page[/p][p][/p][p]Okay love y'all, play the demo and leave us a review, catch us in the showcase, go forth on your world domination adventures, have great fun![/p][p][/p][p]P.S., A bunch of Yogscast Games are on sale during the Steam Summer Sale, you should totally check them out.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]