The Future of Dice Gun Commando

Steam post image (Early work on the new Desert Outpost location.)

Hi, all! Dice Gun Commando has been out for almost two weeks, so it's time to talk about what's next after the 1.0 release.

tl;dr

• Next patch update is 1.0.1, focused on improving new-player experiences

• Next minor version update is 1.1, introducing new features and content

• These releases (and future ones) will come out when time permits due to solo-dev financial constraints

Read on for more details!

1.0.1 Release: Improved New-Player Experiences

The focus of 1.0.1 is doing a better job explaining how the game works to brand-new players. The goal is to get this out quickly in advance of introducing new content, so new players are less likely to bounce off the game due to misunderstanding how it works. Certain UX pain points are also being addressed.

1.0.1's Features

• A brightness popup before starting the first run, ensuring the game is as bright (or dark) as desired.

• One-time tutorial explanations for how certain game mechanics work, like the Inventory and equipping dice/mods to guns.

• Overview of the game's controls. (Finally!)

• Fixes to keyboard/controller icon inconsistency so they always represent the device currently being used.

• Critical bug fixes.

Steam post imageSteam post image

(Assets for the new Wormlord boss and one of their mechanics, which involves hatching eggs.)

1.1 Release: Features and Content

1.1 is about expanding the game's sandbox with new features and content, in addition to quality-of-life improvements. This is a big update, and includes stuff that was cut from 1.0 to make the release date on time.

1.1's Features

• New Locations + Music

  • Two new locations to fight the aliens in:

    • Desert Outpost: a scorching landscape where the remnant of Earth's leadership hides

    • Metropolis: a city being reclaimed in the name of humanity

  • Each location will get its own unique soundtrack that dynamically adapts to the gameplay

    • Additionally, the Factory location's music will be expanded to fit the dynamic music system and have more variation

• New Enemies and Bosses

  • 1 new Fodder: Boomer, which explodes if it gets too close

    • It pauses before detonation, so you have a chance to escape

  • 1 new Elite: Blaster, which shoots a ring of projectiles

    • Its dice roll determines the number of projectiles

  • 2 new bosses:

    • Wormlord: A poisonous worm that spawns wormlings

    • Firebat: A fire-focused flier that tries to trap you in close encounters

  • The Chaos Lord will pick random Ability Dice from the current run's bosses to use as its own

  • Additional in-run rewards from defeating bosses

• Enhanced Threat Levels and Waves

  • Existing Threat Levels will be reworked to have more varied wave compositions

  • Threat Level balance will increase less drastically while still remaining challenging

  • The first two waves will be less of a slog at higher Threat Levels

• Other New Stuff

  • 1 new gun: Laser Rifle

    • It fires a continuous laser beam that does more damage the higher the gun rolls.

  • A new Status: Burning, which damages enemies over time (but doesn't affect armor)

    • The Flamethrower will be reworked to incorporate this

  • Splash will be reworked to be more broadly usable by non-explosive projectiles

    • aka Machine Guns with splash damage soon

  • New mods that leverage Burning and Splash

    • Also more mods that leverage existing mechanics, and especially more damage mods

  • New dice

  • Additional Armory progression paths that leverage the new stuff

• Quality of Life Improvements

  • UI/UX changes to enhance playing experience, including:

    • Toggle to hide on-screen tooltips (so they don't cover the UI)

    • Differentiating experiences between mouse and controller

  • Performance enhancements so the game runs better on older hardware

  • More bug fixes (because there's always more bug fixes)

(Concept mock of the Laser Rifle.)

Timeline

When are these new releases coming out?

• 1.0.1 is planned for sometime in the next week or two

• 1.1 is planned for mid-September to early October

However, there are factors which influence when these releases can come out...

How Things Are Financially

(Warning: This part gets more personal.)

I'm Josh, the solo dev behind Dice Gun Commando (with some help from friends). I started developing the game five months ago and worked on it full-time to try and release it quickly. The intent was to make enough money from the release to afford continuing full-time development.

That isn't how things turned out.

Dice Gun Commando hasn't sold enough for me to continue focusing on the game full-time. Therefore, I'm pivoting my focus to finding a job and restoring financial stability, which means Dice Gun Commando development will happen more slowly.

It sucks. I strongly believe this game has potential, and I feel like some of that potential was wasted with how I handled the launch (this is my first released game). This is a learning experience I can leverage for future games; in the meantime, I'm focused on stabilizing my future.

This Isn't the End

All that said, I am not giving up on the game. The two releases, 1.0.1 and 1.1, will still happen, I have so many ideas for Dice Gun Commando, and I want to get them in the game. If I get a job and financial stability, I can slowly add those ideas as features and content. I've barely scratched the surface on this game's possibility space, and I'm excited to keep digging into it.

I'm also extremely grateful to the fans of Dice Gun Commando who've shown their love for the game. They're as passionate about the game's potential as I am, and I hope to do them proud with these upcoming (and future) releases.

I've never seen a game take so strongly with people as I've seen this game do, whether online with streamers or at playtests and conventions. It gives me hope that Dice Gun Commando will find its audience one day, and I'll do my best to give it that chance.

Feel free to reach out to me on X/Bluesky or join the Loonicy Discord to talk about these things. All links on the Steam page!