Dadi Kingdom – May Update: UI, Night Events and Gameplay Flow

In May, a lot of work went into the systems that should make the overall gameplay flow of Dadi Kingdom feel much smoother later on. The main focus was the new HUD, night events, sequences, and several technical gameplay systems.

A big part of the work went into the new UI. The HUD was expanded and visually adjusted more closely to the style of Dadi Kingdom. Especially the lower displays, slots and frames were reworked so they fit better into the medieval kingdom setting. Decision icons for the throne room were also prepared, including custom icons for prison, release, fines and other judgments.

Work also continued on the night event system. These events are meant to trigger after the end of a day and take place in existing gameplay areas, such as Skydorf, the dungeon or the military yard. Instead of building an overloaded system, the idea is to keep it focused on a few important values: troop strength, defense, wall condition, morale and attack. This should keep night events easy to understand while still giving them real consequences.

On the technical side, a lot of work went into level sequences and widgets. I worked on making sequences start correctly, wait for player decisions, end cleanly and trigger the correct follow-up event afterwards. This is important for future night attacks, throne room events and other scripted moments in the game.

Gameplay systems were also worked on further. Topics such as shield usage, the spell bar, HUD displays and the connection to the combat system were tested and improved. The goal is not only to have individual systems working on their own, but to make sure they are properly connected.

Additional ideas for night events and smaller gameplay situations were also collected. Dadi Kingdom should not only offer decisions during the day in the throne room, but also react to those decisions at night in a noticeable way.

Unfortunately, the planned playtest has been delayed again because of this. The reason is simple: I do not want to release Dadi Kingdom into testing too early while central gameplay flows still do not feel solid enough. I would rather provide a better first user experience than rush the playtest online as quickly as possible. The playtest is still coming, but only when the UI, decisions, sequences and core gameplay flow work together more reliably.

Overall, May was mainly a month of foundation and connection: UI, night events, sequences and gameplay systems were brought closer together so that the individual parts of Dadi Kingdom can slowly become one playable kingdom.