DLUTI 248 - Dice's Inferno: Dice Themed Analog Horror

I got dice on my head but don't call me an analog horror.

Transcript

Cold Open And Parasite Banter

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Don't look under the internet.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Computer. Mat's computer off.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

Computer. Turn mats of computer off. Computer. Download, download the butt virus into Matthew. Give him the poop parasite. Give him exploding ass parasite. Give him the exploding ass parasite. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Don't Look Under the Internet. The show where Matt is almost confident he got the poop parasite. My name is Michael. And with me is Douglas.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Matt eats lots of lettuce. Oh, well.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

From Taylor Farm. We were playing some games the other day because he, you know, he sent that big old message over to us. And I was like, hey, do you want to play some games in like Vent a little? He's like, yeah. So he did that. And we were talking about the poop parasite that's going around. And I'm like, oh yeah, that shit takes like two weeks to go to get to your system. He's like, oh no, I've been eating a bunch of Taco Bell for the past like two weeks. And he was like, he was like going to the bathroom a lot that night. I'm like, dude, I think you got the poop parasite. He's like, oh, I've been eating so much lettuce.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Just a normal day for your boy. Just a normal day of uh y'all gotta get a parasite. I just you guys wouldn't understand my dark life.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

I'm always going through a fire sale through my anus. That's just the life we live, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

But I had to buy 16 toilets last year, so uh welcome to this.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Uh it's not all it's not this top, this episode has nothing to do with poop, don't worry. Well, depends on what Matt or Doug has to say about it, I guess. So we'll fucking see. Uh but we'll see. We're talking about another little thing this this week. So if you didn't catch what we were talking about last week, let me let's brush you up. Um TLDR, uh, this was a spontaneous thing where it wasn't supposed to be Doug. It was supposed to be all four of us. That got changed to just Jason and me. That got changed to just me, that got changed to Doug and me.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

So uh went through a lot of iterations of what this week was gonna look like, and this is what you got.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Went through a lot of changes outline wise. So this is what we got. And I stumbled across this one about two, three weeks ago, and I found it more interesting than a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Wish you hadn't.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Doug doesn't seem to like it as much as I do, and we'll get into it later. But I mostly just want to talk about this because it's very fresh. I'm talking like this is like within the month new.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Like straight free Shivaka, do you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 3:08

There's at the time of recording, there's like uh like maybe 10 six episodes with like 10 views each. Like it's very, very small.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

And I wanted to talk about ten views on the first one 22, 44, 11, 13, 20. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Yeah, I want to talk about this fuck off. I want to talk about this now because I can see some potential in this. Um, and I wanted to kind of get in while just get in the door first before fucking nightmind makes a video or something.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Again, ARG radar, you know what I'm saying? Analog radar, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, actually, I guess this is actually one of the first I guess this is more of an unfiction.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Yeah, I guess so. It's because it's not really an analog or uh there's no puzzle really. It's it's just a story so far. So yeah, more unfiction, I guess. Sure.

Merch Plugs And Housekeeping

SPEAKER_03 3:59

We're talking today, uh housekeeping first. Housekeeping. Don't really got any. Uh go subscribe, dilutypod.com, diluty.com, uh patreon.com slash dilutypod. Yeah, we got new designs, and I'm not seeing anyone fucking buying that shit. Like we got a fucking playmat, dog.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

I know half fucking nerds are playing music together. Go get yourself a bit on hand. It's in a box. I have it on hand. Do you have the hat? I know. Do you have the hat? Not it's also not in my room. God damn it. You're so net state, not in the room.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

You're so unprofessional, Douglas.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Well, we have hats week. Go to our last go to the last time I was on an episode.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

No, because that'd be last week, which was group parasite, and you were wearing the same clothes. No, no, no. Two weeks, three to two to five weeks ago. Go like a month. Um, yeah, I don't know. We we have some really fun new merch, and we we need to afford to have it on there. So buy. I know times are to it in.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

I'm holding I'm holding a playmat. You can edit that in right here. And you can edit the the hat on my head right here.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

I hope he just does like buy our merch slides the JPEG on or something.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Just like clip art of like not even what we're selling. It's just dick butt and just poop. It just like bounces in, you know what I'm saying? Like ding ding ding. Anyways, we love you.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

Yes, Matt. Trim the fat, trim the fat, cut that out. Um, he's not gonna cut it

Why Dice's Inferno Now

SPEAKER_03 5:31

out. Anyway, we're going to uh talk about something that I found that's very low-key. It's called the the channel is called D the Dice Dev. And I the I think like the unofficial name so far for this this this story, this unfiction series is Dice's Inferno. And yeah, that's what it looks like. Yeah, I now I came across titles of the videos. Yeah, and I came across the bad boy. And pretty I think it's pretty dang interesting. There's about six videos here, they're pretty short. The longest one I think is like five and a half minutes. No, it's six, it's seven minutes. The longest one's seven minutes long. Um, but I say we just dive right on in. What do you think? Please. Oh

Interrogating The Dice-Headed Man

SPEAKER_03 6:18

yeah. So the first video is called The Man Who Returned from Inferno. Now we start with a man sitting at this like desk. Only this man isn't a normal man. He's got a D20 for a head. Uh he's dressed in all black as well, so we can't really see any part of him. But he's sitting at this desk and he seems to be being interrogated. These questions start to pop up on the screen and he's required to answer these questions. Um of the questions that pop up are things like uh state your name. He says he goes by D. Uh D-E-E. The next one is what did you see? He says it's hard to put into one word, but if you must, Inferno. How long were you there? He basically says he's was there for too long. A lifetime, he would say. Longer than anyone should be. This is the most interesting one. He says, What did it feel like? He says it felt like Vegas, but with a gun strapped to your head. And I find that to be a very interesting uh I guess like I don't know, way of describing a place. Cause I guess yeah, metaphor because like when you think Vegas uh you think of like not paradise, but you think of just like gutter, like gutterly like dirty, like I don't fun kind of like Vegas, I don't like it, but it's it it's supposed to be fun. It's it's gambling and drink and it's it's supposed to be yeah, it's supposed to be like dirty, grimy fun. And uh I fun for the whole fam.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Yeah, the concept of that, but with a gun strapped to your head is you remember back in like the fucking 2000s when they were trying to like turn Vegas into like a family-friendly like destination and it didn't work out very well, and then they're like, All right, back to cocaine and hookers, back to whores and dice, yes.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

So they ask him also, can you recreate inferno? And this question puzzles D. He asks what and the interviewer asks again, what he says he can't, he he doesn't have a way to recreate inferno.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

And the interviewer just like can you add in little John saying what uh about five seconds earlier? Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

It's gonna be like 25 minutes in, and you're just gonna hear, what I forget what one he did that at, but he did that exact same thing. We added we told him to like add in a fart sound, and then like 30 seconds later, it's just ripping the nastiest fart. So stupid. Um good good shit, good shit. So the interviewer leaves after D says that he can't recreate Inferno. And D's like, Well, where are you going? Well, okay, and he's like, I guess it's just you and me now. And then uh that's kind of the end of that episode. Um, something I noticed, and it may or may not be important, I'm not sure yet.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

The number Honestly, this is a man with a dice on his head, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:29

Yeah, it's a man with a dice on his head, and the dice a d20, and like every now and then throughout like the video, the the dice will change, like what is facing you. It starts off with a 20, and then it's a 14, and I think a 12.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

So I don't know if that has any so it's a 20 in the first video, a 20 in the second video, a 13 in the third video, and then like so forth. I'll do it a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Well, in mine it changes three times in the first episode. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. It starts at 20, it ends on like 12 or something.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah, yeah, I I know exactly why it's happening, actually.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Oh, nice, and I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

I'll tell you why.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

All right, that works for me.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

But not right now. Oh um, so it's not explained, actually. I just I'm just almost positive I know what it is.

SPEAKER_03 10:14

I yeah, I have my theories too, but I we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. Yeah, so we're we'll do the thing we're doing right now, right? Yeah, yeah, chat. Okay.

The Rules Of Inferno Explained

SPEAKER_03 10:24

So the next video is called Rules of the Inferno. And uh this is the longest one, like I was mentioning before. And this is D. He's now in a room with a bed, and he let us know that he tried to explain the rules of Inferno to the quote unquote organization. Oh, there's another thing we were talking about on the last episode. Little things we used to do. The quotes, the kung kung. Uh we used to be funny, Doug. What happened? I don't know, dude. Life. We hit our 30s. And then I just became very not funny. So he's he's trying to figure out uh explain the rules to the organization. He's trying to explain it to them three times, but they can't seem to figure it out. Probably because they're stupid because it doesn't seem that complicated. So here we are. He says that he's gonna try to explain it to us now. He states that when he died, he was given two choices either accept Inferno and eternal damnation or go through with what he calls the trial. The trial was simple. At least that's what the old man told him. All of a sudden, these dice appear in front of him. A D20, a D12, two D10s, a D eight, a D6, and a D4. And he's got these lined up in front of him in the video as well. He then explains the rules of Inferno, and he goes about this. He recreated the game in the video too. Um he's got uh this like he's got these 32 uh hang on. So hang on. First off, he's got the board game in front of him, and essentially it's like this circular mat with an octagon of tiles around it, and each tile is labeled one through 32. There's also a stack of cards.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

It's literally just shut the box.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Yeah, I that's what I wrote down. Yeah, it's shut the box. All right. Yeah, I'll get there. I'm just describing the board. Um, but it's got a stack of cards um by the board as well that have different rules and tricks and bonuses to it as well. But I'll explain the game itself. So here's the rules to Inferno. The first rule, stay alive, don't get greedy. He then shows us the game board that he created. Again, it's got 32 tiles around a mat, along with seven dice and a deck of cards. A coin is flipped to decide who goes first, either him or the person that's judging him. The game plays just like the game shut the box. And if you haven't played shut the box, basically you roll a dice and whatever the dice lands on, you flip that number of tiles. So for example, if you roll a 12, you can flip the tile marked 12, or you can flip the tile marked eight and four, or you can mark the tile 10 and the tile two. As long as whatever tiles any, yeah. Yeah, as long as they add up to 12, you can flip any tiles. They just have to add up to 12.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

But it's it's not just 12, it's any number you roll. Yeah. Um there's a deck of cards that add to the game, like re-rolls or other bonuses where it lets you close other tiles. Um, the last person who cannot flip tiles loses. He says the uh he says the people you play against will cheat. Um and you just gotta like kind of attempt to beat the odds.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

It's very basically it seemed like he was kind of making it seem like while while they were in hell they had to play against like different like bosses, yeah, and that the bosses had their own like little tricks they could do. So they had like I'm assuming like special powers or something like that, like that they could like manipulate the board state or something.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Yeah, I think I think he mentioned some of them have their own special cards in the deck or something too.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Right. That's at least what I got from it. I was like trying to decipher like where they were going with that, and yeah, because it's not explicitly stated exactly, but it's mentioned enough that you could kind of infer what they're trying to get at.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

Yeah, but anyway, the uh the organization gave him a room now with a bed and a window. Although he does mention that the stuff outside of the window does not seem real to him. He says that it seems off. Um but we don't know why they want to recreate Inferno, but we are given a tip don't stop moving. Whatever that means. Don't stop believing, don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling. It's a joke that uh it takes forever to set up, and it's my proudest joke that I read online once, like 10 years ago. I'm not gonna do it here because it's like a 10-minute setup. No, it's like a 10-minute setup for a very bad joke. Like it doesn't make anybody laugh, it makes them mad. It's it's a Norm McDonald joke for for sure. Um, but just look up, just look up joke, don't stop, be leaving. All different words, and you'll probably get it. Anyway.

Just Out Of Reach And Reality

SPEAKER_03 15:32

The third video in the list here, and the last one I'm gonna be talking about, is called Just Out of Reach. Do it do it. And this is a smaller one, it's a minute, 45 seconds long. Essentially, Dee gives us a little update on things. Uh, he says that he can't describe how he felt when he beat the trials and thought he would be free. Emphasis on thought he would be free. Um that didn't last when news spread of a dice-headed creature that came crawling out of the ground. One thing led to another, and now here he is, wherever here is. He feels he traded one prison for another, but he's at least happy he has the camera or us that he's talking to. Um he also is happy that he has the window for a view, even though it might feel off. He says that it's still beautiful and he still enjoys seeing it. Um, but he also mentions that he has to give a monthly report in a few days, and he's a little rusty because he hasn't touched a computer in years. Now, there's a couple things I want to bring up because I'm sure they came through on the video. Um first and foremost in some of these videos, and it happens in yours too, there's these weird like I don't even know how to like smear transitions. And I think they're just like um artifacts from like the the video being edited. But if you pay attention, you can see like smears happen throughout the videos, and he'll change like positions or something when the smear happens. So I think it's just an editing bug. But who knows, it might have something to do with the story. I couldn't fucking tell you. Um the other thing that I like is this seems like it's supposed to take place in our world now because he says that he was looking forward to his freedom, but he doesn't really have it now, and he's like, that all changed when I came crawling out of the ground, and people's people saw a dice-headed creature come crawling out of the ground. So that makes me think that wherever he came up at, like, he is the alien in that world, which kind of would make sense if he came up in our world. You know, does that does my am I making sense here?

SPEAKER_02 17:53

I don't I don't know. I don't that's not exactly how I took it, because I I believe he briefly mentions like dying and then you know being given a choice. Like he never was like, Yeah, I was on Mars, and then like you know what I'm saying? Like it was it was pretty clear, like and and I'll there's a bit in like he says something in one of my videos where he's like, I never thought I'd hear chirps again.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

Yeah, but one of the things well, my thing is like when he he looks out the window and he's like, Oh, it it doesn't seem right, everything looks wrong. So I think he might have died, and this is like a different dimension or something that he got popped into. That I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Either that or he he's thinking he's in like a simulation of some sort or yeah, something along those lines.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

I don't know. I don't I don't know. Yeah, they also at the end of my video, he says he hasn't touched a computer in years, and I don't know if this is like his accent that came up, but when he says years, his accent changes. Like he's speaking in relatively good, like I would say good English this entire time. He has a little bit of an accent to it, like it's kind of like a European accent, I think. But um, I'm not sure. But when he says years, it's like he's like, Oh, I haven't touched a I haven't touched a computer in years. Like it gets very like like stereotypical, like a Russian man sound. And I don't know if that was intentional or not. Um, but I just I I wanted to bring it up in case it is intentional and someone smarter than me uh pieces some shit together.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

So I do find it funny. So I guess I'll just go into my video because it's kind of a good segue, but he mentions not having like been on a computer in years, yet he's like coding a whole thing in this next video.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

The vibe is also way different with him in this video.

Coding Inferno For The Organization

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Yeah, so in in my video, uh it's called How to Recreate Inferno. Basically, uh the the organization is questioning him and asking for his like first month um like report. And uh the first thing we get is he's like, Someone move my desk, and and he's like, I don't like that shit. Don't move, don't touch my shit. Don't touch my like, and especially not my bed. He's big ass angie in this this first bit, but um he's like, Well, here's uh like it it flashes the organization's words in the black screen, like it does, and then he's like, Well, here's what I've done this month. Um, and he starts going into how he's created the board and the tiles, and that um if if it's not coming through, he's basically they're basically having him recreate the inferno as a video game. So he's coding this game uh on a computer, which leads me to the point I was making earlier of that if he hasn't been on a computer and or hasn't touched a computer in years, I find it hard that he's just sitting here coding a video game. But that's for something else and other time. Um but uh yeah, so basically, um he keeps going up and what okay. Um so yeah, basically he's just going through like all of this like random shit um that he's done. He's showing off like what the board looks like, what the uh the tiles look like. Mike's having a child emergency, I'm sure. Um, and then he's uh talking about the logic of his code, how the code works in the game, um, and that uh he's programming programming the enemies and that the AI is kind of uh you know stupid, and that uh all it takes like he has to program it to not be stupid, which makes sense. Um and then uh he mentions that as this guy he knows um who was in hell with him was trying to cheat at the game, and he actually programs this logic into the game so that you can't cheat, essentially. Um, but the guy was thrown out of hell, apparently, not out of hell, but out of the trials, um, and now has to spend all of his time in hell. But um he seems to be in a good mood. He's like he's like, you know what? I'm he's he's very happy. He's like uh he's like, I'm I've done it, I'm doing a bunch of progress essentially. Um but the people at the very end of this video, this is actually one of the longer videos. I've I've summed this up quite a bit, but at the end of End of the video, um, the the organization's like, Yeah, we wanted more. We wanted more out of you. Like you, you, you didn't you didn't do enough, and then that's kind of where the video ends. Yeah, give us enough shit. Yeah. And then we get to the next video, and it's called The Truth Is I Expected More.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

Now, Buddy Boy's feelings are hard. I do sorry, before you go into the next episode, I don't know if you talked about it. Sorry, I had to cut away there. My daughter sleeps with a blanket every night and she left it down here. I had to go run it up to her. But um, yeah, his vibe is very weird in in your last video. Like he's like more like upbeat. He's kind of cocky. Yeah, yeah, he's like cocky and upbeat.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Yeah. I'm I mentioned that he's in a good mood, but the the organization ends up crushing it. Yeah, there's uh we expected more, and he's just oh but this is so this is the thing.

Mood Dice And Story Pacing

SPEAKER_02 22:54

In the last video, he has a 20 for his face, and on the d20 is his face. In this next video, the truth is I expected more. The face is a seven. It's pretty clear that the lower his feelings are, or like the worse mood he's in, the lower the number. That's pretty much what it means. Okay. If he's not like I don't know what else that could be other than that. Like maybe if he hits one, he'll die. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

But um also the the lighting, the lighting's very blue in this next one, the truth is one.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Oh yeah, he it's very yeah, it's very um just sad. Like, there's a lot of metaphors. Whenever well, I don't know if the walls I don't know. It's there's there's a lot that just isn't explained in this, and it looks like as his mood changes, the wall may be changing as well. I'm not really sure. But um, yeah, so the truth is I expected more. It's a very short video. Uh, you can tell he's really sad and that his feelings are hurt, um, and that his mood is just shot. Uh, he's kind of just being a sad sap in the like the whole time in this video, and he's just like, he's like, you know, I was happy about my progress, but honestly, like I could have done more, I should have done more, and they wanted more, and this and that, and blah blah blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_03 24:12

Corporate said corporate thinks you could have done better.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Yeah, pretty much. Uh, we're gonna need you come in on Sunday, buddy. Um so basically that's it. He's you're getting a pin. Yeah, he's getting he's getting his first fucking uh he's got a point. But um, so basically, he kind of goes off on this tangent and goes, There's stuff that I haven't told the organization, because they haven't asked me. But also, I haven't told you. And I'm like, Yeah, you haven't told a shit. You've literally done nothing. There's there's no substance yet in the story. Like you, you all like all right. Well, he does the next episode.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Well, he does also mention he's like, there's things I haven't told told you, but I think he says something like, but uh see if you can see them or something. Like like he's meant mentioned there's stuff hidden in the last episodes, but I don't know what they can do.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

Yeah, maybe. I I mean maybe all 14 viewers can help us out and find them.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

I think you think the numbers are like um like a mood thing, but I think maybe it's a potential code or something. I don't know what yet or how, because how can numbers be a code if it's just single-digit numbers?

SPEAKER_02 25:18

I mean, maybe maybe there's some ARG element happening. I so this is my issue so far, and I don't want to poo-poo on it too hard because it's clearly not done. Um, it's the last video was three days ago, and the first video was a month ago. So, like this is very fresh. It's just I'm having a hard time with the substance in this because we get the explanation of the rules in the second video, and then in the how to recreate the inferno in my last video, he basically goes over the rules again, yeah. And then in this next video coming up, he goes over the rules one more time, and it's like three of the six videos are just filled with filler of you explaining this game that we've heard you explain already. I know how to play shut the box. And it's it's not that it's a it there's just it feels like so far that there's like some sort of story that's trying to be told, but they're like not finding the like the the path to it, like they're like having trouble getting there, like the plot just like is kind of like it keeps like falling over as they go, like they're not quite hitting it, yeah. Um, and that and honestly, this next video was what solidified my thought on that because um at the end of the last video, the he's like, Yeah, the organization gave me uh a tablet and a pen. He's like, I don't know where the pen is right now, but like he has this this drawing tablet essentially. So the next video is called Once Upon a Time in Inferno.

Sketch Tale And Worldbuilding Hopes

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Um and basically the whole video is like drawn on this on their pad. Like the whole video takes place as like just him sketching out the dice on this pad, and he tells the story of a kid who finds some like dirty dice, and then he goes through the story, the story or the rules of the dice game essentially, but he just turns it into like a ferryman's tale where it's the the ferryman to the underworld, um, and all the dice are have all have touched everyone who's passed through the underworld, etc. etc.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

I do like that the concept is fun of like he's like he's like the death are like the dice are like worn and they're not good in good shape, but they feel they they feel heavier than usual, but they work really good. And they're smooth or something.

SPEAKER_02 27:34

Yeah, it was a very interesting. I I again I don't want to poo-poo on the story because I think there is some there is a story here that could be told, but my problem is that it's gonna take like 50 fucking videos at this rate for the story to come fleshed out, which is fine. This isn't finished yet, clearly. Like it's not finished, and you know, usually we cover something that's got like with like videos this short, we're talking like 50 to 100 videos sometimes, where you know, there's four of us covering 20 one-minute videos or something, and it's a lot easier for us to go through the whole fucking story. I just I feel bad actually, the more I say it out loud, because I'm like, there's six videos and not a whole lot of substance um yet. Like we have the base of a story, we're just not getting anywhere in it. And honestly, I think it's a hot take for me to just be like this shit is bad um when there's not enough of it out, you know what I'm saying? For sure. Um, but I do I like the idea, I like the the visual look of the dude's head. And if you I I did finish my once upon a time in Inferno um notes, but oh that was all you had. I guess there isn't much, but there's really not much to it. It's just he tells the story, but the story is masked behind the rules, and that's it's really all it is. Like I mean, you can watch the video, it's two minutes long. Um, but yeah, it's just a basically about a kid who goes to the dice game and with the fairy. But um that's the last video that's uploaded. But um, again, the more I the more I speak it out loud, the the more I I don't want to like be like this is bad yet. Like, I don't I can't sit here and say it's not good. It's not drawing me in like the three videos from Perry Perry Grit did. Like um, like it's I visually think this is really neat. Like, I like the guy's costume, I like his dice head, I like that the face changes on it and whatnot. I think that's interesting. Um I don't know if I care for the way this guy talks. Maybe that's just a personal thing, but it it there's something about it doesn't like just isn't for me. I guess yeah, it feels off. Um, and again, I'm not getting a whole lot. Like, if you're gonna give me a seven-minute video, like the first two videos, they had me intrigued. I was like, okay. And then after the second video, I watched the third video and then the fourth video, and I messaged Mike and I was like, I I don't, I don't know, I don't know about this one. Um, because it just it took me out of it. It's like the third video is just like him being like, I I I made this part of the game, and I I I coded this part of the game, and this part of the game I added in, and it's like that's cool. Well, great. Nice, good for you. I I so you're being held hostage to create a video game for the government. I don't really know, I don't really understand. Like, yeah, there's no peril, if that makes sense. Like, there's no like urgency between but like they're giving you lodging and you have to make a video game and you're a dice band.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

I'm with you. I I I share similar sentiments with you. I just I wanted to talk about it because it is very fresh, and you could tell there is a a decent amount of production that went into it. Like, like you said, the the mask thing in the D20 is really fun. I like that you can see the eye slits. It's filmed nice. Yeah, you can see the eye slits. The uh the camera that he's using is it's a very nice looking camera. It's edited pretty, you know, pretty fairly good. Um he's obviously a decent artist, like he draws the dice at the end, which I know drawing dice is like, oh, that's not that hard, I'm sure, but they look pretty good. And uh he's obviously got some some art direction behind him. It's just uh yeah, I'm I'm hoping this picks up a little bit. It's my my biggest down point is kind of like what you're saying, is you're six videos deep and there's not much to show for it because three of them are just uh repeating the rules but in different ways. You're not feeding me any new information to keep me intrigued, you're just reiterating information you've already given me. And it it does a thing that uh grid parasites did not do where grid parasites kept you on for two minutes and it used that time very efficiently. With this, there was a seven-minute video that I talked about and I crammed it down to like a paragraph. You know what I mean? Like if you're giving me seven minutes of content or a seven a seven-minute video, it should take me more than a couple sentences to sum up what's going on in it.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

Um I'm I'm also not sure I like this like document style like stuff where it's just we're looking at one guy the whole time and he's just like talking a whole lot. Yeah. I don't know if that's I don't know if I I'm not sure I'd like I'm not sure what else they would do though. I I in this case I have no idea. Yeah. I mean, again, I'm not I'm not I don't write shit, I don't edit shit, I don't I don't know. Like I'm not I can't say like again, like I'm not I like I don't think this is bad by any means, but I don't think it's for me specifically. I also hope I would hope that it doesn't take another 20 videos for like some sort of storyline to come out of it, I guess. That's my personal opinion, but I mean you I can kind of tell just nowadays that if if I'm not hooked by the third video of something, it's probably not gonna happen for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

It's just I'm gonna keep it. I'm gonna keep my eyes on it just because it is so small and I see I see some potential. I I'm genuinely a little curious to see where this could go. I'm probably not gonna watch it religiously and be like, oh, new episode drop. I'll probably chime in like once a month to see where the progress is. Um but yeah, I'm I'm you know, I'm hoping I'm hoping this goes in a fun direction because I can see like I've I can tell you right now, if it in a nonfiction, I have not seen a like one centered around like a dice game or anything like that. That's a that could be an interesting topic of you know, a dice game taking place in hell or something. That like because he he mentions I'm not even sure if this is gonna end up being horror, to be quite honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

Like it almost seems like it's going like a sci-fi route.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

I don't know if that's like a mystery sci-fi or something. Yeah, I don't know that I don't think it would go horror, but just the concept of like if you're in hell, you have the option to like get back to life if you play this game.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

But the people get out of hell if you play shut the box, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:12

I I do enjoy that. That's the game they play in hell is shut the box. That's like if you die and they're like, you want to play you want to play Uno to get back to life. It's such an odd you would think it'd be like a like an older game or like a more basic thing, like how in uh baccarat. Yeah, or like how in uh Pirates of the Caribbean they're just like playing dice in a cup for like souls, you know what I mean? They're not over here playing fucking uh uh Parchee or something. So I don't know, but I I I like the idea. I think the concept of like you die, you have the ability to come back to life and regain your soul if you win this game, but the odds are heavily stacked against you. Because he does mention in I think your last video, he mentions like a kid who like found a way to win every time. Oh no, it was it was in the one where he um he's creating the software, like the video game of the game. He's like, Oh yeah, this kid like I mentioned that um when you were gone.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

I basically the dude was cheating, yeah, yeah, and he had to code the cheating out of the game essentially because the AI was able to use it and like he had to make basically the enemies not be stupid.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Yeah, but I like that concept too, where it's like there there's other people that have gone through this and they've cheated the system, but they got caught, so like it's a system that is heavily rigged against you. It is. He mentions that it's like Vegas with a gun strapped to you. It really is. The house always wins. I don't think he used that uh that phrasing uh uh for nothing, you know. This does very much seem like the house always wins. You can't cheat, but the house can cheat against you. You know, it that's what it seems like, which is very that's a very interesting concept.

Ratings And What Needs Fixing

SPEAKER_03 35:56

So I I'm gonna give this we didn't grade grid parasites, which we probably should have. I'm gonna do it post-humorously right now. It's short, sweet to the point. I'm gonna give it like an eight out of ten. Very fun, very satisfying. Boom.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

Um rating an episode that isn't in this episode.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

Yeah, but I'm gonna rate, I'm gonna rate Dice's Inferno. Because it's so fresh and not a lot has happened yet, I'm gonna give it like a six and a half. I'm not gonna give it too low because it's too, I think it's too early to judge it too hard. I'm gonna go a little down the road, but production value I think is gonna boost it up. I would have given it a five, but production value and everything, and the fun mask, I think is gonna bump it up to like a six and a half for me.

SPEAKER_02 36:40

I I will give I'm gonna be critical on this. I'm gonna give it a two out of ten. Woof. But but the only reason is is because right now I like the production. Yeah, that's about it. So if it becomes better, it has room to become a higher score for me. So I'll give it room to grow. But right now, it's not for me.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

Well, split it down the middle. What do you get? Like a like a four, I guess. Like a hot a hot four. A hot four. Oh no, that's me.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

A soft four Z.

SPEAKER_03 37:16

No, but uh D D the dice dev, I'm rooting for you. I see some potential here, and I'm you're you're definitely gonna see me viewing it um in the future. And I recommend all reviewers go there.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

They're gonna be really confused too. They're gonna be like, damn, I just made this thing and there's somebody covering me on their fucking podcast. Yeah, right. It's gonna be really interesting. Yeah, that's why I didn't want to be too mean. But I I I do it because I think it's good feedback for them. I like if I was making a video, I'd want someone to be like, hey, there's no there's like nothing's happening, like you need to, you know, make it happen. I and you're I'm also not a fucking writer or a director, or I think if it's their first project, this is always this is always the hardest part about doing this is I can't just be nice to everyone because I don't want their feelings hurt or whatever, you know what I'm saying? Like I'm trying to give critical feedback. I'm not like yo, your shit sucks and you're dumb. Like, that's not what I'm doing. We used to do that. Like we did, we would do that sometimes, but yeah, like I want to be critical. I want to be like, hey, like right now it's too slow. You've three of your six videos are the same thing, essentially. Um, and I I feel like the sixth video feels off because now we're just watching someone draw on an iPad. Like, it doesn't feel like it's does it feel like it feels off. Yeah, so I think it's just like a jarring switch to have one video just fully someone drawing some dice while they tell a story. It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't know. That's fair. If it's their first thing, which it probably is, there's always room to grow. Keep doing what you're doing, keep making the videos, don't stop doing it. That's not what I want you to do. I'd rather you fix whatever it is you can fix or change whatever you can change, or I don't know. Hopefully, this feedback is good for some degree of wealth, I guess. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 39:00

I just don't like giving feedback like that anymore because I've noticed in my age and how long we've been doing this that I miss a lot of shit. So for all I know, he has stuffed this with some hidden stuff that we just didn't find, and we're like, where's the story? And he's like, he's thinking in his head, like it's right fucking there if you looked, and we just didn't look. You know what I mean? So like I don't like gradient too harshly because I'm an idiot. And that's also possible

Creators Respond And Interview Question

SPEAKER_03 39:27

for sure. Yeah, I I don't know, but uh I I do appreciate that it is possible they will see this um and and listen to it. Because like I don't know if people understand this, but on our YouTube, when we cover a topic, a lot of the creators like get back to us. Um like to put it in perspective on our show. They yeah, they comment on our shit. Like to put it in perspective, like uh the tapes I found with thrift store guys, they commented on our on one of our episodes. The Greensboro guys did. Um like Glendale archives did, didn't they? Um no, I don't think Glendale did. I thought or wait, no.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

I don't remember who who was the one that was like, yo, thank you for the feedback.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

Like they were like super like happy with our like critical, like that was Greensboro, I'm pretty sure, where they're like, this is the direction we were thinking of going, and you guys nailed it, yada yada. Okay, okay, okay. Um even even going way back, like uh the Minerva Alliance guy, we had him on the show at one point, and they they message us, you know, we got so much. We it's it's it's very fun and I satisfying is a weird word to use, but there is something satisfying about when we talk about a thing and the creator notices, it's very also do you guys want us to interview people again?

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Because like we just haven't been doing that because like it didn't seem like anybody like cared about those episodes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

But like we could totally still interview people, like you know, yeah, If you want us to do that, but whenever we do get some of the creators on, it doesn't seem like those videos get views, and we're not necessarily saying we're in this for the views, but like we want to make something that the amount of you that are here for want to see, you know what I mean? As much as this is a passion project for me, I'm also not just wanting to make something just for me. I wanted to cover things that other people might like too. Because if it was just about me, I would be talking about fucking this wouldn't be about internet horror, it'd be about like Dragon Ball and shit, you know. It wouldn't j if it was just about me, it'd be things like pumpkin head, like I'm wearing the fucking shirt. Like, but uh yeah, I if you guys want to see creators on with us, let us know.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Basically, what I was saying was that this podcast has changed a lot over the past five years. Um, you know, we've done it differently and we we keep doing it differently, and who knows where it's gonna be next year. Um, so really it's just uh a matter of what direction we take it, and maybe I don't know, maybe one day we'll just be a let's play. Maybe maybe we'll just be only Patreon. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

Who's to say?

Final Bits And Where To Find Us

SPEAKER_03 42:03

But uh all I have to say is if you see a man with a dice for a head, go ahead and roll for initiative on if you can kiss him.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Uh and then go to patreon.com. You get consent though.

SPEAKER_03 42:15

Roll for consent?

SPEAKER_02 42:17

Roll for consent, yeah. Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

That's a band name. Roll for consent. Uh Patreon.com slash dilutipod or diluted.com. Check it out. Buy some merch, yada yada yada. Uh dilutypod at e uh gmail.com. Go there too. Send us an email. Doug, what you got? Merch.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

Uh peen bean merch merch brain bean merch. Ping bean merch. Um, do do mini merch now. Uh yeah, I mean, hopefully you liked our little our little duo episode today. Uh, I know they were shorter, but uh bye everybody.

SPEAKER_03 42:57

You have a day. Goodbye. Welcome.