Greetings, travellers!
"More music by the fire" was on our roadmap, and the fire has company now. This update brings 44 new historical recordings, a music player so you can choose what plays at your table, and, for everyone sitting down for the first time, the Innkeeper's tutorial: a guided, fully voiced match that teaches Farkle one throw at a time.
44 New Pieces of Medieval and Renaissance Music
The soundtrack has grown from 5 pieces to 49. Like the originals, every one of them is real music from the period, written between the 13th and 17th centuries, and most are played on the instruments of their time:
Cantigas de Santa María from the court of Alfonso X, played on hurdy-gurdy, citole, psaltery, lute, rebab, gittern, vielle and more
Dances of the Renaissance: Attaingnant's galliards and branles, Arbeau's pavane, the Tourdion (a drinking song, fittingly), Mainerio's Schiarazula Marazula and Playford's country dances
Songs of the Middle Ages by Machaut, Landini, Binchois, Dunstable, Ciconia, Solage and the troubadours and trobairitz
Estampies, some of the oldest instrumental dance music to survive, including Chominciamento di gioia and the Robertsbridge Codex
Consort music for viols by Orlando Gibbons and Tobias Hume, and an old favourite or two: yes, Greensleeves is here
The compositions themselves are centuries old. The recordings are by the performers credited in the game, used under their licences. Our thanks to every one of them.
A Music Player at Your Table
You'll find the new player in the corner of the main menu and on the right-hand side of the table, under the scoring card:
Play and pause, stop, previous and next, with the title and composer of what's playing
Shuffle (on by default) or play the soundtrack in order
Tracks opens the full list of all 49 pieces: pick one and it plays
Your choice sticks as you move between the menu and the table. If you stop the music, it stays stopped, and the victory and defeat fanfares stay quiet too
The Innkeeper's Tutorial
New to Farkle? Choose Tutorial on the main menu and the Innkeeper will sit you down for a guided match against the house. Every throw in it is set in advance, so you'll see each part of the game exactly when he explains it:
Single 1s and 5s, three of a kind, three pairs and the straight
Hot Dice, why three 1s are worth a full 1,000, and how four of a kind doubles the score
What a Farkle costs you, and the hardest lesson of all: knowing when to bank
The final round, where your rival gets one last turn to answer
The tutorial is fully voiced in English, with subtitles in all 16 languages. At each step he highlights what to press, and only the dice and buttons he's talking about can be used, so there's no way to get lost. Hesitate too long and he'll nudge you along. The music quietly steps aside while he speaks.
The tutorial match doesn't count toward achievements or stats, so you can take it as often as you like. Subtitles can be turned off in Settings → Game.
A Proper Welcome on First Start
The first time you start Farkle (and once for those of you who already have), a short welcome page asks a few things before you take a seat:
Language: preselected from Steam, and the page switches to your choice right away
Subtitles on or off
Brightness: move the slider until the left die is barely visible and the right one is clearly visible, and the tavern will look the way it's meant to on your screen
And then: play the tutorial, or head straight to the main menu
Everything on it can be changed later in Settings.
Tell Us What You Think
Let us know which piece you'd like to hear more often, how the tutorial worked for you, and how the subtitles read in your language. Join us in the Steam Community discussions.
The rest of the roadmap is on our website: farkle.pterosoftstudio.com
Pull up a chair. The Innkeeper has been expecting you.
— Pterosoft Studio