Death Trash - edgy post-apocalyptic isometric action-RPG - now available on Early Access

[jackofshadows]

So,any chances of being good ?

Idk about good but worth a shot - sure. Shallow af mechanics, silly writing but the art is carrying and the game's world is intriguing enough to me.

 

[Van-d-all]

I finished the demo, it's basically an pixelart ARPG in post-apo world where people live off meat casually gowing from the ground, dialogues are rather short and far between. The setting is so fucked up by itself you can't possibly expect any character to be normal.

 

[Infinitron]

Released, on GOG too:


https://af.gog.com/game/death_trash?as=1649904300

 

[Yosharian]

*looks at the art*

This is stunning. How have I not heart of this?

*looks at the writing*

...oh.

Still better than Deadfire

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/death-trash-is-twisted-and-i-mean-that-as-a-compliment/

Death Trash is twisted, and I mean that as a compliment
The splatterpunk body-horror RPG is living up to expectations.

I'm glad Death Trash is pixel art, because otherwise I'd be grossed-out by all the raw meat, vomit, and skinlessness. Not to mention the naked old men who seem to cheerfully hang out on the sidelines of this particular post-apocalypse. One of them danced at me.

Here are some of the names on Death Trash's overworld map: Festering Gorge, Woundland, Puke Bar. It's not a nice place. I've been exiled here because of an illness that means I can't stay in the underground bunker run by robots where humans chill in VR cyberwombs all day instead of getting jobs. Now I live on the surface with the outcasts, mutants, mysterious gigantic entities called titans, and an endless supply of meat that fountains out of the ground.

That raw meat seems to be the only thing anyone eats, despite the fleshworms crawling around it. With a successful animalism check I pick up a fleshworm to carry around and be my friend. Then I yeet it into a cluster of enemies as a distraction. There are a lot of enemies in the Early Access version of Death Trash, and a pre-release update notes "improved non-combat gameplay" will be part of the full release. So while I can sneak past some fights, I do have to murder a whole lot of mutants while exploring this grotesque wasteland.

Death Trash's combat is real-time and does the classic RPG thing of pissing me off until I get some decent gear and enough skill points, when it suddenly becomes fun. This happens around the time I find a sword, which I like to carry around because it fits my aesthetic as well as because it does enough damage to drop someone with a single backstab.

The character creator lets you make your own punk, so I've gone with sunglasses and a flappy black ensemble, which I later accessorise with a bandana over my mouth. Dressed like this, holding a sword out point-down like an anime character just feels right. At least until I find a claw glove that does even more damage.

Most fights begin from stealth. I activate an implant that turns me invisible long enough to get behind someone's vision cone and drop them. Being able to take out the most annoying enemy in a group before the rest get mad about it is a definite boon. Then it's a matter of frantically dodge-rolling between swipes so those precious frames of invincibility keep me safe, hoping everyone dies before my stamina runs out.

There are guns, and a right-click brings up whichever one I've got equipped, fluidly switching between shooting and hacking. There are at least six different kinds of ammo so you better believe I'm carrying one of each weapon type just in case, even though I've made a melee-build character.

In one corner of a map I found a bandit with a rocket launcher—a one-hit kill weapon—covering all the angles from a cul-de-sac. I threw a blip, which is a thing that goes 'blip', distracting the bandit long enough for me to get the Freddy Krueger claws out. I've been carrying that rocket launcher ever since and haven't fired it once, because what if I need it later? This is what happens to my brain in any game with limited ammo.

My favorite way to play Fallout was as a diplomat, talking my way out of most problems, and although Death Trash has an empathy stat I've only found a couple of places where it adds dialogue options. Stealth or violence or a combination of the two seems like the way to go, but that's not to say there's nothing but combat in this Early Access version of Death Trash.

In one settlement I met a couple of exiles engaged in a vomiting competition, and agreed to help one of them win by finding a real gross thing for him to eat. Performance-enhancing substances are ruining the sport of competitive puking, and I'm part of the problem. I've also tried to figure out what the deal is with the mysterious illness that makes me personally so pukey. Seeking out experts in medicine and science led into the mysteries of the titans, which some of the wasteland's clever people are fixated on, but a few hours in I've hit a wall in that unfinished questline. So instead I'm sidequesting, dealing with the Puke Bar's fleshmaggot problem, and finding friends for the Fleshkraken.

If it's not obvious from the fact I used the word "puke" three times in that paragraph, this is a game with a hell of a tone, delighting in crassness. Technology runs on vomit, one of the crafting materials is trash, and when you dump things out of your inventory you say "Fuck that" and "No need for this shit." It's a world of trash, but that's OK because I am a trash goblin, determined to thrive on my all-meat diet and all-stab tactics, Naruto-running across the desert with my sword in one hand.

Death Trash is available on Steam.

 

[Yosharian]

Top seller on Steam, rating 'Positive' so far

interesting

 

[markec]

*looks at the art*

This is stunning. How have I not heart of this?

*looks at the writing*

...oh.

Still better than Deadfire

That's a low bar.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

It’s really fucking good

 

[toro]

For this EA release there are only 5 hours of content from a total of 20 hours planned for the final release.

Edit: I've reached the end of the main quest after 4.4 hours. This is less than a EA release, it's more like a demo.

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/news/interview_stephan_hovelbrinks_tells_us_more_about_death_trash?as=1649904300

INTERVIEW: STEPHAN HÖVELBRINKS TELLS US MORE ABOUT DEATH TRASH

The striking game in development from Crafting Legends is already available on GOG.COM, yet some questions surrounding the game remain unanswered. That’s why we’ve decided to reach out to Stephan Hövelbrinks, the title’s main originator and creator, to tell us more about the fascinating Death Trash project.

GOG.COM: As we can see in the description of Death Trash, the game is heavily inspired by cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic classics. Which cult titles would that be?

Stephan Hövelbrinks: There are the Fallout games, mainly - one of my favorite game series, delivering both on atmosphere as well as on gameplay. Regarding cyberpunk, there's a bit of Deus Ex and Beneath A Steel Sky in Death Trash, although I'm not sure how much of that is visible to the outside.

Other game influences outside those genres include Ultima 7 and its mix of adventuring and world simulation, and Planescape: Torment, with its strong and gritty personality and a touch of the grotesque. The game is influenced by a wild mix of things, actually. Movies like Mad Max and The Blood Of Heroes, classic heroic literature, Black and Death metal topics and cover art, and a small dose of Monty Python.

How did you come up with the idea for Death Trash? Was it a one-night inspiration or did the game’s grim world slowly emerged in a creative process?

Death Trash was born by accident, sort of. It was during a time when I painted daily art: One image per day to learn and experiment. Then Fallout 4 was announced during the summer of 2015 and I made one fan art piece in kind of a rough isometric pixel art. I jokingly tweeted this as "I'm gonna make my own Fallout now".

Spoiler

I knew almost immediately, though, that this was it, the base for the "epic role-playing game" I always wanted to make. Not a Fallout game, but a similar gritty and atmospheric RPG. So I continued making art over the next months and the world of Death Trash slowly emerged, image by image. Building visuals first and then later adapting the world building so it's all connected and not just random.

The gameplay ideas were there right from the start, too, but building those was what started the multi-year development journey.

One of the first things you must do in Death Trash is crafting your own character. How much do the decisions made by the gamer at that point affect the whole gameplay?

It affects some gameplay, like how well the player character can perform some combat and non-combat actions. We're trying to strike a balance there, though. Stats are important, but due to the real-time action, there's also a good amount of player skill involved.

Regarding the start of the game, our approach is to immediately throw the player into the game world itself instead of frontloading too much info, and the character creation reflects that: You can assign points, but you can also jump in right away and decide later about the stats. There's also the possibility to respec the character later in the game for a cost if the player finds out they would prefer another playstyle.

Balancing the action and RPG elements can be quite tricky when developing a game. How do you approach this topic in Death Trash? Should we train our fingers or brains more before starting the game?

Balancing this is tricky, indeed. Action and stats are both important for us, and their mix is part of the gameplay personality of the game. For example, combat relies on the timed avoidance of damage, which requires a bit of skill, and that player skill will hopefully build up while continuing to play the game. There are multiple ways to approach situations in Death Trash, though. Stealth, for example, could give you an edge when combat skills are not enough, and stats and equipment could give you an edge too.

Which part of the game’s development do you consider the most challenging? Can you give us a little update about how work on Death Trash is progressing?

Not necessarily the most challenging but definitely the most time-consuming has been building the foundation of the game. Programming it. It's a genre with lots of elements and the mere sum of all systems and features was a huge burden, first as a solo developer, and now with two developers. Combat, stealth, dialogue systems, NPC systems, multiple control schemes, manual save games, etc. It adds up.

It feels like the most challenging part now lies in combining all those elements into a coherent game and building a world for it that keeps having a believable mystery. All while keeping what's there already being playable through all changes for past and current players. It's not possible to keep progressing on all fronts equally, so there are parts that will lag behind, unfortunately. For example, the main story quests of the game, and people playing it now should really be aware that it's not only unfinished but also a work in progress.

But the feedback process is necessary for Death Trash to become a great game and with what's there already, you can have fun for more than five hours and have an atmospheric experience already. So we feel like we are at a natural milestone now to invite everyone to join us in witnessing Death Trash grow into its final form.

Can’t wait to dive into the dark, post-apocalyptic world of Death Trash? The game is now available on GOG.COM – play it and share your gaming experience with us in the comments.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Abu Antar]

Some percentages.

 

[mindx2]

*looks at the art*

This is stunning. How have I not heart of this?

*looks at the writing*

...oh.

I watched that "Art Journal" video and you're right that their "writing" seems to boil down is 2-5 word sentences that also feels out of place (juvenile?) for the (admittedly) atmospheric pixel art. Oh, and look at how edgy they are by using F**K in every other sentence.

 

[Doktor Best]

*looks at the art*

This is stunning. How have I not heart of this?

*looks at the writing*

...oh.

I watched that "Art Journal" video and you're right that their "writing" seems to boil down is 2-5 word sentences that also feels out of place (juvenile?) for the (admittedly) atmospheric pixel art. Oh, and look at how edgy they are by using F**K in every other sentence.

sounds like it was written by a codex member

 

[Harthwain]

I watched that "Art Journal" video and you're right that their "writing" seems to boil down is 2-5 word sentences that also feels out of place (juvenile?) for the (admittedly) atmospheric pixel art.

It's good they went for minimalism then - you don't have to wade through as much text.

Oh, and look at how edgy they are by using F**K in every other sentence.

I don't think they're doing that because they want to be "edgy". They are more likely doing it, because in a post-apocalyptic world it makes sense for people to not censor themselves by using not-swear-words, like some people on YouTube (which I always found to be kind of pathetic. You either use them or not, but trying to walk this kind of middle road is hypocritical).

That said, there is art in using "fuck" and "shit" properly. [PROTOTYPE] did it amazingly in these short "memory sequences", because the voice actors managed to make them feel very natural during speech:

Spoiler

 

[None]

Gave the EA a whirl and if you want the short of it: it's a solid foundation for a game in the same way that wheels and an engine are a solid foundation for a car. After 2 hours you'll have mostly experienced all the game has to offer. I wouldn't recommend this to the codex crowd unless there is some major retooling done to things like dialogue, character skills/stats, etc.

This isn't a game that needs more time in the oven. It needs to be taken out of the oven and more shit needs to be added to the dish. Because right now there just isn't going to be enough there.

 

[Hellion]

"State And Roadmap".

https://steamcommunity.com/games/941460/announcements/detail/2962793541370603151

It seems the lack of choices in quests and dialogue was a common "negative" and they plan to enrich the game further in that regard.

They also claim they've covered their expenses so far and are financially secure just by the short EA release.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Infinitron]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/941460/view/2880604660323163236

Localization Tools
About our long-term localization plans and about making community localization possible

Hello there.

This is a short update about the situation of translating Death Trash to other languages.

Official localization

We heard you. There are lots of people who would like to have Death Trash available in multiple languages. We appreciate that interest and can confirm that we would like to have Death trash available in more languages, too.

Our plan is to have Death Trash professionally translated to a number of languages for the full release of the game, version 1.0. The actual list of languages will be decided at a later point, probably next year when release is getting nearer.

But it doesn't make sense to contract these translations for the Early Access already. Death Trash has a lot of text elements which get changed constantly. And with official translations people would rightfully expect them to stay up to date with the game. This in turn would mean that we have to wait for and sync that translation work with our own, which would slow down development too much.

Community translations

A few people have already shown interest in making translations of the game to other languages on their own, even during Early Access.

For this specific use case we're making some tools available now:

- Text import / export (already working with the latest update)
- Google Spreadsheet workflow for translating the text and keeping up with updates
- Mod support for the game (already working with the latest update)
- Steam Workshop support for distributing the language mods (will be available soon)

We would have done this at some point anyway, so it made sense to us to move them forward based on demand.

Note: The current mod support is only intended for adding more languages. We plan to add more modding features later during Early Access or after the 1.0 version of the game.

Where to start...

If you're interested in translating Death Trash to another language, here's where to start:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tFSY_w96tPz2e7Nh3Dfuoezc8cyBb8RuujaER5cHoE4

For discussing this in more detail or if you need some help with the tools you can post here in the comments or join our Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/deathtrash

Please be aware:
- There is no compensation.
- We might contract an official version for that same language later from someone else.
- Other players might expect you to update the translation for the upcoming game updates.

So decide carefully if your personal time is worth investing into this.

Death Trash

If you want to accompany us on the Early Access journey, please consider buying Death Trash or putting it on your wishlist and following the game account for news and updates:

If you have bought and played Death Trash already, consider writing a Steam review. It helps a lot with our visibility on the Steam Store.

- Stephan

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like they changed the description since: http://steamcommunity.com/app/795490/discussions/0/1692662484255822750/

We like the suggestions here and we updated the game. If you have more suggestions let us know. The game is under development and we can improve it to make a great title with the participation of the community.

"suggestions" riiight.

42 months later...

 

[Infinitron]

Don't you hate it when Fleshworms eat your puke



https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/941460/view/3122680206593942828

Patch Notes 0.7.30

- added new infection value which increases through actions like using implant abilites and eating meat, has negative impact on high values, and gets cleansed by puking
- updated a few items related to this new system
- minor update to tutorial area for this
- removed old energy system for abilities and related terminals
- added another location to south east
- allow buying equipment items more than once, but add marker for owned weapons and equipment
- hide stamina bar in combat mode when full
- fixed being able to drop items into walls with mouse controls
- on loading level make sure all lootable items are reachable
- fixed some door issues
- updated spikes collider
- small level design and asset improvements
- fixed a crash due to pooled objects being reused when not fully initialized
- co-op: share experience points from consumables and skill usage
- co-op shared camera: fixed awkward moment on unlocking tutorial bypass
- co-op shared camera: disallow using point and click commands on map overview
- fixed buttons being too large on high display resolutions
- fixed a few issues with language mod handling
- updated both controller plugins, adding support for more variants
- additional small bug fixes and framework improvements

The infection system is fresh and might need more work. If you encounter any issues with it please report it via F1 or here or in the forum. If you have ideas on how to expand on it and what effects it should have on higher values, please tell us, too.
The main purpose of the infection system is to bring more of the narrative layer into the direct gameplay, to give more raison d'être to the puke ability, and to replace the previous energy system, which we weren't really happy with.

The new location is nothing noteworthy, again, but the important thing is that I'm getting more time to work on content and small additions with each update becoming a regular thing now.

Apart from that lots of technical work and bug fixes again.

Have a nice weekend!

- Stephan

 

[Morblot]

Why the fuck was I even watching this thread. Fuck this g*rmoid and his weird fetishes.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[oldbonebrown]

This looks great.
Whats the status on the early access version? How far off is Real Release?