Trash Goblin News

A chonky update just launched for the Beta!

It contains the preview of a brand new Demo we're hoping to launch publicly before the end of May! If you're a Beta Goblin or higher (for Kickstarter backers) or a have bought access Patron (and you still can for access to the beta!), please hammer it and let us know what's wrong!

[h3]Changelist:[/h3]

• Accessibility Features
  We've been listening to your feedback from the Demo and the previous Beta build, and we've added a bunch of new options. Text size scaling (with adaptive textboxes), text draw speed, hold-chipping, hover-chipping and hover-cleaning options. Also you can skip the text draw-in entirely, and text boxes won't disappear without you telling them to. We're keen to do more, so let us know!
  
• Varied pricing for trinkets!
  Now trinkets have values that seem a bit more... realistic for want of a better word. Which leads nicely into...
  
• Upcycling improvements!
  Improved hugely over the previous Beta, we now allow you to cycle between valid sockets before smushing Trinkets together, which opens up a ton more variety. Plus now Upcycled trinkets take into account the combined values of the trinkets that make it up! Finally, Upcycling now uses up a timeslot. For anyone who missed the previous update, read the previous post for details on Upcycling in general!
  
• Controls changes
  The game should be a bit more consistent across the various modes (eg: you now rotate with RMB, etc)
  
• Neatened up 'Settings' menu.
  Just a little polish pass for now, not final.
  
• Misc bugs and quality of life issues addressed.
  

Known issues, aiming to be fixed before the new Demo goes live:

• Upcycling timeslots need to respect the player exiting without actually Upcycling anything.
  
• Minor issues around player response text boxes and how they draw in, and auto-filling in certain situations.
  

Please note: it is in development mode, so there will be errors in a log, please ignore them unless they're happening around a Real Issue :D

Welcome to another update, and this time I thought rather than dive into what we've been up to, we'd focus on what you've been up to!

[h2]UPCYCLING MONSTROSIT- I MEAN DELIGHTS[/h2]

Upcycling was the big new feature for the Beta, and ya'll have been sharing your creations in our discord.

I thought I'd ask Aimon - as the local expert in priceless antiques - what they think of your creations...

First up, we have "Sword" from Brightspark

"I'm not sure where to hold it, let alone how to swing it. I give it 5 Goblins out of 11" - Aimon

Oh. Sorry, Brightspark. I'm not sure if Aimon is a weapons expert or not... nor what kind of grading system that is?! Well, next up we have two creations from Kyhas; "Mana Potion" and "Eight Pieces"

"A snazzy hat and a deep purple glazed earthenware pot. A delightful combination of attire and practicality! What's not to love? 9.5 Goblins out of 3" - Aimon

"Complex. Intriguing. Impossible? 1 Goblin out of 0" - Aimon

Hmm, perhaps Aimon is more interested in aesthetics than I thought... well, next up is MadKingMura's "Monstrosity"

"Aptly titled. 10 Goblins out of 10. So that's 19.5 Goblins out of 13 in total." - Aimon

Whoa! I think that was a compliment, but then Aimon has always been a little hard to read. they get very passionate about antiques. I'm beginning to wonder if this was a good idea... I like the Tiara and adornment on the Egg!

Anyway, let's see how Izzi's "Untitled" goes down

"This searingly powerful indictment of the imbalance between the natural world and our ability to care for it - or our future - has me stunned. The use of bone as part of the surrogate floral arrangement atop this recycled bottle-cum-vase is particularly effective. 90 Goblins out of 1" - Aimon

OH. I um... well now... that is certainly one reading of it, Aimon. And finally here's InBetweenHonor's "Witch On Her Broomstick"

"It makes me laugh. How much do you want for it? I'll bet it would go for a song! 1 Goblin out of 2" - Aimon

Er so I think what we've learned from that is Aimon likes the wizard hat and the occasional pun. And unintelligible scoring systems. Thanks, Aimon? And a huge thanks to everyone who shared their madcap creations with us! I give you, er, 10 Goblins out of 10?

[h2]PLAYTHROUGHS[/h2]

For those of you who want to see what others have been doing with the Beta, or indeed if you missed out and want to cater to your FOMO with moving images then these links down here are where you need to be clicking!

[h3]Magickalhack rinsed the Beta:
[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h3]Brightspark streamed the whole thing too:[/h3]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2135799200



[h3]Sir Cabbage rummaged through all the trash:[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h3]And NaterEST went to town on those Trinkets![/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]THE END[/h2]

We're over the moon watching all of this and more, the feedback has been amazing (and amazingly useful) and we cannot wait to bring a new build to you just as soon as we are able!

Meanwhile please do join in on the discord - there's tons of you who still haven't claimed your role there! - and if you want in on the Beta, head over to our Patreon to support us and get access that way.

Until next time, stay Goblin!

Very soon, those Goblins amongst you who backed our Kickstarter at the Beta Goblin tier or higher will be playing the latest version of the game and sending what we hope is tons of feedback our way! We're so excited about this, but rather than pick a date and have to move it, we'll be announcing it the day before it goes out. Keep your eyes peeled and your pointy green ears to the ground for the announcement! In the meantime, if you want Beta access but missed the Kickstarter, head over to our Patreon!

Oh, and please make sure you're in the discord and have got your Backer Goblin role to make the most of this Beta - whether you're a Beta Goblin or not - because we'll be encouraging everyone to share their feedback, thoughts, experiences, bugs and hilarity publicly!

[h2]Upcycling[/h2]

The team is so excited to find out what you make of the brand-new feature we've added since the demo - Upcycling!

We've shown you a lot of behind-the-scenes bits and pieces around the feature recently, but what about a nice hands-on video of Phi testing out the very latest build?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This video was recorded literally yesterday! Phi combines some Trinkets together (Acorn Drums to Bottles) and then uses those to decorate a Goblin Mask. they make it look like a really weird set of binoculars to me! The Goblin Lantern is actually perfect for hanging off the front of the mask too - and notice he places and then rotates some elements for maximum bespoke action! All of this then acts as you'd expect - sitting nice and stable on the worktop, and the centre of gravity even shifts as the player adds and combines things!

The focus in the video is on the player combining various trinkets in ways you wouldn't necessarily imagine - it is important to us that we don't limit your creativity too much, and while we're missing some VFX and sound design work, this is very nearly finished; in other words, we're confident that it can stand up to the gameplay you enjoy with the chipping and Cleaning. Part of the reason we want to run the Beta is to find out just how close we are to achieving that goal 🥰

[h2]What next?[/h2]

Once the Beta feedback comes in we will be polishing and improving this feature, and then bringing the finalised Customer systems into the game properly!

That will include elements like Side Quests, Story Quests and of course Randomised Customers! These will combine with the Trinket systems to make sure that the game feels alive and responds to what you're making - our dream is that you can keep serving customers for as long as you enjoy playing the game, and that those customers will engage with the weird and wonderful trinkets you find, clean and upcycle in fun ways! Some of them will love your strange combinations and pay more for them, others want things a little more vanilla, and others will even ask for really specific things that you have to go and find the individual parts of before you an make them! This is all so that your little Goblin shop feels like part of a real place!

Well it's all getting very exciting and we can't wait to show you more - but between now and then next update the Beta will be released and there are a bunch of nervous and excited Developer Goblins I need to go and help.

Until next time, stay Goblin!

Welcome fellow Goblins to another exciting update! This time we thought it'd be really cool to look at something that is a pretty hot topic in our game dev workshop - Upcycling! As we showed a little bit about the gameplay in a rough form last time, it makes sense to show you something much more in-depth and finalised - the Tool you use for Upcycling itself! Much like with Chipping and Cleaning this tool needs to be obtained and then used for the job in hand, so you'll be spending a lot of time using it, and maybe even upgrading it!

Let's take a walk through the process of making something like this, from the first design to the final in-game asset.

[h3]THE UPCYCLING TOOL[/h3]

Unfortunately for everyone involved, most of these gameplay-specific elements have to start with a Designer specifying the function. To do so, we use whatever methods communicate our goals most clearly to the team. Visuals, as ever, are king... so we end up with an eyesore like this that we make everyone look at for far too long:



What we're trying to show here is that during Upcycling play the player is holding a unique and specific tool for the job, it allows them to attach, remove and perhaps rotate (spoilers?!) elements of a Trinket, and it should be visualised as something that obviously reads as 'grabby'. Now I think this image works for the most part - the tool used is a "sugar cube plier" for anyone interested - but one thing it does wrong is it suggests that the tool might be ornate in some sense. We're all clear on what Goblin tools should look like within the team, but it's a wrinkle in this process that is worth pointing out, and something we do have to be careful about when making assumptions. to be clear, our Upcycling Tool is not intended to be ornate!

Anyway, once that step has done its job we can hand the work over to the real artists on the team! In this case, it goes to Donnie first, for exploration and refinement of the tool:


We pick the best ones:


Donnie expands upon them:



And once that's all been fed back on - led by the brilliant Kat - the final concept is delivered to a higher finish with colour and construction detailing, ready to be handed to Tahlia for 3D modelling and texturing!


Tahlia has a very thorough and multi-stepped process to bring the concept to life and into the game:

1 - Modelling it in high poly, to capture all the details, shapes and nuances ready for the various materials:


2 - Then a low-poly version is created, which is the mesh used in the game:


3 - We then generate UVs. Think about this a bit like turning the 3D model into a papercraft layout, which can then be painted onto and wrapped back around the model later on:


The UV wrap displayed on the low poly - we use a chequerboard pattern to try to find any distortions and fix them:


4 - Then the LOD variant is created. This is used so that there is a version of the model with even fewer polygons that taxes the game's performance less in situations where it is far enough away from the player camera that you won't tell the difference:


5 - The model is then baked and here you can see the tool with the hand-painted textures applied to it! So nice!


And then finally, this is the Upcycling Tool in-game, with all the glorious lighting and materials showing it off!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And that's it!

If that's getting your Goblin brain all a-tingly, please do consider coming and talking to the dev team and all the other lovely Goblins in the community on our discord, and if you're sad you missed our very successful Kickstarter and want a special edition of the game, or maybe even to become a character in it, head on over to our Patreon!

Hello Goblins! This one's a day late because in the UK we've got Easter Bank Holidays that are wrecking 2 weeks in a row, planning-wise 😅

Anyway let's dive into what we've been up to on Trash Goblin!

[h2]Upcycling Gameplay First Look[/h2]

We've completed the first pass of Upcycling gameplay! It's still a little rough around the edges and we want to add some polish & features, but the player can combine a Trinket with... any other Trinket, as long as their sockets match up correctly! This unlocks so much creativity for the player, and also means we can get customers requesting some really weird mashups!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We can't wait to see what you make using this system, and we're going to add a few more things including the ability to spin/rotate Trinkets once in place so you can choose which way each piece faces.



Here you can see how we're working on some ideas of how to show the sockets/attachment points. One of the challenges is not obfuscating a socket icon when one is on the other side of a Trinket, but also ensuring the player understands that only those they can reach are 'valid' - meaning they have to rotate the Trinket around a bit during this process.

Meanwhile please do come on over and talk to us about the game on our discord!
And if you missed the Kickstarter, head over to the shop on our Patreon!