Ringmaster Here,

The first Project T playtest is behind us. Thank you to everyone who participated, and to those that didn’t make it – fear not. There will be more opportunities to enter The Backwater, so keep an eye open. For those that would like to see how it all shook out, refer to this comprehensive breakdown: Project T Technical Playtest Recap.


Not many are brave – or crazy – enough to willingly face The Thrall in combat. You’ve met some of our roster already, but how well do you really know them? If you’re facing certain death together, you should probably know a little bit more than just their names…

Should you wish to know more about these fellas, make sure to join our Discord: https://projectt.dbd.game/4akAM6A


Delightfully Damned,

The Ringmaster

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2424380/Project_T/


DISCLAIMER: Due to Project T being in its early stages of development, all visuals and content are subject to change at any time.

Our first technical test ended a few weeks ago and we were thrilled to invite you to the Backwater. Our objectives for the first test were to introduce Project T to a small group of players to test the matchmaking flow and gameplay loop for our first mission, Runnin’ on Fumes.

It was amazing to see the excitement from those participating. We’ve been diving into the feedback that we received during the test and look forward to our continued adventures in the Backwater.

Today, we’re going to talk about some of the main learnings from the playtest as well as briefly touch on our next steps. We’re gearing up for our next playtest, which is coming soon, and will share more details about what’s changing as we get closer.


Project T is a co-op shooter which requires you to cooperate with your teammates to complete objectives. However, it’s difficult to work together if you can’t easily find your teammates after being separated. We’re working on ways to improve finding your fellow Trespassers. For upcoming playtests, we plan to introduce an outline shader. Similar to Auras in Dead by Daylight, this shader will highlight distant teammates, making it easier to locate them.

Never lose your teammates again! Well, almost never.

Proximity to your teammates isn’t enough – you also must be able to effectively communicate with those around you. Project T utilizes pings as the main way to let allies know that enemies are close-by or where to refill ammo and health. While this is a good start, you’ve pointed out that key communication prompts are missing, such as alerting teammates that you’re out of ammo or healing flasks. We have plans to add more pings, as well as voice lines when pinging, to make communicating easier. While we don’t have an ETA when they’ll be added, we’re working on smaller improvements to be included in our next playtest.


Your weapon is your lifeline in the Backwater. Without it, defeating the Thrall and making it out alive becomes that much harder. We’ve heard you – running out of ammo in the middle of an intense fight with no way to replenish your supplies doesn’t always feel great. You need to retreat and find an ammo supply locker or rely on your Talisman and kicks until the fight ends. We’re considering other methods to resupply ammo during intense gun fights, while keeping the tension high. The first, which should be in our next playtest, are haulable ammo crates. You can find these crates in different locations and carry them on the back of your truck until needed, giving you and your team a limited supply of ammo to reload your weapon when an ammo supply locker might not be available.


Ammo crate – when it absolutely must be refilled on the move.

Speaking of weapons – we’ve heard your feedback around the weapon balance. Finding that sweet spot between a gun feeling strong but not too strong is an ongoing process that never really ends. We want to ensure that each weapon feels viable and could have a place in your loadout. To that end, we’ll always be looking to tune how weapons perform, and look forward to hearing your feedback after each playtest.


The Backwater is an expansive Realm with various points of interest to discover and explore. Repairing the truck makes getting around and hauling parts around the Backwater faster and easier. In your feedback, several mentioned that they would like the truck to play a bigger role – from the satisfaction of ramming enemies to equipping modifications. We’ve also seen your feedback about how the truck handles when driving. Although we don’t have much to share now, we’re working on making adjustments and can’t wait to hear how the truck performs when you head back to the Backwater.

Upgrade your truck with equipment modifications. Simply stunning.

We’ve also heard that many of you want more reasons to explore the Backwater and loved reading your suggestions to incentivize exploration. Enemy encounters between objectives are one avenue we’re exploring and should help the world feel more alive. Future missions should also provide additional reasons to explore the Backwater.


The Backwater isn’t the Trials, but you should still feel like you’re in the horrific world of Dead by Daylight with danger lurking in the fog. We’ll continue to iterate on what elements feel right to include from Dead by Daylight as we want it to feel similar for fans while still giving the Backwater its own identity. The horror vibe can also be ratcheted up, to increase the chills and thrills, and we’re having active conversations on how to achieve that for future playthroughs.


We appreciate everyone who took the time to report any bugs and issues encountered during the playtest. With your help, our QA team has identified several new bugs to squash and are currently investigating more. Oh, and for those wondering – riding on the roof of the truck is not a bug, so enjoy riding with the wind in your hair!

FREEEDOM! Just watch out for bumps in the road.


We’ve come to the end of the road for this blog, but our journey isn’t over yet. Thank you to all who participated in our first playtest and shared your thoughts with us. We’re excited to work closely with you as we develop Project T.

What we’ve listed above is only the tip of the iceberg for what we have planned. We’re digging into the rest of your feedback and are already working on new content and features to share in the future. We’ve got our eyes set on some exciting changes for the next playtest and can’t wait to invite y’all back to the Backwater.

Keep your eyes peeled for more information on Discord[projectt.dbd.game] and sign up for the Insider program[projectt.dbd.game] for your chance to participate in our next playtest, which is coming soon!

The Project T team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2424380/Project_T/