“My grandpa said they used real mules back in the day. Keeping up the tradition!” I love that you can see references to the humble beginnings of dwarka in DRG today. Great video!
Im convinced the rival company belongs to the elves. Their technology is hyper advanced and their too cautious to send in real people to do their mining, unlike the dwarves.
it's pretty funny to me how half-hearted the "medieval tech" thing was. gatling crossbow, crossbow sentry, ladder-summoning crossbow, flare arrows... grenades... shotguns... drills. the game was calling for a future aesthetic from the beginning.
I really like the more ominous things in DRG, the dwarves themselves are light hearted and used to this environment. But the hints and stuff letting you know it definitely isn't completely that way I really like, and hope they out more in the game
It makes a lot of sense that the dwarves would act lighthearted too. The closer you are to death in your job, the more you joke about it. I was a submariner, and we have a very dark sense of humor because there's only a little bit of metal between us and A LOT of water. Gotta joke about it because when you actually think about it you get terrified. I imagine the dwarves are the same way.
@@matnar0285 I had the chance to meet a SEAL while I was in the Navy. Those guys are REALLY dark sometimes. And also some the nicest people you will ever meet.
Honestly I much prefer the tone of DRG. The darker, grittier feel of Dwarka just seems far more generic, and I don't think it'd nurture the same community-centric atmosphere that DRG has. This is one of the coolest, friendliest, and most helpful communities I've ever seen in gaming, and part of that comes from the game being so encouraging towards those mindsets, even just in tone. The goofier and more upbeat tone also is just more unique and gives the game far more personality than Dwarka
I think its a good balance, the silly beers, dancing, and personality of the dwarves make it enjoyable, but the screech of a grabber, the beep of bet-c and the hiss of a leech still make it pretty scary sometimes.
That's the main benefit of the lighthearted tone, and I can't believe he missed it. When the game is lighthearted and humorous, it has points in the game where you can come together easily. Shouting "Rock and Stone", dancing in the bar, slapping the dice in the drop pod, and most of the funny voice lines: All of these serve as bonding experiences for each new team. However, i am still worried about the tonal drift of the game because I enjoyed the story of borderlands 1&2 and their dark yet very comedic tone, but borderlands 3 fails so much to take anything seriously that it cant make anything funny either.
@@undeniablySomeGuy the new season added an enemy robot that tries to lure dwarves to their deaths by imitating their voices, i think any worries about a tonal drift are completely unfounded.
I think it's responseable for the majority of the games charm. The dwarves being so positive throughout a career that in the real world is considered lower class , low paying and generally unpleasant. In DRG however they take pride in it. They chant rock and stone drink dance almost worship their fallen and even state that their job is all they wanna do. Coupled with the games great sense of humor and non predatory business model it creates a whimsical charm that's almost inspiring , something that in my opinion couldn't be achieved with a generic gloomy dystopian look.
"My grandpa told me they used real mules back in the day, keeping up the tradition" Now that you can interpret it in multiple ways I love that voiceline even more!
Personally I think the lighter tone shift was a good call for the game itself. We dont really seem to have a big lack of dark broody shooters on the market as is. I'm also a pretty big fan of just how much personality radiates from DRG's dwarves, and I think for that the somewhat lighter tone helps.
@@undeny I hate gritty edgy shooters just as much as colorful Saturday morning cartoon ones. I like DRG because it strikes a balance. The Dwarves are what add humor to the game, but the setting - ie. Hoxxes - is still undeniably brutal. Which adds a spice of irony to the Dwarves' humor. There's no shortage of voice lines implying that Dwarves die in the caves, and quite often too. That's why "Leave no Dwarf behind" is the game's catchphrase. And yet the Dwarves just keep this hilariously upbeat tone. I can see how that ruins the tension for some, but for me it's great. It shows how hardened the Dwarves are, that they're able to crack jokes while their lives are on the line. Maybe they do so because that's how Karl would've wanted it.
I definitely enjoy the light tone to what could be a very dark game. But I hope they add some way for the players/ community to learn the darker history thats implied because it's had me curious for a while
@@Angelic_Hero You can find the helmets and lost equipment of dwarves who ventured down and died. Lost supply pods too. And there's a mission where you go in after a group that failed their mission and died to salvage the scraps that's left. There's quite a few grim dark reminders that hoxxes is out to kill you
I love the lighthearted direction. if it was too gloomy and oppressive, it would hurt replay value. it would be exhausting to me. the humour makes it feel cozy and fun to revisit. also, this next update definitely looks spookier.
@@turkeygod6665 Darkest Dungeon is definitely designed to be exhausting in a sense though. Whether or not it acheives the exact same effect after a lot of playtime is debatable (and that can morph into a different kind of experience too) I suppose there isn't much of an example of something that's gloomy and oppressive without a side of humor. Even Vermintide as an example was rather *grim* and *dark* but still filled with gallows humor and fun interactions.
I would not mind some dwarf shanties if you are just straight up using your pickaxe for some amount of time. Be a real nice touch if the dwarves passing the time like dwarves before them.
Honestly, the whole mission in Dwarka with the finding a big tomb and having to construct the bridge/crank, then opening it to get the gold sounds like it'd be really interesting as a DRG mission type. Of course they'd have to adapt it a lot in order to make it work out and change some of it, but I could definitely see something similar for one of the new seasonal mission types being super cool.
In spirit I think salvage mission is a reworking of that concept as the goal is for you to find a final location, repair the items around it, and defend it until mission completion.
I will have to branch out, but I never see myself covering anything as in-depth as I have DRG for various reasons, there are many ideas still sitting in the backlog
@@explorianguy If you did branch out, I think still doing in depth "game history" videos would be absolutely amazing since there's not nearly enough of this content both on RUclips or the internet in general that's as neatly organized and gives such insight into game development. Your channel and work is amazing, a real treasure.
@@iby_yt ah true, I mainly meant the fact that probably no other devs will entrust me with early builds of their games so I could go as in-depth as I have for DRG
I kinda like the in game contrast of how funny and upbeat the dwarves are versus the hints, and realization that this game is dark as hell. Things like finding lost miners in the caves, left behind. There’s quite a few hints like that.
Wow, I had no idea so much happened with Dwarka and Press Play. And honestly, Knoxville sounds like the most generic shooter these days lol (Guess they saw the Battle Royal trend before everyone else) That first trailer is really eye opening to see, especially with the Huge Praetorian, wondered where he went lol Man, this game's been through a lot. And I definitely agree a slightly darker tone would be cool. Oh and that end montage is fucking beautiful, I would watch that endlessly if I could. Hell, I would show it to friends to show how far DRG has come!
@@esauce3850 You think I don't? I have perfected the setting so I can still see lol -0.6 Gamma exactly ^^ Honestly my favourite setting they added since I got the game
The back tracking to extraction is so important. Its a good contrast to your journey into the fresh new cave. As you run back you see all the platforms, ziplines, dead flares, used supply pods, etc and it really gives you a sense of how much you leave that world different than when you first hit that new spot on hoxxes.
i like to think dwarka and four short dwarves is a canon progression of the history of dwarves in DRG; first earthbound miners, then space explorers looking for gold, until DRG came up and everyone got hired
@@eyeball6793 True, but a gatling gun would've been as sci-fi as they could get. We wouldn't have ever gotten stuff like the Cryo Cannon or LOK-1. The sci-fi setting allowed for way more creativity.
@@bugjams Na, magic fixes all that. Cryo cannon would be like a keg inscribed with runes of frost and ice, loki some kinda crossbow with runes of seeking. It would all work just fine.
@@Thouhand. Yeah but... I guess it's just personal taste, but that somehow feels more cliche than actual sci-fi weapons. I mean I probably would've loved the game either way. But I can't help but feel if we had both, I still would've loved the version we have now more.
About the light hearted tone the game has now, just like tf2 devs said, multiplayer experiences will always (now ot feels like only most times) become silly because of the actions of the players, so even if the game went for a serious tone the fact that it is co-op wouldnt add to the seriousness like the light hearted tone now does, even vermintide 2 doesnt feel all that dark thanks to the co op, another thing is, i see it happen a lot in vermintide and l4d (games with serious tone) is that even if it is a co op experience, players mostly see for themselves leaving anyone behind to get their hands on stuff first, while that could be considered a gameplay design thing i personaly think the small sillyness of the tone attracts less (competitively) serious people to the games
what i love about DRG is that, at least if you're just playing with randoms, it can actually get quite serious when shit goes south and you scrape through by the skin of your teeth on higher hazard levels. It manages to make me feel the exact same way the dwarves seem to feel, and this is a game with barely any dialogue!
I'm curious, did you ever ask the devs if you could perhaps get a hold of a real build of Project Dwarka? I'm imagining they'd be more than happy to provide it to such a reputable historian, or even release it openly because this is damn cool (and otherwise I'd love to try hunting a build down!) Also, another question: Is there any way to openly access the oldest builds like the pre-Alpha? I'd love to play it! EDIT 2: I got a response in a DM with DRG Historian: - Devs don't have Project Dwarka, no one knows if a build exists anywhere - The old DRG builds are only shared privately, which is understandable
Damn I really love the "Trondheim" hauler, really wish they could include it somehow into modern DRG. Maybe as some space travel you might be able to spot going to and from the rig? They need supplies right?
I don’t mind the sillier elements of DRG, or even them being the focus, but it’d be cool if as they added the sillier, they also added a few darker things that aren’t as directly shown. When they first showed the Robots for “Rival Incursion” my first though was a precursor civilization. Like the one the error cubes are from.
The implication that Karl was lost in a place similar to Hollow Bough is pretty dark. That place is the one biome I dread so it made sense to me. The thought of him, if not having outright died, being left down there in such a place....
@@RaxusXeronos also the nemesis having lines as “rescue me / help me “ among other ones it’s damn grim, kind to think it records/reproduces what dwarves said to try and lure more dwarvs, wich could be the very last thing the dwarves he has killed so far
That montage at the very end gave me chills. It's great to know that from everything that happened to them, these people made a great game and a great story. I'm glad they got this far, and I hope they continue.
16:43 I think the recently added Nemesis is a callback to the darker tone. This giant flying machine that mimics dwarves calling for help and acts openly murderous to you in the fight.
It isn't just an action co-op game, it's fun solo too. Better with friends, obviously, but if you're like me and don't have any friends, Bosco has your back. It seems to be a philosophy the devs had even back in their Press Play days, that their multiplayer games can be enjoyed in single player too.
I think that as strange as it may sound, both games take place on Hoxxis IV. There are absolutely references to Project Dwarka, and there are subtle hints that the dwarves of DRG were not the first ones there. There's also the mystery of the various structures, and other things seemingly left behind by... who? The helixes, the relics (Cube's lore name), the energy pillars and the magic holes.. Then there's the lore of the final player level cosmetic assignment. There was a dark battle that may have been an absolute loss, fought somewhere, and it could have very well could have been a last stand on Hoxxis. Mayhapst.. the beginning, or the end, of the dwarf we would now know, as Karl. But this all could just be the result of mixing Smart Stout with Underhill Deluxe, expanding my brain and shrinking my skull at the same time.
Deep Rock Galactic is a true gem, pun intended. Never had so much fun in a shooter. Love creating my dwarves too. Cant wait to see what other biomes, bugs and beards they release.
DRG is a dark and serious as you make it, want to solo an elite deep dive? Get ready to fight tooth an nail for your life over and over again. Want to chillax, have some fun and kill bugs? add some friends and lower the difficulty
I loved that scene of the [awesome looking] space ship dropping a drop pod. looked like a scene out of an Alien trilogy movie. A DRG movie or series would be awesome. Maybe have Karl as the main character :P
Wow! It's really neat to see the humble origins of this fantastic game about FSDs digging some holes and fighting monsters. Documenting that kind of evolution is always so cool to see, so thanks a lot for putting this all out in a neat line for everyone. Oh, and that montage at the end was /prime/, goodness!
I don’t think silly and dark are mutually exclusive? The game is definitely net silly, but we’re playing as a group of professional space mining dwarves, and coping with humor is very common in tough physical and emotional jobs. I would love to see more cosmic horror/spooky vibes in the new content, but I wouldn’t want to lose the banter
While I absolutely love the somewhat "whimsical" nature of DRG, i feel like they kept anyway some of the darker undertone of it. In lore the dwarves are overworked and disposable for managment, and their calls for brotherhood (rock and stone, leave no dwarf behind, etc.) are self imposed "rules" to have at least a modicum of safety and camaraderie. Plus you can tweak in the settings (no HUD, lower brightness/gamma, etc) to have a grittier experience down in the caves. Parhaps not ideal, but it's still there. I would live to play a darker, grittier and harsher DRG, and perhaps in the future we'll get a mod or something that will do that. Awesome video, I was very intrigued by getting to know the history of the game, so thank you. Rock and Stone!
Project Dwarka is probably cannon is the DRG universe as the far past. There is a voice line that is “My grandpa told me, they used real mules back in the day” is probably referencing PD
Great video, clearly a tonne of research and work went into making it! As a very recent DRG fan, i came to this video looking for in game lore, but the full real history of the game was fascinating. Thank you.
In regards to the demolitionist class I didn’t notice you saying it during your breakdown of the demolitionist at 18:37 but the “light crossbow” featured earlier could be another version of the flare gun the scout is given
woah ive seen this video before and must have left before the end, i didnt know gsg and flashbulb were "related" that is really cool, i love trailmakers and drg so its neat to know they came from the same place
So the Scout used to be the Demolitionist, with the Satchel Charges. No wonder in the present day, the Driller is always trying to give the Satchel Charges back to the Scout...
Ok but like, if they made a version of the gold tomb for drg, I would LOVE that. Everyone has to build things in order to finish the mission. It’s like the corporate sabotage mission, almost everyone loves it because for the first time you get that uneasy feeling of “someone’s been here before” just like you would with some form of tomb
I had never realized that Trailmakers came from another branch of ex-PressPlay employees! I actually have both DRG and Trailmakers, but I found out about both completely separately.
TBH I would love to see more grim-dark tone in DRG. Something like dark elements appearing on harder difficulties/new missions. Like bodies of miners who were left behind in a mine, transport ships/vehicles with signs of crew getting wiped out by unknown threats/swarms, crushed drop pods, hints of greater danger awakening in the depths due to mining operations or hostile forces arriving on planet's surface (maybe "intelligent" enemy types, like goblins or elves). BTW I love Trailmakers and am genuinely surprised that both DRG and Trailmakers share the same origin.
It's good that they stepped away from the dark "horror" aspect. Horror and fun, replayable gameplay is impossible to combine together. You either get one or the other. They are diametrically opposed.
I really like the not-so-dark tone of DRG because it still gives you Hints every now and then that "Hey, this is a pretty fked Place, and People die here" yet, the Dwarves are so experienced, that they take everything a bit more lightly, its needed to not go insane, a similiar Pattern that can be seen in Military Forces.
oh man, I remember playing Tentacles: Enter the Mind as a kid and fucking loved it so much. It even had a reference to Enter the Dolphin. sadly though, the mobile version no longer works
The current in-world feel of Deep Rock Galactic, instead of being terror, is a kind of alienation. The dwarves are constantly complaining about why they're doing this job, the DRG company keeps both the products of the dwarve's work and the dwarves in the dark on what their work is for, we don't know who or what the rivals and the rockpox are, what are the consequences on the planet of our incursions, and so on. We just can't know why any of it is important, being the rewards and mastery what keeps the dwarves coming back. Even the thrill and the spoils are kinda numbed by the fact that they're "just doing their job". This is kind of the spirit of our era. The one thing that the dwarves have that they can know is important is their fellowship. For Karl, for Rock and Stone. Maybe the point of the game, is that the game is not as important as the community around it. How the DRG company treats its employees being what Ghost Ship wanted to avoid by making the development of the game open to the community.
This is like the coolest underdog development story for a video game. Lowest rated game of 3 projects turned into a great game in the end with an amazing community. You love to see it.
If you think the game would feel and play better by being darker, follow these simple steps: 1: Go into a mission 2: Turn off and keep off your headlamp 3: Only throw down one flare at a time Have fun developing speluncaphobia. In all seriousness the game looks beautiful at all times and only looks more beautiful in most areas with a complete lack of light, the cave's innards being illuminated by the natural light of fire, bioluminescence or glowing crystals. Really brings a whole new feel to the game and awakens a deep, primal feeling within me to see a yawning abyss of a cave open up to me.
Big Rock and Stone to all the names on thr board in the memorial hall. Y'all helped build this place. I am so upset I never heard of the game around 2018.
I think it makes sense the dwarves would respond to the dangers of the rocky underworld with a goofy attitude. If they were gonna be bleak about it they wouldn't have taken the job
Oh my gosh, I REMEMBER playing Enter the Dolphin as a kid, I loved that game. Insane that one of my favorite games now was made by the same guys who made this game i so enjoyed in my childhood.
Amazing to see how this amazing game evolved from its initial conception.. Thanks a lot for the video!!! Even though I only recently started playing the game (solo)... I'm having a blast!
the beginning of the trailer you showed in the video reminds me a lot of the rouge core trailer. i wonder if the rouge core trailer was made like that on purpose
I actually remember playing Max & The Magic Marker, I personally loved it providing the absolute freedom to draw whatever you want and making your own solutions, and the soundtrack was pretty good too, glad that transitioned over
DRG and all those involved with it, in one way or another, really have a damn interesting history. Thank you for the bloody fine trip, Historian! Rock and Stone
i imagine dwarka is the ancient history of DRG, like that one quote references in game i don’t remember it well but its like “i heard back in the day they used real mules, we’re keeping up the tradition!” i guess this is nice niche node maybe?
I’ve noticed that there are darker elements to the story and I personally love it! In fact I’ve actually started writing a story that is basically DRG with lore to it, but it’s darker and scarier.
I'd love for a spinoff or prequel or even a mode where you play drg in olden times. A full blown melee centric class and a demolotionist class would fit in really well in that setting too, I think.
TO THE EMPIRES OF OLD!!!! For real,i never thought of the fact that GSG's first footsteps were absolutely slow and pre-alpha-prototype-ish,but now....i really admire their game and i would only adore it more,the longer i stick to it. It is the best indie coop game i have ever played with and i have alot of time spent with it,i just...i hope that once i get that good financially,i will be able to support them,even if with a bit!
Loved finding things down there from previous expeditions, also read into the fact there used to be abandoned mineing structures and camps that they completely cut too... damn shame. If they play their cards right they can do both, have a dark universe with funny light hearted moments, you just make it red dwarf but with with ACTUAL dwarfs XD Someone poke the dev team (hell there's a couple of tracks that seemed based on some stuff from Red Dwarf actually...).
When I hear “Gold Tomb” I like to think of some ruins that hold a lot of resources. And there is a labyrinth type tunnel system that has several ways to go with the dirt paths. At the end there are a bunch of enemies and there are resources at the end. Mostly gold and crafting resources. Be an interesting mission type that has more rewards if you want to get gold and other stuff. Also at the end is a big jewel of different kinds, maybe depending on the biome they have a unique jewel, that management want, and you head back to the drop pod per usual.
I love this idea so much and I wish I could think of a way to make it make sense in game. Best I can do is imagine how cool it would be if the bugs (or maybe the Rivals?) found their way to another planet and upset an ancient Dwarven tomb! But..that's still such a stretch. Maybe DRG attempted to colonize Hoxxes IV once but it was a catastrophic failure... Regardless, I love the idea of having just a dose of a more traditional Dwarven fantasy setting mixed into the context of DRG. Loving the idea of defending a ruined temple full of wild resources from bugs and robots.
@@user-xn1xd4mg4j I would say more like an ancient civilization of dwarves that colonized the planet hundreds of thousands of years ago. That or some pointy ear leaf lovers. Could say elvish ruins. And also confirms space elfs. Yeah that's something I would like. It would be like a callback to dwarfs and how they are fantasy beings, but since this is sci fi it would be like looking back at the days of a fantasy setting. It would be just neat to see and helpful in some mineral mining. Also want more ideas that shows the biomes' personality so a rare and specific gem being kept in a locked up ruin would be fun.
@@jacobfoxfires9647 absolutely this! Man I didn't even think of the Elves that's good too. But yea it would be cool to explore the fantasy setting as "Dwarven history", in the way that DRG does: by filling things with bugs and making dark/silly jokes about the tragedies that happened there. I just really love that ruined temple concept art from Dwarka and your idea of a labyrinth and some kinda big glorious loot room. maybe you would only find nitra in the labyrinth on your way; and gold/minerals only at the ruins, which are also filled with major enemy standoff so you gotta strategize, prioritize and compromise. Then find a sealed vault which you need to defend while you unlock it to haul the company's extra precious treasure haul. I'd buy 20 more copies of the game if they made this for Season 3 or 4.
“My grandpa said they used real mules back in the day. Keeping up the tradition!”
I love that you can see references to the humble beginnings of dwarka in DRG today. Great video!
I always interpreted that as just a reference to the broader tradition of work animals, but this an interesting perspective.
Holy crap, you’re right. Nice connection
damn i was gona make that comment... but hey, great minds think alikey eh?
I'd like to think that the dwarves in DRG are the decendants of those in Dwarka, that would be an interesting bit of world building
Dwarja?
I like to imagine that Project Dwarka is a depiction of the "Empires of old" that the Dwarves in DRG sometimes reference when toasting.
this is now headcanon.
The "Empires of Old" are your 2 successful Dwarf Fortress runs ;)
Im convinced the rival company belongs to the elves. Their technology is hyper advanced and their too cautious to send in real people to do their mining, unlike the dwarves.
It could also be humans, if they do exist in DRG.
Cyber Space Elves does sound pretty cool to me.
It would be hilarious to be elves.
@@DoctorKrain like the eldar from warhammer 40k?
@@gabrielgutierrez1419 Nah, just pointy eared Leaf-lovers!
it's pretty funny to me how half-hearted the "medieval tech" thing was.
gatling crossbow, crossbow sentry, ladder-summoning crossbow, flare arrows... grenades... shotguns... drills.
the game was calling for a future aesthetic from the beginning.
ok, but that ladder tool would be amazing
@@ironclad4451vertical zip line would be funny
Even though its a VERY rough prototype, i love the midieval style of dwarka's "guns"
could you imagine weopon frameworks in that style...
no shoddy human umgak here, no siree!
I was thinking how it could be neet to have a medival DRG in the same vein as Warhammer and Warhammer 40k
I really like the more ominous things in DRG, the dwarves themselves are light hearted and used to this environment. But the hints and stuff letting you know it definitely isn't completely that way I really like, and hope they out more in the game
Like when you stumble upon a dwarfen pack left behind. For rock and stone
It makes a lot of sense that the dwarves would act lighthearted too. The closer you are to death in your job, the more you joke about it. I was a submariner, and we have a very dark sense of humor because there's only a little bit of metal between us and A LOT of water. Gotta joke about it because when you actually think about it you get terrified. I imagine the dwarves are the same way.
@@TheMightyDM those in the military do the same from what I've heard, dark humor is a median of coping with a stressful situation
@@matnar0285 I had the chance to meet a SEAL while I was in the Navy. Those guys are REALLY dark sometimes. And also some the nicest people you will ever meet.
@@TheMightyDM yeah that shit probably humbles you
Honestly I much prefer the tone of DRG. The darker, grittier feel of Dwarka just seems far more generic, and I don't think it'd nurture the same community-centric atmosphere that DRG has. This is one of the coolest, friendliest, and most helpful communities I've ever seen in gaming, and part of that comes from the game being so encouraging towards those mindsets, even just in tone. The goofier and more upbeat tone also is just more unique and gives the game far more personality than Dwarka
I think its a good balance, the silly beers, dancing, and personality of the dwarves make it enjoyable, but the screech of a grabber, the beep of bet-c and the hiss of a leech still make it pretty scary sometimes.
That's the main benefit of the lighthearted tone, and I can't believe he missed it. When the game is lighthearted and humorous, it has points in the game where you can come together easily. Shouting "Rock and Stone", dancing in the bar, slapping the dice in the drop pod, and most of the funny voice lines: All of these serve as bonding experiences for each new team.
However, i am still worried about the tonal drift of the game because I enjoyed the story of borderlands 1&2 and their dark yet very comedic tone, but borderlands 3 fails so much to take anything seriously that it cant make anything funny either.
@@undeniablySomeGuy the new season added an enemy robot that tries to lure dwarves to their deaths by imitating their voices, i think any worries about a tonal drift are completely unfounded.
I think it's responseable for the majority of the games charm. The dwarves being so positive throughout a career that in the real world is considered lower class , low paying and generally unpleasant. In DRG however they take pride in it. They chant rock and stone drink dance almost worship their fallen and even state that their job is all they wanna do. Coupled with the games great sense of humor and non predatory business model it creates a whimsical charm that's almost inspiring , something that in my opinion couldn't be achieved with a generic gloomy dystopian look.
Ngl tho the community is friendly, a rarity now days
"My grandpa told me they used real mules back in the day, keeping up the tradition"
Now that you can interpret it in multiple ways I love that voiceline even more!
Yeah i heard that today while playing whit my friends
i thought of that exact same voiceline as well
Personally I think the lighter tone shift was a good call for the game itself.
We dont really seem to have a big lack of dark broody shooters on the market as is.
I'm also a pretty big fan of just how much personality radiates from DRG's dwarves, and I think for that the somewhat lighter tone helps.
When I started playing in like 2018 it felt very different and I kind of miss it
Valorant, overwatch, fortnite, freefire, paladins ...all the biggest shooters are colorful
@@undeny I hate gritty edgy shooters just as much as colorful Saturday morning cartoon ones. I like DRG because it strikes a balance. The Dwarves are what add humor to the game, but the setting - ie. Hoxxes - is still undeniably brutal. Which adds a spice of irony to the Dwarves' humor.
There's no shortage of voice lines implying that Dwarves die in the caves, and quite often too. That's why "Leave no Dwarf behind" is the game's catchphrase. And yet the Dwarves just keep this hilariously upbeat tone. I can see how that ruins the tension for some, but for me it's great. It shows how hardened the Dwarves are, that they're able to crack jokes while their lives are on the line. Maybe they do so because that's how Karl would've wanted it.
I definitely enjoy the light tone to what could be a very dark game. But I hope they add some way for the players/ community to learn the darker history thats implied because it's had me curious for a while
@@Angelic_Hero You can find the helmets and lost equipment of dwarves who ventured down and died. Lost supply pods too. And there's a mission where you go in after a group that failed their mission and died to salvage the scraps that's left. There's quite a few grim dark reminders that hoxxes is out to kill you
I love the lighthearted direction. if it was too gloomy and oppressive, it would hurt replay value. it would be exhausting to me. the humour makes it feel cozy and fun to revisit.
also, this next update definitely looks spookier.
"Gloomy and oppressive, it would hurt replay value"
Well my 15 hours in Darkest Dungeon in the past week has something to say about that lmao.
It also brings the tone to the community as well, indirectly.
@@turkeygod6665 I too was going to mention Darkest Dungeon lol
@@turkeygod6665 Darkest Dungeon is definitely designed to be exhausting in a sense though. Whether or not it acheives the exact same effect after a lot of playtime is debatable (and that can morph into a different kind of experience too)
I suppose there isn't much of an example of something that's gloomy and oppressive without a side of humor. Even Vermintide as an example was rather *grim* and *dark* but still filled with gallows humor and fun interactions.
I take deep rock as a light hearted 40k squats spinoff a lot of stuff feels 40kish
One thing I wish they'd bring over from Dwarka is that the dwarves would sing when they mined gold.
I would not mind some dwarf shanties if you are just straight up using your pickaxe for some amount of time. Be a real nice touch if the dwarves passing the time like dwarves before them.
that would get old really fucking fast
@@ExValeFor Do it like Sea of Thieves, make it something the player controls
Holding down the “rock and stone!” Button.
There should be ambient tracks where the dwarves sing.
Honestly, the whole mission in Dwarka with the finding a big tomb and having to construct the bridge/crank, then opening it to get the gold sounds like it'd be really interesting as a DRG mission type. Of course they'd have to adapt it a lot in order to make it work out and change some of it, but I could definitely see something similar for one of the new seasonal mission types being super cool.
Possibly a hub of rival tech you have to enter loot and blow up
In spirit I think salvage mission is a reworking of that concept as the goal is for you to find a final location, repair the items around it, and defend it until mission completion.
@@billul1 true. i also think the industrial sabotage mission is a pretty good adaptation of it
When I first discovered the channel, I thought it would die quick. I mean, a channel dedicated to the history of *one* game?
I’m so glad I was wrong
I will have to branch out, but I never see myself covering anything as in-depth as I have DRG for various reasons, there are many ideas still sitting in the backlog
@@explorianguy If you did branch out, I think still doing in depth "game history" videos would be absolutely amazing since there's not nearly enough of this content both on RUclips or the internet in general that's as neatly organized and gives such insight into game development. Your channel and work is amazing, a real treasure.
@@iby_yt ah true, I mainly meant the fact that probably no other devs will entrust me with early builds of their games so I could go as in-depth as I have for DRG
Imagine a chanel made about a Minecraft server...
"The oldest anarchy server in Minecraft 2b2t" (Fitmc)
@@explorianguy maybe you could just be the game historian one day.
I kinda like the in game contrast of how funny and upbeat the dwarves are versus the hints, and realization that this game is dark as hell. Things like finding lost miners in the caves, left behind. There’s quite a few hints like that.
Wow, I had no idea so much happened with Dwarka and Press Play.
And honestly, Knoxville sounds like the most generic shooter these days lol (Guess they saw the Battle Royal trend before everyone else)
That first trailer is really eye opening to see, especially with the Huge Praetorian, wondered where he went lol
Man, this game's been through a lot. And I definitely agree a slightly darker tone would be cool.
Oh and that end montage is fucking beautiful, I would watch that endlessly if I could. Hell, I would show it to friends to show how far DRG has come!
The huge praetorian probably turned into the oppressor or dreadnought
In an alternate universe, Project Knoxville became a smash hit in the Battle Royale scene instead of Fortnite and became a billion dollar success.
@@augustday9483 nah, project Darwin did what it did and ruined the entire gameplay loop right before release and flopped dramatically
If you want DRG with a darker tone, just go to the graphics settings and turn gamma all the way down
@@esauce3850 You think I don't? I have perfected the setting so I can still see lol
-0.6 Gamma exactly ^^
Honestly my favourite setting they added since I got the game
The back tracking to extraction is so important. Its a good contrast to your journey into the fresh new cave. As you run back you see all the platforms, ziplines, dead flares, used supply pods, etc and it really gives you a sense of how much you leave that world different than when you first hit that new spot on hoxxes.
i like to think dwarka and four short dwarves is a canon progression of the history of dwarves in DRG; first earthbound miners, then space explorers looking for gold, until DRG came up and everyone got hired
im really glad they went for space dwarves, weapons like the gatling gun didnt fit in dwarka at all
It perhaps could've worked if they went for more of a Goldrush-inspired look combined with the dwarf fantasy element.
Yeah, just look at the outcast engineer class from Vermintide, dwarf with gatling gun can easily work in a grimdark setting.
@@eyeball6793 True, but a gatling gun would've been as sci-fi as they could get. We wouldn't have ever gotten stuff like the Cryo Cannon or LOK-1. The sci-fi setting allowed for way more creativity.
@@bugjams Na, magic fixes all that. Cryo cannon would be like a keg inscribed with runes of frost and ice, loki some kinda crossbow with runes of seeking. It would all work just fine.
@@Thouhand. Yeah but... I guess it's just personal taste, but that somehow feels more cliche than actual sci-fi weapons. I mean I probably would've loved the game either way. But I can't help but feel if we had both, I still would've loved the version we have now more.
its funny that the project that got the most votes ended up being what was left behind as the other 2's idea became successful.
I mean project Knoxville is basically the Darwin Project
@@henryrothert6160 oh yeah it kinda is!
About the light hearted tone the game has now, just like tf2 devs said, multiplayer experiences will always (now ot feels like only most times) become silly because of the actions of the players, so even if the game went for a serious tone the fact that it is co-op wouldnt add to the seriousness like the light hearted tone now does, even vermintide 2 doesnt feel all that dark thanks to the co op, another thing is, i see it happen a lot in vermintide and l4d (games with serious tone) is that even if it is a co op experience, players mostly see for themselves leaving anyone behind to get their hands on stuff first, while that could be considered a gameplay design thing i personaly think the small sillyness of the tone attracts less (competitively) serious people to the games
what i love about DRG is that, at least if you're just playing with randoms, it can actually get quite serious when shit goes south and you scrape through by the skin of your teeth on higher hazard levels.
It manages to make me feel the exact same way the dwarves seem to feel, and this is a game with barely any dialogue!
I'm curious, did you ever ask the devs if you could perhaps get a hold of a real build of Project Dwarka? I'm imagining they'd be more than happy to provide it to such a reputable historian, or even release it openly because this is damn cool (and otherwise I'd love to try hunting a build down!) Also, another question: Is there any way to openly access the oldest builds like the pre-Alpha? I'd love to play it!
EDIT 2: I got a response in a DM with DRG Historian:
- Devs don't have Project Dwarka, no one knows if a build exists anywhere
- The old DRG builds are only shared privately, which is understandable
Damn I really love the "Trondheim" hauler, really wish they could include it somehow into modern DRG. Maybe as some space travel you might be able to spot going to and from the rig? They need supplies right?
As a Norwegian i'm onligated to love it
Longbeard freight, the ones that constantly keep on loosing cargo shuttles😂
I don’t mind the sillier elements of DRG, or even them being the focus, but it’d be cool if as they added the sillier, they also added a few darker things that aren’t as directly shown.
When they first showed the Robots for “Rival Incursion” my first though was a precursor civilization. Like the one the error cubes are from.
The implication that Karl was lost in a place similar to Hollow Bough is pretty dark. That place is the one biome I dread so it made sense to me. The thought of him, if not having outright died, being left down there in such a place....
@@RaxusXeronos also the nemesis having lines as “rescue me / help me “ among other ones it’s damn grim, kind to think it records/reproduces what dwarves said to try and lure more dwarvs, wich could be the very last thing the dwarves he has killed so far
I'd say DRG is honestly the most enjoyable coop game I've ever played.
ROCK AND STONE BROTHA
Unquestionably game of the year for 2000 whatever
Probably the last enjoyable co-op game to be made :')
That montage at the very end gave me chills.
It's great to know that from everything that happened to them, these people made a great game and a great story. I'm glad they got this far, and I hope they continue.
16:43 I think the recently added Nemesis is a callback to the darker tone. This giant flying machine that mimics dwarves calling for help and acts openly murderous to you in the fight.
It isn't just an action co-op game, it's fun solo too.
Better with friends, obviously, but if you're like me and don't have any friends, Bosco has your back.
It seems to be a philosophy the devs had even back in their Press Play days, that their multiplayer games can be enjoyed in single player too.
I think that as strange as it may sound, both games take place on Hoxxis IV. There are absolutely references to Project Dwarka, and there are subtle hints that the dwarves of DRG were not the first ones there. There's also the mystery of the various structures, and other things seemingly left behind by... who? The helixes, the relics (Cube's lore name), the energy pillars and the magic holes.. Then there's the lore of the final player level cosmetic assignment. There was a dark battle that may have been an absolute loss, fought somewhere, and it could have very well could have been a last stand on Hoxxis. Mayhapst.. the beginning, or the end, of the dwarf we would now know, as Karl.
But this all could just be the result of mixing Smart Stout with Underhill Deluxe, expanding my brain and shrinking my skull at the same time.
Deep Rock Galactic is a true gem, pun intended. Never had so much fun in a shooter. Love creating my dwarves too. Cant wait to see what other biomes, bugs and beards they release.
Maybe Karl was a demolitionist, and him disappearing is the in-game explanation of why there's no demolitionist in the game.
DRG is a dark and serious as you make it, want to solo an elite deep dive? Get ready to fight tooth an nail for your life over and over again. Want to chillax, have some fun and kill bugs? add some friends and lower the difficulty
You're right and all but solo EDDs sound impossible unless you're karl himself
holy smokes, that ending cut of the game progresse is insane
man it's so weird to hear mission control talk about light as a precious resource at 24:23 lol
Right?!
17:30 - I absolutely love the silly additions. The charm and character are essential for me.
I loved that scene of the [awesome looking] space ship dropping a drop pod. looked like a scene out of an Alien trilogy movie.
A DRG movie or series would be awesome. Maybe have Karl as the main character :P
That outro sequence was fantastic, great work man. So cool how much I've learned about one of my favorite games from your channel
GOD DAMN 30:52 ON IS SO GOOD
it's so good, I can"t stop watching it
I'd say DRG is still "dark" but more in a cynical humor corporate dystopia kind of way
Wow! It's really neat to see the humble origins of this fantastic game about FSDs digging some holes and fighting monsters. Documenting that kind of evolution is always so cool to see, so thanks a lot for putting this all out in a neat line for everyone. Oh, and that montage at the end was /prime/, goodness!
I don’t think silly and dark are mutually exclusive? The game is definitely net silly, but we’re playing as a group of professional space mining dwarves, and coping with humor is very common in tough physical and emotional jobs. I would love to see more cosmic horror/spooky vibes in the new content, but I wouldn’t want to lose the banter
While I absolutely love the somewhat "whimsical" nature of DRG, i feel like they kept anyway some of the darker undertone of it. In lore the dwarves are overworked and disposable for managment, and their calls for brotherhood (rock and stone, leave no dwarf behind, etc.) are self imposed "rules" to have at least a modicum of safety and camaraderie.
Plus you can tweak in the settings (no HUD, lower brightness/gamma, etc) to have a grittier experience down in the caves.
Parhaps not ideal, but it's still there. I would live to play a darker, grittier and harsher DRG, and perhaps in the future we'll get a mod or something that will do that.
Awesome video, I was very intrigued by getting to know the history of the game, so thank you.
Rock and Stone!
Project Dwarka is probably cannon is the DRG universe as the far past. There is a voice line that is “My grandpa told me, they used real mules back in the day” is probably referencing PD
Great video, clearly a tonne of research and work went into making it! As a very recent DRG fan, i came to this video looking for in game lore, but the full real history of the game was fascinating. Thank you.
damn i didnt expect to see trailmakes here lol
In regards to the demolitionist class I didn’t notice you saying it during your breakdown of the demolitionist at 18:37 but the “light crossbow” featured earlier could be another version of the flare gun the scout is given
That ending segment was amazing man!
These guys seem pretty cool and relaxed. This game is a treasure.
woah ive seen this video before and must have left before the end, i didnt know gsg and flashbulb were "related" that is really cool, i love trailmakers and drg so its neat to know they came from the same place
So the Scout used to be the Demolitionist, with the Satchel Charges.
No wonder in the present day, the Driller is always trying to give the Satchel Charges back to the Scout...
I didn't think this could be such an interesting topic, that's an astonishing video you made brother, rock'n'stone :D
love how the earliest version of a Cave Leech is just a barnacle with a different model.
32:39 I wonder if this quote lead to gunner's line "Here, have a bullet in the face!"
This is one of the coolest DRG videos i've seen! The ending montage is spectacular! Thanks for the work you do. ROCK AND STONE!
Ok but like, if they made a version of the gold tomb for drg, I would LOVE that. Everyone has to build things in order to finish the mission. It’s like the corporate sabotage mission, almost everyone loves it because for the first time you get that uneasy feeling of “someone’s been here before” just like you would with some form of tomb
I had never realized that Trailmakers came from another branch of ex-PressPlay employees!
I actually have both DRG and Trailmakers, but I found out about both completely separately.
I'm jealous of your slow mo frames per second...i would LOVE to edit that!
TBH I would love to see more grim-dark tone in DRG. Something like dark elements appearing on harder difficulties/new missions. Like bodies of miners who were left behind in a mine, transport ships/vehicles with signs of crew getting wiped out by unknown threats/swarms, crushed drop pods, hints of greater danger awakening in the depths due to mining operations or hostile forces arriving on planet's surface (maybe "intelligent" enemy types, like goblins or elves).
BTW I love Trailmakers and am genuinely surprised that both DRG and Trailmakers share the same origin.
i quite like the press play logo. great video DRG Historian, PhD.
It's good that they stepped away from the dark "horror" aspect.
Horror and fun, replayable gameplay is impossible to combine together. You either get one or the other. They are diametrically opposed.
I really like the not-so-dark tone of DRG because it still gives you Hints every now and then that "Hey, this is a pretty fked Place, and People die here" yet, the Dwarves are so experienced, that they take everything a bit more lightly, its needed to not go insane, a similiar Pattern that can be seen in Military Forces.
oh man, I remember playing Tentacles: Enter the Mind as a kid and fucking loved it so much. It even had a reference to Enter the Dolphin.
sadly though, the mobile version no longer works
The current in-world feel of Deep Rock Galactic, instead of being terror, is a kind of alienation. The dwarves are constantly complaining about why they're doing this job, the DRG company keeps both the products of the dwarve's work and the dwarves in the dark on what their work is for, we don't know who or what the rivals and the rockpox are, what are the consequences on the planet of our incursions, and so on. We just can't know why any of it is important, being the rewards and mastery what keeps the dwarves coming back. Even the thrill and the spoils are kinda numbed by the fact that they're "just doing their job".
This is kind of the spirit of our era.
The one thing that the dwarves have that they can know is important is their fellowship. For Karl, for Rock and Stone.
Maybe the point of the game, is that the game is not as important as the community around it.
How the DRG company treats its employees being what Ghost Ship wanted to avoid by making the development of the game open to the community.
The editing at the end was sick, great job dude :)
This is like the coolest underdog development story for a video game. Lowest rated game of 3 projects turned into a great game in the end with an amazing community. You love to see it.
If you think the game would feel and play better by being darker, follow these simple steps:
1: Go into a mission
2: Turn off and keep off your headlamp
3: Only throw down one flare at a time
Have fun developing speluncaphobia. In all seriousness the game looks beautiful at all times and only looks more beautiful in most areas with a complete lack of light, the cave's innards being illuminated by the natural light of fire, bioluminescence or glowing crystals. Really brings a whole new feel to the game and awakens a deep, primal feeling within me to see a yawning abyss of a cave open up to me.
I don't know who's doing the music for DRG but it fits SO WELL and that person is a genius
Big Rock and Stone to all the names on thr board in the memorial hall. Y'all helped build this place. I am so upset I never heard of the game around 2018.
YOOOO Tentacles; Enter the Dolphin was creepy af. i remember playing it on my first smartphone. Damn, that's a blast from the past.
to this day, the game's executable is still labelled as FSD-WinShipping-x64 and i think that's kinda neat.
30:52 Video Editing GO!! :D
Love your content, mate!
I think it makes sense the dwarves would respond to the dangers of the rocky underworld with a goofy attitude. If they were gonna be bleak about it they wouldn't have taken the job
It's amazing how all the videos you make are of such quality. You do it better than anyone on this platform
Oh my gosh, I REMEMBER playing Enter the Dolphin as a kid, I loved that game. Insane that one of my favorite games now was made by the same guys who made this game i so enjoyed in my childhood.
Amazing to see how this amazing game evolved from its initial conception.. Thanks a lot for the video!!!
Even though I only recently started playing the game (solo)... I'm having a blast!
30 minute DRG history video, pogg
This videos fantastic good work dude! I picked up drg a few days ago and love it
DRG shares the best co-op title with Helldivers
the beginning of the trailer you showed in the video reminds me a lot of the rouge core trailer. i wonder if the rouge core trailer was made like that on purpose
Absolutely sick outro montage at the end
I actually remember playing Max & The Magic Marker, I personally loved it providing the absolute freedom to draw whatever you want and making your own solutions, and the soundtrack was pretty good too, glad that transitioned over
The outro sequence slapped hard ngl
DRG and all those involved with it, in one way or another, really have a damn interesting history.
Thank you for the bloody fine trip, Historian! Rock and Stone
5:22 as soon as i heard the description of this game and how it looked i INSTANTLY thought of trailmakers, turns out it was!
i imagine dwarka is the ancient history of DRG, like that one quote references in game i don’t remember it well but its like
“i heard back in the day they used real mules, we’re keeping up the tradition!”
i guess this is nice niche node maybe?
amazing video!
god tier editing i love that end!
Can’t believe they called the space rig “Trondheim” for a bit. Like, that’s a city in Norway! I’ve *been* to Trondheim!
I bet that Project Dwarka is actually what the company Deep Rock Galactic was before they invented space travel and rebranded
Amazing video!
I am *snatching* that music to use in my own videos, thanks, BYE
Dude that end montage was amazing
I was going to say that the vehicle building game reminded me so much of Trailmakers. Lo and behold, it's the same game!
I’ve noticed that there are darker elements to the story and I personally love it! In fact I’ve actually started writing a story that is basically DRG with lore to it, but it’s darker and scarier.
I'd love for a spinoff or prequel or even a mode where you play drg in olden times. A full blown melee centric class and a demolotionist class would fit in really well in that setting too, I think.
TO THE EMPIRES OF OLD!!!!
For real,i never thought of the fact that GSG's first footsteps were absolutely slow and pre-alpha-prototype-ish,but now....i really admire their game and i would only adore it more,the longer i stick to it. It is the best indie coop game i have ever played with and i have alot of time spent with it,i just...i hope that once i get that good financially,i will be able to support them,even if with a bit!
REALLY cool editing at the end!
I can't believe I used to play the rough bare early ass access as much as I did. Game is so much different now
MAX AND THE MAGIC MARKER WAS AMAZIMF!! I hadn’t played it in forever
Dude, that montage at the end! Gave me chills
Loved finding things down there from previous expeditions, also read into the fact there used to be abandoned mineing structures and camps that they completely cut too... damn shame. If they play their cards right they can do both, have a dark universe with funny light hearted moments, you just make it red dwarf but with with ACTUAL dwarfs XD Someone poke the dev team (hell there's a couple of tracks that seemed based on some stuff from Red Dwarf actually...).
When I hear “Gold Tomb” I like to think of some ruins that hold a lot of resources. And there is a labyrinth type tunnel system that has several ways to go with the dirt paths. At the end there are a bunch of enemies and there are resources at the end. Mostly gold and crafting resources. Be an interesting mission type that has more rewards if you want to get gold and other stuff. Also at the end is a big jewel of different kinds, maybe depending on the biome they have a unique jewel, that management want, and you head back to the drop pod per usual.
I love this idea so much and I wish I could think of a way to make it make sense in game. Best I can do is imagine how cool it would be if the bugs (or maybe the Rivals?) found their way to another planet and upset an ancient Dwarven tomb! But..that's still such a stretch.
Maybe DRG attempted to colonize Hoxxes IV once but it was a catastrophic failure...
Regardless, I love the idea of having just a dose of a more traditional Dwarven fantasy setting mixed into the context of DRG. Loving the idea of defending a ruined temple full of wild resources from bugs and robots.
@@user-xn1xd4mg4j I would say more like an ancient civilization of dwarves that colonized the planet hundreds of thousands of years ago. That or some pointy ear leaf lovers. Could say elvish ruins. And also confirms space elfs.
Yeah that's something I would like. It would be like a callback to dwarfs and how they are fantasy beings, but since this is sci fi it would be like looking back at the days of a fantasy setting. It would be just neat to see and helpful in some mineral mining. Also want more ideas that shows the biomes' personality so a rare and specific gem being kept in a locked up ruin would be fun.
@@jacobfoxfires9647 absolutely this! Man I didn't even think of the Elves that's good too. But yea it would be cool to explore the fantasy setting as "Dwarven history", in the way that DRG does: by filling things with bugs and making dark/silly jokes about the tragedies that happened there.
I just really love that ruined temple concept art from Dwarka and your idea of a labyrinth and some kinda big glorious loot room. maybe you would only find nitra in the labyrinth on your way; and gold/minerals only at the ruins, which are also filled with major enemy standoff so you gotta strategize, prioritize and compromise. Then find a sealed vault which you need to defend while you unlock it to haul the company's extra precious treasure haul.
I'd buy 20 more copies of the game if they made this for Season 3 or 4.
OH MY GOODNESS, I PLAYED THAT MAX GAME AS A KID!!!