The city
Where the work starts, and where it comes back to.
A co-op offroad trucking game for up to eight players.
Haul heavy loads over rough ground and help rebuild a broken land, one delivery at a time.
In development by Hound Protocol. Nothing to download yet.
About AFTERHAUL
AFTERHAUL is a co-op offroad trucking game. You and up to seven friends run a hauling company in a land that has been knocked flat, taking jobs, moving heavy loads over bad ground and rebuilding as you go.
But that's not all. You might mix yourself up in suspicious activities, transporting illicit cargo for questionable characters and soaking your toes in bad business. The choices you and your crew make shape the future of each region.
A country in conflict
AFTERHAUL takes place in a fictional country in conflict. The government has formed your crew into a national recovery task force, to help with specific logistical tasks. You rebuild region by region, fixing the country to help it win the war. The end of the road is an ongoing front line.
Campaign and side quests
The campaign is a linear run of one-time contracts. Side quests open up small to medium-sized stories along the way.
You will meet characters with their own personalities, main quests and side quests: business owners, shop owners and ordinary people who need a bit of help, like moving everything in their house to a new place. And mafia bosses you've accidentally tangled with.
Expect big trucks, rough terrain, changing weather and a low-poly look. It is in early development, so there is a lot still to build.
Character classes
Up to eight players run one company. Every driver has a trade: someone finds the line through the mud, someone carries the heaviest loads, someone keeps the crew fed, patched up and moving.
Field Operator
Leads the convoy and picks the line.
Heavy Ordnance Operator
Moves the heaviest loads and runs the old trucks.
Medical Operator
Keeps the crew alive.
Provisions Operator
Feeds the crew and stretches the supplies.
Mechanical Operator
Keeps the trucks running between garages.
Recovery Operator
Gets stuck trucks moving again.
Logistics Operator
Stocks the convoy and protects its supplies.
Security Operator
Protects the convoy from wildlife and threats.
All operators are capable on their own, but specialized operators outperform other operators at what they're specialized for.
The world of AFTERHAUL
One land, many regions, all of it waiting to be rebuilt. The seasons turn, the weather bites, and every delivery leaves something standing that wasn't there before.
Placeholder animations. The moving scenes on these cards are stand-ins drawn for this website. They will be replaced by real gameplay when the game enters the Alpha stage.
Timber country
Loose rock, steep grades, heavy cargo.
The northern wild
No roads. Mud to the axles.
The frontline
Supplies that cannot wait.
The long desert
An hour of nothing, and the heat.
The arctic
Snow, ice and a road you can barely trust. Stop too long and the truck won't start again.
Design choices
Before Afterhaul comes to fruition, our team was pondering over design choices that will define the personality of the game world.
Sound design
Visceral, Intense, Loud & Charismatic
We want trucks to sound like raw machines with a punch to it. Treat the gas gentle, and the truck is going to respond gently. Hit the gas at 100%, and the truck will respond in a full spectrum.
Our vision of in-cab sound design and what we are aspiring to design in AFTERHAUL.
We predominantly source our inspiration of sound design from drag racing competitions, which we try our best to implement into the game with sound occlusion, distant sound processing, directional sound processing & more sound compression to achieve visceral & authentic sound design.
Our primary mission is to achieve sound fidelity by design, as demonstrated in the video below.
In Afterhaul, crashing your truck is going to be a cinematic, intimidating and audio-rich experience. Our goal is to make every object its own sound source, and we are developing a system that will allow the player to hear the entire chaos of their cabin in an orchestrated, natural format. We are learning how impacts, crashes and accidents sound, and how we can transform that intensity and atmosphere into Afterhaul accurately, as in the video provided.
In the war zone, artillery is something you hear before you see it: a distant shot, the whistle of the shell, then the impact. That sequence, and the dread it builds, is the sound we are aiming for.
An impactful and reactive first-person view, combined with our active ragdoll system, will provide immersion and a tangible response from the in-cabin view. Our biggest inspiration came from how Need for Speed Shift 2 handles first-person player character impacts and accidents.
Videos are other people's work, shown as inspiration. Their preview pictures and the videos themselves come from YouTube.
Visual design
Afterhaul is a low poly / high detail project. We aim for high performance and accessibility on even lower end setups. Our goal is to achieve low poly design, with physics, especially applied to our Active-Ragdoll system characters.
Current State of AFTERHAUL
AFTERHAUL is still in early development stages. More information will be posted here as the project is being developed, and upon launch of the BETA on Steam.
Release stages
- ConceptCurrently in progress
The design is written and the rules are being built and tested. Nothing is playable yet.
Date: to be announced - Alpha
A rough, playable version: one truck, one region and a small crew. Invited testers help find what breaks.
Date: to be announced - Beta
Most of the game is in. The beta opens on Steam so more players can try it and report problems.
Date: to be announced - Release
The finished first version, ready for everyone.
Date: to be announced
Dates are announced once each stage is close. Updates are posted here and in the changelog.
Follow along with Hound Protocol, the community organization making the game.
Join the Discord
Meet Hound Protocol
Discord will open up for access once the game has a prototype
Documentation of AFTERHAUL
The player guide, kept in folders. It is a draft: it describes the game as planned, and the game is not playable yet.
11 documentsAll documents
No documents match that search. Try a shorter word, or pick another folder.
AFTERHAUL is a co-op trucking game for up to 8 friends. The story takes place in a fictional country in conflict. Your crew is a national recovery task force: it hauls the materials that rebuild the land, one load at a time, to help win the war.
One player is the Operations Chief. The Chief hosts the world, takes the jobs and decides who joins the crew. The others are Operators. Money is nuts. Jobs come from employers.
Where to read next:
- Crews and sessions for how a session works.
- Regions for the six maps.
- Ground surfaces for what is under your wheels.
Status: draft. The game is in early development and this guide describes what is planned.
The Operations Chief sets each session to one of three levels:
- Solo: only you.
- Friends only: your friends can join.
- Invite only: only people you invite can join.
There is no open session. Players who want to join a crew apply from the session browser. The Chief sees each applicant's standing as an icon and chooses who to accept.
Status: draft. Written from the design; not yet playable.
What is AFTERHAUL? A co-op trucking game set in a country in conflict. You haul cargo across rough land with friends.
How many people can play? Up to eight in one crew.
Is it out? No. It is in early design. Nothing is playable yet. This site shows the plan and the progress.
Which platforms? The first builds target PC. We plan to test on Linux through Proton.
Can I join a stranger's game? There are no open sessions. The crew's chief picks who joins. You can apply from the session browser.
Do you use AI art? No. People make the art, music, sound and voices. AI helps with planning and tools, and that is stated openly.
Will there be mods? Yes. A truck is one folder of files, and the same layout is the way to make a mod. The rules are in the modding guide.
How do I follow progress? Read the changelog tab, or join the community.
Status: draft. Answers may change as the game does.
You build one driver and wear them for the whole run. You pick a look, a body type and a voice. Then you dress them for the weather.
The look
- Choose hair, eyes, nose, mouth and head shape from a set of ready-made options.
- Slide the height, width and head size a little. The range is small on purpose, so every driver still fits the clothes.
- Pick a colour for skin, hair, eyes, lips and for your two clothing colours.
- Choose a voice. A voice is a set of breaths, grunts and effort sounds recorded by people. It is not a computer voice.
- Choose a name. Use letters, digits, spaces, dashes and underscores.
Body types
Each body type changes how you run, how often you eat and drink, and how well you stand the cold.
- Regular: average at everything.
- Athletic: fast and hard to tire, but thirsty and weak at lifting.
- Brawny: lifts heavy things with ease, but hungry and thirsty.
- Thin: needs less food and drink, but tires sooner and has less health.
- Fat: very good in the cold, but slow on foot.
Clothes are made for body types. If you change your body type at home, pieces that no longer fit come off and go back into your closet.
Status: draft. Written from the design; not yet playable.
You buy clothes one piece at a time. Each piece sits in its own slot, and each has its own strengths.
The ten slots
- Hat: keeps heat in, or the sun off.
- Mask: stops dust and sand. Some also keep your face warm.
- Inner layer: the first layer on your chest. It helps with cold or with heat.
- Outer layer: the second layer on your chest. It adds warmth and protection.
- Jacket: blocks wind and rain. Some jackets add pockets.
- Gloves: keep your hands warm and your hold firm on the wheel and on tools.
- Pants: warmth and protection for your legs.
- Shoes: footing on slippery ground. Heavy boots cost stamina.
- Belt pack: a little extra room to carry things.
- Backpack: your main carrying space.
How layers add up
Warmth and weather protection from all your pieces add together. A very well dressed driver still cannot block everything, so there is a ceiling on how much any one kind of protection can reach. Heavy clothes weigh on you and can cost stamina. Dress for the day you expect, not the worst one.
What you see
A piece of clothing hides the skin underneath it, so nothing pokes through. Hoods, straps and loose edges move in the wind when you stand outside. Inside the cab the air is still, so they hang quietly.
Storage
Your clothes live at home. If you leave a game while your clothes are in someone else's truck, you wake up at your house.
Status: draft. Written from the design; not yet playable. All values are placeholders.
The game is slow and built on preparing well. Your body keeps its own clock, and the clock only runs while you play.
Needs
- Food and drink: you get hungry and thirsty over a couple of hours of play. Neglect them and you grow weaker, and you black out at lower crash speeds.
- Sleep: you need a long rest after many hours of play. Tired drivers move slower, get hungry sooner, and start to nod off at the wheel. You get a warning first: heavy eyelids and a drooping head.
- Sun and heat: direct sun makes you thirstier.
Your body type and any buffs make these clocks run faster or slower.
Where to sleep and eat
Sleep in the cab, in a habitat module on your truck, or in a bed at home. Cook proper meals at home or in a habitat module. A good meal gives you a buff that lasts for hours. Better ingredients last longer. You buy ingredients first.
Stamina
Sprinting is fast and fluid, and it runs out. Stand still and stamina comes back after a moment. Crouching brings it back faster. Some items stretch a sprint a little.
The wrist monitor
There is no screen full of bars. You can buy a wrist monitor that shows your health, hunger, thirst, sleep, stamina and temperature when you look at it.
Status: draft. Written from the design; not yet playable.
Your truck is the crew's home on the road. You can change a lot of it, within limits.
Mount points
Parts bolt on at mount points on the truck: roof, bed, front bumper, underbody and cab. Each mount takes one part, and each part only fits the right kind of mount. A mount can only hold so much weight.
Parts for each class
- Medical operator: a medical bay for treating injuries at the truck.
- Provisions operator: a kitchen module for cooking and storing food.
- Recovery operator: a front winch and a bed crane.
- Logistics operator: racks and locked storage.
For everyone
Roof racks, fuel can racks, extra fuel tanks, snow plows, cab heaters, cab insulation and cameras that show a view on a screen in the cab.
Where you live
You choose between two ways to live on the road:
- Cab room: an extended cab with space to rest.
- Habitat module: a unit on the bed with cooking gear. It is needed for hearty meals, and it is heavy. It does not fit beside a crane.
Limits
- Some parts can only be fitted once. You cannot carry two medical bays.
- Some parts exclude each other.
- Every part adds weight. The truck can only carry so much extra, and heavier trucks brake and climb worse.
Sound
Choose a muffled exhaust for a deep, quiet engine, or open pipes for a loud, raw one with crackle on the overrun.
Status: draft. Written from the design; not yet playable. Part list and weights are placeholders.
Six maps, each with its own land. The land is generated for your campaign, so no two crews drive the same map. The names are invented. Each region takes its conditions from a real kind of place.
Verhaven
Inspired by: Western and central Europe.
A town and a port city. Classic deliveries and easy driving.
Common ground: dirt track, mud, gravel.
On the map: a few ponds, patches of forest, a river crossed by a bridge.
Volkhmar
Inspired by: Russian taiga.
Logging, deep mud and few roads. Access is limited and needs a license.
Common ground: mud, dirt track, deep mud, gravel.
On the map: a few ponds, thick forest.
Dunmarrow
Inspired by: Open desert.
Very wide and very hot. Long hauls, heat and sandstorms.
Common ground: gravel, sand, dirt track.
On the map: almost no trees.
Pohjavaara
Inspired by: Finnish Lapland inside the Arctic Circle.
Deep cold and snow. Heaters and insulation are required.
Common ground: snow, packed snow, dirt track, ice.
On the map: many lakes and wetlands, patches of forest, a mountain ridge.
Drennmark
Inspired by: An active war zone.
Critical supply runs under fire. The front line moves with the deliveries.
Common ground: dirt track, mud, gravel.
On the map: a few ponds, patches of forest, a river crossed by a bridge.
Sorvanga
Inspired by: Remote tundra.
Very cold and very remote. Hard rough ground mixed with soft rough ground.
Common ground: mud, gravel, snow, deep mud, dirt track.
On the map: many lakes and wetlands, almost no trees.
Every wheel feels the ground under it. Soft ground slows you and pulls at the truck. The right tires help a lot.
| Surface | Difficulty | Holds ruts |
|---|---|---|
| Tarmac | easy | no |
| Wet tarmac | moderate | no |
| Gravel | moderate | no |
| Dirt track | moderate | yes |
| Mud | hard | yes |
| Deep mud | extreme | yes |
| Sand | hard | yes |
| Rock | moderate | no |
| Snow | hard | yes |
| Packed snow | hard | no |
| Ice | extreme | no |
| Shallow water | hard | no |
Ruts deepen as trucks pass: fresh, tracked, then rutted. A rutted track is harder to leave than to follow.
- Active ragdoll: a body that moves by its own muscles inside the physics, instead of playing recorded animation.
- Attachment: a part bolted to a mount point on a truck.
- Chief: the player who runs the session and decides who joins.
- Class part: a truck part made for one driver class, such as the medical bay.
- Crew: the players in one session, up to eight.
- Habitat module: a living unit on the truck bed with cooking gear.
- Mount point: a place on a truck where one part can be fitted.
- Operator: a driver class with its own skills and truck parts.
- Slot: a space for one item of clothing or cargo.
- Zone: an area of a truck or a body that can be damaged or hidden.
Status: draft.
Two kinds of mod exist. Data mods add or replace content, such as trucks, cargo and text, and keep your achievements. Script mods run code written in Lua and turn achievements off for everyone in the session. Everyone in a session needs the same mods.
The full guide for mod makers will be published here when the mod tools are ready.
Status: draft. The mod rules and checker are built. The script host is not.
Roadmap
Where AFTERHAUL is heading, from the first drivable truck to release. Each item shows its status. This is a draft plan: items can move, change or be dropped, and we set dates only when a stage is close.
Last updated 28 October 2026
Concept Currently in progress
Planning and groundwork. Nothing is playable yet.
3 of 5 complete- Game design writtenComplete
The whole game, from the first haul to the last region, is on paper.
- Core loop: contracts, cargo, fuel, repair and a Ledger economy
- Driver body, needs, injury and rescue rules
- Eight driver classes, each with a skill tree
- Host-run crews with three access levels and hiring from a session browser
- Mod format: data mods and sandboxed script mods
- Core rules written and testedComplete
Trucks, weather, hunger and thirst, clothing and truck parts all have working rules.
- Drivetrain: engine, clutch, gearbox, driveshaft, heat and coolant
- Weather states, seasons and ground surface tables
- Mass, cargo slots and spill rules
- Needs, stamina and effort models
- Clothing layers and truck mount rules, validated from data files
- Website and player guideComplete
You are looking at it. The guide grows with the game.
- Player guide built from the design source, so it cannot drift
- Changelog and roadmap generated from data files
- Logo kit, release stages and patch types
- No trackers; video loads only when played
- First drivable truckIn Progress
One truck on a test field, with real weight, steering and engine behaviour.
- Custom vehicle model on top of the physics engine: per-wheel suspension and load transfer
- Steering force from ground and wheel load, with force-feedback wheel support
- Drivetrain wired to physics: clutch slip, shifts and stalls
- Cab spring and damping
- Dashboard and in-cab tablet readouts
- First driverIn Progress
A body that moves with its own muscles, falls and gets back up, and can be dressed.
- Active ragdoll: rigid bodies joined by motors, poses set by code
- State machine: standing, stumbling, falling, getting up
- Hands and feet reach targets: wheel, shifter, pedals
- Ten clothing slots and five body types on one shared rig
- Character creation from fixed options with a small adjustable range
Alpha
The first playable version. Rough, small and for invited testers.
0 of 4 complete- Small crews in one truckPlanned
A few players share a truck, with voice chat and a host who runs the session.
- Host-authoritative sessions: the Operations Chief runs the world
- Full physical bodies up close, cheaper approximations at distance
- Proximity voice with range and weather effects
- Solo, friends-only and invite-only sessions
- World save owned by the host, player profile owned by the player
- First region and first contractsPlanned
One region to cross, with cargo to haul, fuel to find, and damage to repair.
- Land generated from a seed: terrain, water and forests
- Surface types with ruts and soft ground
- Contracts with cargo, payout and risk
- Fuel, damage zones and garage repairs
- Cargo in slots, with mass and securing
- Real gameplay on this sitePlanned
Footage from the game replaces the placeholder animations here.
- Capture in-engine footage to replace the placeholder scenes
- Update the stage text and screenshots to match
- Keep the placeholder notice until the swap is done
- Closed testsPlanned
Invited players on many kinds of computers, Linux included, report what breaks.
- Frame-time reporting built into test builds
- Hardware survey: CPU, GPU, memory, Windows and Linux through Proton
- Host-role tests across different machines
- Bug reports through a simple form
- Privacy notice for tester data
Beta
Most of the game is in. More players try it and help shape it.
0 of 6 complete- More regionsPlanned
The rest of the land opens up, each with its own ground and weather.
- Remaining regions with their own ground, trees and hazards
- Water crossings: bridges, fords and ice
- Region-specific employers and jobs
- Rebuild progress kept in the world save
- Municipal services in settled areas
- Weather and seasonsPlanned
Storms, snow and heat change how you drive and what you wear.
- Eight weather states from clear to blizzard and sandstorm
- Seasons on a real-week cycle: four weeks make a year
- Snow build-up, packing and loss of traction
- Cold exposure, frozen trucks and rescue calls
- Weather effects on sound, voice and radio range
- Driver classesPlanned
All eight classes, with their own skills and truck parts.
- Eight classes, each with its own skill tree
- Class parts on the truck: medical bay, kitchen, winch, crane and racks
- Role-based contracts and payouts
- Crew balance tuned for eight
- A living economyPlanned
Prices, jobs and rebuilding that change as the world recovers.
- A Ledger of jobs and aid (tow, rescue, repair) paid between players
- Employers with regional contracts and risk-based payouts
- Truck stops and diners for food, fuel and repairs
- Dynamic and seasonal world events
- Full crews of eightPlanned
Eight players and eight trucks, tuned until it runs smoothly.
- Frame budget per system: physics, character, audio, voice, rendering
- Distant players on cheaper bodies; the local player is never degraded
- Shader prewarm and terrain streaming to avoid hitches
- No allocations in hot paths; objects pooled
- Tested with eight players and eight trucks from early on
- Beta on SteamPlanned
Open to more players, with fixes shipped as patches and listed in the changelog.
- Windows build checked under Proton
- No kernel anti-cheat and no custom launcher
- Fixes shipped as patches, each listed in the changelog
- Beta feedback fed back into the roadmap
Release
The finished first version, ready for everyone.
0 of 3 complete- The full campaignPlanned
From the first delivery to the front line, polished.
- A campaign from the first delivery to the front line of Drennmark
- Employers and characters you meet along the way
- Side quests
- Balance and polish pass
- Versioned, checksummed saves with a backup copy
- ModdingPlanned
Build a truck or a change and share it. A truck is one folder of files.
- A mod is a folder with a manifest; data mods merge by id
- Script mods run in a Lua sandbox and turn achievements off
- The same mod set is required for everyone in a session
- A checker tool validates a mod before it is shared
- Mod portal: not yet decided
- Later regions as free updatesPlanned
More of the land arrives after release.
- Remaining regions released after launch
- Native Linux build planned after release
- Community wiki linking to the official guide
- Player-made designs through a verified site, later
Nothing has this status yet.
Code: AH-CL-001 · Latest: 0.7.12-pre · Owner: Web team · For: players
Website changelog
Latest change:
Every change to this website.
72 versions
0.7.12-preContentSound mission line · 2026-10-28
- Sound design (About): added the line about our primary mission under the drag racing paragraph.
0.7.11-prePolishVisual design layout · 2026-10-28
- The cover art now sits to the right of the placeholder character picture; on phones they stack.
0.7.10-preContentGrammar fix · 2026-10-28
- Grammar fix in the text above the crash-reaction video.
0.7.9-preContentCrash video wording · 2026-10-28
- Reworded the text above the crash-reaction video in Sound design.
0.7.8-preContentTemporary cover art · 2026-10-28
- Visual design (About) shows the temporary cover art, labelled as AI-generated (AIGC) and as a stand-in, not final art.
0.7.7-preFixLinks inside guides · 2026-10-28
- Links between guides ("Where to read next") now open that guide inside the reader instead of closing it.
0.7.6-preContentTwo more inspiration videos · 2026-10-28
- Sound design (About) now shows two more videos under the three truck videos: artillery sound and first-person crash reactions. Videos load only when played.
0.7.5-prePolishUpdate notice redesign · 2026-10-28
- The "New website version available" notice is now a square hazard-style panel with its own solid background, moving warning stripes, a refresh icon and a drop-in animation. Still one centred line. Motion stops with reduced-motion settings.
0.7.4-preFixStage badge placement · 2026-10-28
- The "Currently in progress" badge now sits under the stage name, aligned left on one line, in the release stages and on the roadmap.
0.7.3-preFixHero button target · 2026-10-28
- "More about AFTERHAUL" on the first screen now opens the About section.
0.7.2-preFixButton hover spacing · 2026-10-28
- Pointing at a section button no longer overlaps its neighbours or touches the page edge: the row has wider gaps and a safer margin, including at higher zoom levels.
0.7.1-preContentHero button wording · 2026-10-28
- The first hero button now reads "More about AFTERHAUL".
0.7.0-preOverhaulReader and hero actions · 2026-10-28
- Wiki documents open in a new reader: a contents list that follows your place, a reading progress line, tidier typography and previous/next links between guides. The paper-and-stamp look is gone.
- The first screen has two actions: Read the guide and See the roadmap. The section buttons still fit on one screen on common laptop and desktop sizes.
- On phones the reader fills the screen from the bottom.
0.6.2-prePolishLink preview, in-progress icon, phone fixes · 2026-10-28
- Shared links now show the square AFTERHAUL logo as their preview image (also used as the home-screen icon on iPhone).
- In Progress items on the roadmap use a new icon that cycles through writing, drawing and designing.
- Phones: the top bar is solid so page text no longer slides under the logo, and the unavailable Community cards are easier to read.
0.6.1-prePolishAbout button · 2026-10-28
- Removed the animated dashed line from the About button.
0.6.0-preOverhaulWiki makeover · 2026-10-28
- The wiki has a new look: a calmer dark surface, a folder list with document counts, and cleaner cards with the folder colour and read time.
- New search box filters the guide as you type, with a message when nothing matches.
- On phones the folders become a row of chips above the cards.
0.5.8-preContentStage label wording · 2026-10-28
- The current stage is now labelled "Currently in progress" on the roadmap and in the release stages.
0.5.7-preOptimizationRoadmap plans and smoother changelog · 2026-10-28
- Every roadmap item lists up to five planned work points, drawn from the game design.
- The changelog scrolls more smoothly: lighter film grain, isolated scroll areas, and version entries that are not drawn until they come into view.
0.5.6-prePolishRoadmap filter tidy-up · 2026-10-28
- Filtering the roadmap by a status hides stages with no matching items, and shows one message when nothing has that status, instead of one in every stage.
0.5.5-preOverhaulRoadmap redesign · 2026-10-28
- The roadmap is rebuilt for players. Every item carries one of four statuses: Complete, In Progress, Planned or Abandoned. Status chips filter the list and show counts, each stage has a progress bar, and the page shows when it was last updated.
- Items are written for people outside the project: no tools or setup details.
- The road draws in, bars fill and cards rise in one after another as you scroll. In Progress items spin. Reduced-motion settings turn the motion off.
- The roadmap is generated from content/roadmap.json by tools/build_roadmap.py, so changing a status is a one-line edit.
0.5.4-prePolishSection buttons · 2026-10-28
- The row of section buttons is about 20% wider (as far as the window allows) and each button is about 10% shorter. The icons are about 20% smaller, and each icon and its text sit centred in the button with free space around them.
- The Roadmap button now reads "The future of AFTERHAUL".
0.5.3-preFixNo sideways jump · 2026-10-28
- Fixed: opening a wiki document moved the whole page a few pixels to the right, because the page scrollbar disappeared while the document was open. The scrollbar space is now kept, so nothing moves.
0.5.2-prePolishSmaller update notice · 2026-10-28
- The new-version notice is now a small one-line pill, centred under the red bar, with Reload and Later. It is about half the size and takes no focus from the page.
0.5.1-preContentSound text · 2026-10-28
- In the in-cab sound design note, the last sentence now reads: "Hit the gas at 100%, and the truck will respond in a full spectrum."
0.5.0-preFeatureRoadmap · 2026-10-28
- New Roadmap button and section: the plan from Concept through Alpha and Beta to Release, with what is happening now and what comes next. It is a draft, with no dates until a stage is close.
- "The world of AFTERHAUL" now says the moving scenes are placeholders that real gameplay will replace when the game enters Alpha.
0.4.12-prePolishStraighter road · 2026-10-28
- The hero road leans less to the right. Its vanishing point moved toward the middle and the road is now symmetric around its centre line, so the yellow dashes sit in the road with correct perspective. Narrow screens use their own, slightly more central, values.
0.4.11-prePolishPatch names, update window · 2026-10-28
- Every changelog entry now carries a named patch type: Overhaul, Feature, Content, Polish, Fix, Optimization, Tools, Brand or Foundation for the website, plus Systems, World, Story and Documentation for the game. Types are kept in content/patch-types.json.
- The new-version notice is now a small window in the corner with Reload and Later buttons, instead of a line under the red bar.
- Removed the "Drive on" scroll cue from the first screen.
0.4.10-preContentRelease stages · 2026-10-28
- "Current State of AFTERHAUL" now shows the four release stages as a road with stops: Concept (marked as the current stage), Alpha, Beta and Release. Each says what the stage means. Dates read "to be announced" until they are set.
0.4.9-preFeatureChangelog times · 2026-10-28
- Each changelog document shows the time of its newest entry in red under its name. The time appears in your own time zone.
- Added a square logo (1024 px, the slashes above the name, safe for a round crop) for GitHub and other profile pictures.
0.4.8-preBrandLogo files · 2026-10-28
- The header mark becomes the AFTERHAUL logo: the two slashes (amber and sand) and the name in Barlow Semi Condensed Medium with wide spacing, letters turned into outlines so no font is needed. Files in assets/img/brand/: logo (transparent, for dark backgrounds), logo on dark, logo for light backgrounds, and the slash mark alone, each as SVG and PNG. Made by tools/make_logo.py. The page itself looks the same.
0.4.7-prePolishCompact first screen · 2026-10-28
- On desktop the first screen is more compact: the heading is sized to the window height and the spacing is tighter, so the section buttons show without scrolling on a 16:9 monitor.
- The section buttons now grow about 10% when pointed at. They no longer lift, and the grid texture on the Wiki button no longer shifts.
- Fixed: pressing All sections no longer scrolls the page. The view stays where it was while the section folds away.
0.4.6-preFeatureNew-version notice, tilt, even dashes · 2026-10-28
- A pulsing "New website version available" bar with a Reload button appears under the red bar when a newer version is live. The page checks every few minutes and when you return to the tab.
- On phones the hills move as you tilt the device, like they do with the mouse on a computer. iPhones ask for motion permission on the first tap. Reduced-motion settings turn it off. The hills never slide far enough to show an edge.
- Fixed: the road dashes on the About button now run at an even spacing with no jump.
0.4.5-prePolishWiki description · 2026-10-28
- The Wiki button's description now reads "Learn more about AFTERHAUL".
0.4.4-preOptimizationFaster loading · 2026-10-28
- No visible change. The deployed copy now has minified CSS and JavaScript, losslessly recompressed images and smaller woff2 fonts. The source files stay readable. Built by tools/optimize.py.
- Fixed: the Road closed page was not included in the deploy.
0.4.3-preContentFuller wiki · 2026-10-28
- The wiki grows from five to eleven documents: Your driver, Clothing, Food, drink, sleep and stamina, Customizing your truck, Questions and answers, and a Glossary. Two new folders: Your driver and Your truck.
- Added a Road closed page for addresses that do not exist (404).
0.4.2-prePolishTwice as fast · 2026-10-28
- The document open and close sequence runs at double speed. The order of the steps is unchanged.
0.4.1-preFixDocument sequence in order · 2026-10-28
- Opening: the folders, count and other cards fade out first, the chosen card glides to the middle of the empty area, then the document zooms open from exactly that spot.
- Closing runs the same steps in reverse: the document shrinks back into the card in the middle, the card glides to its own place, then the rest fades back in.
- Fixed: the document scaled from its top-left corner, so it started and finished away from the card. It now scales about its centre.
0.4.0-preOverhaulDocuments on paper · 2026-10-28
- Opening a wiki document is now a sequence: the chosen card slides to the right, waits a moment, and the document grows out of the card's own place. Closing reverses it, back into the same card, which then slides back.
- Documents look like documents: textured paper with a margin rule, punched holes, fold creases, a running header, a details table (code, version, effective date, owner, audience), numbered headings, a footer and a DRAFT stamp that lands once the page has opened. Parts of the page write in one after another.
- The two changelog documents use the same paper.
- Fixed: choosing another section right after pressing All sections could hide the new section.
0.3.4-preContentCountry in conflict · 2026-10-28
- The setting is now described as a country in conflict (page text, link preview, wiki, game changelog).
0.3.3-preContentAbout titles · 2026-10-28
- About sections renamed: About AFTERHAUL, Character classes, The world of AFTERHAUL, Design choices, Current State of AFTERHAUL. The navigation bar uses the same names.
0.3.2-prePolishFrontline pacing · 2026-10-28
- The dark clods now rise and fall at the same slow pace as the mud pillar.
- Shells fall twice as fast, each at a slightly different angle.
0.3.1-preFixVideos stop when you leave About · 2026-10-28
- Leaving About (back to the choices, or another section) removes any playing video and brings back its preview.
0.3.0-preOverhaulWiki, changelog, community, press · 2026-10-28
- Pick a section: the chosen button glides to the centre, the others fade away and the content rolls out below. A larger All sections button on the right brings the choices back. Each button has its own frame, and there is more space between the buttons and the content.
- About is now one loose page with a navigation bar on top (What it is, The crew, The land, Design choices, Where we are). The collapsible sections are gone.
- Documentation became the Wiki, "Documentation of AFTERHAUL": a pillar of coloured folders on the left, document cards on the right with a document count, and a reader that opens the chosen document in the centre. Every step is animated. Built by tools/build_docs.py.
- Dev log became Changelog: the website log on the left and a selected, player-facing game log on the right, each laid out as a document with its own colour (tools/build_changelog.py).
- Community lists Discord (held until the prototype), Instagram and YouTube (links to come). Press lists the contact address.
0.2.1-preContentSound text · 2026-10-27
- The in-cab sound design video text and the crash sound text now use the owner's wording.
0.2.0-preOverhaulExplore tabs, documentation, collapsible sections · 2026-10-27
- New tab row under the hero: About, Documentation, then three placeholder tabs (Dev log, Community, Press), each with its own colour and texture. The three are marked Soon.
- About holds the game, crew, land and design sections as collapsible sections (sound and visual design are nested inside Design). Expand all and Collapse all buttons on every panel. Deep links such as #land and #docs open the right tab and section.
- Documentation holds the player guide, built from the game repo by tools/build_docs.py (decision 0018).
- The work-in-progress pop-up has a new animation: striped bar, drawn warning triangle, staggered text, animated close.
- Land cards are no longer selectable and do not react to the mouse. Northern wild wind is now constant. Frontline impacts gently shake the scene. Timber country has a sawmill with a spinning saw, sawdust, and smoke.
0.1.20-preFeatureVisits counter (prepared) · 2026-10-27
- The dashboard bar shows a visits counter in place of Idling / Under load. It counts one visit per browser session through GoatCounter and stays at ---- until the site code is put in the goatcounter meta tag.
0.1.19-prePolishDiscord on hold · 2026-10-27
- The Join the Discord button is no longer a link. It is crossed out on a red striped background, with a red note: Discord opens once the game has a prototype.
0.1.18-preContentLink preview text · 2026-10-27
- New description for search, Discord and other link previews (also set as Open Graph and Twitter card text).
0.1.17-preContentProgress text · 2026-10-27
- "Where we are" now says the game is in early development stages and that updates will be posted here and at the BETA launch on Steam.
0.1.16-preContentOperators text · 2026-10-27
- "Heavy Cargo Operator" is now "Heavy Ordnance Operator". The talk paragraph is replaced by the line about operators being capable alone while specialists outperform at their specialty.
0.1.15-preFeatureWarzone firefight · 2026-10-27
- Frontline: tanks and soldiers stand still in the far background behind the rocks (no wobble) and shoot at each other: rifle bursts with muzzle flashes and tracers, tank shells with impact flashes.
0.1.14-preFeatureWarzone units and placeholder figure · 2026-10-27
- Frontline: tanks (two driving, one parked that fires with a muzzle flash when a shell is launched) and kneeling soldiers sit in the background, behind the ruins.
- Visual design: the owner's placeholder character picture is shown, with the placeholder notice. Listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md; source and licence to confirm.
0.1.13-preFeatureCity traffic · 2026-10-27
- The city card shows a skyline with lit windows, street lights and two lanes of moving traffic (headlights and tail lights). No weather.
0.1.12-prePolishMud pillar and debris · 2026-10-27
- Frontline: the mud pillar is now made of particles that rise slowly, get smaller and more scattered toward the top, then fall back as the pillar sinks. Six times more flying debris.
0.1.11-preContentStory · 2026-10-27
- About section: the twist (illicit cargo, choices shape each region), the country at war and the recovery task force, campaign and side quests, and the characters you meet.
0.1.10-preFeatureVideo previews · 2026-10-27
- Each sound-design video shows its YouTube preview picture (linked from YouTube, not copied). Footer and note now say previews and videos come from YouTube.
0.1.9-preFeatureDesign choices · 2026-10-27
- New "Design choices" section: sound design (three click-to-play YouTube videos with the team's notes) and visual design (with a placeholder image frame and the "not actual in-game graphics" notice).
- Videos use youtube-nocookie.com and load only after you press play. Footer wording updated to say so.
0.1.8-preFeatureHowitzer frontline · 2026-10-27
- Frontline: one shell every 5 to 10 seconds, falling very fast. Each impact raises a thin column of mud that climbs slowly high above the ground, then collapses.
0.1.7-preFeatureWork-in-progress pop-up · 2026-10-27
- A pop-up on first load says the site and game are a work in progress with placeholders and incomplete features. It shows once per visit; the red bar stays.
0.1.6-preOptimizationCache busting · 2026-10-27
- Stylesheet and script links carry a version, so browsers load new files straight after a deploy instead of showing an old copy for up to 10 minutes.
0.1.5-prePolishTighter spacing · 2026-10-27
- Section padding cut from 120 px to 48-80 px top and bottom, which removes the large empty bands between sections.
0.1.4-preContentPlain hero text · 2026-10-27
- Hero tagline now describes the game: a co-op offroad trucking game for up to eight players.
0.1.3-preFeatureWork-in-progress notice · 2026-10-27
- Red notice at the top: work in progress, placeholders and incomplete features. Nav link "The game" renamed "About".
0.1.2-preContentOperators and living regions · 2026-10-27
- "A team you can count on": eight operator classes with icons drawn in code (no generated art) and one-line roles.
- Frontline is a warzone: falling shells, mud thrown high, smoke, passing tracers. Timber country has wind and swaying trees. The northern wild has near-horizontal storm rain. The desert has an intense sun. The deep cold is now the arctic, with snow, aurora and an icy road.
0.1.1-prePolishSimpler · 2026-10-27
- Removed the cold-start key and the strain line. Replaced "You feel the load" with a short description of the game ("What is AFTERHAUL?").
- Kept the region cards with their weather, the road, and the dashboard bar.
0.1.0-preOverhaulScrolling is driving · 2026-10-27
- Full overhaul. A fixed instrument cluster follows you down the page: odometer (km 0 to 1,000), rev needle and engine state.
- Hero: perspective road that moves with your scroll, four code-drawn ridges with parallax, dust, headlights and engine shake after the cold start. Heat haze on the wordmark while the engine runs.
- "The feel" has a live strain trace that reacts to scroll speed. "The crew" lights eight seats in sequence. "The land" has six regions, each with its own code-drawn weather (ash, sawdust, rain, embers, dust, snow).
- Respects reduced motion (everything holds still). No audio, no generated art, no libraries.
0.0.6-preToolsFence breaks on contact · 2026-10-27
- The fence now breaks the moment the truck's nose touches it ("Break on contact", with a Truck nose setting), not when the truck's centre arrives. Pieces start moving at once.
- New Push setting (how much of the truck's speed pieces take) and a wider, stronger default burst.
0.0.5-preToolsScene editor, camera fixes · 2026-10-27
- Camera bug fixed: while time is frozen, the camera you move stays where you put it. Sway and push-in are applied only while drawing and never move the real camera (push-in is also limited so it cannot reach the aimed object).
- Pan, Tilt and Roll for the shot camera (keyed with K). They work with Look at. With Free aim, use the rotate gizmo.
- Wheels turn at half speed while frozen (6 m/s by default).
0.0.4-preToolsScene editor, second pass · 2026-10-27
- Camera preview: the shot camera's view in a corner of the free view (click it to look through the camera).
- Hill: long ridge with rolling bumps and a smoother lane for the road. Fence follows the slope. Truck follows the ground (height, pitch, roll) until a set time, then flies on its keys.
- Road and forest: a road drawn along the truck path, and trees and rocks scattered by seed, kept clear of the whole route.
- Freeze: pieces keep spinning and drifting very slowly, and the wheels keep turning, while time is frozen.
- New demo scene button. The old demo scene is replaced (saved scenes from version 1 are not loaded).
0.0.3-preToolsScene editor · 2026-10-27
- Scene editor (
tools/scene-editor/, not deployed): spawn objects, move and rotate with gizmos, shot camera with FOV and look-at, keyframe timeline, a baked fence break, and a freeze with slow-down. Saves a scene JSON. Stand-in truck; load the real GLB with Add GLB. - Public page unchanged.
0.0.2-preFoundationUnlisted · 2026-10-25
- Repository is public; site deploys on push, stays unlisted (
noindex,robots.txt).
0.0.1-preFoundationCold start · 2026-10-25
- First skeleton: one page in four legs of a haul, marked like a route (km 0 to km 1,000): the feel, the crew, the land, and where the project is.
- Cold start: press the key, the glow plug heats, the engine cranks and the page settles into an idle shake. Press again to shut it down. With reduced motion the lamp works and the shake is skipped.
- Look: the Hound Protocol type family with AFTERHAUL's own ground: soot, road dust, frost and the amber of a glow-plug lamp.
- Offline:
noindex, no deploy until launch. Marketing-level content only.
Code: AH-CL-002 · Latest: 0.0.57-pre · Owner: Design team · For: players
Game changelog
Latest change:
Selected changes to the game design. The full working log is private.
6 versions
0.0.57-preSystems
- Clothing now has rules in the design: ten slots, layered warmth and weather protection with a ceiling, and skin hidden under clothes.
- Character creation has rules for looks, colours and names.
- Trucks gain mount points for parts, with limits on weight, one-per-truck parts and parts that cannot share a truck.
0.0.53-preDocumentation
- The website now shows the player guide.
- The player guide welcome page tells the war premise.
0.0.52-preContent
- The Heavy Cargo Operator is now the Heavy Ordnance Operator.
0.0.51-preWorld
- Drennmark stays the fifth region. The campaign ends at its front line. The other regions arrive as later updates.
0.0.50-preStoryStory premise · 2026-10-27
- The setting is a country in conflict, and your crew works for its national recovery task force.
- The campaign and its side quests are written into the design.
0.0.49-preFeature
- The main menu opens with an intro sequence: a fence smash, a freeze, a launch, a roll and a freeze.
Community
Where players will meet and follow the game.
DiscordOpens for access once the game has a prototype.
InstagramLink coming soon.
YouTubeLink coming soon.
Press
Writing about AFTERHAUL, or want to talk to the team? Get in touch.