GearHead Caramel v0.942: Better, Faster, Stronger, Less Crashy

Happy Scifi Sunday! I’ve just uploaded version 0.942 of GearHead Caramel. You can get it from all the usual places- Steam, itch.io, and GitHub.

This is another mostly-bugfix release. A very kind player submitted a whole lot of bug reports at once, and I’ve been working through them in order of severity. I think I’ve fixed all the crashing and game-breaking bugs. Also, you know how movement slows down in exploration mode when you’re on a mecha mission? That’s been fixed. Mecha movement is now just as fast as character movement. So that’s good.

One of the best things you can do to support small indie game devs is to send us bug reports and feedback. I often get emails that apologize for bringing up problems, but you know what? Don’t worry about it. Getting feedback like this lets us know that someone is enjoying the game and cares enough to help out instead of just tossing the game aside and moving on to the next shiny thing. It makes all the effort of making games (and take it from me, game dev is not easy) worthwhile. So thank you to everyone who has ever submitted a bug report or a feature request. I’m doing the best I can as a solo dev but your support and feedback make things so much easier.

Space-Y: Colonize Mars for Someone Else’s Fun and Profit

The tutorial screen for Space-Y. It is full of lies.

Last weekend my son and I made a short game using the Godot Engine. It is a short Lunar Lander style game with a few sadistic twists. I did the programming, my son did the sadism. Anyhow, you can play it online at itch.io, or pay $8 (or less) to download the verified blue check offline version. Any apparent references to current events are entirely intentional. It says “Parody” right there on the title screen.

GearHead Caramel v0.941: Like tears in the rain, time to eject.

Happy Techno Thursday! I’ve just uploaded version 0.941 of GearHead Caramel. You can get it from all the usual places- Steam, itch.io, and GitHub. The big change this time around is that enemy pilots will once again eject when their mecha becomes too damaged… or if they’re intimidated by your lance. There are also a lot of bug fixes and stability improvements. Many thanks to everyone who reported the issues and helped me to track them down!

As usual, try it out and let me know what you think.

Alcad vs DeadZone Drifter, Part 4

Alcad continues her adventure across the dead zone. Can she overcome the Pierced Freakz? Only one way to find out.

GearHead Caramel v0.932: The Sound of Mecha

Happy Mecha Wednesday! I’ve just uploaded version 0.932 of GearHead Caramel. You can get it from all the usual places- Steam, itch.io, and GitHub. The big change this time around is the addition of sound effects. I admit it- I’m one of those weirdos who usually plays games with the sound off. This has been one of the most requested features, and while there’s still a lot of work to do (movement is still silent; I may be changing some of the fx), it is here.

The other big thing is the addition of some new accessibility helpers. There’s an option to replace the colored bars in the pilot info block with numbers. Also, the configuration editor has been upgraded so that there are more things you can configure without editing the config file manually. Expect to see in-game keymap editing in the near future.

As usual, try it out and let me know what you think.

GearHead Caramel v0.931: Raid on Pirate’s Point

Today is… Technological Thursday, I guess? I’ve just made a new release of GearHead Caramel. Version 0.931 adds a brand new adventure: Raid on Pirate’s Point. The Solar Navy has decided to remove the Aegis Consulate from Pirate’s Point… and if they can get rid of the pirates at the same time, so much the better. You will join one of the factions involved in a battle for resources and territory. Strategic planning will be key to winning the war.

Please note that although this adventure is fully completeable, it may have bugs and does not have all the content it’s eventually going to have… hence the big red “Early Access” stamp on the adventure card. Still, I’ve had a lot of fun playing it myself, and player feedback can help me to make it even better. So if you encounter any problems or have ideas for things you’d like to see then please let me know.

You can get v0.931 from all the usual places- Steam, itch.io, Patreon, and GitHub.

Alcad vs DeadZone Drifter, Part Two

Alcad continues her adventure in DeadZone Drifter, and actually succeeds at two things in a row! Could her luck be changing for the better?

GearHead Caramel v0.930: So Many Mecha Under The Hood

Wonderful Mecha Wednesday to you all! Today’s update looks minor, but again, there’s been a whole lot of work done that isn’t entirely visible yet. You can get v0.930 from all the usual places- Steam, itch.io, Patreon, and GitHub.

The most visible change in v0.930 is the addition of biography and badges tabs to the character display. Ever wonder what your merit badges do? Now you can find out.

I’ve been working on a new scenario, “Raid on Pirate’s Point”. It’s going to revisit some locations and characters from GH1. It is also going to introduce a new type of adventure to the GearHead series. It’s also planned to be the first adventure that I create entirely using the scenario editor. But it’s not finished. And I realized this morning that trying to finish it today would be, as we say in Newfoundland, about as stunned as me arse.

Hopefully, “Raid on Pirate’s Point” will be finished by next week. Thanks for your continued support. As usual, try it out and let me know what you think.

Alcad vs DeadZone Drifter, Part One

After completing Winter Mocha, Alcad is back to take on Deadzone Drifter. I really like how so far, absolutely nothing has gone right for this character. But she’s still a lot of fun to play.

GearHead Caramel v0.928: More Character Development!

Happy Mecha Wednesday! I realize that it used to be Mecha Monday, but I’m going to try releasing on Wednesday as a change for a while. Today’s update is fairly minor but adds a lot of useful stuff under the hood. You can get it from all the usual places- Steam, itch.io, Patreon, and GitHub.

Version 0.928 adds a new intro scenario for DeadZone Drifter and some new enemy character development plots. On the inside, there are some bugfixes, music caching, and generalized world maps. I’m hoping to release some new scenarios in the near future and these changes lay the infrastructure for that.

As usual, try it out and let me know what you think. And if you’re playing on Steam, please consider leaving a positive review!