Hello. Here's a tiny update for the game. The biggest thing happening today is that the Demo, which has been available on itch.io, is now on Steam.

Changes to the main game are:

- New visuals for the mission select screen
- Fixed a bug where exiting out of the weapon select caused a glitch that made selected weapons not show up in the menu

In other news. The expansion has a release date. Gearbits: Raider expedition will release on 10.10. Look forward to it!

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since my last post, so I’m here with an update.

Work on the expansion campaign is going well. The first playtesters have played it. The response was positive and I got a lot of useful feedback.

So far I have:

• 10 new story missions.
  
• 6 new maps.
  
• Two new playable units.

I’m still gonna be working to polish the new content and setup the new maps for the wave battle mode. Most of the work is already done, but I don’t have a release date yet. Maybe it will be on the one year anniversary of the games release? Maybe earlier? Either way, I do know for sure that it will be in 2024.

To keep updated, wishlist the expansion on Steam if you haven’t already. And tell all your friends to wishlist it too while you’re at it!
https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2989880/Gearbits_Raider_expedition/

Hello everyone. It’s been a while since the last update. I haven’t posted much, but I’ve been working on new content. I’m now ready to announce the DLC expansion campaign for Gearbits, Gearbits: Raider expedition.

The expansion campaign will be paid DLC and it will add a new story campaign with new maps and playable units. The expansion will take place after the end of the main game and its story will follow a new cast of characters across 10 new story missions.

I’m hoping to release the expansion later this year. So far, I have four new missions, two playable units and four new maps done. The expansion campaign will have ten missions. So there’s still some work to be done. But I've already set up the Steam page, so you can add the DLC to your wishlist to keep updated.

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2989880/Gearbits_Raider_expedition


Here’s the description from the store page:

Gearbits: Raider expedition is an expansion campaign for Gearbits. The campaign is a side-story, taking place after the end of Gearbits. The expansion features new missions and maps. A new cast of characters and new playable units.

The giant insects menacing Ourant have been exterminated and peace has returned to the planet. With no more bugs to fear, raiders and salvagers are racing to the remote regions of the planet to reclaim any scrap and valuables left behind when the bugs attacked. A small crew of salvagers makes an usual discovery, when they find the sentient navigational computer of a crashed spaceship. The computer awakens and asks the crew for help in locating valuable parts of the crashed ship. Aided by the computer, the crew embarks on a quest that takes them to the remote regions of the planet, where they must fight a group of suspiciously well armed mercenaries and the mysteriously re-emerging giant insects.

10 new story missions

The expansion features 10 new story missions. Featuring new scenarios and a new cast of characters.

New playable units

The expansion adds new robots to pilot. Agile but unwieldy, the new units are designed to give veteran players a new experience.

New maps

The campaign takes place across new maps unique to the expansion. The new maps are playable in the wave battle mode as well.

Changes:

• "How to play" section now displays some hints.
  
• "Easy mode" becomes available if the mission is failed twice in a row.

I made these changes after noticing that some players really struggled with the game. The hints give tips on things that some players might have overlooked. Easy mode doubles the players HP and damage output on equipped weapons. It's optional and the only punishment for using it, is that you can't get the "Mass production miracle" achievement when on easy mode.

Hello everyone. The spin-off game, Gearbits: Gear Angels is now available. The game is free to play on either Steam or itch.io. Please give it a try! It’s a short and sweet experience. By clearing the game, you unlock new characters to play as in Gearbits.

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2804580/

https://quackpond-games.itch.io/gear-angels

But if you have no interest in the new game, I’ve still got something for you. There’s a new update today! The update adds a new map for the wave battle mode. And three new playable characters, which are unlocked by transferring a save file from Gearbits: Gear Angels.
Today is also the start of the “Dinos vs. Robots Fest“. Gearbits will be participating and the game will be 10% off for the duration of the sale.

Here’s a list of changes:

• A new map is available.
  
• Three new characters.
  
• The elevator containers now deal 50% less damage.
  
• Back button can now be used in the wave battle parameters menu.

Hello everyone. We're about a week away from the release of Gearbits: Gear Angels and the next update, which adds three new playable characters and a new map for the wave battle mode.

For the new map, I was going for a more futuristic aesthetic than the base game. I've also taken a new direction with the map geometry. It's got a variety of large open areas and smaller corridors. I've also tried to add some variety, by having half the map be a sleak futuristic city, with the other half taking a more rugged, industrial look.
You'll get to try it out for yourself on the 26th, when the update launches, together with the free spin-off game.
https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2804580/

While working on the update, I've made some changes and fixes to the game.

• Changed UI navigation. Cancelling out of some menus, can now be done with the east controller button, ESC or backspace.
  
• Fixed Geometry in the outpost map. Previously, the collision for the river was triggered on dry land, in some parts of the map.
  
• The shotcannon and shotgun pod are now hitscan weapons.
  
• Made changes to dialogue and punctuation.
  
• Fixed mission 12 health bars scaling incorrecly, on some resolutions.
  
• All lounge conversations are now available, after beating the final mission.

Hello everyone! This is the new project I’ve been working on, Gearbits: Gear angels!

The game is a 2D side-scrolling shoot ‘em up, where you collect items to keep up your weapon power and shields. With no power, the weapons wont help you and the shield is useless. You need to avoid the enemy and collect energy to counterattack. At the highest level, your shield will block any attack and the weapons will pierce enemies!

Here’s the big feature, Gearbits integration! This game features interconnectivity with Gearbits. By transferring your save file, you can play as the Gear angels in Gearbits. All three angels share the same inbuilt weapon. Just like in their own game, they can collect powerups from defeated enemies to increase the rifle charge. An overcharged volley will wipe out a swarm of bugs in a flash.

So this is the thing I’ve been working on. It stared as a quick prototype, where I just wanted to make some effect animations and I’ve been expanding it since. The game will release for free on Steam and itch.io 26.2.2024. I’m hoping that it will bring some new people to Gearbits and entertain the current players.

You might have noticed, that I’ve been saying I’ll add new “characters” to Gearbits. Not “Units” or “GBs”. I was struggling to come up with a theme for my new space shooter. And then one day, I was showing Gearbits to someone and they said something along the lines of “Anime fans don’t care about robots any more, they only care about waifus.” And that’s when I decided to make it about mecha waifus. I’m hoping that this will snare some waifu fans and teach them to appreciate some proper robot anime. I also though that the current playerbase might like it, since Bubblegum crisis and Dirty pair are no doubt familiar to most mecha and retro anime appreciators. Due to prior confusion, I feel that I should clarify, I’m using the word “waifu” to refer to generic anime girls. Currently, I DO NOT have plans to develop a dating sim. Thank you for your interest, but that’s not in the cards at the moment. An expansion campaign for Gearbits is still first in line.

The game will release for free, but you can already wishlist it on Steam.
https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2804580/Gearbits_Gear_Angels

Let me know what you think. I read the community forums but if you'd like to join the discord, here's a link https://discord.gg/8DnYx2zB​

Hello everyone. I’ve got one last update for you before the end of the year. The ”Gearbits holiday special” update adds one new mission and a new map for the wave battle mode. It’s just one mission, but it has a special gimmick. The mission has four different endings. Each ending favours a different playstyle, so you can play through the mission multiple times to discover all the endings. You can access the new mission form the “extra missions” menu. You’ll find the mission there, if you’ve progressed far enough in the story.

I’ve also added some small changes and fixes. The resolution settings now have options for 4k resolutions. At least in theory. I don’t have a 4k monitor, so I don’t know if they work. Another thing I noticed, is if you use the Steam input mapping, the pause menu doesn't work on a controller. So consider disabling Steam input, unless you really need to use it.

The next update is going fine. I put it on the side, to focus on getting this update done first, but now I’m ready to continue working on it. But first, I want to take some days off for Christmas. I hope that you all have the chance to do the same.

Hello everyone. It’s been a while since I posted the last update. I’ve been very busy with other responsibilities and working on Gearbits hasn’t really fit into my schedule. Even so, I’ve been making progress on the next update.

Here’s the short version of what’s coming:

There’s going to be a small update before the end of the year. And then early next year, there’s going to be another update that launches with a free spin-off game. Both of these updates will be non canonical and feature some additions I thought might be a bit too silly for the base game. For a more serious update. I’ve begun planning out an expansion story campaign.

The first update will add a new map for the wave battle mode and a new story mission. The second update, coming next year, will add three new characters to play as. It will launch with a free spin-off game starring the three characters. The spin-off will be a "shmup" game that I started as a quick prototype a while ago. I'll fix it up to be proper little game and release it to help promote Gearbits. The update is in a pretty good state. I could have it out before the end of the year, but if I do that, I’ll have to rush the release. So I’d much rather delay it to next year and release it in a more polished state.

Both of these updates are progressing well and they will release at some point. (Hopefully on schedule.) The expansion campaign is still uncertain. I haven’t begun to properly work on it yet so I don’t want to make any promises about it. But it’s something I’d really like to make, so I’ll try my best to find a chance for it.

So that’s the update. Look forward to the new map and I hope that you’ll stick around to see the new updates coming next year.