v0.970: Balance and Bugfix Release

I have updated GearHead Caramel with some balance improvements, bug fixes, and scenery for many of the indoor locations that were previously just empty rooms.

In combat, NPCs now weigh their options differently when selecting a target. The hit modifier for being overwhelmed has been changed from 3 to 4. The bug that happens when you press the alt key during combat has been fixed, the field HQ display updates after training, and the altitude property works as intended.

Counters have been added to shops so that it should be easier to pick out the storekeeper when several NPCs are present. Also, many shops now have individual decorations.

That's about all for now. Sorry for the long delay between updates, but such is the life of the solo gamedev. I'm hoping to get another release ready soon.

• Experience display in FieldHQ updated after training
• Increased Overwhelmed modifier from 3 to 4
• Altered NPC combat target selector
• Fixed bug with pressing "Alt" key during combat
• Wall terrain types can be marked to not accept wall decor
• Added extra dialogue to Bear Bastard's Mecha Camp for Criminal PCs
• PlacableThing's altitude property now does something
• Combat can be set to keep going even if there are no active enemies on map
• Room contents with fixed positions will now be placed on map
• Props are immovable even after they are destroyed
• Props will not be placed somewhere they can block movement
• calc_mission_reward can automatically round the reward to a round number
• Former lancemates who show up in buildings where they've been before will not be indicated as current members of the lance.
• A captured territory must be consolidated before another territory can be invaded in WorldMapWar
• PCs dying in a city scene should now be handled properly
• ExpelFaction will now get rid of the town leader if the town leader is of the expelled faction
• Encounter plots will now clean up their own mess
• Random NPC generator reacts appropriately if faction=None passed as parameter
• Challenge plots can create a mission giver if one cannot be found
• Plots have new method to return a list of element candidates, allowing manual selection or sorting
• QuestOutcome involvement function replaced with player_can_fun
• More quest refactoring; verbs now objects, outcomes have elements

v0.962: Fixed Kerberos Fight Bug

Just a quick bugfix release to fix a crash if you fight Kerberos in v0.961.

v0.961: Closer Every Day

This release of GearHead Caramel fixes some bugs and adds two new mission types to Raid on Pirate's Point... I probably should have added cases where the new missions come up in DeadZone Drifter too, but didn't think about it. Oh well. I am now attempting to finish RoPP as quickly as possible while I have the time and my health is in fairly good shape. Yay for solo developer games! Anyhow, enjoy. I am going to try to keep the updates coming at least monthly from now on.

v0.960: (Slaps the Hood) This Baby Can Hold So Many Quests

Finally, a new release of GearHead Caramel! You would not believe how much work went into this release. I mean literally, you won't believe it, because most of the changes should be mostly invisible. If you follow me on social media you'll have heard me talking about the brand new quest system. Well, there's a brand new quest system, and it seems to work well... but it's not being used by any of the adventure modules yet because I need to write more content for it. Also, some longstanding bugs have been fixed, including a rare crash upon starting a campaign. Hopefully you won't notice this change because hopefully you never had the game crash on you when starting a scenario, and now you never will. But it was a lot of work! And this bug goes all the way back to GearHead 1!

The next step for GearHead Caramel will be finishing up Raid on Pirate's Point. I needed the new quest system for this, and I also needed to fix the map generation bug because one of the maps in that scenario crashed the game at a much higher rate than normal. After that, I want to add a few more short-ish scenarios. The new quest generator should make that easier since I won't be reinventing the wheel with each one.

Here's the complete list of changes. As usual, try it out and let me know what you think.

• Fixed bug in DeadZone Drifter stub
• Certain weapons and mecha have been rebalanced; existing instances will be unaffected
• Weapon thrill power now actually based on rank, ha ha ha
• Plots can contain extensions
• Added lore browser to memo system
• Refactored quest system to be entirely QuestLore based
• Okapi puzzle memo now uses same font (medium) as other memos
• Fixed world map encounters bug
• Burst fire weapons have increased thrill power
• Intercept weapons have their thrill power lowered
• Fixed do_partial_restore in MultiMission
• Closing doors via right click will now work
• Mouseover info will list items in tile
• Destroyed items appear red in inventory display
• All hidden models get revealed at the end of combat
• Window close button should now properly close the game
• Scenes and rooms will expand if larger area is needed for contents
• Weapon is_operational bug fixed
• Items on floor should always appear behind characters and mecha
• Lost forager will not be selected for random plots while lost
• Gradient map prep can now place rooms in requested bands

Another Bugfix Release Again

• Fixed sound fx issues on certain platforms
• Game will no longer crash if campaign is ended between completing a mission and leaving mission, which is a situation that never occurs in any of the scenarios but if it ever did happen it would work now
• Fixed keys scrolling map when using a text widget

v0.956: A Minor but Important Update

Another minor release this week to correct some bugs that were discovered last week. Also: two new eyecatch cards by the amazing cartoonist Radou, and some sound + portrait improvements from Anton Risberg. Here's the complete list of changes:

• Added two new eyecatch cards by Radou
• Fixed AutoJoiner/AutoLeaver crash at world creation
• Plots may now modify cutscenes
• Added checkout sound fx to shop
• Some portrait bits tweaked by Anton Risberg
• Fixed crash if no boss monster generated for The Night Stalker plot
• Fixed numbers typo in DZD Wujung entry cutscene
• Fixed bug where campaign would remain in memory after quitting because of pbge.my_state.view

v0.955: One More Thing

v0.955 is another quick bugfix release; some savegames from previous versions got broken due to "deactivate_on_win" but they should work now.

v0.954: Dangerous Dungeons and Display

I've just uploaded GearHead Caramel v0.954. This version makes dungeons slightly more dangerous- personal scale damage has been increased, and certain monsters are more likely to hit your characters. Some new equipment has been added to shops to help you deal with these new threats.

Another change is the addition of a config option to indicate your party members on the map. No more will you enter a building and wondering who's on your team and who isn't. If you don't like it, you can turn off the indicators from the config menu.

Plus, there are a bunch of smaller changes. Multiple bugs have been fixed. Carrying capacity is now shown in the backpack display (for characters- you can load your mecha with gear until it can't even move). There are some new portrait bits. Here's the complete list of changes:

• Carrying capacity now shown for characters in backpack display
• Athletics skill now increases carrying capacity
• Right and left keys can be used to scroll through lancemates in inventory interface
• Increased damage of personal scale attacks
• Rebalanced some monsters to make them more dangerous
• Added config option to indicate lance members on map
• Fixed music volume bug
• Added some new portrait bits
• Fixed crash if PC name has space or special character in it

As usual, try it out and let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone who reported bugs and/or requested features.

v0.953: Hacking Bugfix

v0.953 fixes a bug I missed in v0.952. Ha ha ha. At least I found it quickly.

v0.952: Hacker's Delight

I've just uploaded a new update for GearHead Caramel. The biggest change this time around is the help system- while using the combat/skills interface, pressing F1 will now bring up a helpful panel explaining what the invocation you're looking at actually does. The same text appears in the mouseover tooltip so whether you use keyboard or mouse you will get more information than before.

The Wildcraft "Take Cover" ability has been changed to "Stalk Prey". While in effect, your character gets a bonus to their cover modifier and enemy units you target get a penalty to theirs.

The Computers skill now has Hacking abilities. These abilities can be used whether or not the mecha you're in has an EW system. Your Computers skill must be at least rank 3 before these skills will appear.

I've fixed a lot of bugs. Thank you to everyone who reported problems.

Here's the complete list of changes:

• Added hacking invocations for Computers skill
• Fixed gender customization from character creator
• Added skill icon for "Listen to my Song"
• Changed the Scouting, Wildcraft abilities somewhat
• Added a help key for invocations interface, which defaults to F1
• Speaking to mecha should no longer cause a crash
• Objects in temporary scenes will never be chosen by seek_element
• Locked objects will never be chosen by seek_element
• All NPCs used in combat should now be locked