- Gearbits is coming to the Switch on the 25th - 16 September 2025
Hello. I've got an update on the upcoming switch port. It's releasing soon. Very soon! The Switch version will be available on the 25th of September. Mark your calendars. The Switch version contains the main game, as well as the Raider expedition expansion. There's also a Switch exclusive Japanese localization. I've also got one new feature for the current Steam version. A progress tracker for the "Mass production miracle" Achievement can now be found in the "statistics" screen in the base exchange. It's a pretty small feature, considering that it'll be only used by the achievement hunter sickos, but it has been a requested feature for a while now. So I figured that I'd finally add it in.
- Patch 10.4. - 10 April 2025
Added the option for automatic look sensitivity. Improved projectile collision detection. Added the option to change the base appearance. The automatic look sensitivity is something I experimented with for the upcoming switch port. Basically, the aim sensitivity gets lower, when a valid target is near the crosshair. You can set the sensitivity with a slider going from 10% to 100%. With 100% being no change to sensitivity, even when a target is in range. At 50% the sensitivity is halved when a target in range and at 10% the sensitivity is one tenth of the usual value. The button to change the base appearance appears in the base exchange menu, after finishing the final mission.
- Patch 16.3. - 16 March 2025
Fixed melee kills not counting towards the score total on some units. Fixed inconsistent splash damage on explosive weapons.
- Switching Gears - 23 February 2025
Hello everyone. I haven’t posted any updates in a while. Mostly because, I haven’t had much new Gearbits stuff to show. I’ve moved on to new projects and I’m hoping to share those soon. Even so, I haven’t managed to completely “break free” from Gearbits. I’ve revisited the game and I’ve added some new control options. I also have a big announcement to make. Gearbits is coming to the Nintendo Switch! Gearbits is getting a switch port by Fuze technologies. This has been in the works for a few months already. But now we’re ready to announce it publicly. We’re looking to release the switch version in the first half of 2025. Fuze is aiming to port the game as faithfully as possible, but they will be making small changes, to make it play well with the Switch hardware and form factor. They’ll be posting about what they’ve added to the game on their own social media channels, so go and follow t…
- Gearbits: Raider expedition is now available! - 10 October 2024
Hello everyone. Gearbits: raider expedition launches today. The raider expedition is a DLC expansion campaign, that adds new story content to Gearbits. The expansion adds ten new story missions, which take place after the main game, with a new cast of characters. The expansion adds six new maps, which are available in the wave battle mode as well. The expansion also adds new playable units. You can get the expansion right now on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2989880 If you aren’t buying the expansion, there’s still some new stuff for you. There is a new patch that adds features to the base game, owning the DLC is not necessary for these. There’s a new playable unit. The Cygnys-R type. You can find it, by pressing the toggle list button in the unit selection screen. The option to change your livery has been added. If the chosen unit has optional colourings, you can change the…
- 1.1.0 patch - 29 August 2024
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!
- Gearbits: Raider expedition is coming soon! - 19 July 2024
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://store.steampowered.com/app/2989880/Gearbits_Raider_expedition/
- There's gonna be more Gearbits - 17 May 2024
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://store.steampowered.com/app/2989880/Gearbits_Raider_expedition Here’s the description from the store page: Gearb…
- 1.0.9 patch - 29 March 2024
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.
- Gearbits: Gear Angels is available now. - 26 February 2024
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://store.steampowered.com/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 n…
- 1.0.7 patch and a look at the next update - 18 February 2024
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://store.steampowered.com/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 i…
- Gearbits: Gear Angels - 1 February 2024
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…
- The Gearbits holiday special - 24 December 2023
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 n…
- December progress report - 6 December 2023
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…
- Gearbits Postmortem - 13 November 2023
It’s been a little over a month since Gearbits launched. And I'm very happy to say that the reception from players has been positive. A small but passionate group of players seems to have found the game. And luckily for me, the release of Armored core 6 brought some new interest towards mecha games. So the amount of players who will discover Gearbits will likely keep increasing. But I feel like I should clear up, that Gearbits was not an attempt to cash in on the success of Armored core. Gearbits was in development before the first (reliable) rumors of a new Armored core even appeared. It’s undeniable that older Armored core games had and influence on Gearbits but they weren’t the only influence. Some have correctly fingered the Earth defense force series as an inspiration. But there is one more game that only few have managed to point out. Ace combat! There isn’t and obvious overlap, s…
- 1.0.5 patch - 28 October 2023
vsync is no longer just a toggle. It now has options for "60 FPS" (Previously called "ON") "30 FPS" and "OFF" Fixed a bug where some options were reset if the main menu was loaded a second time and the game was saved after. Adding the option to turn vsync off caused some problems. Mostly because anyone who had a save file made before v1.0.4 had it turned OFF automatically when loading the new patch. Now the option turns red to warn that turning vsync off is not recommended. I also added the option to limit the FPS to 30. But I don't know why anyone would want to do that. Maybe you can limit the FPS at 30 and turn the resolution down for an authentic retro experience? Also, very important! I've fixed the above mentioned bug with the save system, but any changes involving the save system have a chance to super break the game. I've learned from the previous breakages and tested the game wi…
- 1.0.4 patch - 25 October 2023
I made some requested changes. Added the option to toggle Vsync. The volume of UI sound effects can now be adjusted. Update: if you have a save file made before the patch was uploaded, Vsync is toggled OFF by default. If you're experiencing problems, try setting Vsync ON and saving the game.
- 1.0.3 patch - 21 October 2023
I uploaded a small patch. Here's whats new for version 1.0.3. Enemy respawns in mission 17 now have a three second delay. Bugs, enemy drones and resupply drones now rotate to match the terrain. A lot of people have voiced their criticism of the respawn rate in mission 17. It's clear that a lot of people find the mission frustrating and I don't want that, so I'm making this change. My original intention was that the player avoids fighting and focuses on trying to complete the objective as fast as they can. The problem is, the mission briefing does not tell you to do that. So the only way to figure it out is to fail until you do. This change should give a fighting chance to those whose newtype senses haven't developed yet. The bug/drone rotation is a cosmetic change and doesn't affect anything else. (I hope. If it does that would mean I broke something) The code for the rotation was alrea…
- Wave survival mode is here! - 18 October 2023
Hello everyone. I’ve got a major content update for Gearbits. This update adds a whole new game mode, the wave survival mode. After the game launched, several people suggested adding a wave survival mode. Well, here it is! I hope you’ll like it. Here’s how you play: Start the wave mode by going to "Extra missions" in the main menu. Here you can select a map or change the game parameters. You unlock more maps as you progress through the story. Each new wave spawns in an escalating number of enemies. Defeating enemies earns you credits. You can use credits to buy new weapons and equipment in between waves. Then you use the weapons to defeat enemies in the next wave to earn more credits. This goes on until you clear the set amount of waves. You can also set the wave count to “infinite” to go on until you’re shot down or exit to menu. I’ve also added in three new achievements. I was kinda s…
- Wave mode is coming! - 14 October 2023
Hello everyone. I’ve been working like crazy for the last few days to get the new game mode done. The wave mode has been requested by many players and after thinking about how to implement it, I decided to add it to the game. I’ve been making good progress on the new game mode. It’s already complete! Well, sort of. I’ve uploaded two patches, where I was trying to rush to fix a small problem, and in doing so I ended up causing a much bigger one. I’m not planning on making this a pattern, so this time the update will be tested before it will be made public. You can test the wave mode right now, if you have done two (2) things. You need to buy the game. (Only 9.99 on Steam! Tell all your friends!) and you need to opt into the beta branch on Steam. Don’t worry it’s easy. Here’s how it’s done. - Go to your library. - Right click the game and go into ”Properties”. - In properties go into ”Bet…
