GRINDING AWAY: Another Phantom Gear Update
about 1 year ago – Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 12:10:54 PM

Hey Gearheads,

We're back with another update! It's been a long road, and our devs are still chugging away to make sure we give you the best player experience possible, so let's break down what we've gotten done since we last checked in: 

Making A Splash

That's right; the brand-new splash screen is done! We're pretty proud of how it came out,  so we  put together some progress pictures- join us on the journey from concept to completion:

Hero Hard, But Make It Easy

After play testing the game and the comments of several backers, we realized that not everyone wants to hero hard all the time. So we made an easy mode! 

In this mode, you will start the game with 4 HP, and we've adjusted how you will save your progress on a level. Instead of requiring you to pass through checkpoints, you will start at the beginning of the current room if you die in easy mode.  

New Power Up, Who's Dis?

No one likes to get knocked down, so we want to give you a hand getting back up. We've added a shield power-up! Pick one up to gain an extra hit point that counter-acts the knockback reaction from an attack.

Does This Look A Little Crooked?

Thanks to some eagle-eyed tester, we discovered that while shooting upwards, the shot would be off-center making aiming a little tricky. This was due to a discrepancy in the animation that showed the hand slightly crooked - we've whipped up a brand new CENTERED animation which should make aiming easier.

Melee'dee

We implemented the last weapon of the game: the melee attack! No repertoire is complete without a good old-fashioned beat down. Your enemies won't know what hit them when you pack this power punch. 

Drumroll Please...

Last but certainly not least, THE BRAND NEW DEMO IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD!   The team is hard at work to finish the game as soon as possible! Stay tuned for our next update!

Gearheads, Lend Me Your Ears!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 29, 2022 at 03:19:47 AM

These Tunes Are Out Of This World!

It's CYBER MONDAY and deals are cruising quickly out of our atmosphere! there is only one hour left of Mega Cat Studios 20% off the entire store offer, but never fear: we still have plenty more savings!

From free gifts* to free shipping*, daily deals will continue until December 6th! But you know what you really need to get your paws on this holiday season? 

You need a little more chiptunes in your life! Prep your shelves for your Phantom Gear OST and get your collection started on the right foot; the cats have dropped a new album: "Chiptunes To Meow To"!

The perfect compliment to your new library, this compilation features tracks from fan-favorite games like Old Towers to unreleased titles like Lethal Wedding!

Mastered by Liquor Donuts with original art by Sir Trunce,  this 140g/ 2-step 12" LP  will take your playlist to the next level.  Limited quantities are available,  but Mega Cat Insiders will have first dibs on the 180 run. Get your copy now!

-----------------------------------------

Phantom Gear Mini Update:

Cyber Monday aside: we're expecting to come out with a new update shortly and a new demo for folks to play before Christmas! Orders will be going out ASAP, but in the meantime keep that console feed with an exclusive Phantom Gear backer-only discount code that keeps the 20% off going for a full extra 24 hours! Use " GEARHEADS22" at checkout, and gear up for game time!  :D

Gearheads- Lend me your ears....
over 1 year ago – Thu, Nov 17, 2022 at 04:08:27 AM

And THANK YOU For Your Patience!

When we launched our campaign to create Phantom Gear,  we could not imagine the hype and support we'd receive from all of you. Since our last update,  we've had a lot happen, and we've been burning the candle on both ends to bring you guys the fantastic player experience and the top-quality game we envisioned. 

Physical prizes had arrived at the office, posters and comics were printed, and all that was left was the final ROM, many months ago now.

But then... life happens. 2022 has been one heck of a year, and between the pandemic and life itself, the lead developer for Bit Rules Games, and Phantom Gear, has had a number of health issues that have prevented him from finishing the last leg of bug fixes, boss balancing and polish.

Mikhail from Mega Cat has been diligently lending a hand anywhere possible, and Agustin has been pushing through whenever he possibly can.

As you guys know, when we last left off, the team was tackling the level bosses. The skeletal animation issues are a formidable foe,  and we still faced working with a custom assets editor tool to add the functionality of exporting the binary data for big bosses. It turns out the editor was adding extra bytes of incorrect information, leading the engine to instantiate some object with the wrong date, and well.....

...breaking the game randomly. After many sleepless nights, surgery, and a new crop of grey hair - we finally wrangled that beast and got back on track. 

The Good News

The good news is that despite the challenges, we're truly at the end of development. The final cut scenes are optimized and integrated. The final art, animation, and music updates have come together amazingly. The final nooks and crannies are completed, down to the credits and backers menu:

We really want to thank you guys for your patience and continued support. We are still aiming for the 2022 Holiday season and will give you a deeper look into the prologue scene next update!

As soon as we have the final ROM in hand, we will be off to the races with assembly of the cartridges and fulfilling the orders. Phantom Gear is PACKED with a love for retro, and we cannot wait for you all to see what you've helped create.

Update Me Captain!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jul 20, 2022 at 01:59:06 PM

Gear Up For Another Update

Hey Gearheads, it has been a while since our last update, but we've been hard at work and I wanted to let you guys in on all the progress we are making! 

Last we left off, we talked about how we were battling some skeletal animation issues. With some help from our cat friends,  those fixes are underway. We've also been working on an in-game tutorial! But enough of what's in the works; let's talk about what we've done.

Coming Soon To A TV Near You

Check out the intro; ain't she a beaut? We've been primping and polishing it to a shine, and we are now ready to show you what it looks like on a TV! 

Brand New Level, Brand New Bike Race

Knowing that our backers are still eagerly awaiting the final rom to be completed, we decided to pepper in some new content to thank you for patiently waiting! 

First up is the cave bike race! We won't spoil which level this appears on, but you'll surely have a blast taking this challenge on.

Of course, once we started, we couldn't resist putting together a whole new shoot 'em up level! Using the code from the bike race as the basis, this new aerial fight will take your experience to new heights! 

 There's plenty more in store, and we're working on bringing you more frequent updates to keep you in the loop, so stay tuned!

Gearheads: An Update Awaits!
about 2 years ago – Mon, Apr 11, 2022 at 03:22:28 AM

Craving an Update?

We know how frustrating it can be to have games delayed, and the Bit Rules team is giving it their best! Last week, one of the cat assembly warlocks joined the battle to assist in finalizing the cut scenes, which are all that remain! We cannot wait for you all to enjoy the world that we've created together and that you've patiently supported and waited for. Phantom Gear has been under development for over four years.

By themselves, the tools to create Phantom Gear have consumed an incredible amount of additional development time. This isn't an arcade experience, a puzzle, or a casual game. Phantom Gear was created to stand alongside commercial Mega Drive releases and celebrate what the console is capable of and known for. It's a very personal project for the team, and we've continued to focus on quality first for Phantom Gear to be the best it can be.

Don't Lose Your Head

One of the bugs we've recently vanquished was equally annoying and hilarious. Every once in a while, when a minion died, their head would appear to float randomly through the screen. We lovingly nicknamed it " The Floating Head Bug." Disconcerting but harmless. So how did this happen?

The problem stemmed from a hardware limitation workaround. When you have 20 sprites on the same line, the console stops rendering sprites 21 and onwards for that line. Based on that information, when a character was outside of the render area, its sprites were moved to the coordinate 0,0 to avoid triggering the limit. 

Things went wrong when the minion ran its animation and tried to update the sprite's position. Due to the workaround, coordinates were off for the new position calculations, leading to the head appearing in weird places on the screen.

The difficult part was finding the root of the bug. Once we identified the issue, it was an easy fix! We just ignore sprites at the 0,0 coordinate when updating character positions. Now that we've managed to rectify this issue, minion Carl will be keeping his wits (and head) about him in the final product. It might be a while before the team stops making head puns.

Checkpoint Concept Art

With our release date looming in the near future, it's good to look back and see where we started. We have included some concept art for your viewing pleasure in the spirit of nostalgia! 

That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned for more updates.