A new version of GearHead2, the best of science fiction roguelikes out there, has been released. The author says the game is still far from complete, although it is completely playable and enjoyable.
For those who don’t know (or are too young to remember), GearHead2 is a science fiction roguelike CRPG featuring random story generation and big stompy robots. The game is far from complete, but has finally reached the stage where I’m willing to call it playable. All of the major systems are in place and working.
Read the official release announcement.
I am glad to see the game keeps evolving and is still in development. You gotta give it a look if you haven’t!
Learn more about the GearHead project via the forums, wiki and website
GearHead 2 is also open source! if interested on contributing check it out at sourceforge
Temple of The Roguelike 
Uh, GearHead never was, and never will be a roguelike. Its a symbolic graphics CRPG.
LikeLike
Yup, Karry’s right, another good point is that such games are most likely to get into a development stupor somewhere around the beta stages, I don’t think we gonna see this one being ever finished
LikeLike
Yeah, exactly what Syhn says, that why JHewitt never finished GH1. Now wait a minute…
LikeLike
ALL roguelikes are symbolic graphics CRPGs 😛
LikeLike
“ALL roguelikes are symbolic graphics CRPGs :P”
Not so. There are roguelikes, and there are CRPGs. A game can be one, the other, or sometimes both. It doesnt have to always be mutually inclusive or mutually exclusive.
LikeLike
I just performed the roguelike evaluation based on the roguebasin roguelike definition, (http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=What_a_roguelike_is) with the following results:
User interface
* ASCII character display: Check
* Narrated action: Check
* Front-loaded commands: Check
* Keyboard based interaction: Check
Game world
* Random world generation: Check
* Spatial Consistency: Check
* Little storyline: Check
* World interaction: Check
* Setting: Check
Gameplay
* Permadeath: Failed
* Freedom: Check
* Turn-based: Check
* Dungeon hack: Check
* Tactical single character play: Check
🙂
LikeLike
I enjoyed GH1, but I think I’ll be waiting on a more robust release before I crack open another one of his games. I enjoyed many things about the original, but it the end I just tired of zooming around and doing random mission after random mission. In fact, the whole mission based aspect of it didn’t really appeal to me. Still, an awesome premise and a capable designer behind it. I hope it gets finished.
And yes, it’s a damn roguelike.
LikeLike
Yah, interesting games, lots in them..I just don’t like the mission structure very much..and moreso in GH2, I can’t even figure out where it is I’m supposed to go for most missions. Not good.
LikeLike
i think he’s definitely moving in an interesting direction with story generation.. so refreshing in comparison to the hordes of linear games.
LikeLike
…and how is this not a roguelike?
LikeLike
Nope, its not a damn roguelike.
LikeLike
Wow, eloquent reasoning there Karry.
LikeLike
I suppose it doesn’t have un-id items, and not to much dungeons just running around. I still call it a roguelike.
LikeLike