Hey hey, is this thing on? We here at Gears of Eden are happy to announce… the Alpha 2.6 Release! This is the result of a lot of hard work during a troubling time for a lot of people, ourselves included. A major goal for us in 2020 was going to include a Kickstarter campaign in March, but we didn’t feel right asking people for money when the world was undergoing so much change. Instead, we decided to dive back into development and start tackling some of the updates for Gears that were meant to be stretch-goals.

With alpha 2.6, you are seeing the first of such updates. In this release, we’ve added enemy units and combat mechanics to the game for the first time ever! You can fight energy-thirsty space crabs (actually bio-engineered mutants known as M-Zecksis) to the death! Then collect their carcasses to extract oil, or raid their nests to find hidden stashes of pure diamonds! Alpha 2.6 also brings new collectible items, new crafting items, and improved controller support for those of you who prefer playing with a gamepad!

Even better, we are making Alpha 2.6 a free-to-play open release. Future releases will revert to backer-only access, but we felt like this was a good time to give everyone a break and hopefully allow them to have fun in our small little spacebot game. You can see more details in our changelog, and update your client to 2.6 via Gamejolt. Be sure to read the updated Quick Start Tips on our alpha info page for helpful early-game advice!

More Crafting is HERE!

Alpha 2.6 introduces three new materials to the game: M-Zecksis carcasses, diamonds, and oil!

The carcasses are available to collect when you defeat an M-Zecksis soldier – these nasty critters are bio-engineered (by something? someone? somewhere? – find the answers as the story unfolds) to have the ability to survive on pure energy, but they are also sensitive to certain ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum! (Which you can use to your advantage!)

The M-Zecksis also hoard diamonds in their nests! They are persistent little enemies though, so think about upgrading some of your components before venturing off after those riches!

Oil can be found in the environment around areas of industrial remnants, or crafted from those disgusting M-Zecksis carcasses you picked up! All of these new materials are used in current crafting recipes at the Sinter Forge, and will also be used in some new craftable tools coming in 2.7!

Improved Gamepad Support!

In Alpha 2.6, we’ve improved game-pad controller support. Previously, you were able to control your character with a game-pad, but you couldn’t interact with the in-game inventory and crafting menus, or the system menus. All menus systems now work, although you’ll still need to use your keyboard for text input fields. Look for additional controller support in future updates!