A little over a year ago, I founded my own company, Metal Beetle Ltd, as a way to organise my various for-profit projects.

Originally, the company was actually going to be called Grid Five, but I abandoned that when it turned out that gridfive.com was already taken. It took me weeks to find another name, but then I hit on this one. As a result, the company now has a charming robotic logo.

Did you know it's interactive? Click on the beetle logo at the top of this page, and it turns itself into a Java applet. Click on its wings, legs, and antennae to interact with it. The logo also contains a painfully hard puzzle, if you like that sort of thing.

So what have I been up to in this past year?

• Released Fractal Fripperies, a website for making T-shirts with beautiful fractals on them.
• Continued work on Space Exploration: Serpens Sector, introducing detailed crew and a combat mode, which I'm currently re-writing for dev 10.
• Contract work implementing custom therapy software for researchers at Imperial College, London.
• Contract work for Etianen.

The next year will bring the release of SE:SS and its first expansion pack, as well as (hopefully) more contracting work. I plan to add a new section to metalbeetle.com soon about what kind of contract work I can do - so if you need some custom software or website of any stripe, get in touch. Even if I can't do it, I will likely know someone who can, and will happily refer you on.

Finally, the beetle has a little present for you: If you enter the word "coleoptera" into the rebate box on Fractal Fripperies (choose a fractal and press "Make T-Shirt" to get there), you get 15% off. This rebate code will remain valid until the end of the month.

While preparing for this post, I noticed that on the shape/size/address page, the preview picture of the fractal on the T-shirt was being rendered off-centre for some reason. I have replaced it with an illustration for simplicity's sake. I assure you that any T-shirt bought from Fractal Fripperies will have exactly the fractal you selected on the main page. Equally, the pricing information was a bit confusing and outdated, so you should see that improved as well.

In short, if you have been thinking of getting a fractal T-shirt, now is the time to do it.

- David Stark

The biggest change is the way crew is handled. Instead of being just a number, each crew member now has their own name and set of skills. This adds a lot to the game, with your crew's skills and mood affecting the outcome of encounters, and the options you have.

The other big change is that the time limit has been removed. Instead, you now receive more limited fuel at the start of the game, and have to periodically report back to base to ask for more fuel. Your performance in the game so far affects how much extra fuel you are granted. This results in more interesting strategic decisions on where to fly when.

Beyond that, I've fixed various bugs, simplified the user interface a bit, and introduced a new tutorial you can access from the main menu, replacing the old in-game help pop-ups.

Combat, too, has had some minor alterations, mostly to clarify things. It will get a major revamp in dev 10, though.

As always, I'm very interested in any feedback you can give me, either by email, or through the handy web form.

Anyway, download the new version and give it a try.]]> http://www.metalbeetle.com/?newsid=3 2009-01-13 21:40:26The biggest new feature is the tactical space combat mode. In addition, there are more encounters, better performance, bug fixes, and an improved help and reminder system.

With this release, the engine of the game is nearing completion, baring minor features and more optimisation. From now on, we'll be concentrating on massively upping the number of encounters, and writing the first expansion.

Download it, discuss it in the forum, or have a look at the press release.

Feedback is as always highly welcome, via the forums, or via the feedback form.

• Nebulas
• Fuel
• More encounters and specialists
• Many bug fixes
• Contextual help system (can be turned off in settings)

There has also been a lot of code cleanup and bug fixes, which will really help the project in the long run. Next up for dev 8: tactical space combat.

Since we're still very interested in your feedback, we've made a proper website for the game and started up a forum. So if you have any comments or suggestions, or need help with the game, visit the forum.

(And try clicking on the beetle logo.)