Zupergames isn't one to abandon their little robotic workers, and after after two years, Glean 2, the sequel to the original Motherload-sy mining sim game has arrived. As before, you control a plucky little robot as it scours the galaxy for valuable ores and minerals, converting them not only into repairs and fuel, but also craftable upgrades to improve your abilities and allow you to survive better in hostile environments. With new worlds to explore, a revamped user interface and overhauled crafting system, as well as the chance to get eaten by new and exciting creatures, Glean 2 improves on the clunkiness of the original while expanding on the content you loved. Don't worry, animal lovers, there's no canary in this mining game... if things get dangerous, you just explode in a fiery heap of semi-sentient shrapnel! Plus, now with 100% more Doctor Who reference. Yaaaaay!
The tutorial will walk you through the basics, but it's actually fairly simple. Use the [arrow] or [WASD] keys to move and jump (and double-jump!), and hold [spacebar] to activate your drill, keeping an eye on your temperature so you don't overheat. To gather most items, you just need to drill into them and they'll be added to your inventory, where you can either cannibalize them for repairs and fuel, or carry them back to the surface to add to your stockpiles. From your ship, summoned topside with the [spacebar], you can travel to a variety of worlds, each with their own unique environments and alien life in addition to resources, or take advantage of the game's crafting system. By gathering specific quantities of each type of resource, or even finding treasure, you can create a variety of
While the original Glean was fun, it was also a little cumbersome due to the way it handled its menus and forced you to juggle multiple sizes for resource types in a way that felt just a little too tedious. Glean 2 has made a significant effort to improve, and for the most part, it works. Menus are cleaner, clearer, and items now only come in one size, so you aren't left scrounging for multiple different types. Glean 2 does, however, feel like it comes with a bit of trial-and-error, at least in regards to initially figuring out what's dangerous. Will that oddly shaped thing stuck in the rock bestow rares and riches, explode if you touch it? Only one way to find out! After the tutorial the game mostly rips off your floaties and boots you into the pool before kicking back with a mimosa like a bad babysitter to watch the fun, so don't expect too much hand-holding or direction.
For some people, however, that's the whole point, and with its streamlined interface Glean 2 is now a whole lot easier to sink into and explore. The new aquatic world is lovely, as is the aerial world, where the inability to drill upwards because of your propeller as you fly around adds a nice amount of challenge. Glean 2 is the sort of sequel we love to see, because it's one where it's clear that the developer had their ears open when players offered their feedback. It's not a fast game by any means, best suited to players who don't mind scouring everywhere for resources and upgrades, but it is both a lovely and oddly relaxing one.
Oh man, I didn't think this would actually happen. But it's happening!
Playing tiny 320x240 sized games in a tin square on a 1920x1080 display gives me a headache. Is there some reason why they can't allow zooming and/or a full screen mode instead of a postage stamp?
I was interested in this, but had to quit because the game window was just too small.
@Cave Johnson:
I have the same problem.
But i solved that b zooming in the browser.
Maybe this will help you,
Stablebrew
So the Play button isn't showing up. Doesn't work on FreeWorldGroup's site either. Help?
Like the game, but feel that it's very slow when you're gathering certain trophy items:
Chitin and the thing from the turtles specifically
But one thing puzzles me, the factions mentioned in certain tooltips and help menus don't seem to be a part of the game. Are they unlocked as part of an endgame, perhaps?
"While the original Glean was fun"
This must be some definition of fun I was previously unaware of meaning stupid annoying game that kills you at every opportunity and is incredibly grindy and generally unplayable.
This might sound like a terrible pun but I really dig this game.
@Jaebn, that's exactly the case. At a certain point you are forced (as best I could tell) to select a faction to join and a username/password.
I'm pretty sure it's unlocked when you return to the shuttle after unlocking all 24 "personal log" videos.
This unlocks daily/weekly/monthly quests where you can donate resources to contribute to the ongoing battle against the other factions, and micropayment boosts which increase resource collection for your entire faction for an hour.
I love the
farscape
reference that the intro video is.
Question, maybe for the developer, if s/he's reading:
How do you reach the online save files?
I made a login, which works fine, but then I played on another machine while at school using that login. Then I came home to play some more, but the browser used the local save file, not the online one. I didn't see how to log out, so I used another browser, which accessed the save file just fine. If I clear the game data on the first browser, it goes back to the first stage of the game, not the online save file.
How can I reach the online save file? I don't have infinite browsers. I tried clearing cookies for the page, but that didn't work, plus it's awkward to do every time.
I'll give this one more try, but on first impression, and very similar to the first game, the pacing is just a touch too slow for a game that has so much grinding.
Speed up the drill time by just half a tick, same with the jumping and moving. The whole experience just seems incredibly slow, and when you combine that with the fact that this is a grinder (not a very exciting one, at that) and you end up with a, well... boring experience.
Like I said, I'll give it one more go. Maybe after I get an upgrade or two (if I last that long) the pacing will pick up.
Where do you find wood?
Power of posting: Wood is
in the aerial volcanic planets, for some odd reason
But how about viscera?
Viscera:
You have to drill up into those spiky tortoises. This is easiest if you drill away the ground near them and get them onto one tile. It's a lot easier once you upgrade your drill speed. Since you have to drill up, this is impossible in the aerial environment — I don't know if you can effectively dynamite them.
More tips:
I found it easiest in the aquatic environment, since you're floating in place. If you kill more than one tortoise on a level, you get more than one viscera per every further tortoise per level, and they seem worth more viscera the deeper you go. If you get a bonus notice in the upper right, go crazy, because you get twice as many during the bonus period, and you need a lot of them.
I'm wondering if anyone has figured out those little egg things. You know, they will show up on optics like other creatures will, and they look like a little grey cocoon stuck in the middle of a block of space. Since they're marked like all the other creatures, I figure they probably provide some kind of resource, but, I haven't been able to find any method to do so. They just blow up when I drill into them. I've tried timing my drilling with their movements, I've tried minimizing vibrations, I've tried creating vibrations and even isolating the block, I've tried blocking it up with dynamite and setting off dynamite diagonally adjacent to the block, but nothing has yielded anything. Are these merely visible and clearly avoidable bombs?
TheAdmiral, RE: those grey, egg things.
Having maxed out everything I still have no idea if those attached grey egg things do anything other than explode when you hit them. They may be nothing more than mines for the unwary driller.
I think I have reached an 'end' to the game before I maxed out everything. When I try to play now it just goes to a sign-up screen. Since I don't want to sign up for anything I guess I cannot proceed any further.
Can someone who has maxed everything tell me whether they did it without having to sign up for something ?
It was a great game so far, with an interesting mix of persistence, memory and luck. I'm annoyed that I cannot discover the last technologies and perfect my mining machine.
The only thing it asks you to do is create a username and password - no other information, not even an email address. If you want to get all the upgrades without signing up for anything, you need to stop getting capsules before you get the last video log.
Apparently the signup lets you take part in 'quests' to support which of the three 'bot factions you think should succeed in their goal.
Thank you oniyaajila.
Once I sign up for a faction, how do I play the missions? I click on the shuttle on the galaxy map, but it only plays the last video.
How do I get ozone?
She5los,
Wander around in Aerial environments above 150. You can't see it, but if you start taking damage, hold your position and you'll gather it in. It's corrosive.
If you upgrade your optics enough, the clouds will show up in your minimap.
I feel like I'm totally stuck, but there must be a simple fix to my predicament.
My craft is currently capable of only 125 feet below in terrestrial, but the next resource I need (the final three fuels) are all 140. I can't craft that Mk-5 cooling upgrade since there's some missing tube that I can't craft. I believe I've tried all the possible simple recipes.
What am I missing?
Found Ozone on aerial at around 230. I was drilling into amaranthine and came into a slight yellowish large cloud on just the other side of the gas block. I took on ozone just by sitting there.
I think I've hit a ceiling a lot earlier than any of you. I've gotten the metals up to Platinum, the gems up to Topaz, all the trophies, gasses up to Plasma, fuels up to Log, and then one random solar cell. I can't make anymore basic or advanced recipes. What am I missing?
Supermusic, that's where I was on Feb 11. Right after posting (power of posting!), I
just ignored all the flashing warnings and dove deeper than recommended in aquatic and terrestrial. Bring lots of consumable metal with you to keep the health up. You'll find some new toys to play with.
It's still quite a grind, though!
A couple tips on collecting the PITA ozone:
Don't rely on taking damage as an indicator. At least at plating Mk8, it doesn't do damage to you. I probably wandered past ozone a couple times looking for a false indicator.
At optics Mk6 (earlier? not sure) you can see the brownish tint, and you can upgrade to that without much (if any?) ozone. It's like the background black of space gets brownish, not like a regular gas puff.
Here's a basic walkthrough.
Viscera:
This comes from the spiky turtles you can sometimes see walking around in any kind of planet. To get viscera from them, you need to drill up from under them. This is impossible on Aerial planets without using dynamite, and I recommend Aquatic over Terrestrial because you can drill more freely. Try isolating them to a smaller area by drilling next to them. If you get them down to one block, just drill into that from below and you get viscera.
Ozone:
This comes from semi-invisible clouds of gas in Aerial planets. They only occur above about 150, and can go to the top of the world. They will show up as yellow clouds with maxed optics or a Radar Pulse, but if you don't have either then your only hint is that the game will turn yellow and you might start taking damage if you enter one. An important note is that they are not tied to blocks and can be anywhere in their range, even open air. To collect ozone from the cloud, stay inside it until the game tells you you've collected ozone.
Mythril/Diamond Slivers/Methane:
These are all found deep inside (150+) Terrestrial planets. If the planet is Glacial, they shouldn't be so hard to get. Methane is a reddish-brown gas found in geysers like the conventional gasses, Mythril is a black ore, and Diamond Slivers are white crystals.
Orichalcum/Coral Shards/Oxygen/Oil:
These are all found deep inside (150+) Aquatic planets. Orichalcum is a blue-black metal found normally, Coral Shards are found by drilling into a block that has a red piece of coral on top, Oxygen is found by collecting bubbles while deep enough, and Oil acts like a conventional gas.
Amber Droplets:
This, like Ozone, is found above 150 on Aerial planets. You get it by drilling into what looks like little yellow spots on Wood Logs.
Update