Honcho Game

Headlights & Indicators

Work on Honcho is currently focused on getting the screwdriver fully implemented into the game. To achieve this, we need to add functionality for all components installed with the screwdriver, which includes Headlights and Indicators.

Headlights and indicators now function like other components on the truck. They have a set condition and attributes, can rust and even roll unique attributes such as colour tint and energy saving.

In addition to implementing these new components, we...

Batako - A Work-in-Progress

Batako; All New Trucks

Originally, with the modular, "Ship of Theseus" design of the Dazio T360 truck, I'd not expected a demand for additional trucks. This demand has been vocal enough that I've reconsidered and decided to expand the scope of the game, adding additional trucks for players to purchase.

Some caveats with this system first. Due to the detail and interactivity of the trucks, only one truck can be loaded into the game world at a time. Whilst I aim for players to be ...

0.15 Now Available on Itch.io

A new demo version has been uploaded to the usual location on Itch. Lot's of good changes including ladders, new animation and pushing! Details below:

0.15 Demo Change List

• Various improvements have been made to Keiko's Push action

  • Pushing the truck should now consistently & correctly push the truck

    • New Push animations for Keiko to help add to the weight of the action

    • New audios for Push action to further help add to the we...

      2025-07-18 11:51:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Change List 0.14

Change List 0.14 now available on itch

• Fixed stepped bed collider issue,

• Fixed Map UI targeter not working for Kusahiro, abandoned trucks, Daizo Scrap Shop,

• Fixed UI of loot spawns sometimes being displayed as "Vending Machine Install Point",

• Fixed water tanks & radiators not collecting data from kusahiro correctly,

• Tape should no longer render or be usable on interactable objects without condition (repair parts, i...

  2025-07-04 10:02:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Change List 0.12

• Fixed air filter player reference causing a null reference at the Daizo Auto shop,

• Fixed issue with taking engines out of kusahiro breaking the engine interactions of the player truck,

• Rewrote the data collection method for components which should fix the issues of disappearing parts on the player truck,

• Changed eco exhaust base wear rate multiplier from 115% to 85%,

• Reduced condition changes to exhaust power multiplier from ...

  2025-06-19 15:53:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Demo Change List 0.1d

important fixes for missing items. Repair Bench was consuming the item to repair stuff, but wasn't also removing it from the savedata memory correctly, causing save issues. This has now been fixed.

• Fixed issue with Kusahiro gathering data for carburettors which could break their spawn routine,

• Fixed issue where transmissions thought they were missing a connection point as it was checking for a transmission installed rather than an engine installed,

• ...

  2025-06-15 10:32:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Demo Change List 0.1c

New build available for download on itch. Fixes to cargo and delivery logics should help a fair bit with disappearing items. Removing a bunch of redundant files has also allowed me to use a more normal compression method which should help with installing.

Change List

• Fixed issue where if the player loaded into the game with a car component stored in their truck, then the truck wouldn't recognise that object as cargo This would mean it wouldn't register the weight to the ...

  2025-06-12 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Demo Change List 0.1b

Change List 0.1b now available on itch.

• Fixed issues with labelling on Character Creator appearing as "ponytail",

• Fixed Feet and Ears sometimes appearing on Character Creator, even though they don't exist,

• Fixed rendering issue with the oil conduit on the 389cc GX390 1C OHV engine,

• Fixed issue with gathering base materials on objects when player picks them up. Could lead to material issues when placing objects back on the ground,

  <...
  2025-06-11 20:26:42 +0000 UTC View Post

Honcho Wishlist Trailer & Demo Access

Somewhere in rural Japan... closed access to the Honcho demo is available!

Thank you all for your patience with this. The demo is now available for all paid Patreons. Here’s how it works:

• If you’ve ever pledged at the Support Honcho tier ($10 or more), you should receive a link to access the build on itch.io.

• If you’ve cancelled but previously supported, you will ...

  2025-06-11 14:51:48 +0000 UTC View Post

DevLog May 2025

Unity 6

Finally got around to upgrading to the new Unity LTS of Unity 6. LTS (Long-Term Support) provides developers with the best stability and support for their projects. Unity 6 also provides the benefit of being able to replace the Unity splash screen with our own Minskworks splash screen.

Upgrading Unity versions is almost always a mini nightmare. Everything is now working as before with the exception of screen-spaced fog on the rain effects for the interior of the truck. ...

Transmission

As I work on adding controller support into the game (more on that later), I wanted to keep you in the loop with some continued improvements to the vehicle mechanics. This time, I've gone through and improved the transmission.

The AK250E engine comes paired with a bulky 4-speed transmission. This is an OEM unit for the Daizo T-360 and comes standard with the AK250E. The gear ratios are as...

GPE Engine

Forgive me for I have sinned. I've added a new engine to break up the dull but important tasks required to hit demo. Now this silly idea has been excersied, I will return to controller support and gameplay related tasks.

389cc GX390 1C OHV

The 389cc GX390 1C OHV has the following base stats*:

Base Horse Power - 18
Base Max Torque - 26.5nM
Base RPM - 3600 RPM
Carburettors - 1/1
Oil Capacity - 1.1ltr

Condition - 100%
We...

2025-04-03 10:52:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Avoiding Tutorials

The repair bench needed new art as it looked pretty rough. While working on that I began to worry that players wouldn't understand what it does or even if it's usable. Rather than add in a tool tip that players won't read, I settled on a visual callout that should hopefully attract the players' eye.

It's pretty simple in that when a player picks up a component, the repair bench will check to see if it needs to be repaired or treated for rust. If it does, then the bench will dimly light...

Balancing Loot

Last week saw significant refactoring in how we handle loot spawning in the game.

In Jalopy, loot consisted of engine parts found in abandoned cars and trade goods that spawned in boxes along the roadside. The system was very basic and relied entirely on random generation. This "full random" approach made balancing the player experience nearly impossible. Since Jalopy was an experimental project at the time, intended as more of a proof of concept and portfolio pie...

It's you!

Can't release a demo without controller remapping, video options, audio options and of course a credits screen.

Be sure to let me know if you don't want to appear in the credits, would like your name changed or any other changes you can think of.

Thank you so much for your continued patience and support. I'm excited to see what you all want changing when I finally get the demo out to you.

Cheers,
Greg

Engines (and yes there are turbo chargers)

Probably the most important component for improving performance in your key truck is the engine. 

Base Engines

The first of the 3 engines is the 356cc AK250E I4, which comes as standard on the Daizo T-360 kei truck.

The 356cc AK250E I4 has the following base stats*:

Base Horse Power - 35
Base Max Torque - 22nM
Base RPM - 8500 RPM
Carburettors - 4/4
Oil Capacity - 3.5ltr

Condition - 100%
Weight - ...

2025-03-06 11:51:55 +0000 UTC View Post

Delivery Complete

Some juice was needed for completing deliveries. So I've added a delivery complete breakdown screen upon completion of a delivery contract. Complete with statistical breakdown and ranking system.

Cheers,
Greg

Exhaust

Allo, allo. What do we have here then? It's another micro-update! This time we're taking a look at exhausts. Cor.

Headphones on for the video above as we're showing off how exhausts effect the audio of the engine. In the above video, we examine how an 356cc AK250E Inline-4 engine sounds with a stock exhaust, no exhaust, an economical exhaust and a sports exhaust. See if you can notice the difference.

Some more info on exhausts.

• Performance & Economy

  • <...
    2025-02-26 19:47:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Alternators

Toot toot! More component variations for the hardcore followers. This time, Alternators.

What does an alternator do? Well it keeps the battery charged by converting mechanical movement into electrical energy. In the game, we display this as Ah/s (Amp-Hours per Second). Different alternators have differing amperage and weights. If you're looking for speed, you'll want to find a smaller alternator. If you've got a lot of electrical gadgets hooked into the truck, then you'll be on the look...

Air Filters

Air travelling through the engine is an important mechanic to simulate, as it helps us determine not only performance, but also the rate of wear on the truck's engine.

Let's breakdown how this is handled in Honcho.

Air

The first thing we do is take the air travelling to the engine and try to pass it through an air filter. If there is an air filter, then we check it's condition and "Air Purity" variable. The stock air filter on the Daizo T-360 has an "Air Purity" variable...

Carburetors

Or Carburettors as we'll refer to them from here on. 

Trying to keep the momentum going so I can get this demo out ASAP. As listed before on what's needed to hit a demo, I mentioned that one aspect needing attention was better vehicle components. What I essentially meant here is that the game needs more carrot on a stick for players to chase. What's the point in being a delivery dri...

Breakdown Recovery

Accidents can happen when you least expect them... But with Honcho, you don’t have to worry—we’ve got you covered.

Enjoy affordable recovery with 24/7 support, because life moves fast, and so should your vehicle breakdown recovery.

Drive with confidence and peace of mind with Honcho Breakdown Recovery.

Breakdown Recovery

As previously mentioned, breakdown recovery was one of the required features for us to publish a d...

Interactive Map and Tool Bag

Last month I spoke about how how the player not having spanners on their person at all times was a big blocker for the demo. Well the game now has a tool bag that can be accessed at any point in the game.

The tool bag holds all of the players tools needed for assembling and disassembling any component of the truck, excluding the car jack - which can be stored on the truck.

The tool bag can be easily access by pressing the TAB key. Select...

Fitting a new Exhaust.

Happy new year!

I originally wanted to write a post about how world generation works in Honcho, but I’ve been working on all sorts of areas of the game this month. It made more sense to create a general showcase video. This way, I can better demonstrate how the game is coming along.

Another benefit of producing a general showcase video like this is that it doesn’t influence the feedback we receive. After publishing this video, I’ve already gained a better idea of wh...

DEV LOG - DECEMBER 24

Hello all,

There's been a bunch of work on different areas, so I thought it best to group all of these together into a single post. Hopefully the wait since wet weather was implemented hasn't been too tough!

UI improvements

Honcho has ARPG design deep in its DNA. Players will spend a lot of time scavenging, purchasing, repairing, modifying, and upgrading all sorts of com...

Wet Weather

Spent the week implementing wet weather visual effects and also improving on the animations shown last week.

Improved Animations

The animations shown last week were a bit ropey and I wasn't happy with them. Hand's didn't connect with points of contact, and movements were too fast. I've gone through and refined or reworked all of them. Movements are slower, and Keiko now makes correct contact with each point in the truck.

Although the truck is a small kei class vehicle, Kei...

Pedals, Dashboard and Driving Animations

Spent some time working on the interior of the car. I've redone and added the following:

Dashboard

You may have noticed the dashboard looked pretty low resolution and rough in older videos, so I've rebuilt the entire thing with a higher polycount and higher resolution textures. This should hopefully bring clarity to the displayed elements.

The T-360 didn't have a tachometer, instead choosing to display the suggested gear selection on the speedometer. This was to reduce pr...

ATM

I've added the ability to deposit, withdraw, repay and borrow money from ATMs in Honcho.

The driver for this feature was bank loans. Bank loans exist to ensure players can access money at regular points in the game to allow them to invest in parts, components, fuel & other fluids, trade goods, vending property locations and more. Players who have an accidental collision early-game could find themselves in a financial dead-end, unable to afford the repairs. Bank loans help mitigate t...

Comfy

"Cosy" or "Wholesome" games are a hugely established sub-genre of video game. The moniker celebrates games a specific gentleness, colour and charm to them. The sub-genre has become so popular that there's even an event for them on Steam. 

Through this kind of popularity, "cosy" has turned into a strict collection of rules: pastel colours, cute character designs, light-hearted narratives and g...

Vehicle Painting

Little video to show how painting will work.

Using spray paint, players can freely paint their truck with a variety of colours. Spraying the panel will blend from to colour on the panel to the colour of the spray paint. This allows for some colour mixing, but the main purpose of this approach is for polish sake. The transition between colours looks a lot nicer than an immediate change from one colour to another. It also gives some immediate feedback to the player to let them know that ...