Jobs

 

Jobs Mode

When you first start playing, you are in "Jobs Mode". This is a tutorial mode in which you do repairs for a series of customers. Each job gets a little bit harder, allowing you to practice the basic skills of car repair in the Gearhead Garage world. Jobs Mode introduces the game's features one by one, so not all the features will be available at first.

Once you've completed all the jobs, the game switches into "Free Play Mode."

Find a Bad Part

The first few jobs you encounter will involve finding, removing, repairing, and reattaching bad parts. Often you can spot the bad part simply by rotating the car, but sometimes you will need to use the "Show Condition" button. (Recall that you must hold this button down, and that you can rotate the car with the cursor keys while doing so.)

Acquiring Missing Parts

Usually you can simply repair the bad parts; however, sometimes a part is missing. The most common place to find a part is the Catalog. Click "Catalog" and you will see the Catalog screen:

The green numbers in the upper-right corner show how much cash you currently have. If you click on a part, it will tell you the price and ask you if you want to buy it.

The catalog is divided into four sections, "Engine", "Body", "Running Gear", and "Decals". The first three correspond to the three partial views of the car in the WorksShop. "Decals" are used when painting the car (see "Painting The Body" for a discussion of decals).

Some catalog sections have multiple pages, in which case you'll see a "Turn Page" button at the bottom:

Two important notes regarding the catalog:

  • Once you have purchased a part, you cannot return it. All sales are final!
  • When doing a job, your cash is limited to the job budget. You might have $10,000 in the bank, but during a job you're spending someone else's money!

Customizations

Customization is another basic concept introduced by Jobs Mode. For example, you might want to soup up parts of the engine, or replace the wheels with sportier versions. In this case, the catalog will contain different versions of the parts, distinguished by their names. Pay careful attention to the names, because if you purchase the wrong parts you might go over budget and have to start over.

Starting Over

If you get stuck, you can click on the Job Help window (the portrait of the job client on the right) and choose "restart".

 

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