For neat! Got a nice writeup from @gamingonlinux@mastodon.social
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Veridian Expanse
@VeridianExpanse@mastodon.gamedev.place
mastodon 4.7.3Explore the depths as you drill, craft, and fight to escape from a mysterious asteroid deep in the Veridian Expanse!
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21 Posts
Joined June 21, 2025
Website:
itch.io (dev builds):
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I also have a downloadable demo with binaries for Linux (x86_64, ARM), as well as it's GPLed source code. I've compiled and tested it on various OSes such as #bsd #openbsd #freebsd, and Haiku. It also runs great on a #raspberrypi.
Though I'm mostly targeting Steam for the final release, I want to make sure people can run it on whatever they want. :)
http://veridianexpanse.com/demo/veridian-expanse-demo.zip
(edit: derp, wrong link)
The Veridian Expanse demo is officially live on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137670
If exploration/crafting games with twin stick combat is your thing, then check it out, wishlist and boost! :D
In Veridian Expanse to light my scenes I use light fields. A low res, screen space texture full of fourier encoded light probes basically. I mix all the lights and shadows together into it each frame.
For the sprites, instead of normal maps, I actually use derivative maps. They save a channel so I have extra space for glow maps and such.
This all runs fine on a $5 mobile chip. :D
Check out the demo on the website! https://veridianexpanse.com/demo/
Starting to get some streams of the game. This one from Bsky really seemed to like it. :)
https://bsky.app/profile/sronmar.bsky.social/post/3mlhqg7zacs2c
"I played Veridian Expanse's demo today for an hour and it is so good. I'm uploading that right now. I tend to almost always just do one video per demo I try, but I might do more for this one if time allows it. It can basically run on any of our potato computers too. It is less than 30 MB's."
I missed out on #screenshotsaturday due to yard work. D:
You should check out the Veridian Expanse demo on Steam though. I think you'll have a blast! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137670?utm_source=mastodon
I'm kind of very surprised that a lot of the cheap-o handhelds today still us the same RK3326 CPU that the one I bought years ago used. Though they are all like $60 now.
You can get better ones, but they all seem to jump in price to hundreds of dollars. Component pricing doesn't help I'm sure. Oh well. I didn't need more devices to run my game on with a terrible form factor anyway. >_>
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@babble_endanger No, it's moderately shader heavy, but simple enough I can support multiple backends for a solo dev project. Some more info here: https://www.slembcke.net/blog/DriftRenderer/
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@sly_vi@lgbtqia.space Sadly no. It actually started out as a multiplayer game, but that meant every little decision needed to be considered for how it would sync. As a mostly solo project, I decided it was scope creep that would likely sink the project. 😕
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@flamecat@bark.lgbt Yeah, there isn’t much text describing it. They deliver items you pick up to the fab, and also refill your power nodes as you place them. I have some bigger plans for them that aren’t implemented yet too.
Honestly kinda hoped people would just figure it out in context without needing a lot of text, but a lot of people have asked about that…
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@flamecat@bark.lgbt Ah sure, I added it to the list.
Veridian Expanse, a sci-fi exploration game that can *REALLY* grab you. Wishlist or try the demo now! :D
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137670?utm_source=mastodon
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@Dervishpi Did you collect the copper and then build something with it? I've had people get stuck there before.
To some extent that's the "find new stuff -> make new stuff, repeat" loop of crafting games, and I don't know if I'm missing common hints to the player or not.
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@IHG Thanks! :) I feel like there's still a lot of visual polish to do, but I really like the way the gameplay has been turning out.
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@bogwise Yeah the thrusters are procedurally driven. I actually went to the effort of solving the linear system for it. >_< It’s a bit flickery because I let it have an infinite reaction speed. It’s on my TODO list, but pretty far on the back burner.
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@brazmogu The next item you build after the laser drill is a radio locator that lets you find more stuff. ;)
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@brazmogu Yeah! A minority don't like that items aren't picked up automatically, or that there isn't just a button (there is an an early upgrade). I love the grab and pull gimmick though, and when I do physical demos ~1/2 of my players actually call out how much they like the mechanic. :)
As for dedicated tool buttons, I actually started with tool switching buttons and then mouse/trigger buttons to use them, but it was a disaster. People would panic when attacked and furiously scan things. >_<
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@brazmogu@mastodon.gamedev.place Hmm. I guess that could be communicated better. The idea is that your pod can only hold 10 at a time, but you can have up to 40 of them total with the rest stored at your fabricator.
The extra stock mostly comes into play a bit later when you get the drones as they will keep you fully stocked as you place more.
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@wazul@mastodon.gamedev.place Also, glad you are enjoying it. :D