Games: Gratuitous Space, Proton, Steam, and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 24, 2023

• Gratuitous Space Shooty Shield tweaks

  I just finished coding a ‘shield impact effect’ for Gratuitous Space shooty game, and thought I’d explain how its done. The idea is that the ships are surrounded by energy fields, with various grid patterns, and when laser bullets hit them, they generate a sort of encapsulating ‘wash’ effect over that portion of the shield. To pull this off, I need two things: It needs to be clear where the impact hit the ship, and it needs to feel like it wraps around the target in 3D.

  How do you do that in a 2D engine?

• GE-Proton 8-21 released fixing up FSR issues

  GE-Proton 8-21 was released today for Steam Deck and Linux desktop to improve your gaming. Here's a run over what's new and how to use it.

• itch.io is hosting a Queer Halloween Stories Bundle 2023

  Want to support queer indie developers, authors, and artists? Here's a good chance for you with the Queer Halloween Stories Bundle 2023 hosted on itch.io.

• Diablo be damned, Last Epoch plans to release 1.0 in February, 2024

  Diablo who? Eleventh Hour Games have announced that their action RPG Last Epoch will release the big 1.0 on February 21st, 2024! With multiple big previews of new stuff coming before release.

• Turbo Overkill is a brutal FPS well worth your time

  Turbo Overkill finally released the big 1.0 back in August, and StridePR sent over a key and I had an absolutely blast with it and it works great on Steam Deck and desktop Linux. All you need to do is ensure you're using the latest Proton 8.0-4 and it runs great. It looks good, performance is good and it's completely crazy.

• Check out these Steam Deck Verified titles to start your week

  A fresh week is here, it's Monday (I know, terrible right?) and you're in need of something new to get you through the week. So here's a whole bunch of newly Steam Deck Verified games to take a look at.

• Anodyne Remastered is out now with Linux and Steam Deck support

  Anodyne from 2013 is a peculiar and unique Zelda-lite game, and a big refresh has been released today with Anodyne Remastered as a free update for all existing owners.

• Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra gets a performance boost on Linux / Steam Deck

  Recently I highlighted that the Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra was doing a big move over to Vulkan, giving it a modern rendering system to keep on pushing performance. The latest updates also give a big boost for Linux / Steam Deck.

• Mortisomem is a horror-adventure based in early 20th century Brazil

  Love retro styled horror adventure games? Mortisomem looks like it could be interesting, and another that's going with the old PlayStation 1 graphics style. Mortisomem is set in early 20th century Brazil and seems quite spooky.