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Sci-fi puzzle game Photon Engineer out now, made with open source

By - | Views: 26,688

Love puzzle games like Portal and The Talos Principle? Photon Engineer might be one for you to have a look at.

An interesting note about this one and why it's being highlighted: the developer behind it created their own open source game engine with Vulkan, and then made this game with it. Seems like quite an impressive feat, while a lot of developers go for an off the shelf game engine. Features:

  • 40 levels/platforms to discover.
  • 95 puzzles (45 puzzles with lasers and 50 sliding puzzles).
  • 15 puzzle achievements that extend the game experience.
  • Each puzzle is unique and provides a new idea.
  • The further you go, the more complex mechanisms you'll encounter.
  • Lasers are all marked with symbols for colorblind players.

Check out the trailer:

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It has Native Linux support and you can buy it on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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6 comments

ShabbyX Apr 12, 2023
I'd buy it, if nothing just to commend the dev for the from-the-looks-of-the-code well done engine (that's also free software)!
itscalledreality Apr 13, 2023
Give me a DRM-free option and I’ll buy it!
gregp1987 Apr 14, 2023
(I'm the developer)
@Liam Dawe: Thank you for this article!

Quoting: itscalledrealityGive me a DRM-free option and I’ll buy it!
The Linux version is already DRM-free.
If you want to be "Steam-API-free", change the value "steam" by "universal" for the property "platform.type" in "{STEAM_GAME_FOLDER}/resources/game.properties" file. In this case, you will have local achievements instead of the Steam achievements and the game can be started without Steam. I know it can be constraining, and I'll check if I can release a version on Itch.io soon.
reaply Apr 14, 2023
Quoting: gregp1987(I'm the developer)
@Liam Dawe: Thank you for this article!

Quoting: itscalledrealityGive me a DRM-free option and I’ll buy it!
The Linux version is already DRM-free.
If you want to be "Steam-API-free", change the value "steam" by "universal" for the property "platform.type" in "{STEAM_GAME_FOLDER}/resources/game.properties" file. In this case, you will have local achievements instead of the Steam achievements and the game can be started without Steam. I know it can be constraining, and I'll check if I can release a version on Itch.io soon.

Great release and thank you for looking at the comments here. I will be looking into your game and also your engine. Thanks for your hard work ☺️.
itscalledreality Apr 15, 2023
Quoting: gregp1987(I'm the developer)
@Liam Dawe: Thank you for this article!

Quoting: itscalledrealityGive me a DRM-free option and I’ll buy it!
The Linux version is already DRM-free.
If you want to be "Steam-API-free", change the value "steam" by "universal" for the property "platform.type" in "{STEAM_GAME_FOLDER}/resources/game.properties" file. In this case, you will have local achievements instead of the Steam achievements and the game can be started without Steam. I know it can be constraining, and I'll check if I can release a version on Itch.io soon.

Will wait for Itch.io version, thank you for your consideration!

Side note to self: I didn’t know this was possible, I wonder how many games this will work with. I am building a game launcher client as a way to learn C++ and maybe this would be a good trick for the client to improve it’s DRM-freedom?


Last edited by itscalledreality on 15 April 2023 at 6:44 pm UTC
gregp1987 May 26, 2023
Photon Engineer has finally arrived on Itch.io: https://deervision.itch.io/photon-engineer

It is my first publication on Itch.io, and I really enjoyed the experience (compared to the other very popular platform).

I automated the deployment on Itch.io, and their Butler tool to upload the game is really easy to set up, and it's just a command line tool without a complex configuration file.

I also adapted my game to Itch.io: achievements are listed in the game and are saved locally; I interrogate the Itch.io API to detect the latest game version available to display an informative message to the player when necessary.
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