Founder of Salty Squad Games. Keep an eye here for more information about Strike the Earth's development! Proud UVW union memberhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3ml7lojapyc2iGod it feels good to be back to actually coding again after a month of pure design work, but you gotta eat your veggies before you have your desert.06 May 2026 20:57 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml7lojapyc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3ml2iwaoz2k2mFinally getting into world generation in earnest. I experimented with using coherent noise operations to generate truly random caves, but I don't like being at the mercy of a bad seed ruining a player's experience. Instead we'll be assembling caves from predefined "rooms" for better control04 May 2026 20:24 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml2iwaoz2k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mkl3grfjos2dWell I'm no expert, but that looks like Perlin noise adjacent to me! (gradients visualized)28 Apr 2026 17:13 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkl3grfjos2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mkaybk4fzs2tThe first enemy you encounter is a weird rat I am truly creatively bankrupt /j24 Apr 2026 16:50 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkaybk4fzs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mihhjykgq227Design Week is already paying dividends. Turns out, I was completely wrong about Strike the Earth being primarily about crafting: It's actually a game about Exploration. Crafting will be important, but you have to explore to get materials and the stuff you craft makes you better at exploring.01 Apr 2026 19:48 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mihhjykgq227https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3micdseyknk2pI'm taking a full week to go back and re-examine some of the assumptions I've made about Strike the Earth to see if they actually hold up under scrutiny. Worst case: All my old designs are perfect and nothing changes. Best case: I fix any fundamental flaws before development goes any further.30 Mar 2026 18:58 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3micdseyknk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mi6e5dosgs26I recently picked up some textbooks about Game Design, and the experience of reading them has been rapidly oscillating between "Oh nice, my instincts were correct!" and "Oh no, I wish I had thought of that a year ago." Better late than never, I guess.29 Mar 2026 04:54 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi6e5dosgs26https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mht2cbo4as2aUgh. Sometimes you come up with 3 ways to do something in order of being progressively more difficult to implement, and then it turns out that the first two were easier because they *don't actually work*. So guess who's learning about signed distance fields this week!24 Mar 2026 16:58 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mht2cbo4as2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mgszafqrek24Had an amazing time at #GDC. It's always so affirming being here with all my industry colleagues. Highlight was by far @celiahodent.com 's master class on designing for User Experience and Player Psychology. The only shame is that it was "only" 4 hours!11 Mar 2026 23:14 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgszafqrek24https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mggdue3sws2eIf all canvas items in Godot just have an in-built `draw_circle()` function that you can just use at any time, then explain why I've had Circle.png in my UI folder for the last year and a half.06 Mar 2026 22:20 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mggdue3sws2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mg6qxluzic2mAlert: Balling has been added to Strike the Earth03 Mar 2026 21:53 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg6qxluzic2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mfkyatoucs26One strong takeaway from the Strike the Earth playtest is that the Flint Knapping system is positively remembered by most participants. That is the best possible result. It means my design was solid from the start, and we can keep moving forward. Amazing feeling as a game designer! #gamedev24 Feb 2026 01:10 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfkyatoucs26https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mfkhvagcr22tVery satisfied with the outcome of the playtest! got 20 responses out of the 35 people who initially expressed interest in participating which seems pretty good! Now I just have to sort through everyone's response survey and see what information I can glean from it...23 Feb 2026 20:17 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfkhvagcr22thttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mez2wvvmh22qThe first playtest for Strike the Earth is finally happening! My excitement is only matched by my nerves, lol. If nothing else, I'm really hoping it'll provide a lot of useful information16 Feb 2026 22:10 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mez2wvvmh22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3meue7am6dc2qBoy, sure the mirror stops breaking so I can download the export template for Godot 4.6 before the playtest on Monday!15 Feb 2026 01:13 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3meue7am6dc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mequ57lpg22mWhat's with bugs suddenly appearing the day before release? Suddenly the build menu is empty and a random light source keeps spawning out of nowhere. None of this has happened before and I didn't think I'd changed anything that could cause this!13 Feb 2026 15:47 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mequ57lpg22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mehec7sfmc2gOne week before the first closed pre-alpha playtest for Strike the Earth and there's something so zen about just bug fixing during a code freeze. No pressure to design and implement new features and every bug I squash is something firmly checked off a to-do list that's been piling up for weeks09 Feb 2026 21:10 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mehec7sfmc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3me7bnedqnk22missed a set of parentheses when setting the shape key on my pickaxe mesh and ended up with the shortest pickaxe ever.06 Feb 2026 16:01 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3me7bnedqnk22https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mdoysuou2c2eWell I hope it wasn't anything important31 Jan 2026 04:40 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdoysuou2c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mddzuxv7s22b"Man, my lights aren't casting shadows. I wonder if this is just a weakness of the Godot engine. Dang, guess I'll just have to figure out how to make that work later." Meanwhile the nefarious checkbox:26 Jan 2026 20:00 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mddzuxv7s22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mddplijvb22fMan... Now that the title screen shows me with the more dynamic "real" lighting every time I open the game, testing things with the flat "Debug" lighting on is just that much more bland... I gotta get player lights in the game ASAP26 Jan 2026 16:56 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mddplijvb22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3md4x5jsh5c22Making a passable title screen feels like a good project for a Friday.24 Jan 2026 00:23 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3md4x5jsh5c22https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mcl2u4hfdk2yI can't tell if Godot's AnimationTree is actually as awful as it seems, or if this is just a skill issue and I don't know what I'm doing. All I know is right now trying to build a robust animation state machine is like pulling teeth. Really hoping I'm just missing something.16 Jan 2026 21:41 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcl2u4hfdk2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mbxoxuonjk2fIn two years of development don't think I've ever actually looked at the caves from the outside before. It's strangely satisfying.09 Jan 2026 04:48 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbxoxuonjk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mbrfncecrk22I've overhauled the way items and inventory works. I wanted to try something other than the regular grid based inventory, but that turned out to be reinventing the wheel. I like this more. Also experimenting with a hands-on crafting system: Knapping flint into a blade in-game rather than in a menu06 Jan 2026 16:45 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbrfncecrk22https://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3mbcja3vv5k2sHappy New Year everyone! I'm very much looking forward to what Strike the Earth is going to look like in 2026. I feel so refreshed after a week of vacation and all the symptoms of burnout have for now slipped away. I strongly believe that the first closed playtest is right around the corner :)31 Dec 2025 18:39 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbcja3vv5k2shttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3m7ijpalnyc2lFeeling a lot better about this iteration of metal refinement. Now you can actually see the pulverizer, well, pulverizing the ore into ore dust. It already feels a lot more satisfying than just clicking through menu prompts and watching a progress bar fill.08 Dec 2025 17:13 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7ijpalnyc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3m4gpvbug7k2qTold our artist that his main job right now is to practice and get better at making 3d models while I'm still working on building the foundations of Strike the Earth's code His progress has certainly not been disappointing...30 Oct 2025 19:43 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4gpvbug7k2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/saltysquadtrevor.bsky.social/post/3m4ben5awtk2pHappy second anniversary of Strike the Earth development! Our artist whipped this piece up mostly as a little treat for the development team featuring a lot of allusions to bugs that we've been tackling during development, but it's too good not to share.28 Oct 2025 16:38 +0000at://did:plc:cs3wb3i2dinrycoeftcapdq6/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4ben5awtk2p