Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD48 → Deeper Sea
By lrvstudios
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1630 | 3.00 | 59 | |
| Fun | 1656 | 2.72 | 59 | |
| Innovation | 870 | 3.25 | 60 | |
| Theme | 1094 | 3.50 | 61 | |
| Graphics | 1442 | 3.12 | 60 | |
| Audio | 1097 | 2.87 | 58 | |
| Humor | 1288 | 2.18 | 52 | |
| Mood | 1492 | 3.00 | 58 |
Wow what a weird and unique game. It's very ambitious but pretty confusing. I couldn't really figure out what I was doing wrong. As I went deeper, the ship started beeping and my health was going down but I had no idea why or how to stop it.
It would definitely benefit from clearer instructions.
either way, great job on such an ambitious project in such a short amount of time
I got down to -1000 meters. I found a good balance of just bying the pressure module together with the weight upgrade. Once in a while I needed buy the energy upgrade to keep going. The horizontal movement was a bit slow. Good concept :)
I like the concept of this game. Delving for treasure in a submarine is cool! But like @skleembof said, the UI can be pretty confusing. For example, it wasn't clear that the gunner view was rotated 90 degrees from the main view. Additionally, the shop could have been streamlined without a free look mode that had to be escaped with the tab key.
Overall, I think the game could improve with a simplification of design and some helpful tooltips when hovering buttons and icons. With some clean up, I think this could be a pretty cool game!
@skleembof,
Thanks for playing! I didn't had much time to do a tutorial, but definitely it's needed for the understanding bunch of variables that affect other parts of the submarine.
I am edditing the images right now so i can explain without change the game while the voting in going on.
But if you look closer, you will see that is 3 types of cameras in-game. Press "C" to go inside the submarine, then press "Tab" that the mouse cursor should appear, and access the "deep market" from there.
There you can buy improvements in order go deeper. - i believe that i put near -3000m to the victory, but you will have to find out. haha
Ps: the waste you colect, you can sell in the market, and buy more parts.
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@rashcan,
Thanks for playing! The original idea was to get you play inside the submarine, like a fps, and access other stuff - but obviously it would get a lot bigger and i couldn't finish on time.
I kinda adapted what i had done with the camera so you can access the market from there.
But it was definitly a nice tip, i will consider to simplificate the ui and do a tutorial soon.
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@pythooonuser,
Thanks for playing! Try to buy some more engines so you can move faster horizontally π
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Thanks again for playing, and please let me know if you have any problems or find any bugs so i can do my best to fix them.
I unfortuantly did not like the game. I felt that that the souds were too annoying and the powerups/upgrades are not well explained. Good effort on the graphics and general game, wish you the best moving forward.
@mind0o,
Thanks for playing! The sounds and the music - that wich are ones of the parts that i mostly like to do do - i did put it in about 30 min before i export the game.
In relation of the "power ups", it's definitely need a tutorial and a "simpler" hud, maybe.
It's so sad that you didn't enjoy this version, but i really understand your point, appreciate your feedback and will try my best to improve the game when voting time ends.
Very interesting game. As other people have said it's hard to understand what's going on.
yeah, definitely a bit hard to figure out what was going on. also i think i wasnt able to move left/right at the starting area without having gone downwards a bit, so i thought the l/r controls just werent working at first. didnt really understand what the various objects/improvements in the game were, or how they affected the sub. looks ambitious though! would be interested to see what it would turn into with a bit more development time
Interesting and ambitious concept. Good job! But there were simply too many things you could tweak which made it difficult to understand what's going on. You could have had a simpler version for the jam and this version as a full game. Great game!
@theg,
Thanks for playing! I'm working on that! π.
@miej, You're not wrong! Right at the beginning of the game, you have to go a little down so the engines start to work. The lacks of explanation plus a bunch of info equals a confusing game. noted. haha
Jokes aside, i'm working on that. Thanks for playing! π
@advay,
Thanks for playing! That is for sure the major problem of my game, and i'm taking notes of all you guys telling me in order to make it better. Thanks for that and i will consider to do that on ld49 - a smaller game π
I didn't get the concept first (did not read everything here), but when I found out that I can collect the trash and where to sell them, it made more sense. Keep it up!
I did spend some time on this game and reached the deep. It lacks a bit of info even after reading tutorial (we don't understand the icons at first glance i guess) but the concept is good.
Great game! So cool idea and mechanics. Good luck and my congratulations <3
Maybe, it's me and all the sunshine in my mindset (sarcasm), but I got so grave... and grim... submerging here. Had a trouble with mouse on Win (cursor is just not in the right place). There's obviously very deep idea, but if you change the music (it's depressing) and make the goal of the game more clear, would be nice.
I read the tutorial which told me the controls but I couldn't understand what was going wrong when the alarms went off.
The audio was very good and immersive.
The game was very fun to play after I understood what I had to do. I like the idea.
At first, it's a bit confusing how to sell the trash. Also, a volume slider would have been nice.
I don't know if it's a bug or not, but if I press C to go inside, tab, select the shop and after I'm in the shop, I press C to get out of the inside camera, I can dive and have the shop open all the time, not needing to press C again. It's cool that I don't have to go and open it again, but maybe it's not what you intended :smile:
@substain , @narom42 Thanks for playing! It definitely needs more information and i'm working on it to give you guys a better experience. Thank you very much for the feedback.
@kirby , I am very happy that you enjoyed it! Thanks for playing and for the feedback.
@ardorugus , Thank you very much for the feedback! That feeling that you speak of, was actually my original intention with this game - to go deeper, in many ways.
I really understood what you meant by the song and I'm going to compose a better one for the next updates - but there are several things to manage first, like the amount of icons and information scattered around the scene and better guidance for the players. . this is going to be my main focus now.
The case of the position of the "mouse" is the first time that someone points out this problem. I will look for the problem when implementing the game.
Once again, thank you so much for playing and for this feedback!
@andrewaprice , Thank you so much for playing! The "alarm" sounds when the maximum pressure (atm) is less than the actual pressure. If the hull supports 10m and you are deeper than that, the alarm should sound. To avoid this - and to complete the game - you will have to buy more "pressure boosters" in the 'deepest market', inside the submarine.
@mololo , Thank you so much for playing! Glad you like!
About the 'confused' game I created, I am well aware of that haha. I'm working on how to show things more naturally to the players, to be able to maintain the game mechanics, and to show it in a simpler way, to make a lot more sense while you're playing.
Regarding the "volume", I thought it was an excellent idea! I will do my best to bring up an "options menu" in a later version.
Once again, thank you very much for playing, and I really appreciate your feeback - and all the others that i'm receiveing here.
maybe we're on a similar wavelength but i wasnt so much confused about what i was meant to be doing. i did find it difficult to understand how i got money, though that was probably just a limit on what assets you could make in the time of the jam. theres definitely an interesting game loop at the heart of this but the sound got in my way of really figuring out how to do well. also i think adding some kind of inertial/momentum movement would improve the game feel, like water doesnt have friction so when you move left/right you should have to manually slow yourself to a stop.
Thank you very much for playing it! And i'm grateful for such great feedback.
I'm working to improve the sounds, models and env light so you can see the trash more easily - there's something i'm thinking of doing about the mechanics of picking-up trash, but i'll leave that for a further update.
About the submarine movement, it was an excelent ideia - the inertia. I'll do my best to to implement that too! Thanks for the tip.
Very interesting game, as a 3d game has been very complete
I have super mixed feelings about your game. On the bright side, idea of making "realistic" submarine controls makes the game more immersive, which is the good thing. But on the other hand, UI design is just confusing, game seems to bombard me with information, without any explanation what does any of that mean. And I get that UI design is super hard, and jam's time limitation does not make that any easier, but... You had the time to implement localization in English and Portuguese, which is commendable, but also kinda makes me wish, that you spend more time on polishing the rough edges of the gameplay and presentation.
I also did not really liked your music choice. I would prefer some underwater ambience, the track that plays in main menu before music kicks in would be fine.
@xiyou , Thank you very much! I try to do my best π
@kszaku , Thank very much for playing it and for this feedback!
The UI is really pretty confusing and i'm working on that. I'm thinking of making a simpler hud, combined with an progressive display.
For the Language Traduction, i already has a base script - wich gave me less work, 'cause i only need to translate.
Regarding the models, music and polishment, i did from absolute zero and, as you mentioned, the UI gave me a lot of work and time to do - but as this is my second time at LD, i'm learning a lot from my mistakes and for the next one, maybe i'll do a smaller game, but better polished. haha.
I totally understand your point in this feedback, and i'm greatful for all the tips. I'll do my best to bring a better experience for you in later updates. π
The idea of switching between different views with separate gameplay is original but definitely too ambitious for a short game jam, as the issue with having 3 whole different parts is that you have too much to do & not enough time to polish anything.
I feel like the game would have been better if there was only the side view, with simple buttons to shoot left/right & the shop directly accessible, and it would have played way better and could have been polished a lot more. Because as it stands all of the different parts of the game are a bit lackluster. The moving around part is one that felt best, shooter one lacks any danger & ends up being simply left clicking at immobile target, the inside is just an extra useless step to get to the shop. Again, switching between the different views is not a bad idea per se, but making each part interesting takes time and can hardly be done in a jam. If you keep working on it and grow into making each part fun/satisfying, with ie. more complete shooting mechanics than simple left click, being able to move around the submarine to reach the different parts as well as the shop, etc... it can all work well together.
Also, some bugs/issues : - We can see the border of the background texture if we go too left or right. - Ship's position isn't locked on z axis and if you try to go through a trash sphere (the ones we have to shoot), the ship will get further on z axis and won't be able to pick trash anymore. - There was a crew bar in the UI which i didn't understand what it was for (number of crew in the ship? but what's their use?) - The sell trash button wasn't made clear enough that it wasn't a buy upgrade button like the others. I wouldn't put it in the middle of the others button to make it clear it's a different thing.
So, overall the main issue still lies in the too ambitious concept for a jam, and you couldn't do much better without simplifying it.
A really cool game. I like the mood of the game!
the game is so well polished ! the sounds are going well with the mood of the game, the gameplay is innovative and i love being able to switch cameras. its a very nice take on the theme ! great job !
Good job with the mood and set, More instructions , but you know , Thanks
@vladadamm , Thanks for playing it and for this feedback. I see that you participated a lot of jams, and i'm grateful for you share your experience with me.
All of the coments here are helping me to figure what i did wrong so i can learn from my mistakes, and i really appretiate that.
I noted all you said here and will carry this knoledge allong my journey. Thank you!
@vladadamm , @michaelyount , @leonardo-coyado , @dobrila All i can say is thank you guys, and i will do my best to bring a even better experience for you in the next jam.
In meanwhile, i'm planning and taking notes of what to do for the next post-jam versions of this game, based on all you guys are telling me. Wish you all the best.
I like this game! Graphics are nice, for me it was a bit laggy but other than that, really well made game!
Interesting game. Wasn't 100% sure that I was doing the right thing, but it was easy enough to play around to see what the effects of various things work. Graphics were good, though I did sometimes have trouble remembering which way was "forward". I liked the music, it really added to the atmosphere. Very good entry!
So there is a bottom :)
Screenshot_6.jpg
You really managed to do a lot alone in the jam time. The core idea is fun, and it kept my interest long enough to find out that there is a bottom :). Graphics on the submarine/junk is simple, but pleasant. The background graphics does not go with it at all, however. Those two very different styles clash somewhat.
I feel like core mechanics (the sub management) is solid and works well. The game definitely has room for improvement. What came to my mind is: * Some element at the edges of the area would go a long way to improving the overall graphics. Some rocks, thick seaweed, crystals. * The background below of the turret shooting is trees and starry night. Made me laugh :grin: but it doesn't really fit. * Would be nice to be able to turn the turret around in the turret view, to be able to shoot both sides. You could also ditch the turret view altogether and just allow the player to shoot from the main view while aiming the turret up-down. * The store window stays open and is usable if I just press C to exit the inside view without pressing Tab to close it. You probably really could just ditch the inside view of the sub altogether and just let the player open a store with Tab. The inside view is a nice touch, but it seems to be some unnecessary work in a jam time and unnecessary work for the player to press two buttons instead of one (as the inside view is not used for anything else). * The background under the tutorial is just poorly chosen. Readability should be your main goal there and while noise is the opposite of that.
Hope you had a great time jamming :)
cool
This is a cool take on the theme of the game jam, and I think that the core mechanic of the game is interesting. I did find the game a bit tedious to play though, the UI has a lot of information on it that doesnβt seem to effect the game itself and even when I thought that something would work in a certain way it didn't seem to (I thought that having fuller water tanks would cause you to go down, but it seemed that the up/down was just a matter of hitting the key rather then managing the tanks). I think that the cleaning up the junk in the water for money was interesting and encouraged exploring, but I think that it could have been used more for giving a purpose to the game. Having three different views seemed kind of pointless for this jam game, but I can see how the interior view could have led to some more interesting gameplay with more time. I liked the design of the sub itself, it is a really cool design. Overall I thought that this was a neat proof of concept game jam game that with some cleanup and polish could be a really fun game. Well done!
At first I was surprised, thought that this was a complete game, but it's a bit fuzzy, sometimes I didn't know what was going on and what to do. Also there are a lot of informations in the UI with no feedback to tell me what each thing does/means. Took me a while to get the feeling of the game. Don't know if its only me but the controls are a bit confusing. Overall I think the idea is good but you guys invested in a lot of mechanics, my recomendation is to do the main mechanics first, polish it and if there is any time left, implement something else. An ambitious project. Overall a medium-rated game, could be a lot better! Good luck.
@pxldev , Thanks for playing it! I hope that this "laggy" doesn't has overcome the mood of the game for you, maybe it's a lack of optimization at the engine tha i used. Really don't know what happened.
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@digital-bacon , Thanks for playing it! I'am sad to say, but you're not the only one who doesn't understood 100% of the game - and it's totally my fault! haha. I'am planning the next updates to bring you guys a better experience.
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@fabula-rasa Thank you for playing it and for this great feedback.
Have to say, you guys are sharing with me a lot of nice tips, and i'm keep notes in order to implement these for the next updates. These have a huge value for me - feedbacks - and i'm really greatful for that!
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@rambo-dangles , Thanks for playing it!
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@smilewood , Thanks for playing it and for this great feedback! I think that everyone here agree that the UI i did is pretty confusing, and i guess it is gonna be the major problem that i want to resolve first.
To have the "water tanks" filled doesn't mean that sub will go down - that is represented by the max weight. If you has upgrade the hull, it becames lighter and, even if your "tanks" are filled, if your weight is "gray color" the sub will not go down. For that, your sub must be heavier (Red Color Weigth). But you gave me an idea, that someonee already told me about "inertia" movement of the sub. I'll better plan that how the sub reacts.
Indeed, that is some things that doesn't affect the game at all, at least for now, like the "crew capacity" - that is something that i thinked to implement, but as you see, i didn't have time to do lots of things that i planned to.
That said, i really appreciate your feedback and will do my best to give you a better experience at the future updates - and, of course, for the next jam. Thank you very much!
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@pedro-henrique-cesar , Thanks a lot for playing it! The UI is really pretty confusing, and the controls confusing could happened 'cause of change of views, i'm thinking on how can i improve that, and thanks for point that to me.
Quick correction here, you said "guys" but i did this game by my own - and, unfortunatly, didn't have much time to make it "complete". That's my 2nd time at Ludum Dare, and i'm really greatful for all the feedbacks you guys are telling me. I'm learning a lot, and i'll do my best to bring you a better experience in the future!
i have to admit that i was very confused by this. i am not sure if it was a game or a submarine simulation. i am sure that big part is running out of time. it appears you may have had more plans based on the amount of items on the ui. your blender models were very good, and i liked the shopping area you added. good effort. thanks for making this game.
Cool game, Interesting concept, some of the game mechanics needs some fleshing out, like the inside and gun cameras, they could be folded into the main screen I feel. Ran well, the music is fitting and the sounds are cool. I hope you keep working on this!
Echoing what a lot of other people are saying, cool start, could use a little refinement. I didn't seem to be able to move horizontally? Not sure what I was missing. If you cut 1/2 the features and focused your effort on refining what you had left it would probably be stronger but that is pretty typical of a jam game (or many shipped games). I enjoyed the atmosphere and the art and thought it was a cool and ambitious entry. FYI, if you want to post an updated version people can check out, just leave the old LD entry version listed separately for people to rate the compo version but you obviously had some interest based on the amount of comments here. Good effect! Keep at it!
Great work! Wish you luck with the game!
Nice idea, audio fx are cool and make the game immersive. I like the fact that the player can change his point of view. It's good idea to have added controls tips on GUI, it helps the player to remind how to control the submarine.
The submarine simulation is not obvious, maybe an interactive tutorial can help the player to understand all mechanics. I would like more "life" is the sea : add fish swiming around the submarine.
Overall, good work :thumbsup:
The game is really impressive. I was surprised to see it was build in Python of all things. The menu's felt especially great to use. The feedback of the buttons was well done and felt kineastheticly pleasing.
The game is very systems driven; which I liked. And after reading the tutorial on the Ludum Dare page twice; I felt I had the hang of things.
The loop of looking for scrap; buying the depth meter; and buying more 'weight storage'; then going deeper was nice. It didn't overstay its welcome for the duration of play. Although I'd be hard pressed to know how to make it larger, and not worse.
The audio feedback is nice, but some of the sounds are very grading to the ears and the music didn't really jive with me. Although I can't explain why.
The fact that the game ends is very satisfying and the overall experience was very nice.
One thing; which I don't know if I should be able to do, but was very nice, is that you can leave the shop open and go back to the main screen. That way you can buy stuff while exploring for scrap. This has the downside that you can no longer look around in first person mode until you press tab; but it did make the game more fun. But you get to see less of the inside of the submarine.
The design of the assets is a bit flat; but that is to be expected when you focus on mechanics instead of art assets.
Overall a great game with loads of potential in the right hands. Congratulations!