Teh Man and the Sea

initialposition 2021-04-26 12:50

Very nice game! Took me a while to figure out the controls since I don't think you mentioned them anywhere (BTW for anyone struggling with controls, arrow keys/WASD to move and E to interact) but once I managed to play it was a very nice experience. I really enjoyed diving into the water and exploring the sea even though some starfish seemed unneccessarily aggressive :D

The shop system is nice, the upgrades are well balanced and useful. The pixel art was super nice and the audio really enhanced the experience.

plepletier 2021-04-26 18:33

@InitialPosition Thank you!!! S2

jungle 2021-04-26 19:25

I really like this game. It is simple, but is very beautiful and is FUNNY. Players are encouraged to play many times.

mattkuroshi 2021-04-27 21:58

beautiful game!! loved the ambience (music and sound effects)

loved the upgrades and the challenge aswell (died severall times lmao)

in the game over screen i selected "go home" to buy more upgrades and the game has closed, i got confused here but no problem cause the game already have conquered me and i played it again

you guys did very well on this jam <3

bmacintosh 2021-04-27 22:14

Well done, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. The art in particular was quite good, and the game ended at a good time and didn't try to stretch things too far. I like that you made the player move faster when going up in order to make it easier for them to escape trouble, though it did throw off my attempts to calculate when I needed to turn around.

Starfish are jerks!

plepletier 2021-04-27 22:20

@mattkuroshi,(@bmacintosh) Thank`s guys!!! \o/ about the buttom name "Go Home" You are right, you were ambiguous with the store's "go home". I wanted it to be something like: "go home for good" eheeheh but I didn't think at the time.

jasontherand 2021-04-27 22:21

Nice game! It starts off pretty slow, but once you get the first o2 upgrade you can consistently get multiple treasures. The art was beautiful.

cassio-eduardo 2021-04-27 23:33

Very well done and as far as I can tell this is very well balanced for LD standards. The art and atmosphere are very good. Like others have said, it took pressing a lot of keys until I found the 'E' key.

Great job overall.

plepletier 2021-04-28 01:00

Thanks, Know i put on the Ludum Page the key command to people see.

kp-cftsz 2021-04-28 16:00

Art fit perfectly (maybe could improve consistency between scaling of sprites, as well as the font not matching the scale of the game... they were also kinda blurry), music was great, and the gameplay was fun. Control scheme could've definitely been better but after figuring it out it was fun

matejag 2021-04-28 17:46

Maybe you could add to your description that the keys are the same in the menu. :D I kept pressing Enter and was trying other keys and mouse until a light bulb finally told me to try the E key. [blush]

"Earned gold" and "gold" is a bit confusing. Maybe it could be "current dive's gold" and "total gold". Adding a "Get back to the ship before you run out of oxygen." would have been helpful. :)

The "E" speech bubbles are helpful. ;)

As discussed earlier, having different buttons for "STORE" and "QUIT" would have been better.

Other than those remarks, the game is AMAZING and I was not able to stop playing. I died so many times, just under the surface ... :( But I kept going. :) It's difficult in the beginning but once you get going it becomes easier, but remains challenging! It's a really great concept, beautiful art, great music, animations and challenging gameplay. I like that you dive to different places and that the chests are different and randomly placed. :) Also the upgrades system is awesome! A really nice playing experience! :) Not to mention that you fit the theme perfectly! :) I will return to this game. :)

- PRO diver (24 days) - :D

phantom49 2021-04-28 22:55

The art and the mood of this Game is phenomenal! It feels good to control the character underwater and the music complementing the atmosphere, with the cute Retro Style of the game, makes this a pretty wholesome experience! You guys should be proud of yourselves!

digitaldude555 2021-04-29 14:19

Very nice game, really enjoyed playing, perfectly fits theme and has a great mood. No complaints other than its a bit rng where the chests spawn in the first days.

plepletier 2021-04-29 20:02

The game has a final stage! Did anyone get to him and see the End? it's a question that I have eheheheh

plepletier 2021-04-29 20:02

alyd-asmar 2021-05-03 20:22

Heyy, very cool game, I loved the background art veeery much. It was maybe a bit too slow / punitive for me, like after my first two runs dying at day 8 like an idiot I couldn't get myself to get past the beginning. For some reason for my third run I systematically had 3 starfishes on the first floor of my dive, which made the first "grindey" part tedious. Idk if it was just some bad luck or if it's linked to the way you randomize it? But overall the experience is very cool, the game feels good to play :) and it's sooo pleasurable when you finally go past the first floors and the sea becomes darker (so pleasurable I killed myself each time despite counting :rofl: )

raphiell 2021-05-04 02:43

Was a bit unforgiving, having to completely restart on death, but I really enjoyed the art and sound effects. The UI sound effects were really satisfying, well done!

lunavenator 2021-05-04 06:25

The music is nice and also the cute diver with the big head :D

tanatb 2021-05-04 06:41

I really enjoyed what the game had to offer! There was a surprising amount of content to the game, but I felt that it was a little bit difficult and grind-y at the start (having to go to the shop to progress the day didn't help). Having some sort of slow-down or vignette post processing when the oxygen timer gets low could help warn the player ahead of time while adding to the flight-or-fight response. I thought the art was pretty good, but figuring out lighting could possibly help make the overall aesthetic feel more polished.

infinitycore 2021-05-08 04:42

It's a bit grindy at the beginning. Maybe have the first upgrades be cheaper so you aren't going after the same chest day after day until you can get an O2 upgrade (and/or a speed upgrade). Needs more balancing in that regards. I don't like how the music restarts with every dive; I get it, but it would be nicer if it just continued, maybe make the music a sort of day timer and then force the player to go back home at the end, though that would mean that the player would need more of an incentive to dive for longer which goes back to the balancing. Finally, I don't like that you instantly game over if you run out of oxygen. This would be ok if O2 upgrades weren't so grindy, but until you can buy one, you can't get down far enough to a second chest without running out of air in the process, even if you do a second dive. Then this continues for each next chest after you get the next upgrade.

Otherwise, it is very fun. Looks and sounds good.