Ascend From Depths

bombelix 2025-04-08 03:44

Well-rounded & straightforward! The mood is excellent, and the concept is cool & makes immediate sense. The only(!!) three criticisms I have are : -you need to click on the upgrade button rather than press a key (which makes you alter your direction unnecessarily) -unless you have the boost, once a fish spots you, it feels there's nothing you can do. -Fish have no sound effect (not as much a criticism as "this is the only thing missing for me to consider the mood perfect")

pres2300 2025-04-09 04:55

Really nice work on the theme! I think the game was pretty intuitive and easy to play, but I found that whenever I got spotted it was pretty difficult to escape and I wouldn't have a chance. Perhaps after playing longer I'd get better upgrades to escape? Either way, I enjoyed playing it. Nice work!

yibirabbit007 2025-04-09 04:58

I love the music here, and I recommend that you add action tips to the game!

karenchik 2025-04-09 04:58

I like that they decided to reveal the theme through the depths of space, the game is cool, I really like it. She exudes some kind of slightly gloomy, but at the same time exciting vibe.

kveg 2025-04-10 02:43

Talk about minimalism. Love it a lot. The ambient esque synth moment evolving as you progress and the terror of almost getting donked if you dont pay enough attention. I was cooking though and just ran into the jellyfish RIP

angry-fridge 2025-04-10 08:12

Great atmosphere and it really captures the theme I think. A few things I struggled with: - it is a bit too dark and difficult to see my character - the fish are hard to see, sometimes I just a light and a part of thier face - once a fish starts chasing you, you can't seem to escape and you always die? - the swimming animation looks more like a jump animation

Other than that, the controls feel nice and smooth and easy to use. The sound is verry fitting, tho I would turn down the swim sound just a little bit, but thats nothing major. I like it, well done!

gamurmakesgems 2025-04-10 12:47

@bombelix @pres2300 @angry-fridge About the fish, you can actually escape them by circling around them as they have momentum. That's where the stamina system will play a role at.

@bombelix ye, I thought of that but forgot along the development lol. The fish sounds were under development when the jam ended.

@pres2300 ye, more upgrades honestly I want to do more but I scaled down the scope for the jam. The depth was originally 11km because of challenger deep, but it is too far probably will take a lot of time and I need obstacle ideas for that, I did the obstacles on the last few hours.

@yibirabbit007 ye, that'll be a nice addition, I might have a great idea for that.

@karenchik Glad you like the mood and the game.

@kveg ye, my music/sfx teammate is really great. It's nice you got to the jellyfish part haha

@angry-fridge the fishes that are hard to see is intentional, I was planning to add an item to pick up with those lights. Also I thought the character's brightness is fine enough probably requires a little more brightness and possibly some outline. Never thought of the swimming animation, thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks for playing y'all

martenj 2025-04-10 15:20

I struggled with the fishes a little bit, would be great if the fishes at the beginning where a little slower, so the player can learn the movement and out swim them better, but really smooth swim vibe!

gordo-mcschnordo 2025-04-10 16:01

Fun game, I like the upgrade system. Took me a bit to realize I should take it slow. The booster upgrade is super helpful. Would love to see more enemies with different behaviors

velis69 2025-04-10 19:10

like sounds and vibe, check my game too comrade! Make LUDUM GRATE AGAIN!

houmgaor 2025-04-10 19:20

I liked the way swimming was executed, and the difficulty was well balanced with the incoming fish. Don't know if it's a bug, but I was playing the game by spamming the space bar. After some time it seems a cool down activated on space, so I had to adapt my game style. Maybe it is related to not going to fast when coming from the depths which would be a cool concept!

heviosso 2025-04-10 22:14

In the beginning you get the false impression that this is going to be easy and chill. It's hard. But it's also quite elaborate. One question: how did he get all the way down there intact? :)

bloodbane 2025-04-11 14:05

This is probably one of bleakest game jam entries I've ever played. Fortunately, the gameplay isn't as bleak as it looks. It took couple tries to get the basics correct but once I got them, I could swim my way or ascend to the top and complete this game. BTW the boost is essential for that. Angler fish might chase you but you could boost your way out from them safely.

samilon 2025-04-16 16:14

I like the concept. Its kinda hard but eh thats just me

dyl-k 2025-04-24 17:30

You did a great job here of conveying an atmospheric vibe with pretty minimal elements, and it illustrates the theme about as well as any game I've seen for this jam! Music is great, also love how to control scheme evokes the action of swimming in an intuitive way that helps ratchet up the tension. Well done!