ricesteam 2025-04-07 04:48
I'm burnt out. I cut out a lot of stuff...but still a vertical slice.
Edit: Looks like I still have some time to figure out the embedded stuff.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD57 → Echo Dive
By ricesteam
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 351 | 3.66 | 55 | |
| Fun | 338 | 3.50 | 55 | |
| Innovation | 517 | 3.11 | 53 | |
| Theme | 100 | 4.22 | 54 | |
| Humor | 303 | 3.15 | 48 | |
| Mood | 179 | 3.98 | 55 |
I'm burnt out. I cut out a lot of stuff...but still a vertical slice.
Edit: Looks like I still have some time to figure out the embedded stuff.
Love what you did with the idea (had the same)! I have issues loading some sprites but it's ok! Nice job!
Very moody atmosphere. Well executed.
very cool!
I'm hooked on the filter, and the gameplay grabs me all over again every time.
Love the look of the game. Finding the merman was honestly fun
It was both funny and sad when I destroyed the chest, haha. I’m not sure why, but it felt really satisfying when the missiles hit things. The graphics were great, and the screen filter added a nice touch. Keep up the awesome work!
The atmosphere for this game was very well done. The gameplay is engaging and feels good. Great game!
Edit: the merman raising the prices as I hit him is amazing haha
the sprites and the aesthetics of the game are amazing! at first i destroyed a couple chests, didn't occur to me to collect them, lost so much money, then around 1500 depth interact with the mermaids instead of shooting and discovered the store. Also i shoot the mermaids a lot to see if they eventually would get angry and destroy me with a super attack :rofl: Nice work!
Very nice concept and the execution is quite nice actually. It really has the potential, you can expand it with more missile type, turbos that make the ship go faster, or whaterver. I know you've used assets for graphics and audio but they still come together very well. All in all, good job.
Great graphics and gameplay!
Great gameplay, nice to see another submarine game
Great game, I love the visual effects and the radar mechanic. We had a simmilar concept but I like that there is an end and not just highscore! Well done
Great game! Visual style, sounds, gameplay are great. Thanks for the game.
Love it!
Nice game, like the idea, the controls are good. Overall a fun game. :)
Really cool atmosphere, took me a while to realise that the mermaid fellas were selling upgrades!
I really liked the aesthetic and the vibe, I think it looks great. The controls are nice and snappy and easy to use and the UI as I mentioned is good. It does get a bit dark and hard to see, that would be my only feedback. One other thing as well: the game seems to only work when I go on itch.io and it doesn't seem to work in the embedding on the page, it just shows this and pressing buttons does nothing, just flagging this if you want to take a look
Screenshot 2025-04-08 222246.png
@angry-fridge yes fully aware. I have no idea why it's not working. I suspect it's the beefy server security or it's serving a cached version of an old build. Either case, it's out of my control at this point. But thanks.
@ricesteam ah, I did not read that part of the description, apologies; it does work fine in itch so that is what matters :)
great atmosphere and cool looking graphics/asthethic. The gameplay was also really tight and played nice. The octapusses balance between vision and enemy speed is also really nice. Its a shame there isn't a little more variation to the game because it is genuinely fun to play. Well done!
Such a rich game! fun lil arcade, mood and aesthetic is superb. the postprocessign also on point. and quite fun that merman has a reaction when you shoot it hahaha
Really good! Well done
Great job with this one! The game looks athmospheric, it gives some retro vibes, like from the old arcade machines. The depths are nicely implemented, it feels like I am somewhere in the depths. I love the fact that missile explodes and can hit myself - this brings some depth into how the player controls the submarine.
One thing I think could've done better is the core gameplay loop. It doesn't feel like upgrades matter much, and this is because core gameplay loop doesn't bring much challenge and at the same time the challenge doesn't increase. What I would've changed here is the control of the submarine: maybe it's more inert, or is not directly controlled by WASD or there are more enemies and obstacles the player must evade.
@iovorobiev thank you for a great feedback. Yes, I originally planned to have the game more challenging as the depth increases: more variety of monsters (enemy alerted by sonar, enemy projectiles, miniboss), higher psyche drain, increased # of enemies, higher enemy hp/damage, more obstacles, etc...
Even though you didn’t create the assets yourself, you clearly know how to use them — not everyone can pull that off. The visuals and sound are really well done. The gameplay is a bit repetitive and could use more variety, but that’s totally understandable given that it was made during a jam (and I’m sure you’re already aware of that). I think if you implement everything you originally intended, it’ll turn into a solid game.
Pretty cool! Is there an end? I got to just under 10,000.
@cmaks yes, there's an ending if you can reach 30,000. Hint: go for speed, health, or damage upgrades.
Nice thing!
Good job ! The background is a bit dark but I could enjoy the light around the objects which were really well done. I feel I am really in the depths.
This is the quintessential game for "Depths" - just a well-executed, atmospheric game about a submarine going into the depths. Nailed the theme.
I like the style and atmosphere of the game!!!
Nicely done! Cool visuals and audio, also Merman's reaction to shooting him made me laugh too!
@buckmeister haha thanks! I'm not sure if anyone had noticed but he increases Tariffs each time you hit him.
Awesome vibe and nice visuals! The controls felt super smooth and satisfying. Enemies are quite nicely balanced. I enjoyed shooting at Aquaman, cool comments:) Great job!!
Nice game! I especially like the contrast of the fast speed with the short sight range, makes you feel like you need to be cautious, but then offset with the sonar a bit makes it really feel like you're in a sub.
Really well done! This fit the theme really well, with a perfect mood that I would imagine when I hear 'depths'. The gameplay was also fun, but I feel that I went way too slow at the beginning. I was happy you wrote in the description that I had to get down too 30.000 meters, which made me speed up a little bit. The gameplay with the sonar was very clever. You just know there is 'something' up ahead, but not if it is good or bad. It makes you feel on your toes the whole time, which perfectly fits the theme :)
One thing which frustrated me a little bit where the octopusses. I did not know how to deal with them, since they hit me before I could react. Using the sonar also did not seem to help much, since they move around quite a bit. :/
That aside, I really like the game! Well done :D
@wuppos thank you for the great feedback! Yes, the Octopus...the AI needs a little tuning. I intended his behaviour as follows: it can detect noise/movements and will go investigate. If you stop moving/making noise, it will also stop. But if you're within sight of it, it will chase you until it dies. It has more hp than the first enemies so upgrading your damage would help taking down the Octopus easier.
It worked better in head. I think this type of enemy would work better in a bigger play area. It was supposed to enhance the sonar gameplay.
Thanks again!
I liked it, the game is exciting, at a certain point the radius of the explosion became such that it is better not to shoot, you will kill yourself)
Played the game after you left a review on ours. Indeed fun how similiar our idea is, but with a completely different execution! Luckily your art skills are much better ;). Nice game!
@slay-a-stone thank you for your kind words! I do not want to claim any credit for the art as they are free assets I found. In term of art skills, yours is way better than mine!
even though you did not have any artists, you did well with the assets you got. I think they fit together and the mood is on point. Well done :hugging:
Awesome job, the tone really matches the game, and as I started getting more cautious deeper down, I definitely shot the shopkeeper much more often, shoot first ask questions later sorta approach. I like this entry!
I think this could turn into an addictive mobile game. The theme is well executed.
Looks great and feels good to play. The controls are very easy to figure out which I always appreciate in these kinds of games. The sonar mechanic especially is very well thought out. Good job on this entry!:)
Cool game ! After 3 ragequits since last week I still couldn't reach the end ... I just tried on brigher screen, and I was so close this time ! reached 28000m, but panicked after having bought too much big BOOM, too much speed, I became my own worst enemy, shooting at walls and colliding in it. The last part of the game is harder as there is no more treasure, then no more charming mermaids offering upgrades, that as I mentioned, could also become quite dangerous with no caution ... Also I encountered some immortal jellyfishes and octopus, that was scary... Well done offering all these upgrades ! SFX were chill, and visuals were nice too, cool pixel art !
Well done too giving that claustrophobic feeling increasing with depth, and still keeping some humor around ^^ It has some clever mechanics (but didnt understood psyche well I guess) , I'll try later to beat it totally this time. I didn't use so much the sonar once a little deep btw, maybe that could have helped.
Just an idea, I felt like their was a background and a "dusty" layer in front of it, maybe adding some paralax to the dusts can give some impression of speed while scrolling down ?
Good job !
@knarf wow! You're were soooo close. I think you're the only who reached this far, at least one to comment about. About the Psyche mechanics: yea...my bad, I ran out of time/burned out. I had plans for it. The iteration you played is unfinished. Hint: don't buy the Increase Explosive Radius. I didn't play test enough to balance it. Thanks again!