Pearl Diver by samooJAM

[raw]
made by samooJAM for LD29 (COMPO)
Randomly generated sea plants and fishes! Best played with a gamepad.

CONTROLS
Fullscreen: 'F' button
Movement: WASD/arrows/gamepad
Stroke: Left mouse button/ctrl/gamepad0 (hold down to kick)
Radar(sonar): Right mouse button/alt/gamepad2

TECH INFO
Unity3D
Blender
Audacity
Bfxr.net
http://www.dafont.com/minimal.font

Ratings

Coolness 55% 3
Overall 3.33 398
Audio 3.26 253
Fun 2.50 976
Graphics 3.90 147
Humor 2.44 550
Innovation 2.84 719
Mood 3.55 171
Theme 3.63 235

Feedback

NicoM
28. Apr 2014 · 00:53 UTC
I really like the abstract environment art, It feels alien and interesting, the player maybe not so much...
But really nice job:)
ZeppelinCaptain
28. Apr 2014 · 02:55 UTC
Very nice aesthetics, and nice ambience, but the gameplay is not interesting, since there is no challenge, but a challenge of patience.

With a bit more excitement, it could be a joy to swim around in though!
Blueberry Soft
28. Apr 2014 · 03:10 UTC
Great job on the undersea flora and fauna. It was fun finding the various slug-things' strange interactions. Perhaps the sound could change a bit as you get higher, as I could have used some feedback when I had to 'escape the area'. I think the wording's fine, but it was hard to gauge that I was actually gaining height.
allurious
28. Apr 2014 · 13:11 UTC
Great aesthetics, love the low poly art. The game isn't challenging but I really enjoyed it as an ambient experience-- especially with the track in the background.
Jupiter_Hadley
29. Apr 2014 · 11:34 UTC
I really love the graphic style. I included your game in part 1 of my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you'd like to check it out! http://youtu.be/2Ja__FAtoAQ
kbm
29. Apr 2014 · 15:40 UTC
Really good visual style, good job!
Seraphina
29. Apr 2014 · 15:45 UTC
Love the games atmosphere and aesthetics. Not gonna lie though, I spend more time making music with the radar button than I did swimming around. =P Great job nonetheless.
Siewart
29. Apr 2014 · 15:46 UTC
Reminds me of GW2 WvW pearl collecting :)

Nice visuals.

Although I couldn't get the radar working :/
ccglp
29. Apr 2014 · 15:46 UTC
Very relaxing!
kmakai
29. Apr 2014 · 15:53 UTC
Great job with the aesthetic as already stated, nice relaxing atmosphere to swim around in! I really like seeing projects that pick an appropriate scope for the assets, and with the added bonus that the low-poly art was well executed too! Good job.
DarkMeatGames
29. Apr 2014 · 20:47 UTC
Wow, really beautiful. Sound was perfect. Controls were a bit slow, and I didn't feel any motivation to collect the pearls, but with some varied landscape, I'd swim around just to be in that world. Nice job!
NeiloGD
29. Apr 2014 · 22:03 UTC
Like the graphics work, it's simplicity really pays off. I'm not sure the radar was working for me though :(
dook
29. Apr 2014 · 22:04 UTC
Awesome, abstract little experience. I love the whole style, especially the weird creatures and their animations.
tankete
29. Apr 2014 · 22:05 UTC
I liked the art style, but the radar didn't work for me so finding all 7 pearls dragged on a bit. Relaxing.
Oddly Shaped Pixels
29. Apr 2014 · 22:06 UTC
Incredibly beautiful, it really feels like diving. The sound is just perfect.
Just wandering around was a great pleasure, super entry!
martinysa0311
29. Apr 2014 · 22:09 UTC
I love this exploration game…. . the art is very abstract and very cool.
LTyrosine
29. Apr 2014 · 22:25 UTC
Nice graphics and mood but I felt more in a demo than a game.
dector
29. Apr 2014 · 22:30 UTC
Very interesting concept. But control isn't very good for me. Will you improve camera/control and build post-compo version?
helloWorldStudios
29. Apr 2014 · 22:33 UTC
Nice job like the size of the world it beefs out the play time abit and adds some aspect of actually looking for the pearls
🎤 samooJAM
29. Apr 2014 · 23:51 UTC
@dector I'll consider making a post compo version and absolutely I would improve camera, controls and many other things. Follow me on twitter for updates @samoojam
whilefun
30. Apr 2014 · 00:42 UTC
Neat game! At first I found the inverted W,S keys annoying, then reached for my Xbox 360 controller and was off to the races. It took me a few moments to realize that the Stroke movement could be held. I also didn't realize at first that the sonar was functional. Cool idea! Once I got that, the game became instantly more fun to play. At the end, I didn't understand where I needed to go, so I just kept swimming "forward". I either got eaten by the fish, or escaped. Fun! :)
evilseanbot
30. Apr 2014 · 01:03 UTC
I loved the art style a lot. Did you consider adding mouse look controls?
🎤 samooJAM
30. Apr 2014 · 08:30 UTC
@evilseanbot To save development time I just gave up with mouse controls quite quickly. The mouse controls didn't feel right because I designed it to be played with a gamepad.
dcolgan
30. Apr 2014 · 18:11 UTC
Nicely done sir! The swimming controls are very nice, and the graphical abstract style works well.
v_n_j
30. Apr 2014 · 19:18 UTC
Even though this procedural-generated plants and fishes look a bit weird, they still look good and set the right mood. It feels awesome when you swin around and then shadow of a giant fish falls upon you :)

Just a thought about fishes - they look bulky and i don't think they need so many polygons. More shape, less polygons - they will look better imho.
crewderek
30. Apr 2014 · 23:45 UTC
I really loved the environment! Very abstract and different looking! As for the game play, the one thing I found crazy cool was the sonar system. You couldn't die though to my knowledge so there was no real urgency. Good game though!
raulincze
01. May 2014 · 11:07 UTC
Wow... I was totally immersed into this. (pun intended) Great atmosphere.

Towards the end I stopped collecting the pearls because of the annoying noise they made when you pick them up. (Either that or maybe I wanted to spend more time just swimming around chasing fish).

Also, maybe a very subtle vertex animation shader on the see weed would've contributed more to the environment.

Nice job!
pIMGale
02. May 2014 · 21:01 UTC
the scale is perfect and makes the ending crazy good.
matthias_zarzecki
04. May 2014 · 08:04 UTC
Neat idea! Love the underwater-atmossphere, it's usually hard to pull that off.

As usually with 3d-"space-sim"-controls, 50% of the player like "up-button moves up", while the other half is adjusted to "flight-stick"-controls. A button to switch that around would've been great!
gre
11. May 2014 · 16:25 UTC
Cool atmosphere.
Melondonut
19. May 2014 · 03:58 UTC
I like the concept. hmm... if there is a mini-map, then it will be very helpful. but I also think that could spoil the mood... hmm.....
ErikU
20. May 2014 · 00:49 UTC
A relaxing game. My one issue would be that the swimming is a bit too slow, and that the optimal speed is done through clicking very quickly which can get tiring. The radar was an interesting implementation once I learned how to use it.