Depths of Oceania by cnoble
Have you ever wanted to be on a scuba diving mission all alone in search of buried treasure? Now is your chance! Hop in and prepare to drift down to the sea floor, but be warned, you are not alone in the water and every action toward your goal has some consequence to your submarine's life. Have fun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qf3AP3iCZk


Creating the game:
http://www.rabbitholeprod.com/production-journal
| Windows | https://cnoble.itch.io/depths-of-oceania |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/depths-of-oceania |
Ratings
| Overall | 450th | 3.102⭐ | 51🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 554th | 2.68⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 316th | 3.12⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 362th | 3.46⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 116th | 3.827⭐ | 54🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 277th | 2.98⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 343th | 2.233⭐ | 45🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 230th | 3.204⭐ | 51🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 74🗳️ | 73🗨️ |
Was very enjoyable. Didn't get that I was 'boosting' at first, after my first death and the help tip I got it. Fun art style, great work!
I did quite enjoy the balance between the different values. When I was dodging the shark, I had to make sure not to use the boost too often or my pressure would get too high. When I was attacking the squids, I had to avoid using up too much energy. And my health was always a problem.
The game was a little short, although maybe that's because I didn't play through the entirety of it.
The art style was great. I especially love the model for the shark.
Anyways, nice job on the game!
I didn't realize you were supposed to shoot the creatures with your cannon though, I thought it was more energy-efficient to just avoid them. Obviously that strategy didn't get me to the bottom!! I got to the shark but then I didn't get deeper.
Impressive that you have sound, music and 3D all done in compo, congrats.
Jokes aside, I'm really amazed how much you did for the compo!
I loved the gameplay idea, balancing the three bars while making a descent. Thinking about it, a sub is probably one of the places where running out of energy is something you'd want to avoid and that happens relatively often (at least in fiction, I hope not in real life). So yeah, amazing models, cool atmosphere and good use of the theme. All in all one of the best entries I've played thus far, though it might need a little polish.
I like the way gameplay is designed. On one side there is energy which is pushing you to move further, on the other one there is pressure that is slowing you down, clever.
I see that you have put a lot of work into models and animations. But I think that using 2D or some kind of 2D/3D hybrid on this type of game would be more beneficial, especially at Compo. It would give you more time for polishing the game and making it more enjoyable.
Once I got past that I had fun but i think an updated UI could massively improve your game.
I'm glad that I did.
The 3d graphics are very good! I especially liked the unique design of the sub. The particle effects were nice as well.
Although I didn't think the 2d overlay complemented the 3d. It wasn't as clear or fitting.
I also liked the unique music a lot. It sounds very underwater-like!
My only other gripe with the game is that some things weren't immediately clear. Like why I couldn't descent any further. Or getting more energy.
Other that that, impressive entry!
It took me some time to get used to the aiming control and that is pretty cool!
However, that's nothing after the shark, then it took me about 2-3 mins just to wait for the pressure down and get to the end. The pressure system is cool but it may need a better used :P
Finding out how the energy system worked took a bit of experimentation. I ran out of power several times before I got the hang of it. It was rewarding having to "master" the various concepts.
The game was rather hard without mouse-lock though, especially when trying to turn the weapon. My cursor kept escaping to my other monitor.
The shark was a very nice touch. It would have been the perfect place to add a small "Jaws"-like musical sting :D
It was an enjoyable game, with a excellent mood. Nice work! :)
By the way, you should consider "hearting" the comments/feedback that you find useful. It encourages other people to also leave good comments, and it is an important part of the new karma algorithm on the ldjam website :)
>Gradual descent,
>Find power... OH NO! A... ** CHOMP! **
>Claimed the rich rewards!
@farhan-qureshi and @goldranger Thank you for the feedback. I will agree with you, the pressure mechanic didn't come down as fast as I would like for it to be engaging all the way down. It was one of those last minute balancing changes I tried to make, that I don't think quite panned out how I wanted.
@ctrlphreak and @estebe I appreciate your feedback and comments! I will have to agree with you on the 2D art. The bars were the first thing that I made in the jam and that was the last time that I had touched them. I had not thought about going back and cleaning them up at all. I will keep that in mind going forward! :)
@somnium Thanks for the comment!! I think you are spot on though, I didn't even think of a "Jaws" style song. That would've been cool :)
I hope you're very proud of your entry!!!! Top marks from me!
The ship controls well enough, but the cursor should most certainly be locked and hidden to make the cannon controls clearer as mentioned by others.
It seems everything is scripted to the bone. I got the the shark bit, dodged right under the rockface, picked up some energy orbs, could no go any further down and then the eels came back for some revenge. Tried multiple times to get past that situation, but could not.
The idea is interesting, the execution not quite there.