Dancing in the Depths by nrankin13

[raw]
made by nrankin13 for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

screenshot02.jpg

Note: This game plays best with headphones since finding the Dogman is based on directional sound cues.

This game was made using Unreal Engine 5, along with Audacity and Gimp 4 (woo, finally)

The models and textures are premade/purchased, though the portal and his dancing animation were handcrafted, along with all sound effects and programming.

Concept

Dogman is real. In fact, it's been public info for a while, he's been seen at Wendy's at least once a week. But he has one secret the world still suspects, but has no proof of: his sick fortnite dances. As a Facebook Reels creator, your job is to travel to the woods he's known to roam, and video him 'doing the griddy' and other dances. Of course, he only does them at night, and he does them in random locations. You must use your camera and ears to track him down in his underground vacation island and record him breaking down those sweet moves. Don't get too close, or he will run away, or something much worse!!

Ratings

Overall 572th 3.366⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Fun 552th 3.205⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 440th 3.241⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Theme 820th 2.536⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Audio 280th 3.564⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Humor 130th 3.694⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Mood 491th 3.482⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Given 84🗳️ 100🗨️

Feedback

gamesplusjames
08. Apr 2025 · 00:46 UTC
This is a really cool idea, and I love how it looks! Great work on this!
MissSpelled
08. Apr 2025 · 12:09 UTC
Far Cry if it was good 🔥💪🐶🔥
Wolfier
08. Apr 2025 · 20:38 UTC
I don't understand why Dogman doesn't want to be recorded dancing, he goes such good moves and great taste in music!

There was a bug where he killed me even though I reached the boat. Also the flashlight is kinda bad.
Jordanfb
08. Apr 2025 · 22:59 UTC
hahaha I love it. Great music, great vibes, although I did feel a little creepy ruining poor dogman's day. You got a genuine jump out of me when I forgot about the rules. Lots of fun.
PretendCoding
08. Apr 2025 · 23:38 UTC
@wolfier the flashlight is kinda bad, yeah. And yeah, I totally forgot about that bug, sorry about that.

@jordanfb nice! Glad I could get someone with that :rofl:

Thank you both for the kind words!
Broco
09. Apr 2025 · 01:24 UTC
Just let wolfie bro dance dude! He's just chillin'!

Nice short game for some lols.
Although I'm not sure how it fits with the depth theme. Is it the depths of the jungle? Is it a cave (there's rock on the sky)? Are we on a beach? We'll never really know!
Nice entry tho!
🎤 nrankin13
09. Apr 2025 · 06:22 UTC
@broco we'll be honest -- we've been prototyping ideas for a different project and could only tenuously come up with a connection to the theme. We're on an island in his subterranean lair. ;) really, we just wanted to have fun haha
Shadow Veil Society
09. Apr 2025 · 15:42 UTC
Love the concept!
Pixelstain
09. Apr 2025 · 18:02 UTC
Perfect game! No issues.
MilkiWay
09. Apr 2025 · 21:31 UTC
Came to the island, prevented the sweet good man from dancing. He ran away from me, and I prevented him from living. Fun
JoyceIsDrawing
10. Apr 2025 · 03:54 UTC
The Forest if it didn't mess around
petitcoke
10. Apr 2025 · 20:14 UTC
Good game, congrats on finishing!
pabloa31
10. Apr 2025 · 21:27 UTC
This is pretty funny, I felt like a Hollywood paparazzi bothering my Dogman friend. The 3D sound is an awesome feature to give a sense of direction, it's a funny experience. Nice work!
Hit3c
11. Apr 2025 · 01:33 UTC
My guy straight up hit the portal on me! The concept is very interesting, I was afraid as I thought he was gonna chase me...turns out i'm the real monster..
PretendCoding
11. Apr 2025 · 01:38 UTC
@hit3c @milkiway One day we will learn to let the cryptids dance in peace :cry:
noagard
11. Apr 2025 · 09:53 UTC
TikTok vibes on an island!
SayuriNyooko
11. Apr 2025 · 13:54 UTC
Yeah, no rest for the werewolf! Fun game, I like it. Pleasant visuals and audio, an interesting concept. Thanks for the game!
Ollie Hall
11. Apr 2025 · 15:46 UTC
Nice looking game! Mixed vibes, but was pretty funny
nuclearextravaganza
11. Apr 2025 · 18:27 UTC
it's so silly and overall really well-assembled! really like the music here
Sylf
11. Apr 2025 · 18:45 UTC
He just wanted to dance! Why grab your phone and start recording right away?! That’s why I just let him enjoy the dance.
UkuleleFury
11. Apr 2025 · 20:42 UTC
:) Cool idea! I liked the island level. There were a couple bugs I noticed. The first time I played, the music stopped after maybe 30 seconds, and didn't start again. The next time I played, I got a couple videos, and the music restarted in different locations a couple times, but then the music restarted in a place, but the dogman wasn't there.

Fun game idea though, and nice implementation for a game jam!
🎤 nrankin13
11. Apr 2025 · 23:53 UTC
@nuclearextravaganza thank you so much for the compliment:)
TomasTanhgor
12. Apr 2025 · 00:22 UTC
Oh, guys, this is too big an island to navigate by sound. Cool art, cool music, but too few clues to the werewolf x)
CrozzY
12. Apr 2025 · 13:19 UTC
I found the game to be quite enjoyable, with engaging gameplay and impressive visual and sound design. It was a pleasant experience overall, and I would certainly recommend it to others.
PretendCoding
12. Apr 2025 · 15:21 UTC
@tomastanhgor Yeah... this really hit home when my GF (who doesn't play games much) tried it. Then a friend tried it. They both realized the music stopped playing once the song was over, and didn't loop, which is literally the only way to find him. My bad.

@sylf A kind soul :heart: I hope you enjoyed his dance!

@ukulelefury I tried to work out the duplicate music bug, but time didn't allow :cry: I'm glad you enjoyed it though

@crozzy :two_hearts:
TheRedDevil
12. Apr 2025 · 15:57 UTC
I was really surprised when I saw the dancing werewolf for the first time, cool and funny idea :smile:
PretendCoding
12. Apr 2025 · 20:20 UTC
@thereddevil I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the feedback :grin:
slay a stone
13. Apr 2025 · 08:26 UTC
One thing that was a bit confusing at the start is that I had to film closer for the money to go up, I was really confused that my uploads did nothing (because I was too far away).
Zenorke
13. Apr 2025 · 09:27 UTC
Really cool vibes! Loved the music too :)
PretendCoding
13. Apr 2025 · 14:47 UTC
@slay-a-stone Yeah, once people started playing it I realized there was a few things I should have been more clear about. Thanks for playing!

@zenorke Thanks! @nrankin13 is to thank for the wonderful audio in this game!
🎤 nrankin13
13. Apr 2025 · 14:49 UTC
@zenorke thank you! I was trying to find good songs to parody...
mars88
14. Apr 2025 · 02:21 UTC
goty 10/10
MatiMay
15. Apr 2025 · 18:00 UTC
Didn't really understand how the game related to the theme, but it was fun to play anyway. I would like to have some music options and maybe have the werewolves dance differently. It's also not clear where we get the money from and where we put our TikToks. Also didn't immediately see the explanatory text, so I didn't immediately know what to do
PretendCoding
15. Apr 2025 · 20:57 UTC
@mars88 Thanks! We're shooting for it!

@matimay The backstory and reasoning and really most explanation is left to the user's imagination. As for the theme... well, I don't expect a high score on that. "it's underground" was the best I got. I wanted to make a fun and funny game, following the theme was secondary at best.
bob152
16. Apr 2025 · 07:40 UTC
Time to dance :D. Sick beats and sick moves. Reminds me a bit of content warning :P. One of my videos was a bit bugged the first time I played, was pretty close with a good shot but didn't get any money - that was the only time though!
I_POTS
17. Apr 2025 · 11:22 UTC
Cute game! I like this gameplay!
PretendCoding
17. Apr 2025 · 18:59 UTC
@bob152 Thanks for checking it out! And yeah, sometimes the video doesn't count when it should, poor "looking at" detection on my part
PretendCoding
17. Apr 2025 · 19:00 UTC
@i-pots Thanks! I really liked Depthborne, really good job on that!
designernap
20. Apr 2025 · 07:17 UTC
Really novel idea and engaging to play! Loved the audio and mood of this one :)
Loka
21. Apr 2025 · 14:11 UTC
Cool vibe
Jonathan Ray Pollard
23. Apr 2025 · 01:32 UTC
Great 3D game and assets for a jam! Enjoyed getting a video off of the dancing dogman. Eventuallys topped gaining points for video value and was forced to stop when I got to a spawn area without a dogman spawn. Nice job.
NBumgardner
24. Apr 2025 · 00:03 UTC
The setting felt convincing. The last line of the tutorial had me nervous the whole first game. I could hear the music slightly, so adding a settings slider for the music could be nice to make it even more obvious which way to go. The buzzing insects felt very fitting for wilderness.

Also this was my first time playing a game where you carry a camera where you can see its view in 3rd person, it felt innovative to me.
LDJam user 352490
26. Apr 2025 · 00:52 UTC
The tropical island surrounded by lava in a giant asteroid was an insane mood, I kind of loved it. The music was really hip (I recognized Thriller, not sure about the others). It definitely helped having headphones, stereo was kind of required for navigating the game. Also I couldn't tell, but was it using any kind of spatial audio, or was it just panning left/right?

The upload bar getting slower towards the end was a hilarious little touch.
PretendCoding
26. Apr 2025 · 19:03 UTC
@sudocoffee @nbumgardner @jonathan-ray-pollard @loka @designernap Thank you all so much for playing! @nbumgardner I'm glad I could bring a little tension to the game for you. @sudocoffee Yeah, @nrankin13 did the music on this one and I think he nailed the audio, especially the music tracks. I thought about trying some spatial audio, but I didn't have enough time to get it in so it's just panning.
🎤 nrankin13
26. Apr 2025 · 22:49 UTC
@sudocoffee there was Thriller, Werewolves of London, and a bad rip-off of sandstorm lol. Glad you caught the joke! :D