LudumData

Sinking Hope by NuiN

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

Sinking Hope

Build_fix 2025.04.07 - 20.49.10.04.DVR - frame at 2m26s.jpg

During a deep sea expedition, your submarine is suddenly attacked, and your coworker's submarine is swallowed whole. Sea monsters tear into your ship, eating parts off of it, and sinking it. Desperate, and stranded at the bottom of the ocean, you must use a metal detector and an ancient trident to find the missing parts of your submarine, and repair it by any means necessary.

sinking<em>hope</em>trailer - frame at 0m34s.jpg

| Controls | | | ------------------- | -------------- | | Interact | E| | Tab | Metal Detector| | L-Mouse | Attack| | R-Mouse | Aim| | L-Shift | Dash|

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0olOU4ihTs

Sorry if the game doesn't run very well, it was meant to be low resolution and upscaled but that just didn't work in the build

itch.io https://nuin.itch.io/sinking-hope
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/sinking-hope

Ratings

Overall 399th 3.615⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Fun 552th 3.205⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 420th 3.269⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Theme 152th 4.128⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 403th 3.744⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Audio 162th 3.808⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Mood 77th 4.179⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 56🗨️

Feedback

Patatje
08. Apr 2025 · 20:57 UTC
The ambience and mood for the game is fantastic! I also love all the sound effects and other small UX things (that little crosshair that appears when you aim your trident for example). unfortunately i wasn't able to find any ship pieces in my playtime. but atleast i got eaten by gigantic seamonster so thats neat. Great job with the game! :)
Broco
08. Apr 2025 · 22:35 UTC
Scary BIG boy! OMG! I played both versions, the one from the jam and the one from the fixes.
At first I wasn't sure what to do, I just swam aimlessly until big boy come get me.
I thought it was missing a lot of stuff.
But then I played the post jam version and oh boy! This is such a nice experience. Swimming feels good, killing those damned fishes feels great. And in the end, after fixing the submarine and getting revenge on the big boy! Man, that felt awesome! Loved this version! Thanks for sharing it!
My rating goes for the jam version tho, but I really loved what you created!
engoneer
08. Apr 2025 · 23:00 UTC
I won't lie I'm not usually a big fan of this kind of game loop, I have bad history with trying to find random objects based on a beeping item(Don't Starve's adventure mode), but I did actually jump when the big fish creature arrived.
floppynub
09. Apr 2025 · 02:20 UTC
This game was spooky as hell lol great shader work, I especially liked the caustics on the sea floor! It was a bit hard to see and navigate, I think you could stand to brighten things up just a touch, but obviously not too much so you can preserve the spooky vibes.
ArenAvgust
09. Apr 2025 · 06:22 UTC
I really scream at first time, nice game !
ScoobySnacks
09. Apr 2025 · 08:27 UTC
All hope is not lost!
I failed a few times but the submarine ride was worth it.
AXLplosion
09. Apr 2025 · 08:51 UTC
Oooh, I really like this one. The gameplay was not complicated at all, just really enjoyable and really immersive. I actually got scared a couple times, and it felt really good to get into the submarine at the end. Kind of feels like a sequel to Iron Lung! Fantastic work.
Maslinka27
09. Apr 2025 · 09:12 UTC
Nice concept and i like the ambient
C0SMIC
09. Apr 2025 · 16:59 UTC
Loved the game idea and style well done
MatthewDrake
09. Apr 2025 · 22:34 UTC
Very creepy atmosphere, I probably should have read the description because I didn't really know what I was meant to be doing so I kind of just went looking for the source of the beeping and thought the gameplay ended with the giant fish swimming at you. Nope, I was meant to be looking for parts. Whoops xD;
HelloImBenjamin
10. Apr 2025 · 07:53 UTC
I really loved the concept—such a creative idea! The art style fits it perfectly. I’d love to see more like this in the future. Amazing work!
Dandee
10. Apr 2025 · 08:57 UTC
Love me a Ludem Dare horror! Well done guys!
Sharky3188
10. Apr 2025 · 09:51 UTC
Good atmosphere, i really liked the feeling of throwing the trident and swimming around. I wish the radar/compass was a little bit easier to use, but overall a good entry.
bene-labs
10. Apr 2025 · 10:46 UTC
Cool game with a really nice atmosphere!
Alex Niemeyer
10. Apr 2025 · 19:30 UTC
As a fan of horror, this game is pretty great! There is so much to love about this game, the game play, the graphics, even the use of outlines to help you retrieve objects and locate your sub. I am a big fan of the soundtrack! It really nailed the ambience and it was very nicely designed and mixed as well!

My only nitpick is that, at first, I tried to press "E" when I had the sub parts to the sub in general, and it kept dropping the parts. I didn't realize until later on I was supposed to press "E" on the light sources. I didn't realize it because I thought those were just emergency flares for added ambience.

Other than that, I really really like this game, great job!
🎤 NuiN
10. Apr 2025 · 19:41 UTC
@alex-niemeyer Thank you! Yeah it was hard to make that clear enough, ideally there would have been an outline of where you're supposed to place the part, but I couldn't get it working
Flinge
10. Apr 2025 · 20:39 UTC
You absolutely nailed it. This is the first jam game I’ve played with such a strong creepy atmosphere.
That underwater darkness — and then that massive thing suddenly appearing behind me… you really managed to scare me. Which means you did your job right. Fantastic work!
Rincs
11. Apr 2025 · 09:36 UTC
I rated based on the jam entry, but I'm glad that I also played post-jam. DEFINITELY a nicer experience overall. I just don't want to toss my trident, okay?! I'm scared XD!!!
nuclearextravaganza
11. Apr 2025 · 18:39 UTC
tbh for me gameplay was a little confusing ;( but dear god graphics and atmosphere are great!
🎤 NuiN
11. Apr 2025 · 18:52 UTC
@nuclearextravaganza Yeah having no time to make a tutorial was rough
nuclearextravaganza
11. Apr 2025 · 19:01 UTC
@nuin you did an amazing job nevertheless :)
LDJam user 410492
11. Apr 2025 · 19:42 UTC
very awesome underwater atmosphere! Loving the murk effects!
Saryah
12. Apr 2025 · 02:44 UTC
Very atmospheric, and a good idea for this jam. I died a lot but I enjoyed doing so. XD Nice and polished entry.
Jake G
13. Apr 2025 · 00:41 UTC
I think this might give me nightmares and definitely reminded me a bit of Subnautica. It really achieves the mysterious underwater, "I don't know what's lurking 10 feet away" vibe. Great submission!!
byebye
13. Apr 2025 · 09:07 UTC
Very cool atmosphere! You constantly feel uncomfortable in this game (in a good way).
LDJam user 243929
13. Apr 2025 · 19:51 UTC
The atmosphere is absolutely off the charts, giving off Iron Lung and SOMA vibes for me. Very fitting graphics style, great use of particles and perfect sound effects - all of those fit so well together I felt like I was playing a much bigger game than this.

Not so sure about the gameplay though - I didn't manage to find any pieces in the 15 minutes I put into this game, not sure why - I was constantly checking the radar but to no avail. The few jumpscares I stumbled upon were very nice though.
Bongard22
13. Apr 2025 · 21:25 UTC
Had a great time playing through this game here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2429489125?t=1h7m23s

I would love to be able to hear the fish sneak up on me to some degree. Just taking damage out of the blue felt bad.

Once I knew the fish were there, however, I really enjoyed the combat. Spear was fun to use and it felt so good to nail a fish with a spear throw and watch it blow up. The whole sub combat section kinda blew my mind that you were able to get that in. Well done!
🎤 NuiN
14. Apr 2025 · 04:17 UTC
@pierogo The radar actually leads to fish that ate your parts, so you have to kill them. that wasn't explained in the jam version so I can understand the confusion, thanks for enjoying the atmosphere though!
🎤 NuiN
14. Apr 2025 · 04:18 UTC
@bongard22 Yeah I agree that's one thing that's very lacking is the enemy sounds. I couldn't believe I managed to get the sub combat in too haha, it was during like the last hour of the jam
Cure
16. Apr 2025 · 09:30 UTC
This is SICK! I loved feeling so overwhelmed the first time I saw the leviathan, super impressive what you managed to do with this in a game jam.

`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FrSnqDGyks&t=4748s`