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RadaR's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Originality | #177 | 3.818 | 3.818 |
| Overall | #237 | 3.515 | 3.515 |
| Presentation | #266 | 3.636 | 3.636 |
| Gameplay | #303 | 3.091 | 3.091 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What do you like about your game?
The feeling of being immersed in a deep sea rescue/exploration mission. Also the game is mostly rendered in one fragment shader and has no assets, only code. This is kind of esoteric but I like it :)
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Comments
Amazing visuals, and very cool game
Hi, just finished trying out your game. Personally I'm quite afraid of the deep sea, so I was quite tense during the descending part. I was scared something came out of nowhere and attacked me. As another comments said, you managed to build tension very well on the first half, while in the second one, it was quite "boring". The element of surprise was really effective, it caught me off guard a lot. Maybe if those fishes started chasing you, and you could just escape really fast (like activating a turbo or something), the adrenaline of the surprise effect would've lasted longer, and the pace of the game would've been very different. This is just a suggestion tho, it would need some playtesting and stuff. Really a great game.
I enjoyed playing it a lot, good luck with it <333
Visually, the game is amazing. Everything comes together super nicely, I think that audio would've really helped.
I think the pacing is a little off. The game is challenging(not too challenging though.) The concept is interesting enough, but the amount of time you have to wait between getting to try again feels too long.
I think that the first time you descend, the length is great. It should be slow, and build suspense. It is only when you are trying to go back down when you already know what's going to come that it feels annoying.
Still, it was a nice game! I actually made something kind of similar for a game jam last summer.
Thanks for the comment !
I see what you mean about the pacing. During development I thought about it and had the idea to add a save/checkpoint near the bottom of the map (a bit like how generally games auto save just before a boss fight so you don't have to redo all the walking/other tasks that led to it and can focus on developing a strategy to beat the boss). I unfortunately did not implement it but I think this is the right solution. Especially in the current state of my game I think it does not help that you have to reload the page and redo the "tutorial" at each try.
Audio also is something I would have liked to implement if I had the time because I feel it could really have helped with the ambience and complemented the visuals.
I think I'll try making a post jam version and those will be the first additions to the game. The next additions would maybe be some more content. I'm thinking about exploiting the "dive outside the submarine" mechanic more, maybe having to go through a tight tunnel and look for something in there, I think this could be great, with the pressure of having limited oxygen.
some cool visuals and an interesting concept but gameplay is a bit rough (the margin for error is too small, or im too casual idk) and having to reload the page to restart the game is a bit frustrating :/
Thanks! Balancing the difficulty is quite challenging. I feel like it shouldn't be too hard to beat the game after a few tries but it is true that everyone is different and may find the game more or less difficult. Also as KevEatsCheese said, the time between each try as you have to come back down is too long, so each loss is too punishing. If retrying was very fast (you restart instantly at the bottom), maybe the eventual difficulty would not mean so much because you can more easily try different approaches and learn how to beat the game.
Reloading the page is totally not the correct way to make the player restart the game haha but I was very tight with the time and coding a reset functionality (which should usually not be that long) was not in my priorities as I knew a reload could do the work and had to code the intro/end at the very end of the allotted time (I had to pull an all nighter to finish the game). I will probably update the game after the jam to fix that.
Amazing game, did not expect the fish to attack lol
This looks amazing and visually very pleasing, this game the potential especially with added sounds, ambient music for atmosphere and more levels/content. Very good entry!
Thank you for appreciating my game !
The element of surprise with the fishes is what I was aiming for so I am glad it worked (I wanted to subvert expectations, as when a huge mass is mentioned people may think there is some sort of leviathan or megalodon but it was the fish all along. Also that explains why the intro says that the mass "vanished" as when the swarm disperses it is no longer detected by the radar).
Sound is definitely something lacking right now that I want to add.
There also is some more interesting content that could be added, maybe exploiting a bit more the diving mechanic.
lack of the content or sounds doesnt really take away from experience (considering this just a game jam lol) so I still enjoyed 100% of it :)
You definitely hit the mark!
Ooh, that was so cool when the fishes that just have been floating around all swarm and attack. The underwater vibe is nice, very cool that you built it all out of GLSL shaders, it looks nice. I think this type of atmosphere could really benefit from sound SFX and soundscapes to make it feel like you're deep underwater. Also, the initial discovery of the probe could be a bit more of a challenge (if it was stuck in more of a maze system of underwater caves or something), since finding it is just a matter of holding the down arrow, but the core loop definitely has something to it -- another mechanic or system the player can interact with could really make this engaging. Nice work! :)
Thank you!
I'm glad the swarm attack had the expected effect, I wanted it to be an element of surprise (see my answer to Dender46 for more detail).
Yes I also feel like this type of environment could definitely work well with some ambient sounds, I'd like to try adding some for a post jam version.
The idea of a maze or system of underwater caves is interesting. There could be a mechanic where you have to dive through underwater tunnels that are too tight for the submarine to navigate, but you have to memorize the map with your radar before entering them so you don't get lost.
I really like the aesthetic, and I love the concept of using the radar for a find and rescue mission.
However, I was initially surprised that the intro talks about an aberration on the radar, but then you can't actually witness such an aberration in gameplay. Then when replaying I realized that the fishes do show up on the radar when angered. However, at that point, I don't want to look at the radar because I want to run away fast!
I think it would be interesting to have the player witness that something is abnormal by themselves before being put in a dangerous situation.
Thank you for the feedback!
I see the point you're making and agree with it. It is not evident how to achieve it though. An idea I just had may be to have the lights of the submersible go out for a moment and make everything go completely dark. Then attract the player's attention on the radar and show that there is a mass approaching the submarine. When the player exits the radar view, the lights start up and make the swarm of fish visible, leading to an effect of wonder/suspense when seeing the mass approach in the radar and an effect of revelation when the attacking fish are first visible. Also I could change the intro to clearly show an approaching red mass rather than just a full red radar, I think it would be more effective in creating suspense, and there would be a parallel with when it actually happens to the player (the intro is supposed to depict the view of the first submersible that got lost). That would be a bit of work though.
Fun little game design and the shader/art/ esthetic works so well fun little game that impressed me that you didn't use any assets only code! good job!
Thank you!
I liked the idea and the gameplay as well. Graphics are really good and absolutely matches the gameplay. Very Nice!!
Thanks for liking the game!
I like the overall aesthetic, as a Shader Toy user I respect the approach.
Hi fellow Shadertoy user. Thanks!
Do you have a Shadertoy profile? Mine is shadertoy.com/user/Shalexder