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The Deep Descent's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #9 | 4.357 | 4.357 |
| Graphics | #17 | 4.286 | 4.286 |
| Overall | #27 | 3.861 | 3.861 |
| Audio | #37 | 3.786 | 3.786 |
| Game Design | #53 | 3.762 | 3.762 |
| Innovation | #59 | 3.595 | 3.595 |
| Fun | #152 | 3.381 | 3.381 |
Ranked from 42 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
You go exploring doing tasks deep in the ocean, with depths increasing each level.
Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
Some of the code I made specifically for this project, some of the other assets I had used in previous games, and only a few I have taken from online.
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Comments
This was really well done. I kept waiting for something to jump out at me so that was a fun surprise at the end there. The atmosphere and camera effects were awesome, but sometimes it was hard to tell if I was even moving because of how dark it could get, a light or some indicator maybe could help with that. Great job though.
Glad I was able to keep the tension throughout the game and scare you!
I indented to maybe add some volumetric lighting to the game if I had time to make the scene seem brighter, but I didn't have time to add that.
I'm not quite sure of many other ways to show if the player is moving or not, there's already a sound that changes pitch based on movement. Maybe a coordinate system showing your location in X and Z values? If you have any ideas, let me know!
honestly a light would be enough. And I read a comment about there being a flashlight, so maybe thats my bad for just not reading the instructions... Haha, You have all those particles floating around so that gives enough indication of movement, sometimes it was just a little too dark so I couldn't see them.
oohhhh ok. I mean, I might still add a coordination system (maybe it’ll be of some use in the future), but the marine snow particles definitely do help.
Very cool!
The atmosphere and the UI effects are neat!
The only caveat for me is that the objective seemed clear but not intuitive about what you should do with it
Thanks for playing!
As I said in previous comments, changing the objectives up from just simply holding down E to making it more involved was a last minute change, and therefore I couldn't really put all the different types of objectives into the tutorial level. I hope it wasn't too confusing on what to do tho.
Prolly one of the most atmospheric games of the jam, both audio and visuals really put you in there, the controls we on point and having the UI waypoints help with streamlining the experience while still keeping the feeling that you are on the endless open deep ocean. Congratulations on getting this all done in a week. would love to see this made on to a full release. Good job!
Thanks! I do plan on developing this more after the jam (Hopefully I haven't said that too much...)
I used real life ROV footage as reference for making the game, from the atmosphere to the squid you see at the end of the game, trying to encapsulate the truly horrifying and alien world that is our own oceans.
Super amazing game entry you made! Really loved the design of controlling the ROV and going around doing the little mini-games. The atmosphere and visual aesthetic was perfect! Had some really good sound design too with the little creepy noises that would occasionally happen. Looking forward to seeing you develop this one further. The only criticism I can think of is more of just a wish that the minigames were a bit more involved or intuitive, but it's a pretty minor thing. Really liked the ending :) Great work!
Here's my gameplay video playtest of it, hope you enjoy watching it and get some valuable feedback!
Thanks for the video! It was really entertaining to see your reaction to the game. I’ll make sure to take your suggestions into account when I update the game :)
Wow. The atmosphere you built in a week is incredible, it's bright and in the afternoon and I was still scared LOL. That's crazy. The only thing that took me out of it a bit is when I realized that the sounds I heard around me didn't mean anything, so there's no point in looking for the source or getting spooked by them. But I'm sure you'll be solve that issue pretty easily in your full release. Amazing game, definitely one of the best I've seen this game jam and it will be hard for a horror game to top this one.
Shh, don’t tell anyone the sounds don’t mean anything!
But thanks for this comment, I’m glad I was able to creep someone out that much with this game.
Don’t worry, I do plan to make it even creepier and have the sounds actually mean something in the full release.
Just to leave you more creeped out about the game, the deep ocean really is like how it’s portrayed in the game, and the monster you see at the end is based on the real life big fin/magnapinna squid.
Eugh. Thanks for the heads-up... I think I'll stick to freshwater.
Let me be that 20th rating :p
I really like the environment/ambience of the game, could have more different things to do but nonetheless for a game jam, great work! :)
Thanks for the rating :D
Interesting idea! The graphics and the sounds fits so well with the atmosphere of deep underwater exploration (or chores?). Anyway, the gameplay could probably be made less repetitive, and maybe more stuff happening? (or maybe I'm just more into fast-paced games idk) Great job though! The alien sounds scared me!
Thanks! I used real deep underwater ROV footage for reference in making the game. It really is as creepy down there IRL as it is in the game.
Some other people have mentioned issues with the tasks being too boring, so I'll be sure to fix that.
The only truly scripted event in the game was the spawning of the bigfin squid at the end, which looking back on it, isn't that great since the other events (mainly random noises you hear) occur on a random basis, and only a random basis, so I might want to change that in the future (as well as adding more levels of course).
The random alien/ambient noises I mostly made myself by recording random stuff such as moving chairs, opening/closing doors, and other household sounds, then slowing them down. I also used a bit of image to sound conversion.
There is, however, one specific ambient noise (that has 3 variations) that I did not make, and that is the "Bloop" sound effect, an actual recorded unknown sound recorded underwater.
Anyways, sorry if I waffled on for too long, I just find this game to be the most interesting out of all of my games so far.
Just looked up what bigfin squids are. Those things are practically aliens lol. Terrifying.
Also, I wouldn't have known that those sounds were from chairs and stuff! Great work!
Very cool and scary atmosphere, nice visuals! Gameplay is a bit eh but overall great game! (I was a bit unsure if the end was a game over screen or the end of the game, maybe that could be made a bit clearer)
Thanks for the comment! I know the gameplay isn't that great, it wasn't my top focus when working on the game, and I do plan to improve it in the future. I didn't have time to create separate game over screens for different scenarios (like if you surfaced after completing the objective or got caught), so I just used the same one for both, but do also planning on adding multiple game over screens in the future as well.
Ambience and graphics are nice. Well polished. Smooth movement. May be you can create a 3d horror style among us lol. Neat game.
Yeah, when I was making the tasks I really did have among us in mind lol.
Okay the graphics are awesome, and I the atmosphere was awesome.
But then the gameplay was pretty repetitive and boring. You just went from place to place and did that small minigame, just holding one key until you get there and then you press another key. And maybe it would have gotten more fun and the third level where there were to monster, but I hate horror games and the moment I saw one so no, no, no.
And those marker, you should make it so they don't scale with distance, because they got really small and glitchy (sometimes just disappeared in different camera angles) so they were really hard to see.
And then those text boxes, they should have sound effect, I know it's for a very little time, only tutorial and start of the levels, but it annoyed me to death, because they had no sound effects.
And actually I don't really have anything more to say, I probably missed the actual game, when I saw the horror stuff, but wellllllll, no
Wow, I’m quite surprised I was able to scare people with this game! But yes, I’m aware the tasks are somewhat boring, and I do plan to fix that, but I’m luckily I changed it from its previous state, because the original tasks in the game were even more boring (you just had to hold down E and wait for a bar to fill up).
I also did hear a few others criticizing about the markers disappearing, and I do apologize for that. It’s an easy fix, but originally when increasing their visibility distance, I thought I shouldn’t do it too much so that it still somewhat vanishes into the fog, but that seems to work against players. I also quite like the idea of having the icons scale with distance.
Thanks for the detailed feedback and playing the game!
This game is absoulutely amaziing :o!!!! The atmosphere, and the sound design, all of it really gives that deep unknown feel. Really awesome work!!
Really like the feel of the game. I feel very immersed. Sounds are also a great addition. Great work :D
I only had a little trouble reading the task at the information spot. The white text is for me unreadable when the the background is white because of the 'i' icon.
Yea, I saw the text didn't contrast well if you were right up next to the objective icon, but I sadly didn't have time to fix it. Glad you enjoyed the game!
Amazing atmosphere, wish there was a little more to do, but it plays like a finished product already!
Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately in the interest of time, I could really squeeze out 4 levels (including the tutorial), but as I said in the replies of other comments, I plan to make a full release version of this game, if you’re interested in playing it (which is totally fine if not lol)
Excellent technical execution. The VHS/CRT type filter looks great. I really appreciated the compass and objective markers, it was always easy to know what I was supposed to be doing.
The little interaction minigames were cool as well. If there were more levels I would have kept playing, which is one of the best compliments I can think of for a jam game, great work. More interaction variations could be cool as well, you could use UI element to simulate flicking a switch back and forth, etc.
Yea thanks for playing! I know I said this on stream, but I definitely do plan on making a full version of the game, definitely with more levels and fun objectives.
Also good luck on your own game as well, really fun to play :)
Amazing visuals and a fantastic atmosphere! Incredible job.
Thanks :)
Amazing visuals and a fantastic atmosphere! Incredible job.
I gave it 5 stars in every category. Just a simply well done experience. The sound design, the graphics, the UI, even the tutorial, all of it was simply fantastically done, and you should be proud of yourself. Amazing.
Thank you so much! I am indeed proud of this game, and do plan on making it a full game, but thanks for playing it.
Really enjoyed playing the game! Congratulations!
They nicely fits the theme and the vibe is really nice, but i found it's a bit hard to navigate,Overall it gives a really nice atmosphere and retro vibes.
Could you dive deeper (sorry I couldn’t help it) as to what you mean by having trouble navigating? I just plan on updating and making this a fully fledged game in the future and would appreciate more feedback.
it's just the compass(the ui at the top of the screen) idk what its called , it's just moves a little bit fast ,and hard to Navigate that's all,Love to hear that you are going to make it a full game
Ok, I’ll see what I can do about it when I get the chance, but thanks for playing!
Hello, I really enjoyed playing your game. It looks very nice, i loved the "security tape" filter you had going on ! The ending with the weird creature in the shadows was nice as well. The game's pacing is fine and I didn't get bored. The audio was really good as well, and the controls were just fine.
Well, I’m glad there wasn’t any bugs with the moment in the end. Thanks for playing!
Also fun fact: the creature at the end of the game is a real cephalopod called the Magnapinna Squid or Bigfin Squid.