Search Beneath the Surface by halfmage

[raw]
made by halfmage for LD29 (COMPO)
You crashed your Ship on a planet, but lost important tools for your ship in a very deep lake.
Search for all the missing modules to fly back home .. hopefully.

Controls:
Movement: W, A and D or Arrow Keys
Space or Left-Mouse-Click for shooting

Mini Bugfix Update #1 - 04/30/14
- removed Web-GL effects (not working in all browsers)
- fixed arrow key movement under water
- added two new screenshots

Have Fun and thanks for rating or comment :-)

Ratings

Coolness 54% 3
Overall 3.53 240
Audio 2.43 728
Fun 3.31 322
Graphics 4.00 101
Humor 2.67 400
Innovation 2.66 855
Mood 3.08 468
Theme 3.65 220

Feedback

TowelKing
28. Apr 2014 · 08:01 UTC
nice game, I liked the tightness of the platforming mechanics and gun shooting. Going deeper and deeper trying to find a module while my air was running out was giving me sonic water level flashbacks.
rubna
28. Apr 2014 · 08:05 UTC
Wow, great visuals! Really nice use of colors too! Gameplay seems nice, but I can't figure out how to get back up when you're in the water. I can't swim or anything? If it's a bug, it's a game-breaking one :( Or maybe I'm just stupid.

Either way, great job!
eldog
28. Apr 2014 · 08:08 UTC
Scary trying not to drown!

Managed to complete it, was cool exploring the bottom of the lake.

P.S. Arrow key for swimming up didn't work, but WASD did.
Mincemeat
28. Apr 2014 · 09:26 UTC
Great art, coulda used some fish or something for enemies, but other than that it was stressful trying not to drown, good job!
Jase
28. Apr 2014 · 09:30 UTC
Really nice!
spotco
28. Apr 2014 · 09:51 UTC
Really amazing graphics, I could see this as a really fun cave-story like game with some more work.

Enemies/more mechanics would have obviously made it better, but hope you keep working on it!
Sheepolution
28. Apr 2014 · 10:04 UTC
Nice and simple game! The sound effects fit, and the camera follows nicely. The art is in a nice style, and trying get up before you run out of oxygen gives a nice mood.
allurious
28. Apr 2014 · 10:07 UTC
As usual, gorgeous artwork! I liked the idea-- neat and simple, while being fun and a challenge at the same time. Particularly enjoyed the spacecraft's various states of disrepair.
local minimum
28. Apr 2014 · 11:49 UTC
The way the spaceship was digging its repairs I really liked!

The controls were OK, but the jump felt a little stressed (too much gravity or something). Else, I would really have liked air-pockets, some enemies and maybe some transmitter on the modules (as simple as ping-frequency showing distance but not direction).

Nice entry though.
Marcus_siactro
28. Apr 2014 · 13:12 UTC
Really awesome game! Had a great feel to it.
DavidErosa
28. Apr 2014 · 17:54 UTC
Amazing little game! Really polished, amazing graphics and really nice controls! The only con is that "cursor up" won't let you swim up under water. I was about to stop trying until I saw Eldog's comment... (Use ASDW, guys!)

Thanks for making this little gem!
Turnipnose
28. Apr 2014 · 20:23 UTC
Nice plattformer, I really liked the clean artstyle. Sadly I couldn't see any effect of the "deep water" some kind of screen darkening would have been nice. The classic drowning panic kicked in some times. the controls glitched sometimes (especially at slopes and the water surface", but not too badly.

really liked the "after credits scene"
DannyG59
28. Apr 2014 · 23:48 UTC
Couldn't really understand what to do ... can't see anything when under water, is this correct behaviour? Still gave good rating for graphics as it's super nice!
benmcnelly
29. Apr 2014 · 01:45 UTC
Good music, theme, gameplay, challenge and a finished product. Nice job.
BobMorate
29. Apr 2014 · 08:18 UTC
I enjoyed quite a lot playing this! It took me a bit to figure out how to resurface, but once I got that out of the way the rest was really fun to play! Plus your pixel art and animations are fantastic. Good work!
alvarop
29. Apr 2014 · 21:32 UTC
I like your style a lot. I think the character's physics are a little bit annoying (the screen moves a lot, it's weird to me at least). I wish there were enemies to make it more challenging!
TheLastBanana
29. Apr 2014 · 22:35 UTC
Cute graphics and nice controls.
danidre14
30. Apr 2014 · 00:38 UTC
I got home. Yay. A bit short of a game, but really well done.
Halbernacht
30. Apr 2014 · 08:36 UTC
Other than some weird bug where the up arrow won't let you swim out, I had a lot of fun.
sam101
30. Apr 2014 · 10:45 UTC
I liked the ending :). Too bad it's missing some music !
Mythalore
30. Apr 2014 · 11:32 UTC
A nice idea certainly and I like the art style, but let down by the illegible font and glitchy jump/swimming.
allinlabs
30. Apr 2014 · 12:44 UTC
I think the camera is following the little bud too quickly (and too closely ?). I'm getting motion sickness from playing this game. I like the art style though, the little dude and the ship flying at the hand. I made it with 5 health left, that was close ! ^^
dertom
30. Apr 2014 · 14:28 UTC
Nice game,...did like the panic in me having only a couple of secs left to come back to surface :D For some reason see font was more or less onreadable,...did I really crash in the end :D
Nice game, good work
bebopbraunbaer
30. Apr 2014 · 17:19 UTC
cool game! managed to escape .. so i thought (- ; a nice backgroudn track would have done much for the game i think. Keep it up, good work and i had fun looking for the modules!
ioboi
30. Apr 2014 · 17:23 UTC
The ending is hilarious :D
Kyatric
30. Apr 2014 · 19:45 UTC
Nice graphics.
I also found that the scrolling was a bit too "tight", there are ways to make the scrolling "smoother" with C2, so that it follows the character with a slighter delay which causes less "motion sickness".

I managed to find all the modules on my first attempt :D

Good job, congratulations on making a game in 48 hours and submitting it to the compo !
deathray
01. May 2014 · 06:54 UTC
Graphics are great and the gameplay was very engaging. I just had a lot of trouble with the controls - trying to mash the "w" key to swim up while also navigating left/right. If the "up" key was space or anything else, that would help.
SonnyBone
01. May 2014 · 09:47 UTC
I can't get over how great the bubble particles look. It seriously looks like how real bubbles react underwater. Great job nailing that aspect of it. With a bit more work, you could have a really cool game if you can manage to get some audio that matches the tension you feel when underwater. You have a good thing started with this entry. Great job!
VictoryGarden
02. May 2014 · 07:45 UTC
This was a great game! I loved how heavy the character felt--really gave a sense of an alien planet with a different sort of gravity--and the difference between traveling on the surface, and underwater. Everything was very nicely polished, and I felt some real tension trying to get back after my missions. It felt good, though, since I thought I was going to have to lose some hitpoints--and in the end I didn't take any damage whatsoever.

Also, that is one nicely-drawn damaged spaceship.

The only thing I'd change would be to add a little bit of background audio--something ambient. The lack of it was noticeable.

All in all, a great game, well-polished, and a joy to play. Thank you!
xandy
03. May 2014 · 13:29 UTC
very cool game. the concept matches the theme, the mechanics are solid and it's not too short but not too long to be played while judging games! one of the best games i'Ve seen this jam.
crocantidepollo
03. May 2014 · 18:33 UTC
I really liked the style, but there must be a problem with the fonts because the text looks different from the screenshots, almost illegible.
Thorig
04. May 2014 · 15:18 UTC
Fun little game! That last piece was quite hard to find! The art style is really solid only thing I didn't like quite as much was the jump/swim up feeling. Didn't feel very smooth
MintArcade
04. May 2014 · 15:22 UTC
Nice game! Bit scary, but fun.
jsspiegel
04. May 2014 · 18:14 UTC
Really nice, short game, with great art!
tastyoishi
06. May 2014 · 07:49 UTC
Great graphics, gameplay was a little frustrating :P
JavadocMD
06. May 2014 · 17:08 UTC
This was a cute and fun little game. The art is lovely, the sounds work. My wrist got a bit tired from having to press the w key so rapidly, so it would be worth considering if that's really what you're going for. I really liked the way you differentiated the colors of the water as you went deeper. This helped to keep you oriented without any kind of unnatural UI.
GeorgeBroussard
10. May 2014 · 12:35 UTC
Good job! Nice art. Short and sweet. The pieces were easy to find and logically placed. Nice little platformer for 48hrs. I would continue to work on it and add challenges for the player.