Song of the Depths feat. Shian by LDJam user 371996

[raw]
made by LDJam user 371996 for Ludum Dare 57 (COMPO)

The submarine has gone missing in the uncharted depths. Mysterious runes and mechanisms intertwine into puzzles, and your song, along with the glow of the runes, lights the way for the fish.

It's a puzzle game directing schools of fish with your singing.

This is my second game in Ludum Dare (and also in Compo), and I first tried Godot for a Game Jam. I hope you will have fun in the fantastic depths of the ocean.

“深海之歌 feat. 诗岸”——"Shian" is a Chinese virtual singer (like Hatsune Miku). I used her voice there to sing a Song of the Depths for you.

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Ratings

Overall 4th 4.313⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 77th 3.604⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 35th 3.958⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 59th 3.958⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 4th 4.542⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 1th 4.375⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 5th 4.438⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 24🗨️

Feedback

xpoho
07. Apr 2025 · 09:32 UTC
![изображение_2025-04-07_163213055.png](///raw/d14/a3/z/6a147.png)

Nice voice! Simple but charming game ^_^
BadPinkChicken
07. Apr 2025 · 09:35 UTC
Love the atmosphere !
Jared Saizdelamora
07. Apr 2025 · 20:13 UTC
Really awesome vibe! Felt super polished. Great job!
🎤 LDJam user 371996
08. Apr 2025 · 06:24 UTC
If you want to compile the game from the source code, when you first open it there should be some errors "Failed to get property". You can fix it by just compiling the C# source first and then re-open the project. :fish: :fish:
max_sanch
08. Apr 2025 · 09:33 UTC
Amazing art and audio! Unusual gameplay. I got a little stuck on the first task, but then I realized the mechanics) Great job!
av_shustov
08. Apr 2025 · 09:54 UTC
It's a very enjoyable game. Great!
SYPIAC
08. Apr 2025 · 21:58 UTC
This game is an amazing looker, I'm surprised it's not more popualr. Keep at it!
Game-mon
09. Apr 2025 · 07:58 UTC
Really fantastic atmosphere! The audio was especially on another level with great sfx and incredible singing voice. It was a bit hard to understand what to do but i might just be stupid haha. Incredible entry especially for the compo!
baizeQwQ
09. Apr 2025 · 10:59 UTC
太强了!!好喜欢画面!
baizeQwQ
09. Apr 2025 · 11:03 UTC
这完成度高的夸张TT大佬啊...
melonboy
09. Apr 2025 · 11:04 UTC
really cool little experience. love the visuals and sound design.
some critique, every puzzle except for like the last two seemed like they just kinda happened without me having to think of any solution. and there never seemed to be any real reason to let go of space. it was cool when it clicked for me in the last puzzle, and i wish there were more moments like that. nevertheless, very cool experience!
🎤 LDJam user 371996
09. Apr 2025 · 11:12 UTC
@melonboy Thank you for your critique! It's a pity that I spend a lot time on the mechanics and visuals and have no enought time to design the puzzles. I tried hard to put some cool ideas I have come up with into the game TAT

I will go on dig deeper about this gameplay. I believe that these ideas can be combined into more amazing puzzles. Thank you! :fish: :fish: :fish:
atsh
09. Apr 2025 · 15:40 UTC
The best game I played so far, and I'm not even into puzzle games! The graphics was gorgeous, the music that built up was very good, and the mood was very good too.

Personally I think the static sound was not really needed, it was very jarring compared to the beautiful singing voice, and to the overral relaxed nature of the game (at the start I thought it had horror undertones)
I also think the controls were a little too slow for a puzzle game that relies on speed for some of the puzzles

It's very though to design puzzles, as it's very easy to make them too easy or too hard. I think in this case I did felt sometimes that the game was playing itself, especially in the begining, but I did felt more challenged at the end. I don't usually finish puzzle games but this one was very cool. Really fantastic achievement
🎤 LDJam user 371996
09. Apr 2025 · 16:00 UTC
@atsh I'm happy to hear about your love for my game, thank you! :fish: :fish:

I used some glitch noise in the beginning in order to create a tense atmosphere at first, then as a comparison, the singing voice should be more healing for players. And I just want to make the music "a little different", so I wrote the music in 5/4 beats and kept this noise in the music (you know there are someone like glitch musics!) However I was buried in my own music world that I didn't realize that not everyone love such glitch :( I'm so sorry for that!

The glitch sample is liquid and there are some current sound in it. I cut the glitch sample into chops, shuffled it, and make it a part of my music. What I want to express is that, the submarine went missing in the depths and seems to be brokendown. The singings, the fish, are just like a dream under the water.

I also had considered how to keep the balance of the speed. If it moves too fast, it became not so like a submarine (?). And I thought that the slower motion can let players notice more about the beautiful scene, so I finally chose the speed now. Maybe better level design can also solve this problem? Or I can add more mechanics to let player be able to move faster in sometimes, like currents on the way players would pass, which can also guide the motion of fish and create more puzzles.

Thank you so much for your feedback! :fish: :heart: :fish:
NNMBZR
09. Apr 2025 · 20:05 UTC
Excellent atmosphere and audiovisual design!

Though I would have preferred slightly more comfortable controls. On the third level I rage-quit, hahah. Couldn't make it to the exit in time. And I had to reload the page to see the GIF and understand how the mechanics work.

Nevertheless, the particle effects are very well done - I really like how you implemented the interaction of those fish-like circles! The camera work and level presentation are also top-notch! Even though the sample is simple, I never once thought it was annoying. The moment when the beats kicked in was simply amazing!

Great work!
ACarr
10. Apr 2025 · 00:35 UTC
Spectacular mood the whole way through! I had a smile on my face the whole time and had a great time with this one. Very interesting potential for puzzle design I started to see realized in the last few levels!
JovialKnoll
12. Apr 2025 · 05:13 UTC
4.5s and 5.0s across the board, very well done! This game has a lot of juice!

I love the particle effects and little fish, I love the layered sound design, how this all fits naturally in with the innovative mechanic, how this provides so much feedback during play. It's a delight, it's like a bowl of sorbet on a hot day.

Even the speed, which is almost too slow for my taste, is a good choice in the context of the vibes of the game, the sort of relaxing light puzzle atmosphere it's going for. I would not be surprised if you get top 10 in a few categories.
Rinevard
12. Apr 2025 · 13:39 UTC
Your game is great! I really love the atmosphere you create.

![screenshot.png](///raw/105/36/z/6c108.png)
Fernofai
12. Apr 2025 · 15:24 UTC
I loved to try around and figure out what these different symbols do. The atmosphere was beautiful and mysterious. Thank you for this wonderful entry :)
Justine D
12. Apr 2025 · 21:26 UTC
I must be stupid, I can't get past the level with the door (where you introduce the R button). I can't outrun the fish before they go all the way around and close it and I haven't found a way to delay them. Can someone spoil me so I can access the next level? 😅
🎤 LDJam user 371996
13. Apr 2025 · 01:49 UTC
@justine-d This level may be a little difficult but......It's designed that, you have enough time to escape if you set off instantly after the rune being activated and take the road on the left. You don't need to control the fish after they begin going all around. The only thing is that you should avoid collisions to the wall on the way as much as possible. Just try again!

I'm sorry for your bad experience :fish: Some comments also say that they stuck on this level. I should relax the time limit to keep players in the flow. Thank you for your feeeback!
Justine D
13. Apr 2025 · 06:16 UTC
@rubatotree I did manage after another few tries, but just barely haha
I really loved the game, feels like it has a lot of potential
gdman
13. Apr 2025 · 23:07 UTC
Very pleasant atmospheric art and music. Cool concept of runes activated by flocks. But I think rotation speed little slow and collisions into walls greatly slows down, that's the reason why level with closing door is so hard. It's becames more like F1 game experience :) Keep up great work.
LDJam user 280624
16. Apr 2025 · 17:00 UTC
Absolutely incredible graphics, sound, and atmosphere. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even pass the first challenge where the Space button is introduced =( What are you supposed to do there?
Still, a very solid and well-crafted entry!
🎤 LDJam user 371996
17. Apr 2025 · 01:10 UTC
@torte478 I'm sorry that the first challenge is not designed well to guide the players......The mechanics is really unusual. You should control the fish to move pass the runes. When there's enough fish going through it, the rune can be activated. The GIF on this page shows this gameplay.

Thank you for your feedback! I should think more about the guiding in the games in the future.

:fish: :fish: :small_red_triangle: :fish: :fish:
She Wrote
19. Apr 2025 · 18:13 UTC
This has such phenomenal art and music for a compo! The simplicity of the gameplay matches the relaxing atmosphere perfectly. I love it! Well done!
Zatrit
20. Apr 2025 · 16:40 UTC
![1745167062-wayshot.png](///raw/6aa/a3/z/6c5aa.png)

I'm just speechless.

This game is so atmospheric and adorable. I also really loved the visual style, and for some reason, during the first half of the game, I thought I was supposed to spin around with the fish.