After Light by ZeroX001

[raw]
made by ZeroX001 for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

Darryl Chains has dreamed of exploring caves since childhood. At the age of 23, he began his expeditions and kept a diary "Unearthed secrets." In one of the caves, he stumbled and fell into a fork leading down. His tools were still upstairs, but he couldn't get out on his own. Nearby there was a flooded mine and a diver's equipment with a beacon that emitted a signal.

Find the way out of the underwater cave, guided by light and sound signals. Avoid the monsters. Get out before you run out of oxygen!

Movement- WASD

Menu- TAB!

изображение<em>2026-04-20</em>222450363.png

изображение<em>2026-04-20</em>222228612.png

изображение<em>2026-04-20</em>222617186.png

UpdateLog:

0.4.2:

UpdatedMap

UpdatedUI

FixedCrab

AddedNewSounds

0.4.1:

FixedMap

AddedNewMonster

AddedMoreSounds

UpdatedUI

Ratings

Overall 696th 3.14⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 751th 2.7⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 737th 2.75⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 558th 3.463⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 474th 3.661⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 369th 3.42⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 651th 1.875⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 304th 3.833⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 20🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

Tamerlan_Akhmadov
Apr 20th · 20:52 UTC
Our game is finally complete. give it a try!
VincentHuet
Apr 21st · 10:53 UTC
Very cool ambiance, oppressing and scary!
The lack of indications (apart from the light) goes in your favor and build up quite a lot of stress.
Good job team!
alexey_bobrovskiy
Apr 21st · 10:55 UTC
The game works, there were no critical bugs, only once I got eaten by a fish, and the second time I ran out of oxygen. Good job!
Tim Viter
Apr 21st · 13:54 UTC
I can't breathe
Tanjou
Apr 21st · 16:01 UTC
Looks really nice, but could really help if there was a web or Mac build (;v;)b
whiteCloh
Apr 21st · 16:13 UTC
Give me a guide on how not to die in this hellish cave :smile:
Tay Elenberg
Apr 21st · 22:06 UTC
good job!
Perovic2018
Apr 22nd · 03:48 UTC
красивенько
kayrum
Apr 22nd · 04:03 UTC
There is nothing like combining the fears of tight spaces, darkness, water and monsters...lovely.
T C
Apr 22nd · 04:05 UTC
Nice work! Really did a good job building up the atmosphere I think you were looking for. I tried maybe a good 15 times, but could never find the exit. I found the place in the first screenshot - but couldn't make it out of either of the slits of the cave. I found another couple of spots where you could go and get oxygen, although I don't think there were any walkable floors in those. Then I kept being lead to the huge room that has the anglerfish thingee, but there was so little light that I couldn't actually tell where (if anywhere) I was supposed to go in that room. Just seemed like it was empty and there was no exit. I tried a bunch of other passages, and they all basically lead to the same room, so unless there's a turn I kept missing and thought I did, I could not escape :( Nice work though, very cool idea!
DmitriyCI
Apr 22nd · 09:07 UTC
@alexey-bobrovskiy, @tay-elenberg, @perovic2018, @kayrum - Thank you for your feedback!

@vincenthuet, The game has a signal sound that you also need to follow to find the exit.

@tanjou, There is no WEB version for Unreal Engine in the new versions. But for Mac, we will most likely make a version next time. (But this is not certain)

@t-c, In all large spaces, there are exits and entrances, you just need to search for them better.
I can also say that to reach the exit, you need to navigate by the sound of the signal (if, of course, you haven’t navigated by it already). Another hint I can give is that you can reach the exit quite quickly by going through just one large area, rather than several.

Sincerely, DmitriyCI - Programmer.
VenomousMouse
Apr 22nd · 10:08 UTC
I don`t like closed spaces, but the game is good. Nice job!
LDJam user 427605
Apr 22nd · 10:12 UTC
Мне было тревожно. Мне было одиноко. Все как в сабнаутике.

К сожалению петляя по тоннелям, я не до конца разобрался куда мне нужно плыть. Возможно стоило добавить какие-то игровые намёки. Ну или возможно я глупый ахаха

Спасибо за вашу игру!)
MicleFirst
Apr 22nd · 10:36 UTC
Great game! It was a bit hard to navigate, and in my first attempt I died without understanding how it happened, but on my second try I found a way out by following the signal. I saw the anglerfish’s light and decided not to swim toward it, but to keep moving toward the sound of the signal. However, it seems that this wasn’t considered as an alternative outcome.
Still, the game does a great job of creating an oppressive atmosphere
Markwer
Apr 22nd · 11:02 UTC
The game is very dark, it’s not clear where to go, I couldn’t find the fish, I tried to swim somewhere and ended up in a cave without anything, generally an interesting game, it’s nice to swim
DivacheLLo
Apr 22nd · 12:07 UTC
Классная игра, немного пустовата, но в целом топ. Больше всего мне понравилась рыба которая меня убивает, выполнена на уровне!
Maxwell_Eliseev28
Apr 22nd · 13:55 UTC
It was a very interesting horror game, and I enjoyed playing tag with the fish.
T C
Apr 22nd · 14:32 UTC
Well, I tried again and this time tried listening for some kind of signal. I guess I am deaf because I don't hear anything, or any audio changing. I'd figure the sonar-beep style sound would get louder or quieter, but I don't seem to hear that wherever I go, or if so, it's imperceptible, And the only other sounds I hear are splashing going in the water, and some occasional rushing water sound I don't know when it happens. So trying to navigate the large room still felt aimless to me. I guess I'm just misunderstanding something.
LDJam user 387548
Apr 22nd · 23:54 UTC
It was very intense, as befits this atmosphere, and it was interesting
Daliamha
Apr 23rd · 10:57 UTC
Game seems empty and my computer lags but it's not bad
HotCoffee
Apr 23rd · 11:13 UTC
You nailed the claustrophobic atmosphere, and I really like the feel of the game, but unfortunately couldn't finish it :(
I got to the big room on my 3rd try, then got lost, even though I was trying to follow audio/light cues. Guess that's a skill issue on my part, because the concept itself is very neat.
DmitriyCI
Apr 23rd · 12:52 UTC
@maxwell-eliseev28, @zastegnushka, @daliamha - Thank you for your feedback!

@t-c - It is strange that you do not hear the sound signal. Apparently, everyone else has it, but for some reason, you do not. I cannot say for sure. Thank you for your feedback.

@hotcoffee - Thank you for your feedback. In update 0.4.2, more light sources were added in large spaces, so it is now harder to get lost there.

Sincerely, DmitriyCI - Programmer
korzhik
Apr 23rd · 20:10 UTC
I liked it. Honestly, I have a really strong fear of deep water, so this game is my kryptonite. You managed to make me feel genuinely uncomfortable. Controls feel good, navigation is smooth. The signal comes through clearly underwater. Good work.
Shram
Apr 24th · 20:07 UTC
Ну если суть вашей игры долго плыть до удильщика который вас конце съедает, то игра пройдена на все 100!
Scottyartt
Apr 27th · 09:47 UTC
difficult to say, it has very low perfomance on my pc and generally is kinda boring. But overall color grading and style is fine, need to polish it more a bit to make it more interesting
Roman Novikov
May 02nd · 16:45 UTC
Beautiful graphics, but the character controls are a bit uncomfortable. The atmosphere is great - it really gave me the creeps