{"author_link":"\/users\/xedur","author_name":"XeduR","author_uid":1165394,"comments":[{"id":1191395,"author_name":"JulienLussiez","author_uid":"julienlussiez","epoch":1776687311,"text":"I liked the mood and the visuals! ","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1191505,"author_name":"IndigoWolf","author_uid":"indigowolf","epoch":1776690406,"text":"Looks great and the concept is really fun, although I did struggle with the feel of the controls quite a bit. Great entry though.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1191852,"author_name":"Sam Horner","author_uid":"sam-horner","epoch":1776698216,"text":"Love the vibe. The visuals are beautiful. I found the movement controls strangs, I think a forward throttle and steering would have been more intuative, but thats a small issue. Nice work!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1192288,"author_name":"XeduR","author_uid":"xedur","epoch":1776705804,"text":"Thank you all for your feedback!\n\n@indigowolf, @sam-horner a few players have voiced feedback about the controls, so given that I still had almost 10 hours left before JAM submissions, I went ahead and updated the game to use tank controls. I think that's the better control scheme after all.","format":"md","likes":0,"spam":"N"},{"id":1192331,"author_name":"IndigoWolf","author_uid":"indigowolf","epoch":1776706523,"text":"@xedur Came back to play now you changed the controls. So much better, could definitely see myself playing a fleshed out version of this.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1192366,"author_name":"James_7777","author_uid":"james-7777","epoch":1776707138,"text":"Really nice graphics and concept! Super immersive. The submarine did feel a little bit slow though compared to the enemy ships. Overall nice work!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1193059,"author_name":"notime4games","author_uid":"notime4games","epoch":1776719850,"text":"This was super cool. Made me remember Silent Service for the NES.\nI finally sunk the carrier, but I feel I just got lucky with the spawn. But it was like my 20th attempt!! It was very hard. The enemy was really good at finding me, and once they did, I never got them off my back, and they didn't care about the obstacles :D\nSometimes I feel like the sonar didn't go off when I used it? Or it didn't work for obstacles? I collided once because of this.\nSeems to be something up with the green flashing monitor effect also, after playing a while it became very intense.\nOther than that - very solid entry! Enjoyed it a lot","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1194579,"author_name":"XeduR","author_uid":"xedur","epoch":1776744038,"text":"Thanks for the feedback everyone!\n\n@james-7777 That's by design to make the game a bit more challenging. Submarines are also quite a bit slower in real life than patrol boats and destroyers.\n\n@notime4games The sonar should always work, but it has a cooldown (visible in the lower right corner). The enemy ships are on the surface and sail over the obstacles. I figured it'd be easier that way and make the game a bit more difficult (as well as easier to program the AI. :sweat_smile:).","format":"md","likes":0,"spam":"N"},{"id":1194883,"author_name":"gil4","author_uid":"gil4","epoch":1776748313,"text":"Very thematic and immersive! Also challenging in a good way, had to go for quite a few tries before finally sinking the Red April, but it was never frustrating, only motivating me to get better (and maybe a bit luckier with the map placements, haha).","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1197148,"author_name":"mrchip","author_uid":"mrchip","epoch":1776774644,"text":"I want this in fullscreen :(\n\nYears ago, i tried making a platformer with a similar concept of echolocation\/blindness\/alerting enemies. It was terrible and half assed, literally the worst game i have ever made. So, seeing you execute that concept well is weirdly therapeutic.\n\nI found myself retrying an absurd amount of times, despite being miserably obliterated. Every death has a reason and feels fair. Navigating blindly is high risk and high reward. Game gud.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1197225,"author_name":"JHax","author_uid":"jhax","epoch":1776775321,"text":"Really cool atmosphere! I don't quite have the skills to sink the Red April, but quite pleased with myself for at least managing to land one hit on it :smile: ","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1199721,"author_name":"Tay Elenberg","author_uid":"tay-elenberg","epoch":1776793225,"text":"very cool concept! Good job","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1201779,"author_name":"5n4k3","author_uid":"5n4k3","epoch":1776809584,"text":"Cool graphics!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1204539,"author_name":"Tommo120","author_uid":"tommo120","epoch":1776857306,"text":"I really really REALLY tried but I find the game too difficult :(\n\nThe art, sounds and atmosphere are great though, and I really love the whole concept! It's quite tense trying to balance pinging to see your environment with sneaking through and avoiding the other subs. It's also a little frustrating that they can go right through obstacles.\n\nI would LOVE to see a polished and fleshed out version of this though, the core gameplay is awesome","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1211331,"author_name":"lduser125","author_uid":"lduser125","epoch":1777001117,"text":"Really liked the idea and it's fun to play, just wish there was a difficulty setting.  The sounds are very good and controls are smooth.  Fits so well with the theme and like the title too! :)","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1214141,"author_name":"FlameSeer","author_uid":"flameseer","epoch":1777115646,"text":"Aaah I was wondering when I'd see one like ours!! ^_^\nI quickly forgot which direction I was told to go in at the start so a reminder of that might be helpful.\nI worked it out, but initially had the same problem I ran into on ours where the camera follow makes it hard to tell if you're moving or not - a bit of easing on the follow sorts that out nicely though.\n\nAnd of course I highly approve of the use of the theme XD ","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1214162,"author_name":"ZedGame","author_uid":"zedgame","epoch":1777116324,"text":"Aiming felt a little unwieldly, but I enjoyed the concept! I liked the thrill of blindly navigating an area and waiting for foreign signals.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1214197,"author_name":"Shernik","author_uid":"shernik","epoch":1777117932,"text":"The game has a nice design, but I still haven't figured out what the enemy torpedoes are.\nThe turn for aiming is slow, which makes the enemy ships have time to sail away","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1214212,"author_name":"wo_ri_gou_le","author_uid":"wo-ri-gou-le","epoch":1777118590,"text":"This is brilliant, but also hard asf, I cannot do what I think in my mind, but I don't think that is game's issue, it is well made, good, but just hard. I can imagine the amount of tension and fun it offers if beat them all, but I just can't","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1214248,"author_name":"borjaparraga","author_uid":"borjaparraga","epoch":1777119752,"text":"We used a similar idea for our game, pretty good but you really need to try hard!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1215049,"author_name":"XeduR","author_uid":"xedur","epoch":1777152944,"text":"@shernik they don't have torpedoes. The enemy destroyers and patrol boats have depth charges.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1216258,"author_name":"LDJam user 371030","author_uid":"371030","epoch":1777217597,"text":"This is the most atmospheric entry that I have seen so far! Great job on the feeling of the submarine hunt!! The ref to the *Red October* I also very much like :). \n\nIt's a truly immersive game!!! Now, I wish the field was *less* busy, or that all submarines (yes, I thought all were submarines) would be... slower. Why? Because that would make dying a bit harder, which is very easy right now. It seems to me a problem of balancing. Another way to balance this would be to make cavities larger. Oooor... also add a minimap which holds the last-indicated position of anything detected (mostly ships but could work for terrain). \n\nI died 7 times, some of them quickly, and TBH it's a bit hard to try 8th time, regardless of the great *mood*! I also thoughts those are other submarines, *not* boats above water. Those depth charges... aargggh got busted more than a few times :D . Sometimes less is more.\n\nThanks for the entry! :) I love it anyways!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1216299,"author_name":"jordantanner","author_uid":"jordantanner","epoch":1777219287,"text":"Saw a screenshot of this on the blog and definitely had to try it!  Love the minimal, arcade-y aesthetic which you really nailed.  The sonar and depth charges vfx and sounds are great too.  Just enough to sell the idea.  Also, the title is a great reference to the classic Sean Connery film -- love it.\n\nGame design is very solid in my opinion!  However as others have noted, the game is quite difficult.  Here are some possible improvements one could make to make it a bit more smooth for the player and give them a fighting chance:\n- Perhaps make the depth charges from enemy ships less accurate, at least at first.  Maybe their accuracy increases slowly over number of sonar pings the player produces?\n- Could increase the armor \/ health of the player sub a bit, to allow them to take several hits before mission failed.  \n- Similarly, could allow bumping off of terrain and taking damage rather than instant death, similar to above.\n\nOverall, the retro vibe is really great and you have a solid design here. In my opinion, with a little bit more \"grace\" toward the player, the user experience could be taken to the next level.  Congrats on a great entry!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1218005,"author_name":"ikado","author_uid":"ikado","epoch":1777348056,"text":"loved it! i found it quite compelling to try again and again, despite the difficulty. i agree that a bit more grace through lives or hull health would add a lot to the experience as i did eventually give up on trying to sink the carrier.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1220667,"author_name":"ZMiner","author_uid":"zminer","epoch":1777728560,"text":"Really immersive atmosphere! I tried weighing down my spacebar to keep the sonar active for better sight, but it just made me a target and I died faster :)\nThe visual style gave me feeling for those old DVD games. I didn't manage to sink the carrier, but I had a blast playing.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1222781,"author_name":"TheSmellofOxygen","author_uid":"thesmellofoxygen","epoch":1778030884,"text":"The sonar, the scanline-monitor, the darkness and glow of targets--you nailed the submarine hunt. I love how everything looks and sounds. \n\nMany submariners were sent against the Red April, and many submariners perished in the depths. This is a hard game. The enemy is overwhelming. I think the physical obstacles that the enemy could move through really made it hard, because it forced the player to ping often and draw down the horde.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"}],"format":"md","images":["ld59\/wayback-placeholder.png"],"links":[{"url":"https:\/\/github.com\/XeduR\/Solar2D-Projects\/tree\/master\/Games\/The%20Hunt%20for%20Red%20April","text":"Link"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.xedur.com\/demo\/the-hunt-for-red-april\/","text":"Link"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"72994","g_author":"1165394","g_event":"LD59","g_eventkey":"113","g_subevent":"JAM","g_urlkey":"310031","g_title":"The Hunt for Red April","g_status":"WAYBACK","g_place":"182","g_commentcount":"26","g_site2_node_id":"427334","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":{"n_key":"427334","n_urlkey":"310031","n_parent":"424249","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/59\/the-hunt-for-red-april","n_slug":"the-hunt-for-red-april","n_type":"item","n_subtype":"game","n_subsubtype":"jam","n_author":"165394","n_created":"1776398677","n_modified":"1779479636","n_version":"1357716","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD59","removed_author":false},"_superparent":9,"_trust":6,"author":165394,"body":"**The Hunt for Red April** is a submarine stealth game built around a single tension: sonar is your only way to see, but every ping you send reveals your position to the enemy.\n\n![the-hunt-proto-6.gif](\/\/\/raw\/216\/82\/z\/7091f.gif)\n\nYou command a lone submarine hunting an aircraft carrier, the Red April, escorted by a fleet of destroyers and patrol boats. The ocean is pitch black. Destroyers patrol the map and when they detect you, they chase your predicted position and drop depth charges.\n\n**This game is played best with headphones** (and audio turned on).\n\nThis game was initially supposed to be a COMPO entry, but I realised that I couldn't produce the required quality sound effects by myself, so I pivoted to JAM and sourced the original audio files from Pixabay.\n\n## Objective\n\nNavigate by sonar. Sink the carrier. Evade enemy ships. Torpedo the carrier twice to win. Avoid depth charges, terrain collisions, and running out of torpedoes.\n\n## Controls\n- **W**\/**UP**: increase throttle.\n- **S**\/**DOWN**: decrease throttle.\n- **A**\/**LEFT**: turn left.\n- **D**\/**RIGHT**: turn right.\n- **SPACE**: emit a sonar ping (reveals terrain and ships, but also alerts nearby ships).\n- **SHIFT**\/**CTRL**: fire a torpedo.\n\n## HTML5 build\n\nThe game is playable over at my website (hosted over GitHub Pages). The game uses localStorage to remember your choice of having audio turned or off, so I couldn't upload it here. I'm also guessing ldjam.com will lag out of existence once the submission deadline approaches.\n\n## Update #1\n\nThere was almost 10 hours left before JAM submissions, so based on player feedback, I went ahead and updated the submarine to use tank controls. Now you control the throttle and turn using A\/D or LEFT\/RIGHT arrows. ","comments":26,"comments-timestamp":"2026-05-06T01:28:04Z","created":"2026-04-17T04:04:37Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"grade":{"grade-01":25,"grade-02":25,"grade-03":25,"grade-04":25,"grade-05":26,"grade-07":8,"grade-08":25},"id":427334,"love":0,"magic":{"cool":120.70433473509,"feedback":25,"given":27.5,"grade":26.5,"grade-01-average":3.913,"grade-01-result":182,"grade-02-average":3.63,"grade-02-result":263,"grade-03-average":3.87,"grade-03-result":125,"grade-04-average":4.283,"grade-04-result":102,"grade-05-average":3.896,"grade-05-result":348,"grade-07-average":1.917,"grade-08-average":4.152,"grade-08-result":127,"smart":1.8693206542875},"meta":{"allow-anonymous-comments":"1","author":[165394],"cover":"\/\/\/content\/216\/82\/z\/7091d.png","grade-06-out":"1","grade-07-out":"1","link-01":"https:\/\/github.com\/XeduR\/Solar2D-Projects\/tree\/master\/Games\/The%20Hunt%20for%20Red%20April","link-01-name":"","link-01-tag":[50],"link-02":"https:\/\/www.xedur.com\/demo\/the-hunt-for-red-april\/","link-02-name":"","link-02-tag":[42336]},"meta-timestamp":"2026-05-22T19:53:56Z","modified":"2026-05-22T19:53:56Z","name":"The Hunt for Red April","node-timestamp":"2026-04-20T17:19:46Z","parent":424249,"parents":[1,5,9,424249],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/59\/the-hunt-for-red-april","published":"2026-04-20T11:42:56Z","scope":"public","slug":"the-hunt-for-red-april","subsubtype":"jam","subtype":"game","type":"item","version":1357716},"text":"**The Hunt for Red April** is a submarine stealth game built around a single tension: sonar is your only way to see, but every ping you send reveals your position to the enemy.\n\n![the-hunt-proto-6.gif](\/\/\/raw\/216\/82\/z\/7091f.gif)\n\nYou command a lone submarine hunting an aircraft carrier, the Red April, escorted by a fleet of destroyers and patrol boats. The ocean is pitch black. Destroyers patrol the map and when they detect you, they chase your predicted position and drop depth charges.\n\n**This game is played best with headphones** (and audio turned on).\n\nThis game was initially supposed to be a COMPO entry, but I realised that I couldn't produce the required quality sound effects by myself, so I pivoted to JAM and sourced the original audio files from Pixabay.\n\n## Objective\n\nNavigate by sonar. Sink the carrier. Evade enemy ships. Torpedo the carrier twice to win. Avoid depth charges, terrain collisions, and running out of torpedoes.\n\n## Controls\n- **W**\/**UP**: increase throttle.\n- **S**\/**DOWN**: decrease throttle.\n- **A**\/**LEFT**: turn left.\n- **D**\/**RIGHT**: turn right.\n- **SPACE**: emit a sonar ping (reveals terrain and ships, but also alerts nearby ships).\n- **SHIFT**\/**CTRL**: fire a torpedo.\n\n## HTML5 build\n\nThe game is playable over at my website (hosted over GitHub Pages). The game uses localStorage to remember your choice of having audio turned or off, so I couldn't upload it here. I'm also guessing ldjam.com will lag out of existence once the submission deadline approaches.\n\n## Update #1\n\nThere was almost 10 hours left before JAM submissions, so based on player feedback, I went ahead and updated the submarine to use tank controls. Now you control the throttle and turn using A\/D or LEFT\/RIGHT arrows. 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