LudumData

Captured Tides by mechanicallife

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

Note We made a few bugfixes and performance improvements so that it could run on WEB. if you want to try the version that was at submission time you can download it from the link!

Intro

It’s been two weeks since you received a strange heavy package in the mail, it was very heavy for its small size. Shaking it to try to figure out what was inside was made very hard by the sheer weight of it and you were only rewarded by some rattling and beeping noise. The curiosity got the better of you and you opened the box. Inside was an old metal box, some sort of receiver based on the look of it. Inside there was also a small photograph of the machine with the display showing a strange signal, on the back of it was written in a small cramped text “Please find us, there is no time left and it will never stop”. Spurred on by this cryptic message you got to work on the old machine, after some tinkering and changing of some old capacitors you managed to get it working, and when the frequency lined up it started beeping. It is now today and somehow following this mysterious signal you wound up renting an old tugboat that had seen better days but the owner said it could take me out to where I knew I was needed.

Controls

  • Left mouse button Interact
  • Right mouse button to Disengage
  • WASD to Move the player and boat
  • Signal Scope A/D to change Wave length
  • Signal Scope W/S to change Wave Frequency
  • Signal Scope Q/E to change Wave Modulation
  • Anchor your boat by clicking the ladder when connected to land
  • When using any object, look at the bottom right of the screen for controls
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/captured-tides

Ratings

Overall 324th 3.717⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 517th 3.261⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 465th 3.326⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 317th 3.935⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 350th 3.891⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 326th 3.543⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 654th 1.853⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 53th 4.326⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 17🗳️ 21🗨️

Feedback

Oradimi
Apr 21st · 16:31 UTC
Got to the point where the green light lights up continuously as if I had reached the point I need to look for, but clicking the ladders seems to do nothing... I like the graphics and the fact you control a boat in the open sea though
🎤 mechanicallife
Apr 21st · 19:24 UTC
@oradim I hear you, it might not be super obvious how things work. but yeah, the ladder on the boat only works if you make landfall first!
Itisthelaw
Apr 22nd · 03:41 UTC
I played for around 30 minutes and visited three islands. I'm intrigued by the lore. I wanna open those doors! I honestly might come back to this at some point to see if I can figure out more, though the mechanics of the game were a bit of a hinderance... I probably spent 5 minutes just trying to get off the boat at the tree island (the "unstuck" button was useful more than once). I also wish the walking and boating speeds were faster, though if the boating speed was too fast I suppose it would defeat the purpose of the signals.

Anyway, a very impressive 3D world for the time we had. Good work!
nicardo
Apr 23rd · 20:39 UTC
Game is lagging
Xaklor
Apr 23rd · 20:57 UTC
probably the best game I've played so far (though there are so many games to rate still). I like the quiet, meditative chillness to it, and I think the game could be taken from good to great if expanded on in the future. I think the two biggest things I noticed are that the sound balance is a little off (the noise of the ship is so loud it drowns out the music and other sound effects) and that there aren't many activities to do on the ship while waiting to arrive at your destination. both of these are totally forgivable given the context, but I do think the game has potential if there was something to fidget with during long sea voyages, perhaps something involving decoding documents or fixing tools you find on the islands. the game has a little bit of jank but I think it all falls into the category of "forgivable jank"

an easy 5 stars for you, friend!
matt2728
Apr 24th · 23:50 UTC
This is my favorite game of the jam so far. You give some more feedback so the LD algorithm pushses this to more people! Great job! I get outer wilds vibes, I've been longing for a game like that for while.

Is there a way you could hint at the end without spoiling it? I'm unsure if I reached it, but think I may have. Is there any feedback to let me know the game is done?
🎤 mechanicallife
Apr 25th · 08:24 UTC
@matt2728 thank you much! Other wilds is for sure one of the main inspirations for the game. We'll make sure to review a few more games. I think it's not to much of a spoiler to say. The ending has to do with the big moon door on the first island, you can see credits at the end, though they could be easy to miss.
PanDuplan
Apr 25th · 12:53 UTC
Nice game, one of best so far. Probably because I'm into boat games like Dredge, lol. Took me some time to figure out that constant green signal is a way to go and was rewarded when that island appeard (with realistic effect of emerging above horizon). Great visuals!
3blackpixels
Apr 26th · 16:22 UTC
The first time I got stuck was when the traffic light turned completely green. That's when I realized I had to move on. I found the island and the notes. But I still don't know if I've reached the ending.
skiddings
Apr 27th · 21:26 UTC
Impressive amount of features for a game jam, boat controls, signal system, on land exploration, photo system(!). All very impressive, but I'm afraid to say after finding what I think was the main island and all the signals I wasn't able to reach any of the other islands, dispite going in the direction when the signal was fully green for several minutes.
Also some visual and audio bugs.
LDJam user 407703
Apr 28th · 13:55 UTC
Very cool and relaxing game! Great use of the theme. I really like the art style, especially the sky.

A bit more visual feedback would definitely help so the player knows when they can use the ladder and similar interactions. But I really like the game loop overall.

The boat reminded me of Jaws 😄 I hope you continue working on this project after the jam!
LDJam user 423693
Apr 28th · 21:15 UTC
Really relaxing and more than enjoyable.
We loved controlling the boat and the little pictures we can take are an awesome touch !
Loved the sensation when you reach an island, so satisfying! :)
Awesome work!
Scottyartt
Apr 29th · 07:34 UTC
An amazing mood in the game! I just felt inside and don't re,e,ber how time is gone. Music, atmosphere, boad, exploration, it is perfect.

Btw we have the same exploration game but on a wheels, would love if you can check it too!
CreeperXD
Apr 29th · 13:06 UTC
I reached the end! Hopefully the image actually loads...

![Screenshot 2026-04-29 203421.png](///raw/5c9/86/z/72ebe.png)

I really like all the puzzles in the game, even though some of them took frustratingly long to understand, I felt so satisfied after I figured out how they work.
!>Especially locating that "thing" that you need to circle around 3 times, which took me the longest.

My only complaint is that the ship is a little hard to control. Both throttling and turning feels like it takes forever to adjust to the level I intend to, which is especially prevalent when trying to dock.

Despite that, I spent hours on this game. Hopefully that is indicative of how much I enjoyed this game.
🎤 mechanicallife
Apr 29th · 19:37 UTC
@creeperxd super happy someone actually made it all the way! We did not think anyone would 😁 some of the puzzles ended up more obscure than we probably would have wanted. Thank you so much for playing!
GrayMansion
May 06th · 13:02 UTC
I dont think I really finished the game. I reached the island and now can get out of it because of invisible borders but even if I was able and dont really know what to do. Maybe it's too hard for me

Well, overall it's a decent game. Despite low quality graphics sometimes it still feels good. I like the sounds and music. Controls also feels good but it's a bit slow when walking