The Depths by Hydrogen8

[raw]
made by Hydrogen8 for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

deeper<em>and</em>deeper<em>again p8</em>5.png It is said that those who seek the treasures of Atlantis, must first brave the terrors of the depths, and attain the riches of the sea.

This was our first Ludum Dare game!

Hydrogen-8 - Programming and SFX

JanuaryGray - Art and level design

Chris Gray - Music

Ratings

Overall 707th 3.632⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 624th 3.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1309th 2.921⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 166th 4.211⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 466th 4.053⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 374th 3.763⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 12🗳️ 5🗨️

Feedback

420blazeit
27. Apr 2021 · 00:54 UTC
I always love the Pico style. Very simple but very addictive. Great job!
breadstix
27. Apr 2021 · 01:05 UTC
I think this is a great little game. Plays flawlessly and its the perfect size for a gamejam. It's very satisfying to play. The only suggestion I would have is to either turn the music down by default or have a slider. I wanted to hear it but it was overbearing. Other than that I believe this is a fantastic game.
TheseusInABottle
27. Apr 2021 · 02:02 UTC
Pico-8 games always look good. I personally found the music to be a little bit loud but it wasn't that hard for me to turn it down on my end. I found the gameplay to be a little easy once I realized that I could mostly hang out on the left half of the screen but it wasn't game breaking or anything. Controls where a little slippery but then again I was underwater so I don't expect them to be perfect.
JanuaryGray
27. Apr 2021 · 15:18 UTC
@theseusinabottle @breadstix @420blazeit - thanks so much for the feedback! Much appreciated. We plan on coming back for the next jam, so always good to see how we can improve :)
Yamzho
30. Apr 2021 · 20:04 UTC
Great game ! The only issue I had was sharks popping without notice whilst I was on the left side of the screen. But overall, it was fun to play ! :)
pancelor
04. May 2021 · 15:43 UTC
nice! love seeing more pico-8 games :) I really like how the "get hurt" animation is just gasping in shock and losing air, instead of blood or something.
guladam
15. May 2021 · 19:53 UTC
A fun, awesome pico-8 entry, wonderful job! :v: :fish:

Things I enjoyed about it:
- Beautiful, charming pixel art
- Cool, relaxing music
- Simple, yet fun game mechanics, gameplay loop
- Random generated, endless gameplay

Some things to improve on:
- Maybe ditch the pearls as a scoring system. I would much prefer if you tracked the "deepness" in meters. It's simpler, easier to track and feels less random compared to the rarely and randomly spawned pearls.
- The control can feel a bit "drifty" at times. For a precision "platforming" game like this, smooth control is everything. :joystick:

Anyways, thanks for the experience, brilliant game! :smile:
Konect
18. May 2021 · 07:16 UTC
I enjoyed this game, good idea with the ocean ;)
SnowInfinity
18. May 2021 · 15:06 UTC
I made it to 13 pearls! This game was lovely; the music goes hard, the controls are satisfying to use, especially when sliding past a horde of jellyfish, and the graphics are super cute. Really neat idea and great execution.
JRevel
18. May 2021 · 15:13 UTC
That's a great first entry, well done ! everything feels quite polished, with some more level design features it could become a commercial game ! The music is fun, graphics are cute, and there is a cool retro vibe that work really well overall.
Here are the things I would change to make the game even more fun :
- adding more ways to score would be good, currently my best score is under 10, it does not really push you to replay more than once or twice.
- adding some variety on enemies could make the game a bit more challenging, currently I did not feel a lot in danger.
But that's only nitpicking, great job overall !
Moski
18. May 2021 · 15:18 UTC
A quick and cute Pico-8 entry!

![firefox_ziEf4bEtr4.png](///raw/519/z/428a4.png)

This one is a very straightforward game. Jump into the water, keep going down, avoid enemies, get treasure. Simple and to the point. While there seems to not be much to it when it comes to gameplay, it stills pops up with some great visuals for the engine and a very good tune (though I do feel it gets repetitive fast). Sure, there are always things that could be added to make it more engaging, but for gamejam purposes, this entry is solid. Good polish, responsive controls, and goes as long as the player can and feels like!

All things considered, It's a fun quick game worth giving a shot. Good job! :whale:
Ava Skoog
18. May 2021 · 15:33 UTC
I did it!! 💃

![Skjermbilde 2021-05-18 kl. 17.26.59-kopi 2.png](///raw/4c/z/428aa.png)

Always fun to see a Pico-8 game, they're so neat! This game is really nice, hope you get enough ratings in time!

Instruments chosen were just a bit sharp for my ears but the melody is great 😅 Graphics are very nice and the Pacman ghost jellyfish are so good 💜 Sound design choice to only have danger approach from the left going right so you didn't feel unfairly surprised at the edge, but I do wish they appeared pixel by pixel from the left too and didn't just pop in, that got me a few times haha 👀 The gameplay is simple but fun, I just went very long without a single clam/pearl sometimes. Well done!!
macaroni.dev
18. May 2021 · 15:38 UTC
Great bright color palette. Sometimes Pico games go too limited. But this game had graphics in spades.
Squerf
18. May 2021 · 15:51 UTC
Nice! I didn't make it to Atlantis in the time I had but I got 7 pearls before I died. I like the sense of panic that the mechanics incude as you slowly run out of oxygen and know you have to go fast. I found the horizontal movement to be a little too loose and it was really easy to get out of control, especially when jumping off a platform but I guess that's part of the danger ;)
LDJam user 249050
18. May 2021 · 17:21 UTC
Great feel with thematic visuals and a good background tune. Every living thing underwater is cute. I would've liked some effect sounds for more feedback when getting a pearl, air bubble, or receiving damage. Not knowing how many pearls I got on my best run bugged me a bit, that'd be nice in the end screen.

Gameplay works nice enough, movement is a bit loose but understandable for underwater reasons. Enemies spawning on side of the screen snipe you a bit unfairly sometimes.

Oxygen loss particle effect is gorgeous.