Deeper Blue Sea by betovf

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

Try to survive by eating the rest of the fish.

ld48-sc2.png

Make them smaller by hitting them with your tail before trying to eat them (they can hit you as well).

Number of depth level indicates the strength (size) of your enemies.

Be careful! If you get in the way of a bigger fish you will get eaten!

Controls: - ARROWS to move around. - SPACEBAR to hit with your tail. - CONTROL to eat another fish.

Changelog: - Apr 29th, 2021: Fixed bug which made player block.

You can play post jam version here:

https://betovf.itch.io/deeper-blue-sea-post-ld48

Ratings

Overall 1770th 2.81⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1681th 2.69⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1545th 2.727⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1804th 2.575⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1555th 2.929⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 751th 2.882⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1683th 2.667⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 9🗨️

Feedback

hamzaplayssssssssss
26. Apr 2021 · 18:40 UTC
cool but it`s hard overall 4/5
Saussol
27. Apr 2021 · 12:21 UTC
good game !
Togis
28. Apr 2021 · 16:12 UTC
Hello @betovf

You suggested your game for our stream yesterday but I don't think you were able to see us live. I uploaded our gameplay test on youtube so you can see it: https://www.youtube.be/watch?v=KLwrzc7DkDo&t=9645s

We had a lot of issue to control the fish, I think it's because we had a xbox controller plugged in our computer.

Very cute game!
🎤 betovf
29. Apr 2021 · 08:10 UTC
Hi @togis,

Sorry to miss your live stream.

After watching your gameplay I found out it was really a bug. It is solved now.

Thank you so much for your feedback :smiley:

PD: you are both so nice and fun, I'll follow you on Youtube and Twitch :wink:
LDJam user 234807
30. Apr 2021 · 06:40 UTC
Cool game - I would like the hit box to be a bit bigger or the camera to move the one in the back was a bit tricky
🎤 betovf
30. Apr 2021 · 07:51 UTC
@collin-visser You're right about the camera, it would help indeed :sweat_smile: I've kept hitboxes quite small to balance difficulty but they could be adjusted by adding differents levels of difficulty as a game option.
Thanks for your feedback! :smiley:
Xeke-Death
30. Apr 2021 · 13:08 UTC
Very short, was expecting more levels.
Took a few tries to understand how to hit things, but once I smacked a fish, I nommed them all.
Good idea, execution isn't too bad. Got a Spore feel to it.
his-games
02. May 2021 · 17:21 UTC
Controls kinda wonkily, but I liked it nonetheless. A nice, short, fun experience, and a nice spin on the theme!
Nice Gear Games
04. May 2021 · 03:00 UTC
Cool idea for fish-eat-fish game. I would have liked it if you ate smaller fish automatically by just swimming into them rather than using Ctrl, since that made the controls kind of awkward. I'm also personally not a fan of tank controls, and would have preferred just moving in the direction of the arrow key you're pressing. The spin attack was a great idea. I like the claymation-looking 3D models of the fish. Great game!
Maytch
07. May 2021 · 12:56 UTC
Nice unique idea! I think creating a stronger visual effect on the depth would make it work really well (like a underwater fog), and possibly try changing the controls so that always go north east south west, and have the fish rotate to your movement direction. Apart from that good job, especially for a solo dev!
leadphalanx
08. May 2021 · 19:52 UTC
Neat idea. Controls a little wonky, but it all works which is the important thing.
JUSTCAMH
09. May 2021 · 01:33 UTC
Hey matey, thanks for submitting your game to the stream! I really enjoyed it, and I hope the feedback was helpful. Here's the vod if you wanna rewatch:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1015379431
Turkey
10. May 2021 · 12:55 UTC
Cool concept! Controls seemed a bit weird to get used to but, I feel like if the game hitboxes were a little more forgiving it'd be easier. Overall nice looking game!
VixenMink
11. May 2021 · 02:03 UTC
Controls made me feel like my fish had the heart of a truck but I like what you have going here
LDJam user 2331
11. May 2021 · 20:26 UTC
Cute little game! I think I had some bug where it felt like I was on a different layer from the other fish and couldn't interact with them- I refreshed the page and things worked after that and was able to beat it :) Like others have mentioned, it seemed a little hard to control. I think it's less the actual control of the fish and more that because the controls are relative to the direction the fish is facing, it would be a lot more intuitive having a camera right behind your fish, rotating along with it, as opposed to some top-down bird's eye view.
🎤 betovf
12. May 2021 · 11:09 UTC
@his-games @nice-gear-games @maytch @leadphalanx @turkey @vixenmink @meep

I've changed move controls in my post-jam version along with other visual improvements :smiley:

https://betovf.itch.io/deeper-blue-sea-post-ld48

Thank you all for your feedback!
🎤 betovf
12. May 2021 · 11:12 UTC
@maytch Thank you for suggesting adding some fog, it really works. I've also added it to my post-jam version of the game :wink:
🎤 betovf
12. May 2021 · 11:46 UTC
@justcamh Wow! Thank you so much for streaming my game and for your thorough feedback :smiley:

- About the lack of sounds: you're right, I ran out of time and could not add background music or effects. I've added a background bubble sound to my post-jam version.
- About hit and eat animations: I tried to adjust difficulty by slowing them down and preventing the player to move during them but you're right that it breaks a bit the flow.
- About the lack of depth: I've added some fog to my post-jam version but it still needs to separate the different levels of fish much more to really notice those which are beneath you.
- I'll try to add the particle effect for the tail hit movement, it's a great idea!

Btw, now you have one more follower on Twitch :wink: