Deep Hunter by Amaroq

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

An interactive novel about commanding a lone submarine on a quest for revenge.

PLAY HERE: https://ralphsothegarnier.itch.io/deep-hunter

HOW TO PLAY: 1. Click on the buttons in the 'Command Log' to select responses. 2. Click on the markers in the 'Navigation' window to move to a new scenario. You can only move to markers adjacent to where you are. 3. You have Hull Points, Fuel, Crew, and Ammo. If any of the first three points reaches 0, it's GAME OVER. If you run out of Ammo, then there may be fewer options available. Deep Hunter interative novel game screenshot 2.png

Ratings

Overall 791th 3.582⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Fun 832th 3.404⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 685th 3.406⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Theme 795th 3.734⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 984th 3.628⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Audio 552th 3.596⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1214th 2.295⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Mood 340th 3.958⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Given 55🗳️ 74🗨️

Feedback

guladam
27. Apr 2021 · 19:02 UTC
Wonderful game, congratulations. :wink: Being in the submarine giving orders while listening to the music felt a bit like playing Sunless Sea. The pixelart was great too and fitting to the atmosphere of the game. I can imagine myself playing more of this text- and choice-based adventure. :video_game:

The only thing I would change is the mission text display: Somehow the characters seemed a bit blurry to me and it was weird that it was varied in size.
LDJam user 237945
27. Apr 2021 · 19:13 UTC
Nice visuals and variety of choices. Art and audio is done very well! Felt like I was playing an old school PC quest game.
Sometimes I got stuck and didn't know how to continue or restart.
Drunk Wizard
27. Apr 2021 · 19:24 UTC
I really loved the art style, this sort of "analogue"? look is something I very much like and want to try myself someday :)

Now for the gameplay - It is a shame, there was the unused I think periscope window? I think I get the idea behind it with the civilian and kraken ship designs below it. I can only guess you ran out of time before implementing it. I've also found the events were very repetitive, someone may dislike it, but I think that randomizing the outcomes could be beneficial in this case. I found it hard to lose as the outcomes were pre-determined based on your choice, so after getting to know them, I just powered through based on what I needed.

I appreciate you added a background track as I dislike silent games and felt it was appropriate for the game mood.

One really not so nice bug for me was regarding the navigation blips, they were misaligned for me so I didn't know which two were neighboring. Two of the nodes (one of them was the final Kraken island node) were hidden in the white of the "navigation" text and I spotted them merely by chance.

Really liked the game overall, the mood of it, clear objective that was explained in-game and the graphics. It was on the easier side in terms of difficulty, but I liked the storied events and when I finally bombed Kraken island, I felt truly guilty :D good job! :)
Foursay
28. Apr 2021 · 11:42 UTC
THe art style looks so great! it reminds of one of the games I've played in this ludum dare that you act as a submarine and searching specific item in the ocean. The music appears suit the mood so well. Good Job!
AkioRed_
28. Apr 2021 · 11:57 UTC
Got some FTL vibes from this. Really like the twist(?) at the end. It's very short but what is there is compelling and intriguing. Good work.
Michael Harris
28. Apr 2021 · 12:30 UTC
Not a bad game. I like the UI and the general mood (art, audio) and some the scenarios were cool. With some work this could be a really cool game.

There were definitely some bugs though. A few times when I finished a scenario there would be no button to continue. Also I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be imagining things on my own but there were several things like "[Ship Image]" where it would ask me to guess the image and I couldn't because there was no image there. Also the text and some of the UI wasn't lining up properly. I'm guessing because I'm on a 1440p monitor:

![Capture.PNG](///raw/866/a3/z/4132c.png)

All that being said though, this was a good idea. I would think some more audio would help (like a button click sound). But with some work this could be something pretty fun. Overall good job :-)
thebmxeur
28. Apr 2021 · 12:30 UTC
I got a bit confused to why I lost, I think the end screen should give the reason of the failure. Maybe I ran out of fuel ?
m11
28. Apr 2021 · 16:29 UTC
Brilliant mood!
MaratG2
28. Apr 2021 · 16:37 UTC
It was interesting and fun to play. Music fits graphics, creating nice atmosphere. Personally I don't remember that sort of text quests with much UI, it also rises atmosphere. Thank you for the game!
WilhelmStein
28. Apr 2021 · 16:39 UTC
Great atmosphere. Loved the graphics. It felt rather short though and the UI was a bit hard to read.
Bastienre4
28. Apr 2021 · 16:42 UTC
Oh !
[Sans titre.png](///raw/186/f/z/4149b.png)

I have a 21:9 1440p screen and it seem I can't play the game :'(

I launched it on a 16:9 1440p and it also seem to have issues (as stated by @michael-harris) but this time I can play.

Amazing entry. My kind of game.
It lacks a little bit of content but hey, it's a jam after all.
The graphics are awesome and the gameplay mechanic is really great.

Good job.
Duck Reaction
28. Apr 2021 · 16:49 UTC
The retro art is very nice. It's pretty immersive for a text based game. It's seems difficult to create complexe scenarios during a game jam.

Good job.
damagefilter
28. Apr 2021 · 19:42 UTC
This is really a fantastic game. That which is in the game, feels very polished (I did play the jam version, of course) and keeps you engaged with the options at hand. The music fits very well too. I'll try the post jam version later for sure.
Tomtomgome
28. Apr 2021 · 19:58 UTC
I didn't feel like I was going deeper, but I was deep into the game. I got carried away with the story as the minimalistic art and music makes it immersive
JoeDev
28. Apr 2021 · 23:10 UTC
Even though this was quite short, I found myself very immersed in the story and thinking deeply about the choices I made. A cool self-contained story, and I want to know what happens next with my newfound alliance. Mood is great and the art style is unique and well defined :)
Legolula
29. Apr 2021 · 12:00 UTC
Really great entry, the story was well written and immersive, and the random maps were a nice touch. Only problem I had was that the chromatic aberration effect prevented my from being able to read the text sometimes, especially in the end. I wouldn't remove it though, it really adds something to the game
LDJam user 235694
29. Apr 2021 · 12:43 UTC
Thats really nice art style, music its cool. Good work!
JustinMullin
30. Apr 2021 · 01:06 UTC
Super moody. I just love the music here, and it fits so well! I experienced a number of little visual bugs with text, but nothing that got in the way of the gameplay. I enjoyed exploring a bit and the writing drew me into the world. I especially loved realizing that this was a fictitious world towards the end, some cool worldbuilding there! Nice work!
OcO
30. Apr 2021 · 05:17 UTC
Cool interface, I enjoy the monitor-within-a-monitor system. Simple and straightforward but effective :)
Oune
30. Apr 2021 · 18:37 UTC
Great mood. The sound helps a lot to create it. The story is immersive but a little bit to predictable - at least with the choices I made - for my liking. Overall, it's a good game. Great job!
phil_lesnar
01. May 2021 · 05:21 UTC
Amazingly flushed out a game! I was wholly invested in the stories, and they fit the mood perfectly.
MrPouletBZH
01. May 2021 · 10:22 UTC
Great ride on the FTL style, good job! The user interface is well thinked and art directions looks really gorgeous. You did already a lot of improvement on the game since the end of the jam, and the V2 is an excellent improvement on what the game originaly looked like. I'll only point out that the visual effect around the screen (which I forgot how it's name :sweat_smile: ) can sometime be bothersome to read some text, as you can see on this screenshot (I don't recommand to delete it as it really add something to the mood of the game but just need a little rework).

Great job to you, a pretty good entry on the jam :D
![deephunter.png](///raw/03f/93/z/41e4a.png)
MasterProject
01. May 2021 · 15:53 UTC
I like its aesthetics and its theme, but I feel like priorities were a bit misplaced here. The choices weren't very engaging in my opinion and I didn't have enough context to care for the ending. It's still enjoyable though.
Leonardo Coyado
03. May 2021 · 17:19 UTC
Great work! Amazing art style