F.R.I.E.N.D. by Jake White

made by Jake White for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

F.R.I.E.N.D is an underwater exploration game where you catalogue fish and upgrade your F.R.I.E.N.D. (Friendly Remote Investigative Environment Navigation Device) to explore deeper and deeper into the ocean.

Goal: Bring resources back to the girl on the dock to add it to your collection. Then upgrade your robot when upgrades become available to explore further! Scan fish and find crystals to add them to your collection.

image<em>005</em>0000.jpg

CONTROLS:

WASD: Move
Space/Shift: Up/Down
Mouse: Look
Right-click: Magnet
Left click: Pull object
Scrollwheel: Change camera distance
Scrollwheel or 1-5 (with arm extended): Swap items/hotbar slots
C (Hold): Scan mode
E: Interact

image<em>006</em>0000.jpg

Note: we fixed the following post-jam:

A couple hours after submission we fixed a game-breaking WebGL-exclusive bug where objects would fall through the floor by implementing a kill plane. WebGL should be perfectly playable now however Windows is probably the best experience.

Fixed a Windows-exclusive cursor visibility bug

Link	https://rngpartygames.itch.io/friend
Link	https://rngpartygames.itch.io/friend
Link	https://github.com/jake-white/Ludum-Dare-48
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/f-r-i-e-n-d

Ratings

Overall	383^th	3.842⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Fun	1030^th	3.263⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	1051^th	3.105⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Theme	531^th	3.921⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	294^th	4.237⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Audio	374^th	3.763⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Humor	1070^th	2.471⭐	19🧑‍⚖️
Mood	183^th	4.158⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Given		18🗳️	17🗨️

Feedback

DevParty

27. Apr 2021 · 19:55 UTC

Nice game! How did you make this kind of GFX quality in just 48 hours? Overall great entry.

🎤 Jake White

27. Apr 2021 · 20:07 UTC

Thanks! Our artist Ben has been practicing environment modeling/design recently so really we just got lucky. Effects wise it's mostly stock Unity effects that I've got very comfortable with over time like built-in fog and skyboxes. (Also it's a jam game so it did take all 72 hours, and I mean *all*)

Theg

27. Apr 2021 · 20:14 UTC

I like the atmosphere in this, really made exploration fun even if it could be a little tedious

Newrybenson

27. Apr 2021 · 20:19 UTC

Very nice game, it is incredible you made this in this little time! sometimes my magnet stops working tho, conrats anyway!

azagaya

27. Apr 2021 · 20:22 UTC

Great entry, a lot done in so little time! Great visuals! Congratulations!
P.D: Mouse sensibility was too high in my browser, idk if a settings problem on my end.

Aofekiko

27. Apr 2021 · 20:26 UTC

What a game! The world is very detailed and full of secrets, really makes the experience of exploring it a fun ride! The movement felt solid and the magnet was really well implemented. But maybe the fact that you only start with one inventory slot makes the game a bit too grindy for my taste. The art was also charming, mashing together pixle art and low poly 3D. Well done! I really enjoyed it.

iuunno

27. Apr 2021 · 22:16 UTC

Love the visuals! Amazing style, very nice lighting. When I noticed the water surface texture from below for the first time I thought how beautiful. The pacing is a bit slow for my personal taste. I wasnt sure how to use the storage upgrade or pick up/hold more than one item at a time. I realize you can return items to your friend on the dock but it could help to make that a little more clear.

🎤 Jake White

27. Apr 2021 · 22:44 UTC

Thanks! @iuunno once you upgrade the storage you can scroll using the mouse to the next slot while having your magnet deployed. Alternatively pressing 1-5 to swap slots works

ezgoodnight

28. Apr 2021 · 01:36 UTC

I really dig it. I think it has some issues, but there's a lot of fun little game here. The visuals and presentation are really fabulous. The camera is pretty hateful, however, and some of the mechanics are unintuitive. Nice little game, altogether. I want to revisit it and get further into it, and I think that's the mark of a good game.

Annie Owl

28. Apr 2021 · 22:43 UTC

The atmosphere of this game was nice and chill, I really liked that. Especially the relaxing BGM, that accompanied me on my underwater journey. I also loved checking out different fishes, swimming in the depth.

However, the resource gathering part of the game seemed very tiring for me. Your inventory is too small, and every upgrade gives you too little progress. The whole progression system turns into a grind pretty quickly, and it does not feel good. Thankfully that's not a very big problem and can be easily solved with some postjam balancing :slight_smile:

cvetk0

29. Apr 2021 · 05:52 UTC

I like the idea and the atmosphere of the game. Pretty visuals and relaxing music which fits great. It was a bit hard for me to efficiently navigate around and pick up the items from the bottom. I think it would be good if you could start with more than just one inventory slot, to make the progression a bit faster and require less back and forth movement between the girl and the items. Also it might be good if it was possible to move level in relation to the surface while the camera is kind of angled towards the bottom. This would make it easier to see where the items are without requiring to submerge the camera.
Keep up the good work!

🎤 Jake White

29. Apr 2021 · 06:03 UTC

@cvetk0 Thanks! It is possible to strafe up/down with Space and Shift.

steinuil

29. Apr 2021 · 14:30 UTC

I liked the exploration and the atmosphere a lot. Nice japanese inspiration with the torii and the vending machines and all that :) I did feel it was a bit grindy and I also couldn't find the last chip needed for the last antenna upgrade anywhere so I couldn't explore the last few areas... But other than that, really solid game! Great job!

Alina Baybulatova

30. Apr 2021 · 03:03 UTC

Omg. Soo beautiful graphic! Awesomeness! I really have fun to play this game! Thank you) Great job!

Maraz

30. Apr 2021 · 11:10 UTC

wonderful game. Graphic,audio and mood are fantastic. Gamplay is realy relaxing

Ava Skoog

02. May 2021 · 16:53 UTC

F.R.I.E.N.D. is so cute! 💜 Really good atmosphere in this, sounds and looks and feels nice. Just had some trouble understanding how to play, was unsure in the start whether a resource actually got picked up or I dropped it on the ground again, and sometimes I didn't seem to be able to pick them up at all. ☹️Some more feedback there, and when you deliver them, would be great. The scanner and the "low signal" effects looked great but their similarity also confused me and made me think I was stuck in scanner mode. 😅 The speech bubbles changing to keep me on track was really helpful. The gameplay loop is good, finding stuff nearby first to upgrade yourself and go deeper and deeper, good use of the theme and good in itself! 🤩 Finding all the sea creatures as an extra goal on top of that is neat! 🐠

VixenMink

06. May 2021 · 00:45 UTC

I really thought this game was awesome. It took me a bit to figure out what I was supposed to do with the ore once I picked it up but after I talked to the girl again it was a little easier. I ended up dumping all of my ore on the floor a couple more times for learning controls. Is there a way to recover the dropped harvested ore?