haha 10/10 voice acting ! And named after a sweet movie! it was fun, your Voice acting or whomever it was made me play longer to find more INCREDIBLY SPECIMENS! p.s loved the fish with.. a dagger? SO AGRESSIVE xD

Really fun and cute game! The sound effects made me laugh.

Cool game :) Voice acting makes me smile. I managed to find 8 out of 10 "increible specimens" :)

Very funny game :)

Thanks @hotpaw @panacea and @oeschmid !!

@owca 8/10 is really good!!! The last two are the most difficult they require you to go "Deeper and deeper" :wink:

OHHH, ZE BEAUTIFUL FISHIE!

It's very difficult, but strangely satisfying. I love the concept and the voice samples brought a smile to my face. The BGM has a very "watery" feel to it, too. Well done!

Thanks @mduo13 !! I have a lot to learn about music composition (This was my first time trying). Used https://www.beepbox.co/ and was pressing boxes and was lucky to get a "watery" feeling out of it :smile:

Between the music and the voice acting, this is probably my favorite audio design in an entry. Great job!

I wish the rocks were more connected instead of just being squares with no outline. I also wish the submarine controlled a bit easier. Overall nice entry, the voice acting was a nice touch.

Thanks for playing @greg-the-egg & @billnotic

Glad you both liked the voice acting and audio.

Billnotic, you are right about the rocks are an area I cut corners on :slight_frown: The sub is acceleration-based and meant to be a bit hard to maneuver.

I like the concept, and the presentation is top-notch, but I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this one. It's just too difficult for me, between the tight time limits on O2 and the slow acceleration on movement.

Like others have said the audio is pretty great. Personally I found the controls to be a bit too sluggish and only managed to find 9/10 species. But overall, fun concept well executed!

The audio is awesome and I'm quite impressed that you polished the game so good that it is quite addictive to me.

One thing I would suggest is to not reset the oxygen bar after game over. For a jam this is "sooo aggressive", especially because it is so hard to turn around in this game :smile: Anyway, seeing the shark was worth the effort :relieved:

Great little exploration game, even though the sub was a little hard to control sice it doesn't stop immediately after you let go of the keys.

Also, do the fish in the shallow part of the sea resemble flappy birds or is it just me?

OH ZE AMAZING COLOZZ is exactly what I said when I started this game. The art is top notch, the sounds are really good and the music really fits the theme ! Nice voice acting as well ahaha it made it that much more fun. Maybe a minimap would have helped though so that you can explore a bit more step by step without getting lost too much.

Superb job man ! It really is a fun game

Thanks @piratehearts @sbug @oadt @phoenix-fireflower and @fdk !!


@sbug 9/10 so close!! There are two unique fish that only appear once (hopefully that doesn't make it too challenging)

@oadt that is a great Idea to not reset the oxygen bar I wish I had made that change. You found the :shark: that is one of the "Unique Specimens" :wink:

@phoenix-fireflower they do look like flappy bird :wink:

@fdk I had thought about a mini-map but wasn't sure if that would be too much hand holding, it would need to me a map that charted as you explored because I would not want to detract from the exploration aspect.

It was fun to discover the unique fish on each run. I'll echo the general comments of the controls being very difficult. I think you could keep the same feel by increasing the acceleration a lot but capping the max speed. I would often find I would miss something and it would take all my oxygen to turn around, go back and get it, and then go back to my original direction.

Also, a small thing, but instead of just saying X/10 species on the top you could put a graphic of each of the species you found. Like a little memento of your trip :smile:

@minibobbo I had thought about showing the "memento" for each unique species but thought it would use up too much view space, and I probably just got lazy. But, I agree, it would have been worth the extra effort.

Thanks for playing!!

Very cute game! I also loved the voice acting.

Well that was brilliant,
Eventually got all ten but choked before I got out :)

Thanks @truechips @judgeclark!

@judgeclark I think you are the first to comment that you got 10/10 (only wish you could have surfaced)

Cool game. It's really fun getting the hang of how the submarine handles and learning the map. I love the pixelart-style graphics, all the different fish look so cool, especially the shark B¬)

It'd be cool to have maybe a silhouette of each fish you need to find, when I had about 5 or 6 I kept forgetting which I'd already found. I love the peaceful music too.​

Thanks @extar

If I make a post-compo version I will definitely add something that better tracks the fish you have acquired :smile:

✔️ The voice acting was a nice touch.

✔️ I found the controls of the submarine unique. Powerful but difficult to master.

➖ The game was a bit too difficult, especially with having to restart every time you die.

Thanks @rngames

Yes, if I do a post-compo version I want have some way where the progress is not full lost, but I'm not sure the balance. I don't want the users to keep all their progress (o2 tanks and found fish), because then there is not incentive not to just go deep and die. I find the just making it to the surface in time an exciting feeling and my daughter cheers when I surface when the bar is red at the last moment.

What if the O2 tank capacity remains, but the fish found resets, is that still too aggressive?

Love the silly voice acting and the music : )

I'll echo what others have said though and admit it's a pretty tough game! My suggestion would be to make O2 tanks more plentiful, or reward more O2, one or the other would I think strike a good balance.

voice acting is really cool !

Hi, Cool game!
Would have like better if there was less velocity retained when you moved,
I found it somewhat hard to control.

Overall great game!

Thanks @oysuta @nyanpierre @nurav

Good feedback @oysuta there are actually a lot of O2 tanks if you explore all the areas enough to get anywhere you want, but I'm probably asking to much of players to discover them all.

@nurav Yup adding to the inertia would help with control, I wanted their to be some challenge, but maybe it was too much

@cary-stanley

I would maybe recommend adding a few more O2 tanks and check points. Also zooming out the camera could work because then the player could see where the O2 tanks are more easily. Or you could also have a small arrow pointing to the nearest O2.

I really appreciated the voice lines. The concept also fits the theme very well. Almost got to all the fishies, would be nice if the O2 tanks replenished more oxygen or if there were some underwater air vents that replenished oxygen without upgrading it, with how floaty the sub was I found it kind of hard to get to some of the fishes and oxygen tanks.

Thanks for playing @mactinite

Yup, the O2 only replenish a little they are meant to increase the capacity, so you still need to return to the surface but you can stay under longer going forward. I like the dynamic of the exploration and the race back to the surface for air. I hope to make adjustments to the game in a post-compo version that finds a better balance, but still holds to the core gameplay.

A very nice game, it took me 13:24 minutes to finish (after I ran out of air on my first attempt), the fish also had a nice design, and I loved the voice lines!
Overall, great entry!

Nice gamer. a little infuriation to play bc you HAVE to nail it or lese restart from 0

I love this game! High replayablility, because you can learn the layout of the cages, but still challenging enough so you dont finish too fast. I like the graphics and the audio! Well done!
On the other hand, the controls feel very hard due to the high inertia, but I guess that was intended!

PS: I managed to get all ten specimen and finish after 5:55min :smile:

Thanks @lymze @der-finski @jonas-michael !!

So glad to hear you were able to complete it @lymze & @jonas-michael !!!

@der-finski Yes, if I make a post-compo version I will probably better allow for continuation

Thanks everyone for your feedback!! I have learned a lot from you all.
I just pushed up a Post-Compo version of the game:

https://carystanley.itch.io/the-life-aquatic-post-compo

Changes Include:
* Changed the acceleration and drag on the Submarine @nurav
* Oxygen usage rate adjusted @mactinite @rngames @oysuta @piratehearts
* Change Fish occurrences @sbug @owca
* Fish tracking @extar @minibobbo
* Surfacing now acts as a checkpoint @der-finski @rngames @oadt

I think the changes are a huge improvement and hopefully make the game a lot more fun! :smile:

@cary-stanley
Glad to see it! :)

Cool little game! One thing I would add is texture to the water, so you get a sense of in which direction, and how fast you're going.

Thanks @fenderbate

It's true, determining how fast you are moving in this game is not very clear, especially when you don't have the rock texture in view.

this game was pretty fun! the voice acting was a nice touch, although after i stopped finding any fish on my 8th i started to miss it. some encouraging voice line would have been nice. i thought the "crash" sound effect was a little harsh and wish that it was easier to see the direction you were moving in (like if the camera panned to give you room in the direction you're moving in). nice job overall, had a good time playing this.

Thanks @fawnblue , the camera pan in the direction you are traveling is a good suggesting I will keep in mind for future games.

This game was meant to be a bit silly, it doesn't have a "health bar", and crashing doesn't have a lot of penalty, except slowing you down. My intent was for the player to kinda "bash" around, as they explore or rush to the surface for air.

My daughter really found it fun crashing around :)

8:06

I like how we have similar games, but yours is more fast-paced. The controls were hard, but it's nice that you're not punished much for hitting the walls. The game is nicely balanced, and the voice lines are funny. Good job!

Thanks @sheepolution !!

8:06 is a great score for exploring the map for the first time!!

As the developer I can't "unlearn" the map I created and play like a someone freshly exploring the map, so it makes me question how balanced it is

@cary-stanley Oh no 8:06 was my first succesful try. I died a bunch of times before that, so it was not my first time exploring the map.

Fun game. I finished it in 3:16 after my first attempt failed. It would be nice to have one or two more maps, or even some procedural generation.

Thanks @u-tsang-clan !!

Yes, this would be a good candidate for procedural generation. That would definitely increase the replayabilty. :grinning:

Beat it on my second try in 6:16. I love the calmness of the game with the funny looking fishes, the voice over commentary, the momentum on the movement, and the peaceful sound. I thought this all juxtaposed nicely with the oxygen constraint which would mean that sometimes you'd be rushing to the surface to refill your tanks.

If you decide to keep working on the game, I think it would very cool if the fish would react a little more to the submarine's presence.

@$162477 Thanks!!

Thanks for playing, and the kind works about the game

I like the idea of the fish being more responsive to you, I think that would be a great step towards increasing the immersion, and could also potentially increase the challenge if certain fish where faster / more evasive.

Very cute game, and amusing voice acting. :) Finding the tanks felt like trial and error to me. If I explored in one direction and didn't find one fast enough then I restart and try to remember not to explore in that direction again, which felt unfair.

Thanks for playing @game-endeavor !

Interesting that you found that to be the case, most "caves" in the deep if pursued deep enough yield a O2 tank, so I'm surprised that you had that experience. Did you explore deep enough or did you remain at the surface? Did you know you could resurface to refill your O2 tank?