Sinking Feeling by skiddings

made by skiddings for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

Go down fighting!

Captain! The reactor has been damaged and we're taking on water.

The pumps are keeping the water at bay for now but if we push the reactor any harder it could go into meltdown!

We've started repairs but they will take some time. God help us!

You're charged with keeping the stricken submarine alive long enough to make the repairs . You have to navigate the maze of sea mines and defeat enemy submarines.

You'll have to balance the limited power to the sub systems.

The pumps are nearly maxed up just keeping the ship level in the water - you can push them harder to raise up slowly but it could send the reactor into meltdown and kill everyone on board.

Or you can redirect the power to other subsystems and slowly sink deeper.

Controls

A & D for left and right

Subsystems

Pumps - Press W to increase, S to Decrease. Decrease power to sink faster but the ship will start to flood.

Engines - U & J - At high levels it will charge a boost you can activate by pressing 0

Weapons - K & I

Lights - P & ;

Life support - O & L - Oxygen will last a little while even when turned off.

Repairs - R & F - Increase power will fix the ship faster and regenerate health

Weapons

Level 1: 1 x Basic torpedo - Press 1 to fire

Level 2: 2 x Advanced torpedoes - Press 1 & 2 to fire, press again to remote detonate

No audio

Programming, art and design by Skiddings

Art by Thingus

Sinking Feeling Screenshot 2021.04.27 - 23.03.10.16 resize.png

Windows	https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cJWg7xp8Z9fE9oPFlb7jeF_xsOQtFafg/view?usp=sharing
HTML Web	https://simmer.io/@Skiddings/~cb3ee63b-4fe0-df58-ee95-609f27afbd89
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/sinking-feeling

Ratings

Overall	1452^th	3.2⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Fun	1465^th	2.95⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	578^th	3.5⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Theme	446^th	3.975⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	661^th	3.875⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Humor	1145^th	2.382⭐	19🧑‍⚖️
Mood	663^th	3.675⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Given		22🗳️	12🗨️

Feedback

PBG

28. Apr 2021 · 12:26 UTC

I love the idea, and the game looks great, but I struggled a little to understand what is going on. Even so, it's a great looking game, and I did enjoy playing with all of the switches and buttons. It was cool to turn on the lights and see everything around the sub. Nice job!

Dyp54

29. Apr 2021 · 21:24 UTC

Cool game :o

heidelbert

29. Apr 2021 · 21:24 UTC

The game looks really nice but I have to admit, I have no idea what to do. I figured out how to dive but all the other keys, wow. If I had one recommendation it would be to simplify dramatically next time. It's also quite late already here so maybe I'm just tired :-D

IcyySilver

29. Apr 2021 · 21:26 UTC

Very pretty game, fits well with the theme. I did have trouble figuring out the controls and all the information on the screen was a bit intimidating. I think with a little bit more work this game will be amazing!

csLupius

29. Apr 2021 · 21:30 UTC

Controlls are dificult to get used to but manageble in the end. Fun

Pilarius

29. Apr 2021 · 22:47 UTC

the game looks promising, but as others stated i didn't quite get what was happening. In my opinion an ingame tutorial of some kind introducing the different systems would be helpful as well as some visuell or sound feedback whenever I change a system.
But overall i think there are a lot of systems and art in such a short amount of time. Keep it up :)

LRVStudios

29. Apr 2021 · 23:11 UTC

Great ideia, graphichs and mechanics. Actually, i found almost everything in this game exceptional...but i see the same problems that i had in my own game, and i'm doing my best to manage that:

Too much information plus the lack of a simpler hud = a confusing game.

Believe me, i can imagine the amount of heart you put in it, and as i say, the ideia is great! Just make it simpler for the player that the game is gonna became outstanding. Another thing tha might give some weigth it's a nice soundtrack.

I will be expecting ansiously for an update. My best regards!

egercreator

30. Apr 2021 · 07:39 UTC

Very good idia and mechanics, but not every of theam are really clear( I think you should do the fuul presentation of your game! Anyway, great job! Good luck!

MYline media

30. Apr 2021 · 07:44 UTC

Really cool game!

Tiseno

30. Apr 2021 · 19:35 UTC

I love the "systems" aspect of the game, really creative and great potential. When you got the hang of the different systems it was awesome to play piano and switching all systems on and off. I the idea of systems simulators for this reason and this had the perfect number of systems and interactions. Cool graphics as well!

I only had some problems that are not related to the actual gameplay, so bear with me:

1. I did not understand the progression of the game, or why I would move around and risk dying instead of just staying still and repairing and then I had no indication that the repairs actually was doing anything. Maybe some objectives like finding missing parts or survivors or something else in the deep would make the objective more logical.

2. I had no reason to go "Deeper" and no reason to not go to the surface to not drown (makes sense to go upwards if the sub is broken). Depth 0 was not on the surface :P

3. What does having your systems at -1 mean? Did not make much sense to me, would it not make more sense to just up all the scales by one?

4. ";" did not work as a hotkey for me, I don't know if it has anything to do with my nordic/german keyboard layout.

5. Missing some sounds

The gameplay was really awesome though. Really enjoyed this one, good job!

ComicSans

03. May 2021 · 00:03 UTC

Love the graphics and mood! The reactor/o2/flooding indicators are very subtle. Even when looking at them, it can be hard to tell the level. It's a place where sounds would really help.

I wish there was a reason to go down! If so, I would have played a lot longer.

According to the instructions, pressing 1&2 launches an advanced missle. In my experience, it just kills you. :wink:

Nice work! A great entry.

onedozenbagels

03. May 2021 · 10:58 UTC

Took a little while to get a hang of the controls and read the dials but after after dying a few times I was able to avoid and/or shoot the objects in the deep well enough while I sank. Progressively introducing the controls or providing more feedback (like sounds) to make it clear what was happening (easy to miss what was going on in the dials) would be helpful. After learning the controls it was fun to drive the sub around, had there been a clear objective would have kept playing much longer.

Embedder72

03. May 2021 · 14:35 UTC

I liked this game. The physics was spot on meaning that turning, surfacing and diving where challenging enough that it was hard but fun. I think there is quite a bit to build on here and look forward to future missions.

megalukes

06. May 2021 · 00:27 UTC

Cool and interesting games. It took me a while to understand those controls but after that I could survive for a while at least :D

Manan

06. May 2021 · 00:27 UTC

I liked the mood of the game. I found the controls slow and the game seemed a bit too complex. I was also unsure of how to beat the game. Still, I enjoyed shooting the mines and liked the camera shake effect.

frompdx

06. May 2021 · 00:32 UTC

I think this game has a ton of potential. The lighting effects are great. The enemies aren't much of a threat though, but the mines are tricky to navigate so there's some challenge there. The controls are tricky. I think some audio or visual feedback might help there.

CG_Fred

06. May 2021 · 20:38 UTC

I liked the game concept and the graphics. Light effects are super nice but the controls was a bit sluggish for me like others mentioned. Good game though!

tkers

07. May 2021 · 00:40 UTC

On first glance I expected something very simple, but this is actually super deep! The amount of systems to manage feels a little overwhelming at first though, but I can imagine some small enhancements in visualisation and controls could help with that :) Overall really cool game!