LudumData

Dark Depths by buckmeister

[raw]
made by buckmeister for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

https://youtu.be/ybLbISHkW2Y?si=TpX7d1Kw7lfU0dy7

In Dark Depths, you play as Dr. Elias Voss, a renegade oceanographer on a desperate mission to uncover the fate of his missing sister and expose a secret buried beneath the waves. Piloting your custom-built deep-sea submarine, you'll explore uncharted trenches, decipher alien symbols, and piece together a conspiracy hidden by the world's most powerful governments.

What begins as a research dive turns into a desperate race against time as you enter the Mid-Atlantic Exclusion Zone—a region abandoned, classified, and silenced. Shadowed by hostile submarines and haunted by strange signals, you must navigate vast underwater landscapes, outmaneuver covert Blackwave patrols, and survive the pull of a force older than humanity itself.

As the mystery deepens, you’ll discover audio logs, encrypted messages, and forbidden ruins pointing to a terrible truth: something is waking up beneath the ocean floor… and it remembers us.

Control the Submarine with:

  • WASD - move forward/backwards and strafe
  • Q/E - roll
  • Ctrl/Space - descend/ascend
  • Left Mouse Button - shoot at the locked target (only if a target is locked!)
  • Middle Mouse Button - activate onboard scanner

Hint: While scanning, observe your compass and pay close attention to Log Books you find!

Link https://github.com/cogwerkz/ldjam57-depths
Link https://cogwerkz.github.io/ldjam57-depths/
Link https://studioadriatic.itch.io/dark-depths
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/dark-depths

Ratings

Overall 314th 3.706⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Fun 430th 3.395⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 419th 3.27⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Theme 106th 4.214⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Mood 131th 4.056⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Given 69🗳️ 103🗨️

Feedback

Aynu
08. Apr 2025 · 17:41 UTC
Nice ge very nice love the artwork!
UniOwl
08. Apr 2025 · 17:48 UTC
I really liked how scanning looks. Also, minor details like bubbles and fish are cool.

I did not got what I have to do at first. After stranding for a while I noticed "?" on radar, and after that I found all the items pretty quickly.

As for technical problems I stumbled upon, for some reason, game was a little bit laggy sometimes and when I accidentally switched tabs, my mouse did not disappeared when I returned so ship controls were a bit restricted. I fixed it when opened and closed upgrade window.

Not bad though! Don't forget to rate others people games if you want to get more ratings from other people
LDJam user 179298
08. Apr 2025 · 17:53 UTC
The atmosphere and environment really sell the deep depths vibe but the game could do with a tutorial.
Pythorogus
08. Apr 2025 · 17:57 UTC
Pretty cool !
Kseon
08. Apr 2025 · 18:40 UTC
the atmosphere is cool, but for some reason this game took the longest to load for me
Kristijan
08. Apr 2025 · 19:03 UTC
@kseon Hey, thanks for checking it out! 😊 The game’s around 20MB, so that might explain the longer load time. Glad you liked the atmosphere though—that means a lot!
detectiveLosos
08. Apr 2025 · 20:57 UTC
Very atmospheric game. With the visuals and the heftiness of the controls it really felt like navigating the deep ocean in a heavy submarine. It was a bit difficult to read the log entries because of some font aliasing issues. And I also didn't quite get the purpose of the upgrade menu, the submarine seemed quite capable even without any upgrades.
I did enjoy playing through the game, scouting the depths for all the logs and wining the final torpedo combat.
🎤 buckmeister
08. Apr 2025 · 21:05 UTC
Thank you for your feedback @detectivelosos! We were really tight with time so upgrades and balancing lacks a lot of polish.
Dominic Graziano
08. Apr 2025 · 21:06 UTC
I really enjoyed exploring around pinging for items to pick up. combat was simple as well. especially enjoyed that you can roll your orientation, nice touch!
Mesaying
08. Apr 2025 · 21:37 UTC
Insane graphics and polish for 72 hours. Had some minor performance issues. Great game!
Zaubergurke
08. Apr 2025 · 21:43 UTC
simply insane
yvaine
08. Apr 2025 · 21:44 UTC
The art and visual effect is really nice! But I'm not sure if that's my computer's problem, when I play it on browser it sometimes stuck :cry:
LDJam user 298496
08. Apr 2025 · 21:48 UTC
Really cool atmosphere and nice intuitive controls. Great job!
Xeridian
08. Apr 2025 · 22:52 UTC
This was brilliant! Played it on my browser and the environment design was very immersive (and impressive!).
The submarine roll and the animation details were such a delight!

I died pretty quickly. So gonna give it a few more tries!
tinykidtoo
08. Apr 2025 · 22:58 UTC
Really awesome atmosphere and I like the vibe of the writing gels really well. I like how you give directions in each bit of text, but I found myself getting lost a lot and running out of fuel. I didnt get past the spiral gardens. Feel like it was building up to something. But I cant find where to go.
LDJam user 379026
08. Apr 2025 · 23:07 UTC
Love seeing another Submarine themed game, but would have liked a bit more guidance as the current game has a few sections that are not as on rails as I think it might need to be, A bit more world design could help keep the player on track and moving as it was easy to get lost. Great visual design and concept tho!
Pandalk
08. Apr 2025 · 23:29 UTC
Solid atmosphere, controls well too
I think I ran out of fuel? my submarine just stopped moving, maybe a lack of feedback on that
I tried getting more fuel but I could only find 2
NiceKot
09. Apr 2025 · 01:03 UTC
This is ultra-impressive! The best literal take on the theme I've seen yet. The game often crashes in browser though :(

Sonar animation is peak.

Also I got lost before the end. The log said to go to NE, but I reached the end of map and found nothing.

Anyway, huge win. Great stuff. Got some massive classic NOX vibes. Cheers.
pickens-inc
09. Apr 2025 · 03:27 UTC
Loved the game. I liked having to explore, the atmosphere is top, and it's always impressive seeing a bit of narrative woven into everything. Unfortunately I couldn't finish it because of some hardware issues I'm experiencing, and the game crashed (not you guys, my PC's issue), but once I've fixed it I'm curious to see how it ends.

I love the effect and feelign of doing the scanning, and all the visuals were just great. Combat felt a little odd to me, in that I wasn't sure how to avoid the neemies' attacks. I nthe end I foind it most effective to level speed and strength and just avoid them, get to the logbook, then flee until they lost aggro.

Really great entry, super impressed for three days.
ArenAvgust
09. Apr 2025 · 05:45 UTC
Visual so cool, love this game
RyuSoHyeong
09. Apr 2025 · 06:04 UTC
The visuals of the game are very nice and the interface is minimalistic which is very pleasing to my eyes. I would love to see the game continue to be developed and evolve! You guys are great!
Martta
09. Apr 2025 · 06:05 UTC
Wow, this is game is SUPER COOL! I am big fan of submarines and I just love this game. I think everything is on point. Maybe with some work this could be an actual game on Steam <3
ayuv
09. Apr 2025 · 06:26 UTC
The rolling mechanic is so addictive. It’s really impressive that you were able to build something this incredible in just 72 hours. The visuals are stunning, and the sound of the submarine is very satisfying to hear.
radiorat
09. Apr 2025 · 07:02 UTC
Very fun game, I enjoyed it!
3Deimos
09. Apr 2025 · 07:09 UTC
Very immersive and atmospheric:)
DeadCode
09. Apr 2025 · 07:19 UTC
Very atmospheric game and has a great mood! And I really like the scanning system. Great work!
GwendalG
09. Apr 2025 · 09:29 UTC
Cool game, the graphics are fine and the scan animation looks good. The gameplay was smooth and enjoyable. However I would have expected a submarine to be less easy to manipulate, and it would probably help improve the difficulty as it the game is quite easy on its current stage. Great job overall.
Soul Grinder
09. Apr 2025 · 10:40 UTC
Good job on the sub controls and also the murky atmosphere, just like the sea should be. I like the sonar feature and the story is quite cool too.
FoshChu
09. Apr 2025 · 11:42 UTC
Really nice art style and cool game <3
Slyz
09. Apr 2025 · 13:42 UTC
Nice art style and atmosphere ! Though I there were some little issues that altered the gameplay :/ Like the fact that you can't look behind you or that once you touch the ground your sub rotates and then the whole game is flipped and there is no way to get back.. But appart from that good game :)
GreenRadiation
09. Apr 2025 · 14:39 UTC
Such incredible graphics and immersion! It's done perfectly. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to figure out how to play, and that spoiled the experience a little. But otherwise, great job!
Vladimir ins
09. Apr 2025 · 16:13 UTC
Very pleasant gameplay
Maskrosen
09. Apr 2025 · 18:07 UTC
Really good looking game with nice controls. The atmosphere is really well done, it really feels like you are deep under water.
TomatoLamp
09. Apr 2025 · 18:12 UTC
Echoing what's already been said, it's fun and atmospheric with great presentation!

Bug report: the mouse sensitivity seemed to be read differently when going in and out of the upgrades menu. Before opening the menu, I was hardly able to turn at all and it would reset back to that state if I alt+tabbed to a different window.
nsadie
09. Apr 2025 · 19:40 UTC
The first time I played, I lost mouse control for some reason and was really confused on how to steer the ship, but luckily I tried again and it worked! Good atmosphere and nice fluid controls.
icks
09. Apr 2025 · 21:20 UTC
"Verify our range to target. One ping only."
Lukasplop
09. Apr 2025 · 21:23 UTC
I loved it ! The idea is really cool ! The movements are easy and fun. The atmosphere is well done.
Few issues with mouse cursor and SP disappearance but theses are only minor issues ! Well done ! :thumbsup:
Dmytro Zhukovetskyi
10. Apr 2025 · 00:15 UTC
Very cool and pleasant gameplay.
Love the direction indicator.
Web version lags a bit.
Alex Servirog
10. Apr 2025 · 00:46 UTC
I like when you are given the roll control weather it's needed or not =) It's amazing that stuff of such quality was made in 3 days
paulhocker
10. Apr 2025 · 02:39 UTC
the mood was great but i ran out of fuel and i really got twisted around -- i think i an going to try it again after i have played some other game -- thanks for making it
AdamG
10. Apr 2025 · 03:28 UTC
Pretty cool! The visuals and atmosphere are neat.
HDVR02
10. Apr 2025 · 21:39 UTC
Sonar animation is very beautiful, as well as the whole visuals in general, but the game is a little bit of nagging for me personally. But the game is very interesting and cool, good job!
toreskovic
10. Apr 2025 · 22:56 UTC
Great atmosphere. Loving the polish, for some reason especially the crosshair rotating and fading in/out.
shadow64
10. Apr 2025 · 23:09 UTC
A ton to explore and unpack here. Graphics were really nice - I love that sonar effect. Took me a bit to get a handle on the controls (and to notice they were right there in the corner). Loved grabbing bits of "Science" and the various lore pickups.

Got into combat pretty quickly and that was fun too!

Thanks for playing Deep Bat Rage and leaving some feedback! Congrats on finishing!
breadstick
11. Apr 2025 · 05:59 UTC
What an awesome little atmospheric horror game! Big Subnautica vibes mixed with something eldritch and horror-adjacent (not that Subnautica wasn't occasionally those things, too).

The sonar animation was great, the environment was suitably spooky and felt large. Really really impressive effort--especially given how brief the jam period was!
DurkaGames
11. Apr 2025 · 09:58 UTC
The atmosphere was cool!
LDJam user 399564
11. Apr 2025 · 12:08 UTC
I cant believe it's just a game for game jam, this is the coolest game i played this time ever, bring it to steam!
AldenWitt
11. Apr 2025 · 23:50 UTC
This is a fun, atmospheric game. I think it has a lot of potential.
The controls got a little glitchy for me, which hampered my ability to get too deep into the game. I liked the direction it was going though.
I think the background music could have built a little more - maybe some slow, ambient piano to give a melody?
I'd love to play this again after some polish.
Great job!
StupidHobbit
12. Apr 2025 · 06:01 UTC
Cool game. Seemed hard at first, but then I've realised, that you make upgrades
LDJam user 381180
12. Apr 2025 · 22:05 UTC
Great graphics, couldn't figure out what to do and the controls were a bit heavy for me, but awesome work on the underwater atmosphere! I liked the sonar animation.
Jimiasoph
12. Apr 2025 · 23:00 UTC
Interesting game! I did find myself getting lost quite easily, but the art was nicely done. I think the overall experience could be even better with a few more distinct interactive elements to help guide or engage the player.
BinaryPrinciple
13. Apr 2025 · 04:34 UTC
That sonar effect and audio are top notch! The graphics are great and the mood excellent. Really enjoyed my time with it. I like how you gather story bits.

My game is very similar, great minds think alike.
Mikeliosus
13. Apr 2025 · 12:22 UTC
It's so far on the path from the start to a finished game for such a small amount of time! Goood job!

I hope you will develop this even more, I loved this orgiginal controls with rotation and would love to play a full game.

I can even make a few comments as a player:
- Too much text, please reduce if possible
- Please use naming "Enter" button, not "Return". I had to browse this one, forgot about this name of this key :D
- The game was very laggy in browser

Anyway, you did AWESOME!
And I would love to know how to make such a cool water with range of vision :3
Kristijan
13. Apr 2025 · 16:13 UTC
@mikeliosus Thank you so much! Lucky for you, Dark Depths is open source :)
https://github.com/cogwerkz/ldjam57-depths
Egor Iv
15. Apr 2025 · 08:42 UTC
Atmospheric game
Agraffs
22. Apr 2025 · 17:10 UTC
Like the feel, the controls are really nice. I like the idea of being able to roll around to stabilised yourself. Just had some time to turn the camera around by moment, but still, nice entry. Gg !