Deep Dive by mhorth

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

Pull off gravity-defying stunts, rack up trick combos, and stick the perfect landing. Just don’t dive too deep!

Helpful hints

  • Playable with keyboard or a controller.
  • The scoring system has ...depth.

Showcase

Jump.gif

Trick.gif

Entry.gif

Extra notes

  • There is a sandbox mode if you want to practice tricks without worrying about depth.
  • All 12 tricks in case you're too hyper-focused on the input prompts to fully enjoy them :wink: https://youtu.be/f-vGZSUyCTI

Ratings

Overall 368th 3.64⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 221th 3.7⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 407th 3.28⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 398th 3.76⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 458th 3.611⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 87th 3.88⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 548th 3.4⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

Lucas Verardino
08. Apr 2025 · 23:33 UTC
Very good use of the theme here! And I loved the FX on the camera to give the feeling of falling, had lots of fun, great submission!
EvilScotsman
08. Apr 2025 · 23:39 UTC
This is pretty fantastic, love all the animations and it's a real challenge to try and get the angle right. Well done!
isayneigh
08. Apr 2025 · 23:42 UTC
Great use of theme and addictive. I appreciated the humor in the game, it gave me a laugh. Only feedback i'd have is it was difficult to figure out what angle to dive at. Are there some depths where the angle doesn't matter if you happen to jump too high? Perhaps I just don't understand diving :joy:
Hru
08. Apr 2025 · 23:44 UTC
Thats fun! But it would be better if the "trick window" will be somewhere else, because its hard to look at hero and this panel at the same time(
🎤 mhorth
09. Apr 2025 · 02:19 UTC
@isayneigh you're very observant! The depth your character goes down to is based on both the jump height and the entry angle. Higher jump = go down farther, and a more vertical angle = go down farther. I thought it would make an interesting choice for players to prioritize safety vs. air time.
engoneer
09. Apr 2025 · 03:58 UTC
Awesome use of theme, I've seen a lot of jam games use combo of keys as a mechanic though.
LDJam user 399564
09. Apr 2025 · 03:58 UTC
i like the gameplay and vibe very much! Super fun game!
psychomonster
09. Apr 2025 · 13:02 UTC
It is a very cool game. I had fun testing it out and looking to the screen. I'm bad at playing such games, but I totally get the idea of it. Very nice.
Mateu
10. Apr 2025 · 03:41 UTC
I think this game was executed extremely well! Although the graphics are not the craziest thing in the world, the style works very well for the type of game you're going for. The stickman was a great choice, as it gives you a lot of freedom to make it expressive without having to try and make a complicated model. I loved way you got creative with the types of tricks you could do, and some of them were really fun to pull off. The sound effects were also a great addition, as they made the game even more humorous and light hearted.

I think the main issue I had with the game was the depth system. I think it came down to it not being super intuitive for which heights and angles would go to which depths. It kinda seemed like you would just have to memorize the optimal jump speed vs angle ratio for each pool height, which doesn't seem all that engaging. Perhaps if you showed the player's falling speed and angle in relation to the pool, it might be easier to make an intuitive guess as to where you're going to end up (depth wise). The other (not as problematic) thing was the fact that I couldn't really look at the player to see the tricks, because I had to keep my eyes focused on the button combos. One suggestion would be to place the combos around the player, that way you can see both at the same time?

Anyways, great job! This was definitely an ambitious project and I'm glad to see the vision come to reality!

(Below is my high score for the random pool depth. In this case the depth was no floor)

![Screenshot 2025-04-09 203358.png](///raw/bdc/f3/z/6bd7f.png)
Nobongo
10. Apr 2025 · 04:04 UTC
Really loved all the trick animations lmao
Trying to pull em off back to back was fun, I always had fun going for one of the longer combos when I was almost out of time to see if I could still squeeze it in.
LDJam user 301295
10. Apr 2025 · 09:24 UTC
Fun little game, can't think of much more to add other than a online leaderboard :D.
Out of curiousity, given the water depth, are there "guaranteed" death jump-heights? If so, it might be nice to mark those red or something. Good job! :D
Volkolak
10. Apr 2025 · 09:25 UTC
I had a blast! Money Maker is my favorite) I liked the attention to detail - different texts when landing flat and at a normal angle. Good job!
coyotethursday
11. Apr 2025 · 06:29 UTC
Really fun! The depth death mechanic caught me off guard on my first playthrough, I appreciated the 0 days since last accident sign.
Christian Zommerfelds
11. Apr 2025 · 06:49 UTC
Hehe, fun mini-game, but I didn't play for long since I didn't feel there was "depth" to explore. But it's very fitting to the theme :)

I used the PS DualSense controller, and for some reason the D-pad was entering input twice. Pressing X corresponded to down, and pressing down corresponded to down-down. Doing the tricks was fun. I wasn't sure what factors impact the depth you dive to.
🎤 mhorth
11. Apr 2025 · 14:43 UTC
Thanks for the detailed bug report @christian-zommerfelds! I wonder if the d-pad on that model acts more like an axis than a binary button. I did my game pad testing with a PS DualShock 4 and it was working nicely. If I had a DualSense, I’d happily dig into the issue and try to solve it. Happy you were still able to play!
Jake G
12. Apr 2025 · 05:07 UTC
This type of game is exactly why "mood" is an option in the ratings. This is such a good vibe of a game. I'd love if you made it into a web build. The camera movements, the overall endearing background scene, and of course the tricks and animations themselves. Also, really nice camera shake effect. Fantastic entry!
Emsea
12. Apr 2025 · 05:23 UTC
Lots of fun style with this game. Nice job!
ColeSlaughter
13. Apr 2025 · 01:05 UTC
[Thanks for submitting your game to stream!](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2430455310?t=03h51m08s)

So much personality from such simple visuals, it's honestly super impressive.

I also love how unique this feels as a concept, especially the "dive" multiplier rewarding risky gameplay :thumbsup:
atsh
13. Apr 2025 · 16:52 UTC
Incredible animations work! Really familar and fun gameplay
Pincushion
15. Apr 2025 · 12:15 UTC
This game oozes charm. It's so fun. The music and voice over are so upbeat. The animations are fun to watch, and it's great to see the trick chain at the end.

Setting the angle at the end felt a little out of place. It's a little memory game, a little guessing, but the rest of the game is skill-based (how many of moves can you execute in x time).
Thoastbot
21. Apr 2025 · 02:29 UTC
Simple but great - feels like one of those Stickfigure games! Those animations are soo good!
voidsrc
23. Apr 2025 · 11:41 UTC
I absolutely loved the voiceover when you pull off the hardest trick - it adds so much fun! The game overall is lighthearted and really entertaining, the kind of thing you can easily get lost in for hours :)
jefvel
26. Apr 2025 · 00:19 UTC
Fun game! Took me a while to understand I could control the guy once he hit the water (I think?), kept dying at first but managed to land a few jumps :)
Nice work!