Focal Depth by parkuhrmd
The depths of the Arronax Trench are home to the never before seen species of fish and crustaceans. For the advancement of science, you have been sent down into the depths to catalogue the marine life. With a camera in hand you find yourself at the bottom of the ocean. What will you find in the depths of the trench? And what happened to the previous expedition?
OBJECTIVE
Catalogue all species. Adjust the camera focus and shoot pictures. Connect the oxygen beacons to progress deeper into the trench.
CONTROLS
W,A,S,D - Walk
E - Interact with beacon
TAB - View Catalogue
LMB/RMB - Use Camera
Mouse Wheel/R/F - Adjust Focus
H - How to play
SCREENSHOTS
CREDITS
Created by Nils Foerster, Adrian Herbers, Patrick Herbers and Patrick Quiskamp. Featuring the original music of Dragona Mortoria! She composed the music for this game! Check her out on Spotify!
Programming by: NF, PH, PQ Design: NF, AH, PH, PQ Art: AH, PH Sounds: NF, PH Music: DM
Special thanks to Chrissi for the fish sprites!
Optimized Ropes And Cables Tool by GOGO GAGA
| Link | https://tosmaster.itch.io/focal-depth |
| Link | https://github.com/NilsFo/LD57 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/focal-depth |
Ratings
| Overall | 95th | 4.054⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 190th | 3.75⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 122th | 3.875⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 18th | 4.446⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 322th | 3.893⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 75th | 4.058⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 80th | 4.167⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 42🗳️ | 42🗨️ |
I got softlocked near the end because I took the hose out from the farthest beacon and couldn't get it off, so I couldn't continue on another path ^^'
A few things that could improve it:
- Changing the font is quick and easy, and can really make a game feel that much more polished
- The focus doesn't seem to work that "whale" when the fish is far away, and I couldn't understand how far my reach was exactly to take the pictures. It works perfectly for the closeups tho like the crab
- The popup text at the bottom should take the place of the previous one when spawned, otherwise you have to wait between each popup to know if you're successfuly taken the picture or not. It might sound small but it definitely adds up and ends up taking quite a chunk of the play time.
Great visuals and idea though :) the oxygen beacons and how you have to wait a little bit before continuing works really well with the fish-watching gameplay I really liked it
"Deep amnesiac" made me laugh.
Nonetheless it was an enjoyable game to play, I love the combination of the bright and varied sea life and the tension of travelling further and further away from safety. The photo camera was a nice way to give the player a reason to explore while progressing through the game too.
I would've loved to get some feedback from the camera while you're adjusting focus to know when you've got it right-- sometimes it felt like you had to take a photo before you could tell whether it was properly focused or not.
Overall loved your entry, great work to the whole team ^^
The art is wonderful. The fishes are recognizable and cute, the colors vibrant, and the helmet around the field of view is such a nice touch.
I struggled getting the focus right and sometimes couldn't figure out why it wasn't correct when the fish seemed good to me (probably too far away?). Some indication when it's right would've helped me.
I was also wondering: is there ever a downside to just immediately taking the oxygen hose with out? You don't have to connect it right away and you can still use the camera. Maybe there is something I was missing about that interaction. It felt like the picking up of the oxygen hose was an unnecessary extra step, because you should just always do it right away. It did feel more grounding that I had to remember to do it.
Wonderful entry.
would be nice to get more feedback on taking pictures e.g. too far away or already captured and reconfigure the controls (e.g. I kept trying to leave the camera mode with esc)
The depth of field can be a bit tricky to manage, and it's not always clear why the focus isn't in the right spot, but the mechanic itself is awesome. The menu with the collected species is also a great touch, I love the art in it.
Overall, it felt like this could be a full game, and it's well-polished. Great work!
Still, a great game! Congratulations on finishing it and adding so much content!
Also I totally thought I was going to get jumpscared in the end lol, thanks for not giving me a heart attack I guess.
I did feel like it was missing some kind of global objective — something on-screen to track your progress, like “2/10 photos taken” or anything along those lines.
The camera mechanic and your take on the theme as *depth of field* was a really cool twist, though!
This is one of my favourite entries, I love the overall vibes and finding all the fish! At first I was worried it would be spooky like subnautica, which could be a vibe but I like the chill! Well done!