When the theme was announced, I froze for a second: "So… an underwater game? But who’s the protagonist? Who’s the enemy?"

📓 I started sketching ideas and drawing concepts by hand… Then it hit me: "What if coral reefs… but on LSD?" 🌈🐠

And just like that, the psychedelic fish was born — my very first in-game enemy. I hand-sketched the concept and used AI tools to shape the final result:

🎨 Enemy Creation Process

✏️ Hand-drawn sketch

🧠 Concept art generated with ChatGPT

🧱 3D model created via Meshy AI

🧼 Mesh cleaned + animated in Blender

🧩 Imported and implemented in Unity

🔫 Weapons I focused on making the torpedo feel satisfying, with blood and explosion effects. Also added an auto-rifle, switchable via mouse wheel. Bullet impacts still need work, but the core mechanics are solid.

🐠 Enemy Behavior All enemies are psychedelic fish 🐟

They spawn every 20 seconds

They chase the player using simple AI

Increasing numbers = increasing pressure

🌿 Procedural Decorations To avoid manually placing corals and plants, I built a procedural spawner that:

Randomizes size, rotation, and distance

Runs at runtime

Keeps each session visually unique and alive

🕹 Tech & Features Unity + C#

Character Controller

Weapon switching (mouse wheel)

Health system + player death

Simple UI (Canvas-based)

Custom enemy animation (first ever — made in Blender!)

🎞 Animation This was my first ever animation. Rigging the fish, animating it in Blender, exporting to Unity — then watching it swim toward the player... I literally thought:

"I actually made this. Holy crap!" 🙌

🔇 What About Sound? I’m a sound designer by profession, but... I ran out of time 😅 So, the jam version is silent. But don’t worry — The post-jam build will have:

Underwater ambiance

Enemy sounds

Weapon SFX

UI and hit feedback sounds

Already cooking up some juicy ideas 🧠🎧

💡 Fun Fact Back in Ludum Dare 41, I joined as a composer for a friend’s team. The track I wrote then was called… “Depth.” Now, years later, my first solo game drops — and the theme is “Depths.” Coincidence? I think not. 😄

🔚 Final Thoughts DepthsHouse is my first real step as a solo indie dev. Sure, it’s a bit rough, a little janky — but I loved making it.

If you play it, I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, suggestions, or bug reports.

Thanks for checking it out ❤️ See you at the next jam!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL74ohXo-Yg

I kept working on my very first Unity game — and it’s getting weirder and wilder! Now it’s even more fun to dive deep and fight off insane psychedelic fish in the abyss.

DepthHouse is a first-person shooter, where you play as a lone diver who dares to descend into the depths of a cursed place — a place where no ship has ever returned. They call it The House of Depths — home to deranged, bloodthirsty creatures lurking in the coral shadows.

🔫 Weapons System Overhaul You can now wield more than one weapon — and they’re deadly:

Pistol Precise, reliable, with crisp feedback and adjustable damage. A solid pick when you want control.

Shotgun Fires multiple projectiles at once, with a juicy spread and devastating close-range impact.

Weapon Switching Swap weapons on the fly with UI reacting dynamically. Each gun has its own icon, behavior, and HUD feedback.

All of this is powered by a modular system — new weapons are easy to add with just a few tweaks in the Inspector.

🐟 Enemy & Environment Interactions Enemies now actually bounce off coral and terrain (thanks to Mesh Colliders)

No more fish clipping through solid matter — they feel grounded, desperate, and dangerously alive

Player and enemy physics interact with the world in a tactile, juicy way

🪸 Coral System Upgrade Coral now spawns with randomized scale, rotation, and proper orientation

No more upside-down reefs!

Mesh Colliders are optimized for accurate collisions without hurting performance

👁 User Interface Touches Animated weapon icons and dynamic UI reactions to shooting and switching

Responsive crosshair with visual feedback

🐡 New (Very Spiky) Friend Appears There's a new character lurking in the depths — say hello to the pufferfish 🐡 Well... she’s not doing much yet. Just floating there ominously, animated and silently judging.

Yes — I animated her myself in Blender (again)! Right now, she’s passive, just... watching. But in future updates, she’ll become something special.

What exactly will she do? Let’s just say... she’s got a unique trick up her spines. But that’s a secret — for now.

💀 The Depth Calls 🧠 Can you survive when the fish can smell your presence… and their numbers never stop growing? They don’t get tired. They don’t hesitate. They’re like… well, fish in water.

🎮 The updated post-compo version of DepthHouse is available on the game page:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/depthshouse

I’d be super grateful if you give both versions a try — the original compo build and the updated one — and leave your feedback along with an honest rating for the prototype 🌊🐡

Every bit of input helps make the game better. Thanks for diving into the depths with me! 💙

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY5Apk2gi4U

The latest version of the build can be downloaded from the game page:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/depthshouse