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A jam submission

Arctic StaticView game page

Explore the depths of the Arctic collecting Static... but what lies at the bottom​?​
Submitted by luna-paradox (@luna_paradox_) — 22 minutes, 19 seconds before the deadline
Rated by 9 people so far
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Comments

Submitted(+1)

The idea is really good, and the atmosphere (especially with the sound design) is great. You could absolutely take this project further if you wanted to. My only issue was that it was a bit slow, and the end was kinda anti-climactic since I thought that I would actually make it to the bottom, and possibly encounter a sea monster. However, given the time constraint of jams, I absolutely understand not having that in the game. Great job!

Developer

It is a bit slow! I wanted to make it like atmospheric and heavy but I took it a bit too far and lacked play testing for obvious reasons so it was a bit TOO slow lmao

And yeah, I had high expectations for the ending but I could barely made it in time so that was what I could rush, progression in general was the most rushed part of the game by far. I wasn't planning a sea monster, but a sea entity with a bit of ominous dialog and a illustration, but so its life

Thanks for the feedback!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Yeah this is a good concept that you can go places with if you want.

If you do keep building to it, there should be something interesting to find at each new depth. It could be anything. Enemies, items, lore, different environment, whatever you're into. But that is what would keep players interested in going further down.

Developer

Yeah, the original concept was to "uncover the true reality of that place" to go with the Under the Surface theme, being more of a mystery game, but I ran out of time and had to rush the progression a lot after getting the main mechanics and presentation down. There was also a temperature mechanic with a heater and battery, sea currents and a turbo boost to push against it...

But yeah, the progression is the weakest part of the game because is the last thing I did, but so is the life of a jam game. I'll see if I polish this further, thanks for the feedback!

Submitted(+1)

Genuinely really good! the audio was pretty good and the ambiance was nice. The small passages were mildly annoying the navigate, and the fact that you can be damaged by moving at any speed against a wall was also quite a problem (i'd add a grace amount of speed so you don't take damage at very low speeds). other than that, good job, i loved this!

Developer(+1)

Yeah, I spent some time trying to find the balance between not so wide is trivial and not so narrow is annoying, I wanted to make a point of having to move really slowly and methodically to get through the more narrow caves but I agree it's annoying in retrospective lmao, specially since you can't rotate the submarine itself. I can see a future with caves that you can traverse at full speed if you know what you're doing...

Also the damage at low speed was left mostly because otherwise you could just avoid damage by going really slow, but that definitely could use some polishing and the reason is pure speculation. I remember making the hitbox of the submarine smaller that the submarine sprite to compensate though

Submitted(+1)

I had all the time the feeling that at any moment some scary monster would appear and swallow my little sub whole. Really enjoyed playing this!

Developer

I wanted to add some backgrounds at first but those moments where everything its pitch black and silent... very spooky

Submitted(+1)

Pretty sweet concept! I especially loved the details on the statues, super eerie stuff. Reminds me a bit of Subnautica! Was almost a bit disappointed that there was no deep sea monster jumpscare.

Developer

I'm a big fan of Subnautica in fact! Even though I haven't play almost no other submarine games, that one is very high on my list so I'm honored

And yeah, those statues are the things of nightmares indeed...

Submitted(+1)

Wow the atmosphere is so so good love it :)

Developer

Thanks! Free sound effects and Audacity, name a more iconic duo

Submitted(+1)

I love the sound design! The environment and atmosphere are really well done. I feel like you could add some sea creatures/monsters and make a neat horror game out of it. Overall nice job!

Developer

They could hide in the dark and be disturbed when you point the light at them or attack you if you fail to notice them... yeah, I see the vision

Submitted(+1)

I love the concept! The atmosphere and the unknown factor reminds me alot of Iron Lung

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

I need to get into all these submarine games, my only point of reference was Nauticrawl and Subnautica lmao