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Deep below: Chicken waits dreaming's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall fun and playability | #32 | 3.068 | 3.267 |
Ranked from 15 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Theme incorporation
Themes [Sinking Ship, Heist, Treasure hunting]:
Deep below, you have located a lost submarine filled with loot.
After breaching in, you have about 5 minutes to loot it and escape before it sink !
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Comments
This was a nice simple game to play, there is not much to the game but it works well with what it has to offer. The looting with the timer pressure was good
The art is nice for the game. I do think it could be better with some more audio to add to the feel of the game. Some splashing sounds would be nice as well.
Flashlight following the mouse was a good effect for the game. Lighting is not too dark but still dark enough to add an eerie feeling to it.
Good game, good work on it.
Interesting game! I included it in my compilation video series of all of the games from the Dungeon Crawler Jam.
This was a cool short entry, the themes were implemented very well, and I think you you did well making the looting feel pressured but not insanely stressful.
I do agree with other comments mentioning it would be nice if the air meter could refill if you reach a non-filled level though. Further forcing the player to decide between sticking down and searching for loot or going back up for air.
I though the turning speed could be bumped up a little bit, but overall movement felt good.
Also is the chicken idol randomly placed? I swear the first 3 times I played through I scoured the map and couldn't find it at all.
The audio and visual effects for the rising water were good, though personally I think a few more splashing/water rushing sounds would be nice. I thought the flashlight following cursor was an interesting idea too, I think it worked well. I especially liked the Quake-like sin wave effect for being underwater.
I thought the little alien creature in the main menu running across the screenw as funny too.
Overall I liked the core loop, and I liked the atmosphere and visuals.
Good job!
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback !
You're right, the chicken is placed randomly (among a predefined list, so it should always be reachable).
Definitely, the game lack polish on several points, but I'm glad the main loop clicked for you.
Cool little entry. I got like 90 something! Graphics and atmosphere were nice, the sinking ship theme was well done and it got pretty intense with the air running out.
Over all pretty simple, I was hoping to see the alien from the loading screen but never did! Could have added a nice extra element to the gameplay.
Recording here
Thanks for the recording!
Nice score, even without loot drop to regain your speed. I realize that the loot drop mechanic would be really meaningful over a longer time and in a larger level, but the game is too short for it to make a major difference.
There are no monsters. That was a lie the whole time! There was supposed to be an opening cinematic, and I used a monster from our dcjam2024 entry (Cosmic Dreadnought) as a placeholder. In the end, time constraints didn't allow us to do the cinematic, and I decided to leave the little monster where it was.
A nicely done game. The greed vs speed thing is an interesting idea, liked that a lot.
Some more water dripping/swishing sounds would certainly benefit the immersion.
Well done!
Thank you!
The sound is a bit lacking in its current state, I agree.
I like it. Very comprehensible risk-reward.
And I could see it having some sea legs with either additional Submarine Dungeons, or a system where you can buy better diving gear to go deeper on a subsequent run.
In my playthrough I have a little trouble figuring out how to leave. Maybe because the interaction cursor kept being obscured by the bright torch light.
Thanks for playing and for the video feedback :)
In fact, to leave the submarine, you have to click on the pictogram representing the exit while standing on an adjacent square. You can't interact with it if you're on the same square.
This can be confusing, so I've prepared an update that allows you to exit by moving to the exit square.
I agree with the idea of buying equipment between runs. It's a thought we had at the start of the jam, but we quickly put it aside to avoid work overload. It would definitely be a great thing to develop on a longer game.
A short but memorable game. I like the fact the player is forced to decide between loot or speed when visibly running out of time.
Thanks for playing and for your comment :)
Nice little gem!
I like that the game is simple but still challenging. It takes some time to figure out exactly what you are expected to complete before oxygen runs out. You also really feel a sense of greed in the game with a great execution.
I think it would be even more interesting if you could get up to a non filled level and regain the oxygen meter. This way you really could make trips down into the ship and gather treasures.
I think I laid an egg in the end...
Some more polish and touches to make it really awesome!
Good job!
Thank you very much!
I agree, more advanced oxygen management mechanisms could be interesting. I intend to experiment with this type of mechanism again in another (bigger scoped) project.
I played Barotrauma recently and was craving for a dc game which takes place in a submarine :D Excellent incorporation of the themes "Sinking Ship" and "Treasure Hunting". I love the idea and the back story. I especially loved the water flooding effect. The post processing effects/color filter when are under the water are very succesful, they are really good at selling that we are underwater. You even simulated the levitation force of the water, when you drop an item it starts to float towards the surface! xD
It's a very short but complete game with well executed ideas. I wish it was longer but making a game with a bigger scope and finishing it in 10 days is a impossibly difficult task especially depending on the developers' circumstances. So i think making a short but complete and not broken game with fun ideas is definitely an achievment. Nice work!
Thanks for playing and for the great comment!
I'm a beginner in game development (this is my second gamejam), and it's true that it's not easy to make a game quickly! My teammates and I had planned a longer game, but we had to reduce the scope a bit to manage to complete it.
I'm also pleased with the water effect. It wasn't very difficult to do, as I mainly used third party shaders. It did the job, but I really need to learn shader programming to be able to respond more precisely to my needs in the future.
I absolutely loved the vibe of this game! It had an incredible aesthetic and was the perfect length for a game jam entry. Thank you so much for making it!
If you would like to watch my playthrough, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q-icuLI6K8&t=11060s
Thanks for the playthrough and commentary. It's nice of you and helpful!
Watched Captain Coder playing your game. I am a big fan of underwater and submarine games (Subnautica, yeah!). Your game has a nice, convincing underwater atmosphere! Good job.
Thanks, it's appreciated :) .
Short but very well crafted game. Having a stressful timer with a movement that just gets more and more sluggish the greedier you become. That’s a very good tension! The camera and fx work was fenomenal!
I think I managed to gather something like 78 treasures including a chicken on my second dive/heist.
I think if anything, the game was so very short for the richness of the experience created that it felt a bit like I never was really given a chance to start experiencing it before I had to abandon the sub or drown. It would have been interesting to explore the tension you’ve created with chances to push your luck. If there were pockets where air drains slower, or other ways to give the player a bit more time and ways to manage risk while getting to explore a bit more. Perhaps the O2 doesn’t start to go down for the first couple of seconds, which kind of makes sense. Not sure really.
But what you’ve created with the sounds, the textures, effects it all is very nice!
Playthrough: https://youtu.be/5JoLcAo3zkA
Thanks for your comment and also for the video, it's a great feedback system!
I completely agree with what you say. We had ideas for several complementary mechanics during the gamejam, such as: more complex level with keys to find and doors to unlock, oxygen refill scattered in the level, and even a harpoon gun to defend yourself from nasty fish.
However, time was running short. I spent a lot of time on the basic mechanics (movement, water, loots) and didn't have enough left to implement anything else.
I don't think I'm going to continue developing this game, but it gave me ideas and allowed me to experiment with tension/time limit mechanics, which I intend to integrate into another project I'm currently developing.
Nice implementation of the themes!
At first I was thinking in the old ways and was “what movement speed have to do in the dungeon crawler” and then I suddenly realised the whole concept after a bit of looting! I think it’s a very clever use of the movement transition speed.
I have found the chicken idol on my second run.
As other have mentioned, music or ambience would be really nice, or a more pronounced walking/turning sounds.
Thank you! Glad to hear you liked the concept.
That's a cool little treasure hunt. I couldn't figure out where the chicken idol was, and I felt like I visited every room on the U-boat. I think music would have been nice - especially if it got more frantic as time ran out - think Sonic drowning music. Nice work.
Thanks for playing! The sound part was definitively rushed. We'll try to spend more time on it next jam.
The chicken can be tricky to get. There are several possible spawns, mainly in the lower part of the submarine.
Now that's what I call an implementation of the themes. Best I got is 67 + the Chicken "Idol".
The environment looks nice an atmospheric and I like the visual distorsion effect when inside the water. The game is fun, tense and frantic. Frantic when you're not encumbered that is, the encumbrance is very cool idea, it's super annoying and I love to hate it.
Very cool!
Thanks :D !
If I had to tweak the encumbrance system, it might be better not to give a malus below ~20 loots. It should be annoying if you're carrying a lot of loots, to force you to drop them and plan an escape route, but there's no real point in slowing the player down when they're carrying few.
Nice score by the way, I think the best I've got while testing the game is ~70 + the idol.
This was a very nice experience. Short and to the point. I managed to find the chicken idol on my second run and the ending was amusing. I loved the theme implementation, it really captured the essence very well. The exploration mechanic was good, movement was decent, atmosphere was pretty good! A well executed jam entry.
Glad to hear it, thanks for playing!
As we didn't have time to implement many game mechanics, we decided to keep it very short to avoid boredom, and with the option to replay to get a better score/ending.
Nice job on the sinking ship! So many time I was scrambling to find air! Didn’t find the chicken though, just found death.