The Deep
by Chris Cockcroft · in Torque Game Builder · 07/16/2006 (6:19 am) · 16 replies
I was hoping to actually post a playable of the game I've been working on, but it's not looking good for today. So screenshots only for now :)
The Deep
Set in the mid-1800's, you play as the inventor of a new submergible craft, capable of exploring the greater depths of the ocean. Approached by an anonymous investor who wishes to fund your project in exchange for valuables reclaimed from ships lost at sea, you uncover an area filled with strange and violent creatures.
Your goal is to fulfill your contract with the investor, using the funding to document the new found life and the mystery of "The Deep".
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I'm hoping the story will evolve itself as I continue working on the game. I'm really trying to use the claustrophobic aspect of underwater exploration coupled with black and white artwork to give an old horror movie feel to the game, but I'm also trying to focus on the adventure aspect. Anyways, enough talk -
Thanks for checking it out!
Chris
The Deep
Set in the mid-1800's, you play as the inventor of a new submergible craft, capable of exploring the greater depths of the ocean. Approached by an anonymous investor who wishes to fund your project in exchange for valuables reclaimed from ships lost at sea, you uncover an area filled with strange and violent creatures.
Your goal is to fulfill your contract with the investor, using the funding to document the new found life and the mystery of "The Deep".
-----------------------------------------------------------
I'm hoping the story will evolve itself as I continue working on the game. I'm really trying to use the claustrophobic aspect of underwater exploration coupled with black and white artwork to give an old horror movie feel to the game, but I'm also trying to focus on the adventure aspect. Anyways, enough talk -
Thanks for checking it out!
Chris
About the author
#2
I'm hoping by next week to have a playable level completed - hopefully for both Mac and PC, though I haven't tried it on the PC yet... I could probably do one by the end of today, but I really want to get some music and sound in there
Chris
07/16/2006 (7:06 am)
Hey Melv - that was quick :)I'm hoping by next week to have a playable level completed - hopefully for both Mac and PC, though I haven't tried it on the PC yet... I could probably do one by the end of today, but I really want to get some music and sound in there
Chris
#3
07/16/2006 (8:00 am)
Ooooh! I like the style!
#4
07/16/2006 (8:59 am)
Aye, lovely atmosphere by the looks of it. Need to get some well scored music to go with it now.
#5
07/16/2006 (9:01 am)
Look forward to trying this out! You've definatly got the claustrophobic aspect down. :)
#6
07/16/2006 (12:09 pm)
Right on man, looking forward to it!
#7
07/16/2006 (3:27 pm)
Looks very cool! Are you using tilemaps for the levels? How did you implement the "darkness" effect? Would be interesting to hear some of those types of technical details, if you're willing to share.
#8
07/16/2006 (8:44 pm)
Looking very good! The only thing I might suggest from looking at those screens would be adding a mild "lighting" (blending) effect to those explosion particle effects. It kinda looks funny that half that explosion is overshadowed in that one screenshot. Other than that, it looks awesome.
#9
In general, I'm pretty happy with the concept and look of the game, but one (big) stumbling block I've come across is that the game itself isn't very fun. I've taken a break from it to explore some either ideas, but I'd like to come back to it if I can think of a way to save it.
Has anyone else had that kind of problem - a game that you've put a lot of work into that isn't fun?
@Jason - For the prototype I've been working on, I haven't used tilemaps - right now, it's one crazy big image with scene objects placed to mark the collision zones. This makes for a very random looking terrain, but is very tedious to create, and not really feasible for a game with many levels. The darkness effect is simply a black texture with a gradient transparency in the middle, mounted to my player and on a layer above everything else. It works for the most part, although what Thomas mentioned about the explosions is one off the drawbacks to using this technique.
07/22/2006 (4:12 pm)
Hey - thanks for all the responses!In general, I'm pretty happy with the concept and look of the game, but one (big) stumbling block I've come across is that the game itself isn't very fun. I've taken a break from it to explore some either ideas, but I'd like to come back to it if I can think of a way to save it.
Has anyone else had that kind of problem - a game that you've put a lot of work into that isn't fun?
@Jason - For the prototype I've been working on, I haven't used tilemaps - right now, it's one crazy big image with scene objects placed to mark the collision zones. This makes for a very random looking terrain, but is very tedious to create, and not really feasible for a game with many levels. The darkness effect is simply a black texture with a gradient transparency in the middle, mounted to my player and on a layer above everything else. It works for the most part, although what Thomas mentioned about the explosions is one off the drawbacks to using this technique.
#10
Now, it's certainly not necessary to work with blue boxes. We didn't in My Bogle, but we did a lot of prototyping with very simple, non-production graphics so that we could figure out how the game would make best use of the engine and to refine game play. If you've already sunk a lot of time into graphics, it's often times not the end of the world if the gameplay is lacking. I would just iterate with what you've got, get some feedback from people on what works and what doesn't and how to fix it and keep at it until it all works.
We are nearly in alpha and have put nearly 6 months into the project so far. My Bogle is still going through refinement of game play to make sure it's as deep, addicting and just plain fun as we can possibly make it without adding unnecessary complexity. Some of the additions work, some of them don't. Sometimes it's necessary to simplify instead of add more stuff. It's certainly easy to get discouraged. Our game was seriously broken for probably 2 months of that time as we threw out the prototype code and moved to our "production" quality code and art. It was tough and it was actually kinda embarrassing, but it had to be done.
Anyway, keep at it. Iterate. Get feedback if you don't see how to fix it. And good luck!
-Andrew Douglas
theoreticalgames.com
07/22/2006 (6:37 pm)
@Chris: You've got a great looking game there. What a lot of people recommend is prototyping your game concept early using very simple graphics and iterating over and over until you get a feel for "what is fun" about your game. If you make a fun game using "blue squares" as your graphics, then when you add the sharp graphics and get sound/levels/bells and whistles, you end up with what should be a great game.Now, it's certainly not necessary to work with blue boxes. We didn't in My Bogle, but we did a lot of prototyping with very simple, non-production graphics so that we could figure out how the game would make best use of the engine and to refine game play. If you've already sunk a lot of time into graphics, it's often times not the end of the world if the gameplay is lacking. I would just iterate with what you've got, get some feedback from people on what works and what doesn't and how to fix it and keep at it until it all works.
We are nearly in alpha and have put nearly 6 months into the project so far. My Bogle is still going through refinement of game play to make sure it's as deep, addicting and just plain fun as we can possibly make it without adding unnecessary complexity. Some of the additions work, some of them don't. Sometimes it's necessary to simplify instead of add more stuff. It's certainly easy to get discouraged. Our game was seriously broken for probably 2 months of that time as we threw out the prototype code and moved to our "production" quality code and art. It was tough and it was actually kinda embarrassing, but it had to be done.
Anyway, keep at it. Iterate. Get feedback if you don't see how to fix it. And good luck!
-Andrew Douglas
theoreticalgames.com
#11
this is looking very very cool.. I really like where you are going with it. I wish I had something more to say that might help, but all I can say right now is keep on going, as this has some real potential.
07/22/2006 (7:46 pm)
@Chris,this is looking very very cool.. I really like where you are going with it. I wish I had something more to say that might help, but all I can say right now is keep on going, as this has some real potential.
#12
If it reaches that point, it's been helpful for me to step back and take a break from the idea for awhile. It's frustrating but it's all you can do. Then when you come back to it you'll have a somewhat fresh approach. Check out this Reflexive postmortum for their game, Wik. Click here What I found interesting was that they said that after about 3 months of development they realized it wasn't very fun. So they drastically changed the approach. It's a good and inspiring read.
Another thing I'd recommend picking up is the absolutely amazing book called Rules of Play. It can be a bit academic (it is published by MIT after all.) But it's pretty much the definitive book on game design. If Will Wright endorses it it can't be that bad. ;)
If you stick to it, I'm sure it'll come together. Good luck!
07/23/2006 (3:23 am)
@Chris: I feel ya, dude. So many times an idea sounds so cool on paper and then once you get it halfway implemented you're like, "It works... but am I having fun?" Unfortunately, sometimes the answer is no.If it reaches that point, it's been helpful for me to step back and take a break from the idea for awhile. It's frustrating but it's all you can do. Then when you come back to it you'll have a somewhat fresh approach. Check out this Reflexive postmortum for their game, Wik. Click here What I found interesting was that they said that after about 3 months of development they realized it wasn't very fun. So they drastically changed the approach. It's a good and inspiring read.
Another thing I'd recommend picking up is the absolutely amazing book called Rules of Play. It can be a bit academic (it is published by MIT after all.) But it's pretty much the definitive book on game design. If Will Wright endorses it it can't be that bad. ;)
If you stick to it, I'm sure it'll come together. Good luck!
#13
Taking a break works; though we all have to be more than a little obsessive/compulsive to even think of creating a game, so spending a week away can be tortuous. [I was recently told to take a break. My resolve lasted less than a day!]
Handing over your unfinished, rough-around-the-edges, beta to a compassionate friend can also help to give you perspective. [There's danger to one's ego here! That beloved particle you spent so many hours tweaking might be received with the classic comment: "How interesting!?!"] [This is also an excellent way to test the limits of friendship!]
07/24/2006 (12:42 pm)
Also, please remember that familiarity really does breed contempt. It is inevitable that a game designer will end up thoroughly sick of a project long before it is completed. Running something thousands upon thousands of times can have that affect on a person! What's boring to you might not be boring to anybody else.Taking a break works; though we all have to be more than a little obsessive/compulsive to even think of creating a game, so spending a week away can be tortuous. [I was recently told to take a break. My resolve lasted less than a day!]
Handing over your unfinished, rough-around-the-edges, beta to a compassionate friend can also help to give you perspective. [There's danger to one's ego here! That beloved particle you spent so many hours tweaking might be received with the classic comment: "How interesting!?!"] [This is also an excellent way to test the limits of friendship!]
#14
Not that I ever get any of those... nope... but I've heard they are really demoralizing :)
-Andrew
07/24/2006 (12:51 pm)
Or worse "What's that supposed to be?" or worse yet - the forced smile. :)Not that I ever get any of those... nope... but I've heard they are really demoralizing :)
-Andrew
#15
07/25/2006 (9:25 pm)
I like the concept and look of this game as well. Why is it no fun to play?
#16
@Andrew - I know in my heart that I should prototype with simpler graphics, but I'm an artist first, and game designer/programmer second. I find it hard to look at blue squares for very long :) I definitely hear what you're saying though - so much of what I already have for this game is based on the look and feel. I definitely skipped right over "gameplay".
@Joe - Thanks!
@Dennis - Thanks for those links. I've actually got "Rules of Play" on order as I write this. I've pretty much decided to take the route you're suggesting, and have taken a break from the game for a while. I've been working on another game that's a little more "simple" and focuses on fun play, with no real look or feel to it. I'm hoping that by doing this, I'll get some ideas in mind for when I go back to "The Deep".
@Don - That's true enough, but I had only been working on that game for about two weeks - I really hoped I wouldn't get sick of it that soon :). I think I will take your suggestions, though, and pass it off to a few people to look at while I take my break from it. Maybe by the time I'm ready to start again, there be some good ideas waiting for me :)
@Chris - I'm not really sure, only that when I play it, I have no fun :)
Thanks again for all the feedback on this. It really helps to see that I'm not alone with these kinds of problems.
Chris
07/26/2006 (3:22 am)
Wow - some very thoughtful replies - thanks!@Andrew - I know in my heart that I should prototype with simpler graphics, but I'm an artist first, and game designer/programmer second. I find it hard to look at blue squares for very long :) I definitely hear what you're saying though - so much of what I already have for this game is based on the look and feel. I definitely skipped right over "gameplay".
@Joe - Thanks!
@Dennis - Thanks for those links. I've actually got "Rules of Play" on order as I write this. I've pretty much decided to take the route you're suggesting, and have taken a break from the game for a while. I've been working on another game that's a little more "simple" and focuses on fun play, with no real look or feel to it. I'm hoping that by doing this, I'll get some ideas in mind for when I go back to "The Deep".
@Don - That's true enough, but I had only been working on that game for about two weeks - I really hoped I wouldn't get sick of it that soon :). I think I will take your suggestions, though, and pass it off to a few people to look at while I take my break from it. Maybe by the time I'm ready to start again, there be some good ideas waiting for me :)
@Chris - I'm not really sure, only that when I play it, I have no fun :)
Thanks again for all the feedback on this. It really helps to see that I'm not alone with these kinds of problems.
Chris
Employee Melv May
- Melv.