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[Nicholas Lives]

STORE PAGE: http://store.steampowered.com/app/307110/


We've been GREENLIT!!
SEE OUR LATEST TRAILER HERE:


OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://weneedtogodeeper.webs.com/

We Need to go Deeper is a cooperative submarine roguelike/exploration game in which you and up to three other friends work together to control a submarine in order to explore the ocean depths, and uncover its many mysteries. Deeper has been in development for the past 6 months year and longer 3 years, and after having lurked these forums for quite a while now, we finally feel like we are ready to start letting other people know about what we've been working on for the past half-year.

So, without further ado, allow me to tell you a bit more about We Need to go Deeper!

~~~ The World ~~~

The world of We Need to go Deeper was heavily inspired by the works of Jules Verne, with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in particular being a heavy influence on our game's universe. What would it be like to be a crew member aboard the Nautilus? To be exploring the deep, facing the wrath of a giant squid one moment, and uncovering the lost city of Atlantis the next? This is the kind of experience we want to create with Deeper.

Part of our goal is to provide players with a game world that will be enjoyable and exciting to explore. Throughout a single voyage through Deeper's randomized ocean, you could encounter anything from a band of submarine pirates, to an undersea cave full of monsters and treasure chests, to an underwater civilization that may help or hinder you on your journey - depending on what kind of civilization they wind up being..

~~~ The Creatures of the Deep ~~~

While the world of Deeper may be full of excitement and adventure, players will also learn that it can be just as deadly as it is wondrous. Carnivorous sharks, tentacled beasts, and deep-water terrors are just a few of the creatures you and your friends will have to contend with while traveling through deeper waters. A good rule of thumb is, the deeper you go, the deadlier it gets.

~~~ Your Submarine ~~~

Your submarine is, of course, you and your crew-mate's main means of exploring the game world. Your submarine is broken up into four* main stations:

- The Navigation Room

- The Weapons Room

- The Engineering Room

- The Hatch

It is through these different stations that you and your crew mates will be able to control your submarine. I will explain these stations in more detail as they are developed, but for now, think, "multiplayer FTL in an underwater Vernepunk setting" and you have the right idea.

PRE-ALPHA SCREENSHOT: Two players playing in Split-Screen mode, the player on the left can be seen attempting to fix a leak in one of the ship's windows, while the player on the right pilots the ship through darker waters.

~~~ Who We Are ~~~

We are a (currently) a team of three indie-game developers, known collectively as the Indie Studio Deli Interactive. I personally am the team's artist and co-designer, although I do occasionally touch code when the need arises. While We Need to Go Deeper is Deli Interactive's first official game, we have been making games for a few years now, one of which even managed to win 1st place nationally in the 2012 Technology Student Association National Conference in the Video Game Design category. It's called Bloom, and you can play it for free here --> http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/200616-bloom

I've been personally aching to get our game out there for a while now, and after finding this site, I knew the best place to start showing off would be here. I hope we can get some good feedback from you guys as our game progresses, and when we have something we think is worth showing off, we'll be sure to post it here, as well as on our official Devlog http://weneedtogodeeper.webs.com/.

Peace out, ya'll.

[Impossible Realms]

Looks really nice so far! Do you guys have any idea when this will be released (or at least a demo)?

[Nicholas Lives]

Looks really nice so far! Do you guys have any idea when this will be released (or at least a demo)?

Thanks! And so far we're looking to release a pre-alpha demo somewhere in late August this year.

[jO]

ohhh, that really looks like something.
Love the art style - I'll certainly keep an eye on your progress.

Good luck! 

[Daz]

I'll follow this game, it looks incredibly good
Being inspired by Jules Verne is always a nice thing, good luck!

[Nicholas Lives]

ohhh, that really looks like something.
Love the art style - I'll certainly keep an eye on your progress.

Good luck! 

I'll follow this game, it looks incredibly good
Being inspired by Jules Verne is always a nice thing, good luck!

Thanks, you guys. It means a lot to see that some people are actually excited about our game! Anyway, these last few days have been spent polishing a lot of stuff in our current build, so while we haven't put a whole lot new in yet, we're getting closer to getting the game to look a bit more presentable overall.

Anyways, in the original post I had stated that I would explain the different submarine stations we have later in more detail. And right now is later enough for me, so let's dive into that a bit, shall we? 



Here I've scraped up a little overview map of the submarine's interior layout. With the Hatch, Storage, and Navigation rooms taking up the upper deck, and the Engine and Weapon rooms in the lower. Each of these stations are separated by large water-tight doors, which help keep floods manageable.

I've also got a new screenie for you guys to show off the new Engine Room assets and to give you an idea of what it will be like to manage power distribution in the Engine Room. I tried my best to design the Engine room consoles so that their use and limitations would be fairly obvious just by looking at them, but I'll let you folks be the judge of that.



Keep in mind that although these are new assets, they are by no means finalized assets. I'll post about the next stations quite soon!

 Anyway, let me know whatcha guys think!

[pluckyporcupine]

This has one of the most unique art styles I've seen recently. Looks great!

Always up for a Jules Verne inspired world. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses!

[Bursar]

Looks good. A souped up version of Worse Things Happen At Sea: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0005758

[Impmaster]

What platforms will this be released on?

[Juan Raigada]

I love the art style.

Is this going to be multiplayer or singleplayer only?

Will there be physics? Can you group together at one end of the sub and tilt it?

[SoulSharer]

Art is quite unique. Looking forward to see more about the game.
Mariana Trench, here we GO!  

[Vitali Kirpu]

Bravo!

[s0]

looks good, reminds me of this:

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36946/red-november

[baconman]

Looking spiffy!

Did someone start a secret "submariner" themed contest or something?

[Schluppy]

Is this going to be multiplayer or singleplayer only?

We have a strong multiplayer emphasis. In fact, this game is primarily intended for two to four players.

Will there be physics? Can you group together at one end of the sub and tilt it?

Of course! As a matter of fact, I am working on implementing more features quite similar to this one at this very moment.

What platforms will this be released on?

At this time we only intend for this to be released for PC and Mac.

[oahda]

Oh, so you're also making a submarine game! It has a style reminiscent of hand-drawn illustrated story books for children. Awesome. I'm even thinking of some specific book, I believe, but I can't remember which one. One major difference from my game is of course the ability to explore the inside of the submarine as well. This seems like a really cozy game.

[Schluppy]

What Has Deli Interactive (Specifically the Programmer) Been Doing?

     My, what a good question! Well, other than making and eating the manliest sandwiches in town, I've been working like mad on some awesome new stuff!

Sub Tilting: At last, tilting the sub is looking pretty cool. By this I of course don't mean that the sub itself is looking good (not to imply the contrary either), but rather what is happening inside. For starters, the camera now works to properly show the angle at which the sub is tilting. Along with this, I've added in the appropriate sliding and changes in gravitational direction to ensure that driving this sub is as fun as it can be!

Character Breathing: Although traditionally an artist's job (and I assure you, I am no artist), I have added in a bit of breathing. To help simplify certain aspects of the game, keep down the the size, and promote better character customization much of the character animation has fallen upon me, the programmer. As I said before, I am no artist; however, this, and all other animations done in code, are heavily supervised by our fine artist. What's awesome about the breathing animation being programmed: I was able to carefully create a small algorithm to maintain a rate of breathing which is relative to the person's recent movement (within certain bounds, of course). You will be able to see this small, but exciting addition when we release our first video.

Better Darkness for Rooms: As you may have noticed from previous screen shots, the only room which is viewable to the player is the one they're in. But what if you're in the same room as someone else and they open a door to a room which you are not entering? Well, now both rooms will appear lit to you while the door between them is open. Also, the darkness has been made on a view-basis. In other words: If you're playing splitscreen, you won't be able to see your room as well as the other player's room. Small and simple? Yes. Awesome? Definitely.

     Of course, along with these new features I've been fixing tons and tons bugs which I won't be going into. Thanks for taking your time to read all of this! If you have any questions, just ask -- I'd love to answer them.

[Nicholas Lives]

ART UPDATE!

So lately I've been working on making our ocean feel a bit more lively, so I've been messing around with making underwater plants and more variety of fish to populate and liven up our in-game world. Check out the new screenshots and let me know what ya'll think!

[Nicholas Lives]

So lately I've been messin' around with gettin' some basic menus designed. Since menus are the first thing a player sees when they open up a game, I want to make sure they get the right first impression when they open the game up.

Anyway, here's the first menu I've scraped up, based on what our game requires so far.

Clicking on the "Play Button" will zoom the camera in on the porthole there, bringing the player to a seperate sub-menu within the porthole, where they will then choose their game mode. Right now we only have plans for local and networked play, but a single player mode has been tossed around as a possibility. Anyway, here's what I have for the Porthole sub-menu so far. It's not much to look at at the moment I admit.

I'm thinkin' maybe it would be cool to see the ocean floor here, with a treasure chest and dead body as the image next to local play, and maybe an octopus or something for networked play? Something more interesting than a shark and a fish anyway.  

As usual, I'm always open for some feedback, so make sure to post em' if ya got em'!

[Belimoth]

Love the menus, can't wait to see some gameplay footage.