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[Magnesium Ninja]

Hey everyone! I've been motivated to start working on a side-project alongside my team's game Ascension (because I have no life other than videogames). The game is tentatively titled Depth, which as you will see is very clever and intelligent.

What's it about?
Well, the idea behind Depth is that you're the strongest warrior in a small, isolated island tribe. The past few days have been tumultuous for the island, with frequent earthquakes and geysers. You're sent by your chieftain to pray for help at giant sink-hole on the far side of the island. As you're praying, an earthquake hits the island and, losing your balance, you fall into the sink-hole.

After that? Well, you quickly discover that the 'island' your village is built upon is actually the top of a massive, ancient and sick whale. The whale tasks you with freeing it from its sickness, which means you'll have to travel to the whale's heart (or brain or whatever) and defeat the sickness before the whale dies and your entire village sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

Concept Art/Inspiration
I was inspired to make this game when I came across this fantastic piece of artwork in the Art subforum:

I then proceeded to draw my own concept art, although being a programmer it's not quite as good. I think I'll stop colouring pictures now :

Mechanics
I don't have much solidified in this area, but I've been wanting to make a metroidvania for a while now (it's what got me into game development in the first place), so that's somewhere to start. The majority of the game will take place within the whale's body, so there'll probably be a heavy emphasis on water and exploration. I'm thinking I'd like to take the game's items in a Zelda direction; have two slots that you can switch items in and out of.


Let me know your thoughts! Tear the idea apart, preferably before I start actually programming it. I'm going to be pre-producing this thing for a while, so I'll update with more concept art (hah) and design soon!

[Magnesium Ninja]

More concept art!



Shown here:

Spear - Initial weapon, can only be used on land (melee)
Harpoon - Can be used in water and on land, still melee
Harpoon Gun - Can be used in water and on land, perhaps used as a sort of hookshot/tether? (ranged)

Flippers - Allow diving underwater and generally improves aquatic travel
Rebreather - Can breathe underwater

Not sure how many more items I want to add in (if any), it depends on the usefulness of the idea. Don't want to have any one-time use items, everything you find should in theory have a strong impact on gameplay.

[Magnesium Ninja]

Starting work on the protagonist, he's (probably) going to be a hybrid fish/human, in terms of body shape. No details yet, but basic anatomy in place.



Don't want to make him too fish-like, otherwise having these items doesn't really make sense, unless I want to make the items body-enhancing drugs or something.

[einstein]

I really do like the story; I'm eager to watch the development of this project.

[Lex]

Yeah, the story's really cool. I hope to get my hands on a beta.

[fentlewoodlewix]

this is such a lovely concept with a wonderful "green issues" subtext.

for just a programmer your art is lovely too, just because its not like a pro, that doesnt mean is isnt great!

falling into the sink hole sounds like a one way trip (down and out as it were), would the prot be able to get in and climb out to return and then reenter?

praying at the sinkhole? is the whale aware of you all? can your village influence it? does it listen to you? does someone in he village know the truth already?

there can be loads of reasons why a great creature gets poorly not just sickness, perhaps the whale has melancholy because s/he is lonely?

this is such a great concept, keep at it.

sean

[Magnesium Ninja]

Appreciate the interest everyone

With regards to the story, I don't have anything complex decided yet, because a lot of it hinges on how long I want this game to be. I don't intend to make it very lengthy, but I'm also cautious of making the experience too short.

I don't think the player will be able to return to the surface until the end of the game, however. With current design plans there isn't really any reason to return to the village, which makes the decision a little bit easier. I'll keep you all updated on the story progress as I develop it!

And with that, have some finished (?) protagonist concept art! I kind of ditched the fish-humanoid concept because I do want to keep the items similar to what they are right now. No sense in giving a man with webbed feet flippers, now is there?

[Magnesium Ninja]

Update on the game mechanics/story:

Story
Not a lot changed here, but I decided that rather than having the blowhole go off at random, it feels more fitting to have it be the village's main source of fresh water, and it hasn't gone off recently. Seems like a pretty large cause of concern, in my opinion.

Mechanics
I think I've finally settled on how I want the game to play. I originally had it designed as a Metroidvania, but I'm toning that back a little because I don't think the inside of a whale is the greatest location for that type of game. What I'm going for right now is an action/adventure style of gameplay, with a heavy emphasis on combat and survival. You'll still be finding upgrades to your character that will let you dive, hold your breath longer, etc. but there will be less items.

I'm planning on developing some rather in-depth water mechanics (not necessarily in terms of water physics, moreso how the player moves through the water). Expect some early-alpha builds soonish.


I've started work on a forest tileset but I won't show it off just yet on account of it looking like shit. It'll probably still look crummy when I'm finished, but I'll do my best to make it good enough to do the game justice

[Magnesium Ninja]

Here's a very early alpha screenshot:



The main thing I want to focus on right now is the protagonist sprite, so tear it apart if you've got issues. Also, sky/water colours are temp, so don't worry.