It almost feels like two different games collided and neither survived.
On one hand, the cutscenes look, sound, and feel like some obscure animation from the eighties - a lovely direction to explore, and one very fitting thematically.
On the other, the gameplay is nothing like what the cutscenes represent - what do these walls mean? Why are there barrels? Why doesn't my fish make the 90 degrees turns when the level does? Why does the fish explode? And, because of the latter, I failed to notice the looping aspect beyond the obvious 'if you die, the game restarts'.
I only hope that the original idea and the stylistic cutscenes would find some different realization and do not perish in the creative cycle.
The cutscenes are representative of the game, game cutscenes do not need to be exactly like the gameplay, our artists worked very hard to make those cutscenes specifically 2D so that we could add variety.
''What do these walls mean?'' I do not understand this question, the walls are there to stop you from swimming outside the map and falling through the floor.
''Why are there barrels?'' This is a random obstacle choice as barrels are often associated with pirates and the ocean, they originally glowed green as to represent toxic waste barrels that get dumped into the ocean but this messed with the lighting a bit and almost looked like you were supposed to run into it.
''Why doesn't my fish turn 90 degrees when the game does?'' Because it is an intentional game feature to press 'A' and 'D' to move the fish at the right time to turn with the level, if this wasn't a feature the game would be more bland and easy, also there is a higher chance you could die even when your score is high which adds intensity to the game.
''Why does the fish explode?'' Because it's very funny.
The looping aspect is the circle of life, the cutscenes explain that you start as a bottom feeder eating parts of a dead tiger shark, then you get eaten and play as a barracuda, then get eaten again and play as a tiger shark, then when you inevitably die after getting as high a score as possible the final cutscene shows the dead shark falling to the bottom of the ocean and the game loops back to the bottom feeder fish coming to eat the dead tiger shark. That is how the game loops.
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Hello, I am the sound designer for this game. If you would like to listen to any of the music for this game click this link here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9XSVUU6iMAPGruLQde-w1ckA2i3G0rKl
Thank you.
It almost feels like two different games collided and neither survived.
On one hand, the cutscenes look, sound, and feel like some obscure animation from the eighties - a lovely direction to explore, and one very fitting thematically.
On the other, the gameplay is nothing like what the cutscenes represent - what do these walls mean? Why are there barrels? Why doesn't my fish make the 90 degrees turns when the level does? Why does the fish explode? And, because of the latter, I failed to notice the looping aspect beyond the obvious 'if you die, the game restarts'.
I only hope that the original idea and the stylistic cutscenes would find some different realization and do not perish in the creative cycle.
I can answer your questions.
The cutscenes are representative of the game, game cutscenes do not need to be exactly like the gameplay, our artists worked very hard to make those cutscenes specifically 2D so that we could add variety.
''What do these walls mean?'' I do not understand this question, the walls are there to stop you from swimming outside the map and falling through the floor.
''Why are there barrels?'' This is a random obstacle choice as barrels are often associated with pirates and the ocean, they originally glowed green as to represent toxic waste barrels that get dumped into the ocean but this messed with the lighting a bit and almost looked like you were supposed to run into it.
''Why doesn't my fish turn 90 degrees when the game does?'' Because it is an intentional game feature to press 'A' and 'D' to move the fish at the right time to turn with the level, if this wasn't a feature the game would be more bland and easy, also there is a higher chance you could die even when your score is high which adds intensity to the game.
''Why does the fish explode?'' Because it's very funny.
The looping aspect is the circle of life, the cutscenes explain that you start as a bottom feeder eating parts of a dead tiger shark, then you get eaten and play as a barracuda, then get eaten again and play as a tiger shark, then when you inevitably die after getting as high a score as possible the final cutscene shows the dead shark falling to the bottom of the ocean and the game loops back to the bottom feeder fish coming to eat the dead tiger shark. That is how the game loops.
Hope this answered all of your questions.
I see! Thank you - that does make the concept clearer. Perhaps, the turning aspect should’ve been signposted better, lest it feels like a bug?..
The walls seem to stand out still. Their function is obvious, but why are there walls in the sea?
Exploding fish is indeed quite funny.
The walls we're originally planned to be cartoony bubbles but we were on a time crunch.
As for the turning, we should've mentioned it in the help option on the title screen.
I see - thank you for explaining it all.