Archofact

The deadly search for the Archofact continues as you dive into exploring an ancient ruin, attempting to recover the divers lost to this mystery and expose the secrets of the Archofact.

The thick silty water in the abyss you venture into is too thick to allow for light-based sight, so you rely on your sonar probes for vision

These sonar probes serve another purpose too, they can be used to activate the yellow devices scattered around the ruin which open doors to unlock new areas.

Explore with care, the ruin is made up on non-linear geometries meaning that you can turn a corner and end up in a completely different place. Attempt to navigate through these strange lands, mapping out an unconventional path as you progress.

Development Diary

This was a tough game jam for me, in the first few days I struggled to find an idea that really worked with the theme, opting for a horror game where you control your breath to sneak past an enemy. Unforunately, I quickly discovered that I was not a very good artist, modeller or level designer so instead wanted something where these would be heavily simplified.

A game where the vision was based on particles was the perfect choice, since beautiful aestethics could be achieved with minimal texture and modelling work. I experimented with several techniques to create non-linear levels which added to the fun of exploring, however I find that the puzzles created are somewhat underwhelming leading to a game more about exploring than puzzle solving.

Originally, the game's main mechanic was about the ability to turn off your sonar vision and pause what you could see. Certain objects not in view of the player would become passable, allowing players to move through doors that they could not see. This mechanic was incredibly confusing and very difficult to communicate to the player, so was scrapped and replaced with the ability to fire probes; instead having things be activated when you can see them rather than when you can't.

If I were to expand on this game in the future, I would focus on the puzzle elements of the game to create something more interesting and engaging. In addition to this, while the theme of deep breath was captured in the underwater theme of the game, I think the fact that the game was underwater could have been portrayed better with some art or models that indicate that. In addition to this, breathing could have been a larger mechanic of the game however it would have detracted from the zen style of game that I was originally going for. I was additionally disappointed with the ending of the game due to time constraints and dealing with becomming burnt out.

Overall, I think the idea worked pretty well and the game looked pretty, but the puzzles could have been improved and the game could be made longer.

Thanks for playing, I hope you enjoy. Any and all feedback about the game would be highly appreciated and I will use this to improve my future projects.