Build update recap and marketing adventures

Marketing still presents a massive, seemingly insurmountable challenge for this project, even though on paper I should know better (after 5ish years of pretending to be a full time dev). A number of reasons can be named, which range from the game being niche, artstyle, completeness (game loop isn't complete and thus difficult to grasp for an outsider), platform (Itch.io, no Steam), value (is it or can be fun?), etc. On top of having 0 budget for advertising. Which translates to the simple fact that the game is invisible, even though it has some value to it as others have told (as in not complete junk that has to be cancelled).

Furthermore, after all these years you’d think I’d have an idea where to promote it (or how); not really. Although, have been trying to market it with a higher competitive mind, but all I could find in most of the indie avenues is that this game isn't worth their time for one reason or another (probably for not paying for it would be the number one reason). Just dead silence after weeks passing by. And it’s not like there’s a good place to promote such a game anyway as far as I could tell, not counting the dev centric opportunities which are useless in terms of reach, because it’s not building on an existing IP or fandom which I could utilize.

Building a name (IP) from ground up, with zero credibility (as in being a no name in the biz) as a solo dev releasing on Itch (with a zero budget), still has these massive drawbacks that I can barely or not at all circumvent. Despite reaching new heights in views, comments and interactions across the board (e.g. few days ago released a Youtube short that got almost 2k views), or how page views on Itch are way past what I managed to do for all of my projects combined over the years (and this game was only released ~2 weeks ago).

So while the numbers are promising, at the very least from what was there before (through my entire “career”), no actual sales occurred thus far. Which is a massive headache, as the project is on its final legs from being cancelled by outside forces. Such as life.

On the topic of updates: Haven’t written about it, but here’s the accumulated changelog from the past 2ish weeks for the live build:

Update 1:

Original post: https://theaaronstory.itch.io/deep-sea-claustrophobia/devlog/956585/build-update

To mach what was seen in the trailer, the current build has been updated, it includes:

• slight UI changes for handling save files (previously it was difficult to read them) and other bug fixes in the menu system
• revamped voice over for the cutscenes, again stemming from the trailer to better match what the game is all about
• tool fixes (mentioned in this short devlog) as well as bug fixes for swapping tools
• larger refactoring for handling environmental effects
• now batteries can catch on fire or emit poisonous gas; it's a random chance on a countdown based on difficulty level
• marginal improvements to the voltmeter (as mentioned in that devlog), so now it can read the actual charge
• damage to the batteries can also affect the charge, and now the lights can go out if it reaches zero
• other bug fixes caught amidst all
• and other refactoring/optimization for the code

As usual, a lot goes behind the scenes, however, these are essential to make the interconnected systems work. As an example: How the navigation of the submarine is tied to having power and the engine run, which also effects if we can use any of the sub-systems, like lights or pumps. Which takes some faff to figure out.

Update 2:

Original post: https://theaaronstory.itch.io/deep-sea-claustrophobia/devlog/960280/build-update-let-there-be-darkness

Here's the list of changes:

• Slight enhancement for the atmospherics inside the sub: Now water is constantly dripping from the ceiling, and plays a “gentle” splash sound when hitting the ground.
• The lights now go out when the batteries go dry, as seen in this short clip:

Link in case broken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EshvmvSq1Pc

• This “slight” change also affects a number of other system end mechanics. The lighting has also been updated, so now only those in the cone of the light will be lit in case of a blackout; minus the minuscule value added to the environment, to avoid having pitch black outside the visible range. The batteries also drain if nothing is running, things that run motors, etc., as having the lights on does this. Spontain events, such as combustion or toxic gas production still apply to the batteries, so doing nothing will still cause a chain reaction, depending on the RNG and difficulty level that is (higher difficulty produces faster results). This also means that the game is now bit closer to being a bit more intimidating and closer to the final design (real close).
• The missing engine breakdown VFX has been fixed. An event when the engine is running and the gears suddenly act weirdly, and a minigame plays (need to fix the engine before it burst into flames). For some reason the Sprites for the events were left hidden up until now.
• Playing the repair mechanics now also has a chance to give battery charge as a select-able resource. This applies to hitting all of the crates.
• Engine cooldown has been fixed: Prior when fixing it up, it didn’t start the cooldown process once done fixin'; which was an issue when the heat was way too high (over the red threshold). Consequently, the engine now also starts from around the same heat value as it was shut down: It can no longer be spoofed, to gain several long seconds before it realizes the engine is too hot, essentially bypassing the mechanic.
• Other behind the scenes bug fixes and code refactoring to enhance the experience.

Furthermore, apart from updating the build, the trailer video was also slightly updated, and a new screenshot was added to the landing page to better represent the current build. The updated video:

Link in case broken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gax8-ZinHno