About
You're stuck in a high-tech submarine, hundreds of miles deep in the ocean, with nothing but darkness and the cold pressure of the deep surrounding you. Oxygen's running out fast, and a deadly computer virus is eating away at your systems, causing everything to malfunction.
Controls
- QE - Rotate around compartments
- WASD - Computer Control Panel
- AWD - Movement Control Panel
- Spacebar - Deploy buoy
Development
We made this game in 48 hours for the Global Game Jam 2025. The theme was "Bubble".
We used Unreal Engine 5 for development. This was my first time using Unreal Engine in a long time, and getting used to the new features meant I focused on designing and working on the visuals.
The theme of "Bubble" was quite open. We brainstormed for a bit and didn't want to go with the direct connection of bubbles or popping. We settled on making something more mature in tone and a panic-inducing game. This was quite a contrast compared to the games others at the event were making.
We looked into games like Iron Lung for inspiration. For the theme of bubbles, we thought of using underwater bubble vents to regain oxygen, which was being depleted slowly and if you ran out its game over. We also wanted to introduce a challenge. We did this by implementing a virus popup system that prevented the player from using any features of the ship, such as moving. An alarm would also be displayed, noting that too many viruses had appeared, requiring immediate action.
So, we had the dilemma and problem. Now we needed a goal. We thought of deploying signal buoys at certain locations across the map to serve as a simple challenge on top. However, navigating wasn't so easy. You're blind in your ship and can only depend on a simple map and radar system. We debated including a map that showed your location. We decided to include it to make the game easier since the game already presented a lot of challenges.
The player would be dealing with popups, depleting oxygen and having to navigate in the dark
So what did I do? I mocked up the inside of the submarine and animated all of the controls along with hooking up basic UI elements. I felt like I could have done more if I had refreshed my knowledge of Unreal Engine before the jam. I had not touched visual scripting and mainly used Unity since after my undergrad, so towards the end of the jam, I started to remember the naming conventions of Unreal Engine, like "pawn" and "getting the player controller," I acted much like a pure designer than I normally do making sure the team is all progressing towards a complete experience.
You move on a grid. For example, from the image above, if you were running low on oxygen, you would move forward twice. However, from the starting position, if you wanted to reach a signal-deploying position, you would need to rotate clockwise and then move forward twice.
I had a lot of fun making this game. It was a great experience to work with my old university friends and to catch up with everyone at Suffolk. I hope to work with them all again in the future.