SONAR : Into the Depths - WIP Beta Released

Yes, it's finally here...

The WIP Beta version of SONAR: Into the Depths is finally released and available for download.

Mind you, it's a Beta version and many more changes to come in the final release.




- Download Links -

- [MediaFire] - - [GameJolt] -



"Original and Stylish,
It's simplicity is it's strong point"
The Nocturne


"Excellent Game Concept,
It's Addicting and Original."
Doom Hacker


"Cool. I think is a unique idea , very interesting game"
Iceshield


"Wow, this game is really clever!"
GMkizzle


"Such a simple and unique mechanic, its quite a refreshing spin from conventional top down games."
Zevti


"That looks fun!"
Super Guy



Introduction

A simple concept.
The game revolves around your ship, a target beacon and an obstacle course that grades you on your skills and timing.

The game's primary aim is to reach the target beacon without blowing your ship up. And you have to do this on various areas, with increasing difficulty, length and challenging gameplay elements. The game takes place deep underwater, where nothing is visible. Your only way of knowing what's out there is your SONAR equipment. You can send a SONAR pulse out and hence get information about the terrain.

The game's divided into levels, but there's no cannon progression. You can play any level any time. What matters is your score on three aspects, First, your piloting skills. How great you can pilot the ship solely depends on the HP you've left with when you manage to reach the target beacon. Secondly, the navigational skill. This is counted by your Sonar usage. Hence, encouraging the minimal and so, 'SMART' usage of Sonar. Judging the terrain and hence deciding the next moves. Thirdly, the time. Longer you take, more the ratings fall.
At the end of each level, an overall grade is calculated. which lowest as C and highest as S.

The game presents with simple mono-color but pleasing graphics that are hard to look away from. The interface is intuitive, still minimalistic, giving full view to the player. Also, the pitch black void, is the greatest element in the gameplay, which builds the tension and adrenaline plus the feeling of being totally alone in the most forsaken depths of the earth.

The game is controlled by Keyboard and Mouse. If you have a friend, invite him to take charge of either Keyboard or mouse, taking the role of either pilot or navigator. I personally enjoy playing with my younger brother who usually takes the role of navigator.

Of course, the tutorial is included in the game itself. So Have fun!

SONAR : Quick Updates

Hello, again...

This time, just a small bunch of quick updates made to the game... The list runs down as follows...

Ship Movement
Modified Ship movement a bit, more like Underwater movement now. Also the post production effects now vividly shows the movement. However, these effects have pushed the Graphics requirements to the next level altogether, now requiring at least 128 MB of Graphics memory to process the graphics. (Which I believe most of us already have, except you being either time traveled here from Stone Age or just thawed out of your ice casing since Ice Age.)

Flows Mechanics
The new Flows now keep pushing your ship around, which means the the ship would now drift away progressively faster if you stay in the flow for longer periods. Of course, when you have gained momentum this way, a thrust from a good angle can easily propel you off the flow. It is an essential technique to master if you don't want to lose out on the precious timing ratings.

Sonar Scan
New way of using Sonar is to scan the area around the ship instantly. Granting you a lot better idea of what is in the immediate surroundings of the ship. This can help you greatly in the tight spots and sharp turns. But be careful, the scans drain energy much quicker than you might think.

Mines
The newly discovered hazards in some levels - the undersea mines are the greatest dangers ever posed to the ship. The mines can be detected in both the Sonar pulses and scans and they can be identified by their peculiar shapes.

New Levels
Some new levels are added to the LEGEND difficulty, to explore and take full advantage of the newly added gameplay features. These levels test the player's skill and patience to the extreme by devious and deceiving means. Be alert!

And some more minor tweaks here and there...
With these updates, the game is on the verge of release, I am waiting for my key tester's report on the gameplay and on any bugs that may exist. Till then, just chill out and be patient. :)

See ya 'll!

SONAR : Final Preparations to dive INTO THE DEPTHS!

Yes people, the SONAR is nearing its completion. And very soon you'll get to play it. The game has improved a lot since the early version screenshots you have seen.

The game notably features some sexy looking visuals and many gameplay features that keep you engaged to this game and compel you play it again and again.

The current version of the game is looking somewhat like this...

The Menu Screen

Difficulty and Level Selection

Playing Through

Getting There

The Post Level Rating Screen

No videos for now, don't be put off, please stay tuned!

SONAR : Nearing the Completion

Hey all,

Very glad to post that SONAR:ITD is nearing the completion. Since my last post here, I have added tremendous upgrades both core engineand the Cosmetics, I mean, graphics and visuals. I'm really glad that my first fully polished game is nearly finished and soon I'll be releasing it to you all.

The significant amount of changes have been made into the core system and engine. Now, since the health and energy bars have been added, and also a nice and slick looking interface to finally add a eye candy magic touch.

The core systems have again been improvised a lot. Resulting into much faster rendering than the previous versions. Additionally, many systems have been revamped since then. Post production effects have also been revamped and now, say better than ever.

The gameplay will be divided into various levels, with no serialized progression at all. You will be able to play any level at any time. But they will be divided into groups by difficulty of the levels. The blocks being EASY, NORMAL and INSANE.

The grading systems are also progressing well. All I can say now that the game could be released anytime within the next week.

And, the recent addition to the game is a tutorial level. Which explains the basics of the gameplay mechanics, which is rendered using the game's engine itself. The tutorial level should be enough to teach the basics to any casual gamer in no time.

Soon I'll be posting up a videos of the new gameplay and visuals, just stay tuned...

See ya' all!

SONAR : Improvements

Well, no screenies or videos for now, but let me tell you that I have a huge update on the SONAR core systems, which runs as follows...

Firstly, the weird collision problem is almost fixed. Since the update I have seen no unusual collisions problems, so till I find any other glitch, consier it fixed!

The views systems and transitions are added, thus removing the overall level size limitations, as levels could only be of the same size as that of the screen. Since, the traditional 'scrolling views' could not be used for SONAR, I had to completely make a new system. But now, we can have gigantic size levels to navigate through!

The target / goal / destination is no longer a SONAR ping, Instead, it's a proper target. Also, another visual from the ship constantly points to the target, hence, allowing players a guideline as to where the goal is, even if it's not in the view.

And most important of all, post production effects have been added, giving players a true UNDERWATER gameplay experience!

So, stay tuned... More updates and screenshots and videos coming up soon!

SONAR : Into further depths

Hey, people.

Just yesterday, I revealed a few images of my upcoming arcade puzzle game - SONAR. I have been working on it since then, and I just made a few improvements into the core systems.

- The movement of the ship is changed a lot since the first version, now the movements is more of an arcade style than the realistic style.
- The pulse energy is added, longer you hold down the left mouse button, more energy will be stored into the pulse. Hence, the pulse will last much longer.
- Tracers that indicate the distances from the obstacles have been added, though this remains just as an eye candy, it's really gives you a look and feel of the sonar and computed data.

Now, let me elaborate a bit.

The movement system that was initially planned did not allow players to change the facing of the ship instantly, you must put the ship into the motion to do so, but that was highly unfair, considering the arcade genre of the game. So, I have revamped the system, making it simpler. :)

The pulse energy works exactly same as I had described earlier. Of course, the complete energy system is not implemented yet, but it will be soon.

The tracers is the biggest eye candy in the game so far, apart from smooth, antialiased, blend mode graphics. The feel of the dynamically changing numbers creates an illusion of technical interface and your computer processing some complex data that you know simply to ignore them ;)




I have added a few screenies and a gameplay video to show off to you guys. Enjoy!

And yes, I know the video is low res, but my bandwidth here is low, so please bear with me :)

See ya'll!

Into the Depths of the Ocean, where Ears are your Eyes!

Hey people, been a long time.

Recently, I had been working on the new concept, which I had called SONAR : Into the Depths. The game is a simple puzzle arcade game, requires high degree of precision, a good keyboard and mouse control and, not to mention a bit of brains and also a good memory.

This game can become a lot of fun if played by two people, cooperatively.

The aim of the game is simple, make it to the target point without blowing up your ship. But it isn't as easy as it seems. Because of a simple fact that you are deep under the water and can hardly see anything around. Your only way of seeing stuff around is your trusty SONAR pulses. And by using them, you must navigate around the mazes and labyrinths underwater.

The pulse travels in a straight line, (Sorry for defying traditional physics here, but this what makes the gameplay interesting) bouncing off the surface, and with it giving you an idea of the surroundings. The trick is to send the pulses strategically to gain maximum idea of your surroundings.

Although the pulses will last only a set amount of time, which depends directly on the energy you spend on the pulse. Which means, if you put more energy into the pulse, stronger it would be and hence last much longer.

But the catch is, you have limited energy. (Of course, it regenerates over time) but sending SONAR pulses isn't the only thing you have to do with it. The ship also runs on the energy, hence the movements of the ships also consumes energy. So, one must pay attention to the amounts of energy spent in both piloting the ship and navigating through the levels.

At the end of each level, the players will be ranked on two basis, first, PILOT ratings, which is determined by the damage ship has taken. (Less is better!) and the other being NAVIGATION ratings, which is decided upon strategic and minimal use of SONAR pulses.

The grading system ranges from D to S on both scales, and the average of both is your final rating of the level.

Unlike the typical progress, this game features levels that can played anytime. I am planning to add many new levels that can challenge players to take their skills to the limit and beyond!

Now, Not to mention that the graphic style of the game is much similar to the old GRID CONTROL TD that I had created a long time ago. Of course, this is the only style I found suitable to the game concept, and also, not to mention, the Monocolor graphics add a different taste to the game altogether.

I am making customizations to the system. Allowing players to pick the flavor (i.e. color) of their own choice. :)

Till then, Enjoy the Screenshots!