One of PC’s best and spookiest puzzle games has returned from the abyss.

Rage against the submachine.

We talk about retro and throwback game releases being a “blast from the past”, but in this case, it’s more like you’re strolling down a sunny path amid soothing birdsong, and then one particular, innocent-looking paving stone swivels underfoot with a rustle of gears, dropping you into a dingy, yellow-panelled room. There are vacuum tubes mounted on one wall, doors to either side, and a ladder leading further down into darkness.

You click one of the doors and the perspective switches over slide-projector style to a second room with identical proportions. There are pipes emerging from the floor, here, and some kind of antique radio on a pedastel in the centre. Hang on, I know this place. I know this formless sense of dread. I know these machinations. The last time I set foot here, it was 2009 and I was running a Flash game blog, writing up choice submissions to sites like Kongregate. This is Submachine, a 14-part escape puzzle series from Mateusz Skutnik, which Skutnik has now compiled, polished-up and re-released as Submachine: Legacy.

Submachine is one of the highlights – or perhaps that should be lowlights – of the Flash gaming era. It’s clever, compact and menacing, a world of terrible contraptions that must be operated, fixed or broken, from relatively everyday clumps of pistons to eerie, pseudo-magical tech that calls to mind the Amnesia series. There’s a story to follow, too, for those of you who find “pure” puzzles too dry. While deciphering each nugget of ominous gadgetry, you can gather up dropped journal entries that recount the exploits of an unfortunate lighthouse keeper.

The puzzles come and go in terms of consistency and satisfaction, but each Submachine chapter is a wonderful mood piece, and it’s lovely to see them pieced together into a “complete” game. This isn’t just a compilation of Flash ports, mind you: the visuals have been spruced up, new mechanics have been added, and the chapters have been re-interpreted as pieces of a much larger machine. And then there’s Submachine: Universe, which I never played, but which is apparently a Submachine project consisting of over a thousand rooms, with each room containing clues as to the coordinates for the next.

If you’re halfway interested in point-and-click puzzling and good old-fashioned eeriness, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s available on Steam or Itch. If you need a taster, you can still play the very first Submachine game on Kongregate.

by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, News Editor
Published on Oct. 16, 2023

get from my shop | get on Steam | get on itch.io | get soundtrack

reviews: Rock Paper Shotgun | Destructoid | World of Legions

overwhelmingly positive timestamp

remastered graphics: sample 1, sample 2, sample 3, sample 4, the ladder

Become the Researcher
Submachine is a hand-drawn point and click adventure game. You will find yourself in a vast network of desolate locations containing puzzles, secrets, notes and inventory items to collect to help you along the way.

the World of Submachine
The underground world of submerged machines offers you vast variety of locations and structures to discover and repair. While everything is shattered, you will try to put things back together to understand and escape.

Story
You are alone here. You will follow the footsteps of a banished lighthouse keeper discovering his descent into ruins of Submachine. The story is divided into chapters that will unlock for you as you progress through the game. The story is conveyed by series of notes that you’ll collect and read.

Puzzles
There are tons of puzzles, some of which you’ll solve by bringing the machinery back online, tinkering with it, turning off and on again. For others you’ll need to find missing parts, levers that were broken off or stolen, depleted power sources, gears, cogs, lamps, coils and so on. As you move through the structure, you will be putting back together things that were shattered.

Graphics
Entire game is hand-drawn. There’s nothing auto-generated nor procedural. Each location was thoughtfully designed. Stylized drawings give the game it’s eerie atmosphere.

Music
Ambient music for this game was created by ThumpMonks, with chapter 1 ambient by Marcus Gutierrez. The music perfectly emphasizes the atmosphere of lonely exploration.

download this game for free | see original release post

~

“Daymare Cat is a gorgeously sketched exploratory platformer that feels like a simple adventure game. The platforming here isn’t particularly challenging, but almost every hand-drawn scene is worth witnessing.” – said some by now non-existent indie game review website in 2013.

~

The main character of this game is Cat Jahnke, and I’m not talking about the in-game little girl, but the singer and songwriter, who created the song that this game is all about. This is the reason why this particular game stands out in my catalogue of games. Hats off to you, Cat. Let’s just hope that you’re right in the song, and things will finally get better.

~

Meanwhile, it’s 2023. How is it possible that it’s been 10 years already… Daymare Cat is the ancestor of Slice of Sea, one could even say that it was the foundation of Seaweed’s game. Cat is the OG.

~

This game needed some major upgrading, since its release my gamedev art direction and workflow changed drastically.  Things that are new in this Anniversary Edition:

– The game is in glorious 60 fps and plays in full screen.

– Most noticeably the game has new background texture. This might be a bit controversial take, but in my opinion this improves the vibe.

– Interactive items have a color. Yes. A color.

– Cat now runs like a ballerina, not a raptor. Thank god.

– Platforming is a bit easier thanks to hitbox tweaking but also by redrawing platforms in few places, for reference check the main gate.

– I added a new pathway for you in case you have a fear of being eaten alive by a cosmic horror monster and really don’t want to do this part. So now you can go around it.

– No changes were done to the music, since it’s already perfection.

Home improvement tips! Upgrade your climbing rope to a brass ladder to lighten up the room!

download this game for free

Hear me out.

For the sake of my mental health, today I decided to take a one-day break from remastering Submachine into Legacy (I’m still finishing chapter 8) and see how things were back in the good old days of flash development over a decade ago. Not sure why I started tinkering with “Where is 2010?”, but here we are with a brand new version – renamed into more lore-friendly title of Daymare Stray. I think I was just curious to see how the code looked like in those old days. Not code per se, but my thought process concerning constructing game logic. It was… strange. Like reading your old diary pages, stepping into your old self. Then I changed main character animations to look a bit better, then switched to 60 fps, which prompted me to update all animations, and and then also sound design needed a bit of love. The screenshot you see above shows a small graphical change in which I emphasized the fact that you can climb back left up that wall, as in old version it was not so obvious. Is this a one-day remaster? Nah, that will come when I remaster entire series into one big game, just like Submachine Legacy. But I have to admit – it was fun to get back to flash for one day. It’s also super convenient to be able to draw and code in one application. This really highlights the genius of flash workflow. The freedom to create in an instant. Don’t get me wrong, working in Game Maker and Photoshop and Spine and Flash all at once is also super fine, but flash was on a completely different level. It made a game designer out of me after all. Ah, to be young again…

Enjoy this little trip down the memory lane!

 

art by Marina

February 27th 2018

– project created

March 14th 2018, PI day

– pre-alpha
– platform + pnc combined (without documents and pictures)

May 20th 2018

– First hand-drawn sketch of a location
– idea of creating entire game by hand on paper appears

October 18th 2018

– small changes to inventory sprites and mechanics
– all major decisions made by now :: ha ha, :D, lol, [19.03.2021]
– game will be hand drawn, lightly watercoloured :: lol nope [10.06.2021]
– locations will have ocean/desert theme :: ah, sweet, innocent times of dreams and plans… [21.09.2021]

January 2019

– changed mechanics for entering/exiting doors/screens to allow multiple entry ways on one screen (exiting via specific door, not previously saved position)
– pressure plate + btn combo

February 2019

– bridge mechanics
– wiggle/animating leafs
– blockable bar door
– disappearing cursor when fading, animating
– new cursor – pen nib
– hero going into door and exiting on the same screen
– darkening hero sprite while goint into door
– item finder reacts to hover

March 2019

– vertical lift
– horizontal float
– game goes to .anime when going into doors
– added draw_curve, item debris, screen shake
– inventory items, levers, buttons check if cursor already is on them when room starts (mouse_over doesn’t execute in that case)
– bugfix: item disappearing from inventory when neighbouring item is picked up while fast cursor movement (issue with not executing mouse_leave fast enough) fixed in item draw action
– hero scaling (0.5, 1, 2)
– pressure plate once
– raising flag
– inventory max items
– valve system
– advanced lever (drawing body, lever, screw, back)
– item nest / storage
– multisave (separate “load game” menu)
– bugfix: saving system retooled to fit multisaving
– stashboxes (empty; with set items; with randomized items)
– graphical design, sketches for backgrounds and separate elements
– delete all saves btn
– moving power lines (gfx)

April 2019

– hero debris bugfix
– proximity lampka
– proximity lampka count machine
– proximity door
– all saves taken msg bugfix
– randomized stashbox bugfix
– play spatial sound once
– sketches
– pressure plate sensitive objects
– ingame btn tutorial
– bouncing scale objects
– responsive menu btns

May 2019

– insertable objects (keys, levers etc) via sprite_draw_part (obsolete thanks to spine bounding box) :D
– fading to menu after deleting all saves one by one
– dynamic settings btns description
– draw texture flush optimisation
– spine: float_01, pressure plate, cave door, btn bar, slide door, windmill
– sinus wave
– stone weight chain door
– menu btns animations
– interactive bat/fly
– more sketches…

June 2019

– sketches
– ink: mountains

July 2019

– inking locations 1,2,3

August 2019

– vacation :D

September 2019

– break for submachine card game…
– inking locations 3

October 2019

– inking locations 3, 4

November 2019

– inking locations 4, 5

December 2019

– room sketches
– hero debris scale
– samples of inked, texture-colored locations (cave, shell)
– new game button transparent if inactive :D

January 2020

– major bugfix – scr_fade didn’t return zoom (camera_set_view_size) to 1 after finishing fading, fixed in scr_fade_destroy o_0
– shortened fade delay when hero enters door (scr_hero_alarm_0) (quicker transition)
– image_xscale/yscale w o_hero_debris_dirt
– reworked curve line anchors and behaviour (Added slight wind movement based on line angle instead of anchor x,y movement)
– added curve width (draw primitive > draw line)
– r001 initiated with graphics
– scanning ink locations
– major update – moving backgrounds based on hero movement (front & horizon)
– tetsing watercolor/ink shadows/clouds
– hero debris cloud
– refined hero debris (dirt)
– background clouds movement
– shadow texture
– color texture
– item name display with bgr
– item name display while taken
– cloud sprites and objects
– hero sprite color based on room lighting settings (ambient color)
– refined item used debris (dirt + cloud)
– inventory full message on screen (in style of inventory item opis)
– animation top and bottom black stripe
– black frame around scr_shake (hides extruding sprite parts)
– [bgr photoshop coloring crunch]
– major update: separate hero collision detection with walls and doors depending on hero scale (room 22…)
– improved animations of going in and out of doors
– 22 Jan – color change that changed everything
– [bgr photoshop coloring crunch restarted from scratch…]
– bridge patrol object (looking at hero checking if lever available)
– lamp / light particles

February 2020

– improved optimisation (sprite flush)
– loading horizons from included files (sprite_add, sprite_delete) (hr001)
– loading fronts from included files (fr001)
– loading main stage background from included files (br001)
– reworked anchor mechanics
– karna shards > included files
– clouds > included files
– scr_hand, scr_idle (from sub engine)
– room thumbnails > included
– credits > included
– bugfixes in cursor behavior in menus
– adding all train locations to the game
– changed light beam particle behaviour (reset & x_dir)
– adding town locations to the game

March 2020

– adding harbor/shipyard locations
– adding seabed locations
– tweaking lamp particle behavior
– setting seaweed spawn in room after loading saved game
– cleaning library
– added stashbox sprite as included json
– reworked stashbox mechanics
– changed the look of stashbox item nests to match main inventory
– pressure plate, flag, doors > spine json included files
– disabled item description when in hand (collided with alerts)
– added onscreen alerts when using larva on doors (in inventory description area) > [larva scrapped in 2021 – moved to future dmt maybe?…]
– cleaning library from frame by frame sprites (doors, bars, etc)
– final bridge animation
– new fronts for mountains, trains
– [Covid-19 quarantine since March 12th…]
– new room 143 (stables in dead end harbor)
– adding new fronts and rooms to the game

April 2020

– rest of mountain missing backgrounds
– rest of trains missing backgrounds
– rest of town missing backgrounds
– all new bgr photoshopped and added to the game
– bugfix – cursor not hiding for fade when hero falls off bottom of the screen
– color change in 024, 025 wood: blue > grey blue
– fr change in 083 – removed moving black wood structure from fr, changed to simple front static in the middle
– disabled texture flush, since only 1 texture page remains, all other sprites loaded from files

May 2020

– ship ink locations
– milestone: all ink br locations done by May 17th
– coloring ship locations
– adding ahio locations to the game

June 2020

– photoshop retouch
– updating hero color in dark places (town, shipyard, tanker)
– tree fronts in town
– gothic buttresses added
– horizon watercolor sketches
– horizon ink/pencil/marker sketches
– sun texture
– change of colors in r033 – raider train
– exec decision: horizons made in 3B pencil, textured in PS. (outline colored rgb 28-89-106)
– unified front and horizon clouds (same size, different movement speed)
– bugfix – removed memory leak of scr_sprite_folder (loading first sprite to measure without removing it later before loading centered sprite)
– change in cloud loading (moving x and y instead of liadong twice)
– added front BIG cloud (3000 px wide) in front of everything, more dynamic movement of front
– horizon movement speed tweaked
– bugfix: floating platform in abe location
– added door side wall in perspective in r126 (zuraw) + darkened shade door
– fixed clipping through foreground in r146 (front containers)
– final version of horizon pencil drawing (r001)
– added new layer for sky texture, separate from horizon
– removed floating table in r102

July 2020

– pencil horizon (hr) drawings and implementation (mnt, train)
– changed further horizon color from greyish to blueish
– fixed bug in o_sky initial position in Abe location (r022) resulted in sky moving at start of room
– all mnt and train horizons drawn and added to the game
– start of pencil hr for town

August 2020

– town pencil hr cont.

September 2020

– town pencil hr cont.
– moving cumulus on the horizon
– changed GMS2 version to 2.3, then reverted promptly back to 2.5.5 (2.3 laggy – loading external files to ram) :/
– new front big_clouds (10 in total)
– shipyard pencil hr
– dynamic random front big_clouds (choose from 1 to 10)
– refinement (graphical tweaks, cleaning drawings, changing / adding colors, etc)
– added screentones to hr drawings in shipyard loc

October 2020

– seabed pencil hr
– tanker pencil hr
– milestone: 6.X.2020 – all pencil hr done
– adding screentones to all hr
– adding cloud_big layer to rest of rooms (train, town)
– tibet door spine and code animation (wheels and lines)
– fixed small bug with entering anime state (player now falls down if in midair when anime triggers instead of floating)
– wires animated in spine instead of using draw_curve (draw_curve = jagged lines)
– tibet flags spine animation (customizable setup to change poles, colors and flag number in GMS)
– bridge and rail as separate objects, solved layering issue with drawn bridge approached from right
– scr_move() in wires, flags moved to [begin step] to avoid uwanted movement in relation to fr, hr
– o_wiatrak animated via spine + code
– tibet flags on wires spine animation
– submachine floats spine animation
– nautilus spine animation
– tibetan drums rotating cylinders spine animation
– seabed debris objects
– r004 stashbox
– trees spine animation
– fixed greyed alpha on semi transparent elements of spine animations (premultiply alpha = off)
– bugfix: setting hero_xspeed to 0 when entering anime, prevents clouds from floating backwards in animation triggered while hero moving left
– failsafe on stashboxes that don’t have set items – making them display global ransom stash items from scr_randomize_stash
– final graphical design of clouds: front, back and big

November 2020

– wire anchors and posts
– lamps
– distrubution of background elements throughout entire game:
– clouds hr
– anchors and wires hr, br and fr
– reworked spine animations for wires for optimising load times (wires built from straight line in png 1000×10 px)
– submachine floats hr, br
– nautilus hr, br, fr
– reworked nautilus hr and br spine builds – smaller png atlas
– seabed archeo debris
– reworked tibet flags to randomize flag pattern, flag pole kind and save it’s state
– flags hr, br, fr
– windmill br
– reworked cumulus (following o_horizon, not o_moving) – horizon is the closest obj to cumulus for them to compare speed to, binding them to o_sky or o_moving made cumulus movement janky
– karma shards in trains, town and shipyard
– reef tubes animated + bubbles
– weed ears in reef shrooms (weed) creation logic (scr_weed), graphics and spine animation and distribution (br, fr, hr)
– bubbles final ink gfx
– chest stash “3D” spine animation
– game LOGO final design
– gauges gfx and logic
– Soulstorm Brew bottles gfx and map placement
– o_hero.point_of_interest variable to look at during game in animation state
– invisible passage indicator (flags with “s” hieroglyph)
– windmill 76
– tumbleweeds
– included files structure reorganized (static folder)
– logo spine animation
– logo machine for title reveal
– inventory item alpha variables for idle, hover, taken, other taken
– script polishing
– menu bgr movement based on panoramic_view mechanic
– game settings buttons changed from shells to cogs
– updated o_btn_load_saved_game gfx and design
– code cleaning and tweaking

December 2020

– Seaweed ink spine animation (spr_hero_4, spr_hero_5)
– new fr in town locations shown in title reveal trailer
– inventory item state alpha tweaking
– inventory item description present when taken
– animation stripes position changeable depending on room (for dark inside rooms like 007)
– game reveal trailer, steam store, reddit and website released (Dec 8th)
– code and library cleaning (renaming older sprites to s_ prefix, ojects to o_ prefix, moving older jsons to folders, dev mode vars integrating)
– achievement: daredevil
– achievement: parkour
– unused sr, hr removed from included files (rooms 001 – 165)
– cloud_big, cloud_front lower y when o_hero is low – mostly in town loc
– scr_move_bbox for o_front, o_horizon, o_sky and o_cloud_big to prevent showing sprite edge – movement boud to bbox_top, bbox_bottom
– hero saving precise x, y position and x, y image scale (removed saving through doors and spawners)
– debugging that shit^ because it broke the game (saving and loading hero scale in “small hero” locations)
– reworked scaling, hero sprite from external json, separate sprite for small hero
– o_saver to save hero position right before seaweed falls off cliff (to force position save without user saving by pressing ESC)
– fixing code regarding hero scale, changing older references from my_scale=0.5 to my_scale=0
– removed hero scale control from o_god – hero scale is controlled only by o_hero, o_door and o_hero_make_small (issue fixed)
– o_wiggle_math and o_wiggle_anim as global objects with children loadidng sprites from included, also reworked logic
– game is taking a screenshot when saving (screen_save_part) to use as thumbnails on “load game” page (!)
– hero carried jump height lowered when jumping from big to small hero scale (o_hero_make_small)
– changed o_hero.image_xscale set up in scr_hero_load_carry_variables from room_width dependent to reading carried image_xscale in ds_hero_carry_map
– fixed fatal crash due to o_god.current_spawn not existing (in dev mode using key shortcuts, but still, fatal is fatal)
– complete code refactoring
– optimalisation: sprites for all clouds, wires and flags preloaded into o_god to prevent sprite_adding them each time a room starts
– optimalisation: o_fade fade_max changed from 1.1 to 1 for quicker rooms transition
– o_hero in outdoor state uses color_merge to appear coming out of shadow
– pause menu
– ds_list_clear(ds_inventory) and scr_inv_hide() added to rm_menu room start to remove current inventory – otherwise it messes up “new game” option
– pause settings menu
– inventory inactive alpha and poziom_inv when cursor away (inv_alpha_sensor)
– wiatrak_proper blades are rotating (r103 hr and r109 br)
– o_laser (laser beam detecting if hero breaks it)
– fronts in town and shipyard
– scr_add uses o_blank and instance_change to pass variables to new proper instance create event without fail. Win!
– scr_act uses instance_deactivate_object and instance_activate_object to control puzzle states. Another win.
– additional seaweed size bugfixes (scale 0 locations in trains)
– change of tibet ropes color
– achievement: seaweed, not tumbleweed
– bugfix: removing fatal crash when item_draw call non existent item_stack
– resetting active_sounds ds_map when going back to mainmmenu after pausing the game
– o_lamp_white using c_color to alter colors of the instance

January 2021

– missing fronts in trn, twn, hbr, shd
– entire room 102 scaled down, to match other interior locations
– fixed mus_on=1 and sfx_on=1 settings bug in listener_init
– reworked o_krata mechanic
– o_lamp_tow (the outer worlds wall laser lamp)
– fixed shards layering conflicts with main_static and o_hero
– roadblock puzzle in r010
– fixed inventory clipping from under o_anime_pasek when it’s displayed too high (r007)
– wheels following front cloud
– o_proxy_glow
– all missing fronts done
– r080, r078 railings
– r108 barrier (boxes)
– o_zoom
– cursor zoom state
– exit btn white
– bugfix: exit btn in pause state snd_btn not playing fixed
– hr and sr in r152 (inside ship) – last missing drawing
– bugfix: fr clipping on top when hero too high on screen (r148) + r078 redrawn not to clip
– fr extracted from br in ship
– new fr in ship
– final ship additions
– r152 front pipes moving separately from fr
– rooms 1-165 br, fr, hr, sr all done
– final touches on all background graphics so far

February 2021

– puzzle design
– o_chain
– r010 roadblock
– r056 hero scale set to 0 (running in further part of the br)
– r056 / r058 clickable back door
– pressure plates (type 1, 2, left, mid, right)
– iventory items only pickable when hero idle or walking (preventing jumping onto pressure plate while holding item)
– sprite extensions in anime_pasek (black rectangles above and below)
– thorgal sequence
– inventory item removes itself in god anime state – when anime is triggered by using an inventory item. Separate switch in item step event.
– deactivated item_finder scaling when hovering over it
– zoomable inventory items (to look at, not use)
– zoomable inventory item acts normally when there’s an opened stash on screen (can be taken in hand and put away in the stash)
– o_stash opens automatically when item in hand is hovering over it
– tibet crooked tower sequence
– abe location sequence
– o_map, o_transporter
– end-of-tibet force field
– scr_snd_pitch using streamed sounds

March 2021

– proxy lamp intro (r028)
– proxy lamp autonomous glow particles tied to target lamp
– laser inverted (o_laser_left, o_laser_right)
– trains puzzles
– scr_electric_arc (from submachine primer)
– r023 levers bug fix (not registering after 1st move)
– o_map mechanics
– inventory map item (warp rune)
– map saving discovered locations ds_list
– seaweed spine enter door animation uses separate sprite for backside torso
– heaven gates + heaven rooms architecture (166, 167, 168)
– r169 – additional town tunnel
– glyph finders
– o_scroll
– tibet drums logic
– steam achievement codebreaker
– heaven loc graphics (br, hr, fr, sr)
– teleports graphics, animation

April 2021

– trains puzzles cont.
– sound design with ThumpMonks
– song by Cat Jahnke
– fixed timing on step debris / step sound
– outdoor / indoor seaweed step, jump, fall sounds
– item finder from animation frame
– r170 (trains)
– pre-town puzzles (wall gate)
– town puzzles
– all map locations

May 2021

– town puzzles cont.
– mouse hand disabled when screen shaking
– o_wiggle_mouse
– rotary proxy lamps
– o_stash_repo_1 > [cut content]
– o_stash_repo_multi > [cut content]
– stash dymek as separate object
– May 13th 2021 – right click inventory system
– music check in every room scr_mus_update
– new stash system, evalued from new inventory
– stash separator centered between stash and inventory displays
– book case stash for notes and books only
– tibet drums turnable only after seeing corresponding note
– ship puzzles
– additional train puzzles

June 2021

– town puzzles cont.
– ship puzzles cont.
– additional train puzzles cont.
– major fix: saving stashes after init, because if stash was not seen, it becomes empty when load game
– all stashes done
– all item displays
– gnome achievement
– shipyard puzzles
– seabed puzzles
– puzzles everywhere

July 2021

– puzzles everywhere at the end of time
– zoom state finder (lokomotif)
– milestone: all puzzles done (July 25th => lol)
– refactoring
– bugfix: separate o_act_item for tablica suwak sliders (o_act_item_suwak_1, o_act_item_suwak_3)
– r172 gfx
– new floating platform logic (still trash though), gfx and spine animation
– mouse wiggles
– r025 tile puzzle
– hero wiggle refactoring

August 2021

– hero wiggles refactor
– straw wiggles
– [6-29 = Chorwacja]

September 2021

– heaven lever sounds
– gfx tweaks and clean up
– changed shipyard crane card reader mechanic (no hovering needed)
– controls btn in ingame settings
– gnome screw + gnome symbol on rudder
– scrolls save update (fr objects)
– bugfix: missing stash_lighthouse save loading (game breaking bug – ds_list not loading and crashing the game)
– controls menu
– heaven valve sounds
– btn_exit aqua version for map menu
– r069 gate code protruding to avoid suggesting item nests
– snd_let_me_go_home
– new version of snd_use
– milestone: all sounds and music done
– btn_load_saved_game bugfix (corrupted non clickable, delete save 10 proper sigdisplay)
– ink: main menus, controls, intro, outro, inhabitants
– photoshop main menu br, pause br
– controls final gfx
– bugfix: prevent seaweed stuck on o_abe_plate after saving and loading game on that plate
– seaweed animations in main menus
– subnautica fish
– debris items
– refactoring random stash pool
– inhabitants / characters
– BUGFIX: animations stopping always, not only in game_state.idle – prevents animations from not stopping in inv or pause
– BUGFIX: added scr_block / unblock to prevent opening inventory or pausing game while small animation is playing (animation that doesn’t trigger anime state)
– refactoring/bugfix animations not stopping at anime_pause while pause/inventory
– softlock failsafe: hero stuck in jumping/falling state (o_hero alarm_1) occoured once, can’t replicate

October 2021

– characters cd
– coins, spotted seashells distro
– tutorials
– intro
– outro
– bugfix: stash_lighthouse part 2: fixed ds_list not saving after init (when game reloaded stash was empty) in scr_stash_2_save_all
– credits
– in-game achievements
– steam api + achievements
– stash-size-active librarian aniamtions
– removed old inventory logic (scr + objects)
– final betatesting
– Oct 27th – sent to Valve for verification
– Oct 28th – game accepted by Valve
– localization prep

November 2021

– achievements blocked if steam is not initialised
– failsafe hero position not carrying over in scr_hero_load_carry_variables (added idle state to carrying + reworked respawning)
– reworked hero_make_small, hero_make_big logic to be triggered by hero, not other
– block god esc (saving) when hero is on floating platform (heaven)
– font variable set in o_god
– localization pl
– langugage settings menu
– new main font: comfortaa (latin ext)
– stash names bug fix (library was accepting non-books after switching language in room r092)
– alerts language fix
– inventory item description stash_opis position tweak (font specific x, y offsets)
– localization (21 languages)
– final betatesting
– prerelease 8/11/2021
– door-flag hint in 035 (apparently going in between trains is not obvious) :D
– 1.0.0 (11/11/2021) release build

release

1.0.1 (11/11/2021)
– esc disabled in main menu (prevents game from closing when in main menu and alt-tabbing)

1.0.2 (12/11/2021)
– added more clearly visible passage between trains in r035 (stairs and handrail)
– fixed stashes behind drum/picture in r024 not stopping animation when [close stash] > [move the picture] too quickly
– anime skip btn no loger activates mouse enter when invisible (sound)
– unnotarized mac build sent to patrons
– language fix (spanish, latin)

1.0.3 (13/11/2021)
– language fix (japanese, porto B, porto P)

1.0.4 (13/11/2021)
– volume slider in settings
– steam screenshots enabled
– language fix (italian)
– rudder screws in r163 active only in o_god idle state (were making noise when clicking on them with inv item)
– bugfix: hero entering door while reacting was causing game crash – blocked

1.0.5 (14/11/2021)
– map portals active only when hero is idle or walking

1.0.6 (15/11/2021)
– esc key doesn’t work anymore in main menu (alt-tabbing doesn’t return to main menu)
– language fix (russian, hungarian)
– disabled game saving itself in the outro (via alt-tabbing or quitting or steam overlay)

1.0.7 (17/11/2021)
– language fix (multiple)

1.0.8 (18/11/2021)
– language fix (chinese T and S)
– fixed clipping gfx error in hr152

1.0.9 (22/11/2021)
– language fix (finnish)
– gfx change: symbol on monitors in r149 changed to be more visible for sight impaired players
– scrolls opening sound only in game_state.idle;

1.0.10 (23/11/2021)
– Mac build fixes (proximity door, o_wiatrak)
– door tutorials in r035, r002, r004

1.0.11 (24/11/2021)
– reworked screenshot mechanic to properly take save screenshots in windowed mode

1.0.12 (25/11/2021)
– scr_unblock when door finishes animation in r074
– one more russian language fix…
– one more german language fix…

December 2021

1.0.13 (21/12/2021)
– croatian language fixes
– added Korean language
– thank you note at the end of the game

January 2022

1.0.14 (9/1/2022)
– removed arrow sign and steps from r035 (they unnecessarily doubled door tutorial function)
– door tutorials in rooms: 38, 69, 93, 101, 131, 135, 137

1.0.15 (16/1/2022)
– ALT key saves the game (to prevent softlocking after ALT+F4 is used to close the game)
– o_r043_crane lever bugfix (save on item use, not frame 30 – prevents softlock after ALT+F4 while animation goes from 0 to 30)
– o_r055_wieko bugfix (scr_unblock added to animation end and item collect – prevents softlock after ALT+F4 while animation is playing)

February 2022

1.0.16 (7/2/2022)
– scr_save > saves immediately to savefile (to prevent softlocks when game crashes)
– scr_inv_save > saves immediately to savefile (to prevent softlocks when game crashes)
– scr_stash_2_save > saves immediately to savefile (to prevent softlocks when game crashes)
– scr_init_var > to use when new game starts to save all initial variables – so they don’t save to file 20 times at once

1.1.0 (8/2/2022)
– switched to GMS2 IDE v2.3.6.595 (Runtime v2.3.6.464) [last IDE before requirement for Spine 4]
– graphical change in br095 to emphasize proxy lamp placement on the wall
– laser beams widened from 2px to 4px
– fixed seaweed jump / landing animations in Spine (10 frames > 60 frames) for proper animation mixing
– removed all debris inventory items
– r137 – one coin moved from ground to treasure pot (one slot freed by removing debris items)
– r024 – tile_2 moved from trashcan to wardrobe

1.2.0 (11/2/2022)
– switched from GMS IDE v2.3.6.595 to newest IDE v2022.1.1.610 / Runtime v 2022.1.1.483
– switched from Spine 3.7.94 to Spine 4.0.61
– updated all Spine animations (export in 4.0.61)

Slice of Sea – mořská řasa na cestě domů.

Logická adventura s názvem Slice of Sea je zajímavým počinem od vývojáře Mateusze Skutnika. Slice of Sea je hra ručně kreslená na papír, v naprosto unikátním stylu. Společně s mořskou řasou budete prozkoumávat pustý svět, sbírat předměty, řešit hádanky, a hlavně se budete snažit najít cestu domů.

Dobrodružství mořské řasy.

Slice of Sea je jednou z těch her, ve kterých naleznete spoustu předmětů a některé z nich jsou skryté přímo před vašima očima. Je tedy potřeba dávat velký pozor v každé oblasti. Tento aspekt hry vám nejspíše bude silně připomínat hru Samorost. Je zábavný a klade velký důraz na malé detaily v daných oblastech.
Slice of Sea je trošku osamělejší dobrodružství. Není tu mnoho NPC, se kterými by se dalo komunikovat. A tak vaším nejlepším společníkem v této hře bude vaše tichá mořská řasa, která zoufale hledá cestu domů. Bohužel zde nenaleznete ani příliš mnoho vyprávění, což je trochu škoda, protože svět kolem vás je tajemný a působivý a jistě by mu nějaké pěkné vyprávění slušelo. Ze hry Slice of Sea jsem ale měla pocit, že je v ní jakési podtextové vyprávění o životním prostředí.

Hádanky.

Hádanky v Slice of Sea jsou poměrně přímočaré. Najdeme tu sekvenční hádanky, ale i hádanky, které se dají vyřešit jen pomocí vodítek z prostředí. V tomto dvou- až tříhodinovém dobrodružství je tak akorát hádanek, aby to hráče neunudilo a zároveň aby hra zůstala stále poutavá. Hra se hodně opírá o průzkum prostředí, a tak hádanky občas nebývají příliš obtížné. Najdou se zde však i hádanky, které jsou pro hráče doslova výzvou. Některé z hádanek dokonce zahrnují do svého řešení různá zařízení a struktury, které jsou neznámé, skoro až mimozemské. Což od hráče vyžaduje trochu více myšlení. Občas také musí hráč některé hádanky řešit i v několika oblastech naráz, aby došel ke kýženému cíli.

Něco jako Metroidvania.

Slice of Sea vás bude posílat zpět na místa, která jste už prošli. Avšak nyní jsou v těchto oblastech nově přístupné doposud zamčené lokace díky nově získanému předmětu. Hra dost spoléhá na to, že hráč si bude pamatovat všechny místa, kam se musí vrátit. Upřímně přiznávám, že po hodině hraní už jsem nevěděla, ani kde některá místa leží a jak se k nim dostat. Nepomohly mi ani teleportovací body, které sice šetří čas díky rychlému cestování mezi oblastmi, ale ke konci je jich tolik, že v nich začíná být chaos. Doporučuji si dělat poznámky, kde ještě co zbývá, ať nemusíte zbytečně běhat čtyřicet minut kvůli nalezení konkrétního místa.

Herní mapa.

Herní mapa Slice of Sea se povětšinou skládá z polí, jež směřují doprava nebo doleva. Občas se sice stane, že hráč může jít také nahoru a poté do stran, nebo také vstoupit do různých budov, jeskyní, vlaků a podobně. Toto vše vytváří rozvětvené cesty, ve kterých je velice snadné se ztratit. Dá se tak říci, že navigace mezi oblastmi není úplně nejlepší. Určitě by jí pomohlo lepší označení.

Moře detailů.

Slice of Sea si zakládá na velkém množství drobných detailů, které najdete na každém poli, kterým vaše mořská řasa projde. Od zrezivělých konstrukcí, vyřezávaných pilířů až po propracované město, vlaky a různé mechanické stroje. Je vidět, že autor svému dílu věnoval opravdu hodně lásky, neboť se to odráží na každém kousku obrazu, jejž namaloval. Společně s mořskou řasou projdete pouštním prostředím, uměle vytvořenými prostory a vše je spojeno do něčeho velmi estetického a zároveň je tu cítit i hluboká atmosféra.

Hudba.

Atmosféru ve hře Slice of Sea dokresluje i hudba. Melodické klavíry s ambientní ozvěnou a temné syntezátory pomáhají dotvořit tento tajemný svět. Tato kombinace melodie tak propůjčuje vašemu průzkumu místa ponurý nádech. Tuto skvělou hudbu vytvořili Thumpmonks. Určitě mnoho hráčů zaujme i ústřední píseň hry Slice of Sea, již napsala a nazpívala Cat Jahnke. Tato píseň nese název Let me go home.

8.5/10

[source]