Ahoy, fellow Dwarves!
For decades, our people have wandered in exile since the fall of our great mountain-home, Ølheim. But now, the time has come to reclaim it!
Amos – King of Ølheim
Thank you for your support and for being part of this community. It’s time to give you a more detailed look behind the curtain and share our plans for Into The Deep, with a full focus on Act 1 of the game. Our goal is to forge a rich, tactical experience, and your feedback is the fuel that keeps our smithing fires burning!
Heading into Production!
I’m happy to announce that after countless hours of hard work, the foundational gameplay systems (like combat, movement, and squad mechanics) are now “largely” in place (who am I kidding?). This means we are officially moving into the production phase!
Our main focus from now on will be on level design – crafting the exciting, challenging, and story-rich missions of Act 1. Alongside this, I’ll be developing the cool new features that round out the experience, like the evolving Camp and the introduction of NPC traders.
This plan is our blueprint for turning the core gameplay into a full-fledged adventure.
Gameplay Philosophy
My biggest inspiration is the fantastic gameplay of games like SteamWorld Heist. The development is committed to these core principles:
- Tactical, Skill-Based Combat: Every shot counts with a manual aiming system with a reliable trajectory. This will allow for skill shots and ricochets! Using the environment to your advantage will be crucial. But better stay in cover!
- Squad: You won’t just be controlling generic soldiers. Every character you recruit, starting with Amos and Glimra, will have unique starting abilities and skill trees. Your choice of squad members will have a real impact on your strategy in each mission.
- Customization: Finding loot is exciting! You’ll discover a wide variety of weapons and utility items (like grenades and buff potions). Equipping your squad for the upcoming mission is a huge part of the fun.
- Progression: Your efforts will be visible. I want to create a clear sense of progression, not just for your characters, but for your base of operations. The camp will evolve from a few tents into a lively hub, showing your journey.
The Journey Through Act 1: The Mine
Your quest begins with a single goal: to find a way back into the lost city and take the first steps towards fulfilling an old prophecy that promises to restore the dwarven spirit.
Act 1 is designed to be a complete, self-contained adventure that forms the foundation for the rest of the game. Our plan is to build 5 main, handcrafted levels that will guide you through the story of Act 1, from your first steps into the darkness to a dramatic final confrontation. For all you explorers out there, I’m also planning to sprinkle in optional side-missions and hidden secrets for you to discover. Each level will introduce new challenges and story elements.
The Camp: Your Growing Home
Your base of operations evolves with you!
- Phase 1: You’ll start in a rudimentary camp on the surface, with just a few tents and a campfire.
- Phase 2: By the end of Act 1, you’ll establish a proper operational base down in the mine’s tavern. This will be a lively hub where you can see the dwarves you’ve rescued.
- NPCs with a Purpose: Rescued characters will offer services!
- The Brewer: A legendary master craftsman, said to be the last dwarf who knows the recipe for the famed Ølheimer brew. He’s key to fulfilling the prophecy and can create powerful buff potions and healing items for your team.
- The Trader: A resourceful dwarf who will buy your excess loot and sell essential supplies.
- more to be announced
A Word from a Solo Developer
Into The Deep is a passion project developed by just one person – me! This is a massive undertaking, and bringing this world to life is both a challenge and a joy.
I also want to be transparent with you all. I had to scale back my output over the last few months as I was getting close to burnout trying to juggle my day job, family, and game development. It’s a tough balance! However, I’ve found a better rhythm now and am back to making slow but consistent progress. I’ll also do my best to post more frequent updates and automatically generated changelogs, which you can follow in our new Changelog Section.
My primary goal is to build a cool, polished, and complete short adventure for you to enjoy. This means I have to be smart about which features make it into the initial release. While I have a vision for the game, my focus is on delivering a higher-quality core experience first.
The biggest problems are graphical assets. If I would do anything on my own, it would add years to my development schedule, so I’m glad that I can buy much of the stuff I use. This may lead to a bit of inconsistent experience. But I hope my eye as a designer and product manager will enable me to set this off a bit.
Focusing on a “Guiding Thread”
There is a German expression that describes exactly what was missing in the development phase. A “red thread” – a thread that holds everything together and makes it coherent, that indicates the direction like the North Star. I think I’ve found it now by defining the basic story and plot. Now I can weigh every decision against it. Now that I have it, I feel motivated to finally tackle the levels and take care of the design.
I think that will be a point that will be at the top of the post mortem of this project, and it really would have saved me a lot of frustration. My nature tends to say “make it quick and try it out”, and my lack of experience with systems has forced me to work around problems as long as I can instead of solving them right away. But hey! This is my first real solo game development project. That’s part of it.
Join Our Community & Future Playtests!
As we dive deeper into production, I hope to hold irregular playtests to gather your invaluable feedback. The best way to stay updated on this and to become part of our growing dwarven clan is by joining our official Discord server.
Join us here: https://discord.gg/prF4CrRSrg