Discover the Ocean (VHS) by Warkus

A downloadable game for Windows and Linux

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The ocean: A world of mystery and secrets. But what lies beneath the surface?

Discover the Ocean - brought to you by the Ocean Exploration Program

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Controls:

WASD - to move

IJKL / Arrow Keys - to look

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Made in a few hours for the DreadXP Dredge the Depths Jam . All assets where either created during the jam or are CC0-Licensed, gathered from various sources with the following exceptions:

Font "Junglefever" (https://www.nicksfonts.com/)

Font "Perfect DOS" (https://portfolio.zehfernando.com/)

Font VCR OSD Mono (https://www.dafont.com/de/mrmanet.d5509)

3D Model "VHS" (https://sketchfab.com/Terizmeh)

More information

Status	Released
Platforms	Windows, Linux
Release date	Dec 20, 2021
Rating	Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars (26 total ratings)
Author	Warkus
Genre	Simulation
Made with	GIMP, Godot, Blender
Tags	Atmospheric, First-Person, Horror, Retro, Short, thalassophobia, underwater, vhs
Average session	A few minutes
Languages	English
Inputs	Keyboard, Mouse

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

discover_the_ocean_win.zip 43 MB

discover_the_ocean_linux.zip 47 MB

Comments

Escapedexile321 days ago(-2)

Short but really good idea and I enjoyed the concept a lot!

the_monotonist1 year ago(-2)

(game at 1:01:37)
There's more to this game than just the file you download from itch. I'm not sure if I completed all of it, but I certainly experienced more than most of the commenters here. Fun little game, and ended up being educational too!

SadMat4e4107 days ago

thanks for this video, helped me a lot.

Olian Mars1 year ago(-2)

Oh, yes! That's great!

MsCanuck1 year ago( 2)(-1)

youre tellin me yourew scared iof a guy who got his conk slonked silly styole??!?

Ahri1 year ago( 1)

Is there a way to full screen it? It opens in windowed mode cutting half of the game screen

KenNealLee1 year ago

having the same problem, do u remember if you got it working?

ObsoletePotato1 year ago( 1)

upon seeing the status idle and depth screen I had flashbacks to gemini home entertainment's advanced mining vehicle

VxnityXV2 years ago(-1)

10/10

BLUZZ2 years ago(-1)

I played your game for an episode of 3 scary games on my channel and completely got sidetracked at the beginning lol

I didn't notice the red flashing light at the start also the part with the red text and distorted person sounds like some sort of code is being said because it felt like the game had more to it and I just wasn't able to figure it out also your game is the first one I really enjoyed it though :)

ShamPussyk2 years ago

Cool SCP:CB ambient)

potatohedgehog2 years ago(-4)

My girlfriend gave this a try-- and I think she's a bit wary of the ocean now. xD

dirtydanlace2 years ago(-1)

I....FEEL....UNEASY AFTER PLAYING THIS....THNX

antonitosz12122 years ago

I'm stuck on the main screen and it shows GODOT Game engine, i'm listening music from the game.

Shade Meadows2 years ago( 1)

I can't fullscreen it?

Urchar Gearr2 years ago(-2)

Another awesome game! Loved it!

Jacozoid | PolyHavocGames2 years ago(-1)

Not sure what just happened, but it was interesting. Played it at 01:35 if you want to skip to it!

Ryberus2 years ago(-1)

THE ocean holds many secrets...

Luis S.2 years ago( 1)

Wow, I never expected to learn so much about the ocean! :)))

Sahreth Bowden (Baphy or Daimon Crow)2 years ago( 1)(-1)

The ocean is scary and this game proves it! Love that the developer put in actual ocean facts to enhance the immersion and spook factor ^^ Would definitely play a longer game with the same concept. Here's my playthrough (it's the third game; 10:27)

swift3dge2 years ago(-1)

Definitely creepy! Still trying to figure out what the ending meant, but I really loved the vibe and feel of the game!

wearesoltv2 years ago(-1)

Analog horror is my favorite now

Hi, My Name is Kieran2 years ago(-1)

I found the ocean!

DonMahLuvinLandry2 years ago(-1)

Very bizarre, but I like it. There's definitely something deeper underlying this game, just unfortunately didn't have the time to dig deeper!

Modern Horror Gaming2 years ago( 1)(-1)

I smile everytime Warkus drops a project :)

Full Play No Commentary

kashbrown12 years ago( 1)(-1)

This really creeped me out! Really enjoyable game though! I don't think I'm smart enough to figure out what I assume is a lot of hidden secrets in the game but had a lot of fun anyway!!!

HeroRobb2 years ago( 1)

I loved this.

duckenheimer2 years ago( 1)

A playable analog horror tape is a really cool idea! I could easily see this being a popular way to have a series of them play out. I especially liked how the depth and interactivity really started... At the end :)

Adrionic2 years ago( 2)(-2)

This was really cool! I would love to see an extension of this, the code solving and how it pertains to the theme of the game were really well done! I enjoyed my time trying to do a deep dive into the secrets of this game. Great work!!

Levont2 years ago( 1)(-2)

Fairly interesting way of starting an ARG. Not gonna lie. Keep it up.

Here's my channel for other games I have played. https://www.youtube.com/c/Levont

5mg2 years ago( 1)(-2)

Awesome game. It have some secrets after the ending. =)

Vykri2 years ago (5 edits) ( 7)(-1)

// Spoilers

At the end of the game, you're shown the code cX6Th2Sg with a voice reading out "pastebin" in the nato phonetic alphabet.

Going to https://pastebin.com/cX6Th2Sg gets you the code uggcf://mrebova.arg/?466nor96ro695q6p#xF79GbXHrGR uX/IPgomN6xIXL97BUtswAbE90386i8= .

That can be decrypted via a caesar cipher with value 13.

This leads you to https://zerobin.net/?466abe96eb695d6c#kS79ToKUeTE hK/VCtbzA6kVKY97OHgfjNoR90386v8= which asks for a password to decrypt the text.

This is where I'm currently stuck. I've tried various strings from the game description, text in the game, things related to the jam name or themes of the game, but no luck so far.

I also extracted the game files and tried to spectogram all the sound files, but didn't find anything interesting. I also found this image in a folder called "masterplan" so I figured it would have the password, but things like "dream" or "Deep see terrors" don't work.

Edit: Figured out the password is PREY. The decrypted text has a bunch of stuff going on. Trying to figure it out now.

Edit2: The morse code at the bottom leads to 2 articles. The first is https://web.archive.org/web/20201108154101/HTTP://NEWENGLANDFOLKLORE.BLOGSPOT.CO...

Interestingly, the article linked mentions "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" which is similar to Warkus' past game "Shadow over Normoth"

And the second is https://www.newsroom.co.nz/lockerroom/ocean-swim-champ-terrified-by-what-lurks-b...

This one seems to be less tabloid-y and more just about a swimmer's fear of the ocean.

Edit3: The ascii at the top leads to https://neal.fun/deep-sea/

And googling the phrases at the top leads to https://strangesounds.org/2013/02/mystery-strange-sounds-from-the-deep-oceans-bl..

I don't see any other loose threads to follow, but there might be more if anyone else wants to take a look. Pretty fun mini arg.

5mg2 years ago( 2)(-1)

LIE and PREY are two words in the game.

Adrionic2 years ago( 4)(-1)

Adding to this, the portion at the bottom that says:

N O... T.......H U M A N
Y QKNrZl60K40 T
Y L4qM1IEhtNQ T
Y MV0DJ9kJPoU T
Those are links to 3 different YouTube videos which can be found here:
1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKNrZl60K40
2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4qM1IEhtNQ
3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV0DJ9kJPoU
Not sure what significance they hold, but still interesting!
I have to thank you as well, I recorded a video of this and
used your findings here to help me progress a bit without
spoiling too much for myself. If you'd like me to credit you
in the video in any particular way, please let me know!
I'll be sure to at least include your username.

Vykri2 years ago (1 edit) ( 3)(-1)

Eyy, it's Adrionic! I loved your playthrough of my game Rite of Ammon a while back. Glad you're playing games in this jam as well, should have my entry done in the next few days. Nice finds with the video links. The last video there looks like where Warkus got the list of sounds from for that zerobin paste.

Adrionic2 years ago( 3)(-1)

Small world! Sorry, I'm really bad at remembering names LOL. I loved your game!

I've been trying to spot things as I'm editing the video for this game, but it seems this might be the extent (I'm probably very wrong about that). A very cool experience nonetheless!

I look forward to seeing your entry for the jam!

sunkrain2 years ago( 1)

in the left leg was write "twitter" vertical

CelestialLizzie2 years ago( 1)

Wow, thanks so much for sharing what you found! I literally stopped after I translated the NATO into "pastebin" because it sounded so stupid and I felt I must have gotten it wrong. It never occurred to me that it was a website.

Iridosgames2 years ago( 1)(-2)

Really liked the concept of this! I hope you will continue to work on this and make it longer as you could really have something good here on your hands! Love the atmosphere of this and it is the right amount of horror. Keep it up! :)