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high-n-dry

Look forward to seeing this evolve

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I loaded this onto my system yesterday and am pleased with it so far. I agree with the approach taken to include only a few elements of 'realism' to begin with, but look forward to options to increase the diving challenge as the game progresses.  I'm glad the focus is on the enjoyable aspects of diving, with just some of the more overarching reality constraints included. I really don't care to have the game constantly reminding me to click on a button to pop my ears every 6' down or so, or to have to stop and clear a leaky/foggy mask every so often. Been there / done that diving, and while having to do so certainly won't deter me from diving, I see no value to adding such elements to a leisurely sim. 

 

The sim runs without a hitch at maximum settings on my system and looks quite pretty, imho.  Lighting and visual effects are good at this point (I didn't try the sim when it first came out back in March and so can't say how much it may have progressed in that time...). Is it the most graphically stunning software I've seen? Well, it would be hard to say 'yes', but it really is pretty good considering this is a $10 release. I've been waiting for a half decent sim about diving for a long time and this is way better than the cartoony jokes I've seen until now.  I could list lots of little things to add/improve, but I would consider those all to be details for the evolution of the sim rather than glitches or flaws in the current release. (eg: add an option to use a male diver - my wife thought it a bit odd that I selected a curvy young lady as my character). As for options to turn on water current and buoyancy control effects, yes I look forward to those as well, but agree that they should be options - the devs do need to sell this game to non-divers as well...  Doing safety stops and modelling decompression stops for repetitive dives could be an option I suppose - but really, is anyone actually going to turn off their computer for 8 hours to lower their residual nitrogen between dives? No, on second thought I don't see much game merit to that (though something inside me forces me to do my safety stop in the game regardless - well ok, I actually swim around at 10' for 2-3 mins, but same thing...). More interesting perhaps would be the single dive constraints of advanced technical diving (gas mixes, tank swaps, 2-tank harnesses/regulators, etc) but I still don't think I'd put that ahead of releasing additional dive locations, enhancing the variety and behaviour of the sea life, and generally focussing on the 'sport diver appeal' of the sim.

 

Overall, great job! For the modest sum of $10 I am not disappointed at all. I look forward to seeing this evolve further.

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So, is there anything new on the way? (eg: additional dive sites?)  Or are there already shis other than the Gosei Maru in the sim that simply haven't 'unlocked' yet? 

 

The Gosei Maru was enjoyable - looking forward to additional locations. One little quibble though: I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the "Lantern Room Tour" objective (cannot enter the ship at the present time, other than the fore and aft cargo holds) and this objective doesn't seem to be one you complete anywhere outside the ship.  Also cannot find that 5th and last pair of binoculars... (are they in the Lantern Room by any chance?) If these objectives currently are accessible, please just say so, don't give it away... just don't let me spend my time searching for a way to get to something that is not accessible at this time.

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 I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the "Lantern Room Tour" objective (cannot enter the ship at the present time, other than the fore and aft cargo holds) and this objective doesn't seem to be one you complete anywhere outside the ship.  Also cannot find that 5th and last pair of binoculars... (are they in the Lantern Room by any chance?) If these objectives currently are accessible, please just say so, don't give it away... just don't let me spend my time searching for a way to get to something that is not accessible at this time.

 

yes, both the lantern room and the 5th pair of binoculars are cleverly hidden, as well as the 5th cache set.

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Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to post your comments on the game! We are indeed working on updates, the first of which will be available in early October. This is a small update with a few new features, such as the ability to post photos taken/postcards created in the game to Facebook, the new turbo feature (which makes the diver consume more air if she is kicking faster), and smaller memory footprint.

 

Shortly after that, we will start our promotions with the individual dive equipment makers, which will make more equipment available in the game. We are also working on new gameplay modes and dive sites, the first of which was selected by Dr. Sylvia Earle. (Yeah, wow!) A male diver is in progress, too.

 

It's been an exciting few months since we launched in the spring! We just signed a deal to localize the game into six other languages (more news on that soon!) and as of yesterday, we have our first school officially using the game as part of their Marine Biology curriculum. We are madly prepping for SxSW Eco in October and the DEMA show in November, among visits to schools, dive clubs, and other civic groups. Last, but far from least, our happy little startup was accepted into the Washington Interactive Network's Reactor (a startup accelerator in Seattle), so we're getting world-class mentorship to help us move from "startup" to something closer to "grownup" status.

 

Thank you again for trying the game and please stay tuned for more!

   kathie

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Hi! We completely agree that more dive sites and other content are needed! We are currently working on our second dive site, which we will demo at the DEMA (Dive Equipment Marketing Association) show in Orlando 6-9 November. This is a dive site that Dr. Sylvia Earle personally selected for us, so we are very excited to build it for her and for our players. It's a geographical contrast to the Gosei Maru's Micronesian setting, and it features new wildlife and new activities. The new dive site will be available for public download after the first of the year, likely February. We are also working on a general game update that will be available in November.

 

Many thanks for trying the game and sending your feedback! We are getting a fantastic reception for the game in our target audiences of divers, environmentalists, and educators (teachers/parents/students). Two schools are already using the game in the classroom (one high school, one K-12 STEM school), many others have reached out to us, and we have had a great time regularly demo'ing the game to students ranging from 2nd grade through high school.

 

The Sea Monsters Revealed exhibit (which features a demo version of Infinite Scuba) wrapped up a successful 6-month run at the Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa FL in early September. The show was adapted to fit its new venue at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta GA, and reopened as Sea Monsters Revealed: Aquatic Bodies several weeks ago.

 

More cool news about the game and our partners is coming during the DEMA show. We apologize for the sometimes slow pace - that's one of the challenges of being a small, independent team. :) We are hard at work improving the game and trying to get the word out about it every day. We are learning constantly and we appreciate any feedback we receive, so many thanks again for taking the time to share your comments with us!

 

kathie

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I might have missed this in the instructions,but is there a way to keep moving without having to hold the W key down all the time? thanks

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Hi Stoppro! Unfortunately, you must hold down W to move forward. We are experimenting with alternate controls for our tablet version, but those won't be ready to roll until later this year.

 

W + Shift makes you kick faster, but you will also burn air much more quickly.

 

kathie

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Yikes, it's been far too long since we've been out here - my apologies! We will do a better job of coming out here this year! We just launched a new dive site in December: Glover's Reef in Belize, which was selected by Dr. Sylvia Earle and includes whale sharks, among dozens of other critters found in the Mesoamerican Reef. Your game came with 500 clams, which can be used to buy new gear and dive sites. (Click on 'Chuuk Lagoon' in the game's main menu to buy and/or change to the new dive site.)

 

2014 was crazy busy in a fantastic way! We were a finalist in the Game Connection Selected Projects competition, starting working w/HP on their new Sprout machine, and showed the game at SxSW Eco, the World Parks Congress, and DEMA shows, among many others. Please visit www.infinitescuba.com or www.cascadegamefoundry.com for more details of our adventures.

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I used to check on Infinite Scuba's news regularly but after a while I forgot about it. Thanks a lot for the update, and I'm very glad the new dive site went well. The trial version should bring more users to the game as well.

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Hi again! We can't believe we're halfway through 2015 - time really does fly when you're having fun! Here's our quick mid-year recap...

 

We got some great coverage of the game in the Des Moines Register and the Seattle Times, had a visit from our U.S. Representative Suzan DelBene, and showed the game at GDC, iFest, Power of Play, E3, MIX, and numerous schools in Washington state and Iowa. We are now prepping for PAX and hard at work on our next dive site (Pacific Northwest) and our Steam build, as well as evaluating several strategic partnerships. (Exciting!!)

 

Starting on World Ocean's Day (8 June), we've also had fun posting short videos that feature our partners on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CGFVIDEOSTREAM

 

You can now follow us at these locations:

Please help us get the word out by telling your friends about us - many thanks!

 

Whew. Add all that to the unseasonably warm weather in Seattle... we're hot! :)

 

kathie

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Windows 10

 

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Hi again! We made a resolution to actually figure out how to do community management this year... still trying to get that to bubble up to the top of the to-do list. :/

 

For now, here's our 2015 wrap-up...

 

Happy 2016! We had an incredible 2015 at Cascade Game Foundry, adding to our diving simulation game, Infinite Scuba, learning how to be better marketers, and doing contract gigs, so we wanted to get you up-to-date on our adventures.

 

In February, we were featured in a Seattle Times story by Nicole Brodeur, which sparked a year of exciting opportunities for us.

 

We were honored that our US Representative, Suzan DelBene, visited our office in April – we appreciate her support of small businesses in Washington state and caught up on our shared roots at Microsoft. (Fun fact - both of her parents both worked on Flight Sim back in the 1990's and 2000's.)

 

Our work travels took us to San Francisco (Game Developer’s Conference, March), Los Angeles (E3 and MIX shows, June), Cologne, Germany (gamescom, August), Orlando (DEMA dive industry show, November), and Monaco (BLUE Ocean Film Festival, November).

 

In late July, we rode our bicycles across Iowa on RAGBRAI. We wore Infinite Scuba jerseys, visited libraries in the towns on the route, and gave away gift cards with codes for free copies of the game to the people we met. Hottest. Marketing. Trip. Ever. But, it was very fun to meet so many wonderful people on the ride and talk to them about the ocean!

 

In October, we went on tour with Neil Young! His concerts include a “Village of Action” - a dozen or so environmental and political groups whose work he supports.  We were proud representatives of Dr. Sylvia Earle’s ocean awareness non-profit, Mission Blue. We talked to people about Dr. Earle and showed her diver avatar in our game at concerts in Montana, Washington, and British Columbia. We also created custom art for Neil’s Go Earth! website.

 

During the school year, we visited many schools in Washington and Iowa to talk to students ranging from elementary to high school about game development, STEM skills, and ocean/environment issues. (We are registered as a SPC, Social Purpose Corporation, aka B-Corp, in the state of Washington.)

 

We also did contract work for several other companies, much of which we can’t discuss publicly due to non-disclosure agreements. Let’s just say creating and running a small business is one of the most strange, interesting, and gratifying challenges we’ve had the opportunity to tackle. Call us if you want the gory details. :)

 

As we start 2016, we are excited to be working on our first cold-water dive site, new dive gear, new activities, and several new releases of the game, in addition to more contract work. We are so happy to be here and grateful to be doing this rewarding work!

 

Many thanks for your interest in our game and all the kind emails! Best wishes for a healthy, peaceful, and productive 2016!!

 

kathie and the crew at Cascade Game Foundry

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