Salutations!

As many of you know, Escape Industries set out on a mad quest recently. We were tired of endless hypotheticals about how the game might look someday. So we set out to build the dang thing. As soon as possible. In mid December, we ourselves upon a crazy challenge: make six levels in just over three weeks. From December 27th to January 19th, we’ve been (and will be) making a full-length Fingeance campaign.

To put this in perspective, our previous two levels took almost 18 months.

In the near future, you’ll see a post-mortem on this process, why we did it, and what we learned. For now though, we proudly present a brief tease of a small piece of our efforts. Presenting…

The Deep Sea Cave

The Deep Sea Cave is beautiful, forgotten, and tranquil —  or indeed it once was. Today, the cave serves as a sort of tomb, housing the discarded remnants of the Dolphin empire, as well as other, older civilizations. Within its depths, you’ll find traps and treasures deemed so dangerous they must be shut away.

In the first level of the Deep Sea Cave, you’ll battle wardens placed by the Dolphins themselves, as well as mechanical guardians and ghastly new animal recruits. Pass into the second level, and prepare to discover why they’re fighting. Why they’re keeping you out. What they’re keeping in. What they don’t want you to see.

Finding your Way in the Darkness

The Deep Sea Cave represents the height of the empire’s strength and the depth of the its morality. Expect a raft of new enemy attack styles, and prepare to think your way through intriguing new challenges. More than any we’ve made so far, the Deep Sea Cave rewards exploration and replay. With enemies that respond to your actions and traps that can damage friend or foe, the best course of action may not be immediately apparent.

Notably, the Deep Sea Cave introduces a few attacks that are particularly difficult to dodge. While a skilled player can still sneak through in single-player without taking a hit, it will be a great challenge. We recommend that beginner and intermediate teams stock up on extra health and healing before braving the deepest depths.

Making the Deep Sea Cave

The images in this article don’t quite reveal the extent of what we’ll be doing in the Deep Sea Cave. They do, however, give a hint at its mood. First, the cave is dark. Light produced by players and bio-luminescent enemies will pull a lot of weight here. Bullets still glow, so don’t worry about being blindsided by invisible firepower. However, as you venture deeper into the cave, be prepared for surprises around every corner.

As with last week, we’ve added a new song to fit our new biome. I personally really love this one, and can’t wait for you all to hear it in the final biome. Charles did spectacular work here.

When asked about the track he said “I was trying to make it feel a lot more open, so I added a lot of reverb to the instruments. This is definitely the most melodic song in the game so far. It has a much stronger emphasis on the chiptune portion of the song rather than the bells or pad because I wanted to include longer notes with a lead sound rather than a full and lush one.” Whatever that means.

So, how do you feel about the Deep Sea Cave? You can comment here on our blog, or on our Facebook and Twitter.