DOOMFISH Devlog #001

DOOMFISH 1.0 Playtest is Live!

Play: https://doomfishdev.itch.io/doomfish

DOOMFISH is a 2D top-down side-scroller rogue-lite set in an ever-shifting mystical ocean world called the Sea of Seas. DOOMFISH's wrath has spread DOOM throughout the Seas, corrupting the Wyld and the many entities that inhabit it, unbalancing the forces of nature. Battle against corrupted Plants, Creatures, Merpeople, and many more as you chase DOOMFISH deeper into the Seas. Form bonds with these beings and manifest those bonds into powerful weapons, allies, and abilities that help you explore further, uncover the mystery of the Seas, and defeat DOOMFISH. Gameplay and worldbuilding is inspired by Hades, Enter the Gungeon, Rain World, and Hollow Knight.

This is a project I've been designing for about 2 years now. It's gone through many iterations and rebuilds, from a puzzle dungeon crawler to an open world exploration game to its current state. I've been using it as an inspiration to learn pixel art, music, writing, worldbuilding, character design, and of course game development. This is my first project, and it's been a long time coming, but I hope you can feel the love that I've poured into it. It's a very basic game loop, but I trust you can see the vision, and it will only get better and better with each update. I've pretty much outlined all the mechanics I want on paper, now it's just a matter of time. I'm trying to show and not tell, but I get so excited about this project I can't help myself! This is mostly a celebration post, since most mechanics are super basic. Future posts will be centered around mechanics and new implementations.

I'd like to shoutout my brother Cameron for his expertise on the music and sound effects, as well as being there to bounce ideas off at 2 am when I had a revelation. Check him out as "Monkley" on Spotify for unique lofi music. Also thank you to my friend Marcelino for his help outlining and implementing some mechanical systems that helped get the game off the ground. He's a talented game designer working on a retro low-poly ps1-style horror game with a demo coming out soon. Also also thank you to my best friend Halston of Yukaotic Inc. who was a big influence in taking this idea to the next level. He makes unique screenprinted clothing centered around exploring our inner chaos and we opened an art studio together in February 2024. Check him out @yukaotic on instagram, or https://yukaotic.shop to check out his work. 

Finally, I'd like to shoutout my Twitch and Discord community for being the absolute best and hanging around for some reason while I pretend to be a game developer. I truly did not think this would gather any attention and I am so, so thankful to the once-strangers that have since become a part of my life and a true community. I only hope the family gets bigger and we all support each other's dreams as much as we can. If you like what you see here, feel free to join the community at https://discord.gg/cA94SBWDNK , or come by a stream any time at https://www.twitch.tv/doomfishdev . Thanks for reading this far and I hope you enjoy the game!