"The potential of a game set in the depths": In conversation with Kangfu Zhang, Dive the Depths dev (Exclusive)

During my recent trip to Gamescom Asia 2024, Dive the Depths caught my eye in the indie showcase section, especially the art style and the soundtrack. While I couldn't talk with Kangfu Zhang, the dev who started off the project, there, I was fortunate enough to pick his brains later on about the game, its premise, the development, and more.

So if you are looking for a rogue-lite title taking place in the depths filled with eldritch horrors, read on to learn more about Dive the Depths.

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Dive the Depths dev discusses development, inspiration, mechanics, and more

Q: Tell us about Dive the Depths, its gameplay, and its premise to introduce our readers to the title. I would also love to know a bit more about the team working on the game.

Zhang: Dive the Depths is an action roguelite set deep in the oceans. In this game, you are plunged straight into the deep end (get it?), fighting your way through different biomes all with their own ecosystems.

As you explore the ocean, you’re bound to come across some bosses, and each of them is a challenge in their own right. But you will be rewarded handsomely for defeating them, and you may even learn something from each boss. All this leads up to a climactic final boss which will really test your mettle.

Dive the Depths started off as a solo project. I was a fresh polytechnic graduate, and this is the first commercial game I’ve ever made. Along the way, I’ve had many different friends of mine, mostly from school, hop on the team for various amounts of time, each of them bringing their own expertise and injecting a bit of themselves into the game through their own ways.

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Q: What’s the reason behind choosing the depths as the setting?

Zhang: When I was thinking about a setting, I had two things in mind — space and the ocean. This came down to a simple reason: they are shrouded in mystery. This means that there is nigh-infinite potential for ideas set in those places.

Explore the depths in Dive the Depths (Image via Frizuo)

The reason I eventually went with the depths is because at the time I was looking into Subnautica, which I found to be really interesting. This is because Subnautica takes advantage of being in a vast ocean super well, introducing tons of creatures that range from strange to terrifying.

This really made me see the potential of a game set in the depths. So I decided to go with the depths as the setting, tapping a little of the potential.

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Q: How was the developmental journey? Are there any interesting insights that you would like to share?

Zhang: The development’s been pretty bumpy for sure. Since this was purely a solo project for a few months, I had to do all the art, programming, and music, which was pretty stressful. I also wasn’t super familiar with the development process for full-scale commercial projects, having only made game jam games previously.

Therefore, there were quite a few hiccups. For example, map generation took me an ungodly amount of time. I spent a good three days trying to bash together a skeleton of the current map generation system. A lot of the code was also spaghetti at the start since I was rushing to make a playable build.

Eldrich horrors lay ahead in Dive the Depths (Image via Frizuo)

On the bright side, I’ve learned a lot so I’m looking forward to working on future projects, ideally with smoother development journeys.

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Q: When I checked Dive the Depths, the art style and the music caught my attention. Can you please elaborate on them - the influences and the thought process behind the choices?

Zhang: Before I even started on the game, I already knew that I wanted to do pixel art. This is just because pixel art has a certain kinda “charm” to it. It’s hard to describe but when I look at pixel art games, it’s really easy to see the amount of love that goes into the art.

Some of my favorite games of all time such as Risk of Rain, Terraria, and the older Arcsys games, all use pixel art. The resolution and style change from game to game but it always just really pulls me in. Therefore, I’m hoping players will be able to see the amount of love that we had when creating the art for DtD.

Plenty to tackle as players wade in Dive the Depths (Image via Frizuo)

As for the music, every track in the game so far has been created by me. I’m pretty much starting from scratch with music so I’m still figuring out all this music theory stuff and trying to find my style. But creating music for the game has been pretty fun so far, especially when it comes to trying to express the theme of the boss using music.

For example, Nachtlicht’s theme features aggressive synths and a pretty high bpm to convey the boss’s highly aggressive nature, while Caverna’s theme has more conventional instruments such as guitar and piano in the forefront while using castanets to play into the fact that Caverna is a clam. I’m constantly going back and redoing some of the music as I learn more, but I’m certainly enjoying the process.

My inspirations for music come from Raito’s Uni 2 OST as well as DM Dokuro’s Calamity soundtracks. I’m still far from getting even close to their levels, but the way these guys can convey the character/boss’s theme through music so effectively really caught my eye and influenced the music in DtD.

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Q: Coming to the titanic bosses, did the team look to any other creative work (video game or otherwise) for inspiration?

Zhang: When it came to designing boss fights, I had two specific games in mind, RoR and Terraria. Each game’s bosses have aspects that I love. In RoR, bosses attack in a pattern. When you defeat a boss you may get their boss drops, allowing you to emulate some of that boss’s power.

On the other hand, Terraria’s bosses don’t have a ton of attacks. Instead, they get more attacks as they transition through phases. They also generally pose a more significant challenge since they mark major progression points in the game, but they don’t provide as immediate of a power spike as RoR’s boss items.

Therefore, when designing a boss, I always try to make sure that the fight has recognizable patterns that get more intense as the fight goes on. Defeating the boss provides a massive power spike in the form of boss items and boss traits.

Learn a trait when you defeat a boss in Dive the Depths (Image via Frizuo)

On the topic of boss traits, that’s one of the more unique rewards of beating bosses here. In most games, defeating a boss usually just grants a boss item, but in DtD you will also get the opportunity to choose one of three traits to learn from the boss, allowing you to customize your playstyle to fit your preferences while also really feeling like you’re using part of that boss’s power.

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Q: Is there a campaign or overarching storyline in-game? How long can players expect to take to beat the game?

Zhang: There is indeed an overarching story for the game, but that is for players to uncover through gameplay, interacting with NPCs, and going through item descriptions. Generally, players can expect to spend more than half an hour to complete a single run. But you’re probably not gonna beat the game the first few runs while you’re still learning and unlocking items.

The game will have some pretty wacky achievements, so I have no idea how long it’ll take players to complete those. Good luck to them.

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Q: Dive the Depths’ demo landed on October 1. How has the player feedback been (both positive and negative)?

Zhang: Recently Dive the Depths was featured at Gamescom Asia with the Demo build being showcased. The game was quite popular and we received a lot of good feedback. The main things that have been taken into account are QOL stuff, which is really hard to nail down without playtesting.

It’s impossible to create a good player experience without playtesters, so I would like to thank everybody who has played the game, and special thanks to those who have provided their extremely valuable feedback.

Kit up in Dive the Depths (Image via Frizuo)

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Q: When will we see Dive the Depths receive its launch? Is there a release period penciled in internally?

Zhang: Hopefully, we’ll release it early next year!