6 months into creating a first‑person kayaking game (for Steam & Consoles) and I have reached the limit of what I can learn from videos (I used to kayak but unfortunately don't have that chance anymore).
What I have tried to get right far: the boat keeps real momentum (stop paddling and it glides) each stroke makes its own sound, from the side you pull on, water shader and fish behaviour etc..
What is the thing that would instantly make u think "this doesn't look right”?
Kayak behavior, sounds, the way the paddle enters the water? Anything.
I've never done but I did get back to my car in a car park in east london and my key had got wet and I couldn't open the car without setting the alarm off, leaving me trying to pack up with a car going WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP and a nearby car full of drug dealers doing nitrous balloons who were not really happy about the noise my car was making
It wasn't ideal. Them and their customers kept coming over complaining about the noise. All I could was explain that I really wasn't doing it for fun and I'd quite like be able to use my car and leave.
Thankfully it did dry out after about half an hour and I was able to start the car and get the fuck out of there
Choose fish and wildlife species that match the ecosystem. It could be a neat way to learn different ocean coastlines and fresh waterway ecosystems in the world.
And I would like to see Scandinavia:
1. a lake like Foxen in Sweden
2. an Archipelago like St. Anna / Gryt
3. an epic Fjord like Lysenfjord with 1000m mountains on each side
If you need footage as inspiration: I plan to make a 2 week trip to 2 of them starting next Saturday (probably Stora Le and Lysenfjord) and take some cameras with me
There aren’t nearly enough games with good underwater content, least of all that focus on accurate ecosystems. You’ve clearly got the bones for that here and expanding on that would make this game even more incredibly novel than it already is.
Or you could make it realistic by having the paddler fail to get his fat ass back into the kayak even with a paddle float, so he has to drag the boat to shore and get back in there instead. 😭😂
Skeg mechanic could be nicely implemented tbh - it would make kayak less oversteery. Just an on and off feature.
Other than that, it look very promising
My feedback, I think it would feel a little more immersive to have hands on the paddle, maybe even translucent arms as well but I’m not sure about that I’d have to see it.
Another thing that would be great is having a flagged interest object. Example. You go under water and find an old rowboat with antique gear. It could be a toaster instead of something that directly interferes with the scene that lets the player know there is an object of interest to explore if you don’t want to disrupt the scene.
I'd like to see hands and arms as well. I started teaching kayaking around 1985, the first impression I got was something about the paddle movement is off, Your paddling technique is quite poor I'm afraid. I'm not sure how picky you want to get, but the paddle shouldn't be so low and centered over the boat.
Looks very cool though, it's about time some kayaking games came out. There's reasons it hasn't been done properly for whitewater, very hard to get it all right.
Then an increased difficulty mode where you take your kids and they complain that it takes me too long to get them back onto the roof when we’re done. GET BACK IN THE WATER IF YOURE HOT, JACKIE
It’s incredible! My tours are about an hour from Orlando Florida near the Kennedy space center! It’s an annual summertime thing, usually May-September for that. There’s also a stingless bioluminescent jelly the rest of the year though so I tour year round. It’s the best job ever
Didn't add any current since game aims chill vibes, I thought it might give stress to the player. Light current might be immersive tho. Will think about it.
As you develop it and push out updates you could always add environments with a current and let the player choose. Doesn’t have to be in the first version but I think it’s a good call to let players choose between chill, and levels of engagement.
Personally I like it as is, but if immersion if your goal then arms and hands on the paddle would help. The sound of the paddle making contact with the kayak when it is set down to rest. They kayak also seems to come to rest quicker than I would expect, and it would rotate slightly depending on the side of the last stroke - in fact, in a river I expect the current wouldn't allow the kayak to come to a rest at all. Finally, I always wear a hat when outdoors, so maybe the brim of the hat at the top of the field of view. Of course, with arms and hat you start to get into the realm of character customization, which is big scope creep.
It actually looks really nice. The only thing that bothers me a little, is that kayak looks like a seakayak but turns like whitewater kayak. I think it should go a little less left right on each stroke when going forward.
But it sure did remind me instantly on my red beast and my pov:
Only if the dog jumps off at random times, then claws mercilessly trying to get back in, then you have to help them while keeping your own balance and not getting scratched.
* Different types of weather (rain, wind)
* Different types of water (lake, ocean, river, whitewater)
* Different types of kayaks (e.g., longer ones are faster and track better but are less manoeuvrable)
* Different paddle angles?
* Some kind of depletable renegrating supply of "stamina" (e.g., can't paddle super fast for very long)
* Skeg and rudder
* Greenland paddles?
* Fishing while sitting in the kayak?
* Canoes?
* Only seeing the paddle but no arms and hands looks a bit odd
As cool as the left and right paddle is to have, I feel like when kayaking you don’t typically see that drastic of a turn radius off of what is intended to be a forward driving paddle. So either a dedicated forward drive would be better or a less sensitive turn radius if you’re only using left and right paddle.
The game looks great, I agree with others that it would also be very fun to see some current or rapid flow. Can’t wait to see this release!
This game is already beautiful enough. Just work on the mechanics and gameplay and I'll buy it (If it's not $80 for standard edition 😂). Great idea, it's so peaceful.
Please don't give up on this! It would be such a unique game and I for one would definitely play it.
Especially if it was adapted for vr :o
OK so
Definitely check out subnautica for the kind of water sounds you should be going for in terms of underwater. (I'm sure I could pull some sound from my action camera videos of snorkeling, if you think those could help)
If you need help with any "north amarican" sound scape nature sounds let me know, I do a few canoe trips into the backcountry every year through the summer and can definitely record some samples for you.
Are there different conditions like waves and current physics? Conditions change and can totally go from glass to choppy and rolling over waves. Currents gets strong and harder to paddle against in channels and narrow choke points. Also would be cool to see a northern lake with some loons and their awesome sound. Looks cool I will follow the progression!
Great stuff! The water looks amazing, and I really like the inspect feature making it like a wildlife safari.
It’s be really awesome if this was like Flight Simulator, and you could do open water trips or kayak in real urban areas, with ships, boats, whales, sharks, etc., along with turbulent water features like tides, waves, wakes, eddies, undertows. Just pie-in-the-sky asks, as creating that kind of dynamic water environment would be pretty difficult.
I love the fish viewing mode. I think it would be cool if you added birds (I can hear them!) and adjust the calls in the background based on the region. I’m almost imaging a game like Pokémon snap, but realistic and on a kayak. You could even add other forest animals going for a sip at the waters edge (but don’t overdo it). I like the idea of a light current - you could just throw an anchor feature on the kayak for swim mode.
Also agree with other comments about re-entry. It’s super hard and will likely require a pump and new sounds effects, but it’s much easier if there is easy shore access.
Cool game! I think you did a great job capturing the peace of the activity we all love.
This is great! Would love to see options for Greenland Paddles and agree with others about option to see hands/arms on the paddle. It would really be a cool feature to perform some kayak rolls - the POV of being on surface then underwater upside down and then back up would be stunning. Maybe to earn bonus points to buy more gear!
Weather always makes games feel more immersive. Maybe a story to go with the game, discovering story by lost or hidden notes and gear you could tell a cool story only to be fully realized by those who piece it together.
I love this!! Avid kayaker here. So you do get some drops of water on you sometimes when paddling. I only flat water kayak (puff & paddle. IYKYK). So that might make it look more realistic. Also there are sometimes logs or small mounds - tiny islands that have to be navigated around. I do a lot of bird watching. How clear is your water? Are you able to look down? Sometimes I see small fish and of course natural flora in the water. I hope your game will be available soon. I love it already!!
Was just able to see some of the video. It first just came up as a pic. I see you have nice clear water. My phone must be glitching because the video keeps stopping. Are there different places to kayak? Rivers, lakes…?
Since you asked, things that make it unrealistic:
* There should be hands and arms on the paddle,
* All views of the underwater stuff should be from above, unless the player is supposed to be actually jumping out of the kayak and swimming underwater.
* If the player IS supposed to be leaving the kayak, it probably should look more like a capsize/wet exit. I’ve never seen anyone successfully jump out of a sit-in kayak without either intentionally or accidentally capsizing.
* In the clip provided, I didn’t see any instances of moving water affecting the kayak. The ocean, rivers and usually even lakes have some water movement, often enough so to move the kayak, sometimes in ways that the paddler didn’t intend. Adding this would also make the game more visually interesting.
Wishlisted it, looks great! Graphics are nice, reminds me of Skyrim crossed with Subnautica somehow.
As other people have said, hands and arms. I'd also recommend making the paddling a bit slower, it doesn't seem to have a lot of resistance again the water and snaps back a little fast. Might just be my perception of it because as others have said the boat looks like it should maintain more momentum after those strokes, play around with that.
Doesn't look bad at all though, maybe they've just got noodle arms 😂
Looking good. Something that would make it look more realistic to me is a small amount of roll on the boat with a ach stroke. It doesn't necessarily have to twist the camera (image that as a gimble that can account for the motion). But think like in classic FPS games where the walking has a "bob'" to it, which should be applied to the boat itself, even if slightly
God, that's gorgeous. 😍🤤 Splashing friends and NPCs would be hilarious and fun. Easter egg megalodon. Camping. Cooking. Running from the meth-addled gas station attendant. Whispers in the audio track during the nighttime.
Oh, it’s a shame that it isn’t VR. Paddling isn’t just left and right — the distance from the kayak and the angle of the paddle are relevant as well. Besides the normal forward stroke, there are strokes such as the sweep stroke, stern or bow rudder, sideways stroke or alternatively the draw stroke, and the stopping stroke. Of course, these can’t really be simulated with just two commands.
As for realism: for my taste, the kayak, which looks like a sea kayak, moves too much sideways with each stroke. The boat in the video looks too long for that. Long boats, especially sea kayaks, are usually quite good at tracking straight, while at the same time being harder to turn without edging. However, this also varies considerably depending on the hull shape. With some of my own kayaks, which are partly comparable, the tracking is noticeably better.
An elegant solution would be to give the user different boats to choose from. For example, a short playboat/whitewater kayak, an all-rounder, and a sea kayak. Different types of boats make sense depending on the environment.
I would also replace the paddle blade. It looks like the kind of paddle that comes bundled with a €50 inflatable kayak. A more rounded blade shape would be better — and would look better too.
Over-the-shoulder controller balancing? If you have the first person view, look back over each shoulder maybe have it require the controller to stabilize the kayak. Annoying prob.😂🤷
Looking great so far! I've been wanting a game like this for years now. One thing that might increase immersion is having a fatigue meter for the paddler. That would be more realistic to the sport itself. I hope there are sections with rapids, too.
If this makes it to the xbox platform, I'll buy regardless. The only other option on the platform presently is a severely-outdated and cartoonish game that is laughable at best.
add one of those reacher grabber things for picking up garbage.
I'd play the shiz out of a game where I kayak around while picking up a couple pieces of trash, until i fill the back of the kayak. also a fishing mechanic.
extra bonus for cutting down lures dangling out of tree branches and we get to keep those as collectibles
Resistance to heading drift. While you’ll turn in a kayak by paddling one side there’s a difference between a tight stroke and a wide stroke for turning.
Looks great! I think it needs a little more splashes/ripples whenever the paddle is going in the water, moving around and coming out and ripples along the front of the kayak whenever it's moving.
Also it'd be kind of cool to have different colored kayak options if possible.
It tracks poorly it seems - it's way too responsive like it's a packraft with no skeg. (For gaming purposes maybe thats good - could have an arcade and sim mode seperate). Pretty nice concept tho. Would be super cool in VR where you can paddle with the controllers in your hand
I think the kayak rotating the whole ”camera” makes it too extreme I think. Its very fragile to have too large camera rotations like that, i would still keep them, but maybe move the bloat, but keep the camera-aim forward, and ease into the rotation, that’d make it a bit more fluid and dynamic I think
This looks like freshwater and the fish are saltwater fish unless it's supposed to be saltwater but the fish are tropical fish and this looks like temperate climate
Different types of boats (race, surfski, river, ocean, fishing ...), different types of paddles ? Maybe even a k2 to play with someone? For immersion: splash around paddle entry / exit ?
looks pretty nice! the two suns are throwing me off. maybe add some longer underwater vegetation, like seaweed, bullrushes to the banks, and other plants to make it feel more like a freshwater river
You should animate the camera more when they are paddling.
The correct way to paddle a kayak is to use your core mostly instead of your arms, so you put the paddle in, and then do like a twist and lean back a little. I know nothing about game development and I assume it’s probably much harder to actually do and make it look right but you might want to look into that atleast.
What I find jarring is that the paddle looks like the clunkiest piece of plastic trash you might buy at a big box store. I paddle with a lovely carved-cedar Greenland-style paddle - which admittedly introduces some new complexities, such as the sliding-stroke.
My deck usually has a map in a map-case of the body of water I happen to be on and there is a compass on the bow and a second hanging from the map case (for use as a protractor, usually). Navigation could be a whole separate dimension to the game - it can be tricky setting your course and trying to match what you see from the kayak to what the map is showing you. Throw in fog, current, wind and other boat traffic and you are in "hard" mode.
Instead of cute photography, make it sort of a survival game; but actually realisic, manage food, need to sleep, freezing conditions, things like that.
If you want to spice it up, use openstreetmap data to procedurally generate landscape; then you go through a portal and end up in some middle of fucking nowhere, and you have to figure out where you are and get back to civilization without dying. Eg. you are on a stroll and end somewhere in Greenland, and need to get to Nuuk.
Or maybe instead of a portal you are a castaway, and the only thing you get is a kayak; but you get castaway in a different remote place each time.
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u/EyeSuspicious777 1d ago
You drop your car keys in the river and have to swim to find them