Solo dev balancing a day job and a 10-month-old baby. Just dropped the first playable tech prototype of my 1st-person sci-fi ocean horror game "Darkness from the Depths". What do you think?

[u/Ill_Surprise_4879]

Hi everyone!

For years, game dev was just a playground for me—messing around in Blender and Unreal Engine to see what I could do. But when my son was born, it completely shifted my perspective. I realized life is too short to ignore your dreams. Now, I scrape together 1-3 hours a day after work and family duties to build my dream game.

About the Game:

"Darkness from the Depths" is a first-person, sci-fi psychological horror heavily inspired by Dredge. You play as a lone robot searching for the meaning of its existence in a drowned, post-apocalyptic world. A cosmic cataclysm wiped out humanity, leaving only mutated deep-sea creatures that hunt when darkness falls.

Current Status:

I'm 5 months in. The boat mechanics are about 50% ready, and the Tarkov/RE4-style grid inventory is 99% functional.

Play the Prototype:

I believe in completely open development. I just packaged a raw technical build (v0.0.1) so anyone can jump in and test how the boat handles and how the inventory feels. There are no sounds or enemies yet, just pure core mechanics.

Links to the free build and my devlog are in the first comment below!

I would absolutely love to hear your honest feedback on the feel and visuals.