It’s Been a While…
It’s been almost a year since Echoes of The Deep launched, and now, for the first time, a major update (Version 1.1.0) is in development. While I had originally planned to keep updating the game post-launch, life had other ideas—exams, burnout, and university prep all took priority.
But after releasing the official soundtrack and diving deeper into the game’s lore, I found myself excited to develop again. And so, this update began: part expansion, part refinement. That said, this update is still in progress, and some features may change or be tweaked. Consider this an early look at what’s coming.
Before we get into the rest of the article, be sure to check out the full soundtrack if you haven't already, as well as the first story teaser for Chapter 07: Hollowspire.
🎵 A Soundtrack Worthy of the Depths
One of the most exciting additions: 9 new tracks have been added to the game, bringing the full Echoes of The Deep soundtrack into the experience.🎶
Where you’ll hear them:
The main menu now has two different tracks (Tracks 1 & 13).
The pause menu has its own theme (Track 9).
In-game music now has much more variety (Tracks 2-8, 10-13).
I wanted to make sure the music felt as alive as the world itself, reinforcing the mystery, tension, and triumph throughout a run.
🔦 A New Lighting System
Previously, Echoes of The Deep didn’t have a lighting system—everything was fully visible at all times. This update changes that with dynamic lighting:
✔ Players now have a dim glow, representing a lantern light.
✔ Enemies cast shadows, making them blend into the darkness.
✔ Loot & health glow faintly, drawing the player’s eye.
It wasn’t a difficult system to add, but the difference in atmosphere and immersion is massive. The game feels more like an actual descent into the unknown, where visibility is limited, and danger lurks in the shadows.
💀 Stronger Enemies & The Arrival of Bosses
Previously, enemies were predictable, and fights lacked variety—so this update introduces new strong enemy variants and bosses:
Stronger Enemies
Marked with a red glow.
3× health, 1.75× damage, 1.5× action speed.
Drop more loot than regular enemies.
Bosses
Take up 2×2 tiles (bigger, harder to dodge).
6× health, 3× damage, but 25% slower actions.
Drop significantly more loot—if you can survive.
Bosses were something I always wanted to add, but making them actually function was another story. At first, they had awful pathfinding, getting stuck constantly (which is now fixed—see AI improvements below). Currently I have nothing to show of the bosses, as I am undecided if I will make them unique sprites.
📊 New Menus, Stats, and Persistent Settings
The UI has been given some love!
✔ Each menu now has a unique background instead of the old static one.
✔ Stats Menu added, tracking 13+ lifetime stats, including enemies killed, rooms cleared, and more.
✔ Music & SFX volume settings are now saved between sessions.
✔ The Successful Runs stat finally works! A “successful run” is now defined as a run with a score 15,000 higher than your previous best.
Tracking stats has been really fun to implement, and I hope players enjoy seeing their progress over time.
🛠️ Overhauled Dungeon Generation
One of the biggest problems with the old dungeon generation was backtracking and dead space—some areas felt empty, while others forced players into frustrating loops. The new system fixes that:
✔ Rooms are now smaller and more focused (less downtime).
✔ Rooms now have up to 3 doors—no more looping around just to reach the only exit.
✔ Fewer total rooms per floor at high levels, making progression faster-paced.
The dungeon should now flow better, keeping things tense but not tedious.
⚖️ Massive Balance & Gameplay Changes
Before this update, the game felt too slow, with combat dragging at times and unbalanced difficulty scaling. This update aims to fix that by making combat faster, enemies smarter, and difficulty scaling better.
Core Balance Changes:
✔ 13 new difficulty levels (total of 20 now).
✔ Lower difficulty levels are a little easier, while higher ones are significantly harder.
✔ Player buffs: Increased health, attack speed, walk speed, power (scales with difficulty).
✔ Enemy buffs: Faster attack & walk speed but lower health in some cases.
✔ More health drops to balance the difficulty.
✔ A LOT more loot spawns now! There are more rewards, more frequently, making runs feel more rewarding.
Overall, fights should now feel more intense, more rewarding, and far less sluggish.
🧠 Smarter AI & Pathfinding (No More Dumb Enemies)
One of the biggest problems before this update? Enemies getting stuck. If you’ve played before, you’ve probably seen a queue of enemies stuck behind each other—not anymore.
✔ Enemies now find better paths to the player instead of taking the longest route.
✔ Bosses now use the same AI, making fights feel more dynamic.
✔ No more enemies standing around awkwardly if a doorway is blocked.
This was one of the biggest AI overhauls yet—enemy movement should now feel natural and challenging.
🐛 Bug Fixes & Clean-up
Not listing everything here, but some of the more notable fixes include:
✔ Fixed player speed-up bug that sometimes happened randomly.
✔ Fixed rooms not detecting players properly.
✔ Fixed total runs stat always showing 0.
✔ General code clean-up & performance improvements.
What’s Next?
This update is still a work in progress—things might still be tweaked or added before release. For now, this gives you a good look at what’s coming, and I’ll be sharing more as development continues.
That’s all for now! If you’ve played since launch, thank you for sticking with it. If you’re new, now’s the perfect time to dive in.
Download the game here: https://gamejolt.com/games/echoesofthedeep/885468
CNT Darthgaming
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