Oceaneers News

Demo Patch! 8,000+ survivors pooped themselves!

[p]More than 8,000 survivors have pooped themselves in the demo... This likely has something to do with over 2,000 survivors losing dysentery roulette with the pool of dirty water. Please remember to research and build a toilet! 😂... or don't, just use the ocean, your survivors will get over it.. probably...[/p][p][/p][p]We have deployed another small patch, this time speeding up the pacing a little. There's lots we can do around pacing and balance, so be sure to continue providing feedback as it helps a lot![/p][p]Remember, the best way you can currently support the game is:[/p]

[p]Wishlist it.[/p]
[p]Let your favorite YouTuber/Streamer know about the game.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Developer Notes[/h3][p]We wanted to increase the game pacing, in this genre of game there will always be some periods where you are waiting for something to be crafted, built or harvested, but we don't want that to be too often.[/p][p]This patch tweaks some values that will mean you can collect some resources faster, and scout faster. We can make further adjustments but will keep an eye on how this feels first. (Yes some more starting flint too!)[/p][p]Some of the patch changes will only effect NEW games you start, but some of the changes (scouting speed, scavenging speed) will also effect your loaded game.[/p][p][/p][h3]"Don't make it too easy!"[/h3][p]We know plenty of players love extra difficulty, don't worry, we have still plenty to tweak, pacing patches such as this are less about difficulty and more about not wasting your time in the gameplay loop. Also the survivor groups that will be available in the full game (among other things) will let you keep things challenging.[/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

[p]The default starter story group now also begins with 3 coconuts (natures MRE's).[/p]
[p]Decreased the time to collect salvage by 20% to 50%.[/p]
[p]Decreased time to dig sand piles by 50%.[/p]
[p]Decreased scout travel time by 30%, and scouting time by more than 50%.[/p]
[p]Floating fish crate debris increased from 1 to 2 grilled fish.[/p]
[p]Added an extra flint to the starter crate on the island, and similar crates that may appear as floating debris.[/p]
[p]Added an extra crate to the starter island with ropes and flint.[/p]
[p]Fixed a display issue with the coconut shovel dig animation.[/p]

[p][/p][p]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/p][p][/p][h3]More Languages[/h3][p]We are planning to add more languages further into development. The game text is still evolving and we made the decision to keep it English only for now to allow us to focus on faster development and updates. In addition to this, the game has a pretty quirky and sometimes comedic tone (with the occasional pop culture reference), which adds some challenge to localization.[/p][p]You can show us if you are interested in a language by:[/p]

[p]Wishlisting the game (we see wishlists per region)[/p]
[p]Let us know via forums/discord.[/p]

[p]The number of wishlists and interest shown for each region heavily influences the languages we will localize into.[/p][p][/p][h3]Controller & Steam Deck Support[/h3][p]Some players have already played on the Steam Deck, but we don't have official support just yet. We do plan to have it fully playable on the Steam Deck further into development (and we have our Steam Deck ready to test!)[/p][p][/p][p]Controller support is challenging for this type of game that has this much depth, and we don't want the gameplay to be limited by controller inputs. Our plan is to look into this once we have all of our features in to see what is possible. We have good experience implementing controllers and it is on our mind during development, but we are also aware of the limitations.[/p][p][/p][h3]Found a Bug?[/h3][p]Please report them! Whether it's a typo or something more significant please let us know via the forums or via Discord.[/p][p][/p][h3]Help & Guides[/h3][p]This genre of game naturally comes with a lot of freedom, and this includes freedom to make mistakes (e.g. not building water production for your colony). Figuring things out is a big part of the fun for these types of games![/p][p]Having said that, if you struggle to survive you can follow the progression guide shown on the side of the screen and there is a bunch of tutorials in the handbook.[/p][p][/p][h3]If Somethings Needs Better Tutorials[/h3][p]There is a lot of depth in the game and we already have a heap of tutorials shown in the handbook. We do have more tutorials planned so if you find something is not explained well enough or are still confused about anything, be sure to let us know.[/p][p][/p][h3]"What game is it like"[/h3][p]We like to ask players what game it reminds them of, and, "oh buoy", we have seen just about every game under the sun mentioned by now! [/p][p]It's been really interesting to see what type of games players have brought up - obviously this depends a lot on which games payers have played in the past. In no particular order:[/p]

[p]Don't Starve and Paper Mario (in relation to the art style).[/p]
[p]Oxygen Not Included, Rimworld, The Survivalist, Cult of the Lamb.[/p]
[p]Raft (and open world survival crafting games in general).[/p]
[p]The Flame in The Flood, Flotsam, Frostpunk & Sheltered.[/p]
[p]A hint of Fallout/Fallout Shelter.[/p]
[p]Monkey Island, The Sims, Craft the World, Clanfolk.[/p]

[p]We knew there would be comparisons to similar looking games (like Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included), so we were extremely pleased to see players add comments to this comparison that Oceaneers is still very different and innovative, it's very much doing its own thing.[/p][p][/p][h3]What's Next!?[/h3][p]We are hard at work on the full game! Recently we have been improving crop farming, fishing rods and smelting metals - then tying all of the survival progression into the story/objective progression.[/p][p][/p][h3]Come have a chat![/h3][p]Our community is growing, and everyone has been amazing and really friendly. Come chat with the devs and other players in our Discord[/p][p][/p][h2]Leaving Feedback[/h2][p]If you encounter any bugs, or would love to discuss features please do so via the Steam forums or our Discord. It's really helpful to know about the parts of the game you enjoy, as well as anything you don't.[/p][p][/p][p]You can also check discord for a list of known bugs, community suggestions and upcoming plans![/p][p][/p][p]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[/p][h3]⚡ Be sure to Wishlist Oceaneers, and stay tuned for the next dev diary and more announcements. ❤️[/h3][p]

[/p][h3]Join Us![/h3][p]Join our discord to discuss the game and share your ideas!
Join discord here

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some recent Dev Diaries in case you missed them:
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

Demo Patch! 7,000 gulls kicked!

[p]Firstly a big thanks to everyone playing the demo that has been submitting feedback via Discord, the feedback form, Forums, Reviews etc! It's a huge help knowing the things you love as well as any issues you have had. Remember, the best way you can currently support the game is:[/p]

[p]Wishlist it.[/p]
[p]Let your favorite YouTuber/Streamer know about the game.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Secondly, stats are fun, so here's one: More than 7,000 gulls have been kicked by players in the demo.. you all really, really seem enjoy it 😂. These food snatching sky-rats had it coming no doubt![/p][p][/p][h3]Demo Patch[/h3][p]This latest demo patch (notes below) includes some fixes, QoL improvements, and a few changes that we have brought over from our work on the full game. [/p][p]Balance wise we have made some changes to Fish Traps to move them in-line with the intended usage (with fish circles). The demo doesn't have some of the full-game things (like fishing-rods) so let us know how this goes. We will be making further changes to this, notably, we will probably make fish circles hang around one day longer if necessary.[/p][p][/p][h3]Plans[/h3][p]We are working hard on the full game, lots more QoL and all sorts of things. There will be more keybinds coming (including the ability to bind WASD etc), and better edge of screen panning.[/p][p]Balance is something we are also constantly looking it, if you struggle to survive even after a couple of attempts, please do let us know and let us know what aspect you are finding difficult. It could be we haven't made something obvious enough, or a particular resource is too scarce etc. You will have a lot of control over this with custom settings in the full game, but we still want to nail the baseline difficulty.[/p][p]Things like how debris appears over time, and is distributed are also being looked at.[/p][p]Speaking of the full game, we are hoping to showcase more of this soon, especially some of the other systems not yet seen like fishing (with a rod), crop farming and metal smelting. [/p][p][/p][h3]Automation[/h3][p]We are also working on more automation. I know you all love directly controlling characters, but beyond the demo when you have 5+ characters to manage, we want you to be able to automate a lot of them, while directly controlling some of them as needed. Lots of neat things planned here (including auto-fueling campfires), so stay tuned.[/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p]These notes aren't extensive, there are lots of general changes as we also work on the full version. Here is the main stuff that applies to the demo.[/p]

[p]Added a new Disembark feature to rafts, allowing you to queue up characters on the raft getting off at an island.[/p]
[p]Improved need automation so it will no longer interrupt certain tasks (like combat and healing from the medical crate)[/p]
[p]Standing torches now provide more light, and provide heat, but require fuel.[/p]
[p]Fish traps were overperforming. They will now only hold 1 fish if not linked to a circle, and the catch time when unlinked was increased by 20%. Cost has been increased from 2 to 3 ropes now that plant fibre is more abundant. Durability has been decreased from 150 to 25, as these are primitive and prone to requiring repairs. Durability now effects how fast they catch fish (was not implemented previously).[/p]
[p]Butchering shark now also gives Shark Skin.[/p]
[p]Float regulator no longer requires any stone to build.[/p]
[p]Character skills can now start up to negative 3. When a character has a negative skill level, they will be worse as actions relating to the task. As they gain experience by doing tasks they will level up to zero, and then continue to level up as normal.[/p]
[p]Scavenger background now starts with -3 science.[/p]
[p]Navigator background now starts with -2 farming.[/p]
[p]Science Officer background now starts with -2 combat (but doesn’t dislike it)[/p]
[p]Fixed characters trying to keep cooking or relaxing when there is no fuel.[/p]
[p]Fixed some nav pathing issues in water that could potentially get a character stuck, and added some fixes for characters that may have been stuck.[/p]
[p]Fixed some wildlife not spawning at expeditions on the first day characters arrived.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]More Languages[/h3][p]We are planning to add more languages further into development. The game text is still evolving and we made the decision to keep it English only for now to allow us to focus on faster development and updates. In addition to this, the game has a pretty quirky and sometimes comedic tone (with the occasional pop culture reference), which adds some challenge to localization.[/p][p]You can show us if you are interested in a language by:[/p]

[p]Wishlisting the game (we see wishlists per region)[/p]
[p]Let us know via forums/discord.[/p]

[p]Don't Starve and Paper Mario (in relation to the art style).[/p]
[p]Oxygen Not Included, Rimworld, The Survivalist, Cult of the Lamb.[/p]
[p]Raft (and open world survival crafting games in general).[/p]
[p]The Flame in The Flood, Flotsam, Frostpunk & Sheltered.[/p]
[p]A hint of Fallout/Fallout Shelter.[/p]
[p]Monkey Island, The Sims, Craft the World, Clanfolk.[/p]

Demo Out Now!

[h2]The Oceaneers Demo is Now Available! Read about the demo, and more on languages below.[/h2][p][/p][p]As developers we want the game to be a fun experience with good value. Features in the game are subject to change and your feedback can effect this. It's important to know the parts you enjoy as much as the parts you don't, so please make a post in the forum and let us know! [/p][p][/p][h3]How You Can Support The Game[/h3]

[p]Wishlist it.[/p]
[p]Let your favorite YouTuber/Streamer know about the game.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]What To Expect[/h3]

[p]Important: If it's shown in the objectives, you CAN do it in the demo![/p]
[p]A "speed run" of the demo (bare minimum to reach the end) is around 1.5 hours. Some players have already spent 4-20+ hours in the demo by researching and building everything available.[/p]
[p]The game is part survival-crafting, part colony-sim. If you like either of those genres there is a good chance you will enjoy this (players that don't play many colony-sims have enjoyed Oceaneers due to the direct control over characters).[/p]
[p]The demo is what we consider the "Normal" difficulty of the game. In the full game you will have control over various aspects, including whether characters can perish or leave your group.[/p]
[p]The demo allows you to play the first part of the story, which progresses through important mechanics such as expeditions and resurfacing islands.[/p]
[p]You will get to see a large part of the research tree and even research a good number of buildings in the demo (if it doesn't have a demo lock you CAN research it). The full game research tree will include even more than what is shown.[/p]
[p]You can recruit one additional survivor in the demo, unlike the full game which will have many more.[/p]
[p]You can send expeditions to a few sectors. The full game takes place in the entire region and beyond into other regions.[/p]
[p]Overall, the demo lets you experience what the gameplay feels like. The full game has much more content and features you would expect from this type of game (farming, fishing rods, smelting etc), as well as plenty of features you don't typically see in this type of game (bunkers, story progression etc).[/p][p][/p]

[h3]More Languages[/h3][p]We are planning to add more languages further into development. The game text is still evolving and we made the decision to keep it English only for now to allow us to focus on faster development and updates. In addition to this, the game has a pretty quirky and sometimes comedic tone (with the occasional pop culture reference), which adds some challenge to localization.[/p][p]You can show us if you are interested in a language by:[/p]

[p]Wishlisting the game (we see wishlists per region)[/p]
[p]Let us know via forums/discord.[/p]

[p]The number of wishlists and interest shown for each region heavily influences the languages we will localize into.[/p][p][/p][h3]Controller & Steam Deck Support[/h3][p]Some players have already played on the Steam Deck, but we don't have official support just yet. We do plan to have it fully playable on the Steam Deck further into development.[/p][p][/p][p]Controller support is challenging for this type of game that has this much depth, and we don't want the gameplay to be limited by controller inputs. Our plan is to look into this once we have all of our features in to see what is possible. We have good experience implementing controllers and it is on our mind during development, but we are also aware of the limitations.[/p][p][/p][h3]Found a Bug?[/h3][p]Please report them! Whether it's a typo or something more significant please let us know via the forums or via Discord.[/p][p][/p][h3]Help & Guides[/h3][p]This genre of game naturally comes with a lot of freedom, and this includes freedom to make mistakes (e.g. not building water production for your colony). Figuring things out is a big part of the fun for these types of games![/p][p]Having said that, if you struggle to survive you can follow the progression guide shown on the side of the screen and there is a bunch of tutorials in the handbook.[/p][p][/p][h3]If Somethings Needs Better Tutorials[/h3][p]There is a lot of depth in the game and we already have a heap of tutorials shown in the handbook. We do have more tutorials planned so if you find something is not explained well enough or are still confused about anything, be sure to let us know.[/p][p][/p][h3]"What game is it like"[/h3][p]We like to ask players what game it reminds them of, and, "oh buoy", we have seen just about every game under the sun mentioned by now! [/p][p]It's been really interesting to see what type of games players have brought up - obviously this depends a lot on which games payers have played in the past. In no particular order:[/p]

[p]Don't Starve and Paper Mario (in relation to the art style).[/p]
[p]Oxygen Not Included, Rimworld, The Survivalist, Cult of the Lamb.[/p]
[p]Raft (and open world survival crafting games in general).[/p]
[p]The Flame in The Flood, Flotsam, Frostpunk & Sheltered.[/p]
[p]A hint of Fallout/Fallout Shelter.[/p]
[p]Monkey Island, The Sims, Craft the World, Clanfolk.[/p]

[p]We knew there would be comparisons to similar looking games (like Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included), so we were extremely pleased to see players add comments to this comparison that Oceaneers is still very different and innovative, it's very much doing its own thing.[/p][p][/p][h3]What's Next!?[/h3][p]We are hard at work on the full game! Recently we have been improving crop farming, fishing rods and smelting metals - then tying all of the survival progression into the story/objective progression.[/p][p][/p][h3]Come have a chat![/h3][p]Our community is growing, and everyone has been amazing and really friendly. Come chat with the devs and other players in our Discord[/p][p][/p][h2]Leaving Feedback[/h2][p]If you encounter any bugs, or would love to discuss features please do so via the Steam forums or our Discord. It's really helpful to know about the parts of the game you enjoy, as well as anything you don't.[/p][p][/p][p]You can also check discord for a list of known bugs, community suggestions and upcoming plans![/p][p][/p][p]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[/p][h3]⚡ Be sure to Wishlist Oceaneers, and stay tuned for the next dev diary and more announcements. ❤️[/h3][p]

[/p][h3]Join Us![/h3][p]Join our discord to discuss the game and share your ideas!
Join discord here

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some recent Dev Diaries in case you missed them:

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

Playtest Results

[p]Thanks again to everyone that joined the playtest. It was a lot of fun and we have some really useful feedback. Playtest sign-ups are now closed, but if you've already signed up then you should be able to continue a little longer before we take that down.[/p][p][/p][h3]Some things we learnt[/h3]

[p]Players LOVE kicking seagulls, (payback for those times at the beach perhaps?)[/p]
[p]Poop is hilarious.. (but our waste system needs to be explained better).[/p]
[p]Our unique sinking island mechanics were interesting and surprising.[/p]
[p]Bunkers and the story have a lot of people hooked.[/p]
[p]Players love being able to directly control characters (in addition to automation), it makes them feel more involved and attached to their characters. We need to continue improving some controls (such as the raft).[/p]
[p]Players were really surprised at how polished and bug free it was (don't worry there are bugs!)[/p]
[p]Players really love the art direction, vibe and slightly humorous tone.[/p]
[p]People that don't often play colony-sims have been really enjoying the game.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]We need to improve onboarding & tutorials.[/h3][p]Oceaneers appeals to a lot of different players (survival-crafters, colony-sim gamers, and life/farming sim gamers), and there is a lot of depth and mechanics in the game.[/p][p]Sure, a lot of players did pick everything up really quickly, but we still need better guidance. [/p][p]Part of this is that unlike a lot of other games, we let you both have direct control over your characters, and automate tasks. Players love being able to do both of these, but it adds a little bit to the learning curve.[/p][p]We have already started to improve the tutorials and UI in the latest patches, but we have a few more ideas, so rest assured this will be smoother come demo time.[/p]

[p]We will improve the tutorials an onboarding.[/p]
[p]Simplify instructions, and "show don't tell" more where possible.[/p]
[p]Continue to improve UI and QoL.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]We need to tweak the controls.[/h3][p]While controlling characters is easy in most situations, it can get a little finicky on the raft. Part of this is due to how versatile our rafts are - for example you can have a character driving and having other characters standing on the raft, when given a "Work Here" command in the ocean, everyone will salvage in the area and get back on the raft when they are done (on top of this, work here commands can be queued).[/p][p]We want to keep this multi-character functionality as it's really neat, so we will continue to improve the controls and character behavior (we have already made several improvements). Tutorials play a part here as well, some players not realizing you can just click a raft to select it, so we need to do a better job with the raft instructions.[/p]

[p]We will continue to improve controls.[/p]
[p]Improve instructions for control rafts.[/p]
[p]Add game options to let players customize how some controls work.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]"What game is it like"[/h3][p]We like to ask players what game it reminds them of, and, "oh buoy", we have seen just about every game under the sun mentioned by now! [/p][p]It's been really interesting to see what type of games players have brought up - obviously this depends a lot on which games payers have played in the past. In no particular order:[/p]

[p]Don't Starve and Paper Mario (in relation to the art style).[/p]
[p]Oxygen Not Included, Rimworld, The Survivalist, Cult of the Lamb.[/p]
[p]Raft (and open world survival crafting games in general).[/p]
[p]The Flame in The Flood, Flotsam, Frostpunk & Sheltered.[/p]
[p]A hint of Fallout/Fallout Shelter.[/p]
[p]Monkey Island, The Sims, Craft the World, Clanfolk.[/p]

[p]We knew there would be comparisons to similar looking games (like Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included), so we were extremely pleased to see players add comments to this comparison that Oceaneers is still very different and innovative, it's very much doing its own thing.[/p][p][/p][h3]What's Next!?[/h3][p]We are working on improving the experience for the upcoming demo. If you have already signed up for the playtest, keep it installed as we will probably drop a few patches for you to try (and we will keep it active for a while to anyone that signed up, even though the sign-up itself will come down).[/p][p][/p][h3]Come have a chat![/h3][p]Our community is growing, and everyone has been amazing and really friendly. Come chat with the devs and other players in our Discord[/p][p][/p][h2]Leaving Feedback[/h2][p]If you encounter any bugs, or would love to discuss features please do so via the Steam forums or our Discord. It's really helpful to know about the parts of the game you enjoy, as well as anything you don't.[/p][p][/p][p]You can also check discord for a list of known bugs, community suggestions and upcoming plans![/p][p][/p][p]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[/p][h3]⚡ Be sure to Wishlist Oceaneers, and stay tuned for the next dev diary and more announcements. ❤️[/h3][p]

[/p][h3]Join Us![/h3][p]Join our discord to discuss the game and share your ideas!
Join discord here

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some recent Dev Diaries in case you missed them:
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

With a flooded world, survival-crafting sim Oceaneers is getting a proper demo September 25

Oceaneers is definitely one of the games I'm most excited to see, with it's interesting take on survival and colony building across a flooded world.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/08/with-a-flooded-world-survival-crafting-sim-oceaneers-is-getting-a-proper-demo-september-25/