Hidden Deep News

Hidden Deep Early Access Release!

Listen closely Rescue Team, we have a special mission ahead!

The big Early Access Release Day is here - we, that is the publisher Daedalic Entertainment, and our one-dev-army consisting of "Wookie" from Cogwheel Software - are extremely excited to lure you into the deep caves and give you finally an opportunity to find what is lurking down below - or to get found by it.

As you maybe can tell, having only a single developer for a game is relatively uncommon, so that after a lot of positive experience with Early Access, we decided for Hidden Deep as well to become one of our portfolio's (hopefully similarly successful) Early Access titles.

This means one important thing: We are here to stay - both ourselves from Daedalic covering as many bases for Wookie, so he can focus on the development of the game. We have big plans for Hidden Deep, some of those you can find in the roadmap on our steam store page. Below, you can find a list of the Early Access Release content that you can expect right now at launch.

10 levels story mode
4 challenge modes, with optional coop for two of them(Levels can be randomized with seeds - influencing the placement of Monsters and items, but not (yet) the layout):
- find the data disk
- clear the area
- maintain the reactor
- leave the sector
Local Multiplayer via Splitscreen as stated above
Online Multiplayer via Steam Remote Play Together (Check out the forum for more explanation)

After the Early Access release is done and all small issues are ironed out, a full fledged native multiplayer is one of our next big steps forward - for now the Steam Remote Play feature is an alternative to play online.
Some of the things we want to tackle in the future of Hidden Deeps lifecycle, in addition to more story levels and challenge modes, are a way to implement user generated content with a level editor, more multiplayer modes, including, maybe, one day... PvP - yes, you read that right, backstabbing your friends in dark caves with monsters lurking around - don't worry too much about it for now though, it makes even more sense once you encounter the lore a bit more.

Speaking of lore - if you fall in love with Hidden Deep, or already did, you have the opportunity to dive even deeper - pun absolutely intended: Our Supporter Pack includes this time a 18 pages long graphic novel about Hidden Deep!

We hope you enjoy the release as much as we do, keep the feedback coming, and don't let the cave-bugs bite you!

Best Regards,
Daedalic Entertainment & Cogwheel software

Hidden Deep is a horror Metroidvania inspired by Aliens

The first half of the Metroidvania portmanteau already has plenty of allusions to the Aliens franchise and a subtle horror vibe, but the upcoming indie game Hidden Deep aims to go much further in the direction of scares. Blending Metroidvania-style exploration with more emergent sandbox gameplay, Hidden Deep is looking like one to watch ahead of its launch into Steam Early Access later this month.

Hidden Deep is described as a "2D action and exploration sci-fi thriller set in a mining and research facility more than a mile under the ocean floor". After a group of researchers disappear while investigating a strange phenomenon, you play as a team out to discover what happened. You can take control of your team members directly for exploration in the traditional 2D platformer style, or give them commands so that you can take on multiple objectives at once.

There's a narrative-driven story mode with bespoke levels, as well as a challenge mode where you can play through randomised levels either alone or in co-op. Developer Cogwheel Software plans to take those local co-op features online over the course of Early Access, while expanding the story and adding features like a level editor.

Read the rest of the story...

Beta is coming to an end ...

Dear Rescue Team,

Happy New Year and belated happy holidays - We here at Daedalic Entertainment and Cogwheel Software hope you had the best start into the new year you could have had!

Your feedback in the recent weeks, playing our Hidden Deep Beta has been phenomenal and extremely helpful - so much that we gave you a bit longer than the before mentioned end of Beta on the 3rd of january.

But all things have come to an end - just to make place for something better, in this case:

We are shutting down the Beta tomorrow, 5th of january, to prepare everything for the upcoming release in roughly 3 weeks from now, the 24th of january! So get your last playtime in before you have to wait again :)

Questions? Feel free to visit our Discord or write them directly below this post, we will make sure to answer them in the upcoming weeks to release!

Best Regards,
Daedalic Entertainment & Cogwheel Software

Beta Update: Co-op Feature

[h3]Greetings, Rescue Team![/h3]

Thank you for participating in the Hidden Deep Playtest and for your continuous feedback! Now it’s time to share your experience and take your friends with you to forage further into the hidden depths.
This update unlocks the local co-op feature for the Challenge Mode, a game mode independent from the exploration campaign. This beta will now give you access to the game mode ‘Escape the sector’, where you face obstacles and fight monsters together. More game modes will be available on release. (Talking about the release - did you see our release date announcement yet?)

Local co-op ist just the first step on our way to a native multiplayer experience, and you can already get a taste of this by playing it together with the Steam remote play feature. Important note here: Because of the limitations of shared input, you’ll need at least one gamepad to start a co-op game.

When playing local, you can assign the controls in the menu, for Steam remote play you’ll have to rely on the related settings. If you are not familiar with this feature, you’ll find a handy guide HERE.

Have fun dying exploring together!

You are not in the Beta yet? Just find this button on our Store page and sign up - we will be letting in new testers in waves relatively frequently - so don't worry if you dont get access right away.

Release Date Announcement

Dear Rescue Team,

We are excited to finally announce the official release date for our blood-freezing horror experience: Hidden Deep is releasing into Early Access on January 24th!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In Hidden Deep, players explore a vast suboceanic research and mining facility, inhabited by alien creatures brought to life in a 2D game world full of action, mystery, and danger. They must command their team members and find out what happened in the abandoned corridors and caves, unravelling a dark sci-fi horror mystery inspired by classic movies from the ‘80s and ’90s.

See you then!

Cogwheel Software and Daedalic Entertainment