The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Maddie is looking forward to spending the summer before she begins college working with her best friend, Bridgette, as crew on the luxury cruise ship M.S. Andromache.
So what if its maiden voyage is to retrace the route of its ill-fated sister ship, the S.S. Cassandra, which disappeared inside the perilous Bermuda Triangle almost 100 years before? The media will hype anything for a story and the liner company is only too happy for the extra publicity.
But when things aboard ship start to go awry, Maddie soon realises she’ll have more to deal with than demanding passengers and annoying co-workers. Could she be the key to changing events set in motion almost a century ago, or will the mystery of the Devil’s Triangle claim her too?
_______________________________________________________________
The full game will feature:
- approximately 70,000 words
- Realistic 'serving onboard a cruise ship' action!
- 8 CGs
- 3 romance routes
- 8 endings
Release date: 16th February 2018
Price: £2.99 (approximately $4.00)
Purchase
In order to download this visual novel you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $3.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Update #3Feb 16, 2018
- The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Update #2Feb 06, 2018
- Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Update #1Jan 28, 2018
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
The game's artwork is undeniably exceptional, and it was the primary reason I decided to purchase it. However, I found the storyline somewhat weird. It feels as though the author aimed for a romance-mystery fusion but fell short of achieving either. Perhaps the brevity of the story contributed to this issue, making it feel more like a demo than a fully fleshed-out narrative.
Nevertheless, I'd recommend the game if you value remarkable artwork or have a keen interest in Bridgette (the blonde-haired character—who, by the way, is incredibly endearing). On second thought, BUY THE GAME ANYWAY BECAUSE OF HER PRESENCE.
But jokes aside, if if the short story length doesn't bother you, it's worth considering, otherwise, it might not be the game for you.
P.S Please pardon any potential errors in my comment as English is not my native language.
Okay so I just realized something.
Or I'm pretty sure that I did, at least.
I'm on night three.
Spoiler
Connor just told me there is a mailroom and he's seen it. He thinks Karl must have been lying to her about there not being one and MC thinks Karl must just have been confused because of how big the ship is. But Karl knows the ship better than MC right now.
Connor is from the past, isn't he? I didn't notice that the flapper was weird (well supernatural weird) until MC mentioned it. But he's been speaking very old-timey and him being Irish and me never having been to Ireland can't really explain ALL of that. And MC didn't seem him when he went on shore leave. And no one else has met him/mentioned him yet, although it is early. And he really has no idea about any of the crew rules which, if he's been there for years, he should have gotten some idea. And he thinks college is fancy and aiming high. Which yeah not everyone can but he just seemed weirdly impressed for today. Also I don't think he knew who Rihanna was lol
Karl captured my heart once I realized me insulting him in the first two interactions we had actually appealed to him.
Bingo! Well spotted! I am glad you like Karl and I hope the rest of the game is entertaining for you. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
Really enjoyed it. Love Bridgette, best girl. <3
Ah, thank you for the kind feedback - I agree, Bridgette is a sweetheart ^_^
(spoiler inside)
Even if writing and art/ambiance felt good, I felt the rythme broke at the point where MC get unconscious while hallucinating at her restauration job. It's like "I've seen X playing trompet, he shouldn't be, so he is from the past and then I finally understood !... - everyone believes me & za !".
EDIT : just realized I skipped a few clues by shoving Connor off:p
How can anybody think that seriosuly without more try/error ? And how could the other friends get on board so fast with the explaination from one person only ?
Though I really appreciated the first part, I felt like the second felt like a rushed thing. Like, we don't get the memo why some are out of the timeloop and some don't. No explication, no pointer, nothing ! :(
BTW I only explored Bridgette's route (good ending/guilt/exodus), maybe there were more explaination/fumbling with other. I'll try them eventually.
Hello, and thank you for the feedback.
I am sorry you did not enjoy the game from the second act.
There were clues as to what was happening prior to the ballroom scene (I won’t mention them here for spoilers), but perhaps you did not feel these clues were compelling enough to make it reasonable for the main character to draw the conclusions she did.
Within my group of playtesters, there were some who worked out the ‘twist’ very early, and some who did not – but no one mentioned they found the main character’s reaction implausible (or, indeed, her friends’ reactions, as Karl/Bridgette are less willing to believe/join you if their ‘likes’ are low), so I am sorry you found the second half of the game marred by this.
But the points you raise can certainly be something I look at if I ever decide to write another game in the mystery genre.
Thank you again for your feedback
Any chance you'd release this (and your other games if they get done) on Steam? I just like having my library in one place there and seeing that The Rose of Segunda is on Steam, I'm just wondering if it's possible.
Hello, Nobume
Thank you for your interest.
I do plan to release all my games on Steam eventually, but since there are additional cost to putting games on Steam, I tend to only do so with those games that are popular enough to cover the cost of the application etc.
Sadly, 'Devil' hasn't managed to cover its own costs yet, so I can't conscience spending more on releasing it on other sites right now, but I have hopes my upcoming games will be popular enough to warrant it.
Thanks for playing
Any hope for a Android version? =O
Ah, apologies. An android port is outside of our studio's capabilities right now, though perhaps in the future it is something we could look into.
Many thanks for your interest
Drats, thanks for the quick response. Guess I'll just get it once I get a computer. XD
Any plans for a Linux version ?
Certainly. I'll build one now (and a demo, too) and get it uploaded.
If you check back in 24 hours time, I should have one available if you are still interested.
That sounds awesome ! Thank you for the effort. I'll check back soon. Best of luck.
Okay, the Linux versions are up. If you have any trouble, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. ^_^
Just tried the Linux demo. Worked like a charm for me. No issues at all. I enjoyed it, will try to pick it up when I get paid on Thursday. I did what I could to spread the word though. Thanks again !
Ah, thanks for the feedback and any exposure is always welcome. ^_^
Thanks for playing
Hi, can you repost a walkthrough please ?
Sorry about your wait. I am not sure where the first one has gone, so I wrote another.
Please find it here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BXMhPxk7K52AR7ovnk1bMox7GnhsiXi7KOKNe4Sd1N8/...
Many thanks
thanks to you for the walkthrough
wait so the Bridgett romance route at the end is the picture where main protagonist holding Bridgett hand running around the beach right?I w Anna make sure i get the correct Bridget romance path endijng
Hello, Tigeratiwich
The last CG for the Friendship ending is the same one as this one here https://blackcrosstaylor.itch.io/dat/devlog/22341/devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea-up... The Bridgette romance CG ending looks different.
If you would like a specific ending and are having trouble getting it for whatever reason, I can post you a brief walkthrough, if you would like?
wow I didn' know and yes I would love to plz give me walkthrougj
can' t move on without her romance ending I never seen them kiss during my walkthrough which is the reason why I felt suspicious on the ending that I got is not exactly what I want didn' know u need to choose the right dialogue to get that ending it would be bless if u can assist me on which dialogue to pick throughout the game
No problem. Here is a google doc showing the point value of decisions.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QruogvCE6xff3Vmj-JZphp5PNQgZ7rC8VIu0wwI-IiY/...
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any more trouble ^_^
thank ou for your support sir I appreciate it
Just got to the part with the discussion with Connor (no idea whose route I'm on...) and the night before when we're going to try and speak with the captain about the mysterious happenings, when I got this error:
[code]
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 488, in script call
call day6 from _call_day6
File "game/day6.rpy", line 256, in script call
call daynormal from _call_daynormal_1
File "game/day7.rpy", line 9, in script
if Karltalk == True:
File "game/day7.rpy", line 104, in <module>
elif Conrom == True:
NameError: name 'Conrom' is not defined
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "game/script.rpy", line 488, in script call
call day6 from _call_day6
File "game/day6.rpy", line 256, in script call
call daynormal from _call_daynormal_1
File "game/day7.rpy", line 9, in script
if Karltalk == True:
File "C:\Users\nicol\Downloads\DDBS-1.0-win\DDBS-1.0-win\renpy\ast.py", line 1647, in execute
if renpy.python.py_eval(condition):
File "C:\Users\nicol\Downloads\DDBS-1.0-win\DDBS-1.0-win\renpy\python.py", line 1670, in py_eval
return py_eval_bytecode(code, globals, locals)
File "C:\Users\nicol\Downloads\DDBS-1.0-win\DDBS-1.0-win\renpy\python.py", line 1665, in py_eval_bytecode
return eval(bytecode, globals, locals)
File "game/day7.rpy", line 104, in <module>
elif Conrom == True:
NameError: name 'Conrom' is not defined
Windows-8-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 6.99.11.1749
DDBS 1.0
[/code]
Trying to ignore the error brings me back to the start menu and quitting and restarting doesn't seem to do anything either, any ideas?
I deleted the demo from my computer so this should be the full version as far as I can tell.
Hello, NiKaWo
I'm very sorry you found a bug.
I know what the problem should be from the information you provided, but going through the code and playtesting it this morning have failed to replicate it or find any problems in the script.
At my first attempt at a solution, I've rebuilt the game and re-uploaded it. Please can you download it again and see if you still get the error?
(It may be required that you play from the beginning, if the game is having trouble finding a variable I have defined, so apologies for that.)
If you do still get the error, please can you email me at support@blackcross-taylor.com so I can send you a copy of the game with all the developer options turned back on and we can gather more information to fix the issue.
Will do, thanks so much for your help!
No problem, please let me know how it goes - I don't want to leave you with a game that doesn't work.
I will! Thanks again :)
Looks like it's all working now, thanks so much!!
Ah, I am glad to hear that. I hope you enjoy the rest of the game.
Got about 5 minutes through the demo before I made up my mind to buy it. The writing is excellent, and the character art (particularly Bridgette and MC) is adorable.
Am looking forward to playing it after work tomorrow or this weekend, and for any future games of yours.
Hello, NiKaWo
Thank you for the purchase and your kind words (I'll pass your compliments on the the artist too) - I really hope you enjoy the full version of the game. ^_^
Congratulations on such a great experience. Going through the game a second time at the moment and I am still looking forward to it.
Hello, ollie4
Ah, that's so sweet of you - I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying it.
Which route did you play first?
Connor's route.
Ah, I'm happy you liked him. I hope you have fun with the rest ^_^
Well. I really like it for now.
All the characters seems to "well done" . Girls are cute ^ ^ .
I can't wait to see full version :)
Hello, MrMar, many thanks for the feedback - I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the demo.
I am hoping to have to full version released soon, so you won't have long to wait. ^_^
Looking forward to the whole experience.
Thanks, ollie4. I hope you enjoy the full game once it is released ^_^
It's going to be GxG and GxB?
Yep! You play as a girl and you can romance a choice of Bridgette, Karl or Connor.
Ok thanks for the reply, now I'll just wait for all your games to be released haha!