Dear wonderful players of Still Wakes the Deep and its story expansion, Siren’s Rest. We're overjoyed to finally drop this release and read everyone’s incredible impressions and theories.
We gathered representatives from each department that worked on the game (be sure to check the full credits!) and have a few paragraphs from each, resulting in a friendly little letter to the fans. Do let us know more of your impressions in the comments, follow us on Steam and other social media, and we’ll see you around!
Art
Thank you to all the fans who have supported Still Wakes the Deep and who are excited to play Siren's Rest. So much hard work went into developing both the base game and the new expansion on the art side. It took many years to get to where it is today, and we are so pleased with how it has been received. Not a single one of us has ever set foot on an oil rig in person, let alone one in the 70's, so getting the look and feel was very challenging.
On top of that, we have just sunk the whole thing and added even more challenges! Thankfully, the team were excellent at researching these things, and the reception to the atmosphere has been so gratifying. Thank you for that! And thank you to the amazing art team that helped get the game there.
Lead Environment Artist Iain Gillespie
Audio
Still Wakes the Deep was a dream project for all of us in the audio team, and an unforgettable milestone in our careers. The amount of love and praise it received from our players allowed us to explore another chapter of its story, and we hope that if you enjoyed the main game, you'll be enticed to find out more about what happened on the Beira D in December 1975. Because of its setting, Siren's Rest presented a big challenge for us: we had to start from scratch to define how the rig sounds, having been buried underwater for ten years. I'm proud of the work that our team did, and look forward to hearing your thoughts on it and watching you play it (and hopefully get terrified!)
Lead Sound Designer Francesco Del Pia
Programming
When an expansion was considered for Still Wakes the Deep, I wasn't sure how that would work. But when we decided that one of the themes would be thalassophobia (fear of deep bodies of water) and learned about the weird and wonderful world of saturation diving, I couldn't wait to dive in.
When we worked on the base game, we didn't plan for an expansion, so it was a fun technical challenge to retroactively add that and allow us to tweak and build upon the existing systems while making them feel new. For example, we inverted our use of water and swimming and created air pockets that the player will discover. We adapted our pickup system from the base game into the equipment system. We reused our enemy AI system with a couple of modifications to make a new encounter that feels different from those in the base game.
We also had some brand-new elements, such as the umbilical cable. This posed a bigger challenge than we anticipated, as it needed to be very long to support the expansive levels! There were the tools that were each a new mechanic in themselves. We also added grips that you can use to propel yourself from to enhance the swimming gameplay.
We hope you enjoy the work we’ve done to bring you this epilogue to Still Wakes the Deep. Thanks so much for playing!
Principal Programmer Patrick O’Halloran
Marketing and Community
I’m absolutely blown away by the team pulling off the development of this story expansion in such a quick period of time. When we realised we’ll be able to release on the anniversary of the base game’s release, it’s like everything just fell into place to put together a rapid campaign that allowed players to get into the game a mere week after its announcement.
Throughout the development, the team have been building a Miro board with a tonne of pictures, videos, articles, and all types of references that informed the game’s setting and atmosphere. It was an absolute candy box to dive into and let the players know all the imagery and reading that have inspired our team. Seeing everyone’s reactions – the art, the theories, the questions has been a real joy, and we’re already daydreaming about what we could bring to you next.
Marketing Manager Marijam Didžgalvytė
Design
Thank you again to everyone who played and loved Still Wakes the Deep!
We spent countless hours watching people stream the game, getting attached to the characters, running from Rennick, and screaming or crying at the end. This made it worth it for all of us to see how much the game meant to you guys.
We were also not prepared by the amount of love/fan art/testimonies, and had a secret chat where we would share all of them between ourselves. We particularly loved how much this game brought people together online and with their families. This is exactly why we do this job.
We tried to make Siren's Rest feel like a worthy companion to Still Wakes the Deep and allow a lot more things that we could not have in the base game. A bit more exploration and no more closed doors! We tried to make all areas feel brand new and give you more tools to explore by yourself while maintaining the atmosphere of the base game.
Hopefully, Siren’s Rest leaves you with even more questions so we can watch more analysis videos, fan art, and stories!
Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for your support.
Principal Game Designer Jade Jacson
Narrative
This is a game about how perilous the bottom of the sea can be—but also how melancholy and haunting it is. It's that mood we most want to share with you. The bottom of the North Sea is stuffed to overflowing with secrets. Take your time. Explore.
And as you let the inky black shroud of the depths envelop you, we hope that what you find might recontextualise what you know (or think you know) about the events of 1975.
We really enjoyed deepening (hah!) the lore of this world, even down to its ecology. And while our protagonists are not always in a state of mind where they can grasp it, perhaps you'll chip through to get a sense of what's happening at the bottom of the North Sea.
Please do share your theories. I can't wait to see them.
Principal Narrative Designer Sagar Beroshi
QA and Production
Thank you for enjoying Still Wakes the Deep so much that we got to do such an exciting expansion for it. Playing the same content over and over again to find bugs in it can sometimes become tedious, but not when playing Siren's Rest. We always felt excitement and an urge to want to share this story with the community and see what you make of it. We hope you enjoy playing it over and over again as much as we have.
Senior Development Director Christoph Vietzke