Megapop, the studio behind the upcoming underwater city builder Life Below, has released a new developer video digging into one of its core questions: how do you turn real marine science into something that’s actually fun to play?
The video offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the team translated real-world marine biology into the core foundation of the game, how its difficulty responds to different playstyles, and why realism alone was never the goal.
Set in a fragile underwater ecosystem, Life Below challenges players to design and manage thriving sub-aquatic settlements while balancing growth, resource management, and the health of the surrounding reef.
“We brought in marine biologists who helped us out with some workshops where we got to ask a lot of stupid questions,” explains Lise Hagen Lie, Game Director with Megapop.
Those lessons shaped Life Below’s core systems, from reef construction to water parameters. But Megapop admit that in-game behaviour isn’t all true to science and that there needed to be a balance for entertainment sake. Hagen Lie explains, “For example, PH doesn’t work in reality, the way that we have it in our game. We had to gamify it a little bit”.
The development team goes on to discuss how fish were simulated, how they interact with each other and also how Life Below challenges different types of players.
“We designed the game in a way that can be played in different ways depending on your playstyle. If you’re a player that likes to take their time and sit back and relax, the experience in turn will be a little easier. But if you’re a player looking for more of a challenge, then you’d be developing your reef quicker and running into various difficulties and challenges much faster,” said Thor Palsson, Senior Game Designer.
Life Below is currently in development for PC. Players can watch the full developer video now and follow the project for future updates as development continues.