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Submachine 2: The Lighthouse

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Release date
v1 (SD) June 13th 2006[1]
v2 (SD) October 4th 2013
v2 (HD) August 27th 2014
v9.0 (SD) November 2017

Submachine 2: The Lighthouse (or Sub2, stylized as Submachine 2: the Lighthouse) is the second installment of the main Submachine series.

Plot

Submachine 2 begins where Submachine 1: The Basement left off after the player appears to escape the submachine into an open plain. It is later revealed that the player did not escape and was instead led, in one way or another, to the lighthouse.

The goal is to escape the lighthouse, this time by solving several puzzles in order to activate a portal. Along the way, the player learns more about the lighthouse keeper and his experiments with karma portals.

List of locations

Development

“Today, when I was going home from work I had an IDEA on the bus. It was so intense, that I had to put away my book, as I always read on the busses. I didn't understand what I was reading, only thinking about thet IDEA.”
— Mateusz Skutnik[2]


Although Mateusz had been thinking about making a sequel for his new game Submachine since its immediate success, it was while riding a bus home from work on the 28th of September, 2005, the developer Mateusz Skutnik got the idea of the plot for a sequel . He was visibly excited by the concept and estimated that actually creating the game would take "a month or so".[2]

Before this only minor mechanical details had been considered, such as the mouse changing into a hand to hint at something clickable. Mateusz said he found games without that system annoying. He was also able to disable the "tab key cheat" and was considering adding a second diary page.[3] An early sketch of what was going to become the intro for Submachine 2 was also written, when the LazyLaces.com user Kyameel suggested adding an intro to the first game.[4]

Early sketch

Main article: Sketch of Submachine 2

It is important to note that Mateusz hadn't realized that one of the defining things of the first Submachine game had been how the player is moving between rooms on the fourth wall. Not seeing this as significant, he wanted to move onto a more traditional point and click format.[5][6] Mateusz was also starting to feel pressure to succeed with the next installment.[7]

Before abandoning this route of development, Mateusz went as far as developing a new version of the first game called "Submachine (extended)". The game was released on the 22th of October 2005. The game not only included expanded gameplay to tide the fans over the gap between games, but also introduced a teaser of the upcoming game, showing a screenshot of the contemporary version of Submachine 2.[8][6][9] The second diary page had been written and implemented at this point as well.[10] On the 24th of October Mateusz also confirmed that the added painting of the Lighthouse in the game was a teaser and depicted the location of the second game.[8]

On October 23, 2009, Mateusz Skutnik actually released the sketch of Submachine 2, showing what the game was originally going to be like. The game played like most room escape games would, containing just a few rooms where you could view multiple angles of the same room, seeing both the front and back of the same room. The sketch contains seven secrets to collect, as well as a few keys. One of the main things that was found in the sketch, but not found in the final version was the "Blood Door", which was a locked door with a large blood spill underneath the door. When you zoom in on the blood and zoomed back out, a message would appear next to the door, in blood, randomly saying "2 = e" or "3 = e".[6]

On the 26th of October 2005, Mateusz said that the game was about 25% done, however; he did not have time to keep working on the project at the time.[11] By the 15th of November, he was hopeful for a January or February 2006 launch for the game and mentioned he was developing it in a new engine.[12] This is most likely when the sketch had been abandoned.

Final version

By the 9th of January 2006 the game was about third of the way complete. He also announced that the game would be called "Submachine2: the Lighthouse". There were also several other game and comic book projects underway.[13]

Having finished his other game projects, Mateusz stated that he really needed to finish Submachine 2, on the 21st of March.[14]

The game was eventually finished and was then released on the 13th of June, 2006.[1] The first version of the game featured sounds, later used in DayMare Town series.[15]

Revisited version

On October 4, 2013, Mateusz Skutnik released a revisited version of the game. This version removes the custom cursors and includes a graphical rework of some of the areas. Notably, the brick walls of the dungeon area were changed to a darker red to better match the style of similar areas in later games (such as the Root). Additionally, the sewer area was lightened to aid visibility, like in its Submachine Universe counterpart. Some secrets were also relocated: two were removed from the room in which you find the letter to Liz, one added to the handle of the movie memory projector in the basement, and one added to the leftmost window on the first floor.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 News, 13 June 2006, Mateusz Skutnik.
    “long awaited release of Submachine2: The Lighthouse game, a sequel to the succesfull Submachine. This time the area to discover is about 5 times bigger and the puzzles are more dificult. That’s what most of you wanted in your emails that I received after the first game. So enjoy, and Submachine3 is already in production.”

  2. 2.0 2.1 LacyLaces.com comment, 10:18 pm 28 Sep 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
    “wow

    you - guys - are - spoiling - me......

    it's late in the evening here, just finished watching the champions league match, my bed calls me badly, but I gotta say something.

    Today, when I was going home from work I had an IDEA on the bus. It was so intense, that I had to put away my book, as I always read on the busses. I didn't understand what I was reading, only thinking about thet IDEA.

    Yes.

    You guessed it. it was idea for the plot of the second game. It just blowed my mind entirely. Now I know what I want to do and I can assure you - you havent seen nothing yet. Probably will take me a month or so to finish it, so arm yourself with patience, and wait for it.

    The funny thing was - I got home, told the IDEA to my fiance, and she said she didn't understand much, but will surely see what I meant when I finish the game. Oh yeah, you will see, my dear. So will all of you. :D

    mur (the owner of the IDEA)”

  3. LazyLaces.com comment, 8:38 am 27 Sep 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
  4. LazyLaces.com comment, 0:33 pm 27 Sep 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
    “>>Comment By Kyameel

    The game needs an intro<<

    you mean like:
    "i woke up in a room
    dont remember nothing

    must get out..." ??”

  5. LazyLaces.com comment, 08:38 am 28 Sep 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Submachine 2; an early, but playable sketch, 23 Oct 2009, Mateusz Skutnik.
  7. LazyLaces.com comment, 1:50 pm 28 Sep 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
  8. 8.0 8.1 LazyLaces.com comment, 8:24 pm 22 Oct 2005, Mateusz Skutnik. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "laex" defined multiple times with different content
  9. Submachine 1: the basement – changelog, 22 Oct 2009, Mateusz Skutnik.
  10. LazyLaces.com comment, 8:48 pm 22 Oct 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
  11. LazyLaces.com comment, 1:25 pm 26 Oct 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
  12. News, 15 Nov 2005, Mateusz Skutnik.
    “I’ve created an extended version of the submachine, especially for the frontsteps.com, where I can watch the stats of the game. This version of the game is tougher and has more rooms, in the meantime I started creating submachine2 on a different engine hoping to finish that game in January or February 2006.”

  13. News, 9 Jan 2006, Mateusz Skutnik.
    “New game launched: Tribal jump, so I’m going back to the roots of my game developing. A brand new squirrelfamily.com game, licensed to 2Dplay.com, will surely be visible on other flashgame -related pages as well in time. Update on Submachine: 1/3 of the second game finished. I’ve got a title for this game ready: ‘Submachine2: the Lighthouse’. Meanwhile I’m working on three new squirrel family games, not speaking of new revolutions album, which I just started drawing. Oh my friggin’ head, it’s wasted…”

  14. News, 21 Mar 2006, Mateusz Skutnik.
    “It’s been a busy month. Third March game just released on 2dplay.com serwers, Polar Jump, a sequel to popular Tribal Jump. As for now I’m done with the squirrels for sometime now, gotta finish Submachine2 imemdiately. So enjoy this frosty squirrel adventure and please wait patiently for the second installment from the submachine series.”

  15. First released verison of Submachine 2: the Lighthouse.
Submachine series
Main series 1: The Basement2: The Lighthouse3: The Loop4: The Lab5: The Root
6: The Edge7: The Core8: The Plan9: The Temple10: The Exit
Side series Ancient AdventureFuture Loop FoundationFLF32 ChambersSubmachine UniverseThe EngineThe Explorers
Other games iSubmachineSketch of Submachine 2Card Game
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