Escape to the Surface

by zephyr
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.08
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.11
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.06
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.36
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.39
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.63
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.31
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.55
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★71%
I finally finished it! It's my first Ludum Dare and first complete game. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out all things considered. The goal is to escape to the surface using your trusty grappling hook before the rising lava swallows you up! Be careful, this is not an easy game!

Controls:
W - Jump
A/D - Left/Right
Space(hold) - Grappling Hook
Mouse - Aims Grappling Hook

Spoiler Alert! I also made a quick video of myself playing through it. People have been saying that it's very difficult, and I just wanted to prove that it is beatable. The astute among you will figure out that there is a way of bypassing a difficult section, but I did it legitimately in the video:

If you do manage to beat it, post it in the comments! I would like to see who has since nobody I've talked to has beaten it yet!

screenshot

Comments20

Garris28 Apr 2014, 03:49
Spiffy mechanics, nice atmosphere. A bit too all-the-difficulty-right-away for my taste.
Zephyrauthor28 Apr 2014, 03:53
Thanks! I didn't intend to make it so difficult, but when I went to play test, it was really too late to change the level design. It is definitely beatable though! You just have to be quick and creative.
Quady14
Quady1428 Apr 2014, 04:01
Phew! This is a tough one to play, still enjoyed it though, awesome concept! It would be nice if the lava boiled upwards a little bit slower though. Aside from that awesome work!
jtpup028 Apr 2014, 05:49
Great job!, frustrated me so much I fell in love.
Nnnnneeeedddd28 Apr 2014, 18:19
Sorry i couldn't run this entry when i clicked on the exe
nothing happened ;(
phi
phi28 Apr 2014, 18:28
I'm too bad for this. I just can't get past these fire balls.
Nice idea, good physics, hard level design, could need some moodier graphics? Otherwise, very fun and challenging in a good way. :)
Zephyrauthor28 Apr 2014, 19:42
For those who couldn't run it, I suppose make sure your java is up to date?
ZQMony29 Apr 2014, 00:46
A very challenging but addicting game.
kirbytails729 Apr 2014, 05:10
The .exe took a long time to start up.
I like the mechanics, but the game is way too hard. If the flames weren't so prevalent at the start it might be more manageable.
mat1er29 Apr 2014, 14:51
Too hard, really...
Zephyrauthor29 Apr 2014, 16:24
There was a typo where the cool-down of the grappling hook was dependent of FPS for no good reason making the game incredibly hard when it was below the FPS cap. I fixed that and updated the download links. It should be a bit more forgiving now.
JonathanG29 Apr 2014, 16:56
This is really hard, a lot of the time it seems like the platforms you need to grapple to are off the top of the screen
Figglewatts
Figglewatts29 Apr 2014, 17:05
This was pretty good. The rope reminds me of the ninja rope from Worms!
muh_h29 Apr 2014, 23:43
It's damn hard but is even more fun to play
yo_milo30 Apr 2014, 05:51
The file does not open... like, never opens...
Nichii
Nichii2 May 2014, 14:42
Fun game XD, it was kinda hard to aim without a custom cursor but it was fun overall XD
MunkeeBacon
MunkeeBacon3 May 2014, 15:26
Neat idea for the mechanics! It's a bit difficult though.
TobiasW
TobiasW6 May 2014, 01:23
Oh, a grappling hook! There aren't enough games of those, I tell ya. And I like how it feels too and would love to experiment a bit, but...

With a game like mine I probably lost any right to complain about a game being to difficult - but MAN, your game is hard! An easy way to make it more beginner-friendly would be to make the lava rise slowly in the beginning and to get faster over time. Tweaked correctly, that would make *finishing* the game just as hard as it is now, but *beginning* the game would be a lot easier.

Another suggestion: If you use the mouse to aim, you might also want to use the mouse to "shoot" - or in this case, grapple.

I've watched your gameplay video now - that looks incredibly elegant!

So in the end your game is far too hard for me, but I really like what you have going on. All in all, good job!

PS: Also your game has lava. All the best games have lava obviously.
carlmartus11 May 2014, 08:14
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no lwjgl in java.library.path
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1857)
at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Runtime.java:870)
at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:1119)
at org.lwjgl.Sys$1.run(Sys.java:73)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at org.lwjgl.Sys.doLoadLibrary(Sys.java:66)
at org.lwjgl.Sys.loadLibrary(Sys.java:95)
at org.lwjgl.Sys.<clinit>(Sys.java:112)
at org.lwjgl.opengl.Display.<clinit>(Display.java:135)
at game.Run.<init>(Run.java:137)
at game.Run.main(Run.java:701)
ElStevo16 May 2014, 00:16
Wow that was hard! Are you an old time Rope Racer on Worms Armageddon by any luck? That's what this game reminded me. Nice job for a first game!
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