Ludum Dare #40compo
Snowman - Wildfire Edition
You are a snowman,
you realize there is a wildfire in your homeland.
Free your friends by letting them out and avoid the chaotic flames!
Tools used:
- Game Maker Studio 2
- FL Studio 12
- BFXR
- Pyxel Edit
- Gimp
The game is complete, there is some blurry text, and the lighting could be a bit brighter.
But I wanted to have this night effect. I just want the fire to be a bit brighter.
This game compared to my first event shows an improvement, in terms of quality given in 48 hours.
I also have music this time! I made it myself playing with midi keyboards.
This game has also a few small puzzles to solve for some extra credits!
Special thanks for those who watched my stream on twitch
And also special thanks for my family, friends and my girlfirend who were supportive
Feel free to share your score in the comments, I had 6100 :)
EDIT:
I would like to point out that after further testing, it appears that if you do not succeed the tutorials, you might get stuck until you melt away. If this ever occurs, there's no way to restart the level but by killing yourself (by fire exposure) or restarting the game. I have provided many sticks per level so this shouldn't really happen. But it is possible. Terribly sorry for this.
@SuciuTiberius
Tags: #action-adventure, #artgame, #atmospheric, #casual, #gamemaker, #nature, #pixel art, #singleplayer, #sprites
Genres: action
Comments54
soyrandom4 Dec 2017, 20:58
Nice game!!
Tiberiusuciu4 Dec 2017, 21:02
Thank your for playing!
@gilborn
Yeah my interpretation of the theme might be too abstract, but essentially, it boils down to: the more you have fire, the worst it is. Because the snowman needs the fire so that he may progress through the game, but it also makes you more likely to melt away. I hope this clears it out a bit :^)
@gilborn
Yeah my interpretation of the theme might be too abstract, but essentially, it boils down to: the more you have fire, the worst it is. Because the snowman needs the fire so that he may progress through the game, but it also makes you more likely to melt away. I hope this clears it out a bit :^)
muromets5 Dec 2017, 04:02
Really loved the moment the music started and the whole mood was set in, it really delivers a kind of sense of urgency to save all the snowman, nice game!
Pohka5 Dec 2017, 05:12
Mood is very fitting
Tiberiusuciu5 Dec 2017, 05:18
alexfalkenberg5 Dec 2017, 06:11
Great mood and pretty enjoyable play. I tried and was able to repro the bug you mention. Neat. ;)
Take care!
Take care!
BobStopka5 Dec 2017, 17:34
This is good music!
meursault5 Dec 2017, 19:16
Its a really good game, feels unique :-)
sorlok6 Dec 2017, 04:20
"Cool" game! The ability to use "arms" as a necessary way to spread the flames was interesting, and made for some good puzzles. I wish the global "melt" timer was visible; otherwise levels just seemed to end for no reason. Excellent mood, and I liked all the hidden snowmen.
Tiberiusuciu6 Dec 2017, 04:28
@sorlok
Thank you for playing!
Yeah this was one of my last item on my todo list for this game, I ran out of time by trying to have an end to this game and some music. But I see what you mean. Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for playing!
Yeah this was one of my last item on my todo list for this game, I ran out of time by trying to have an end to this game and some music. But I see what you mean. Thanks for the feedback!
Grentacular6 Dec 2017, 04:31
I enjoyed playing this one! The slight puzzle elements really brought depth to the game. i liked the notion of the snowman getting his arms back by picking branches off the ground, too. If I could change one thing, I would like it to be clearer when you save another snowman. The little "ding" sound effect lets you know when you do save one, but in a group it can be hard to tell *which* one(s) you saved, since they look more or less the same before and after you save them. Still, I had fun overall! Great job!
Clayton Schuyler6 Dec 2017, 04:32
Very fun game, the music seemed a little loud compared to the other sounds but other than that it was super solid. I really liked the snorkel snowman!
Tiberiusuciu6 Dec 2017, 04:37
@Grentacular
Yeah this was also a worrying subject, I didn't want them to disappear either. If I had some more time, I wanted to make a smiling version of each snowman, and a non-smiling version, so you could see if the snowman is happy or not which would signify he has been saved. But I know what you mean. Thank you for playing!
Yeah this was also a worrying subject, I didn't want them to disappear either. If I had some more time, I wanted to make a smiling version of each snowman, and a non-smiling version, so you could see if the snowman is happy or not which would signify he has been saved. But I know what you mean. Thank you for playing!
Tiberiusuciu6 Dec 2017, 04:39
@clayton-schuyler
I had a lot of trouble with the sounds in this LD. At first every burning sound was waayyy too loud, so I dropped the volume dramatically. But then when I added the music, I needed more balancing to do. The sounds were the last "big" features I've added at the end. I would of definitely balanced it out with more time.
and YES!! the snorkel snowman! hahahahaha
Thank you for playing!
I had a lot of trouble with the sounds in this LD. At first every burning sound was waayyy too loud, so I dropped the volume dramatically. But then when I added the music, I needed more balancing to do. The sounds were the last "big" features I've added at the end. I would of definitely balanced it out with more time.
and YES!! the snorkel snowman! hahahahaha
Thank you for playing!
Luciax6 Dec 2017, 04:40
The artwork and atmosphere is really nice. And I love the mechanism of picking up sticks and having a cluster of flames to melt the ice and tress that may also melt myself. It's really intersting!
Though sometimes they did not work so well. Using mouse to waive often reponses too quickly to match with the ice barrier I want to melt and I could't know to what extent I will melt down myself. It can be a fantastic job with a easier operation!
Though sometimes they did not work so well. Using mouse to waive often reponses too quickly to match with the ice barrier I want to melt and I could't know to what extent I will melt down myself. It can be a fantastic job with a easier operation!
alottabit6 Dec 2017, 04:46
Wow, far and away one of the best games aesthetically. Music and graphics were great! Only got 4400 points :( but it was hilarious running around as a snowman while maniacally waving my burning stick arms in the air.
Tiberiusuciu6 Dec 2017, 04:48
@luciax
Yeah there are a few things that were not quite clear, but basically at the moment, as long as your are in front of an ice barrier at about half a block of distance maximum, you can burn the ice barrier. If you are behind the ice barrier, you cannot, and there's actually a puzzle with a specific ice barrier in a level of the game, that requires a lesson seen in the tutorials about chain reactions. But I understand that it wasn't very clear. I made some friends test out my game after LD, and I noticed that my tutorials were not as clear as I thought they were in my head.
Oh yeah and for burning an object, you don't really need to waive anything, you just need to have a burning source nearby a burnable object. My instructions were not clear enough and I have seen some people spinning the snowman's hands thinking that it was the answer hahaha
Sorry about the misdirection. Thank you for playing!!
Yeah there are a few things that were not quite clear, but basically at the moment, as long as your are in front of an ice barrier at about half a block of distance maximum, you can burn the ice barrier. If you are behind the ice barrier, you cannot, and there's actually a puzzle with a specific ice barrier in a level of the game, that requires a lesson seen in the tutorials about chain reactions. But I understand that it wasn't very clear. I made some friends test out my game after LD, and I noticed that my tutorials were not as clear as I thought they were in my head.
Oh yeah and for burning an object, you don't really need to waive anything, you just need to have a burning source nearby a burnable object. My instructions were not clear enough and I have seen some people spinning the snowman's hands thinking that it was the answer hahaha
Sorry about the misdirection. Thank you for playing!!
Tiberiusuciu6 Dec 2017, 04:51
@alottabit
Thank you for the kind words, this means a lot for me! Your description about how you felt about the game is EXACTLY what I wanted you to feel hahahaha I'm glad to see you've captured what I was trying to reflect with this game. Thank you for playing!
Thank you for the kind words, this means a lot for me! Your description about how you felt about the game is EXACTLY what I wanted you to feel hahahaha I'm glad to see you've captured what I was trying to reflect with this game. Thank you for playing!
Antti Tiihonen6 Dec 2017, 10:23
The interaction with the environment and the balancing act while playing with fire was pretty cool!
TechTeller6 Dec 2017, 13:03
The game excels at communicating the mood, however there could be better indicators for the time it takes for the fire to burn up sticks, etc. I really liked the artstyle and the audio! Good job. :)
Versatile Box6 Dec 2017, 18:23
Pretty good! I played for several minutes.
Cool mechanics
Cool mechanics
julia7 Dec 2017, 01:53
Nice game!!! I love the song.
Tiberiusuciu7 Dec 2017, 01:59
@julia
Thank you, I made it myself with a few midi keyboards, I'm looking forward to have more integrated songs in my next LD entries :) Thank you for playing!
Thank you, I made it myself with a few midi keyboards, I'm looking forward to have more integrated songs in my next LD entries :) Thank you for playing!
CiaranW7 Dec 2017, 02:23
Great game, I liked the fire mechanics, they were well implemented! Graphically was nice too, with the snow and melting ice. The background music suited the game well.
Nice, well implemented game, Well done!
Nice, well implemented game, Well done!
LaneDavis7 Dec 2017, 02:52
NOT MY FROSTY COOOOOOOOOOATTTTTINNNNGG.
Super fun! The maze level was obnoxious, but I guess that was kind of the point. The premise was great, and pulling off sick dance moves while moving around was a ton of fun.
Super fun! The maze level was obnoxious, but I guess that was kind of the point. The premise was great, and pulling off sick dance moves while moving around was a ton of fun.
dimesto527 Dec 2017, 02:54
too beautiful sounds beautiful atmosphere. I like graphics. I would just like to be able to reboot some level
Tiberiusuciu7 Dec 2017, 02:59
@LaneDavis
Yeah I had fun writing those tutorials hahahahaha :)
I see what you mean about the maze level, and I agree, I had a hard time figuring out how to not make it too obnoxious. I told myself that the fire would quickly consume the level, so in case you get tired of searching, the fire would probably open you a quick path to the exit if need be. But yeah, that maze should be reworked, thank you for the feedback and playing!
Yeah I had fun writing those tutorials hahahahaha :)
I see what you mean about the maze level, and I agree, I had a hard time figuring out how to not make it too obnoxious. I told myself that the fire would quickly consume the level, so in case you get tired of searching, the fire would probably open you a quick path to the exit if need be. But yeah, that maze should be reworked, thank you for the feedback and playing!
Tiberiusuciu7 Dec 2017, 03:00
@dimesto52
I totally understand that. And I actually realized a little bit after my deployment, that a restart level button would definitely help out. especially in certain levels where if you run out of sticks, then restarting the level is the only choice (this happens in the tutorials, I hope not too often hahaha) Thank you for playing!
I totally understand that. And I actually realized a little bit after my deployment, that a restart level button would definitely help out. especially in certain levels where if you run out of sticks, then restarting the level is the only choice (this happens in the tutorials, I hope not too often hahaha) Thank you for playing!
clachipso7 Dec 2017, 03:42
Very well done. You made me really want to rescue my poor snowbros!
bvalosek7 Dec 2017, 03:50
very nice vibe !
James Dunlap7 Dec 2017, 04:00
Quite enjoyable game. I would have liked clearer notice about saving snowmen. How many on each level? Also, what happens if I don't save them. It seemed like I could progress anyway.
Very nice music.
Very nice music.
Tiberiusuciu7 Dec 2017, 04:08
@james-dunlap
Thanks for playing, you don't really need to save them :p my tutorial level in the first level just says to save the snowman for some extra credits, and that's pretty much all they are used for. Otherwise you could also want to save them because it's the right thing to do? You're right, there are no indications on how many snowmen per level, I'm not sure if I wanted to display that, since they are optional in the first place. But thank you for the feedback, maybe my instructions were not clear enough!
Thanks for playing, you don't really need to save them :p my tutorial level in the first level just says to save the snowman for some extra credits, and that's pretty much all they are used for. Otherwise you could also want to save them because it's the right thing to do? You're right, there are no indications on how many snowmen per level, I'm not sure if I wanted to display that, since they are optional in the first place. But thank you for the feedback, maybe my instructions were not clear enough!
lawzy937 Dec 2017, 04:37
A very enjoyable game with amazing music to et the mood.
Would have liked to see the snowmen you saved move towards the exit, maybe even only be saved if they escape the level. Also would have been cool if they could melt too.
Overall very enjoyable tough. Could have happily played for hours.
Would have liked to see the snowmen you saved move towards the exit, maybe even only be saved if they escape the level. Also would have been cool if they could melt too.
Overall very enjoyable tough. Could have happily played for hours.
Tiberiusuciu7 Dec 2017, 04:47
@lawzy93
Thank you for playing! The snowman can melt actually, but there is no animation for them. It was on my todo lists but with only 48 hours, there is so much I can do. I had to choose between having the same looking snowman with a melting animation, or various looking snowmen. I choose having different kinds because I didn't want the game to look to repetitive. Also yeah, that was in my ideas to see the snowmen run towards the exit. Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for playing! The snowman can melt actually, but there is no animation for them. It was on my todo lists but with only 48 hours, there is so much I can do. I had to choose between having the same looking snowman with a melting animation, or various looking snowmen. I choose having different kinds because I didn't want the game to look to repetitive. Also yeah, that was in my ideas to see the snowmen run towards the exit. Thanks for the feedback!
Chartman7 Dec 2017, 04:51
The music was great for the mood and immersion which ties in nicely with the setting and story of the game. The artwork was well-done, and it was nice to see the changes in the environment like snow melting and the fire chain reactions. The polish and heart that was put into this game was icing on the cake.
The idea of flailing your arms around while on fire is as unique as the rest of this game, but I couldn't get the hang of it well enough and had to keep trying to progress. Moving my mouse quickly in order to flail didn't feel right to me (maybe I didn't get how I was supposed to move my mouse). I honestly would've preferred mashing a key or mouse button. But I loved the idea behind it.
Overall, great job especially on everything about the mood: music, artwork, and setting.
The idea of flailing your arms around while on fire is as unique as the rest of this game, but I couldn't get the hang of it well enough and had to keep trying to progress. Moving my mouse quickly in order to flail didn't feel right to me (maybe I didn't get how I was supposed to move my mouse). I honestly would've preferred mashing a key or mouse button. But I loved the idea behind it.
Overall, great job especially on everything about the mood: music, artwork, and setting.
Tiberiusuciu7 Dec 2017, 04:57
@chartman
Thank you for the kind words. My tutorials were not very clear on that aspect, but you don't really need to flail your arms to burn things. All you need is having your arms pointing towards a "burn-able" object and that's all you need. And for setting your arms on fire, all you need to have your arms on fire is to touch the fire. No need of flailing. I believe the word "waving" in my tutorials was very misleading. Thank you for your feedback!
Thank you for the kind words. My tutorials were not very clear on that aspect, but you don't really need to flail your arms to burn things. All you need is having your arms pointing towards a "burn-able" object and that's all you need. And for setting your arms on fire, all you need to have your arms on fire is to touch the fire. No need of flailing. I believe the word "waving" in my tutorials was very misleading. Thank you for your feedback!
MarshCannon7 Dec 2017, 05:26
Thought the mechanic was really fun and worked great with the theme! Nice work!
Megalink7 Dec 2017, 07:24
This game is absolutely fantastic! The main mechanic was very interesting and served a lot of purposes within each level. The music perfectly complimented the story and the urgency of the situation, which in turn constructed a great atmosphere. You NEED to turn this into a full game, the idea is really clever! Good work!
lukbebalduke7 Dec 2017, 17:47
The setting was pretty great, very atmospherical! I liked the polishment and the basic concept, the only thing I would like to suggest is to make tiles more clear (whereI should be able to pass, where I should not, what I can interact and etc..) Overall, nice job!
fluidvolt7 Dec 2017, 18:29
This is such a cool mechanic! I loved picking up and setting down stick arms and burning bushes. (Brings me back to Ocarina of Time deku sticks.) The way the little snowman looks when he's near fire is so worrying! Music sets the mood well too. Very fun and impressive. Good work :)
Shivur7 Dec 2017, 20:03
Very good game!
mandrilltiger8 Dec 2017, 04:27
Great Entry. The art was great and I liked how the music tied into the gameplay as things burned more the music got more intense. I also really liked the cleverness in the idea. Combining fire and snowman hasn't been done before but makes so much sense.
Some of my problems are that the health of yourself is somewhat hard to tell. And I sometimes tried to resuced snowman twice since after being rescued the just sort of move slightly. It isn't very obvious how they are being rescued.
Overall great entry.
Some of my problems are that the health of yourself is somewhat hard to tell. And I sometimes tried to resuced snowman twice since after being rescued the just sort of move slightly. It isn't very obvious how they are being rescued.
Overall great entry.
Tiberiusuciu8 Dec 2017, 06:23
@lukbebalduke
Thanks for the feedback. I am aware of the tiles not being very clear. Having more time, I would of definitely went over my tiling and make sure to add the subtle hints about where you can step through. For now I assumed that seeing a bunch of snowmen across a wall, would intrigue the player to try going through the snow walls. Not very clear I must admit. Thank you for playing!
Thanks for the feedback. I am aware of the tiles not being very clear. Having more time, I would of definitely went over my tiling and make sure to add the subtle hints about where you can step through. For now I assumed that seeing a bunch of snowmen across a wall, would intrigue the player to try going through the snow walls. Not very clear I must admit. Thank you for playing!
Tiberiusuciu8 Dec 2017, 06:25
@mandrilltiger
Thank you for playing! Yeah UI was also a lacking feature. At the end of the 48 hours, I was struggling trying to figure out what to prioritize in order to make sure that what will get delivered would be playable. Having had more time, the spriting and the UI would of been on my next tasks. Also, I do agree that just by touching the snowman didn't make it vert clear if they were rescued. The ultimate goal with them is to have them run towards the exit once saved, which would also indicate the player where to go within each level. Thank you for your feedback!
Thank you for playing! Yeah UI was also a lacking feature. At the end of the 48 hours, I was struggling trying to figure out what to prioritize in order to make sure that what will get delivered would be playable. Having had more time, the spriting and the UI would of been on my next tasks. Also, I do agree that just by touching the snowman didn't make it vert clear if they were rescued. The ultimate goal with them is to have them run towards the exit once saved, which would also indicate the player where to go within each level. Thank you for your feedback!
falak9 Dec 2017, 09:01
I love the graphics, I love the music, I love the gameplay and... I love this game
paulhocker10 Dec 2017, 14:54
very good game - really like the fire element aspect - really added an interesting twist to the game - well done
YangTianQiang11 Dec 2017, 10:45
Thanks for you playing our game Last Ticket and your game is pretty cool!
nax_8911 Dec 2017, 19:47
Excellent mechanics! nice controls and gameplay, maybe you con add some counter to check to snowman lefts on the level, something like "Zombies ate my neighbors". Anyways, great job!
Raven13 Dec 2017, 16:27
The game is very nice except I didn't feel it relate much to the theme and sometimes there is not enough feedback.
The interaction between player and the environment is interesting.
All the graphics and music are highly polished.
Nice work overall!
The interaction between player and the environment is interesting.
All the graphics and music are highly polished.
Nice work overall!
Goat Toaster Games14 Dec 2017, 04:41
Really great submission! I love the music, graphics and concept.
meanmon1315 Dec 2017, 16:31
I liked the winter theme tied into the dare theme! Good job :-)
Kobrar24 Dec 2017, 22:52
I absolutely love how this game hits the theme. It's actually not more fire - it's more saved friends! I love it.
If you can expand it and make it a whole game, I'll play it.
If you can expand it and make it a whole game, I'll play it.
Jupiter_Hadley26 Dec 2017, 18:33
Nice little game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 40 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26D5qtoYgoQ
It hit not perfectly the theme, but a nice entry.