Ludum Dare #43compo

Volcano Rush!

by jharler

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.51

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.41

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.94

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.56

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.71

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.37

Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.71

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.36

VOLCANO RUSH

Do you have what it takes to get the village's sacrifice to the mouth of the volcano before the angry volcano god destroys us all? Can you avoid the lava and burning rocks that stand in your way? Find out in Volcano Rush!

Controls:

[A] Moves Backward
[D] Moves Forward
[Space] Jumps.

Tools Used:

Visual Studio, Notepad++, ZBrush, Blender, Photoshop, Audacity, FontBuilder, FL Studio.

This was created using my custom C++ game library. All bugs are totally my fault.

Feedback

I hope you have fun and if you could, please leave me some feedback, even if it’s just “hey, this sucks” or “hey, that was fun.”

Notes

Be aware that jumping might feel a bit odd. The way I implemented following the path around the mountain makes for some interesting jumps in some spots. It shouldn't take long to get used to and you might not even notice it at all. The hitboxes on the lava are a bit generous, so you can get pretty close before jumping. Keep that in mind if you are having trouble making it over the lava.

Known Bugs

There is a bug that prevents the game from loading on some computers. I've fixed at least one cause of this, which is v2 in the Itch downloads. If you get a message in the original version that says "An exception has occurred", please try v2.

There is also a bug that leaves black pixels on the screen. This seems to be on non-Nvidia cards. I uploaded v3 which should fix this issue.

Playthrough

Below is a video playthrough of the game. I highly recommend playing the game to experience it first hand, but this is here if you want it.

Playthrough

Tags: #lava, #runner, #sacrifice, #volcano

Genres: action

Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Audacity, Blender, FL Studio, ZBrush

Comments42

Berkin3 Dec 2018, 15:31

jharlerauthor3 Dec 2018, 15:41

@berkin there should be a log.txt file in the same directory. Can you copy the contents to https://pastebin.com and paste the link here?

Berkin3 Dec 2018, 15:51

Here

jharlerauthor3 Dec 2018, 16:06

@berkin Thanks. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but it looks like an OpenGL problem. I've uploaded a new version labelled volcano_rush_debugging.zip. It will generate a new log file with detailed OpenGL logs. If you are up to it, I'd appreciate a new log file from that. Feel free to post here, or you can email it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for your assistance. This is the kind of fun stuff you deal with when writing your own engine. :)

Berkin3 Dec 2018, 16:26

Here is new log file. Developing an engine is every developer's dream, isn't it :smile:

For more information, i am using Windows 10 with Nvidia GTX950m and Intel i7 6700HQ by the way.

arkiruthis3 Dec 2018, 16:28

Works great here! (Win 10) Very well done, love the audio (particularly when you touch something toasty :wink: ). Well done.

oxrock3 Dec 2018, 16:28

"My pants are on fire" the game! Luckily the character is not really wearing much in terms of pants, so he's not losing much. I think it's cute, it's functional, and it fits the theme, no complaints.

Sam Hindson3 Dec 2018, 16:33

Doing a project using a self-made engine is no mean feat, but making one which looks/feels as solid as this is pretty commendable. I like the game's sense of humour too :) well done!

RedE3 Dec 2018, 16:42

Great game! The game play felt challenging but fair. The ending was great and very unexpected. I also really enjoy the low poly graphics and the fitting background music.

jharlerauthor3 Dec 2018, 17:10

@berkin Unfortunately, it looks like fixing the problem for you is going to be a bit more involved. I'm not sure if you want to take the time to do some back and forth with me to fix it, but if you do, please email me at [email protected] so we can coordinate.

@arkiruthis Glad it works well for you. Thanks!

@oxrock Yeah, I almost changed the model to give him at least some underpants, but I ran out of time!

@sam-hindson I've been working on this engine for three years now. Part time, but a lot of work has gone into it! Thanks for your input!

@rede Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!

Game-mon3 Dec 2018, 18:18

Such a cool game! I love the graphics, the soundtrack and the game idea. My favourite part is the end, really funny (no spoilers haha). But, how about adding some checkpoints? I'm bad at these games ':) Congrats on making this fun creation!

jeroenpx3 Dec 2018, 18:56

Fun game! A bit hard for my taste though. I gave up after dying more than 20 times (somewhere after the three vertical lava drops close to each other). I think the game could use some checkpoints or maybe that is just me. :smile:

jharlerauthor3 Dec 2018, 20:21

@game-mon Thanks! I'm glad you liked the end. I'm particularly proud of that part. :) Checkpoints would have been a good idea. I didn't even think about it.

@jeroenpx Thanks for trying! You can watch the video playthrough I posted to see the end if you aren't able to get there.

Esosek3 Dec 2018, 22:08

Music is so thematic, I love it! Graphics are great too and I love this kind of gameplay. As someone pointed out, checkpoints would be great. I admire that you made your engine too. Keep going! ;)

gwinnell3 Dec 2018, 22:39

Well done! Funny ending!

gamesplusjames3 Dec 2018, 23:06

My pants are on fire! That was a bunch of fun and got really hard near the top :) The models were very well done and the music helped set the tone of the game nicely. Great job!

adventureislands3 Dec 2018, 23:14

This was fun! Controls were fine and it run without issues for me. Loved the ending, I was hoping something like that would happen.

carlpilot4 Dec 2018, 01:28

The audio is simplistic, but it perfectly fits the theme of the game. Gameplay can be tedious at times, especially having to restart following every mistake, but it's quite engaging nonetheless.

shiqichuan4 Dec 2018, 07:14

So much fun!The difficulty made me think of dark soul......

shp4 Dec 2018, 19:36

Wow very impressive for a custom engine + 3d art, it's not too common to have people that can do both

jharlerauthor4 Dec 2018, 20:06

@esosek Thanks for the kind words! I think I fell into the trap of thinking the game would be too easy for people because it was easy for me. I didn't even consider checkpoints. I'll keep that in mind in the future!

@gwinnell Thanks!

@gamesplusjames Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for streaming!

@adventureislands Good to hear you didn't have any problems with the controls, thanks for letting me know. The end is definitely my favorite part of this game. :)

@carlpilot Music is definitely my weakpoint, but I felt that even though it was a simplistic loop, it matched the game. As others have said, checkpoints would have been a good idea.

@shiqichuan Glad you had fun. Sorry for the difficulty!

@shp Thanks! I've worked hard improving my skills. I've learned that artistic ability is a skill that can be learned like anything else, as long as you commit the time to it!

MyFriendTames4 Dec 2018, 20:35

Hey, this game is awesome! :smile:

And the fact that it is your own library is great! :smiley:

I resprect you! :muscle:

Apace4 Dec 2018, 22:15

This is just too difficult! I couldn't for the life of me get past the third stream of lava. (Don't worry, I am probably just bad.)

Anyway, I like the game. The gameplay is smooth and feels good (apart from my obvious problems with the lava streams), the music fits the theme and the death sound is awesome.

Great entry. :)

jharlerauthor4 Dec 2018, 22:26

@myfriendtames Thanks for the respect! Ludum Dare is great for putting my library to the test. Really stresses to me what I need to fix before the next LD!

@apace I'm sorry it was too difficult for you. I wish I had added checkpoints. If you haven't, please watch the playthrough video so you can see what happens at the end. You deserve that much for the effort!

Mumboo4 Dec 2018, 22:39

Cool game! That moment where your main character dive into lava very unexpected :D

JoshAnthony19904 Dec 2018, 23:26

I didn't think this was too difficult. There's a few hard spots, but nothing some repetition can't get through.

This has the best death sound I've heard yet from a Ludum Dare game. :) Overall, it was fun to play, and I think you did a great job!

SandPile4 Dec 2018, 23:52

My pants are on fire!

Xelphyre5 Dec 2018, 00:12

lol @ that ending!

PurpledArtFrog5 Dec 2018, 16:40

:smile: polished game :) I like it - found the first jump a bit difficult - but just bad timing ;)

hope you'll rate my game as well - and feel free to give your honest opinion.. it's my first game
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/wanyudo-island

Virtual Turtle Studio5 Dec 2018, 19:05

Although the concept of a typical 'run and jump platformer' would seem a bit overdone, you actually gave it a nice twist! Because of the highly unpredictable nature of some of the firerocks, you are guaranteed to sacrifice many lives to get to the top, haha. This also brings me to the next point: it's quite hard to get in a nice flow when all the rocks keep going back and forth. You really have to learn the level, and even then it's quite hard! Good job on making this game. Ps. V.1 worked perfectly for me, no bugs whatsoever!

jharlerauthor5 Dec 2018, 20:54

@mumboo I thought that twist would be funny!

@joshanthony1990 Yeah, the obstacles are always located at the same place, so once you learn them, it's easy to get through. I can get to the top almost every time I try now.

@sandpile Watch out for that!

@xelphyre I'm glad you liked it!

@crosenlund79 Yeah, the lava flow jumps can be tricky. You need to wait until you're almost touching it. I rated and left a comment on your game.

@virtual-turtle-studio I'm glad you found my take on this type of game interesting. Also glad to hear v1 worked great! The problems it has seems to be rare, fortunately.

sodaraptor6 Dec 2018, 02:44

Pretty fun little platformer/runner! Had the right amount of challenge despite being such a straightforward idea. For some reason the graphics and gameplay gave me an old school Crash Bandicoot vibe. Ending was particularly funny! Good work.

mahalis6 Dec 2018, 05:16

This is well done - I haven't seen a platformer done on a spiral like this before. The obstacles are a little unforgiving; some more leeway with the jump (or maybe their collision?) might help that. Enjoyed the music - very thematically appropriate - though I appreciated having the option to mute it since it did get a little repetitive. Solid artwork, too, especially for a compo game. Nice job!

AwiX6 Dec 2018, 15:51

An interesting game with a kind of mechanics. I put a rating) Please rating and me, thanks in advance)

Mike Mihe6 Dec 2018, 20:36

TOP ending, very funny)

AntonioBarba6 Dec 2018, 22:41

Nice work|

Ranner1987 Dec 2018, 01:35

This is probably the hardest game I've ever played. Never was able to beat it, I wish there was a checkpoint mechanic

MrLeePerry7 Dec 2018, 22:38

Really well done. I died SO often from the bouncing lava balls... but still was really well executed. Cheers!

teo9899 Dec 2018, 17:57

Good Job! I really enjoyed every part of the game. Really nice :D

Franciszek Pyrć9 Dec 2018, 20:05

Really fun! By: A guy that doesn't like playing games.

luker12827 Dec 2018, 17:32

I saw your posts during the compo, and was a little affraid that our games might turn out to be a bit too similar. Both have the same basic premise and even similar plot twist at the end ;)
However, I think that the gameplay itself is quite uniqe in both.

I really liked the flat shaded aesthetics in your game! Chalanges were also cool. But for some reason one obstacle was way harder for me than it should: I kept falling into lava streams. Feels like the collision detection on those could be tweaked a bit.