Ludum Dare #50compo

Lag Tha Magma

by wavertron

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.37

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.38

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.47

Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.35

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.18

Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.53

Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.80

```
-=LAG THA MAGMA=-

HOW TO PLAY

Dig holes and build walls to
protect your Tower from the lava
for as long as possible

CONTROLS

A/W/D : Left/Jump/Right
MOUSE CLICK : Dig/Build adjacent blocks
MOUSE WHEEL : Zoom in/out

R : Start Game
F12 : Maximise screen (V1.1 only)
ESC : Quit to DOS

BUILD BLOCKS

You get a build block when you dig.
You can only carry a max of 5 build blocks
at a time. See top right corner of screen.
No limit on digging.

-------------------
Made with Godot, C#, Aseprite, Paint.Net, BFXR
-------------------

HTML VERSION - WILL LAG

The HTML version is good for quick preview
but it lag when there is lots of lava.
For best performance play the Windows EXE.

CHANGE LOG:

V1.1: Fix FullScreen/Resizing bug. No gameplay changes.

```

Genres: platformer

Tools: Aseprite, Bfxr, Godot, Paint.net

Comments28

BangTheWall4 Apr 2022, 08:30

The concept is lovely. The idea is so simple yet cool, exactly what I want to see in jam games.

Right now your execution is a bit off, but you did a great job showing me your idea with your game.

In the future, I would recommend you try to make the game feel nicer to play. Right now the controls are a bit wonky and stiff.

But overall, really good job

Taffaz4 Apr 2022, 08:35

Nice, really liked how you did the lava flow. The effect when it hits a wall and gets pushed over by the rest of the lava is really satisfying to watch even when it's about to hit your castle. Good job.

Widdershin4 Apr 2022, 08:37

Awesome to see liquid physics in an LD entry, I can never not have fun playing with video game liquids.

It was also funny embracing the lag as the inevitable element.

Would have loved to see this one expanded upon!

ROBOWARRIOR19824 Apr 2022, 08:48

Love the idea and it can be fun. The game do always the same but mixing digging and construction to prevent lava, may be creative and this is really interesting. So that fit perfectly the thme. But i have technical issue with that game, the lava make the game laggy, and the window of the game was not centred (why there is no fullscreen????), and my dual screen dont love Godot, so the interaction and the cursor position is decaled.

wavertronauthor4 Apr 2022, 08:57

Hi @robowarrior1982 yeah I battled with the fullscreen and mouse issues but wasn't able to fix it in time. The best I could do was prevent resizing as that reduces some issues. Try disabling dual screens temporarily and also set any Windows display scaling to 100%.

UPDATE: I managed to fix the screen scaling issues. Play V1.1 if you have screen/window scaling issues.

kleszcz4 Apr 2022, 09:01

Digging tunnels is always nice even if with some performance issues and glitches (I've got some while jumping). One design question though. It took me a while to realize that no matter how much I dig I'll only have a limited number of blocks available for placing. Question is why is that, why not give the player ability to fully remodel the level? If you stick to the idea of limited resources I would add some audio and graphics feedback to notify player that the inventory limit is reached.

wavertronauthor4 Apr 2022, 09:12

Hi @kleszcz, you get a build block from digging. Its not obvious, but in the top right corner, you can carry up to 5 build blocks. Thanks for the feedback, I'll update the instructions. I should have made that more clear. The reason was to make it a little more challenging to build up. Perhaps not the best mechanic.

kleszcz4 Apr 2022, 09:17

Not a bad one either. Just haven't noticed reaching the limit during my first play through.

Rolly4 Apr 2022, 14:31

Very cool concept! It got very laggy on my computer, and that broke the experience a bit, but I had fun trying to figure out the optimal way to stock lava underground in the first minutes! I'm a bit sad of these perf issues, I would really like to see how long I could survive!

The visuals are very good, especially the tower on the right and the player's character! Good job on that.

Too bad that there is no nice music, that would greatly improve the mood.

Good entry!

LDJam user 2211994 Apr 2022, 18:02

I found the character animation humorous.

LDJam user 2345674 Apr 2022, 19:16

Remeber my first time on minecraft!
Great job

wavertronauthor4 Apr 2022, 22:39

Hi @rolly. Did you play the Windows EXE or the HTML version?
The HTML version will lag much more than the Windows EXE.

milq5 Apr 2022, 11:19

The character controls are a bit fiddly, but the rest is great. The idea that I'm going to be eaten by lava is incredible and it fits very well with the theme. The lava physics are also very well done. Great game.

Tristian Tee5 Apr 2022, 11:56

Loved it. Very simple gameplay, hit the theme on the head, FUN TO PLAY! Like dude, perfect compo entry. What stops this from getting a perfect rating to match is the graphics, UI and the lack of music.

You nailed the things that matter though and I would thoroughly enjoy seeing a future version of this if you do end up continuing development on it.

LDJam user 2508245 Apr 2022, 12:49

Ahh, feels great even with the lag (don't have access to a Windows computer, so had to deal with it). I ended up digging a well just in front of the castle and standing next to it, studying the lava particles. How they light up with velocity making the flow look alive and hot. And how the character's idle animation includes scratching his butt. Nice entry with lots of tiny cool touches, I loved it!

LDJam user 2508245 Apr 2022, 12:49

—(duplicate comment due to a network error)—

pixel-fabian5 Apr 2022, 15:45

Fells a bit glitchy and graphics and sound are very basic. But idea and lava flow are really nice and i tried some different tactics, go for a big hole or a high wall? Would love to see a polished version.

Jupiter_Hadley5 Apr 2022, 16:10

Neat concept! I included it in my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/v0i3VE06y_Y

Glayson5 Apr 2022, 19:09

The game worked fine on the browser for me! i figured out that if a dig to the left and started a zigzag, i would do well... didn't work and i died way more faster than the first try (when i just did a big hole).

Great job and, if i can give a suggestion, imagine a Jaws type music that goes faster when the lava is too close!

Geryon Games5 Apr 2022, 19:23

This is a cool idea and I had fun playing. I would love to see a more polished expanded version. The lava physics are great. All in all, great submission!

Archangel5 Apr 2022, 19:24

I had the same kinda idea at the beginning before I made my game about hot air balloons, great minds think alike haha. The controls felt a little awkward but not distractingly so. Great job.

wavertronauthor5 Apr 2022, 20:43

Hi @glayson, that is a great idea regarding the music, I was struggling to think of what would work. I'll look into it.

wavertronauthor5 Apr 2022, 20:51

Hi @jupiter-hadley thanks for recording and sharing your gameplay

A Chill Lemur6 Apr 2022, 23:06

Hooooo boy you weren't kidding about the lag in the HTML version. Cool concept though, would be interesting to see other mechanics in the mix, or other fluids to interact with the lava.

OtterFaeLure7 Apr 2022, 02:00

This was really neat! I like that you included a mechanic to keep "just dig" from being the most viable option there is.

velvetlobster7 Apr 2022, 12:28

I could build things on this all day.
the lava physics seems quite interesting, wonder if it could behave differently depending on the block material, like that game where you are a magician and all pixels have physics on, cant remember the name now

iDunnyX9 Apr 2022, 15:40

Awesome concept and with more time im sure the controls could have been more polished. Over all great job

nyxkn19 Apr 2022, 15:20

Nice game. Wish the difficulty ramped up a bit faster as I mostly just had to sit and wait for the lava to see how my constructions would hold. Overall really nice ideas! Could have been a bit more entertaining with better balance and more action. Sometimes I would get stuck when trying to jump up, but other than that actually quite polished and working well.

Other games by @wavertron

★3.46

★3.25

★3.02