Wildfire by LaserPanzerWal
The forests are on fire! They can't be stopped, loss of the towns is inevitable. Use all available resources to keep the fire off urban areas until the population can be evacuated. Delay the inevitable and make sure everyone survives.
Play the game on itch.io: https://laserpanzerwal.itch.io/wildfire
Gameplay instructions and additional information can be found on the game page.
Unfortunately not every feature I planned made it into the current release due to time limitations, so check back in later for a post jam release too!

| Link | https://laserpanzerwal.itch.io/wildfire |
| Link | https://laserpanzerwal.itch.io/wildfire |
| Link | https://laserpanzerwal.itch.io/wildfire |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/wildfire-1 |
Ratings
| Given | 6🗳️ | 4🗨️ |
It took me a while to understand how to use the bulldozers, I kept clicking everywhere and it didn't do anything, only after reading the instructions on itch.io I was able to do it.
The helicopters feel unreliable, I wasn't able to reuse them even after the timer ended.
Interestingly enough, I was able to save 100% of lives on Level 04 first try, but wasn't able to do it on Level 03 even after trying again. Maybe because of the two bulldozers on Level 04, they're pretty OP heheh
Overall, I really enjoyed it. (played every level twice)
On level 1 I was wishing I could evacuate some houses faster than others, and of course that's what the police do in later levels! The mechanics all work together really well so that it feels like I have enough impact on the simulation, which is the tricky part for a game like this. It was satisfying to plan who to evacuate when, which fires to fight how, etc.
I will say that level 1 was a fine tutorial level, but should probably be like 4x faster than it was. It was a lot of waiting once the fires were under control. On the whole I think the game would benefit from a speed control, because you switch between moments of high tension where you want to be controlling all your people and moments of waiting to see where the next hotspot will be, and it would be nice to have more control over how quickly those phases progress.
One little thing I'd love to see is a 'person count'. I think it's cooler to 'save 1000 lives' than to 'save 100% of the lives' and you could just say each house has X people in it. Even if it's the same for every house (though if it weren't, that could factor into what order the player wants to evacuate them), it would ground things in reality better.
Loved the mechanics and I really loved the tutorial. I do feel that the game as a whole moves a little too slow, especially the first level. I would half the time it takes to put out fires with the firetrucks (then maybe speed up the fire to compensate). Had a few weird sound things happen but otherwise I didn't encounter any bugs.
@glowingredhue Actually, you can de-select units by right-clicking. I think that can be optimized too though, maybe de-select by clicking the card.
@jamtempisto I never encountered that issue, but I will look into it. Did you make sure to select the helicopter again? It auto-deselects when used as it is unavailable for a while.
@bongard22 @prakkus I think I see the issue about game speed, especially in the (as you guessed it) kinda tutorial level 1. That is going to be fixed.
I took all feedback into account and will definitely optimize those aspects in the post-jam. Please come back then to check it out!
It was really fun to play, and it felt real. It also has a nice complexity and a really polished look and feel.
My problem was only with the first level: it felt bit slow. It was simple, that's how it should be. But due to it's simplicity and long evacuation time, I was a bit boring after a while.
On the other hand: Level 2 was so much fun already! I like that I had a "cooldown" "ability", also the police for support, etc.
I think this could be a full game man! Cheers!
Edit: Why can't I give it a rating? Is it disabled? If so, why?
Simple and clear core mechanics, different type of units, handy controls...
You game is awesome! Thank you =)
Simple and clear core mechanics, different type of units, handy controls…
You game is awesome! Thank you :)