Wicked flame! by Kaldrin

[raw]
made by Kaldrin for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

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You control a cute lil' bomb. You wouldn't want it to explode right? Then run, fire is catching up on your wick.

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Use your wick to your advantage but don't let the fire catch up to you!

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Fire will never stop following

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Music Credits : Thermal - Evan King

POST JAM LAST LEVEL TIMING FIX NOW YOU CAN ACTUALLY COMPLETE THE GAME 100% OF THE TIME

Ratings

Overall 14th 4.382⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 25th 4.25⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 10th 4.412⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Theme 3th 4.647⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 122th 4.414⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Humor 461th 3.339⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Mood 208th 3.985⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Given 54🗳️ 52🗨️

Feedback

Crimsonshade
04. Apr 2022 · 20:21 UTC
Very nice game! It made a lot of fun to play! Sometimes I exploded directly after respawning, but it was still very good! The only thing I missed was some background music.
DanC2236
04. Apr 2022 · 21:28 UTC
The effort that you've put into this baffles me! Such a great looking game!! The artwork is amazing and you've nailed the theme of the jam too. I didn't get on very well with the game mechanics, but that's not soemthing negative against you. I'm just really bad at stuff like this. Fantastic job
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 21:35 UTC
@crimsonshade Thank you very much! Yeah actually we still have a few hours so we're gonna add some royalty free music haha
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 21:36 UTC
@danc2236 Thank you very much for your kind words! I'm curious as to why the mechanics didn't quite match you, was the game too hard or was it just not your stuff ? Which level did you get stuck on ?
utkucnay
04. Apr 2022 · 21:38 UTC
This game hard for me but actually this game is fun.
Bodmass
04. Apr 2022 · 21:40 UTC
Props to whoever did this art. It's amazing. Also a good take on the theme! I managed to get out of bounds once and one of the rooms bugged out for me but fixed with a simple restart. (Couldn't try the reset button as its on the same as my peformance overlay which I don't know how to kill :laughing:)
DanC2236
04. Apr 2022 · 21:42 UTC
@kaldrin no problems! You put a lot of effort into this so you deserve the praise :) there's nothing wrong with the mechanics, from what I can tell, I'm just super bad at puzzle games haha. So needless to say, I kept blowing up when most people wouldn't xD
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 21:45 UTC
@bodmass Thank you very much! Yeah some out of bound possibilities were left there because that's fun
Which level bugged for you and what happened ?
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 21:46 UTC
@utkucnay Thank you ! Did you get stuck somewhere ?
Linnet5
04. Apr 2022 · 22:01 UTC
Really really beautiful presentation and execution of the theme! I have troubles clearing one of the first puzzles and after a while of retrying it seems like my fuse stopped burning, I'm guessing it might be a bug but I'm not sure what caused it.

Except the unfortunate (what I assume is) bug I at least enjoyed the presentation a lot. The controls also felt really tight.
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 22:12 UTC
@linnet5 Thank you very much for your kind words! Is this the puzzle with the 2 torches and the speed zone? Yeah it's a hard one we still have time to fix it ;) Your bug is weird though that did not happen to us, I hope it's not happening too often!
Glad the controls worked well too!
Bodmass
04. Apr 2022 · 22:22 UTC
@kaldrin it was the second room where you have to light the fires. After dying a whole bunch the flame stopped coming after me, and the doors stopped opening and closing. Did I somehow miss a trigger? :grin: ![ld50wickedflame.png](///raw/127/a/z/4b23f.png)
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 22:27 UTC
@bodmass Thanks for your answer! Yeah definitely a bug and I don't see what's triggering it so I'll just cross my fingers haha
fidrik
04. Apr 2022 · 23:55 UTC
I love it, really smart use of the theme and well polished with alot of content, and easy to pick up and understand
🎤 Kaldrin
04. Apr 2022 · 23:56 UTC
@fidrik Thank you very much glad you liked that much!
MelekTaus
05. Apr 2022 · 00:12 UTC
Smooth controls, awesome artwork, nice pacing. Everything fits together so beautifully. Great job :thumbsup:
bitdecay
05. Apr 2022 · 03:49 UTC
Definitely a cool take on the theme here! I had quite a bit of fun playing this. A couple things that I think took away from the experience:
- I see why some of the oil spots had different flame propagation timings, but it felt weird to have some that instantly ignited, and some that would wait a second to start burning. I would like to see them be graphically different to indicate what is going to happen (it feels more like you have to lose first to know what will happen instead of being able to plan ahead).
- The last room seems a bit random as to if you make it through or not. I just held up and would get very close some times, and not very close other times. After about 8 lives, I made it to the end. Not sure why the timing is like that.
- I would have loved more sound effects to make the gameplay feel more immersive

All that said, this game is graphically very cohesive. Overall, the mechanic was decently explored. This is a great entry in the jam. Congrats on a very clean game.
svntax
05. Apr 2022 · 05:26 UTC
Great use of the theme here! The game is really well polished with nice visuals. I especially liked the split fuse mechanic and how it's used in favor and against the player.
Seng
05. Apr 2022 · 07:34 UTC
Fun game which fits the theme perfectly! Also really nice visuals. I like how new mechanics are introduced.

It might just be a me issue but I'm the explorer kind of person so when oil patches were introduced I went to the paths that openened first which lead me to out of bounds I think? Maybe something which blocks the player but still lets fire propagate would be good here.
![wicked_flame_1.png](///raw/8fb/21/z/4c64b.png)

After dying on this screen the fuse didn't light up anymore. Replayed it up to this point and couldn't replicate it though.
![wicked_flame_2.png](///raw/8fb/21/z/4c655.png)

I really liked playing it. Also great soundtrack. Keep it up!
🎤 Kaldrin
05. Apr 2022 · 08:07 UTC
@melektaus Thank you very much, glad you liked it!
🎤 Kaldrin
05. Apr 2022 · 08:09 UTC
@bitdecay Thanks a lot, glad you made it to the end! Yeah maybe we should have made the oil patches graphically different indeed, also we tried to make the timing of the last room close but doable, weird that you died 8 times, I apologize.
🎤 Kaldrin
05. Apr 2022 · 08:12 UTC
@seng Thank you! Yeah we didn't realize people might think it was a valid way there, we should have blocked the paths ^^;
The fuse that doesn't light up anymore is a weird bug that we didn't experience at all, it's weird, I hope no one else gets it :/
Mikado
05. Apr 2022 · 11:26 UTC
Cool game :)
The idea is very original and fits the theme, and i like the art style. Maybe it's just me, but i think the single colored theme gets a bit repetitive after playing for a while. Nonetheless, a solid game.
🎤 Kaldrin
05. Apr 2022 · 14:58 UTC
@mikado thank you very much! Yeah maybe we could have made a color palette swap but we didn't think about it!
mhorth
05. Apr 2022 · 22:02 UTC
I had a few minor bugs like getting out of bounds, the flame maybe falling too far behind that rooms became a non-puzzle, and just a few times blowing up on oil patches that weren't lit as far as I could tell. I also found it unintuitive what the upwards arrows did at first. I thought they were indicating wind direction with the lines VFX on the screen, and I spend a good minute or two trying to solve that room with wind in mind.

That might sound like I had a bad time, but I wanted to say that because I *still* think this game will win it all! The art is fantastic, from the sprites to the color scheme, so good. The mechanics are amazing and so creative, I've never seen anything like it. Fantastic job all around.

I got to this room and can't progress. As far as I can figure, the only strategy is just straight up and try to outrun the fire. Is it possible there's a framerate issue and you can only outrun it at 60 fps or something? I'm expecting the puzzles afterward are equally creative or more.

![wicked flame.gif](///raw/d67/a3/z/4ce04.gif)
leorid
06. Apr 2022 · 04:40 UTC
Really liked it but I can't get through the last room - can anyone upload a video of the ending so I can see it? ^^
(I tried like 50 times after reading the comments here, holding W, going back and forth, running along the walls until the flames extinguish, I think I tried everything human possible xD)

Still, cool entry.
BROUSSE Dylan
06. Apr 2022 · 10:47 UTC
Thanks a lot @mhorth and @leorid for your feedbacks! Glad you like the game! Clearly this bug (which appears in the very last level btw) is a problem. We tried to remove it in a newer version so you can see the end of the game more easily!
Raivk
06. Apr 2022 · 17:20 UTC
HI KALDRINNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!! This is so cool! I LOVE the idea. And it's really well polished. Well yeah congrats!
🎤 Kaldrin
07. Apr 2022 · 13:33 UTC
HI @raivk ! THANK YOU VERY MUCH
🎤 Kaldrin
07. Apr 2022 · 13:33 UTC
HI @raivk ! THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Erkberg
07. Apr 2022 · 19:25 UTC
I enjoyed this one soooo much! <3 And it was great to have you on the stream! In case you want to watch it again, here's the link: https://youtu.be/moEABKSaTuI
🎤 Kaldrin
07. Apr 2022 · 21:21 UTC
@erkberg Thank you very much for playing it! It was a blast seeing you have fun with it!
Artyom Volkov
08. Apr 2022 · 08:33 UTC
I love this game, the idea is extremely clever as well as the level design, music, and overall game progression. Good job!
🎤 Kaldrin
08. Apr 2022 · 13:34 UTC
@tricky-fat-cat Thank you very much <3
Music is not from us but you can say we chose well I guess haha
yusovv
10. Apr 2022 · 19:59 UTC
interesting idea, fresh thoughts in the game "snake". I really liked the graphic style, it looks very fashionable. Only minimalism, only hardcore!
Good luck with project development!
schadocalex
10. Apr 2022 · 20:03 UTC
What a game! It's unique, there are very good puzzle mechanics (some are spoiled in the description...).
Really good entry, the level design is awesome. I don't know how you have done all this in 3 days, congrats!
Bea
10. Apr 2022 · 21:41 UTC
This looks cute but I couldn't get any version of it to run! In the web version it comes just short of loading completely, and the download would launch, but then immediately exit.
zimny11
10. Apr 2022 · 23:17 UTC
Simply wow! Everything: the music and sound effects, the art style, the game mechanics and the puzzle design are amazing! Excellent job with this one. I do not understand how this game does not have hundreds of "Ranting received" and comments, yet!
Edward Dassmesser
11. Apr 2022 · 03:06 UTC
Big fan! And by that, I mean I'm a big fan of the game, not that you need to add a big fan to the game. That would probably make it significantly more difficult.
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 12:12 UTC
@edward-dassmesser Ahah thank you very much!
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 12:12 UTC
@zimny11 Aw thanks a lot! We are proud of it!
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 12:13 UTC
@bea That is very strange, the DL version should work everywhere, it's a windows version though so it won't work on Linux or Mac, not sure if that's the problem you encountered
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 12:14 UTC
@schadocalex Thank you very much! It's experience and scalable puzzle mechanics that made it possible! We spent the last day just adding levels haha
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 12:14 UTC
@yusovv Thank you very much!
LDJam user 237588
11. Apr 2022 · 18:23 UTC
I love the art, good job!
TeamMonumental
11. Apr 2022 · 18:28 UTC
One of the best games I've played so far! It seems so simple yet the level design is very intricate. I think there is a lot of potential here.
Oleg Bone
11. Apr 2022 · 18:57 UTC
It is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!! I cant breath how it's cool. Thank u for the awesome experience!!!
angiemon
11. Apr 2022 · 19:18 UTC
This game is SO AWESOME!! This deserves more ratings!! Your smart balance is good, So I really think you should do more blog posts to show off your awesome game! :) (and still play, rate and comment, as that always helps ;D)

Where to being.. graphics! Phantastic! I really like this kind of vintage disney-esque but also unique look, the animations were sooo cute, the music was very well chosen and this is one of the best gameplays I have seen in all this jam!

Soooo well done guys! I'm currently stuck in the level with the maze and the 4(5?) switches and fire plates everywhere, haha.

I really don't know anything you could improve, this is so amazing

Gameplay - CHECK
Graphics - CHECK
Sound - CHECK
Checkpoints - CHECK :))

Also the Level design is soo great, I really loved how you introduced new features and threats to the player in a save environment, thats top notch game design!

That's something gamejam games raley manage \*cough\* we had to add a tutorial level afterwards \*cough\*

So indeed, very well done guys!!
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 21:32 UTC
@hilkojj Thank you very much! Simple but effective!
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 21:32 UTC
@teammonumental Thank you very much <3 <3 <3
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 21:33 UTC
@oleg-bone Okay I was not expecting someone to thank us haha, thank you very much!
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 21:34 UTC
@angiemon Thank you very much for the long love comment for our game <3 We indeed forgot to make more blog posts about our game, let's do this!
LiquidFunk
11. Apr 2022 · 21:46 UTC
Wow. I think this is such a nice way of implementing the theme into your game - loved the whole presentation and gameplay too! Charming, fun, difficulty is well balanced. Great entry!
🎤 Kaldrin
11. Apr 2022 · 22:09 UTC
@linnet5 Thank you very much <3
wild_fat
12. Apr 2022 · 11:10 UTC
I liked the idea, it feels pretty fresh! Also graphics, VFX, SFX makes the mood.
The puzzles complicity increases smoothly and includes a learning process into gameplay, it feels coherent and completed.
But I couldn't figure out how to solve the big maze with flammable tiles.
It is clear that there is probably only one way to solve it, but after 10+ fails I felt frustrated a bit, and gave up trying) I think the complicity with this certain mechanic increased too rapidly.

All in all, a very good implementation of the theme!
🎤 Kaldrin
12. Apr 2022 · 13:59 UTC
@wild-fat Thank you very much for your feedback! It's interesting some people have no problem with this level while others find it too complex, I'm sorry you got stuck there, but there is at least one way to solve I can guarantee, sorry you felt frustrated! Some levels gets too complex too quickly that's a feedback we had at a few occasions yeah.
Thanks for playing!
almost
13. Apr 2022 · 04:18 UTC
Cute game. I managed to beat it :)

You did a really good job of introducing mechanics and interactions with simple levels that demonstrated how things work. I thought the burning tail was really innovative and I thought it was a nice touch that if the tail crossed itself it would burn along both paths at once.

Inconsistent door-opening speed felt a bit unfair on some levels the first time around, but you get used to it I guess.

I found that I have a really long tail the first time I try a level and if I die I have a short tail for all retries of that level. I would also sometimes randomly die a couple seconds after restarting a level. (I think this happens if I die to an indirect fire as opposed to dying to my own tail)

Torches burning out and needing to be lit simultaneously is really annoying, especially for the level where I need to light 4 torches simultaneously using falling blocks. My control over the timing of my tail burning is not very precise. I was unable to beat that level with the short tail so I restarted the game and then beat it with the super-long tail by making this monstrosity:

![really long tail.png](///raw/974/1/z/4df44.png)

(Also, web build never finished loading for me but desktop version was fine)
🎤 Kaldrin
13. Apr 2022 · 08:45 UTC
@almost Thank you, glad you managed to beat it! Thank you very much for your detailed feedback :)
We should remove the fading out mechanic of the torches in the level you mentioned as it only makes it harder.

Having a long tail is a reward for completing levels fast, but all levels are perfectly doable with a short tail or so we thought but I hear it's not easy for everyone for some of them, let's fix this!
VixenMink
14. Apr 2022 · 01:49 UTC
This game is quite addicting. I like what you have going on here.
🎤 Kaldrin
14. Apr 2022 · 12:57 UTC
@vixenmink Thank you!
LDJam user 250426
19. Apr 2022 · 04:30 UTC
Awesome game! loved the style, music, light puzzle gameplay and cute character <3

I played it on stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1456354231?t=2h11m55s
🎤 Kaldrin
19. Apr 2022 · 07:05 UTC
@itsboats thank you very much!
gdesecrate
21. Apr 2022 · 17:47 UTC
Thanks for the game!
zimny11
22. Apr 2022 · 01:42 UTC
Congratulations on 14th place!
🎤 Kaldrin
22. Apr 2022 · 06:33 UTC
@zimny11 thank you very much!!
🎤 Kaldrin
22. Apr 2022 · 06:36 UTC
Thank you everyone who played our game!!!
GoldRanger
23. Apr 2022 · 08:02 UTC
Nice puzzle game and fit the theme so well. Love this one!
LDJam user 0
25. Apr 2022 · 12:25 UTC
@eggshelldog Thank you very much <3