Oh I love the new format. Until today I was only once able to take part in a LDJam. With both my job and my children to take care of, it isn't usually possible to just take a whole weekend off to develop a game nonstop. With the new "extra" format, this is no longer an issue! Would be nice to join the competition, but in the end a game jam is about the journey, not the destination.

The theme left me puzzled for a while because except for the generic endless runner where losing is obviously eventually unavoidable, nothing came to my mind. Since losing or getting killed in a game, while technically "inevitable", felt too cheap (no offense to those who took that path) I was looking for a concept where the focus of the game is not on the actual inevitable fact, but the delaying process. I also wanted the possibility to win without preventing the event in question, as it then wouldn't be inevitable and a game that cannot be won wears out rather fast (except for ASCII-based games about dwarves).

Finally I came up with "Wildfire suppression".

What is this game about? You control emergency response units in the woodlands. Wildfires are raging, and you don't have the manpower and resources to prevent them from reaching urban areas. The towns burning down seems inevitable, but you can try your best to hold the fires off until the towns have been evacuated. Use your resources well and prioritize to save as many lives as you can.

For previously mentioned reasons I still am in the beginning stages. I created a text based map format that can load into the game properly, automatically choosing and rotating all tiles. Right now I am working on the fire logic. Pretty devastating already:

I don't know when it will be finished, but thanks to the extra format I got plenty of time. I'm trying to stay within the compo rule boundaries (also regarding time spent on project), but as there is no pressure I may decide at any time to switch to jam rules or maybe take even a bit longer at any time to do some more testing, adding features or optimizing. Since I'm not competing against other games that were limited by those rules I think that's fine. If you think otherwise feel free to share your opinion.