Modular Destruction Labs by SecondDimension
Modular Destruction Laboratories is our entry for Ludum Dare 39. It's a physics-based game about building an energy efficient robot, and completing test courses before the battery power runs out.
Controls are briefly explained in-game, but the general idea is you drag and drop parts onto a grid to build your robot, then fly it with the arrow keys. CTRL, Shift & Space activate any additional modules you have installed.
"P" FOR PAUSE MENU (FOR FULLSCREEN, MUTE & RETRY)
All gameplay, art and music was made from scratch over the 72hr weekend, by a 3 person team.
*CHANGE LOG* Small Bug Fix for Level 5 - A missing variable meant you couldn't advance or finish the game


| HTML5 (web) | https://www.seconddimension.co.uk/games/ModularDestructionLabs/index.html |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/modular-destruction-labs |
Ratings
| Overall | 50th | 4.086⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 64th | 3.929⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 43th | 4.029⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 466th | 3.429⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 217th | 4.043⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 90th | 3.857⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 86th | 3.612⭐ | 69🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 162th | 3.712⭐ | 68🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 68🗳️ | 44🗨️ |
I like the way the game feels. Consistent graphics and music makes good mood. Your idea about creating character optimised for certain level is also very nice, but..
The thing I don't like is the way that the robot is being constructed. It feels like it doesn't matter which way you will build it and in the end you will just slam on some engines and necessary tools and fly to the exit.
Have a nice day, and if you'll have time, I'll be glad if you check out our game too ;)
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/step-out-of-the-light
But when I got the robot to shoot ahead it was freaking amazing. The randomness of movement is such a fantastic part of the game that makes it super fun.
Overall I enjoyed playing this game, Would love to see more.
The sound and music matched the game well. And especially the graphics and theming of the levels was pretty awesome. Though the robot building part could be improved a bit.
Great game
Really good entry!
The game is fun. It's a really cool idea, and I can see you running far with it.
The graphics are adorable.
The robot is a bit hard to control, but I think that's part of the fun. It would have been nice if I could attach parts rigidly to the robot (also so their position in the grid served more of a purpose).
The physics sometimes behaved a bit wonky. I found that the metal crates would slide around... perhaps a bit too much.
Overall I think this is great and has a lot of potential. I had fun playing it. Good work!
The only thing that you could change is the difficulty level, it feels like it starts of pretty steep, maybe you could have some introductory levels, NOT tutorials, as it is fun to experiment, but maybe just simpler level designs and not all the full robot pieces to choose from, so that you learn only a few new ones each level.
Well done, great job!
Also, I must note an absolutely awesome music theme and very cool robot module design. Great work, guys!
There's only one critique I can give; it felt like some of the levels needed more precise controls than what the robot (or my ability to control it) had.
Excellent game, and I'd definitely be interested to see what you do with it after the jam.
* I would have liked some modules to stick rigidly to the body, but it would have taken too long (as you then have to calculate what else is around the body and it makes things harder). If I do any post-jam work on the gameplay I might add this
* We discussed being able to move the parts around once you'd placed them, we wanted it but again we just ran out of time and prioritised finishing the game. Another thing for a post-jam version (if there is one)
* Finally, I know the robot is hard to control, I guess that is sort of the idea. We wanted it to be unpredictable as it's pretty funny, although I get that it can be frustrating. If anyone is struggling, then I think the easiest configuration to fly is with 6 modules, all right next to the main body. The best 6 module build is:
2 Rockets
1 Thruster
1 Booster
1 Magnet
1 other tool of your choice
This should give the manoeuvrability to get through any level. The further you place the modules from the main body the harder it is. Putting things right in the 4 corners is basically playing on hard mode.
Unlike some other commentors around here, I actually liked how the modules "float" around the robot, because while it's true that it makes the robot harder to control, you also add some fun in this uncertainty.
One critical UX issue for me was to be able to preserve your robot when you fail a level (and retry) so you dont have to start again from scratch (or maybe the option was there and I didnd't see it?). Anyway, this kind of problem are usually due to lack of time, so it's understandable.
The music is fun and not stressful; the pieces rotating around the robot are humorous and convey properly some "experimental setup" feeling.
Solid game, nice levels progression, not too hard in the beginning, even some puzzles included!
It felt awesome to be silly with creating the "perfect" robot.
The major issue I had was to not keep my robot after finish the level so I could grow attached to him and keep giving him some upgrades, you know what I mean?
The controls were kinda hard but PHYSICS I guess :D
However, I didn't feel the power running out at all, I never bothered me during the level so I forgot to look at the gauge.
Graphics and audio are really good, good job!
Excellent job all around.
- magnet force would cause block to push you not just be pulled to you
- would have been nice to have blocks locked in the location you put them - caused issues when items spun around you and made it so you couldn't aim things
Solid production values, funny physics based shenanigans and a good amount of content.
There wasn't enough challenge for me in the long run. I could finish most of the levels with the very same design and having to rebuild it every time certainly didn't make the later levels more enjoyable. I never ran out of energy either.
Right click should remove robot parts in the editor too.
Well made, just a tad samey after a while.
In general, again, a really nice entry!