Dear audience of one or two people:

Thank you for trying out my game and downloading the project. Most game devs would realize that if they haven’t picked up much traction, it’s time to move on to another project idea. While I do have ideas for the future extending into the world of 3D, I felt that I could do better for this game before I’m done with it. So I’ve been hard at work, testing new mechanics and introducing new content into this silly little arcade game.

DESIGN AND GAMEPLAY

I’ve started adopting a visual style for Chicken Ball, centered around food and simple shape patterns (predominantly checkerboards as seen on the map) hoping to freshen up the presentation and make things look good. Chicken animations have also been spiced up, featuring squash & stretch for the extended eating animation (lil guy now has legs) as well as particle effects simulating crumbs for a little more juiciness. In-game music is also being produced by yours truly, not the best, but it’ll fill the silence of the initial release version.

As for gameplay, after testing out a concept for a merge game, I decided against it since it was beginning to exceed my scope of ability. My new plan is to introduce a new game mode - an adventure/story mode, alongside the classic arcade mode that is currently published. Both modes will now feature enemies, dynamic obstacles that pose more of a threat over the stagnant “icky” foods found in version 1.0. Designs are in progress, though my initial prototype has already been implemented. I predict that my greatest challenge will be map design (and perhaps enemy AI) since the player will now have much more freedom to roam and explore. A pause menu is now provided as well, as for the upgrade menu (the tab at the top of the screen) I’m retiring the upgrades until further notice, since the game will now eventually feature loads of new food types. Chicken has gotten tired of seeds. Chicken wants berries and fruits. Maybe Chicken will go as far as to pursue human food, but who knows what may happen if our glutton main character gets his claws on a hamburger… (Disclaimer: Version 1.1 does not feature hamburgers.)

THE VISION

This is going to evolve into a top-down adventure game. Powerups and abilities may be considered, but are not promised in the near future. My focus is creating the structure for a better Chicken Ball, that I will be able to easily add content to in the future.

Special thanks to a friend for helping with coloring the new tile sets and to Zed for getting me started with Godot.