Chickensong

Below is a very rough sketch I did for the idea, then two more detailed sketches I made later.

When I just had the idea.

Single Player Mode

Local Multiplayer mode

Map

Birds appear at the top, drop eggs, then appear some time later

You have a basket at the bottom. Move it around to catch the eggs.

Basket

Two solid bodies at either side. So eggs can only be caught if they come from above. And if they hit the edge, they bounce back up for a “second chance”

Two sprites: one front and one back. The egg falls between those (in terms of depth sorting).

Otherwise, just a basic overlap between egg and square basket shape.

Input

You can only move your basket horizontally (left/right) along a slider.

Touch: swipe
Keyboard: left/right arrows

Multiplayer (2 players max):

Touch: add second player upside-down at the top
Keyboard: experiment with adding second player below as well, above the other.
- Either reduce range
- Or add eggs/systems to let things go for the player below you

Rules

Chickens fly into the screen. (From the side, horizontally, to their end position.)
They drop several eggs, before flying away again.
For every egg you don’t catch, they become annoyed.
- If very annoyed, they leave a zone.
- If somewhat annoyed, they leave a block
- Otherwise, they leave nothing

IDEA: Might make the first chickens in the game “one-time” chickens. Otherwise, it’s really easy at the start: just one chicken, dropping an egg at exactly the same spot, so just keep your basket there!

Elements

Chickens / Eggs

This is a one-on-one combination. Each unique chicken type lays the same unique egg type.

With two exceptions:

Cheeky Chicken: can lay any of the available eggs (clear unique appearance)
Spy Chicken: has the same appearance as another chicken, but with an icon or overlay added. This is subtle and can be missed. Lays a different egg than what it looks like

Every egg activates its effect when caught. They are in one of three classes:

Good: generally helpful. Lose a life if you let them go
Neutral: can be good or bad, can also let them go without issue
Bad: generally unhelpful. Lose a life if you catch them.

Otherwise …

Regular (good): +1 point if caught
Penalty (bad): -1 point if caught
?? (good, multiplayer): when caught, merely returns to the opposite player. Must therefore be caught twice to actually get it. (Lots of points)
Heavy: an egg that just falls faster in general
Balloon: an egg that just falls slower in general
Extra Points: an egg that’s just worth more points
Heart: +1 life if caught
Poison: -1 life if caught.
Freeze (bad): freezes your basket in place for a tiny bit. (Can you release it faster by frantically tapping keys?)
Magnet: attracts eggs near it
Repulser: repulses eggs near it
Speed up/down: changes movement speed of your basket.
- This means there must be some built-in limiter on how far the basket can move every frame. Even when dragging
(Height: move your basket line up or down.)

QUESTION: make each good egg +1 point and each bad egg -1 point. By default. The regular/penalty eggs simply have 3 points or 5 points.

IDEAS:

Something about mating chickens, or making them disappear, or making more of them spawn.

Zones

Extra Speed (horizontally): eggs within it are blown more to the left or right
Gravity change (vertically): eggs either speed up or are slowed down
Size change: eggs slowly become larger or smaller

Lala TO DO => can’t really invent many great zones. But that’s alright, these few are already fun and simple.

Blocks

These are things inside the level (like a slanted object), that make eggs bounce in weird directions mid-fall.

(Might also be animated. Slowly rotate or scale up/down.)

They also don’t need much changing. Prefer keeping them smaller/thinner, to allow more placement options, and don’t obscure too much of the level.

Below is a very rough sketch I did for the idea, then two more detailed sketches I made later. ![When I just had the idea.](Chickensong.png) ![Single Player Mode](chickensong_sketch_singleplayer.png) ![Local Multiplayer mode](chickensong_sketch_multiplayer.png) ## Map Birds appear at the top, drop eggs, then appear some time later You have a basket at the bottom. Move it around to catch the eggs. ## Basket Two solid bodies at either side. So eggs can only be caught if they come from above. And if they hit the edge, they bounce back up for a "second chance" Two sprites: one front and one back. The egg falls between those (in terms of *depth sorting*). Otherwise, just a basic overlap between egg and square basket shape. ## Input You can only move your basket horizontally (left/right) along a slider. - Touch: swipe - Keyboard: left/right arrows **Multiplayer (2 players max):** - Touch: add second player upside-down at the top - Keyboard: experiment with adding second player below as well, above the other. - Either reduce range - Or add eggs/systems to let things go for the player below you ## Rules - Chickens fly into the screen. (From the side, horizontally, to their end position.) - They drop several eggs, before flying away again. - For every egg you **don't** catch, they become annoyed. - If very annoyed, they leave a zone. - If somewhat annoyed, they leave a block - Otherwise, they leave nothing **IDEA:** Might make the first chickens in the game "one-time" chickens. Otherwise, it's really easy at the start: just one chicken, dropping an egg at exactly the same spot, so just keep your basket there! # Elements ## Chickens / Eggs This is a one-on-one combination. Each unique *chicken type* lays the same *unique egg type*. With two exceptions: - **Cheeky Chicken**: can lay *any* of the available eggs (clear unique appearance) - **Spy Chicken**: has the same appearance as another chicken, but with an icon or overlay added. This is subtle and can be missed. Lays a *different* egg than what it looks like Every egg activates its effect when **caught.** They are in one of three classes: - Good: generally helpful. **Lose a life** if you let them go - Neutral: can be good or bad, can also let them go without issue - Bad: generally unhelpful. **Lose a life** if you catch them. Otherwise ... - **Regular** (good): +1 point if caught - **Penalty** (bad): -1 point if caught - **??** (good, multiplayer): when caught, merely returns to the opposite player. Must therefore be caught *twice* to actually get it. (Lots of points) - **Heavy:** an egg that just falls faster in general - **Balloon:** an egg that just falls slower in general - **Extra Points:** an egg that's just worth more points - **Heart:** +1 life if caught - **Poison:** -1 life if caught. - **Freeze** (bad)**:** freezes your basket in place for a tiny bit. (Can you release it faster by frantically tapping keys?) - **Magnet:** attracts eggs near it - **Repulser**: repulses eggs near it - **Speed up/down:** changes movement speed of your basket. - This means there must be some built-in limiter on how far the basket can move every frame. Even when dragging - (Height: move your basket line up or down.) **QUESTION:** make each good egg +1 point and each bad egg -1 point. By default. The regular/penalty eggs simply have 3 points or 5 points. **IDEAS:** - Something about mating chickens, or making them disappear, or making more of them spawn. ## Zones - Extra Speed (horizontally): eggs within it are blown more to the left or right - Gravity change (vertically): eggs either speed up or are slowed down - Size change: eggs slowly become larger or smaller Lala TO DO => can't really invent many great zones. But that's alright, these few are already fun and simple. ## Blocks These are things *inside* the level (like a slanted object), that make eggs bounce in weird directions mid-fall. (Might also be animated. Slowly rotate or scale up/down.) They also don't need much changing. Prefer keeping them smaller/thinner, to allow more placement options, and don't obscure too much of the level.