Chicken Police News

An ode to gamedev

[h2]and a cautionary tale of not giving a single cluck! [/h2]




[h3]Gamedev is hard. [/h3]

Saying this today is almost self-evident. It looks silly. It's like saying: the sun is shining or after every night, there will be a day too. You know, like the never-ending cycle of darkness and light. So yes. It's obvious. Gamedev is hard. But no one could ever tell me how unbelievably hard it is before I started to work as a full-time game developer...



My name is Bánk, I am the director-writer for Chicken Police, and this is the first finished game of my life. I rarely finish things. Yes, I finished some short stories, some comic books, even a self-published novel, but I have 100-times more unfinished work in the uncharted, dusty void of my drawers. Chicken Police was the first "several-year-long" project I ever finished. I say "I," but I really mean "Us"; a whole team of dedicated, professional, and more than anything: AWESOME people who became developer-buddies before we formed The Wild Gentlemen. (which is not just a team... but a family!)



[h3]Gamedev is hard. Even becoming one is hard to start with...[/h3]

I used to flirt with the idea of ​​being a game developer since I was a little brat, but instead, I did everything, literally, almost everything else than being a gamedev. I was a shop assistant, night-watchman, real estate agent, loader, stage builder, marketing manager, cameraman and worked in a video game store for a year, and I'm sure I forgot to mention something. I always wanted to create something. That's for sure. And no matter what I did for a living, I always worked on some personal projects in secret; when others were on coffee break, I wrote things; when others went to lunch, I stayed and wrote things. I always wrote things, no matter where I was and what I did. It's a cliché, yes, but I never gave up dreaming about being a creator, being a game developer, and I'm sure that's why I became one. Yet, both I and my entire environment have questioned a thousand times whether it is worth it or not. I always said, "No, it's not worth it. But fck it, I will keep on doing it anyway."



[h3]Gamedev is hard? Well... let's see... [/h3]

So, long story short: I met with Peter (our lead programmer since and Co-Founder of The Wild Gentlemen), and we started to work on some game concepts. Not Chicken Police yet, it was something totally different, but I already had the idea of the misadventures of Sonny Featherland and Marty MacChicken in some shady corner of my brain. (I had them pecking im my head since 2011) Years went by (and life went by too, we had kids, and families, various jobs, etc.) but we kept in touch, and one day I showed my (brutally amateurish) pitch to a friend of Peter, Tamas, who was a real veteran in game development. The rest is history, as they say. We formed our company (three of us, Tamas, Peter, and I) and our studio, got some fantastic people to work with, and started developing our game. Yeah, that's how it is, right? Like in the movies. Credits roll...

But this is just the short version. The idyllic version without the struggle, the uncertainty, the insecurity, the many sleepless nights, and the question which was floated above our heads, as a huge, blood-soaked sword: "Is this really worth it?!"

Péter and I - The Kitchen Police!

[h3]Gamedev is hard. Especially when it hits you in the face! (with a shovel)[/h3]

Indie game development is an infinitely nerve-wracking thing, you know...
The indie game developer does nothing but tries to satisfy himself, his team, his dream, and his vision, and of course, he trying to finds his audience and trying to be relevant and visible in an endless ocean of new and exciting games. Which - let's admit it - is an almost impossible, gargantuan mission. (And man... there are literally thousands of great, moreover genius games out there you never even heard of. It's suffocating!)

Brainstorming with the (almost full-sized) team

So... tell me, you have a unique art style? Great! An interesting story? Awesome! Fantastic soundtrack? Wow, how cool is that? A gripping atmosphere? Superb! Engaging gameplay? Hellyeah! - but... you know, this all means nothing if you can't reach your audience - the players who might never know but kept waiting for your game to play, for years or maybe for their entire life. You need to catch them! Catch 'em all!

[h3]Gamedev is hard. Fly you fools![/h3]

So, you have a vision; you have a game under development. That's a start... And then comes the real deal: SOCIAL MEDIA! VISIBILITY! PR AND MARKETING! - the unholy trinity of endless struggle! But you just want to make your game and nothing else, eh? You are a game dev, not some self-made marketing guru or whatever, right? Well... just get used to it; you need to be open to everything. Open to a new world of joy and suffering! Welcome to indie game dev child, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." - no, but seriously. It's an enormous struggle and also a journey around your own mind, which is on the brink of total madness.



[h3]Gamedev is hard. Gamedev is beautiful! [/h3]

You have to challenge yourself literally every day. You are making art, yet you are an engineer, a problem-solving machine, and some kind of social scientist. You need to be everything, and you need to love it if you don't want to burn out fast. I mean really fast! You'll have to be a real renaissance man. Hell, If Leonardo Da Vinci was alive today, he would surely be an indie game developer! No question!

But you know... this is the real beauty of it. You have the opportunity to be free. To be creative. To make errors and learn from them. To be yourself and not just a cog in an unimaginably big, sentient machine. And this surely is priceless!



[h3]Gamedev is hard. But eventually, it becomes a part of you.
[/h3]
So, there will be times when you want to give up. Fck it, I don't need this shit! What if the players will hate this?! What if the players will hate my dream?! Hate my vision, hate everything that I created?! (Hate me?!?!) You question yourself every day, and you know how it is - no matter how many friends, family, colleagues saying that's this is something truly special, you won't believe it till the big day comes. The release day! - which could be Nirvana, the Limbo, or the Apocalypse too. And you know what? You'll never know... You'll never know until the very last moment...

Yes, you can have as many good predictions, praises, reviews and previews, even awards as you want, but the final judges will be the players. And man, they judge fckn hard! The players are like a thousand-headed monster with a never-ending appetite. And you have one more apple in your bag. Will it be the golden apple? Or a rotten one? You will find out soon.
Three... two... one...



[h3]Gamedev is hard. Gamedev is life! [/h3]

The doorbell ring. Twice. It's the postman. I run down the stairs like when I was five - when my mother rang this little bell, indicating that the gifts were already waiting for me under the Christmas tree. So I'm running like a maniac, like a lover in the rain. You know how it is. And I got it. It is in my hands. A small package. Unbelievably small. This is it? Years of work, sweat, blood, and tears? This little package of joy and suffering? My... life?

The human mind could be a real asshole. You are waiting for years for something like this, then you got it, and the only thing you feel is emptiness. What happened to me? - you ask. This little thing in my hand was the sole reason for my whole existence for years. Why don't I cry? Why don't I yell? Why don't I feel... anything? Did I become some kind of sociopath? (that would explain some things for sure...)
But no... don't worry.
This "emptiness" you feel is the silence that you haven't heard in years, the sighs you had to keep inside, the tears you didn't shed, and the peace you never found. Don't be afraid: The emptiness is your friend. Enjoy it. Become one with it. Feed on it. Remember it, because it won't stay for long.
Then comes true joy and absolute relief. Then you will cry. Then you will know that it is over, and you have to start it again because this madness became your life, your passion, and your love.
Then you will realize...

[h3]Gamedev is hard. But you became harder! [/h3]

Bánk - The Wild Gentlemen

Chat with me, with the devs, and with other fans on our Discord Server:
https://discord.gg/r4t4zAz

We are excited to announce that our biggest and boldest update is coming, with wholly new gameplay features, awesome quality of life changes, and tons of bug fixes. (no, no, don't worry, we will not hurt anybody in the Hive! Promise!)

When? Very soon - this summer for sure - so, stay tuned for more!



If you want to talk with us, devs, or other fans, join our Discord Server we have a great, growing community:
https://discord.gg/r4t4zAz

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get news on a daily basis.

Take care and keep on being awesome!
The Wild Gentlemen

Hey, dear folks!

The big cluckin' Q&A is coming!

We will make a Q&A video to answer your best, boldest, or most provocative questions. Ask us here in the comments or on our Discord server, and don't be shy; there are no wrong questions! Ask about literally anything, even spoiler content, because, at the end of our Q&A video, we will have a separate Spoiler discussion about the game.

Hit us, and don't be gentle!
(The video will go live sometime next week)

Keep on playing awesome games, keep on being awesome,
The Wild Gentlemen

PS: We don't know why the chicken crossed the road!!!

NOTE: This dev diary was originally posted in the summer of 2019, so it has some really strong nostalgic values. If you want to know more about us, the folks behind chicken police, speak with us in person on our new Discord Server!



Or how a YouTube video became an idea, how that idea became a dream, and I (Bánk – writer/designer) became a game developer in the end (what is also the beginning, of course)...

There's a video on YouTube titled "Chicken Police", where two chickens beat a rabbit. (Check it out!) It's an authentic country video of someone's yard, where it seems chickens are the absolute rulers.

When I first thought about creating Chicken Police, it was meant to be a short, 5-10-minute animation. A snappy, simple, funny but also raw satire only showing traces of film noir characteristics. It was meant to be black and white, with an insufferable alcoholic as the hero, but that was all. It was more of an animal parody of the ’80s and '90s buddy cop movies, rather than a hard-boiled detective story.




The story spread its roots in my brain early on. I began to create motivations and backstories for the characters. Not only the main heroes but also those who appear only for a short time or are just mentioned. Simply because it was a lot of fun. This time, I had no real objective with all of this. Then somehow, as the characters were coming to life, it began to interest me more...

"HOW CAN A WORLD LIKE THIS WORK?"

How can predator and prey live together? What would such a place be like? What about its social structure, political relations, its culture? What kind of place is Clawville?



The story began in 2011 when I started writing the base of Chicken Police. It was a slow process because I had no plans for it. Animation? Graphic novel? Novel? I planned all of those, until one time (in 2014) I got the idea: why not turn it into a video game? I loved video games ever since I was a little kid, I grew up playing them, and somewhere deep in my brain, a small voice was always shouting at me, demanding to become a game developer... "You are destined to do this!"
So, let's make it a game. Ok. An adventure game. Yes, of course! But... how?

By this time Chicken Police has clearly become a hard-boiled noir story. Rock-hard fists and easy chicks, corrupt, drunkard cops, and two ruthless roosters in a world ruled by predators. The story of Sonny Featherland and Marty MacChicken became whole and enhanced. I didn't even know which one of the many ideas in my head to work on.
Then came...

THE BIG FALL

The movie Zootopia was announced in 2016, and while watching the first trailer I broke out in cold sweat. It floored me. The base of the story was so similar to my idea (an isolated city with predator and prey animals seemingly living together in peace, but under the surface, it’s the exact opposite...), that the world started to spin. That's it? For a day or two, I was sure I'll scrap the whole idea that I've been working on for years. Goodbye Chicken Police...



But then I watched the actual movie and all my fears were gone. While Zootopia's base is similar, in the end, the movie puts emphasis on a totally different matter, not to mention how far it was from the dark and hopeless setting of Chicken Police.

THE BIG BOOM

Meanwhile, the life of course goes on. A million things happen in one's life. There's no time for doubts. I myself am a writer, and besides RPG Maker, I have no idea about game programming. (So, I didn't know a thing about it!) I could have tried visual novel creator programs, but Chicken Police were too ambitious from the start for those. For a while, the game was put on ice, while my life went on. My son, Ábel, was born. I don't have to say how much the world turned with me again.



I met Lina, a talented and ambitious girl at my workplace, where I worked as a cameraman and editor, and she simply and honestly told me I was stupid when I showed her this old idea of mine. To be precise, she told me I was stupid if I let it go to waste... (By the way, Lina's helping us with the project in the social and networking fields.) And she was right! I've put time and effort into it for years, why would I let it go?

That's when I started (still all by myself) designing the actual video game. My goal was to create a Kickstarter campaign. I was working on the title for months, then I scrapped all earlier designs and started everything from scratch. I reached the point where I had the entire story and the main gameplay laid out. Péter, our current programmer, had been an old friend of mine by then. We worked together on another game’s design earlier, which turned out to be too big for us as our first game, so we put that aside. Péter then introduced me to Tamás (who's the heart and soul of our project), whom I've shown the pitch document of the game just for feedback. Could I send it in its current state to sponsors and publishers? His answer was I could, sure, but I shouldn't. Instead, let's gather a team with the help of his experience and connections, and let's do this together...



Besides the birth of my son, I'm sure this was the other big turning point of my life. Soon I quit my job and became a full-time writer/designer/game developer alongside Tamás, Péter, and Zoli, our current graphic designer. This was in 2018. The wild Gentlemen was born, and from then on, I can say that my job is literally my dream come true.

AFTER THE SHOCK - THE REAL WORK BEGINS

Of course, after the initial shock and enthusiasm come reality. Human and technical limitations, finance, and of course being faced with imperfections of the game's concept. I have no reason to complain, I work with an extremely creative and committed team, all of whom consider the game labor of love instead of just a job.

After a few sleepless nights, we met our first real challenge in the form of a small Hungarian gamer event, PixelCon. This was the event that would reveal whether the game would appeal not only to the few who had already grown to love it but to a larger audience seeing it for the first time.



IAN LIVINGSTONE AND CHICKEN POLICE!

It's kind of a pretentious subtitle, for sure, but we really did show Mr. Ian Livingstone our game (he's the father of GamesWorkshop, Warhammer and Fighting Fantasy, and one of the "midwives" of Lara Croft). He liked what he saw very much. And not only him, but simply everybody who sat down to try it! The stream of positive feedback was truly humbling. From that point on we knew we're on the right track. So, the road's laid out before us, we just have to walk it...



REBOOT 2019

Because we have already written a separate dev blog on Reboot, I'll be brief here. It was extremely inspirational for us that the demo we took to this event caused quite a stir and helped us connect with publishers and opened gates that are still wide open before us. It was a fantastic experience, and this time we received a ton of useful advice and observations besides all the overwhelmingly positive feedback.



AND BEHOLD, HERE WE ARE NOW...

We'll be making a huge announcement soon, but I can't disclose any specifics yet. What I can tell you is that we're working on the game night and day, and on a new demo which will be public this time. The premiere of the demo will be on GamesCom, a month from now if everything goes according to plan.

Meanwhile, the voice acting of the game is in the works by a world-renowned studio, responsible for the sounds of titles like The Wolf Among Us and Horizon Zero Dawn.



It's an incredibly tiresome but also inspiring phase we're in now, and although I know it'll be harder every day until the release of the game, I also know the fruit of our labor will be sweet and no matter the reception, we know we've created something truly unique.

Because we put everything that we are into it, and because... we have no other choice. :)



All of you who read my retrospection, thank you very much for your attention!
I hope it wasn't too cheesy.

- Bánk



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1084640/Chicken_Police/

[h2]Our new, developer-oriented, open-minded, chicken-lover Discord server is LIVE, and it's waiting for you, folks! :) [/h2]

So, suddenly we emerged from our cave and made our own server "with blackjack and hookers"!
Or... at least with some introvert developers, who finally find their courage to open the door of their virtual studio to you.

Have any questions about the game, the world, the characters, the lore, the plot or about the team, the studio, the possible sequels, or any continuations, or just have anything nice (or not nice...) to say to us? Here is your chance to do it - and our chance to finally speak with you in person!

Click on the pic or HERE to join!

Take care, folks! ;)

The Wild Gentlemen

PS: Also, you can join the HandyGames Discord server too, where you could ask for help or support!