Initially, the modular aspect was going to be this idea of typing words which became items, kind of like Scribblenauts, but where the letters themselves morphed into objects. Then somehow that led to the simpler concept of a player creating a level, which another player then had to go through.
Initially, the way scoring was done was that you received a letter if you failed, in the way that people play H-O-R-S-E in basketball or S-K-A-T-E with skateboarding. The game is meant to be the ultimate game of HORSE, but also the ultimate game of Chicken (where people dare each other to do something stupid and dangerous things until someone forfeits... or gets hurt).
Playing the game, I get a little nostalgic for The Incredible Machine, an old PC puzzle game where you fit different machine components and objects together to achieve a goal. Similarly, the objects and obstacles you can choose from can interact with each other in different ways. The honey, for example, is used to slow your opponents down and make it impossible for them to jump when placed on a flat surface, but the honey can also be used to stick a buzz saw onto a Ferris-wheel style elevator to gut a rotating saw of death! These types of interactions, along with the randomness of the items given, not to mention the imagination of several determined individuals, assure that no two games play out exactly the same.
It all seems cute at first, you pick an animal avatar and just have to race over simple levels to be crowned the ultimate chicken, or horse, or raccoon - I always pick the raccoon, dibbs. Levels start simple but grow more complex - two rooftops with a gap between them, a farm with a barn and silo, a winding waterfall, a dancefloor with a strobe light. There's a start and endpoint alongside some level hazards, like a large drop, some farm equipment, or broken glass.
City of Niles Code of Ordinances
_of_ordinances
Sec. 10-2. - Permit to keep certain animals.
(a) No farm animal, wild animal, or non-domestic animal, including, but not limited to, a horse, cow, swine, sheep, goat, chicken, goose, or duck shall be kept in the city without a permit from the zoning administrator. Provided that a permit shall not be issued for any dangerous animal.
(b) Any person desiring to keep a farm animal, wild animal, or non-domestic animal, including, but not limited to, a horse, cow, swine, sheep, goat, chicken, goose, or duck shall submit a written application to the zoning administrator. The application must contain the following:
(1) The location where the applicant proposes to keep the animal, including the type of structure proposed to house the animal;
(2) The type and number of animals that the applicant intends to keep; and
(3) The distance from where the animal will be kept to the public streets, to the boundary lines of the applicant's premises, and any neighboring structures.
(c) An application under this section shall be reviewed by the zoning administrator and subject to final approval of the city administrator. A permit shall be granted if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The structure proposed to house the animal is of suitable size and strength to safely contain the animal;
(2) The number of animals intended to be kept will not be detrimental to the public health of any of the inhabitants of the city, taking into consideration the accumulation of excrement attributable to the animals and any other characteristic which may affect the public health of the inhabitants of the city;
(3) The animal must be housed at least 100 feet from any neighboring structure or boundary line;
(4) The animal must be housed at least 100 feet from any public street or alley; and
(5) The housing of the animal must not disturb the general peace and quiet of the neighborhood or otherwise constitute a public nuisance.
If the conditions of subsection (b) of this section are met, then a permit will be issued by the zoning administrator setting forth the number and type of animal to be kept, where such animal shall be kept, and shall require that such animal be kept as required by this section. If an owner fails to comply with the terms of the permit, then the permit shall be revoked.
(d) Any person who harbors, keeps, or possesses any animal contrary to this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Code 1985, 5-18, 5-19)
Application to Keep Certain Animals in the City of Niles
Differences in the quality of meat obtained from four animal species (beef, horse, rabbit and chicken) treated with two concentrations of calcium chloride (75 or 150 mM) were evaluated by a sensory panel. Physicochemical variables analysed were water holding capacity, instrumental colour and pH. Sensory analysis was by recognition index (R-index) by untrained and trained panels. CaCl(2) led to an increase in enzymatic activity, although it was not significantly different in treated compared to untreated samples. Lightness was higher (paler) in treated meat for all species studied. R-index showed that treatment of raw beef with 75mM CaCl(2) had negligible effect on odour compared to fresh, untreated beef. More juicy meat resulted from marination. Treatments with 150 mM CaCl(2) caused a more tender meat. The best combinations of cooking method and CaCl(2) concentration to obtain the most acceptable meat varied from attribute to attribute. The best odour was obtained when beef was treated with 150 mM CaCl(2) and cooked in a convection oven, whereas juiciness was improved if beef was treated with 150 mM CaCl(2) and cooked in a microwave oven. The highest scores for tenderness were for 75 mM CaCl(2)-treated samples regardless of cooking method. Flavour profile showed that the most marked feature in marinated beef is the predominance of a bitter flavour and after taste, which probably masks other flavour attributes. It is concluded that, in accordance with other authors, marination has no adverse effects on beef odour and improves texture, producing more tender material. However, marination at the CaCl(2) levels tested caused a bitter after taste and flavour.
Each player will select from a collection of different animals to play as, ranging from a chicken, horse, sheep and even a chameleon. Players will take turns placing and moving an object around the map, which includes standard platform pieces to objects that deliberately obstruct or prevent progression of the other players. When items and objects have been placed, players will then attempt to cross the chasm in an attempt to make it to the end point. Players will receive points for different factors, such as avoiding traps and making it to the end in the fastest time possible. Interestingly enough, no points will be dished out if the match is over and done with with very little action.
Ever wish you were a wall-jumping, arrow-dodging, trap-setting horse, besting your animal pals in a race through a peril-laden obstacle course that you all built together? Wish granted! Ultimate Chicken Horse is a party platformer where you and your friends build the level as you play, placing deadly traps before trying to reach the end of the level. If you can make it but your friends can't, you score points! Play online or locally with your animal buddies and experiment with a wide variety of platforms to find new ways to mess with your friends.
Ultimate Chicken Horse is a party platformer where you and your friends build the level as you play, placing deadly traps before trying to reach the end of the level. If you can make it but your friends can't, you score points! Play online or locally with your animal buddies and experiment with a wide variety of platforms in all sorts of strange locations to find new ways to mess with your friends.
Created by Clever Endeavour in 2015, Ultimate Chicken Horse is a party Platform Game where the aim of the game is to build a course then jump your way to the goal. Up to four players contribute to building a course by each adding objects that can help, hinder, or both on each player's quest to reach it.
This game provides examples of:
- Abnormal Ammo: The hockey puck shooter and flaming tennis ball launcher.
- Advancing Wall of Doom: The wave in The Pier, and rising lava if it is enabled in The Pyramid. The wave does not cover the entire screen, so you can climb on a platform and wait it out, after which it will respawn. Lava is not so kind.
- Air-Aided Acrobatics: One of the items that can be placed is a large fan that can keep your character in the air.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Played straight with character alternate skins. Blue skunks, green mammoths, and monochrome axolotls are all options. The standard Monkey is also blue, but most standard characters avert this trope.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Each character has a variety of accessories that can be unlocked through gift boxes.
- An Interior Designer Is You: The main draw of the game is building a level that you can kill your friends with.
- Automatic Crossbows: One of the "Shooty" traps is a crossbow that fires automatically, and they have the shortest cooldown.
- Booby Trap: One item is a platform that reveals spikes shortly after a player stands on it. Also be mindful of trap doors over bottomless pits or other dangers. The guaranteed coin in Jungle Temple sends a boulder to chase you if you collect it.
- Bottomless Pits: In most levels, there's no floor at the bottom to catch you if you fall.
- Buffy Speak: The Sciency and Shooty objects.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: One of the unlockable characters is a robotic bunny. The Transformidable update adds a non-robotic version.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The stuff that acts like glue for attaching things together to build bizarre contraptions is called "Honey". It seems to fit the nature theme better.
- Comeback Mechanic: Comeback points, fittingly, if you gain completion points while losing considerably. Eligible players have "Comeback" written next to their icon on the score sheet. With default point settings, it's almost equal to the standard reward for completing a course, and it stacks on top of that reward.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Lava only hurts you if you touch it. Same with flamethrowers.
- Cool Gate: You can place portals the size of a playable character. They teleport various things, such as players and deadly projectiles.
- Cool Shades: A costume option for Sheep and Ram. The former has a notably unassuming appearance without the shades.
- Cute Machines: Bunny. It has a metallic exterior and treads, and is absolutely adorable.
- Damned by Faint Praise: You can enable point rewards for completing a course third quickest, which, at best, entails outspeeding one opponent and being outsped by two. Comically, rewarding for fourth place is an option in this four player-max game. At least you completed the course? The game also lampshades this trope with its trumpet sound effects for placing rewards. First gets a triumphant three-note fanfare. Second gets a more subdued but still positive two-note sound. Third gets two mockingly deflated notes. Fourth gets an extended four-note riff, the longest of the set, to rub in the insult.
- Dance Party Ending: Downplayed since it's just the ending of a run, but player characters automatically start dancing once they reach the goal. Even if they were dead at the time. The winner also dances when they reach the goal.
- Double Jump: Averted by default. This can be played with in the settings: everything from standard double jumps, to two tiny jumps giving less height than a normal jump, to infinite jumps is on the table.
- Do Well, But Not Perfect: If everyone livesnote Too Easy! No Points! (except coins) or everyone diesnote No Winners! No Points!, no-one gets any points, save for any coins that were collected and dragged to the end of the level.
- Elevator Action Sequence: The Mansion and Nuclear Plant levels have an elevator as their main gimmick. The Mansion's needs to be called with a button, while the Nuclear Plant's automatically starts at the beginning of a round.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: Barbed wire, cannons, black holes, tidal waves, airship propellers, flowers, you name it. Even regular blocks can crush you in combination with a moving platform.
- Foul Flower: One of the hazards you can place is a big flower that punches anyone who gets close. For some reason, it's in the "Sciency" catagory.
- Good Bad Bugsinvoked: Implied by the developers with the "Wacky" option of Huge character size, which can lead to buggy and very noticeable collision interactions.
- Goomba Stomp: Conspicuously averted. Even with contact enabled, players cannot bounce off other players' heads or harm them by jumping on. However, jumping on a player can still hinder their momentum and jumps, potentially allowing for indirect kills.
- Guide Dang It!: Sliding down walls is intuitive, but you also can adjust the sliding speed with your control stick to try and sneak around traps, which the game originally did not indicate. It was later added in the in-game tips.
- Holding the direction you want to go from a cannon dramatically affects your launch speed and trajectory.
- Paper planes have several unintuitive interactions: you can test them freely in Free Play, but you'll have no hint to investigate unless luck or trial and error reveals a strange interaction. For example, they become much faster when fired from cannons, fail to go through portals (getting destroyed instead), and can be wall-jumped or even rode if rotated (but only on the original top and rear, not the bottom or point). Even getting the paper plane launcher alongside a cannon or pair of portals is a Luck-Based Mission for normal play.
- Averted for explosive items. They explicitly highlight items you're targeting to destroy in red, so you don't have to guess what part of the wrecking ball or flower to target for removal.
- Handicapped Badass: Not-Robot Bunny is in a wheelchair (due to being a reskin of the "regular" robotic Bunny, which has wheels for feet), but this doesn't affect its platforming ability.
- Hollywood Chameleon: The unlockable Chameleon character flashes different colors while dancing.
- Homing Projectile: Specifically, homing bees. If you touch their hive, you better complete the course before they get you.
- Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt: Conveyor belts are pretty slow, but they can make tight jumps and maneuvers harder and more distracting.
- Indy Escape: The Jungle Temple level has a special coin that respawns each round and gives you bonus points if you bring it to the flag. Picking it up also causes a giant ball to come out from the right side, killing everyone who touches it. Other players also have to avoid it, meaning it can be used to your advantage if you can avoid it.
- Instant-Win Condition: As long as you come in contact with the goal flag and at least one other player has died, you will get points. Even if you die, if your corpse touches the flag, you'll still receive 'Postmortem' bonus points, although these are worth less than finishing the level unscathed.
- Invisibility with Drawbacks: The Invisibility setting prevents other players from seeing your strategies to clear the course, but it more importantly prevents you from seeing yourself, making it much more harmful than helpful.
- Jet Pack: One of the new items added in the Transformidable Update. Pick one up and you can fly
- Level Editor: On top of the main gameplay itself, where everybody's adding more obstacles to a level, there's a full level editor so you can create maps from scratch.
- Luck-Based Mission: What items you can place every round are random. If you need an explosive item to remove an obstacle that makes the level unwinnable, or you want to utilize portals (which only function in pairs), this trope is in full effect. Each individual item's spawn frequency can be adjusted in settings. Determined players can defy this trope by only allowing one item type to spawn.
- Meteors have unpredictable sizes, spawns, and paths if you enable them, but if you only let them spawn after a certain amount of time has passed, you can avoid the luck by completing the course quickly enough.
- Morton's Fork: Sometimes happens when enabling and using Dance Invincibility. If a meteor is pushing you off a platform into a Bottomless Pit, you can either stop dancing, letting the meteor kill you, or keep dancing and let it push you to your demise. If you dance to survive the wave in The Pier, it may push you past the final wall into a near-inescapable compartment. Near-inescapable, that is, unless you happened to put an escape portal there.
- Necessary Drawback: You can enable at-will invincibility in the settings. However, it's activated by dancing, so you can't move while doing it, stopping you from just running to the flag while invincible. You can also still be pushed, so you can survive a fatal trap but watch it push you into a bottomless pit. This downside is downplayed in Iceberg, where a boat does much of the movement for you. Enforced if players put blocks or traps in the way of boat-riding players, forcing them to climb or dodge the obstacles and, thus, forfeit invincibility.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: With the right settings and characters, you can have a Zombie Robot Monkey or Ghost Robot Bunny, for example.
- No Antagonist: Other than your friends, there's no bad guy.
- No "Arc" in "Archery": Played straight with the hockey puck launcher and actual crossbows, which fire horizontally, but averted with the flaming tennis ball launcher, which shoots in an arc.
- No-Neck Chump: Chicken and Macaw. Tilting the control stick up has them turn their heads ninety degrees upward with no visible neck.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: All of the player characters die in one hit from any hazard.
- Palette Swap: Handled strangely. All the player characters can switch between several colors, but only if they switch to their alternate forms first. For example, the horse must stay brown, but the zebra's stripes can range from white to orange to pink. Any character can further distinguish themselves with costume items, which are unique to each character + alternate form combination. For example, horses, black and white zebras, and pink and white zebras can all use any combination of the top hat, bowtie, and racing hood. These costume items then have their own palette swaps.
- Platform Hell: You and your friends design a level to be as hard as possible. And then you have to run through it...
- Playable Menu: The Treehouse, from which the players select the game options. It acts like a full level that players can jump and run through.
- Power Up Letdown: The time-slow watch. Slowing time can be useful to navigate obstacles with more control, but it only lasts a few seconds, disappears permanently once collected, and prevents you from placing more impactful items that round. It also gives the same time-slow benefits to your opponents, though they could panic if their gamespeed happens to change in a difficult spot.
- Prehensile Tail: During edit mode, each player is represented by their animal holding a mouse pointer. The ch