Candy Ballad

A free lighthearted Halloween platformer in development about two ladies in love. Trans friendly blog.

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Ah. So this is that new game everyone is talking about.

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Tumblr, apparently: I see you follow the “indie game” tag. Would you like to see your own post you just posted on your feed again?

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About a year-ish worth of progress.

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Also more fun facts! Algaeca (the angel) is modeled after 90′s business women. That’s where she gets her enormous shoulder pads and neck ruffle from. Her name has some difficulty translating, but it’s somewhere between “enemy” and “demon” (off topic but I think it’s also interesting that however, Aglaeca as a man’s name is usually translated into “warrior” and “fighter”). This is supposed to be ironic because Angelique, the demon, name means well.. of an angel.

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On that note...

I hope to show you all more progress here soon. The way I work is that whenever I feel stagnant in one piece, I’ll stop working on it and start or finish another... which leaves me with near or half completed levels, areas, or anything else that can’t be shown because of some aspects of it that aren’t finished. CB has gone through a couple overhauls that I’ve never shown anybody due to not meeting my own personal standards on making the game feel good, but it seems like it’s on the right path. This game started out small, but is turning out big (content wise), and I want to make it great. Realistically with progress made and how things are turning out, CB could be ready by this time next year. However, since the game is a Halloween centered one, it wouldn’t feel right to release it in the spring. (Sorry). So instead of twiddling my thumbs once it’s finished, I’m going to use whatever extra months I have to make sure CB has a great game feel.

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Ah, the morgue. Where a solitary overworked angel spends every day with no break. (click for better preview)

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 A new character change that I think will fit Pumpkinton’s world more is Mayor Pumpkin. Originally I modeled him after older cartoons (This was when I thought I would complete CB before Cuphead came out). That’s not very Halloween-esque though? So I changed him to be modeled after 1960-1980 old Halloween decorations. I’ve always loved how the color would usually be misprinted outside of the lines. Everything around him in a 3 foot radius will temporarily be transformed into the vintage decoration aesthetic. I think I’m going to keep the “messy” sketch lines so that against the other crisp pixel art the change will be more noticeable and impactful(though this may change if it looks too much like oekaki pixel art). His personality will stay the same.

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Each of the ten levels has a unique color palette and tileset to set the level’s mood. Which for me is a personal game I like to call “How Many Times Can I Draw Grass That Looks Different.”

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 (Felix Arifin)

Unrelated to CB, but you guys should check out CB’s music composer Felix’s newest album VOX PARS. It’s reaaally good especially if you like synthwave.

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Not that I could find, probably since I work in sai but save as .psd. And since the Bob and Larry pic was a completely new canvas, there are no previous versions and it just overwrote the last one (I guess). I did however find some really old rat wip when I was just starting out.

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Have you tried going into the file's properties and recovering a previous version? That might save what you had.

:( Yes, unfortunately It’s still not there. Thank you though for the recommendation! 

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data-orig-height="425" data-orig-width="350">

A singular image I saved separately survived the Bob and Larry gay flag overwrite so enjoy.

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 hello again everyone!

here’s your good 2018 reminder to BACK UP YOUR FILES.

i just overwrote my newcanvas.psd file that had all of the old character speech busts with this image:

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tell me something interesting about them?

Rum wears yellow lipstick on her bottom lip to match Rat’s eyes, and Rat wears a pink pocket square to match Rums.

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what are rum and rats sexualities?

Rat is a butch lesbian and Rum is a goth bi woman.

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happy nearly 2018! and good news news news!

Too pink? Too pink! CB was way too pink and “cutesy” for my tastes. If you met me you would have never guessed I would make a game like (past) cb. At the time of creation, I was really digging Sanrio’s Halloween aesthetic and that’s what inspired the (then) vibe I was going for. However, as time went on, cb felt more like a game I was making for others and not really for myself. It was disorientating and felt more like a chore I was locked into.

This may be disappointing for some, but I’m changing the entire aesthetic and feel of the game. It’s still a Halloween platformer, but I’ll be adding more of...myself? in it. No more being engulfed in pink tones and hearts. It’s switching to a more cartoon style with a broader color range. Characters will be more dynamic and expressive and not feel like stagnant pseudo-anime flat images.

New character design (subject to change):

I’m keeping the colors from the original design, but that’s it. I’ll leave the cutesy stuff to the professionals. 2017 kind of kicked everyone in the face, so here’s to hoping for a kinder 2018. CB will now be off hiatus. Happy New Year!

-TEETH

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