A very big Thank You! news

I want to say "Thank You!" to all the people who've made the Desura release of 2x0ng a smashing success. As of now there have been 558 installations and 40 un-installs. You also gave me some great feedback, reviews, and constructive criticism; for this, you have my thanks. After all, user feedback is one of the most important drivers of my design decisions. In typical open-source style (i.e. "release early, release often") I released 2x0ng at version 0.1 back in February, and every release since then has integrated players' feedback and suggestions from the previous iteration. So if you have something to say, please drop a comment or send a message. I look forward to hearing from you!

So what's next for 2x0ng? I want to increase the replay value and add some new gameplay elements to the mix. Therefore I'll be introducing several new modes of play.

Several users have mentioned to me the idea of adding an arcade-style numeric score, and suggested the player be alloted several lives, with extra lives given (for example) every 20,000 points instead of single-life permadeath. I've decided to implement this as "Arcade Mode", and make it the default play mode. The game will still be very challenging, but not quite so bad as with only a single life.

The existing single-life scenario will be renamed to "Challenge Mode", and this will sit in the main menu alongside "Battle Mode" (two player versus) in which both players fight over a single Squareball with a soccer-style field and a single goalie each. I'll also work on a co-op mode for those who want to take on Arcade mode with a friend.

I'll also be making a Fun mode for young kids. My nephews and niece are 7, 5, and 3 years old respectively; the oldest has played and enjoyed 2x0ng, but can't get very far into the game because it's just too difficult for his age. So, I'll be implementing a special Kids mode to make the game more accessible to youngsters.

Thanks again, and I'll keep you informed about my progress on the next release of 2x0ng.
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