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Reading through the thread I kept looking for mention of your future spouse, but a little research reveals the broader definition.  So where to go? 

As I read it your primary criteria are warm, English speaking and big city anonymity.  Los Angeles is an obvious magnet for people with artistic tendencies or who just crave excitement.  The crime won't even seem so bad if you are from Cape Town, although the air is definitely disgusting.  I find northern California or even Oregon more culturally appealing: San Francisco has its charm.  Further north it gets quite a bit rainier (especially in winter), but even Vancouver (Canada) rarely drops below 0 degrees centigrade, and is a pretty happening place.

If climate is only of secondary importance than there's obviously New York.  Toronto is very multicultural and more affordable than New York (and the climate is quite nice 6 months a year), but Montreal (which is at least half English) is arguably more exciting and probably cheaper.  I'm less familiar with the big league "international" cities of Europe, but London is obvious if speaking something resembling English is important.  If you think Capetown is small-time I don't think New Zealand is in the cards for you, but perhaps Sydney or maybe Melbourne.  More exotic but still some English would bring in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore.... 

If you give more criteria it would be easier to narrow it down.  If it is to be a permanent move your best bets are probably Canada or USA due to somewhat more open immigration policies.

Order of the Maggot

I've been called worse.  Will someone design the appropriate heraldry for our coat of arms?

Cafepress is priced ridiculously -who spends that kind of money on t-shirts?  When I was in school we did fundraising by printing t-shirts from a small local shop.  I forget exactly what the minimum number they required, but it wasn't more than 20.  I think we got them for $7 each and sold them for $15, a reasonable price that poor (and slightly intoxicated) students might be expected to fork over.  If you are working with low volume then you need to maximize your margins by getting cost per unit as low as possible, and that's not going to happen at cafepress.  Sure, you don't have to risk money on inventory, but also you will never make any money because the costs make your product unattractive.  I say if you believe in your product then fork over the $140 (20 x $7) and try to sell them.  As entrepreneurial ventures go, it's actually a remarkably small sum to risk.

Er.... are we talking about chickens or women now?  I'm confused.  There's no way I'd pay $30K for a chicken egg, even if the hen that (would have) laid it did have green eyes.  Anyway, the surgical approach is definitely somewhat evil, but I think for good measure the chicken eggs should be replaced with something diabolical.  Like crocodile eggs, so that the hapless chicken will lay them, hatch them and nurture the babies until they eat her.  That would be evil.  Or maybe a grenade with the pin pulled out, so that when the chicken lays it the safety lever is released and then seven seconds later.... BOOM!  That would be really evil.

Awesome business idea.

It's hardly new you know...

Go ahead, shine more light beneath the rock I live under....   

Man, where were you when I was struggling to find music for Charlie Foxtrot!  Awesome business idea.

Also I just found that if you click on 'AGS Problems and Solutions' you get an error 404 and a page about 'Debt, credit cards and all sorts of shit.

Well, credit cards can be both a problem or solution to your AGS dilemma, depending on how effectively they are wielded.  Remember, caveat emptor!

That was a pretty generic review, in my opinion.  I've seen all those words before, and the Latin alphabet is so 2500 years ago: does the author have no imagination?  The syntax is mediocre at best, and his obsequious fawning over grammatical convention is nothing short of pedestrian.  Does the world really need another white-bread-and-bologna-sandwich game review blog?

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock!

Ah.... it's already taken.  But seriously, there is an explanation of the blog's name on the blog.

Thank you everyone for your interest and words of encouragement.

I'm just posting to let you all know about my new web log documenting this project.  Yeah, I know, everyone and his game-designing monkey has a blog these days, but I'm trying to cram it full of interesting game-making insights and of course juicy details of the game as it advances.  Be sure to check back weekly for new content.

WOMEN'S HOLIDAY = wh.ee!

Or, more along the lines of where this thread seems to be headed....

BABES OUT OF TOWN = boot.ee!

Alright, I'm done.   For now....

I think Limping Fish is on to something here.  You can do a lot with .ee:

FL.EE
SORORIT.EE
CAMARADER.EE
HAPP.EE
XX.EE (chromosomes, although one more x and your in trouble!)

Some other random ideas:

QUEEN OF CLUBS (their girls, it's a club....) -QOC (Cuwalk?) for mysterious shortening
SUGAR AND SPICE (and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of) -SAS.ee!
WORKING DAY IS DONE (...girls, they wanna have fuh-un!  Oh girls just wanna -well, you get it).
SANTA MONICA BLVD (Cheryl Crow song "All I wanna do is have some fun, till the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard") -SMB.ee for short.

I don't watch a lot of chick flicks, but I'm sure someone could come up with a catchy line from something that those in the "know" would instantly recognize as "Girl Power!"

Good luck!

Well someone has to dredge this thread up, and it might as well be me.  If you don't spend a lot of time on the Competition & Activity board you might have missed that Snakes of Avalon has won MAGGIES 2010!  Many thanks to everyone who voted for our game.  For those of you who have sat on the sidelines waiting for this game to win some sort of official recognition before playing, this is your cue to download!

[no]

 :o :o :o

Well.... I'm speechless!  This is such an unexpected honour.  A huge congratulations and thank you must go out to Ascovel for his creative energies, hard work, and promotional efforts.  Thanks also to all the fans who just wouldn't take no for an answer!  While the fans of other games were exhausted by voter fatigue, you persevered.  When life gave you an empty mug, you ordered another round!  When you were asked to vote for your favorite MAGS game you didn't confuse any of them with the longer more polished version released somewhat later....  well, perhaps I've said too much now.  Anyway, what's done is done -thanks for the hardware!

I too love the insight into the development process behind your work -please keep it up!

Sorry, man.

I own a very beat-up old truck as a secondary vehicle.  Since the gas gauge broke a year ago I just fill it up every 200 km just to be on the safe side, but the vehicle can easily do 1000 km on a tank.  So at today's market rates the gas is actually worth more than the truck (although since I filled it up a year ago when gas was cheap I didn't pay that much for it).  Fortunately I live on the main street with lots of pedestrian traffic, so it would be quite the ballsy bandit to start prying out in the open like that.  Nevertheless, if they ever do get my pot of gold, I'd be better off spending my money on another car than filling this one back up.

Well, in theory I'm all in favour of being able to export AGS games to other formats, and there are probably a lot of users on the other end of iStuff that would like playing adventures.  While personally my sympathies might lie with a less exclusive mobile environment (ie Android), more exposure can't hurt.

Beyond theory and down to actually reaching for my wallet, I have to say I'd be very reluctant as a freeware developer to spend any money whatsoever converting it to be compatible with another platform.  I mean, I'm giving away all my hard work already -isn't that enough?  If I were hypothetically to release a commercial game we might well have something to talk about, but I am doubtful you'd get enough actual commercial AGS developers to compensate you enough for many months of profitless labour.  On the other hand, in the long run you may break even or better if AGS becomes well-known as an "easy entry point" for creating iContent.

In summary, I think it's a great idea but am seriously doubtful that you'd make the money back.

[Curses & Castles]

I've been at this for while now, but I think it's finally time to put some cards on the table.  Announcing...

Curses & Castles

STORY:  A powerful enchantress has cursed the land of Saefonley with five evil shrouds that corrupt and enslave the minds of those who bear them.  These shrouds each represent a separate curse that manifests itself in the five corners of the realm, bringing Saefonley close to ruin.  A hero must unlock the secrets of the shrouds and destroy each in turn.

    Princess Porphyra is a victim of one of these curses, imprisoned in the ruins of her family castle by a fiercesome dragon.  Despite the failure (and death) of everyone who has attempted to free her, she seizes on the idea that she herself can be the hero and save her country.  With her somewhat unenthusiastic uncle for a companion (once the lazy and foolish king but now transformed into a frog), she sets about to escape the castle and destroy the shrouds.


SCREEN SHOTS:





DEVELOPMENT:  I should say outright that this is conceived of as a commercial project, otherwise I could not justify the time required.  I feel almost apologetic having to mention that, since I've enjoyed so many freeware creations from my fellow game authors here.  Nevertheless that's the plan so.... plan on buying my game!

    The idea of this game has been in my head for a while (ever since I was working on The Winter Rose, actually), but it always seemed technically infeasible to undertake.  Experiments last spring and summer with new drawing programs and animation techniques (the concrete result of which was the animation for Snakes of Avalon) showed that it was possible to vastly increase my productivity to the point where the game just might be possible despite the limited time I had to devote to it.  So I've taken the plunge and started it.  Will our reluctant hero be able to complete the epic quest he has set himself?  According to a tentative development schedule you should know the answer by autumn 2012.

PROGRESS:           Story 95%
                               Backgrounds 22%
                               Animation ~20%
                               Programming 25%
                               Writing 15%
                               Music & Sounds 0%

   I'll be looking for a musician with a compatible vision once I have a working beta, hopefully someone who is willing to work on a contingency basis but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

   Comments and encouragement appreciated.  Wish me luck!
--------------------
EDIT MARCH 30, 2011:  I've started keeping a web log of my work on this project here.  There will be weekly updates, teasers & treats, and lots of insight into [my] game-making process.  Enjoy!
     

Sweet!