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Also, since Nancy doesn't like to operate in awkward silence, I'm digging around for musicians - anyone fancy having a go at something cartoony?

You've got a really good job, Technocrat  :o

If you are interested in a free french translation, I am your man & you can contact me. 

So, "Nancy la Prostituée Heureuse"? I might have to get back to you on that one, that could be a good idea.

- Does this mean the UK version will spell words like colour correctly?
- I notice once again the Aussies are missing out, although they'd ban it for some idiotic reason.

Australia's kind of near to NZ and Micronesia, they can kind of average out the distance!

I've no doubt Australia would ban it. After all, as far as the Aussie government's concerned, computer games are always, 100% exclusively aimed solely at minors and nobody else.

It's a couple of months yet to go, but I thought I'd get the whole "showing" people thing out of the way to build up excitement. After all, this is the Excitement Games Studio forums, aren't they? Aren't they? They aren't? Damn. Well, in that case, coming soon to a computer in front of you:

Nancy the Happy Whore and the Perfidious Petrol Station

Nancy, the titular sex-worker with an unshakeably optimistic attitude, finds herself running out of fuel while on her way to the Big City. Now, with the help of her best friend and crack-fiend Susie the Drug Addict, she must not only procure the petroleum to make her auto-machine go again, but help defeat an armed robbery, a disillusioned amateur hippy and THE PROPHETS themselves to help uncover the evil lurking within - the PERFIDIOUS PETROL STATION!





(Graphics sort-of representative, and subject to a whole lot of improvement and cleaning-up before it's finished)

Featuring:
- An intricate and disturbing social commentary on the issues of modern womanhood
- Non-linear art
- Eight rooms!
- Voices! (which reminds me, who wants to voice a character?)
- Graphics!
- Six languages (including ENGLISH (UK), ENGLISH (USA), ENGLISH (CANADA), ENGLISH (NEW ZEALAND), ENGLISH (ZIMBABWE) and ENGLISH (FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA))

Release date: THIS SUMMER

Since this is intended to be part of Mods' Summerbatch group of games, it'll also be my first venture into charging people money for what I make. COMMERCIAL! WOO!

Edit: FINISHED! PAY MONEY TO PLAY WITH NANCY, THAT'S WHAT SHE'S THERE FOR![/url]

I have to say, compared to what you were first putting up on this site, your graphics have certainly improved markedly, and your style is nice if derivative!

I've had ideas of things one could do with them, and while there are whole new puzzles that can be made with the added dimension of another person, it's quite a headache scripting-wise!

Good luck with this! Now I have to decide between Screen7 or Wadjet Eye for who to go with for the complete ten-part Technobabylon!

Well, it's not for Technobabylon, but I can assure you your contributions will be extremely useful! One could even go so far as to say that the petrol station/gas station/Tankstelle/Заправка/bomba/stacja/Bensiinijaam is a major character of this game.

Sonething I need to know, from folk around the world. Hopefully you folk (who live around the world) can help me.

1) What country are you from?

2) What do you call the place you fill your car up? Gas station? Petrol station? Fossil-fuel boutique?

3) What measurement of distance do your road signs have? Miles? Kilometres? Parsecs?

It's for a game, I swear.

Well, I hadn't expected to see this leap up again - I'll get a redo of her walkcycle done shortly. I've got up-down done as well, though they've got things that even I can see needs dealing with. I like that source Progz, I'll make use of it in making the movement of her feet more pronounced.



Anyway, here's a scene she's in, so you can see what kind of background she's getting to work with.

I'm liking the look of this - less of the "A" in AGS!

Just to notify that there's a bug with the pm system since 3 days. I was unable to removed the 1 is new. Even after I cleaned my inbox.

Cheerz.

I'm having the same thing with mine!

Hm...I'm intrigued also...time to kick the 4-week plan into action again, except expand it to a few more as well! Who wants a sequel to The Rail?

That's awesome, great job everyone! And my head's swelling with people mentioning The Rail. I guess I'll just have to make another game, then!

Certainly, I'm not saying that the server idea was a bad one, nor do I think Child's Play was a bad choice for where we were pointing our collective energy in the end. Having seen just how much gamers can produce in terms of effective charity though, I wonder if there are other potential directions for the charitable efforts of gamers beyond kids in hospital. I think if I were to start something, it'd probably be the political activism idea.

[Political advocacy]

The Bake Sale's been going delightfully well, and it has such a good goal - who can argue with charity? It's going towards Child's Play, but something I've noticed is that this decision has roused a bit of inexplicable bile from people ("WHY IS IT ALWAYS CHILD'S PLAY RARGH RARGH I HATE KIDS IN HOSPITALS RARGH") on websites like RPS. This led me to think - what if there were other gamer-focused charities? So, my question is essentially this: what kind of charity would you, as gamers,

a) agree to support
b) feel is sufficiently in line with your position as a gamer?

so, here are a few ideas.

i) Political advocacy - a lobbying organisation aimed at putting the voices and opinions of gamers into the ears of politicians around the world (SOPA, age rating systems, etc). Or, providing legal advocacy and assistance to people in trouble over games/internet related matters (people brought up on bogus piracy charges, opposing whoever the new Jack Thompson turns out to be, etc). Maybe even issues like freedom of information/communication, goodness knows that's topical right now!

ii) War Relief - For a group with so many activities revolving around casual destruction, from a direct or a strategic perspective, we know that war is a ghastly affliction upon society. So, the aim of this charity would be the general relief of symptoms, working with other groups like the UN, Red Cross, Refugee organisations and such to show that gamers understand the impact these things have on the real world.

iii) Developing Countries - Many parts of the developing world, from South America to Asia to Africa, are unable to sustain themselves currently, and have problems with even finding basics like water and power. These development groups work toward constructing infrastructure like pumps and generators, enabling poor rural communities to reach a better standard of living.

iv) There are many people with the ideas and skills to make the next big things in independent gaming, but unable to without starving to death in the short terms, or need funding grants for their education in game development. A grants charity would provide funding to those who can demonstrate that they have something worthwhile to pursue, and would lead to an increased quality of independent games being produced.

v) Animals. Everyone loves animals, whether it's Dogmeat, or ponies. This concept would strive for various animal-related goals, such as vetinary assistance, care, prevention of cruelty and rehoming.

vi) Got a better idea for a gamer charity? TELL US NOW

Glad people are enjoying The Rail, I've gotten some messages about it already!

I'm going around the internet with my sockpuppets touting the Bake Sale wherever I can!

Right, I've been doing a bit more work on this upstanding young lady, and realised that her walk was a bit too...functional. After all, anyone can swing their arms. So, I decided to make her look a bit more "hooker" in her walk, with her hand-on-hip strut, and a bit of a makeover that a year of extra experience can give.

While I think the hand-on-hip in the walkcycle looks alright on the right-walking cycle, it doesn't seem to look quite right on the left-walking. A bit too much movement for the hand on the hip?

I like the look of this! Especially the concepts, are you planning on having comic-book style storytelling scenes?

Merry new year from London!