J + N 4 EVA

Geez, I do keep lapsing, don't I? On the plus side, not writing on here means that I'm obviously working on stuff (two things), while also meeting lots of strange women off the internet.

As a matter of fact, I'm still pursuing TWO projects at the moment. As you've seen with Ben304's fine work on Technobabylon, I've also received the latest from the delightful Worth Daley, from which I can continue to push into the future in the more local sense, whereas Technobabylon is pushing into the future in a narrative sense. I do hope I'm making enough sense, the medication is giving me the doolallies.

Frankly, I'm extremely optimistic about the future. Things are looking a lot more...credible? Goodbye cargo-cult, hello...volcano-worshippers? That's a step above cargo-cult, right?

The future's blue...

Well, last week, I put up an appeal for art assistance on AGS, and ended up with the aid of a disturbingly fast and effective artist (Ben304). I suck at secrecy, so I might as well just show you some of what's been happening anyway.

Anybody who's visited Technocrat Games' website, or played a few of our projects probably knows what this is going to be from...

I'm going to have to revise my estimation for how quickly I was thinking this project was going to be finished...if anything, it'll be much, much sooner!

Keep on visiting for more info on progress...you wouldn't want to miss it, would you?

Desurable...

Yep, Nancy is now available on Desura! She's currently number 17 in the ranks, so if you haven't yet had a go on her, I very much suggest that now is the time to start!

It seems to be a very helpful site to sell through, they've got all kinds of handy doodads and monitoring thingumies to let me know who's buying it where. Britain and the US hold the most players thus far, but it's only been out on there for a few hours, so there's still time for those Asians and Antarcticans to catch up.

Fine forties fashion...

So, I seem to be working on two games at once. Nothing wrong with that really, especially since with one of them, I seem to be getting extremely competent professional support! Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Worth Daley's interpretation of the protagonists of "Johnny Hurricane and the Pirates of the Third Reich"!

Wrath of the TV-spiders

I'm sure my daytime employers would be thrilled to know just how seriously I took the company values seminar.

People have complained that spiders have eight-legs. On the other hand, televisions tend to have zero legs. This chap has a mean-average.

Neeeown dakka dakka dakka

Well, it looks like people are getting Nancy - thank you! It certainly helps the next project along.

Speaking of "next project", Johnny Hurricane and the Pirates of the Third Reich has had its development reactivated. It's not gone back up on the website yet, as the way it's *going* to look is considerably different to how it was in the past. Just keep your eyes peeled, and it'll be back shortly. Suffice to say, a chap called Worth Dayley is joining in for the characters...

The Perfidious Petrol Station...

Ladies and gentlementlementlemen, ready to go, it's:

Blimey, finally sorted. I've been soliciting press attention all morning, and putting it up on AGS. I dread to look at the reviews that come out, but that's probably just me being paranoid (hint: I'm always paranoid).

Previous buyers of the game as part of the Summerbatch will be receiving a discount code from Mods (Screen7) at some stage, and anyone else who feels possessed to buy it because my voodoo magic is working can acquire it through here at FireFlower games, along with a host of other independent games.

My most gracious thanks to anyone buying it (you're awesome, handsome and delicious), and remember: you're helping to fund a continuing cycle of games production!

NANCY: THE MOVIE

Creeping ever closer...manual: Done. Screenshots: Done. Trailer video: Done.

After a bit of correspondence with FireFlower games, with whom I plan on distributing Nancy, it seems that I *will* be in a position to offer a discount to those who purchased the game the first time around as part of the Summerbatch. I'll ask Mods (Screen7) to e-mail everyone who got it, and prove that I'm not too evil.

I look forward to the day when I can upgrade from "make believe" to "cargo cult" when it comes to this kind of thing.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz......

Where in blazes has all this background noise suddenly come from? All of my recordings are coming out disastrously, so I've put out an alert for one more voice actor to play the role of Mr Red. Hopefully, he can get it done by the end of the week, in time for projected release.

On the happier side, in an effort to spread my insidious internet influence, The Rail is now available on GameJolt, to see about getting more people playing. SIX PEOPLE SO FAR WOO.

Much to my immense relief, the sound-editing part of Nancy the Happy Whore and the Perfidious Petrol Station has been completely concluded. My part, anyway - just waiting for a few more files from external sources, but at least there's no more noise-removal left over for Nancy herself. Now I just have to make sure everyone's the same volume, and ensure that the German translation will work with all this new-fangled speech.

Miiiight ditch the Latin translation if I'm feeling lazy. After all, I don't feel that many people got quite the enriching experience they might have from it!

Still, I'm on schedule, and it looks like the game will be finished by the end of the week, or thereabouts. Rejoice!

Lucky 13!

Thanks to the magic of "doing things the sensible way", I've given the homepage (www.technocratgames.com) a bit of a rejig for its new upcoming games, and decided to start using this blog for news and updates. After all, this thing is designed to be updated, whereas raw html is a load of [helpful friendliness] to make new posts on.

Oh yes, did I say "new games"? No, I said "upcoming games", pay more attention. Since it's been more than a year since the Bake Sale, The Rail has officially been released to those who were too cheap to give money to charity, as have the other Bake Sale games. Give it a go, it's on the main site, on a big button on the left. You can't miss it, unless you're illiterate.

The other upcoming feature is the re-release of Nancy the Happy Whore. Given a few months, there now exists voicing for the whole game (English only, sorry!) designed to lure folk in who don't have it yet. Apparently, Finland has some of the best English-voice actors I've ever heard, so I shall remember to look in that part of the world in future.

Keep an eye on the site (and this blog) for further information on Technocrat Games - Nancy will be strutting down your street in April, but definitely after the 5th, since that's when the new tax year starts. Hookering, after all, counts as self-employment and means she has to fill in all sorts of forms for the tax-man.

In the meantime, here's some delightful artwork from Felipe Bende, whose services I have acquired for the creation of some publicity material.