Mike Stallone, author of Little Girl in Monsterland, has volunteered his services to create a graphical version of The Magpie Takes the Train to be released after the comp. This is a preview of his artwork (still in progress, but should give an idea):
I think it looks great, and we hope to share it with you all later this year!
That’s cool. It looks like a point-and-click adventure game, but I’m assuming it won’t be? Will it just be the text adventure with images thrown in occasionally?
It will be totally point and click (no typing), but without animations. I think the cutscenes will be illustrated comic style. I’m still working on the details 
That looks really lovely!
I must admit I pictured them sitting in a compartment though, something like this:
Thank you 
You might be right about the compartment. I need to check what an “observation car” is. Well, I guess this will have to do
I took this as model, by the way:
When I wrote it, I envisaged a luxury car that was privately owned and designed by Hogg, so she could make it anything she wants, like a private jet.
Wow that looks really great.
@mike_stallone is this some tool you’re using that interfaces with Inform code? Or are you just remaking the game and all its interactions in another engine?
I’m glad you like it Brook! This is for me mostly an excuse to learn to paint (and experiment with the isometric view) So thanks for the encouragement!
It will be implemented with my engine, which will run in graphic mode. Basically my engine can run in graphic mode and in text mode. If you play Little Girl In Monsterland you’ll see the text mode, but I unlock the graphic mode for those who complete the game (admittedly very few so far 
).
I should add that @J_J_Guest has given us his blessing and has agreed to supervise the project and help us in case new dialogs or some redesign are needed. 
Ah, okay, so you’re basically reprogramming the whole game in the new engine. For a second I thought you had some cool way of just popping this all on top of an Inform interpreter.
That’s still really cool though that you’re engine supports both. Haven’t gotten around to your comp game yet, but I will!
We have a face for Cornelia Hogg
This looks lovely. I imagined Magpie to look a bit different, but I think I can get used to this gentleman pretty quickly.
Here are a few more screenshots :
open suitcase:
one of the disguises:
work in progress title screen:
A phantomtastic Magpie. Very Raffles.
David Niven is perfect casting for The Magpie.
Looking forward to this - and it’s kind of fun that it involves the Miss Congeniality winner and the Golden Banana winner teaming up! (Congrats to you both).
Miss Congeniality winner + Golden Banana winner + also IFComp Winner in J.J. Guest.
I should say that Mike is valiantly doing essentially all the work here. I provided the base game, and JJ is the executive producer who manages the details of the world, but Mike is everything else (programmer, artist, etc.)
It’s all part of J.J.'s insidious worldwide Magpie domination plot. He told me all about it. And then he told me if I told anyone about it he’d have to kill me. But I figure, with the pandemic limiting travel, I still have a good six to eighteen months of life in front of me.
