It's audience participation time!

Those of you who've been following the diary will probably be aware that I've been a bit stuck for a title for the game.

It's a cute platformer, and the name Onslaught (its original title) seems to imply something more violent and rather less cute! So I'd like to change it if possible for something a little more suitable.

The plot goes that the main character, Blurp, a pacifist friendly alien, has been sent on a mission to get rid of an infestation of alien nasties which have started to take over a top secret alien research centre. Always eager to avoid violence, he chooses not to kill them, but instead to shrink and immobilise them with his patented Shrink-o-matic gun, and then collect their tiny shrunken forms. He's got to be quick though - there's not much air in those rooms, and those shrunken aliens don't last long in the open air...

Please vote for whichever title you like best (or suggest a new one if you have an idea you're itching to share, and I'll add it into the poll!).

The winner will receive immortality, endless recognition and unparalleled admiration (in the form of a mention in the credits).

Well, I was thinking of how technically your little guy might shrink those nasties and thought about the Bohr radius. This is the space between the electrons and the nucleus of the atom (OK strictly speaking the distance between nucleus and first electron). I figured the gun may work by shrinking this distance in all atoms of the baddie to shrink the size without removing matter (and thus how could it return to correct size correctly if matter had been removed), OK so the physics could be questioned a little but you get the picture, so I merged them together to give the name

Bohrdius or Bohrius

Any good ? Sounds kinda futuristic and yet relates to the game.

Could even be the name of the main character who uses Bohrius technology to shrink his enemies ! ! !

Wow - that's pretty deep Steve! Are you working for BNFL now?

I am of course obliged to vote for Shrinkle, especially since I've been on a roll of late regarding names and favicons etc.

(Rich - If you don't like any of those, 'The Smoking Capacitor' is still available... )

Oh no - added a new poll option (thanks Steve!), but it reset the results. Didn't know it was going to do that!

Could everyone who voted please vote again - thanks

Sorry 'bout that.

I've voted for Onslaught - I think it would be funny to have a game with such a brutal name featuring a hoard of cute cartoon characters.

I know I was previously a 'Shrinkle' advocate, but as DaveJ has since designed loading screens, cover art and even a comic(!) bearing the Onslaught name ... I voted for Onslaught (sorry Martin!).

Hmm ... My inclination is to go for Blurp as that's what I associate with that character now, having seen screenshots of him under that title for ages.

But I'm a bit confused, as I thought you were reserving the name Blurp for potentially returning to your smooth-scrolling game which has been titled Blurp thus far.

I'm going to vote for Pest Control on the assumption that the game might actually be called Blurp: Pest Control ... leaving it open to do a follow-up game Blurp: Smooth Scroller Game (or something) with the same character, if you ever go back to that tech. However, I'm not actually that keen on Pest Control on it's own ... If it's just plain Pest Control, I'll probably revise my vote.

Sam.

Having thought about this at length, I think Shrinkle or Shrinky would work really well if that were the name of the main character but since Blurp is sacrosanct with Rich I doubt that will happen

All things considered then, I'll go with Pest Control

Dude, that's his name! What do you want me to do, just change it??!!!!

Anyway, so far we have a three-way tie. This isn't making it any easier y'know!!!

Yeah, it is all rather confusing. Maybe all BBC Micro games should be called Blurp...

(The truth is, I just like the name. But if I revisit the smooth scrolling game, I imagine it ending up totally different, maybe even with a different lead character, so I'm not worried about taking the name.)

No problem to me Rich but you might be getting a visit from Mario...."Blurps are green colored, goggle-wearing fish encountered in the various underwater levels of Super Mario World."

I'm firmly with Blurp on this one. Just seems right to me

Right! Where's my lawyer?

(Actually that gives me an idea for a new enemy...)

He's talking to Nintendo but it's not clear who's giving money to who....

If it's Pest Control vs. Blurp, and you may not even be using the same character in the game-formally-known-as-Blurp if you ever do return to it ... then I'll switch votes to Blurp ... so it's now in the lead!

Sam.

So how long is this poll planned to run, Rich?

Sam.

Until it seems like no-one else is likely to vote Could be round about now!

But still weighing up options between Onslaught and Blurp.

In favour of Onslaught:

• We already have a title screen and cover art prepared with the title 'Onslaught'
• It has always been called Onslaught, so there's definitely no chance of confusion
• DaveJ and DaveM both like the name (and both of whom have contributed / will contribute in a big way to the game)

In favour of Blurp:

• It has most votes (including my own, Edit: and Sam's I just realised)
• It's a shorter name which will fit in a 7 character Beeb filename
• Edit: Dude, that's his name!
• Uhmmm....

I'm starting to feel that it might just be best to leave it exactly as it is... Anyone got any passionate counter-arguments?

Mmmm... hahaha, another compelling point. (Duly edited)

DaveJ, how straightforward/PITA would it be to change the artwork we already have, if we were to go with a name change? Just in theory, like.