The time draws near! In the last dev blog I sent out, I mentioned that we were going to announce the release date for our first playable game module, the Town Square. Those of you who follow our Twitter and Twitch streams will have already learned this date. It's a very exciting and important time for Identity; we're fast approaching the time where you'll first step foot in Identity's grand world. We've crunched all the numbers and can now say with fair confidence that the Identity Town Square module will be released, to all backers with a $30 or higher pledge, on this coming March 21st. What will you find in the Town Square? The Town Square is a social game module. You'll be able to create your character, which may be transferable to the retail game after release, and meet hundreds of other Identity backers in the town square of the clean and quaint city of Ash Hill. You'll be able to talk to those around you, add them to your phone contacts and have full phone and IM support to stay in touch. You'll find a completely functional cinema playing full movies around the clock, a karaoke bar to show off your skills (or see me making a fool of myself), a working restaurant, art gallery, shops and more. The biggest single feature is the housing system. You're getting a taste of the full and complete player housing mechanics that you'll find in Identity. Everyone will have access to a tiny apartment, but those who pledged for higher rewards will be able to check out and decorate their larger spaces. It's a preview of what you'll have in the full game. Invite friends to your place and party it up! After the initial release of the module, we'll continue to add features to the Town Square as they are completed in development for Identity. Barbershops and tattoo parlors will let you customize your character further. A garage will let you sample your vehicles. You'll even get to test your ability with firearms in the police shooting range before the SWAT module is released. For me, one of the most exciting parts of Town Square is just to get inside the game and finally get a feel for Identity and how it plays. Check out a few of the Town Square work-in-progress shots we've released in the past. It's been a long road for the development team here at Asylum, but we're almost there! Flexing our new manpower Productivity has skyrocketed with our new office. We're working better and there are now many more of us knocking out code and assets each day. Our programming team has expanded with Charles and we're still hiring more. We've brought three new and incredibly talented 3D artists on board as well as a new technical artist. Brandon, our new Community Manager, has been hard at work keeping you in the loop. These guys are all proving their worth each day and I'm extremely excited about where Asylum is going. Looking to the future With some of our Town Square art wrapping up now, we're beginning to shift a bit of our focus to the second module: SWAT. The SWAT module will be a team vs team competitive shooter using the combat mechanics you'll find in the full Identity release. Expect combat to be slower and more realistic than most similar games. You'll learn much more about this module as work progresses. Above is an MP5 sub machinegun which will be used by the SWAT forces. This particular model was created from scratch in a matter of days by one of our new artists, Dan. The awesome talent of our art team is undeniable! -- John VanderZwet

A recently expanded team getting settled in and up to pace, good things coming in time. I can wait.

Since I might have re-railed things just a bit, I'll give you a more serious response! You will, definitely, see tasers and shotguns in Identity. There will be several less-than-lethal weapons available.

I recently made a poll asking the community here whether or not they thought that the Town Square Module's release date was going to be announced this month as promised or not. Well, it has, on a recent post on Twitch it was announced as March 21st, 2018. My original poll was taken by some to be negative, and some people voted negatively on it as well. Two people going as far as voting for 'The module and the game will never be released.' This post now is mostly an appreciation post. If we only talk about the things that the Dev's do wrong, or don't do right, we're not being very supportive. I would like to thank the developers for keeping their promise and trying hard to get everything ready enough to announce a formal release date for the module. It was a great thing and deserves some attention.

I think it should be called Atlas, as a small wink to Altis.

The Democratic Realist Party - Let's Get Real! Vote Jack Lester for governor! The DRP is a centrist political party founded to oppose the now aging ideologies of socialism and conservatism by striking a balance between the two. Socialism has a track record of causing recession and debt, whereas conservatism involves austerity and leads to inequality. Founded in 2017 by Jack Lester, the DRP is a direct response to the political shifts occurring in Europe & the USA, and seeks to prove that moderate politics should be as important as the recent right and left wing movements. We believe that centrism can benefit every member of society equally by keeping taxes on individuals and small business low, and making large corporations pay their fair share towards the development of our society. Policies: Economy: Support the free market - avoid government intervention in most areas Subsidies for business startups Tax: Income tax of 3% for all earning under $25k per year Income tax of 6% for all earning between $25k-$50k per year Income tax of 8% for all earning between $50k-$200k per year Income tax of 10% for all earning above $200k per year Low corporation tax of 6% of profit for small business Corporation tax of 30% of profit for large corporations Heavily tax alcohol, tobacco and legalised marijuana Transport: State controlled rail & bus services to keep fares low Healthcare: Create a nationalised healthcare service similar to the United Kingdom’s NHS Those who can not afford healthcare will have their fees paid for by the state Costs of healthcare for those that can afford it will be added to their taxes Housing: Encourage members of our society to own their own homes/apartments with a first time buyer "help to buy scheme" - paying for 10% of the cost Ensure all homes have access to energy, water, internet and waste services and introduce a small service charge to the provision of these services Policing: End the war on drugs - decriminalise possession of Class C (steroids/tranquilisers) & B (cannabis/amphetamines) drugs, impose fines for class A (heroin, cocaine, LSD) possession Legalise medical and recreational marijuana Zero tolerance policy on Police corruption Firearms: Ban the sale of all automatic weapons License, minimum age and background check requirements for legal firearms Legalised firearms: handguns, shotguns and hunting rifles Social Issues: Support gay marriage and gay rights Pro choice abortion - emphasise use of contraception & that abortion is not a form of contraception Champion equal pay for all Allow freedom of religion however allow no religious opinion to influence politics Law: Identity will have a punishment system for if residents commit a crime. If an offender repeats their crime within one week their fine/prison time will be doubled. Possession of illegal substances: 1 hour/$1000 fine Possession of illegal firearms: 2 hours/$2500 fine and weapons seized Petty theft: 2 hours Burglary: 5 hours Mugging: 5 hours Organised crime/theft: 10 hours - 3 days (depending on severity) Murder: 2 days "Together we can root out the corruption & abrasive ideologies in politics by voting for a voice of moderation and reason - The Democratic Realist Party." Jack Lester - 2017

Fair Market Merchant Bureau The FMMB's purpose is to assure fair marketing across various vendors and merchants. We aim to keep a stabilized economy by insuring fair market prices for or customers. While at this junction in time the FMMB does not have any legal authorization, we WILL be seeking government backing for the project. How We Operate The FMMB will operate by holding meetings with participating merchants to assure no particular merchant is over charging for their goods or services, based against an average cost of similar products and services. This will help keep the economy stable and keep prices from being gouged or sky-rocketed. Incentives To Join Here are a few reasons why merchants will benefit from joining the FMMB: Help maintain and stabilize and a balanced and fair economy for everyone. Customers will KNOW you are a participant in FMMB and will feel both financially protected and reassured about spending with your store. We will provide FREE merchant advice or help to any merchant members. (This does not include financial help) We will work hard to shut down any competitors that are manipulating their prices in any direction away from fair market value. About Us The Fair Market Merchant Bureau is a non-profit organization that seeks to keep the economy stabilized and balanced for all citizens. We believe the prices of goods and services should be fair for all citizens. No one person should be getting rich off the sweat of the brow from another. To inquire about joining the Bureau and participating in making a better economy today please contact myself and have details pertaining to your business on hand. DISCLAIMER: The Fair Market Merchant Bureau is backed and supported by legitimate businesses ONLY! We will not help, assist, maintain, or support illegal companies or companies correlated with illegal actions, goods, or services.

The game will not come out earlier than the date given, that is only for the 1st Module.

WOW, I just looked through the site and it is absolutely amazing! The detail, clean design and stunning artwork is just something else! Well done Hamilton, you are leading in the world of website politics for sure! I'll have to follow suit! -Marie-Clare Bouchard -Founder and President of "The Front National.

The overflowing creativity is astounding.

You won't be able to make money in the first module, but you will have limitless money to test out everything like the apartment customization (hype!), go into shops and everything like that.

Earth

The release date of the first module will be on, March 21st, 2018. Make sure to get on the discord in my signature, updates are done there and the developers and staff team are there!

Still though, we have to wait 4 more months for the module that should have been out already by now its ridiculous. Especially since this is only a social module, no jobs or crime..

Halloween Update: It is finally here, Sneak peaks galore, Let's all cheer, Open your apartment door, See Town Square shine so bright, Aegis Wishes You, A Haunting Night! Stay safe tonight Identity...but just remember, Aegis Security has got you when the spooky scary skeletons send shivers down your spine!

I can only imagine!

Only known politicians that came before me are Thomas Hetch and my partner and friend Joel Keys!

It'd be unprofessional not to! I'm looked at more as the veteran of politics that's been around a long time and he's more of a new face (or rainbow heart) with modern likings!

I understand that!

Was just wondering if any other NZders were on here!

Hey, wanted to update the polls for the current list of runners and parties, if I missed anyone can you please let me know so I can add it. Wanted to use this to get a general idea of the well political identity of the community that will be going into Town Square. Polling ends 11/6/2017 at 12pm EST

Here is the current poll key we will follow for current and future polls. The People's Revolutionary Party: PRP The Royal Family Party: ROYAL The Hamilton Party: HAMIT The Democratic Realist Party: DRP The Public Party: PUBP The Conservative Coalition: CCP The People's Party: PP Radical Democratic Left Party: RDLP The Front National's Party: FN The Unified Party: UFD The Roman Catholic Party: RCP Thomas Hetch: HETCH Bobby Cruz: CRUZ Gene Smith: SMITH This will be used to help organize the poll results as well as election results. More information about this service will be provided soon, please stay tuned.

I like the gun laws

It would work. Realistically the same person or people with similar policies would win for a few weeks in a row. Then the trend might change. The problem with giving absolute rights is that you can never change your decision. We shouldn't make such a huge commitment before the game is even out.

Good one, and Welcome to the Forums btw =D

use the searchbar

I'm honestly not sure what to think of this. I can see what they were trying to do; by making it look - perhaps - a bit "cleaner/smoother" looking? However, I REALLY dislike the giant white headings on the boards now, it makes it look worse in my own, personal opinion. It makes it look a bit uglier. As for reactions, I feel like they are attempting to copy Facebook in some way and I can definitely see people abusing the "Haha" reaction to annoy people by leaving "Haha" reactions on random, serious posts.

Thanks for the quick reply. What you state about businesses being able to independently be ran it's owners is a good method to not further become a state in which is not controlled by the government. I like it. Hopefully they add stocks to the game, it would work good in an economy such as this.

Is it, though? Is it?!

Exactly what I was trying to say earlier. Our own personal security are in charge of ensuring the safety of our employees at these large events (such as conferences), however, they will also assist the public where possible, although, that will mainly be the job of the police. The police are more focused on crowd control and our security are more focused on the safety of our staff. Unfortunately, we haven't looked into "free market economics" much, however, it will definitely be something which we'll aim to look at in the near future and as we approach the opening of the Town Square! As for control over businesses, all businesses are independently run by the founder and/or CEO of those businesses. How their business runs is dependent on their actions and we cannot force any business to act or perform in a certain way unless the business is currently violating a law in which they will be fined and required to make actions accordingly to prevent it from occurring again. As part of our Employment Opportunities Act, we will be reaching out to businesses to create strong partnerships and affiliations to create more vacancies for the unemployed. In return, we offer the businesses more traffic and advertisement and the possibility of ourselves using their service in the future. Under a separate character, I currently own Hamilton Homes which is a real estate business. This will be under a separate character entirely and should not, in any way at all be considered to be related with The Hamilton Party. This is clearly stated on the Hamilton Homes thread and on the Hamilton Homes website. Hamilton Homes is it's own, independent business which isn't affiliated with any political organisations or parties. Apologies, I accidentally pressed on CTRL+Enter and sent it too early.

The devs have just told us the release date, which is March 21st, 2018.....

Yes but they have a foundation, from that they can start building and adding on until they have a game. The hardest part is done.

At 7am Central Time I will open up what I'd like to call "Open Book Day"! A day for any and all people to ask me any and all questions about myself, the campaign, etc. I'll be sure to reply to them all!

NZLKyle I think that I'm the 3rd because I spotted Eskymo from Auckland. Anyway I wish Asylum made a sub from all country's, that'd be dope as fuck.

There is more than just gangland videos. Do a quick google search as i dont want to post links. Becareful with names that already exist is all.

Hey brother, I hope I get that family discount! Sincerely, Sebastian Valentine

The devs confirmed in one of their recent streams that there will be controller support in the game, as early as the first module.

I'm hoping there is. I struggle with mouse and keyboard games since I've played on consoles for so long. I'll be happy either way with this game, but I would like to see controller support.

The modules are the alpha, the beta is all the whole game that isn't finished yet.

A good game is a game that has been polished and has had effort put into it... just make yourself busy with something else till you can try the modules or even play the full game.

Cya in 2021 for full release

In Canada, where they are based its Currently 11:20am on the 31st of Oct. The Dev blog is being written as we speak with the release date info.

The game trailer confirmed, patrol, SWAT, detective, and DEA. Things can change over time though, especially two years.

New Updated Polls, check 'em out! Don't forget to vote Times.

No doubt there are people who address statements that are not in Asylum Entertainments' interests. Everyone here though truly wants a game like this that they have been dreaming for which is most likely why people get aggressive when a new post addressing issues is made. I believe a release date for Town Square will be released in early November potentially October 31st and released in players' hands by the end of the year. The issue with making release dates is that people get hyped for them (pretty good thing) but if they run into issues then that could delay things considerably. I assume you already understand this but my rant I guess mainly goes to everyone reading your statement so that they may find answers. Personally, I learned about Identity close to it's showcase on Kickstarter and accepted the fact that there will be delay and the effects of hype (both rising and falling). I don't believe everyone copes the same way but if y'all want to play some games with people excited for this journey, let me know and we can add you to the game night

EDIT: I did this wrong

Fantastic! Then just ski masks and other similar facial coverings will be banned in public places!

I would never ask you to track down such a tweet, but I'll leave my campaign as it is to express what I feel it should be!