otoge-Real! (otome/comedy/GxB/GxG/romance) ON HIATUS

[hiko27]

OUR TEAM'S GOT A TWITTER! Follow it when you can, that would be really nice.
Forgot to put this in here but we do have a team blog

This game is put on hold for an uncertain amount of time, but I'll resume after finishing Tsundere-sama



otoge-Real!

Summary: When Meru decides to make her own otome game, she’s determined to make it happen! She’s got everything covered, except for one: the boys are too cliche because she’s never had a boyfriend! She knows all the different archetypes from reading manga and watching anime, but that wasn’t enough. One to never give up, she brings it up a notch. With her crazy idea and a burning determination, she decides to pick her own harem of boys and create her own otome game reality — in school!

Features:

• Customizeable MC — hairstyle, hair color, clothes (during dates), skin color and of course her name.
• 15 guys to choose from for your own harem — mix and match and see how each character reacts to another to create your own unique otome game reality!
• Unlockable mini-games, CGs and *gasp* probably a hidden character!?
• An opening song sequence
• Animation trailer introducing all 15 guys (and if you look carefully, the 16th guy)
• English voice acting
• BGM music
• PRETTY ART AND CGS

Profiles:

Meru Hoshino (MC/Changeable) 17/161cm/Dec. 4

Suzuki Riki 15/160cm/A/Nov. 27
Likes: Books, basketball, strawberries, pandas, family outings, Sergeant Keroro
Dislikes: Liars, arguments, violence, horror, gore, sad stories
Hobbies: Baking, studying, reading books, playing basketball

Nakamura Kouta 17/165cm/B/May 19
Likes: Soccer, basketball, curry, omurice, color blue, handmade stuff
Dislikes: Naggy people, people forcing stuff on him, spicy food
Hobbies: Hanging out with friends and his girlfriend, sleeping, playing arcade, singing karaoke, walking his dog and taking care of his little sister

Ueda Akira 17/167.5cm/O/Jun. 12
Likes: taking care of his siblings, his pet fish Mario, girls (especially the beautiful and sexy ones)
Dislikes: Octopus (Makes him feel queasy and he’s also allergic to them), working, his parents (most of the time)
Hobbies: Going out on dates every week or going on goukons, socializing, sometimes he sells his services where he introduces guys to girls or girls to guys, taking care of his siblings

Yamada Takahiro 17/170cm/A/Mar. 1
Likes: Anime, video games, eroge, computers, technology, manga, figurines, random and interesting trivia, Gundam models
Dislikes: His big sister, girls in general (aside from his mom of course), getting physically hurt, sunlight
Hobbies: Playing video games, watching anime, reading manga, constructing his Gundam models, making video games and coding, mentioning random trivia, makes analogies and quotes a lot from anime, manga and games

Ishida Junichi 24/167cm/B/Oct. 23
Likes: his cute students, when his students come to him with their problems, helping them out, English, dress shirts (especially white ones)
Dislikes: when his students get into trouble, people who whisper or talk during class, Math
Hobbies: grading homework and reading essays (he wants to frame some of them), dotting on his students (he treats them like his children), drinking coffee

Ono Toru 18/183cm/A/Sept. 19
Likes: studying, sweets, books, small animals (but he says it’s cause he feels obligated to protect them)
Dislikes: laziness, irresponsible people (especially parents), sour and really salty stuff
Hobbies: helping around the house, studying, helping his sister and mother, being dragged into his mother’s crazy ideas, visiting the orphanage and helping out

Minami Ren 17/169cm/A/Jan. 22
Likes: music, playing the guitar, animals (especially dogs), food in general, his check book
Dislikes: socializing especially to girls, talking, cleaning his room, doing things he doesn’t need to
Hobbies: eating, sleeping, working his part-time jobs most of the time, walking to school with his earphones on, helping his neighbors out

Hirata Shun 16/162.5cm/O/Aries/Apr. 3
Likes: fashion, silver, reading fashion magazines
Dislikes: natto, dirt, old-fashioned/closed-minded people
Hobbies: sketching, sewing, going to fashion shows, shopping

Ito Hiroki 17/163cm/B/Capricorn/Dec. 23
Likes: black, Takashi Miike, Park Chan Wook
Dislikes: humans
Hobbies: reading horror/ gore mangas, studying, watching movies

Tsutaya Masashi 17/167cm/O/Leo/ Aug. 6
Likes: Tsutaya Masashi, mirrors, lasagna, Leonardo Di Caprio
Dislikes: work, studying, public restrooms
Hobbies: reading Shakespeare, going to plays, sleeping

Sonada Koki 17/165cm/O/Gemini/June 1
Likes: Downtown(ダウンタウン), video games, free posters, gachapons
Dislikes: TV dramas, expensive posters,
Hobbies: watching TV, eating, telling jokes

Kotara Yusuke 16/168cm/A/Aries/Mar. 28
Likes: singing, visual kei, daigo
Dislikes: bullies, fakes, mushrooms
Hobbies: collecting accessories, karaoke, playing pranks

Hirayama Nao 18/182cm/AB/Cancer/ Jun. 30
Likes: little sister, baseball, playing piano and violin
Dislikes: ignorance, laziness, bananas
Hobbies: playing baseball, studying, cooking

Osagawa Shousuke 18/172cm/B/Pisces/ Feb. 24
Likes: The Tale of Genji, kabuki, bushido
Dislikes: cowards, lies, disloyalty
Hobbies: practicing Kendo, practicing calligraphy

Yakuta Okura 25/177.5cm/AB/Scorpio/ Nov. 13
Likes: motorcycles, dogs, girls
Dislikes: brown nosers, schools, sweets
Hobbies: smoking, looking through tattoo/automobile magazines, weight lifting

Concept Art: I lied. I'm too lazy to redo all the art assets so I'll only be redoing some of them (like the MC's sprite) just so the whole game has one art style.

Sample script for Yakuta Okura (by PB&Jelly)

“You see, the owner of this shop owes some friends of mine a little money.”
“We’re just giving him some, shall we say, incentive to pay it back.”
As if on cue, the owner emerges from the back room, flabbergasted at the scene.
“What’s going on here?”
The unwelcome customer throws his half-eaten crescent roll to the ground and strides over to the owner, grabbing him by the collar. The muscles on the hoodlum’s arm tense as he lifts the owner off the ground and sneers.
“We’re here for the money you owe us. Pay up!”
My eyes widen. Is this really happening? I though this sort of thing only happened in movies.
Suddenly filled with adrenaline and resolve, I fling myself on the thug’s back in an attempt to free my boss.
“HYAAAAAAA!”`
I kick my legs and wiggle my body, attempting to pull the criminal to the ground. After trying in vain for several seconds, I change my tactic and release my grip around his neck so that I can pull at his hair. Unfortunately, when I release my grip, I slide down his back and onto the ground, landing on and hurting my backside.
“Ow!”
I guess I didn’t think that through.
Unflinchingly, the man turns his head and shoots me a wry look.
“Did you really think that would work?”
I embarrassedly sputter a reply.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Honestly, it went a lot better in my head.”

Details:
1. Point system - This game was mostly based on True Fortune (a Japanese otome game that was never translated), the second otome game I have ever played (Hakuouki was the first, which pretty much sucked). You can do a limited amount of actions per day, more on the weekdays and less on the weekends. Each answer to these interactions will either add or subtract your total amount of affection points with the guy.
2. Random interactions - Most aren't random (meaning if one guy works at a place from 5-9pm every weekday, he'll always be there) but there will be some random interactions. All the guys will have schedules, it'll be up to you to figure it out.
3. Visual novel side game - the game will have a VN side game to it. We're not yet sure if we want a simulation-based side game, or maybe a plot-dependent one; ie stat-raising, or character love level-dependent VN progress

Progress:
Initial story planning (settings, etc): 65%
More detailed planning: 20%
Characters (biographies, personalities, etc): 40%
Gameplay/Feature planning (calendar, point system, etc): 50%

First round of outlines:

• Routes: 50% (Redoing some of them actually)
• Jealousy/Friendship/Enemy events: 2%
• Common events: 5%
• General events: 3%

Detailed outlines:

• Routes: 1%
• Jealousy/Friendship/Enemy events: 0%
• Common events: 0%
• General events: 0%

Script:

• Routes: 1%
• Jealousy/Friendship/Enemy events: 0%
• Common events: 0%
• General events: 0%

Character art: 4-5%
Environment design (includes places, as well as school uniforms, etc): 0%
Sprites: 0%
GUI: 0% (might outsource instead)
Promotional art: 5% (though I might scrap and redo)

Sound effects: 0%
BGM: 0%
Character pieces (? not sure yet): 0%

Coding: 0%

Proofreading/Editing: 0%
Testing/Debugging: 0%

Staff:
hiko27 - planning/story, artist, writer
Sorakun - programmer
Sakura Hughes - writer
Crystalline Spade - character designer

Updates:

• May 31, 2014: Sample writing for Kouta posted
• August 23, 2014: All sketches have been removed to be redone
• December 11, 2014: Posted an in-progress sprite for a potential character
• January 1, 2015: Added concept art for Ren, Shun and Mitsuru
• July 21, 2015: Updated a few of the concept art

Note: Those wondering about the GxG tag, there is only one GxG route here.

Questions: (You don't have to answer every question, it's up to you)
1. Do you feel iffy knowing there's a GxG route? If no, would you rather we add more GxG routes or is one fine?
2. Opinions on the love interests. Any favorites? Any assumptions based on their profiles?
3. Opinions on the features (whether planned or not). Anything that you like/dislike? Any suggestions?
4. What do you think of being able to pick your harem? How about how each love interests' interactions interchange depending on who's in your harem?
5. Would you prefer if we set it in Japan, or America?
6. Any suggestions or comments?

Progress on this game will be extremely slow seeing as I get busy a whole lot (school, commissions, art shop, etc) so sad to say, this game doesn't have a target release date, even just for the demo. We'll hopefully be able to finish at least the demo in a year or two's time *crosses fingers* But getting a ton of feedback, questions (I LOVE ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GAME), and suggestions are all very welcome. I honestly don't bite.

[FjärilPrincess]

I love the plot.It's so cute xD.An otome game within an otome game,I see what you did there .I really like how you can customize the MC (She's really pretty,too)! Not many games have that,so,I'm definitely REALLYYYYY (<3) looking forward to that part of the game.I'm assuming that 'Meru' is the default name? ^.^.(On a completely different note,though ---->)When I read her name,I was like: 'Alistair!' :O xD.I'm positive that you're expecting this but,I HONESTLY,TRULY,FRANKLY, ...LOVE YOUR ART <3.It's fantastic! The sketches are clean and amazing.I'm super interested in Ren .15 guys? WOW O_O.XD.Haha,I read Junichi's personality and laughed XD.Good job at describing their personalities,it was fun to read <3.Is it okay if I asked who were those last four boys? ^^. Emg..The second drawing,though *nosebleed everywhere*.The logo is pretty adorable,by the way c(:.A secret character?! *grabs inspector glass out from pocket* *puts on glasses in slow motion* I shall find out who he is. This will be quite exciting :3.Oooh,Voice acting ^_^.I'd try out but eh,I don't have a mic xD.I'm anxious to play this game.I shall subscribe to this topic and stalk it.Because I am cool like that c;.Good luck with this game .I will surely download and play it whenever (and IF) it comes out.Thanks for bringing this into existence .

[hiko27]

I love the plot.It's so cute xD.An otome game within an otome game,I see what you did there .I really like how you can customize the MC (She's really pretty,too)! Not many games have that,so,I'm definitely REALLYYYYY (<3) looking forward to that part of the game.I'm assuming that 'Meru' is the default name? ^.^.(On a completely different note,though ---->)When I read her name,I was like: 'Alistair!' :O xD.I'm positive that you're expecting this but,I HONESTLY,TRULY,FRANKLY, ...LOVE YOUR ART <3.It's fantastic! The sketches are clean and amazing.I'm super interested in Ren .15 guys? WOW O_O.XD.Haha,I read Junichi's personality and laughed XD.Good job at describing their personalities,it was fun to read <3.Is it okay if I asked who were those last four boys? ^^. Emg..The second drawing,though *nosebleed everywhere*.The logo is pretty adorable,by the way c(:.A secret character?! *grabs inspector glass out from pocket* *puts on glasses in slow motion* I shall find out who he is. This will be quite exciting :3.Oooh,Voice acting ^_^.I'd try out but eh,I don't have a mic xD.I'm anxious to play this game.I shall subscribe to this topic and stalk it.Because I am cool like that c;.Good luck with this game .I will surely download and play it whenever (and IF) it comes out.Thanks for bringing this into existence .

Woah woah woah, so much love in this one post! Let me try and reply to every point you made. And yes, that was the point of the game, an otome game within an otome game. Customization is one of the things that I liked in an otome game plus other otome gamers wanted to see it as well. And yes, Meru is the default name. You can name her Poophead if you ever wanted to lol.

Hahaha not really, but thank you for that. I sometimes think my art's not good enough for the kind of quality I'm trying for for this game but that's nice to know. Ren is my baby, me and my friend (The Big D lol) actually made half and half of the guys, the really weird ones are hers, mine are the... normal ones. The last four boys? You mean the drawings? The second drawing is actually Toru... The discipline committee president, that was actually me using him for my muscle study drawing. The secret character is somebody you'll meet in everybody's route. We're not yet sure if we're going to show you his face but we'll see.

Hahaha, well thank you. We're not yet sure about the voice acting but somebody recently just asked us on our group's tumblr blog about being a voice actress for our VNs. Why thank you! And sure thing, I'm 100% determined to release this game by whatever means I can.

[Escaflowne]

It feels like the next gen of stuck and never released in English otoge,TMGS,Love Revo,Dialovers and UtaPri :p
I like the story but harem?Please...
It makes me hard decide who's going to be number 1 XDD
Anyway,I love your art and concept (of course)
But,I hope you didn't force yourself and your friends to make such a big project and I'm waiting XDD

[snowflakes]

Okayokayokay, i think i'm going to faint. Customizeable MC?15 guys??That art???Probably voiced???? MINI GAMES???? Wow. I'm in love with the plot. I'm not really into otome games... But man, this is not a Otome Game, this is THE Otome Game !! I'm really looking forward for more sketches (*¬*) like the second one hehehehhh.
I had a crush with Minami Ren, he is my soulmate, you did this character for me >///<
Sooooo, loved everything and looking forward for more info, artwork and everything. Thank you for this fantastic project and good luck

[hiko27]

It feels like the next gen of stuck and never released in English otoge,TMGS,Love Revo,Dialovers and UtaPri :p
I like the story but harem?Please...
It makes me hard decide who's going to be number 1 XDD
Anyway,I love your art and concept (of course)
But,I hope you didn't force yourself and your friends to make such a big project and I'm waiting XDD

Haha, sadly, there are no sadistic vampires with issues nor are there any singing idols in this game. Oh, it is harem though? Reverse harem to be exact. What makes this game unique is that you can choose your harem from all of them. We're still not sure if the maximum is four or five guys per gameplay. Ah thank you! And no, we're not forcing anybody I think? xD

Okayokayokay, i think i'm going to faint. Customizeable MC?15 guys??That art???Probably voiced???? MINI GAMES???? Wow. I'm in love with the plot. I'm not really into otome games... But man, this is not a Otome Game, this is THE Otome Game !! I'm really looking forward for more sketches (*¬*) like the second one hehehehhh.
I had a crush with Minami Ren, he is my soulmate, you did this character for me >///<
Sooooo, loved everything and looking forward for more info, artwork and everything. Thank you for this fantastic project and good luck

Please don't faint! Why thank you. And I'll try practicing my art just for more reactions like this then. Thanks!

[hiko27]

Update: We went for an indefinite hiatus for who knows how long, and now that finals are almost over, we're finally back. Sadly, all the writers disappeared on us. I did PM them about it but nobody replied. So now, we're recruiting new writers for the game and also a colorist.

Also, here's some excerpt from Sakura's writing for Kouta.

Meru: “Uhmm… Ren?”
Ren looks up at me for a second, and then glances back to his book. He obviously doesn’t understand how to hold a conversation! Either way, he seems like a good candidate. I better step up my game.
Meru: “I was wondering--”
I didn’t get far with my words when Kouta rushes in between me and Ren, almost pushing me to the floor.
Meru: “GAHH!”
I try and retain my previous balance, and stand beside Kouta.
Kouta: “Hey Ren!”
That was rude, what the hell!? Ren gives a slight nod at Kouta, putting a bookmark in his book and shoving it into his bag.

Also, Sakura's really good at tempting me, so once we release a demo (which will be 1/4 of the game), we'll create a Kickstarter to be able to raise money to make the game even better (Idk if we can even make it better than I'm hoping for). We'll also try to get some English and Japanese voice acting for the game. We'll also probably try and have the game translated to Japanese, if the game's popular enough in the international OELVN community.

I'm also selling commissions to not only have fellow VN makers have access to my art, but also to raise some money that we can use for the game and future games as well.

I think that's all?

[autumnruby]

This game looks awesome!I'm not sure how to say this but...why are most of the characters really short?

[hiko27]

This game looks awesome!I'm not sure how to say this but...why are most of the characters really short?

Thank you! And by short, do you mean their stature in the sketches? Those are busts, so that's not really their full height. I assure you that muscle dude is hella tall.

[Ordog]

I think by short, she meant that all of them are around 170cm !

Your game makes me think of TMGS and the shirtless guy feels like Lionel from Lost Island (The otome game with zombies) Is he Okura ?

I'm already waiting for Osagawa's story (I'm currently reading the tale of Genji haha) and Ito hiroki, the action movie fan (Crows Zero, Old Boy and JSA... he convinced me right away xD)
Though I wouldn't mind going for the teacher if he wears glasses (Aren't Megane-sans always Smexy ?)

But I guess we won't see such a huge project finished within the year, it's obviously a lot of time and work. *yare*
Good Luck !

[hiko27]

I think by short, she meant that all of them are around 170cm !

Your game makes me think of TMGS and the shirtless guy feels like Lionel from Lost Island (The otome game with zombies) Is he Okura ?

I'm already waiting for Osagawa's story (I'm currently reading the tale of Genji haha) and Ito hiroki, the action movie fan (Crows Zero, Old Boy and JSA... he convinced me right away xD)
Though I wouldn't mind going for the teacher if he wears glasses (Aren't Megane-sans always Smexy ?)

But I guess we won't see such a huge project finished within the year, it's obviously a lot of time and work. *yare*
Good Luck !

Ahhh, well, we didn't want to make them too tall and opted to make them as realistic as possible.

Muscles dude? That's Toru. We haven't finished character designs yet, so we'll definitely consider making Junichi a megane (though just a little spoiler, Toru wears glasses). Glad to know you like them!

Yeah, there's no certain we'll finish it this year, but we're hoping for the demo (which will contain about 1/4 of the game) around November hopefully. The full game'll be next year at the latest.

[Ordog]

So he has the muscles AND the glasses ?!
"small animals (but he says it’s cause he feels obligated to protect them)"
I bet he's the fake Icerberg, hiding a marshmallow side under the water.

You know, actually all of the guys I know are around 170/180cm and that's the norm where I live. Girl's are around 160-170cm though I'm shorter *wipes sweat*
Anyway, as long as they are taller than the MC it should be okay. Plus, I'm sure ingame this won't matter to us players~

[hiko27]

So he has the muscles AND the glasses ?!
"small animals (but he says it’s cause he feels obligated to protect them)"
I bet he's the fake Icerberg, hiding a marshmallow side under the water.

You know, actually all of the guys I know are around 170/180cm and that's the norm where I live. Girl's are around 160-170cm though I'm shorter *wipes sweat*
Anyway, as long as they are taller than the MC it should be okay. Plus, I'm sure ingame this won't matter to us players~

Hahahaha, well, you'll learn why. I guess, we'll see once we've managed to release the game.

Yeah, same here. Most guys are around there, even shorter (heck sometimes I'm taller than them and I'm 5'3"). So that's good to know, we really just want to make our characters a little more realistic. Hopefully that's how they'll appear to others.

[hiko27]

UPDATE: All sketches have been removed. Art assets will now be made from scratch. The previous ones were really outdated, and my art style's changed a whole lot since then so hence the removal. We'll hopefully have sketches (or even lineart) for it in the next few days.

[Holland]

This idea is really great (o u o)
I can't wait to see the new sketches~