An interesting idea.. (BxG, Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy)

[glidinggengar]

Hi, everyone. As you can probably tell, I'm completely new here. I've played Ren'py games for some time, and now I've had inspiration to contribute back to the community. I've got a project in mind that I'd really look forward to starting. Based upon what I've come up with, I think it would end up a really memorable game (I could be wrong, of course.) My primary concern's the art; I'm not too swell at that. Although I've recently only started to become familiar with Ren'py, I will be writing and coding it as my knowledge expands. It'd take a while for one man. Anyways, for any of you fellow users that would be interested, please do PM me. Assistant writers/coders would be great. The more, the better. Artists are needed, as well. So, without further ado, I give you everything I've basically got (I wrote it all down earlier before I could forget =u=;):

Title: I have no idea what to call it yet. All of this is just jotting/typing down ideas.

Genre(s): Slice of life (-ish), Romance (boy pursues girl); humor elements in addition.

Setting: Salem, Oregon (United States)! Present day!

Characters:
-Main character (yet to be named, among others -- let's call him M); Somewhat pessimistic, changes depending on choices.
-M's friend (call him J); Male. Met with M as a freshman. Became close friends. Jovial. Who could forget the humorous side characters?
-New friend (Let's call him A); Male. Met with M when put in his group when going to America. Observant, nerdish, can be weird. Cool guy that helps overall.
-Girl1 (needs a name too); M's classmate. Kind, respectful, and of course (who could forget) the childhood friend.
-Girl2 (you guessed it); Someone M meets in America. Outgoing, daring. The kind of activity starter in a group.
-Girl3 (I'm horrible with names); ???? (no idea yet, maybe this could be like one involved in an *alternate ending*..?!)
-An assortment of minor characters. (Esp. classmates, be they feminine boys, manly women, weirdos, stereotypical students, anything, idk yet.)

Basic, basic story layout (Yeah, this is only what I'm coming up with now. Hoo boy, this going to be a long story.):
Alrighty, so you're obviously going to be playing as M. He lives with his mother, his father passed when he was only two. Him and Girl1 were born in the same hospital
and grew up together. He has attended a high school that integrates English and Japanese kids in Tokyo because of his great grades. This is a really high class school.
Lucky, smart M. Of course, from this, he (with his classmates) has fluently learned English. He meets J here. Let's skip ahead.
Now that he's in his last (senior) year, he's given the option to travel to the northwest coast of America for a field trip for a week during summer break.
The destination is the capital of Oregon, Salem. With hesitation, M decides to go ahead with the trip. (Maybe if you decide not to go, the *Alternate ending* occurs??)
Such an opportunity is hard to find more than once. So, on the day for the field trip, he is grouped with J, A, and Girl1, with a teacher, of course.
He has a few fun experiences on the cruise ship there (YEAH, A CRUISE!). Upon arriving in Salem, all of the groups of seniors are given respective apartments.
They are then allowed to explore the area and be in the apartments by 10 pm. So, M's group takes off and explores the city. M is temporarily lost from the group, and
finds girl2 in a nearby field, playing soccer by herself (after practice ended). M walks up to her and asks for directions back to his apartment complex.
Depending on what you choose, you could let girl2 walk you back (Option a) or you could just follow the directions (Option B).
(Option A) They introduce one another (and etc.) as girl2 leads him back to where he should be. When they arrive, she introduces herself to the rest of M's group.
After a bit of conversation, girl2 leaves and everyone heads to bed. [Girl2 +1]
(Option B) M thanks her for the directions and heads back to the apartments and explains to his group what happened. Girl1 was worried, and you two start a
conversation based off of that. You both then head to bed after the others already have. [Girl1 +1]
The next day, the group goes places again (not specified yet, being broad right now). In one of the places that they visit, they see girl2. If Option A was chosen,
then girl2 comes along with the group for the rest of the day. If Option B was chosen, girl2 introduces herself to everyone and when the group leaves she says goodbye.
The day after that, the group doesn't particularly feel like exploring, but rather going down to a beach. You decide whether you want to go with them (Option C) or
if you want to split up and keep exploring with J (Option D).
(Option C) M and the group have a fun day at the beach. Many humorous moments. When the sun is setting, everyone eats at a grill. They all have a blast. Also, when
it gets dark, M decides to (most cliche-ishly) light small fireworks with them. M then sits by girl1 at the end of a bridge while the others are playing with fireworks.
They talk together again and bond closer before heading back with the rest of them for bed. [Girl1 +1]
(Option D) J and M decide to go to a local arcade, where they yet again run into girl2 (what coincidence, huh?). The three of them have a fun experience playing
video games, and afterwards, they eat pizza. J then decides that he "forgot to do something" and leaves after eating. M and girl2 talk when this time M escorts
girl2 home with her. [Girl2 +1]
On the third day, girl1 and girl2 decide to go to a mall together. That leaves M with the other two guys, J and A. All three of them play video games and have a
guys-only day. At one point in the conversation, A brings up something about which girl M has his interests in. You decide which one better suits M's interests.
(Option E) You decide that M might actually like girl1 a little bit. This gives a nod of approval from A, whatever that means (COUGHCOUGHheshipsthosetwoCOUGH).
The guys resume their play for the rest of the day until girl1 and girl2 return. You decide to talk with girl1 and later head to bed. [Girl1 +1]
(Option F) You choose that M has some interest in girl2, somewhat. J laughs at this statement. M shrugs it off (Heh, J ships those two). The guys resume their
activites until the two girls come back. You decide to talk with girl2 until it's time to sleep. [Girl2 +1]
-----
If girl1 > girl2, then girl1's story arc begins. If girl2 > girl1, then girl2's story arc begins.
Well, that's all I've formulated for that right now. Of course, if this does get turned into something, I'll obviously have to prewrite what happens in each arc.
Oh, right, right. I almost forgot my brainstorming for the alternative ending. Here it is.

*Alternative ending..?!*
So, you think you'll obviously end the game before it begins if you choose not to go on the trip. Well, guess again. *Dun dun duuuuun.* Alright, so, M, being the
pessimist he is, decides against going on the trip. It's a waste of his summer break and effort. Why go to a country you've never really wanted to visit, any-
ways? So, on the last day of school, he is grouped with all of the people who decided against it. There's only one other person, and it's a girl (girl3). Quiet.
M tries to start a conversation with her out of pure boredom. She hardly talks. However, M questions what book she's reading, since it looks kind of dull.
She doesn't say anything, so M goes on the offensive and snatches it from girl3. She reaches for it and says in a cold tone to give it back. M says that
he'd give it back to her if she actually talked to him, who had nothing better to do. Girl3 reluctantly goes along with the conversation and gets to know M.
Realizing that with his friends gone on the trip, M has no one to spend the vacation with. He makes her promise to meet up with him at a restaurant in town in
return for the book. Girl3 gives him a cold stare, trying to make him say he's bluffing. After a few awkward seconds, she gives up and nods in defeat.
Girl3's arc begins after this.

So, that's that, pretty much. If I could get the resources to do this, I think it'd turn out a pretty great game. Thanks for reading.

Oh, and I've got a screenshot of a scene that I will get to later, if the story reaches that point.


Thank you all for your time! Also, I look forward to being part of these forums.

[dangu]

https://soundcloud.com/daveglaze need musician?

[glidinggengar]

@dangu Well, yeah, it wouldn't hurt to have some original music. I was going to go with free-use music, but a musician for the game would be great! So, sure. PM me if you're up for it. Hopefully we'll get this in full swing (probably going to need art, heh).

[gekiganwing]

Thanks for joining the forum, and for posting your ideas so far. Some comments and questions...

First, if you want to get people interested in your story, then you might benefit by developing an elevator pitch. In other words, sum up your story in a sentence. Convey its main points in as few words as possible, and make sure the story sounds appealing.

Second, if you're struggling with names, consider looking for a name generator. Think about the characters' backgrounds and family. For instance, if the main character is of Japanese descent, then his name might be Makoto or Minoru. (I got those two examples from Babynames.ch.) But there's a possibility that his parents are eccentric people who like unusual names. Also, if he is a multiracial person, or an individual who simply grew up in Japan, then perhaps he may have a given name but go by a nickname.

Third, if you need to create an outline, that's fine. You might benefit by making sure your story has structure. If you want to help make sure people want to read it, then consider discussing something other than what will happen scene-by-scene. Perhaps focus on talking about your goals for the story's emotional impact. Or talk about how you will portray the characters. Or discuss how you will give the story a sense of time and place.

Let me try to explain this another way... Decades ago, Coca-Cola used the slogan "The pause that refreshes." It doesn't perfectly capture the experience of drinking a soda. However, it makes the product seem calming and appealing. Consider the alternative -- what if the company had tried to sell the drink with a slogan such as "The pause that's cold and wet"?

Now that he's in his last (senior) year, he's given the option to travel to the northwest coast of America for a field trip for a week during summer break.

Going to another nation for a trip during a summer break seems rather remarkable. Hopefully your main character will understand this this is quite an opportunity. Also, it enables you as a writer to discuss a bunch of themes. These include the thrill of exploring new places and meeting new people, culture shock, and homesickness.

The destination is the capital of Oregon, Salem.

Have you been there, or lived there? If so, then consider using your own experiences, and then double checking to make sure there are no factual errors. See if you can follow what Writing Excuses said in their audio program about portraying the city as a character.

One last thing... if your main character develops a close relationship with a local girl, then near or at the end of the story, they might need to transition to a long distance relationship. Of course they can meet again. Technologies such as Skype now make it easier to communicate around the world. But it will probably be years before they can travel again, or migrate to another country. Is this a topic you want to address in your story?

[glidinggengar]

Thanks for joining the forum, and for posting your ideas so far. Some comments and questions...

First, if you want to get people interested in your story, then you might benefit by developing an elevator pitch. In other words, sum up your story in a sentence. Convey its main points in as few words as possible, and make sure the story sounds appealing.

Second, if you're struggling with names, consider looking for a name generator. Think about the characters' backgrounds and family. For instance, if the main character is of Japanese descent, then his name might be Makoto or Minoru. (I got those two examples from Babynames.ch.) But there's a possibility that his parents are eccentric people who like unusual names. Also, if he is a multiracial person, or an individual who simply grew up in Japan, then perhaps he may have a given name but go by a nickname.

Third, if you need to create an outline, that's fine. You might benefit by making sure your story has structure. If you want to help make sure people want to read it, then consider discussing something other than what will happen scene-by-scene. Perhaps focus on talking about your goals for the story's emotional impact. Or talk about how you will portray the characters. Or discuss how you will give the story a sense of time and place.

Let me try to explain this another way... Decades ago, Coca-Cola used the slogan "The pause that refreshes." It doesn't perfectly capture the experience of drinking a soda. However, it makes the product seem calming and appealing. Consider the alternative -- what if the company had tried to sell the drink with a slogan such as "The pause that's cold and wet"?

Now that he's in his last (senior) year, he's given the option to travel to the northwest coast of America for a field trip for a week during summer break.

Going to another nation for a trip during a summer break seems rather remarkable. Hopefully your main character will understand this this is quite an opportunity. Also, it enables you as a writer to discuss a bunch of themes. These include the thrill of exploring new places and meeting new people, culture shock, and homesickness.

The destination is the capital of Oregon, Salem.

Have you been there, or lived there? If so, then consider using your own experiences, and then double checking to make sure there are no factual errors. See if you can follow what Writing Excuses said in their audio program about portraying the city as a character.

One last thing... if your main character develops a close relationship with a local girl, then near or at the end of the story, they might need to transition to a long distance relationship. Of course they can meet again. Technologies such as Skype now make it easier to communicate around the world. But it will probably be years before they can travel again, or migrate to another country. Is this a topic you want to address in your story?

Alright, first.. That's a pretty good idea. I'll try and come up with something that'll capture it.

Second, name generators; those will help greatly with my dilemma here. I'll try searching through to see one that might fit pretty well.

As for your third statement, I entirely agree with you. I'll make some changes to what I have as I posted the topic half asleep (whoops).
Right, so basically be more persuasive in what I'm writing rather than just posting everything that I see. Got it.

Yes, the reason I thought of such a trip was for a bit of spice. So many elements can be added here because of that. It's so much fun taking in everything about new places.

As for the Salem, Oregon selection, I don't have much to back that up. At the moment I thought it would be more convenient transportation-wise (so that there would be more development on the cruise, rather than a flight on a plane). Oregon's also a pretty place. I haven't visited it, but I have researched it a little. Reconsideration of the location would be a nice move in the long run though. However, I can't say I've been many places. Maybe research will do me good.

Now, last but not least. I hadn't particularly thought about addressing that topic, considering when I started all of this, I wasn't looking too far ahead. Of course, this could be a handy little topic later.

Thank you very much for your advice. I'll be sure to learn from it!