Betting on Love [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Slife]

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9-of-Hearts
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Betting on Love [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Slife]

#1 Post by 9-of-Hearts »

Image
Hey there!
This baby has been in my head for about 5 years now and I'm finally starting it up.
I'm writing the story, and creating the main art assets. I'm working on another, smaller project at the same time as this is posted, because people said to create a smaller game first to prove myself. ^^;; Eheh...
ABOUT THE GAME
The origins of the game:
Tired of weak, stereotypical heroines going after stereotypical guys, I created Mariko, a confident and charismatic girl who actually has the upper hand in her situation! The people around her aren't straight-up stereotypes either--they're their own people. The story focuses on the growth and interactions of the characters as well as the romantic aspects. I hope to make all the characters (the main ones at least) pretty three-dimensional in this eventual visual novel.
Yours truly,
9-of-Hearts

PLOT
One Valentine's Day, three bored rich boys bet they can win a girl’s heart within a year—and you turn out to be the random girl they chose. Seeing through their motives, you enter into the bet of your own free will—what better than to beat guys like that at their own crazy game? But can you actually win this bet, or will you end up losing your heart to someone?
But don’t lose sight of the future--fulfill your personal ambitions in life in the meanwhile!

An otome game in which the targets pursue you!
GENRE: GXB, GXG, romance, friendship, slice-of-life, high school, stat-raising, day planner

SETTING
Roppongi district, Tokyo, Japan
Also, Silver Sky/Ginkuu Academy, the elite (fictional) high school.
GAMEPLAY
  • + You will be playing out a year's worth of time in 60 playable days, from Feb 14, to Feb 14
    + The days will be played out in the "Day Planner" method, and there will be stat-raising within that time
    + Stats: Charm, Charisma, Intelligence
    + You can raise stats by buying certain items from the shops (a few of which will unlock events), or by making certain choices in your conversations (it's possible to lose stat points in conversations, too!)
    + You will choose your career path pretty early on in the game, but you won't ever be set to a specific romantic route--Mariko's story is under your control, for better or worse
ART

I will be doing all the art that involves the characters (CGs, sprites) and I may or may not end up doing the backgrounds too. (I at least have my reference images for the BGs!). But there is going to be a LOT of art for me to do for this, most of which is likely to be done next summer when I have a load of freer time.
I'm planning on plenty of CGs, and yeah... My work's cut out for me. But even so, I didn't spend all day writing and formatting this idea up and drawing out Mariko just to give up on this project.
ENDINGS
So far I believe there are going to be 11 possible endings. Though if certain mechanics change, I may decide to have more--there is a Good ending for everyone, and a Bittersweet ending. ...I'm still wondering if it would be necessary to have a Bad ending for each route as well. Oh, and there is no "true" ending.
CHARACTERS (images to be redrawn soon)
Protagonist:
Image
Yamashita Mariko (山下真理子)—
Age: 17
Height: 171 cm (5' 7")
Blood Type: AB
Her father owns and runs TOTAL/STAR, a well-known modeling agency. As an ex child model who quit that part of the industry for certain reasons (the same reasons she chopped off her hair and bleached it blonde), she now desires to be a talent manager, though that could change. She craves excitement in life-- and can make some pretty eccentric decisions because of it-- and the worst thing to her is a liar. Mariko is a loyal person who dotes on and teases her friends to no end, but rarely bothers with people who dislike her for no apparent reason. She is also never shy, and can be too quickly judgmental.
“People really are interesting.”















Pursuable characters:

Those guys~

Image Shin Ah-Gyul (신아귤, シン * アーギュル )—
Age: 18
Height: 183 cm (6' 0")
Blood Type: O
Ah-Gyul is Mariko's Korean friend from childhood who lost contact with her. He is the only heir to the major Korean cell-phone company that his father runs. This guy is highly intelligent, but has an insatiable desire to mess with others--he tends to come up with various challenges and bets to make things more entertaining, as he is easily bored.
“Oh, you want to know more about me, hm? And what will you give me for that information?”


Image Tsutano Junhei (蔦野準兵)—
Age: 17
Height: 185 cm (6' 1")
Blood Type: A
A son of a major politician, Junhei is dissatisfied by and wants little to nothing to do with a high-profile life. He works part-time at a local café for the experience. Also, he is a very straightforward person and easily frustrated. His cousin Naomi is like a little sister to him.
“Dishonesty won’t get me anywhere I want to go.”
Image Shun Czernia (旬 * チェルニャ)—
Age: 18
Height: 175 cm (5' 9")
Blood Type: B
The son of an ambassador to Japan, Shun wants to be a Japanese pop idol in spite of strong opposition from his family. He is half-Japanese, half-Polish, and has a sweet and fun people-pleasing manner. Despite the sweetness he can be rather flirtatious, a side no one takes seriously.
“A girl’s smile…. That’s my favorite thing in the world.”


The right-hand girls~

Image Okudaira Ruri (奥平瑠璃)—
Age: 17
Height: 154 cm (5' 1")
Blood Type: B
One of Mariko's best friends, they've known each other for years. Ruri is the eldest daughter of a big-name fashion designer. She is quiet and rather shy. However, while on the outside she may be sugar-sweet, a budding young designer, and above all super cute, this girl has a bad side rarely seen and best avoided.
“Um… Even though I’m not very confident….I’ll do my best!”


Image Tanaka Kyouko (田中強固)—
Age: 17
Height: 173 cm (5' 8")
Blood Type: A
She is the daughter of training dojo owners and is an academic scholarship student at No. 3 in the class. She’s technically of a lower class than anyone else at the academy, but no one dares mention it anymore. She has zero social skills and a strong sense of justice, is prone to violence, and is very fun to tease relentlessly. Despite the teasing, her loyalties lie with Mariko and Ruri, having known both for about two years prior.
“As long as I’m alive, vigilance is ke—eh, Mariko, what are you doing?!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other Characters:

Kou & Sou (小歌 & 双歌)—
Age: 18
They are a mischievous and identical pair of Visual Kei hopefuls, and are currently models at TOTAL/STAR--guys Mariko scouted a few years ago. These twins are her current favorites at the agency, but she works hard to help them in their aspirations to make their debut as part of a J-Rock group even though it means they’ll eventually leave the company.
“Two of us just means double the passion. And don’t think we meant that only one way--<3”

Hana (花)—
Age: 17
She is Junhei’s ex, a pretty and sweet girl, and from a common family somewhat surprisingly. Why did they break up?
“Things are…complicated.”


Papa (パパ)—
Age: 50
He is fifty-year-old owner and CEO of TOTAL/STAR Agency and Mariko's one and only father. He wants very much for his little girl to become a model again because she was great at what she did, but he can get irritating about it sometimes. He dotes on his daughter, who he sees as mature and responsible and yet “VERYCUTE!”
“Won’t you model again? For Papa?”


Mom (お母さん)—
Age: 41
A top model even at 41, she married the owner of her agency when she was twenty-two. She had her only child at 24 and kept up her career the entire time, being a driven and charismatic beauty as she was. It could easily be said that she is the example Mariko hopes to follow, at least in ideals.
“If you’re going to do something, don’t leave it halfway.”


Naomi (直美)—
Age: 13
She is a spoiled little girl who falls for her “prince,” a.k.a. Mariko. She is a well-meaning but accidentally insensitive child, and the cousin of Junhei.
“My Prince—I still love you, even though you need to work out your gender-identity issues.”


Chika (千歌)—
Age: 12
She is Ruri’s animal-loving little sister, and is in the 6th grade. Chika is much more outgoing than her sibling but even though she likes and respects both Kyouko and Mariko, they both intimidate her...so her sister’s best friends don’t see the girl too often.
“Please take care of my big sister!”
PROGRESS:
To actually make this happen someday, I will most certainly need (not now, but eventually--I'm saving up money)
  • + a programmer--my expertise will never be in this area, and there are a decent amount of things I'd like to be able to do in this game
    + a logo and GUI--these are other things I can't pull off myself
    + possibly a BG artist--it might turn out I can handle that myself, but its more for timeliness
    + a music director--it could easily be anyone that helps me out in general.....or if I can get it, a composer

    Script: 0%
    Character Sprites: 5%
    Item images: 0%
    BGs: 0%
    CGs: 0%
    Music: 0% (probably public domain music)
    GUI: 0%
    Programming: 0%
Release date:
Not in the near future. It's still technically an "idea" rather than a work-in-progress, for good reason.
Any comments/questions/critiques?
(P.S.) I think the general consensus is "Betting on Love," so I'm going with that I think!
Thanks for reading!!
Last edited by 9-of-Hearts on Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:03 pm, edited 11 times in total.

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AshenhartKrie
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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#2 Post by AshenhartKrie »

Why not just 'Silver Sky', since that's the name of the school?
I like the look of this, your art is very pretty!
PLus that sounds like something I would do!
Good luck on this!
(I'd offer to help programming... but I can barely add in a choice.... so i wouldn't be much help XD) Since it seems interesting, I'm sure you'll get some offers.

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#3 Post by Ginger »

Alright first off; people say that the Japanese high school setting is cliche, but I honestly don't mind at all(: As long as you like what you're doing, all will be well.

Second; I like the cute plot. Not the most exciting thing I've ever seen, but I still really like and I want to play. I really like your art to; it's beautiful! I think this will make a lovely game, and if you need any help, I'd love to and/or I'm sure anyone else would.

Sorry I don't have much to say since I did just quick read over and it's late in my time zone. But I really like this, and I will be following it! I wish you the best of luck on this!

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#4 Post by FatUnicornGames »

I like what I'm seeing so far! As far as the Japanese Highschool setting goes, if you really feel it is necessary then go for it. It's your project.

As far as a name goes? It is kind of corny, but 'Betting on Love' jumped in my head.

Shin Ah-Gyul is looking like he will be pretty cute, I am always a proponent for a love interest in glasses.
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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#5 Post by magbie »

Plot seems interesting enough and I already like the characters :)

Edit: -there was a rant about polish names and surnames here-

Just noticed the order in which you placed the names.
Well, you can PM me if you have any questions about polish stuff :wink:

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#6 Post by 9-of-Hearts »

@AshenhartKrie: Thank you very much! I'll keep the title in mind!

@Ginger: I will admit, I worry about my plot (like I worry about everything) because I'm so focused on my characters. Based on the personalities of the characters, it felt like the most feasible way to draw them together... Because certain people *cough*likespoilsportJunhei*coughcough* wouldn't have stuck around otherwise. ^^; Err...
Sorry! But yeah, thank you so much for your support! I hope I can make a sweet and interesting game, and thanks again!
(And yeah, it was late in my time zone too but it was then or never for me, hehe)

@FatUnicornGames: I'm a slightly biased creator....Ah-Gyul is probably one of my favorites, at least of the pursuables--over time he grew on me quite a bit.... And I'll keep that title in mind.

@magbie: Fixed it...or so I think. I was debating which way to write it, but this makes more sense because his father is the Polish parent. Thanks for calling it out (if there's still a problem, don't hesitate to tell me), and I will definitely be PMing you at some point. My stepmom knows a lot about her Polish heritage, but I don't think I'll be asking her much anytime soon.
And glad you like the characters!



Okay, and let's hope I don't come back online till Saturday--I have homework to be doing x.x

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#7 Post by Halberry »

This game sounds like it'll be a lot of fun - a protagonist who's playing the lead males as much as they're trying to play her is a great concept.

I actually like the title "Love Game", or, as I was thinking, "Let's Play A Love Game", because it reminds me of that Lady GaGa song. And the GaGa song is about people weaving around each other, trying to get sex/romance from each other without outright saying it, which seems to fit the theme of your game pretty well. But "Silver Sky" is also a good name, as it reflects the school.

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#8 Post by WickedRaccoon »

After taking the time to read the whole plot,I must say,playing as a female protagonist that plays around with guys instead of just making them fall for you sounds rather interesting.And since I like games when a girl has the upper hand,I'm gonna enjoy playing this.So I'm gonna staaaaaaalk this ^^
Also,why would you say that your artistic skills are barely at par,when the art looks great?No,really.Mariko gives this feeling of a strong and sharped-minded girl that can easily woop some rich-boy-butts,so your art actually reflects their character.
As for the name,I second FatUnicorn's "Betting on Love",since the plot is about a bet.
I wish you good luck for the game!!!!..Oh I almost forgot.Is this a commercial game?

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#9 Post by gekiganwing »

9-of-Hearts wrote:Tired of weak, stereotypical heroines going after stereotypical guys, I created Mariko, a confident and charismatic girl of flatter chest and butt who actually has the upper hand in her situation! The people around her aren't straight-up stereotypes either--they're their own people. The story focuses on the growth and interactions of the characters as well as the romantic aspects. I hope to make all the characters (the main ones at least) pretty three-dimensional in this eventual visual novel.
It will take quite a bit of effort to create a simulation game with quality writing and characterization. You'll need passion and dedication to create a finished product. As I've said to other people, make sure you're prepared. If you encounter any difficulties, then try creating the game one section or route at a time, or asking for help. Request assistance with programming... and if you don't get replies here on Lemma Soft, then look elsewhere.

Your summary reminds me of the freeware game Heartache 101, but gender-flipped, and with more emphasis on characterization.
9-of-Hearts wrote:Dateable characters: The right-hand girls~
Please let us know if these two girls will remain Mariko's friends, whether they are romance options, or if you have other plans.

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#10 Post by Veniae »

9-of-Hearts wrote:An otome game in which the targets pursue you!
Can I just say: In Soviet Russia, target pursue you! [/shot dead]

That said, this is a cute idea! I love the little twist with the bet, thumbs up for that! Your art is also really nice!

Just a small nitpick:
9-of-Hearts wrote:+ Stats: Charm, Charisma, Intelligence
Aren't charm and charisma pretty much the same thing? :D
FatUnicornGames wrote:'Betting on Love'
I second this idea!

Anyway, good luck with your game!

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#11 Post by WickedRaccoon »

Veniae wrote:Can I just say: In Soviet Russia, target pursue you! [/shot dead]
spotted,a fellow 9gager! 8D i loled so hard when i read this

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Re: [Placeholder Title] Love Game! [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Sl

#12 Post by 9-of-Hearts »

@WickedRaccoon: Thanks so much for the comments! As for my art, that picture of Mariko is the first digital image that came out 95% how I envisioned it. I'm barely reaching a point where I can be happy about my digital artwork ^^; And I have no clue at this stage if it will be commercial.
gekiganwing wrote:It will take quite a bit of effort to create a simulation game with quality writing and characterization. You'll need passion and dedication to create a finished product. As I've said to other people, make sure you're prepared. If you encounter any difficulties, then try creating the game one section or route at a time, or asking for help. Request assistance with programming... and if you don't get replies here on Lemma Soft, then look elsewhere.
I'm sectioning off the writing into manageable parts to work on, and I have organized lists for items and events. At the moment I'm creating the topics of conversation you can have with the characters when you run into them, after that I can/will write up the actual dialogue.
Passion I have, dedication to this project...but I'm not imagining that it will be easy, either. I want come through for the players though, and create a game of quality that can keep its players enjoying it the whole way, on every possible route--a hefty goal, but I'll get there even if it takes a year or more.
But with programming and etc., I'm going to wait on recruiting until I have more of my part physically done.
gekiganwing wrote: Please let us know if these two girls will remain Mariko's friends, whether they are romance options, or if you have other plans.
This has a GXG tag for a reason, as you can in fact pursue Kyouko and Ruri. However, romantic events for these characters will happen later in the story and with a little more effort to get them than the boys, since the two are in fact your good friends and not vying for affection... I'll be working out kinks in the interactions when I get the script-writing taken care of.
More than that, you won't want to ignore your friends when you pursue a guy--I'm not certain on how I'm going about it yet, but they won't appreciate it. And vice versa-- ignoring the guys won't be your best option either.


@Veniae: After seeing Rise of the Guardians, I keep imagining Santa saying these kinds of things, lol. xD And thanks for the comments and support!
As for the stats, yes, I guess in some senses the two are very similar--but I envisioned it (at least for use in the game) as "charm" is pleasing and sweeter, and "charisma" as a more mature and/or refined way of drawing people to you. The differences should be more discernible in the items and conversation choices.

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Re: Betting on Love [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Slife]

#13 Post by WickedRaccoon »

by the flying donkeys,i spot an art upate!!! 8D ruri is cute.she really looks like she's a designer's daughter,also a shy one.will keep tuned for more updates ^^

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Re: Betting on Love [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Slife]

#14 Post by Genesislove »

Wow, this looks so great. The story is nice and refreshing and the art's really cute.<3

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Re: Betting on Love [GXB][GXG][Friendship][Slife]

#15 Post by 9-of-Hearts »

So.... I've been busy lately with school and attempting to find my sprite/coloring style, but I fiddled around with my new Photoshop and made a logo!~
WickedRaccoon wrote:by the flying donkeys,i spot an art upate!!! 8D ruri is cute.she really looks like she's a designer's daughter,also a shy one.will keep tuned for more updates ^^
Awww, thanks! I'm glad, and sorry I haven't replied sooner, I wanted to have something to show.
Genesislove wrote:Wow, this looks so great. The story is nice and refreshing and the art's really cute.<3
Thanks so much! I'm glad you think so!

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