Finding Dream Girl

[Tracy Bullet]

Or alternative title if that's too nail-on-the-head: Magical Dream Romance

Finding Dream Girl is a sim date that isn't a full-out parody but does poke fun at the flaws in romance games. Each girl is the twist on the stock characters: shy girl, sporty girl, popular girl, nice girl, and magical girl. It also features the "normal" guy. You know the ones; they think they're simple losers when really they can be molded into any personality based on the path they're on. However, unlike a classic sim date, instead of a perfect love interest, you get four jerks who pretty much hate each other.

Basic Premise:
Every night since the protagonist started his new high school, a magical girl comes to him in his dreams. She says she is a cherub, a cupid if you will. She says that he will meet his true love this year. You have a dream of her every Sunday night, and each dream becomes more and more vivid as time goes on. During these dreams, she gives you love advice and information on the girls.

Stats:
Clubs:
-Boy’s track +2 fitness, scenes with all girls but Annie
-Noveling club +2 intelligence, scenes with all girls but Talia
-Art club +2 creativity, scenes with all girls but Jenna
-School musical +2 charm, scenes with all girls but Lira

Upgrade after clubs:
When in club and reach ___ of the stat matches, these unlock
-Varsity track team +4 fitness, scenes with all girls but Annie
-School literary magazine +4 intelligence, scenes with all girls but Talia
-Art elective class +4 creativity, scenes with all girls but Jenna
-Run lines +4 charm, scenes with all girls but Lira

Weekday activities:
-Exercise +5 fitness, noticed by Talia and Lira
-Study +5 intelligence, noticed by Annie and Jenna
-Paint +5 creativity, noticed by Talia and Annie
-Hang out with friends +5 charm, noticed by Jenna and Lira

Stats needed (not finalized because math):
Good: 200, 200
Best: 200, 300

Characters:

Girl 1: Annie
Annie is a ‘shy’ girl. In actuality, her silence is due to her thinking she is better than everyone. She hates everyone. She lives in the library, and she is head of the writing club and an editor on the school literary magazine. She writes all kinds of things, but her favorite is poetry. She likes guys who are intelligent, because she feels they are respectable and up to her level, maybe even above it. (That’s something she should get over, by the way.)

Girl 2: Talia
Talia is the sporty girl. She is leader of the girl’s track team. She was once best friends with Jenna, but she now thinks that Jenna is a stuck-up girly girl who thinks she is better than everyone, because she’s smart and a malevolent traitor. She is a friend with Lira, though originally she only became friends with her as a replacement for Jenna. Little as one may expect, she is impressed by big, romantic gestures. She likes boys who are creative, because both she enjoys those with passion and those who can “show her the world.” A creative boy with a sensitive side with a matching adventurous side is her absolute dream guy.

Girl 3: Jenna
Jenna is the popular girl. She is likable, fit, and way super intelligent to boot. Mary Sue? Ha. She’s seriously emotionally unstable. You can’t have it all, right? She was once the best friend of Talia, but she now thinks that she is an elitist tomboy who thinks she is better than everyone, because she’s athletic and has no loyalty or trustworthiness. She also hates Lira, because she is jealous of her friendship with Talia and angry at Lira’s allegiance to Talia. She likes boys who are charming, though she will feel threatened by them. Honestly, she will see charming boys as rivals for attention, and she enjoys having someone who can test her skills. A charming boy with a touch of chivalry and competitiveness is her dream boy.

Girl 4: Lira
Lira is the nice, welcoming girl. People think she’s kind of annoying. She kind of is. She may be the one person (besides you, maybe) who likes Annie. She thinks Annie is just a shy loner girl and not that bad. She is friends with everyone as a particularly charming person, but is especially close to Talia. She’s generally oblivious, but she always means well. She likes boys who are fit, partially because she respects those with self-discipline, mostly for the obvious shallow reasons. However, no matter how fit you are, she won’t like you especially if you can’t get along with others. A guy with rock-hard pectorals protecting a bleeding heart is her dream boy.

Dream Girl:
This is it: your true end, your perfect girl. For once, you don’t have to be the dream boy. Here she is! …Here she is! Where is she? Ok, I can’t find her, and she’s not necessarily your perfect girl. Your perfect girl does not exist, just like the perfect guy for all the other girls don’t exist. But let me tell you something: she is your soul mate. D’awww. She messes up. She trips over her words. She gets frustrated easily, and she’s pretty judgmental; let’s be honest. She wants to be helpful, and warning: she does get jealous. All you have to do to win her heart is to spend time with her and show that you care. She’ll give you back the same caring and companionship in return.

Plots to explore include but are not limited to:
-Romancing all four main girls
-Romancing Dream Girl
-Mending Talia's and Jenna's friendship
-Getting Annie and Lira to be friends


So far the game is mostly in the planning stages. It will likely be free-to-play. I'll update this as more stuff like art comes into play.

[gekiganwing]

Finding Dream Girl is a sim date that isn't a full-out parody but does poke fun at the flaws in romance games. Each girl is the twist on the stock characters: shy girl, sporty girl, popular girl, nice girl, and magical girl.

It's your story -- write what you want.

On a personal note, I'd be more interested if your story were straightforward rather than a revisionist take on boy x girl romance, or a combination of deconstruction and reconstruction. Then again, I admit that I'm kind of strange. I still find myself thinking about a number of untranslated 1990s romance games which I would like to play in English during my lifetime...

So far the game is mostly in the planning stages. It will likely be free-to-play.

Be careful with the scope of your project, especially if it's freeware. I have seen too many planned freeware games and visual novels die quietly during their development. Sometimes it seems that creators get frustrated or bored. Sometimes it seems that the creator wants to design a complex story or game, but they realize too late that they can't enough time to getting it done. Sometimes it seems a project is going well, but then it gets cancelled due to illness, disaster, money concerns, or relationship problems. Therefore, consider whether this should be an indie game. Also, make sure that you are passionate about creating your story and/or its gameplay.

[Tracy Bullet]

Be careful with the scope of your project, especially if it's freeware. I have seen too many planned freeware games and visual novels die quietly during their development. Sometimes it seems that creators get frustrated or bored. Sometimes it seems that the creator wants to design a complex story or game, but they realize too late that they can't enough time to getting it done. Sometimes it seems a project is going well, but then it gets cancelled due to illness, disaster, money concerns, or relationship problems. Therefore, consider whether this should be an indie game. Also, make sure that you are passionate about creating your story and/or its gameplay.

I hear you. I've been the one to cancel games in the past due to illness and tensions within the team. However, this time it's going to be different, and I mean that. I have much less of a budget than I used to, but I have more of a drive and more time and experience than I did before. Thank you for your concern, though. I appreciate that you'd give me a warning.

[Tracy Bullet]

Wow, I thought taking the scripts I made in like 11th grade and rewrote in my first year of college and remaking them into an event format would be all I need to do, but it looks like I should re-rewrite it from almost the bottom up.