Enora: Monster Academy [G/BxG/B][School][Commercial]

[HeavenlyJoker]

Synopsis:
You are a fey; a changeling swapped at birth with a human child. You have no great powers nor any crippling weaknesses, and you long for a place you can call home amongst others like yourself. That place is Enora Academy. There, you will meet many others like yourself; some more humanlike than others. Find friends and love as you journey through your first year at the world-renowned Enora Academy.

Enora: Monster Academy is a dating sim featuring supernatural characters. It revolves around your day to day life at your new school. The game is a more traditional style of dating sim, relying on choices and heavy story instead of on stat-raising.

Features:

• Choose a first and last name for the character you play.
• Choose to play as a female or a male.
• Customize some aspects of your character's appearance, currently including hair style and color, eye color, skin tone, and whether or not you wear glasses.
• Dateable characters (except the unlockable) have preferences concerning appearance; one thing in each category (hair color and length, eye color, etc.) that they find particularly attractive and will earn you an extra point with them. You can't lose points with them this way.
• Zodiac signs and a personality quiz give you extra points towards various characters, but do not influence other parts of gameplay.
• 10 dateable characters (5 girls and 5 boys), plus 1 unlockable character.
• Several CGs per main dateable character.
• Get to know the characters by visiting them each weekend and raise their affection by choosing favorable dialogue.
• Enjoy several small events with the character you've spent the most time with.
• Watch characters' emotions change during dialogue with the help of aura colors.
• A chance to switch romance paths if you don't like the one you're on (though this affects some content, such as the ending).
• Adult content is present in each route. This may be skipped in-game if desired.
• A total cast of over 30 international (and mostly) monster-based characters.
• A story and events that span the school year, including detailed breaks and an overarching plot.
• Over 50 endings, not all of them connected to dateable characters.
• An original score of over 20 songs, including an opening number with vocals.

NOTE: This is a dating sim, not a school/life sim or strict visual novel. While we have story and friendships that don’t revolve solely around your love interest, if you can’t get enough points with the character you choose to pursue by the cutoff date (St. Valentine’s Day), you will get a ‘game over’.

Dateable Characters:
(These are preview images and half the size of the original; click for full view.)

Boys:







Girls:







Unlockable:

In regards to the dateable characters, there are two ‘heterosexual’ characters and two ‘homosexual’ characters (the rest being ‘bisexual’), however this game operates off of our understanding of sexual preference as opposed to sexual orientation; that is to say, though these characters have preferences, you can still romance them with a higher score. This is founded on the belief that they will fall in love with who you are and look past their preferred gender.

The Player Character:

Though the character you play in Enora: Monster Academy has a bunch of customization, there is a certain amount of information that is unchangeable. Below, I’ll list what you can edit and what will stay the same no matter how you shape the character.

What you can choose:

• Name (first and last)
• Gender (female or male)
• Sexual preference (though this is implied by your choices; it is never actually specified or listed in-game)
• Star sign
• Hair color (four natural colors, five dyed) and style
• Eye color (four natural colors, five colored contacts) and whether or not they wear glasses (three styles)
• Skin tone (light, medium-light, medium, medium-dark, dark)

What will stay the same regardless of your choices:

• Nationality (American)
• Classification (Changeling)
• Age (18)
• Favorite Food (Strawberries)
• Height (5'5")

For those of you who are interested, marked in spoilers below are what we have listed as the default settings. This does not mean there is a “canon” appearance or stats, it’s just what we as a team use as a reference for the character. If you prefer not to know, simply avoid highlighting the text and enjoy your uninfluenced run of the game when it comes out.

Default Character Information:

Name: Robin Moore
Gender: Female
Sexual Preference: Bisexual
Star Sign: Cancer
Hair color and style: Brown, short
Eye color and whether or not they wear glasses: Brown, no glasses
Skin tone: Medium

Screenshots:
Click for full view.



More will be added as we progress further, and since this is still in development, images are of course subject to change.

Current Progress:

Coding: ~80%
Story Outline: ~85%
Writing: ~25% (Currently at 180,000+ words)
Backgrounds: ~5%
Main Character Sprites: ~46%
Other Sprites: 0%
GUI: ~75%
Music: ~96%
CGs: 0%

Keep in mind that the art is subject to some changes and that this isn't a perfect representation of the final product. I'm fairly confident we won't ever overhaul the entire project's art, but we may make small adjustments here and there.

This thread is mostly to report progress--I was planning on putting up a linked thread in the Player Chat forum, but obviously that's something I can't do, so if applicable we'd love to hear any comments from potential players! Because this is something we've been working on regularly for a while and have full dedication for (despite knowing this project will still take some time yet), I'm going to very politely request that replies forgo mentioning issues concerning the project being too big or it potentially being non-marketable. We appreciate the concern and sentiment demonstrated in the past from various persons regarding such issues, but we have it under control, and we know our limits.

[Caveat Lector]

For the record, I'm more or less okay with everything else. And the idea is far from being "unmarketable" since, in the wake of Harry Potter's success, I'd imagine a lot of players would love to see more magic academy-based games. However, there is one part of your description that sits uncomfortably with me:

In regards to the dateable characters, there are two ‘heterosexual’ characters and two ‘homosexual’ characters (the rest being ‘bisexual’), however this game operates off of our understanding of sexual preference as opposed to sexual orientation; that is to say, though these characters have preferences, you can still romance them with a higher score. This is founded on the belief that they will fall in love with who you are and look past their preferred gender.

(emphasis mine)

Why do you put 'heterosexual', 'homosexual', and 'bisexual' in quotation marks? The thing is, homosexuality is not a "preference". It just is. It's not a magic on-and-off switch that can be turned off by the "right boy/girl". The thing about using the term "preference" is that it implies choosing to prefer something over the other, like "oh, I prefer tea over coffee". "Sexual preference" carries a very thorny connotation, all because of a certain context it has been used under for years.

[AmericaTheBeautiful]

For the record, I'm more or less okay with everything else. And the idea is far from being "unmarketable" since, in the wake of Harry Potter's success, I'd imagine a lot of players would love to see more magic academy-based games. However, there is one part of your description that sits uncomfortably with me:

In regards to the dateable characters, there are two ‘heterosexual’ characters and two ‘homosexual’ characters (the rest being ‘bisexual’), however this game operates off of our understanding of sexual preference as opposed to sexual orientation; that is to say, though these characters have preferences, you can still romance them with a higher score. This is founded on the belief that they will fall in love with who you are and look past their preferred gender.

(emphasis mine)

Why do you put 'heterosexual', 'homosexual', and 'bisexual' in quotation marks? The thing is, homosexuality is not a "preference". It just is. It's not a magic on-and-off switch that can be turned off by the "right boy/girl". The thing about using the term "preference" is that it implies choosing to prefer something over the other, like "oh, I prefer tea over coffee". "Sexual preference" carries a very thorny connotation, all because of a certain context it has been used under for years.

It seems like they are trying to convey that for this project they are running off the idea of sexuality is a fluid thing, not stagnant. So someone can have a preference but find that this one person is an exception even if it doesn't align with what they generally call their sexuality.

I think they used preference just because their point system will make it harder for people of the gender they are set to not be attracted to. The wanted to differentiate the straight and homosexual from the bisexual since while they can all be accessed by any gender there are more roadblocks if you are trying to romance a straight girl as a girl.

As a gay person I didn't find anything offensive by how they worded it. I didn't sense any bad intent behind it. Also if you could only do this with gay people then there's a horrible implication. But it's evenly done so it's not targeting just gays.

[Batty]

For the record, I'm more or less okay with everything else. And the idea is far from being "unmarketable" since, in the wake of Harry Potter's success, I'd imagine a lot of players would love to see more magic academy-based games. However, there is one part of your description that sits uncomfortably with me:

In regards to the dateable characters, there are two ‘heterosexual’ characters and two ‘homosexual’ characters (the rest being ‘bisexual’), however this game operates off of our understanding of sexual preference as opposed to sexual orientation; that is to say, though these characters have preferences, you can still romance them with a higher score. This is founded on the belief that they will fall in love with who you are and look past their preferred gender.

(emphasis mine)

Why do you put 'heterosexual', 'homosexual', and 'bisexual' in quotation marks? The thing is, homosexuality is not a "preference". It just is. It's not a magic on-and-off switch that can be turned off by the "right boy/girl". The thing about using the term "preference" is that it implies choosing to prefer something over the other, like "oh, I prefer tea over coffee". "Sexual preference" carries a very thorny connotation, all because of a certain context it has been used under for years.

They differentiated between preference and orientation, though. I assume that means that they agree with the notion of one's orientation NOT being a choice. In my personal opinion, it actually is possible to have feelings for someone of a gender that you do not normally feel attraction towards. Not many people seem to agree with this notion, and I'm certain it doesn't apply to everyone. I merely believe that it is possible, though probably fairly unusual. Crushes are a different story, however...

In any case, I feel that AmericaTheBeautiful's interpretation of this particular cast of characters having fluid preferences is probably what the author was going for. However, I do think I see where you're coming from, too. Are you perhaps referencing that ridiculous trope which involves a gay character magically becoming straight because they are just so attracted to one particular person? There are no hangups, no hesitation, and basically no indication of them having ever been anything but straight once things get going. I imagine that even if a gay person were attracted to a member of the same sex, physical attraction would be a much more difficult hurdle to overcome. And the attraction would come only after extended interaction with that person.

[Caveat Lector]

It seems like they are trying to convey that for this project they are running off the idea of sexuality is a fluid thing, not stagnant. So someone can have a preference but find that this one person is an exception even if it doesn't align with what they generally call their sexuality.

I think they used preference just because their point system will make it harder for people of the gender they are set to not be attracted to. The wanted to differentiate the straight and homosexual from the bisexual since while they can all be accessed by any gender there are more roadblocks if you are trying to romance a straight girl as a girl.

As a gay person I didn't find anything offensive by how they worded it. I didn't sense any bad intent behind it. Also if you could only do this with gay people then there's a horrible implication. But it's evenly done so it's not targeting just gays.

Ah, in that case, I understand much better. It was just the wording of it that felt a bit out-of-sorts, but it's possible that even that was meant to convey something else.

Are you perhaps referencing that ridiculous trope which involves a gay character magically becoming straight because they are just so attracted to one particular person?

Pretty much, yeah. As said, since it's done with both straight and gay characters, it doesn't carry quite as much of an unfortunate implication if it was just done with the gay character.

[HeavenlyJoker]

I apologize; I'm not really sure how to address everything going on here through quotes so I hope you'll bear with me! I definitely want to clarify some things :)

AmericaTheBeautiful pretty much took the words right out of my mouth; it was originally implemented as a system so that, using the above example, if you were a girl trying to romance a straight girl you'd still have a chance to make it work, but you'd have to work really hard to win her over. The characters don't just fall for you if you no matter what; you have to really do your best to properly pursue them. To give you an idea of how it works without spoiling anything:

At one point, about halfway through the narrative, you will be prompted to choose who you wish to ask out. Once the event comes where your character actually gets around to doing so, there will be a check, and sometimes a series of checks as to whether or not they'll accept your offer. If you're a girl asking out the straight girl, the point check is much higher and harder to clear than if you were playing as a boy. There are four characters who have such circumstantial higher checks, but they are all designed to be considerably more difficult than usual.

I can definitely understand why there would be a concern about a straight or gay character just jumping into a relationship headfirst that doesn't seem natural to them, and I've worked really hard to implement the aforementioned types of characters having a difficult time adjusting to the physical attraction. To add to that, not all of them become accustomed to their new situation at the same rate, and at least one of them is still feeling pretty awkward towards the end of the game.

To address the quotations I used: I think it was a part of my original draft I overlooked and something I had done to help emphasize the point I was trying to get across. I apologize if it was odd or offensive in any way; I certainly didn't intend it as such. I run all of my major updates through my other team members (and sometimes others as well) before posting them to make sure I haven't written or overlooked anything senseless or offensive.

[Caveat Lector]

I think I understand it a bit better now, no worries. Sorry if it seemed like I was pouncing on you, it's just that I'm used to seeing "sexual preference" being used under a certain context, but under the context you mentioned, it might be okay.

[HeavenlyJoker]

I think I understand it a bit better now, no worries. Sorry if it seemed like I was pouncing on you, it's just that I'm used to seeing "sexual preference" being used under a certain context, but under the context you mentioned, it might be okay.

Not at all, I'm just glad I could help clear that up a bit for you! I'm always more than willing to clarify what I write, so if there are any other questions or concerns just let me know.

[bellice]

Can't wait to see this finished. *grabs Umm and runs away*

[HeavenlyJoker]

Can't wait to see this finished. *grabs Umm and runs away*

I'm super glad you're looking forward to it! I have to say, it's nice to have more than once place to do updates now. I'll see what I can do about some Umm-related updates! Our artist is currently working on some chibis for an imagemap, and though we have all the boys and Wynn finished, I'll put up some screenshots when they're all done.