Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School] [Hiatus/On-Hold]

A place for game announcements, and for people to discuss games being made.
Forum rules
Please read the sticky before creating a new topic. Linking to Kickstarter/Crowdfunded games requires a demo. Updates to Patreon-backed games may be posted once every 2 months. Adult content should not be posted in this forum.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School] [Hiatus/On-Hold]

#1 Post by Niwa »

Image
Each choice one makes leads down a different path. Each choice has a consequence*. Anything can happen on Neutral grounds, so which path will you take?
*=Thismaynotprovetobe100%Accuratepleaseforgivethemarketingblurb


This project is in early stages of development.
The game will be available to buy on itch after release
Follow production here or on the production Tumblr

Image
You step into the body of Sage Tremere, A teacher specialized in economics that has been hired to take over for a teacher on maternity leave for one semester.
Just...on one of the most prestigious all-boys schools on Neutral land where royalty and sons of important politicians and CEO's go, no big deal.
You leave behind your home and cross the northern sea to dive into this refreshing experience on these neutral grounds.

Themes include:
School life, mental disorders, Sexuality/Sexual exploration (Polyamory), mild violence and/or mentions thereof.
And will therefore receive a 16+ rating
No characters will engage in sexual acts in the main game.

Image
Over 88k Words
4 Routes with a good and bad ending each!
5 Dateable men (Two of 'em are polyamorous so they're great for sharing)
6 Date locations!
40 CG's planned!
~20 unique backgrounds
Balancing of Work performance and Social life

Depending on how well the game is funded and supported we may add voice acting and live2d animated sprites

Image
Overview
Image

Main character
Image



Dateable cast
Image
Image
Image
Image

Image
ImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImage


Image
Writing - <25%
Sprites - <20%
Backgrounds - <25%
CGs - 0%
Music - <25%
GUI - <50%
Programming - <25%

Image
- How do you feel about the polyamorous route?
- Is there anyone who currently has your preference?
- Opionion on the style/Aesthetics?
- What are your hopes for everyone's routes?
- What rewards are you hoping to see during the crowdfunding campaign?

I hope you're all interested, and I hope to see you back when there are updates on the project!
Last edited by Niwa on Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:05 am, edited 12 times in total.
Image

User avatar
runadial
Regular
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2017 11:27 pm
Completed: My Only Sunshine
Projects: CrossDol (BL), Forsaken
Organization: astellic
Location: America
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#2 Post by runadial »

(1) How do you feel about the polyamorous route?
  • I don't have a particular preference towards these types of routes, though I also rarely encounter such routes as well. Sometimes, I do find them around if they are, for example, twins though. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but to put my personal thoughts into this, I actually prefer having a single character, rather than "sharing" more than one. Then again, I'm also curious to how it will turn out, so I'm not going to say that I'm "against it."
(2) Is there anyone who currently has your preference?
  • To be honest, no. If I could choose one preferred character of mine though, personally, I will say Orion. So far though, none in particular really caught my eye. Maybe I will develop a bias if I play the actual game though? It seems like all of them have more to them than what is described here, after all...
(3) Does this please your aesthetic needs?
  • Yes, based off of what you have so far. I like the color scheme; it reminds me of royalty with the purple-gold scheme, and I like the style of art, so I look forward to seeing more of it as the production moves further along. I really look forward to the aesthetics though - especially the characters and what they look like. I feel like I'm being teased.
(4) Your opinion on age gaps?
  • Normally, I feel iffy on big age gaps, but if the story is good, I tend to let my focus sway from the fact that there are age gaps. I definitely prefer to have similar-aged people, especially when going into romantic relationships, but on the other hand, too, I remember liking Chiharu's route in After School Affairs to an extent, so it's definitely possible to have me like your story without having to cringe about large age gaps.
(5) What are your hopes for everyone's routes?
  • I want each route to have their own unique storyline and conflict with a good and satisfying resolution - be it good or bad. That is, unless you plan to have something near the lines of a fan-disc. Also, it would be great to have an "overarching" plot that each route's storyline sort of contributes to the overall and big plot and reveals more things in each route (though I find this particular thing to be a somewhat difficult feat as well.) In other words, as much as I do favor romance/cute moments, I also want it to be story and plot involved as well.
Image

User avatar
parttimestorier
Veteran
Posts: 429
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 10:29 pm
Completed: No Other Medicine, Well Met By Moonlight, RE:BURN, The Light at the End of the Ocean, Take A Hike!, Wizard School Woes
Projects: Seeds of Dreams
itch: janetitor
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#3 Post by parttimestorier »

Oh, I'm really interested to see how you guys will handle having a polyamory option! That's something I'd definitely like to see more romance VNs explore. Will there just be one route for the two guys together, or are there also other routes for if you want to date just one of them and not the other? I'm a little wary of the age/power gap though - if I'm playing as the teacher and some of the romance routes are my students who are as young as 16, I might feel like choosing their route is taking advantage of them. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be an interesting and well-written story, as long as you're aware of that issue.
ImageImageImage

User avatar
Archeri
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 9:06 pm
Projects: Nightglove Institute, Monstrata Fracture
Organization: Astralore Games
Tumblr: archerempyrean
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#4 Post by Archeri »

- How do you feel about the polyamorous route?

If it's interesting, I'll do it. I don't have strong feelings about this, I suppose it's cool that it's offered, though!

- Is there anyone who currently has your preference?

It's hard to say without being able to see what they look like, because I am shallow. Also the polyamorous couple has almost no personality information listed for who they are as individuals - perhaps they should have each gotten their own character card? The others are also vague, so it's hard to get a feel for their personalities. I guess I would lean toward Orion, but I feel like that's only because his personality comes across most clearly? Ultimately, I would probably be more interested in Milo, but it's hard to know. ^^;

- There isn't yet much to see, but from what you can tell, does this please your aesthetic needs?

P-probably? I can't really tell yet. D: I'll answer again when there is more. :3

- Your opinion on the age gaps?

Yes. Student/teacher. Yes. Sign me up.

- What are your hopes for everyone's routes?

Blackmail the MC. I don't care who, as long as it's a student. Somebody do it. Please. Is this a weird request? I just like power reversals. ^^;

This is another question that's hard to answer without deeper knowledge of these characters. Knowing more about them might trigger more thoughts or questions for me. I guess I'm curious about Milo breaking rules with a heart of gold, like, is he sweet, but a prankster? Cheerful and generous, but with a sadistic streak he just barely keeps in check? A class-cutting delinquent you can't help but melt for? I'd like to know what it means. :)

User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#5 Post by Niwa »

parttimestorier wrote: I'm a little wary of the age/power gap though - if I'm playing as the teacher and some of the romance routes are my students who are as young as 16, I might feel like choosing their route is taking advantage of them. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be an interesting and well-written story, as long as you're aware of that issue.
I don't think this will be an issue actually. First of all I've directed my writer to try and remain as tasteful about all subjects, and the character blurb should give a hint as to what is actually the case here.
Archeri wrote:Also the polyamorous couple has almost no personality information listed for who they are as individuals - perhaps they should have each gotten their own character card? The others are also vague, so it's hard to get a feel for their personalities. I guess I would lean toward Orion, but I feel like that's only because his personality comes across most clearly? Ultimately, I would probably be more interested in Milo, but it's hard to know. ^^;
Yeah I apologise for that, I'll remaster the cards today to convery them a little better. I may or may not have been in a state of "i'm fine" while having been up for 30 hours or so. looking back on them they do taste incredibly stale.



EDIT: changed the blurbs so they're more descriptive of the personality.
Image

User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#6 Post by Niwa »

Updated with some nice sketches of the full main cast!
How has your opinion changed? Do you like what you see so far?

EDIT: Changed the Team section of the page, edited the question section
Image

Samanda
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#7 Post by Samanda »

Niwa wrote:Updated with some nice sketches of the full main cast!
This was very interesting because to me, it was a change that I was not thinking about before. But you can see the site and find out how it is done. Let me know what you think.
How has your opinion changed? Do you like what you see so far?

EDIT: Changed the Team section of the page, edited the question section
Hi,
where is the link for the updated version with the "nice sketches"
Last edited by Samanda on Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School]

#8 Post by Niwa »

Samanda wrote:
Hi,
where is the link for the updated version with the "nice sketches"
Hey!
Before, we didn't have many details about our main cast, so we updated the characters tab right in the main post!
Image

User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School][Stat-Raising]

#9 Post by Niwa »

While our Introduction sequence's writing is getting finished up, and our OST is forming smoothly
We'd like to welcome Calypso into our team, as composer for our OP and ED! We will update our team page accordingly in a couple days!

Meanwhile I've sketched out all outfits for the main characters (20+! >o<)

And soon enough we'll be able to start showing sneak peaks of what you'll be playing through!

For now this illustration of Kotori and Sylvester will have to do!
These two were the first ever characters drawn for this project before it was even a project!
Attachments
Sylko.png
Image

User avatar
Cirrocumulus-Cloud
Regular
Posts: 84
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:15 am
Projects: Tag Dogs
Tumblr: cirrocumulus-cloud
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School] [Art update 6/21]

#10 Post by Cirrocumulus-Cloud »

Hah, just stumbled over this project only to find out that my own BxB game has a protagonist who shares the name of your protagonist. What a funny coincidence. =D

The game looks interesting so far. Will the style inside the game be like the new picture that you just posted? If so then it could look really interesting and colourful, which I like. =)

Will the game be more slice of life like or does it feature an overarching plot?

User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School] [Art update 6/21]

#11 Post by Niwa »

Cirrocumulus-Cloud wrote:Hah, just stumbled over this project only to find out that my own BxB game has a protagonist who shares the name of your protagonist. What a funny coincidence. =D

The game looks interesting so far. Will the style inside the game be like the new picture that you just posted? If so then it could look really interesting and colourful, which I like. =)

Will the game be more slice of life like or does it feature an overarching plot?
What a funny coincidence indeed haha! Let's hope both our Sages get the happiness they deserve!

The game is planned to be in this painterly style, yes. Which I'm only slightly grasping the scope of (And refusing to regret it), but that's why these things are called passion projects, right? Either way, I hoped that it would contribute in having the game stand apart a little more from others.

The game will be more slice of life, however there are set events that happen monthly and there are certain events happening in the game world regardless of route choice. One route is, however, linked very closely to this event and will partially deal with the aftermath of it.
Image

User avatar
Niwa
Regular
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:24 am
Contact:

Re: Neutral Grounds [BxB][Romance][School] [Updated 7/19]

#12 Post by Niwa »

Added a pop of colour to the sprites in progress~!
Image
Image

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot]