[KICKSTARTER] Into The Hoop [B♡G] [Adult] [Dating Sim] New Demo!

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IntoTheHoop
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[KICKSTARTER] Into The Hoop [B♡G] [Adult] [Dating Sim] New Demo!

#1 Post by IntoTheHoop »



Updated 16/03/18 - Kickstarter launched and new demo released!
Updated 15/12/17 - Alpha demo is out!
Updated 23/08/17 - some updates to the characters, and the map example
Updated 07/08/17 - added explanation of day system, and the linear-open world system
Updated 05/08/17 - added BG samples, updated protagonist profile

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Download the Demo at itch.io!

Hey guys!

We have finally reached the Kickstarter stage! :mrgreen:

You can check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21 ... game-adult
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Sypnosis
Into The Hoop is a light-hearted slice of life visual novel/dating sim where you assume the role of Taiyou High School's basketball ace.

You are Yuu Kazehaya (優風早) of Taiyou High School, and your team has recently won the regional tournament to compete in the Interhigh Championship which is 45 days away! Being a final year senior, this means that once the Interhigh Championship is over, so is your high school basketball life. With a desire to build an everlasting album of high school memories with the remaining time available, you will decide on what kind of activities Yuu should pursue. This could be advancing routes of particular love interests, hanging out with your teammates, or raising stats with activities such as studying, training, or doing a part-time job!

In your quest to win the Interhigh Championships, can you make the right decisions to balance athletics, studies, and relationships with your remaining days to reach the perfect ending?

Major Characters
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Game Features
  • Over 10 hours of content planned for the direct route
  • Over 25 hours of content if you explore all route options
  • Original soundtrack
  • Multiple romanceable characters
  • Partial voice acting
  • There will be NSFW elements
Technical Features List
  • A day cycle system, where you'll be able to do different activities based on time of the day
  • Money system, you can earn money to buy items for your love interest or yourself
  • Stats system. Your character has a set of stats which might affect unlocking routes, or endings.
  • Bond system. You will be able to hang out with various people to increase your bond with them, which unlocks further routes and special scenes.
  • Timed choices. Through various days, there will be timed choices that will give you bonus choices to increase stats/bonds.
  • Events system. Special events unlock if you meet certain stat/bond criteria throughout the game.
  • Map system. Throughout each phase, you can choose which location you would want to go. Some places are only available during specific times, and some are only unlocked as the story progresses
What a Typical Day Might Look Like

Below is a sample graph of how you might progress a day. Morning phases are normally used to drive the story forward, and the afternoon/evening phases are mostly decided by the players.

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How the Linear-Open World Works

Let's say if you have decided to pursue Date X in Day 1, which activates 'Scene 1' of Date X, but find that the date not to your taste, and decided to move on to other choices. 10 days later, IF you had a change of heart and decided to pursue Date X again in, you will continue on 'Scene 2' of Date X, which is a continuation from 'Scene 1'. This allows plenty of possibility for you to pursue those that might only be of interest to you, or if you are a perfectionist, plan your days carefully so that you can maximize everything.

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Sample BG art

Classroom
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Basketball Court
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Yuu's Bedroom
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Sample screenshots

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Feedback Questions

- What do you think of the overall premise of the VN? Does it interest you?
- What are your thoughts on the technical features? Such as day system, stats, and relationship management.
- Which character captured your interest the most? And why?
- Will you play the early demo when it's available?
- What is your general feeling of this VN's direction?

Thank you for reading!

You can follow our status updates on our Twitter channel!

Into The Hoop Team~
Last edited by IntoTheHoop on Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:41 am, edited 13 times in total.
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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runeraccoon
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Re: Into The Hoop [BxG|Bromance][Sim][Stats]

#2 Post by runeraccoon »

- Sure, I guess~ If it's up to me, I'd say go full blown with the BxB instead of just bromance! But it's a wishful thinking huh? Heartful bromance is cool too.

- Ambitious, but I'd like to see it done. I don't know about the money system though--- As much as I love inventory and money system, I can only think of it as an unnecessary side feature in dating sims. I don't know why Harvest Moon do it so good, maybe because it's a "goal" instead of just "feature"? Hmmm. As for day system, stats, and relationship, they're common in dating sims so go for it.

- So far the green-haired 3 point shooter, Midorima Nishijima Jin. but that's maybe because the rest of the boys aren't shown yet. I don't know why but the boys actually have personalities here, while the girls almost have none besides Emi. Get a grip, girls!

- Sure!

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Re: Into The Hoop [BxG|Bromance][Sim][Stats]

#3 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Hey runeraccoon, thanks for the comments!

We did thread our thought process into the territory of BxB, but thought that it is a risky move due to it having BxG too.

The money system involves a wee bit of planning by the players, as things they can or cant afford to buy/do will provide bonus points, and potentially unlock secret scenes. I'll give more examples of this when I get more done.

Jin seems to be the favourite so far, but we're not surprised, he is indeed quite an interesting person :D

Though their summary might not reflect it yet, we assure you that the girls will be very interesting to interact with :) we'll improve the content here as we progress along with development.

Thanks!
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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Re: Into The Hoop [BxG, Bromance, Dating Sim]

#4 Post by gekiganwing »

It looks like Into the Hoop will have several complex gameplay elements, as well as a variety of characters. The scope of the project appears rather daunting. Therefore, I assume it will be a commercial title, or perhaps funded through some means.
IntoTheHoop wrote:...can you make the right decisions with your remaining days to reach the perfect ending?
The protagonist can achieve quite a few things in forty-five days. However, unless he's stuck in a Groundhog Day loop, I do not think he can solve all of his conflicts in that time span. Just improving relationships with friends / family could be a positive ending. Finding work that fits his abilities could be another positive ending. (Perhaps the protagonist starts the story by thinking "I want to achieve a huge number of things in the next month and a half." If that occurs, then that could lead to a life lesson. Maybe he will need to learn that perfection just isn't attainable.)
IntoTheHoop wrote:Which character captured your interest the most? And why?
It sounds like Sadako is an introvert. I assume she doesn't expect that a basketball star at her school would interact with her. I'm curious what sort of conflicts she deals with, and what she wants to achieve.
IntoTheHoop wrote:We did thread our thought process into the territory of BxB, but thought that it is a risky move due to it having BxG too.
There's always a risk when creating fiction. You might offend a potential fan, or insult someone who's outside of your audience. Therefore, think about 1) what you enjoy writing, and 2) how much content you want to create. If you do not especially like writing male x male romantic relationships, then don't include them as part of your story. If you need to limit the content of your game in order to finish it, then include just a few relationships and characters.

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Re: Into The Hoop [BxG, Bromance, Dating Sim]

#5 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Hello gekiganwing, thank you for the points raised!

We are happy to say that the technical features are mostly built and in working order, the next challenge is to get the assets to bring this world to life. You are right that this is intended to be a commercial title.

The 1st game day will indeed be the protagonist saying that he wants to do as many things as he can during the remaining days, and you (the player) will shape what kind of things he does. The concept is almost that of an linear-open ended system, where the main storyline will progress everyday during the morning, and the player will choose what to fill in to the afternoon and evening phases (think Persona style). Though in saying that, some days will be linear, e.g. they are in a training camp.

Sadako is indeed one very interesting character, and more of her personal traits will be revealed once we've got enough to show.

Everyday will be different as the choices you make will call different sets of route into your current phase (e.g. hang out in the library, meet Sadako, and progress her route for this phase). Or you can opt for the gym, which raises your personal stats. Or even take a part time job at the local store, which gives you money, and potentially advance another set of route.

In terms of writing, we are confident with the BxG ones, and that the female characters have very interesting stories. So at this point, we will be treating the guy routes ( your teammates) bromance as a condition to unlock specific scenes for the Interhigh. e.g. better bond = better teamwork, therefore you'll unlock the 'high chance to win' the interhigh route on top of your personal stats.

I hope this made sense!

Thanks again for your input and every little feedback helps at this stage.
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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Re: Into The Hoop [BxG, Bromance, Life / Dating Sim]

#6 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Hi guys, updated first post with some BG image :) Will post another update about how the day system works next :D
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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Re: Into The Hoop [BxG, Bromance, Life / Dating Sim]

#7 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Hey guys! Updated the day system explanation on how it all works :)
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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Re: Into The Hoop [B♡G, Bromance, Basketball/Dating Sim]

#8 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Some updates posted today! Any feedback and comments will be much appreciated!

Updated 23/08/17 - some updates to the characters, and the map example.
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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Re: Into The Hoop [B♡G, Dating Sim] DEMO OUT!

#9 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Hi all! Been a while since this was last updated but are pleased to share Into The Hoop's Alpha Demo! :mrgreen:

Download the Demo at itch.io!
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Feel free to give this a go and any feedback will be much appreciated :lol:

Thanks!
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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Re: Into The Hoop [B♡G, Dating Sim] DEMO OUT!

#10 Post by StarluoAngel »

This seems really interesting so far! I mistakingly thought it was also BxB (even though it clearly said BxG in the tag, stupid me...) and that was my reason for checking it out but I have to admit the premise and the art seem cool! I haven't played many VNs revolving around sports... Like the person above, it would have been awesome to see BxB options as there are quite a few interesting looking guys and I'm sure it would attract a larger following since I know quite a few people who're into BxB elements haha. But I understand your decision. Don't worry, I'll still check this out in my spare time. :)

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Re: Into The Hoop [B♡G, Dating Sim] DEMO OUT!

#11 Post by Semicolonkid »

This looks pretty cool!!
I realize I might be in the minority on these forums, but as someone who's not interested in BxB I actually had the opposite reaction to those above - I love the idea of gettin' a good bromance going! Romancing a lady is awesome too, although I think Yui looks rather similar to Emi. And as you've already acknowledged, their short descriptions further blur their distinctions for now.
That said, I seriously love the art. The backgrounds and sprites are both TOP-notch, and the basketball stats made me laugh (in a good way! I love it!).
Furthermore, the gameplay mechanics look appealing and fun, though I'd have to experience them to give you any real critiques.

I can see why Jin is apparently the favorite; he just has a really nice look.
I may be tempted to wait for a more fleshed-out demo if one is coming, but either way I'd like to check this out!
And my general feeling of this VN's direction is positive.
Well done!
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Re: [KICKSTARTER] Into The Hoop [B♡G] [Adult] [Dating Sim] New Demo!

#12 Post by IntoTheHoop »

Hi everyone! We're pleased to present our brand new Kickstarter demo and some updated details in the first post! :D Thank you for all your support so far!
We're making our Visual Novel, Into The Hoop! Check out our Twitter channel!

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