After living her life in poverty, Selene has grown to believe that the world is a cold and isolated place where the only way you can get something is to get it yourself. With the country living in corruption because of the "Greedy King" Hartingale, Selene spends her days partaking in a variety of trades from grifting to plain old pickpocketing. Anything that will let her have a meal at the end of the day.
However with the death of the Greedy King, his son is set to take the throne and there are rumours that people are using this opportunity to set a rebellion and overthrow the monarchy while the Prince is still inexperienced. The country will be undergoing a change that's bigger than ever. Not that it concerns Selene though right? But little does she know that her part in it will be bigger than she ever wanted and her life will change... And all because she decided to steal from that one person that day.
Premise:
My main aim was to focus on the different outlooks on life. The game is focused on Selene (heroine's) pessimisstic view on the world and one of the characters she will meet all have different outlooks which will challenge her in different ways. The choices you choose in the game will directly affect her personality (but the choices will still be in accordance with her negative personality) and change her outlook depending on how you decide to portray yourself as, and will affect the way your chosen character's route will think of you (leading to a Good or Normal End).
Features:
- There will be 2 endings for each character [Good/Normal End] + 1 True End (which may be a linear route unlocked when all endings are achieved.)
- Changeable name for protagonist.
- Your choices will affect how your heroine may act in certain situations (and other character's interactions towards her).
- Voice acting -- Will be auditioning for voice actors when the game is more complete.
- Alot of CGs -- Haven't decided how many yet, but so far I'm thinking 20 per character (not including general CGs)
Characters/Love interests:
(All the characters have different levels of optimism and pessimism, can you tell which one?)
Selene [Heroine](19)| "Who said good things happen to good people? The only way you're going to get anywhere in life is to do it yourself."
Sneaky, cocky and self-centered. Those are the words Selene likes to describe herself as. She enjoys the achievement of accomplishment when she manages to steal something, always wanting to challenge herself and find harder people to target. Deep down, she is a kind-hearted soul that has become battered down by her depressing view of the world, believing that everyone is selfish and in the end, only cares about themselves at the end of the day. Thus, Selene is very untrusting towards those she meets and has a hard time knowing how to react when someone is kind or worse, cares for her. Also has a weak spot towards animals and children.
Andreusse (Andy) Percival(21)| "I'm gonna be the one everyone calls a hero."
An upbeat and high-spirited character, Andy is a self-proclaimed warrior on a journey to become the greatest hero that bards will sing tales of. He is a textbook main character whom is always optmistic, constantly looking for solutions and fixes and never hesitates to jump into any situation and put others ahead of himself. The extreme lengths he will go to save someone's life can come off as commendable or plain idiotic as this makes him very gullible and little misguided at times. His vision becomes so clouded with his obsession to see the good in everyone and belief no one is truly evil that he is prone to falling into a fit of rage if said person will constantly suggest otherwise, suggesting a darker side that he (unconsciously) attempts to hide.
Callum Hartingale(19)| "Believe what you want but I truly want what's best for this country!"
The Prince set to become the next King. The Greedy King's only child, Callum was born to a loveless marriage between the King and his wife, a princess of a lesser kingdom that was forced into marriage through conquer. Callum was detested by his father who hated the thought of giving his kingdom to his son so much that he gave him what he felt was a peasants name and constantly belittled him in hopes he would grow into a weak and meek man. However, Callum was loved by the castle's staff that gave him all the education and love instead and grew up into a wonderful prince. As a child, he once snuck away to visit the neighbouring town and after being attacked, was saved by some orphans. Realising the hidden goodness amongst the corruption, Callum now seeks to right the wrongs that the previous King, his father, had bestowed on the kingdom. However, everyone on the other hand is distrustful of his words and are set on destroying the monarchy in its entirety, which he knows will set the country in true anarchy and is set on trying to prove his worth.
Oribelle Barrett(18)| "What's wrong with wanting to be a NORMAL girl? Being pretty, being able to have money, food on the table... and actually be wanted?!"
A seemingly upper-class maiden at first glance, Oribelle is a beautiful but vain and stuck-up girl who claims her aim in life is to find herself a rich husband so that she can live a life of luxury. However, she is actually a hardworking milkmaid who lives in a small farmhouse, along with her little sister and 5 cows. She spends all their earnings for the basic necessities for her sister and the rest on clothing herself in beautiful garments and jewellery. Driven by her determination to give her sister a life of comfort and believing that this is the best way to attract a rich man, puts beauty above anything and attempts to portray herself in that way, even at the cost of changing herself and losing those around her -- including her own sister.
Emery Lovell (17)| "You think I want to be a damn peasant all my life?!"
A merchant son from a working-class family, Emery spends his day helping his old father sell and trades their goods and wares with other travellers who pass by the town. Being adept at haggling and negotiating, he has dreams of becoming a world-famous merchant, owning several trading companies and being able to travel the world and experience everything the world has to offer. However, after spending his life watching his father, a man he looks up to, become old and worn despite working so hard, he has become held back by his own insecurities and lack of self-worth, feeling that he will never be more than he already is: a peasant boy. Because of this, he has grown to use anger as his defence mechanism in order to protect himself from disappointment and getting his hopes up. Despite of this, he is a good son, constantly doing the chores for his parents and always tries to make sure they're happy.
Iori Yukimoto(29)| "I've made too many enemies in my life. No one would shed a tear if I died."
An outcasted samurai who has made a name for himself as a cold-hearted murderer back in his own country. He has travelled to the kingdom, seeking any dirty work people are willing to give him. Women, children -- he has no regard for anyone's life, including his own and merely goes through the motions of life waiting for death to come. He is quiet spoken and rarely expresses any emotions, but there is a sense of nostalgia on his face whenever he is reminded of something from his home town and culture. This also applies to his clothes as he is very particular about his appearance, as he feels as taking care of one's outer appearance is important and lastly -- the samurai code, which is something he will never desecrate no matter what.
Odin(23)| "Guys like us? We're not scum, we're just too good for this god forsaken world."
An orphan wolf-boy that had taken Selene under his care for as long as she could remember, teaching her everything she knows about the art of thieving. Being accustomed to her negative attitude, he often tries to counteract her attitude by acting cheerful or making playful banter with her. Due to the discrimination of beast warriors in the town, Odin was outcasted by everyone as a child and survived by relying on own skills. Having no name, he encountered a children's storyteller who was telling stories of the Odin of Norse mythology and decided to take on the name, feeling that doing so will give him the strength of Odin himself. Although he is dubbed affectionately as "Odie" by Selene to his dismay. Unknown to her, Odin's purpose in life is to protect Selene as he had made a promise to someone important long ago.
[1 more character to be added as of now]
[While I'm still doing the majority of the art, I now have an assistant artist whom offered to help me so she will be helping me with second opinion, designs and such!]
Hi! Thanks for reading. So this will be a one-man team(apart from voice acting) so please don't expect this game to be done for a long time, especially since I'm still waiting to be completely solid on the plot&characters before I start on any progress so all suggestions and comments are very appreciated! ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆ [May make a demo though of a prologue with the best designs and writing I can do and see how people like/want improvements on]
I didn't want to add too much information for the plot/characters because it might change/want to keep some of the mystery and story to be unveiled in the routes themselves (since each character delves on their own issues and have different interactions with the character.) But if you feel like they seem too brief then tell me so I can add more. The idea is still in the super early stages, so I'm very open to any new ideas such as new characters (and any criticism!)
F.A.Q:
- Will the heroine have a changeable name?
I decided "Yes" because there are people who'd like to make the game their own. However there will be more benefit to using Selene's default name since there will be voice acting that call her name (whereas other names will be silent.)
- Will there be full or partial voice acting?
Due to seeing other experiences of having to wait for voice acting, the large audio files I will have to keep track of and such. I have decided on doing partial (catchphrases, sound effects) but there will be certain events with longer voice acting such as CG-specific events (Introductions, Confessions, etc.)
- Will this be PG?
The game will contain mature themes such as violence, swearing but these will be very minimal, therefore I would still classify it as PG. (Also alot of doki doki moments but nothing X-rated >////<)
Feedback: (It's a bit lengthy sorry ;;u;; May change questions if needed)
- Tea Leaf is "Thief" in rhyming slang. Does that change your notion of the title? (Someone said that people won't get it so do you think I need to point it out or add like a sub heading of "Sincerely, thief"?)
- Does the premise interest you?
- Do the characters interest you? Do you want more characters/personalities to be added?
- Would you want a visible meter or pop up notification of some sort, showing you how pessimistic or optimistic your choices are? (or any sort of indication of how your character has changed? Or would you rather it show in the dialogue instead)
- Is there anything you think I need to improve on or take into account?
Updates:
17.11.16 -- Done 4 character designs & expanded/modified their descriptions --
18.11.16 -- Made the most basic logo ever as a placeholder (no idea what image I want my logo to have. T3T)
23.11.16 -- Created another logo design and made sketch of Emery (on dev.blog). Also began writing the prologue.
27.01.17 -- Game on hold for now while I try to work on other games and improve my writing/art before I return to this ;u;
11.10.22 -- Working to get a demo out by end of this year although it will be a heavy WIP. :3