You may have seen me on the Discord over the past couple of months querying things to do with Ren'Py. Well here is (finally) my game, or at least what has been done so far. And yes, every character sprite is indeed animated and that took a lot of work, so the game contains >1600 unique images. Based on feedback I have already received, I am going to be making a bunch of changes to the script, so please bear that in mind.
Logo I made (admittedly) quickly in GIMP (so subject to change):
- OH Logo Scaled.png (60.73 KiB) Viewed 2034 times
Please note: this topic will be reserved for longer updates, as per the "two month rule". For shorter updates, I have a Deviantart page you can check out. Plus, there is this game's Patreon too and it would be of great help if you did sign up, so I can purchase new assets for the game in the future (and I will want to pay for a composer eventually).
Contents:
- Trigger Warnings
- Synopsis/Introduction
- What Sets This Game Apart From Other Dating Sims?
- Example Animated Character Sprite And Screenshots From The Game
- Meaning Behind The Game Name
- Download the game so far (Itch.io page)
Although this game is not an “adult game”, insofar as it does not contain any gore, explicit sexual activity or explicit nudity (no genitalia are shown), it does involve exploring the lead character’s mental health problems and how he tries to overcome them. I wanted to use a visual novel to start a conversation about mental health and male victims of domestic abuse (yes, that is a spoiler).
Synopsis/Introduction:
Through a series of unfortunate events, Kamil Amin is now the sole heir to his grandfather’s luxury clothing business. He is under pressure from his grandfather to inherit the business – so that it does not fall into the hands of unscrupulous investors – and to start a family, so that he has a new generation of Amin to pass the business on to. To that end, his grandfather has trapped him on his private yacht on the Sardinian coast, to spend a week with his bodyguard and three of his clothing models, pre-screened for compatibility with him.
There is just one glaring problem: Kamil has PTSD*. In his childhood, he had some traumatic experiences with female authority figures and this led to him developing gynophobia (meaning he is afraid of most women). As the story progresses, you will gradually learn about his past and how the three dates try to help him to overcome his trauma.
*Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
What Sets This Apart From Other Dating Sims?
Besides the aforementioned “starting a conversation about mental health” angle, something that has always annoyed me is the lack of diversity I see within dating sim games (or any media involving a harem for that matter). Creators will give one character blonde hair and another character will have brunette hair and the diversity seems to stop there, for some reason. You can have all of the hair colours in the world, but if every character is a generic looking white-skinned individual, that in no way shows the immense diversity humanity has.
To that end, I made Kamil’s grandfather (Hashim) into a man who travels the world handing out business cards to pretty ladies he likes and this reflected in the diversity of characters shown throughout the game*. Do you remember the last time a lady from Melanesia was represented in a video game? No? Even Indians appear to be a rarity in dating sims, despite there being, you know, over a billion of them!
*The business is based in London, so there is a slight bias towards people born in London, but we will not explore London in the game until "part two" (if I get that far).
I also wanted the dates to be capable ladies and not need to constantly rely on the main male character, as so often seems to be the case. As such, some of the activities the player can select from over the course of the week could be led by one of the dates themselves. For example, one date may have the skills to teach that particular sport the player has selected as date for Kamil and his three new lady friends.
I've also already mentioned my animated character sprites, which I am told are a rarity.
Here are Kamil and the three dates (names above their heads) on a small boat in the Mediterranean Sea:
- Kamil And Three Dates
(please click to play the animation as it does not play in forum view)
People talk about a "heart of gold". It got me thinking: what if that gold became impure? When your jewellery becomes oxidized you take it to the jewelers for a cleaning. The dates are like goldsmiths therefore, working with Kamil to remove the gunk from his heart of gold.
Itch.io download:
The Itch.io page for the game, where you can download it from.