Euphoria
(alt title, I Want To Get Off Mr.Neckbeard's Wild Ride)
Synopsis:(alt title, I Want To Get Off Mr.Neckbeard's Wild Ride)
You are Gideon Blackwood, better known by your gamertag Caution250, and your bragging may have gotten you in a little over your head.
In an attempt to ‘assert dominance’ over the ‘sad virgins’ that make up your online friend circle, you may have exaggerated the truth a bit in informing them that you were dating someone in an effort not be shown up by your recently taken best friend. Fortunately, they completely bought it! Unfortunately, they now expect her to come into the chat so they can give their blessings (and regrets) when she 'returns from her studies abroad' at the end of the month… which is a little over four weeks away. Not being one to enjoy being called out on your shit, you accept this challenge with open arms… although something tells you that you already know how this is going to end.
Don your fedora and turn on your swag; you’re going to need all the help you can get to win this one.
Wait, what.
Did I make an account just to talk about this dumb thing? You bet your britches I did! Well, that, and to leave useless comments around on other VNs.
Anyway.
Euphoria is a silly pseudo-dating sim idea I conceived over the extensive period of two days, in which you are a neckbeard gamer living out your life a bit more desperately than usual in your (awkward, terrible, horribly misguided) attempts to get yourself a m'lady of your very own. Well, if you walk the most obvious path, anyway. It’ll be highly character driven and choice based, with 16 potential endings. It's more of a story with a lot of dumb humor that explores the nature of friendship and other dynamic relationships that don’t classify as romance, but I hope someone might find it potentially enjoyable none the less.
This is likely to be an overly ambitious side project if nothing else, so progress will probably be a bit on the slower side. I'd appreciate opinions on how to improve what I'm running with and if it would be even considered playable, however. ' u ' Anyhoo! Moving on.
Characters:
(No art yet because I'm trash, but all of them will have routes. That said, one male and one female within the nine will have romance-based routes as well as a bromantic one. Good luck figuring out which ones huehuehue)
Gideon
aka. ‘Gid’ or ‘Caution’
Age: 18
A loud mouthed culinary arts student with an acne problem, a passion for gaming, and more pride than most humans are capable of showing the capacity to handle in their entire lives. Unfortunately, this pride doesn’t translate well into confidence nor charm, manifesting itself only within the realms of the internet. Still, he pretends it does to save face and make him appear more impressive, which… sort of got him into this situation to begin with.
(Online) - Gideon's circle of online friends. It started initially with Gideon himself and his friend Kip playing together, although over time and a few co-op matches together, it grew to include a popular online video producer, her boisterous older brother, and a retired engine mechanic.
Kip:
aka. ‘Es’
Age: 19
Better known as Escorder to the rest of the group, Kip has been Gideon’s gaming rival and best friend since they were in middle school. Although soft spoken and seemingly Gideon's antithesis by every definition of the term, they’ve been married twice on different MMORPG websites (“for buffs, don’t make it weird”), and are probably the closest within the group, barring Shark and Tox. Alas, since he started seeing someone IRL, he’s been a bit more distant than he used to be. The most proficient healer and support player.
GotLove:
aka. ‘Love’
Age: Never ask a lady her age!
A woman that sounds to be in her late seventies who serves as a life coach of sorts to the rest of the group, along with perhaps being one of the best tanks the world has ever seen. Although a stickler for netiquette, she's a little bit... crass in how she rebukes her charges. Does not take well to being called ‘grandma’ in spite of her motherly habits, and will threaten to read terribly written harlequin romances over mic when displeased.
Sharkface91:
aka. ‘Shark’
Age: 22
The hot-blooded self-proclaimed leader of the group. Although he and Gideon get along fairly well, they have a habit of egging each other on and getting into ridiculous situations because of it. Unsurprisingly, he’s the one who pressured Gideon into the girlfriend ordeal. He tends to overly worked up over just about everything, to the point that he even occasionally gets moved to tears during a match. The most likely to stand in the middle of an AOE spell and die while complaining about how he wasn't healed in time.
XxToxic_GunnerxX:
aka. ‘Tox’
Age: 17
Shark’s younger sister. Quiet, but probably has the foulest language of all of them if provoked. As the youngest, she’s considered the baby of the group, although doesn’t like to be brushed off as such. Runs a popular Let’s Play channel specializing in horror games when not doing co-op with the rest of the group. Has the most powerful lungs, to the point that the rest of the group knows to collectively remove their headsets upon hearing the familiar warning of her sucking in her breath.
(Offline) - People of note at the (presently unnamed) university Gideon attends and lives in the dorms of.
Frey
Age: 22
Some sensitive new age douche that happens to be assigned to the same dorm room as our glorious hero. There’s a mutual understanding that so long as Gideon does all the cooking, Frey will take care of the cleaning, although beyond that, Gideon isn’t overly fond of him. Can supposedly play the best acoustic cover of ‘Wonderwall’ on campus.
Lila
Age: 20
A student enrolled in the same baking course Gideon happens to be taking. She doesn’t seem to have the patience required for it, although she’ll be damned if she isn’t trying. She seems to be frequently distracted for some reason, causing a number of (very preventable) incidents in the kitchen.
Vivienne:
Age: 18
The cashier at a family-owned convenience store Gideon frequents. A cheery and kindhearted young lady who is well liked by customers, and has proven temperate enough to talk down some of the craziest of robbers. Needless to say, it comes as a bit of a surprise when she’s cast as a witness regarding a recent crime spree…
Rick:
Age: 19?...
Although his actual first name is Maverick, it hardly seems fitting for a shy, bookish young man such as himself. Seems sort of naïve and is quick to confess that he doesn’t know very much about people, and suggests that he and Gideon teach each other (yeah, like that won’t end poorly). Something seems off about him beyond his outlandish name, although it’s hard to say what…
Mimi:
Age: 21
A psychology major in her final year of university and the president of the student union. Highly intelligent and every bit a perfectionist, she moves like a goddess among beasts when compared to the rest of the campus… discounting the fact that she always seems to up and disappear every afternoon. What’s her deal?
Misc. Content
Stats:
(Unfortunately, yes, it's one of those games. I'll try to find ways to jazz this up further to prevent unnecessary grinding, though.)
Visible:
CONFIDENCE (basically your hp; dictates how long gid can stay out in public without wanting to run home crying)
CHARISMA (Higher scores add additional ways for Gideon to react to the situation he’s in. Kind of like the MP stat, only it doesn’t decrease when used.)
MATURITY (Dictates your success in making use of your charismatic prowess w/ m’ladies and other offline friends)
GAMER SCORE (Maturity’s sister stat in purpose, only for dealing w/ your gaming group.)
Hidden:
MORALITY (the strength of Gideon’s moral compass. Dependent on your choices, this could vary; characters will associate with you differently depending on how high or low the bar goes.)
--
Actual Status:
A resounding 0% across the board, unfortunately. :') As I said, I started this all of two days ago, but I realized that this is probably something people wouldn't typically...play??? It's a bit of an iffy topic in and of itself, so it seemed wise to get some critique on the idea itself before I dive into anything really elaborate.
Last Thread Update: 06/08/2014
