I never have really written anything before but I’ve been playing these games for quite some time and I finally decided to make something of my own {yikes}.
The basic gist of the story I’m putting together is that you are an up and coming music artist trying to break in the industry, and so you enroll in a performing arts program to try and kick start your career. This is like a training school for new artists where you will meet professionals from the industry who’ll be your teachers. You will also meet other training artists and will create a debut single. The program will select the best single and that artist will be signed to a recording contract.
So does any of this makes sense so far? Am I crazy for trying to put something like this together? Should I quit while I’m ahead? These are some of the questions I have for myself and would love some to hear thoughts form anyone else. Basically I have spent way too much time on this project (like weeks) putting together possible characters, ideas for storylines and the basic structure of the school, background, etc. and am looking for a second opinion because I’m a scaredy cat and feel like no one would be interested. Help please!
I’m a musician (although probably not in the branch of the industry that you’re thinking of) and I think your idea sounds like a lot of fun. I’d love to try a game about being a newbie in the music and performing arts world that focuses on training and producing a debut single.
Also, I think you’ll find a well-written game can draw all kinds of fans in a way that transcends the genre— @P_Chikiamco’s Slammed! (professional wrestling) and @AllenGies’ Tin Star (Western) are both great examples of this, I think, and both genres are possibly more niche than ‘up-and-coming recording/music artist’.
Okay moonlight tell me if I am wrong but Is this High school musical CS style
What is the motive of our MC to do all this
We can achieve the end goal ( contract ) by various methods right - bribery (teachers), talant(solo) , alliance (band) etc
Characters have side stories and side events right
And one more thing - the real thing would be the demo so I hope I would see that soon.
Wow! Thanks guys. Appreciate all of your interest and enthusiasm. I wasn’t sure if people would actually read through my rough description but you did (Yay!!!) and all of your questions and comments are really helping me flesh it out. Definitely feel free to keep them coming and be on the lookout for that demo! (Guess I’m about to find out how good I am at actual coding)
@Fiogan That’s dope! I play a few instruments myself actually. For this I am using the realm of Pop music as a frame of reference for the performing arts program but essentially your character will be able to choose the genre of music they want. Also, I loved Slammed and Tin star so I hope whatever I throw together is somewhat up to that standard. You’ll definitely have to checkout the demo when I start coding.
@DUNGEON_MASTER Oh god no! I definitely am not trying for high school musical…but I guess there are some similarities. I’m actually drawing more of my inspiration from “Fame” or that one Hilary Duff movie “Raise Your Voice” and even more specifically “Dream High” (if anyone here has any knowledge of Korean Dramas). For my story, however, I want it to be a little more mature than HS drama so I’m aiming for college drama instead. As for MC motivation, that’s actually been a little tricky. I think it would be more meaningful to have various motivations for wanting the contract and so I’ve been toying with that idea. For example, wanting a glamorous lifestyle of the rich and famous, revolutionizing the narrow mindedness of the music industry by refusing to conform to “Pop” standards, wanting the resources and the platform to put your music out there and express yourself etc. And there is an option to be solo or work with other characters you meet along the way to form a group. Hopefully this will make more sense with a demo but that is TBD since I barely have a concept ready
@s_yzygy Awesome I hope you like the demo whenever I have it ready for you! Again there will definitely be a option for going solo or forming a group with your classmates. I’ll probably keep it simple and have 3f be the max number of people for a group though. Or something like that at least!
I know for a fact that there would be a lot of interest in your story, why? CoG did something similar called: Choice of the Rock Star and it is one read all the time.
Now, don’t think just because something similar was done that your story won’t work, because if you put together a first rate story-game all those fans that like the other will be a built in base ready and willing to read and buy your game.
@Fiogan mentioned Tin Star but there is also another western that was done too called Showdown At Willow Creek which means there is room enough for multiple stories in each genre. So, don’t panic, stay calm.
Mom always told me not to do things … writing wasn’t one of them, so according to her rules you should be just fine!
The least that will happen if you go for it is you give it a try and move on… the rewards for trying it and suceeding can include, getting published in both writing and gaming fields, Royalties from a game people buy and lots of other things…
So, ummmm welcome and when you’re ready put up a demo in the WiP sub-forum.
As someone that had to wrestle with thoughts like this fairly recently, I’ll tell you straight-up: Just go for it. Your idea sounds solid, and you clearly care about it if you spent weeks planning plot and characters.
No matter how bad you think your story is, there are people out there that will enjoy it. Not only that, but there are people out there that are more than willing to give you advice on what you can do to better your work.
So all I can really say is, just take the leap. I’m sure far more people will be interested in this than you expect.
@moonlight_blue I’m so glad:blush: to see someone doing something that hasn’t really been seen before as far as choice based games go! That being said I can’t wait for the demo and I hope you achieve your goal.
Before I started on my current WIP, The Oval Office, an idea like this briefly crossed my mind. It sounds great!
A word for the beginners: never let the options of others destroy your dreams. If you want it to happen, it will. (Now constructive criticism is alright, not ones that urge you to quit or deny your ability to make it happen.)
With that being said, good luck young Jedi.
I would say just go for it and try it out! I think the true test really isn’t when you are pumped and raring to go, but more when you are a few chapters in and you just need to grind it out. But really, you will never know whether it is something you can see all the way through until you try!
Just 3 weeks ago I was in your position, started writing, still don’t know if I will end up seeing it hosted, but hey, you miss all the shots you don’t take right? All the best! Looking forward to your demo!
It does sound interesting, Moonlight. I’m not very musical, and positively suck at the guitar-hero type of games, but a choice adventure makes that world accessible to me and that promises to be a bit of fun.
@Moonlight–I think you should go for it. Nobody should give up on an idea that interests them. Besides, this is a particularly interesting new idea that I’ve never seen done before (the closest was Choice of the Rock Star, but that didn’t have a training-program plotline, IIRC), and I’d be eager to see what you do with it.
Out of curiosity, what genre of music will the training program be working in? You mentioned ‘refusing to conform to pop standards’ earlier, so does that mean it’s a pop-only training program? Or would it be a mixed program, where we’d be fending off musical rivals from all genres?
Hi! There will be a mix of different genres but the focus of the program is more pop focused. For example your character can select what genre of music they make, but will still take classes on Vocals, Dancing, Songwriting, and Producing. I’m considering adding optional seminars that that talk about other genres but I’ve recently discovered that coding is pretty time consuming so it’s still up in the air tbh
Hmmm… based on your premise, you might want to watch Dream High for inspiration. Or do a bit of research in how the K-pop industry works since some mechanics of your game is reminiscient of how trainees are trained for possible debut.
