Game description, mechanics & character art and info

Hello, welcome to my first ever first devlog!

I want to catch up on everything I've already done and just talk about how the game's going to work, get deeper into the plot and characters, etc. I've been working on this visual novel for over a year now and although A LOT is not done yet, I'm quite surprised at how invested I am in actually making it happen. First up, I'll do a little summary of what's done, and then you can dive deeper into the details.

What is done already?

• drawn basic images of five main characters (Maggie, Simran, Angel, Ali, Yuzu). These ARE NOT sprites at all, but for now, for illustration purposes, they work as that in my project. I prefer to wait with drawing them until I have more of the game ready (I figure my skills will get better, so drawing them now would be a waste of time and I'd only get irritated)
• written whole Monday (Day 1) which already (considering all the choices) is around 25 000 words
• pasted like 1/3 of Monday dialogue into Ren'Py and made the choices work properly
• successfully managed to do a "multi-level" exploring feature
• drawn some UI (dialogue, choices, in-game menu buttons, "explore" buttons)
• browsed itch.io for some music and sounds (right now I have two songs playing in the game, but I don't feel like music is something I should be taking care of just now, so I haven't advanced in that field yet) and assigned the characters different "bleep voices"
• made characters blink and move mouth while talking
• tried drawing one background but this is something I struggle a lot with, so the effects are not worth sharing yet. I need to figure out a way I want to go with it

Plot & game mechanics

You play as Maggie Simmons, a normal, quiet, 10-year-old girl who isn't really friends with anyone in particular in her class. Four days before the Valentine's Day (which falls on Friday) Maggie's class is told by their love-crazy teacher, Ms. García, that everyone has to make (just one!) valentine card for whomever they want. It doesn't have to be romantic; the premise is to get to know someone, who you never took the time to become acquainted with. Maggie seems interested (and pretty involved) with the idea of hanging out with new people. As her targets she chooses three people, who I'll describe deeper later on: beautiful and popular Simran (female, lesbian), sassy and smart Angel (male, bisexual) and lone wolf Ali (non-binary, aroace).

The game's main goal is to succeed with securing at least one date until Friday. I plan on doing 5 "side quests" where, if you've picked the right choices in particular dialogues, you can get to know some characters' secrets or play a completely new small side stories. Also, I've always enjoyed games where you can explore a little, so I plan on having lots of clickable "objects" on the background images, that trigger smaller (usually internal) dialogues you can read aside the main story.

As for how you play the game, what's happening, etc. - you start on Monday morning, when Ms. García says the news and then you talk to the three dateables (as Ali's aroace, they are not really dateable, but more like "friendable", if that makes sense. But to simplify, I'll be referring to the three objectives as "dateables"). With each kid you're gonna have three options that'll give you slightly different responses - these will be the "first impressions" which will have an effect on your relationship in the next days (nothing is unfixable though!). Then from Tuesday through Thursday, each day, some school events will be taking place (where you can deepen or worsen(!) your friendships) and an after school hangout with one of the dateables. On Friday, the Valentine's Day, you'll have the possibility to gift your favourite kid a valentine's card and maybe even go on a date!

Character descriptions

Next, I'll give you some deeper insight into main characters, so you can get to know everyone better and maybe already build a small connection :) Unfortunately, I don't have many drawings of them at my command (because I'm really slow and not confident about drawing different poses/faces, etc.), so you'll have to do with these basic character description images for now.

First up is the character you play as, Maggie Simmons. In the beginning I kind of wanted to make this person customisable and maybe a little bit bland, so you could feel like you're playing more as yourself than a set character. But I started drawing and designing and I just decided that Simran's definitely a lesbian, so if you played as a guy you wouldn't really be able to date her lol. Anyways, because of the fact that Maggie is the playable character, in my view she's the one that has the littlest personality of all but at the same time she has a very vivid imagination because I've been trying to make the game funny, so her choices are sometimes a little extreme and crazy.

She isn't really friends with anyone in her class. It's like she's talked to them a couple of times during some pair projects but out of the lessons she hangs out by herself. The only acquaintance she has is Yuzu.

She's of course pansexual, because that seems the most fitting given she doesn't mind the gender of the kids (I might be tiny bit biased with Simran though, but that's because I'm a lesbian she's "the most beautiful girl in her grade" after all!) but mainly wants to get to know them before anything else. Her main hobby is reading and studying but she's just an average student. As I've written above, she's kind of "all and nothing" because she doesn't have any major hobbies or interests like the dateables. Maybe I'll come up with something later on and change it.

I tried to give all the characters the zodiac signs that sound like them the most based on some internet sites. Maggie's born in February, so she's an Aquarius: "They build their lives on two principles: freedom and independence. They go their own way, hate playing with conventions and are painfully honest. However, they also have another side, and ambition is their middle name, along with perfectionism. They are an intellectual type, and their innate curiosity about the world and openness mean that they can achieve more than most zodiac signs, unless they are ruined by perfectionism or short-lived enthusiasm. If they decide to invest time and energy in a relationship, they become a devoted and loyal friend."

Next one is Simran Patel, well known as the "beautiful and popular". She's of an Indian descent and when it comes to studying, she's the stereotypical student with good grades. But besides that, she's very lively, loud, maybe a little manipulative girl whose biggest passion is football (soccer). It's not only a thing she loves, but also a thing she's really good at. She's so great she's won multiple "best player" medals (and loves to display them on her chest lol)! At the same time, Simran is THE most popular girl in her grade, so she's got many friends (her "clique" that seems to always follow her). She's rather nice girl than a mean girl, but you still have to be wary of how you approach her because you just never know.

Because she plays sports, it shouldn't be surprising that she's WAY too competitive; she always wants to be on top of everything. Her biggest rival is Angel and the two try to outdo each other all the time. Apart from that, their relationship isn't really positive nor negative. She doesn't really have any connection to Yuzu and is not the biggest fan of Ali, who's almost like her polar opposite. On the other hand, she is the biggest admirer (and also the only one) of their crazy lesbian teacher Ms. García, who's very open about her sexuality to the kids. Even though Simran's crush on Ms. García isn't a secret to anyone, she's still in the closet.

I've decided that the zodiac sign that describes her the best is Leo: "They win people over with their charisma, extraordinary energy, sense of humor and joy of life. Leo's strong personality may be difficult for those around them, who must completely submit to their visions. On the other hand, they are straightforward, honest and extremely caring. They willingly engage in various projects and react poorly to failures which affect their self-esteem. The weaknesses of people of this zodiac sign include vanity, pride and domineering.".

The second dateable is Angel Souza, who's often described as "sassy and smart". He's aware of his great knowledge and isn't afraid of correcting anyone or boasting about it. Sometimes he can be a little mean but it's not necessarily to hurt anyone, but rather to make jokes.

He takes his job as a student seriously and is Simran's biggest competitor. These two are on top of almost everything the school assigns. As much as Simran's academic excellence comes from the way she was brought up, Angel just has an ease when it comes to devouring new information and likes to rival with Simran who has to put more work into studying. His bestie, who he's known basically from birth, is Yuzu. They both share a passion of video games, especially the one called The Story of Thalanil and they can often be found spending their free time playing together. Angel and Yuzu complement each other perfectly as being the "smartass" and the "dummy" duo.

As I've written, Angel biggest passion is information research and video games. Another one is history, which is his favourite school subject. He can get very offensive about it, especially when the class's "barely teaching" teacher Ms. García gives super easy test questions, so everyone gets good grades and he can't really show off his knowledge on the subject.

His zodiac sign is Capricorn: "They're driven to put their noses to the grindstone, succeed, and earn recognition for their diligent, no-nonsense work. In fact, it's for this reason that they have a rep for being workaholics. But they're also extremely loyal, often exhibit a gut-busting hilarious dry sense of humor, and ability to show you exactly what's possible when you commit to a pragmatic, steady, grounded approach."

Last, but not least, is Ali Lefèbvre, the "lone wolf". People know only two things about them: they are always spending time alone sketching something in their notebook and that they are French. Their family moved when Ali was a baby but they still have a little distinctive French accent because it is their first language, spoken at home. Other than that, they are a mystery to be discovered (or not!).

One could say Ali's mean as most of the time they open their mouth in front of the class, they say something with a snarky overtone. On that note, Ali and Angel can be quite a bunch, although most of the time they are just stating the facts. Aside outspoken comments, Ali's rather shy. They are content with hanging out by themselves because of the way they are but also making friends is difficult for them and they don't quite know how to go about it.

Drawing's gotta be Ali's No. 1 passion and you can barely spot them without a sketchbook and a pencil. They like to try different techniques and styles and are extremely devoted to art and comic books. They are also a "wild child" that loves spending time outdoors, no matter the seasons and weather. Because of that, they possess lots of survival skills and handiness, which, back to the first hobby, helps them with various crafts. Even if they are determined to achieve perfection, it only applies to humanities and manual work, so maths and most of science subjects are a source of problems for them.

Ali's zodiac sign is Scorpio which means that: "They value independence, are sometimes distrustful, suspicious and need time to open the door to their world. There are lots of contradictions in them. On the one hand, they can be empathetic and caring, and a moment later they can turn into a malicious cynic. Their honesty, bordering on audacity, makes them many enemies, but for them it is much more important to be at peace with themselves. They hold grudges for a long time and wait for the right moment to pinch others painfully. Loyal and faithful, they do not forget about the people important to them."

The last character I'm going to introduce now is Yuzu McKinney, who isn't a dateable but she's just as a main character as Simran, Angel and Ali. She's got Japanese roots from her mom and is your typical new money rich and spoiled girl, who's dad happens to be a successful businessman. One could think this is the reason she's kind of a dummy but it's just the way she was born, not really the brightest kid around. Because of how much money her family has and her feminine nature, she loves spending money on clothes and looking the cutest way possible. Even though she's got nothing against Simran, she's a little jealous, how her beauty shines over her sporty way of being and how she's considered the prettiest girl in 5th grade.

Yuzu's passion of video games may be the only "boyish" aspect of her which is also the main interest she shares with her best friend Angel. Even though they are so different, their personalities make them such a cool duo. Her main life focus is DEFINITELY boys. She's so fond of the opposite gender, she can barely spend a day without talking about them. Her biggest crush is Cevonté, a boy from her class, who's the most handsome kid ten year-olds have seen (you could think he's a perfect match for Simran...). What's widely known is also that Yuzu is polyamorous and she can't help that she has feelings for Cevonté's friend, Bao, too.

Yuzu is a Sagittarius: "Full of optimism and energy, they are restless spirits. They are never bored and love to start several projects at the same time. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm makes it difficult for them to complete them all. They are devoted friends and they will stay like this as long as you agree with them. Otherwise, they may stamp their foot and get seriously offended. Not for long. Lack of consistency is one of the most expressive features of Sagittarius. This is an extremely carefree zodiac sign whose characteristic feature is variability."

So we've got most of our main characters covered! There's much more people you'll be able to interact with though but I don't have them properly drawn for now, heh, that's why you're gonna see them later on. This includes: Ms. García (30s), the kids' crazy lesbian history teacher that's not so good with teaching but loves to pity her love life, Bryxlynneleigha (10), a little devil that nobody likes and makes drama out of everything, Cevonté (10), a cool cat straight from the hood who shares an interest of skateboarding with a foodie Bao (10). There's also one "mystery" character planned, that's gonna be unlockable in one of the side stories. Who knows, maybe I'll do even more characters, most probably dateables' families for the after school hangouts.

Summary

So that would be everything for this devlog. I'd love to share with you the UI I made but I feel it'd be shown best if I had a nice background done (sprites too but that's a faraway plan). I am constantly working on it, so probably one background picture and UI (text boxes and such) (and also the "explore feature") are going to be the next things I'm going to be sharing. I have NO idea, when I'll post it since this game is an on-and-off project for me (I work on it when I have the time, desire and inspiration) but all I know is I'm dedicated to making this game happen, no matter how much time it's going to take. So on that note, see you next time and hope you enjoyed this post! (⁀ᗢ⁀)

P.S. The name of this game is still a work in progress, and I'm DEFINITELY open to suggestions!