sadambober Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 TLDR: Hey! I'm shilling our business sim / dark comedy Idol Manager that offers a more realistic, "grimbright" take on the genre. Coming 2017 for PC, Mac and Linux. The premise: You take on the role of manager at a small (but growing!) talent agency. As you cultivate and train the newest generation of young pop stars, you'll have to decide who to hire and who to fire, who gets promoted when things go well and who gets reprimanded when things get sour. The personal lives of these young celebrities are a part of your business, and the life of a pop star isn't always a happy one. Their crowning personal achievements can be your greatest commercial successes, but their emotional meltdowns and PR nightmares can spell financial disaster for your company. Features: Idol Manager is a more realistic take on the Japanese pop idol industry, with a strong focus on the controversial issues that real producers have to deal with. Decide how to deal with crises including gossip, vandalism, stalkers, or threats directed at your agency and the pop idols you manage. Manage relationships between the different pop idols in your group, as you deal with cliques, internal feuds, and bullying. Grow your fanbase by varying your tactics and appealing to a wide variety of demographics. Produce singles, hold concerts, and organize overseas tours to capitalize on your group's popularity and bring in revenue. Hire staffers to help deal with logistics and keep your agency running smoothly. Screenshots Spoiler How will your idols spend their time? Plan activities to increase their performance potential — and their earning potential Not every fan has the same tastes. Cater to different demographics to expand your fanbase and increase revenue. Sometimes, the business decisions you make can have personal implications Customize your agency and build the ultimate staff team to support your stars. Scandal is sometimes unavoidable. You can use the press as a tool for damage control to save careers — or sabotage them. Hold auditions to form a giant supergroup — or focus your resources and attention on a few core members Be careful when managing a long-term business relationship — there's more at stake, and you might find yourself liable for damages if you don't read the fine print (more about it here) Project status: About 40% done We do plan to have a small Kickstarter for it in the future to fund more features (including 18+ content) and speed up the development, but we'll finish the game regardless of its success. Keep up with the project: Website@idolmanagergameTumblr @sadambober - designer, programmer@kuiperdesu - co-designer, writer@ai_wa_ - artist Cover art by @Ninamo_lcr Dergonu, Eclipsed, Arcadeotic and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie21093 Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 This may be just a random promotion of the game, but to be honest, it actually looks pretty interesting. Might keep track of this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcosis Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I already heard about it. Ineed, it does look good for what it offers; art is pleasant to the eye as well. What about potential romance consequences? What if my idol falls in love with me, producer-san? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Idols? Count me in. I like the dark angle you're trying to take with it as well. Rose 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie21093 Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 If the idols could fall in love with you, I'd be sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valmore Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I think I'm in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipsed Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Production values of this actually look pretty neat, best of luck with this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_blade64 Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Reminds me a little of that idol death game that was recently announced. I wonder how this game will keep track of events and the different possible outcomes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxy Stoner Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Count me in! Sounds very good indeed, if only the idols could fall in love with you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tymmur Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 From what we can see now, it has a great setup. Graphics seems decent, there is some eye candy (particularly if 18+ contents is added) and there is a known concept (we all know what an idol is). There is just one thing, which can't really be seen from this post and that is the game mechanics. It has to be random enough to ensure two games will not be identical, but at the same time not so random that it seems your are without influence. The gameplay should be fun and not end up as feeling repetitive. That's actually somewhat harder to get than it sounds. Time will tell if the game mechanics ends up being fun to play with, but the rest seems nice. It somehow reminds me of Lula: The Sexy Empire. People look at that one as "hey fun, you record porn and you see boobs", but it is actually the management part, which makes that one worth the time. The economics, production budget and market share and all that makes it a challenging game, which isn't dead and forgotten despite being 18 years old. I'm not saying I view this thread or idols to be about porn, but more that the economic/sim part underneath a game is quite important, possibly more important than the game's theme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadambober Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 7 hours ago, Narcosis said: What about potential romance consequences? What if my idol falls in love with me, producer-san? They can, in fact, fall in love with you and/or each other (depending on their preferences). If you start dating a girl, she gets immunity to scandals and a little stat boost, and you get some fun conversations from time to time. On the other hand, if some other idol really hates you and the girl you're dating, she might rat you out to the press. 5 hours ago, tymmur said: There is just one thing, which can't really be seen from this post and that is the game mechanics. It has to be random enough to ensure two games will not be identical, but at the same time not so random that it seems your are without influence. The gameplay should be fun and not end up as feeling repetitive. That's actually somewhat harder to get than it sounds. Time will tell if the game mechanics ends up being fun to play with, but the rest seems nice. I've been slowly developing the game since like early 2014 and it went through a lot of iterations since then. I can't promise a masterpiece of course, but I'm pretty confident in the current design, it shouldn't completely suck at least. Balancing it will be really tough though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcosis Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 >cute idol from your studio starts to develop feelings for you >with time, fall in love with each other >Another girl - her best friend - becomes jealous, plots against you >get paparazzis on your back >sex scandal >your beloved can't stand it anymore and wants to commit suicide >stop her in the very last moment >defend her against the press and public >leave your previous life and run away together >live happily ever after YES, PLEASE Arcadeotic and sadambober 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkZedge Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 2 hours ago, Narcosis said: >cute idol from your studio starts to develop feelings for you >with time, fall in love with each other >Another girl - her best friend - becomes jealous, plots against you >get paparazzis on your back >sex scandal >your beloved can't stand it anymore and wants to commit suicide >stop her in the very last moment >defend her against the press and public >leave your previous life and run away together >live happily ever after YES, PLEASE Indeed I'm sold as well, this looks pretty great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadambober Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Hey, we'll be releasing a bunch of dev log videos showing off various gameplay systems and features, here's the first one: Novel21 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nier Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 An OELVN about Idols? It immediatly got me thinking of this: https://vndb.org/v19322 You guys got competition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadambober Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 Here's a new video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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