Neverplayd: Well you did send me one earlier. Other than that, nobody sent me a save file even though I asked on the beta-testing thread many times >.<  But as a tester, you were extremely helpful and the game is undoubtedly better because of your suggestions.

Randomizing the number for Bunny should be easy enough. I'll do that for the next update.

If either of you want to write a walkthrough, you're more than welcome  If you end up doing that, I'll be glad to answer any insider questions you have, even to let you peek at the code if you like.

First things first: thank you Flowerthief for releasing a game that's different, and not just an angsty/comedic RPG. And double thank you for getting it *done*. Clearly, you were dedicated.

I'm something of a crazy moetard, which means I'm willing to support indie and pro games with male characters pursuing or training attractive female characters. On the other hand, I'm also a shoujotard, which means that I support games with a female point of view. I've been influenced by many literate anime fangirls, so I hope to someday see more than a few girl-oriented games in English.

My first impressions were pretty positive. I'm starting out on day 1 and 2, trying to figure out how to recruit idols, get money, and get appropriate items and gifts. Just a few thoughts so far:

1. NPCs walk quickly. I'll have to plug in my USB gamepad, because just using arrow keys, it's tough to walk up and talk with them.

2. Does the invisible timer run indoors and outdoors? If it does, then I'll have to do some trial and error. Limited time means I might even have to create a map of locations, and then take notes about where to find significant NPCs.

I didn't realize there was a timer for several minutes. I was hoping the "walk around town" segment would be more like the untranslated DS game Urusei Yatsura Endless Summer, in which the protagonist has unlimited time to find people to talk with (and once he chooses to talk with someone, that action advances the game from Morning to Afternoon, etc).

I've started to promote your game on two other forums: Lemma Soft and Shira Oka. Hopefully you won't mind...

Thanks for the feedback ;)
Yep, the timer does run indoors as well as outdoors. (but not while you're in conversation, or looking at a menu or something) I wanted the game to be reasonably fast-paced.

I was actually planning on announcing it at Lemma soft forums, so no problem. I don't know what Shira Oka is but I'll do a search...

edit: Oh, Shira Oka, right! I'm sure I've stumbled on that site before.

edit: v1.3 is up, which has some bug fixes including a fix for the "is_tuesday" bug (it had to do with Bunny skipping work)

That's what I did.   :tongue2:

Anyway, haven't gotten around to doing any sort of strategy guide or anything myself (gotta work on my OWN game from time to time...), but don't think I've forgotten about the game, hahah.  So I guess Bunny had to do with the fatal Tuesday error, which would explain why I didn't encounter it on my last run.  Good work!   :thumb:

This is certainly an... interesting gameplay concept.

I think I will go into depth to review the implementation.

Hey, this game looks amazing! >.<
I'm downloading it right now..

I will put a comment soon

Allrighty, look forward to hearing your comments ;-)

The game is really fun ^^
I like it

good points :
+ unique gameplay
+ the NPC looks realistic.. they seem have destination to go.
+ Good art. I love anime style ;)

bad point :
- the day went to fast (I think)
- everybody walks so fast.

Finally! Another person who make bishojo game XD  I'll download this game and play it as soon as I can. Reading through all people discussing about this game in this thread make me wanna play it already :)

I'm very sorry it took so long for me to reply. Yes, I got the beta demo and played through it.

Anyway, here's my two cents:
Solid concept overall. It's not groundbreaking or anything per se, but I'm a firm advocate of the belief that amateur game makers, specifically those doing this for a hobby shouldn't be focusing on making their project the best ever, but the best they can make it be. This game is a solid testament to that.

Visually it left a lot to be desired, as you'd expect a lot of eyecandy from Bishoujo games, but I'm sure everyone understands that good resources are not readily available for everyone. You worked with what you have and did an impressive job with it. I see a lot of potential in what you can do with the town. From right now it already seems so alive and busy. Given more time and effort I'm hoping it only improves as the project progresses.

Pacewise, it was a little confusing. Before finding your first idol and establishing a steady work schedule for her, I had no idea what to do. Where to go, where that singing came from the guy was talking about at the start, and I was a little put off by it. A simple "I should look around town and see if I can pick up any jobs" line would've worked to nudge the player to some direction.

Again, good job so far. I eagerly anticipate where this game goes in the future. :)

I appreciate the feedback, all.

Yeah, I was wondering what I could do to give more direction in the beginning. I prob'ly wouldn't use a "pick up jobs" line, as it might be misleading since part-time jobs are not really important early on. What's important is that the player be looking for idols. Since most of the clues about where idols are at first come from talking to NPC's, I suppose I could give a nudge to the effect that they should be asking around the city for information.

The project is essentially done, btw.

As long as you're working on it, there's always room for improvement. You're not quite done til you actually drop work on it. ;)

I'm gonna give this another play through to see what other goodies I'll find.

I kinda like how it's vague at the beginning like that.  It's probably smartest for the game maker.  It kinda makes you want to play through another time to see what else you can get and do.  And then another time.  And then another time.

If anything, nothing really needs be simplified.  I pretty much understood that you have to run around and find Idols and make them trust you, get them to join you, then train them. 

And enough people on the streets give you enough clues.  Sure they walk fast, but your character's pace is actually faster.  I found the best thing to do if you want to talk to a random NPC is to just run in front of their path, that way they stop for you.

Thanks for the feedback.

Right, I don't want to sacrifice multilinearity. The trick is to get the player hooked while staying true to the gameplay. The first 5 minutes of a game are critical; a lot of players are gonna stop playing if they're not into it by then. I think if they're still playing Idolcraft after a few days (days in game time I mean!) they will keep playing, but how to instill a sense of purpose without overwhelming the player with all the options you're giving them? It's a tricky problem for simulations. The first time I played "The Sims" I was pretty overwhelmed myself what with the zillions of things you can buy for your house, etc.

04-30-08 - New update with bug fixes and stuff.

Hello, I actually just downloaded this a few days ago and am now thoroughly addicted.

I did notice a couple of weird things during my various playthrough:



Also I have a question about getting one of the idols.



My favorite idols go Nanaka <- Bunny <- Kazune. I also really like Sachie and the green haired one, Tomoki? Tomoko?

I think the only thing I would wish for in this game is specific endings for each of the girls, but that's the story freak in me talking. Otherwise I really like your game and am looking forward to your next release!

Thanks a lot for that.

I don't suppose you remember what the error message said when it crashed during the cosplay event? Any other information you can supply would be helpful.

Finding Fumika

Thank you for the tips on Fumika. I never saw an error for when the game crashed, usually it would just lock up and I'd let it sit there for a few minutes (in case it's my computer, because it could always be my computer) and then occasionally try to click enter/space to see if I just needed to prod it, then it'd just shut down.

Okay, thank you. If you by chance ever capture a save prior to one of those errors, you could help me out a ton by sending me it. I did find the problem with the drunk man. v1.6 should fix a few errors.

Orz,this is kewl! OwO
i like this kind of game!i hope you continue updating it,so there will be always something new in the game ;)

Heh, well, I don't intend to update it for anything other than bug fixes now. I hope it can entertain for a little while :)

I just downloaded this game, and let me say... wow. If anyone's reading this right now, 

Play this game. :-)

I did find one bug that I hope I successfully caught in a save file.

Thanks for that!

were can i find the papers for bunny...

and what item has the most trust??

bump. what does yumi nanako bunny australian model like the most item s0o0o i could buy them.... and were does the (girl with the grandma who likes salmon) always go i can't teach her anything...

Don't bump until it's been 3 day's time. Also, work on your english. It's a bit hard to make it out.

0o0o0oh sorry.... my keyboard is kinda crazy s0o0o im lacking letters....

For giving items


Bunny


Airi

Well I have just finished my first game and it was soooo fun!! this is my results

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2467/idolsjx9.jpg[/img]

and lol to the references to the japanese singers such as "Mai Otsuka" (Ai Otsuka) lol I loved this game I had Bunny the three in the pic and also the school girls ^_^

WHY ITS SOOOOOOOO FUN WHY IS IT ONLY 3 MONTHS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO anyways
Erina got 4th in rankings and 469 points