Idolcraft - a bishoujo simulation

Welcome to showbiz. If you think it's tough being an idol singer, try being her manager!




In Idolcraft you assume the role of the manager of an idol studio in Japan. Your challenge is to scout out fresh talent, train them to sing and dance, and put as many CDs and DVDs on the market as you can within a 2-month period. Will a girl you train become the next big star?

Screenshots:


This is an independent project I began 18 months ago. After an extended testing period I'm ready to stick a fork in it and call it done =P.  Feel free to leave feedback. (Note that feedback along the lines of "I don't like RTP" or "I don't like the mapping" isn't useful to me at this point)

Credits are listed in the readme file.

Enjoy!

edit: changed download site

Download <-- version 1.8

Hmmm from the screenshots, (and the attractive anime) it looks pretty good. I always enjoyed these type of games. I'll give it a go! =P

-Krobe

Played it for more than 2 hours!
I got 3 idols =D

PD: An error ocurred (thats why i stoped playing)
http://planetarpg.com.ar/foro/imagen/U2 ... 370211.png[/img]
It ocurred when I tried to save inside the bedrooms' map. :/

Aw man, that must've been caused by the one new thing I added just before releasing this >.<  I'll take a look. Thanks a ton for reporting that.

happy to see it out now, will play!

Okay, I uploaded a version that should fix the bug MapleCutter just reported.

For those who don't feel like dl-ing again, you'll only get the bug after attempting the slide puzzle mini-game (to avoid it, don't examine the upper left shelf in the basement). That mini-game is, however, necessary if you are trying to recruit a certain girl.

Heh, during beta-testing no fatal error was ever reported, but the very day I release the official version...lol

First off, amazing work on this game!

It's one of the most addicting games I've played...  I don't even normally LIKE these kind of games.

I got through the game the first time and I'm anxious to start it again.  It reminds me of Pokemon in the best way possible... keep up the good work.

Of course I encountered a few problems.  Sometimes Tuesday would freeze the game... something about  "is.Tuesday" in the script is having an error or some sort... I'm not sure if this happens on other days, but it happened twice on Tuesday for me.  I started to save like twice every game day after that...

I've gotten a few script is hanging errors as well, have no clue what triggers those.

I plan on playing this through a LOT more times before I get tired of it, try to get as many different girls as I can.  I wish you had set it up so the game lasts forever, or longer than whatever you gave me... it seemed to get cut short once I started to get all my girls trained up.  I'm gonna have to play through a lot to get everything, aren't I?

God, I love this game...

[I love Airi, by the way; my #1 in the nation.]

This looks REALLY good. Downloading now.

Swordsaint892: I'm glad to hear that! Thanks for the report.

Of course I'm concerned about those errors. If you ever manage to capture a save file prior to getting one of those bugs, you could do me a HUGE favor by sending it to me so I can see for myself and get it sorted.

Hmm, in the future perhaps I could add an "infinite calendar mode" to the game...

I would be SO happy.

Yeah, I'll try to see if I can remember to keep a save file before I get one of those errors so you can work it out.  The game is already so damn good, hahah.

You can hit me up on AIM anytime to if you've got it,  "SwordSaint892" on there as well.

This is a pretty cool idea. Kudos on the originality of the concept, seems quite refreshing!

Just finished by second run earlier.

I did quite better this time:




I found a lot more things this time around then I expected, also solved the dorm mystery.


Man, I'm gonna have to play this through a few more times still, hahah.  Time seemed to fly by a lot faster than I expected.  Need never-ending version...  >.>  Or maybe one that lasts for a full year instead of a few months.

did you make those graphics yourself?
they're awesome!!

I really appreciating the feedback!

The face/vacation graphics are by an online Japanese CG artist who was kind enough to allow me to use them. He seemed happy himself that his art was getting used in an English game.

Swordsaint892: Good job! I hope it wasn't too easy to achieve that grade. If you think it is, tell me honestly, because it's a very easy matter to adjust the scoring.

Too easy??

No way!  I worked like hell to get that grade, cramming like crazy at the end there.

I'm not sure how Yumi got the top idol spot though, when Sachie had 99 on everything except singing; and her dancing was like 30 something.  I'm pretty sure Sachie had more DVD's/CD's out as well.  Maybe since I got Yumi first and she produced a CD first, while I got Sachie third or something... well whatever.

I think the difficulty is just fine the way it is.  I'm starting my third playthrough soon, gonna try to get the Austrailian model girl this time.  Maybe Chisato too.  I donno, I don't like her that much.

Oh, there's one that I have simply no clue what's going on with. 


And then there's also...


How many Idols are there, exactly?  Some guy says something like  "There's at least 10 idols in the city, maybe more."  I haven't gotten around to making sure I found everyone, but I'm just curious.

One random comment, I ended up playing with the music turned off most times (and had my own playing instaed) because it seems so repetative.  Maybe a different music track for the city for each different day of the week?  I suppose if you're using unique music, that might be a little much to ask, just throwing it out there.  The game is already sweet enough.  [[Plus in almost every game I ever play, I end up playing my own music anyway, so don't take this comment too seriously.]]

Oh, and my own random question;  who was your favorite idol in your game?

Airi -> Nanako -> Erina -> Sachie
For me.

;D

flowerthief, great job on your new game...it is very addicting, original and challenging. I had played this game for about 3 times and managed to get an A :D
There are some quests that I could not solved myself.


@ Swordsaint892: Here are the clues to these problems you are having...

Thanks for the tips, rika3000...



And I'll pay ya back.  All the following information is what I can remember how it worked.  The game author could probably clear a lot of it up better.

I'll just chime in on these things.

Number of idols


Monique's request for help


Giving food to the guard

Thanks flowerthief!



I've actually managed to purposely avoid recruiting Yumi this time around.  I didn't like her that much anyway...  It was helpful that she gets 150% from food though.  You can work her like a horse, hahah.

Airi for the win, I guess, hahah.    I'm aiming for her to be my top spot again this time around.

Oh another question;  Is it possible to get all the different furniture in one run through? I've been trying to map out the locations that the creepy sales guy visits and I'm trying to figure out what makes him appear.  I'm working on a 'He appears at this exact place on this exact day' theory right now, but I haven't gone through to check or collected enough data to know.

I've found that the Soft Pillows, Vanity Mirrors, Herbal Tea, and Party Dress are really helpful.  And once you know how it works, the Cigarette Lighter almost feels necessary.  The Spiked Mallet is nice too.



By the way, I've yet to find my way into here:


Thanks for all the help.  :D

Looks great! I downloaded it. I will play it and tell you what I think

By the way, has anyone else gotten the game-freezing error reported earlier? Does it still happen on Tuesday?

Spoilers about the merchant


Cat in the tree


Getting into that trick area

I played it.. and I can't stop!! It's addicting! XDD
And say, what is the birth place of you'r favorit idol? :P Can find the answer to that one.

Lolz, I forgot about the Cheat Bush...

I didn't really want to deal with it, and even though it's only 5 letters long, I can't figure out the right comination...  :down:

With the merchant this time around I got pretty much everything I really wanted anyway, but I'll keep trying to track him.  I did make a proxy map of the entire game and listed out the spots I can remember where that creep appears, hahah.
So, provided you didn't already buy the item he's selling, will the merchant be in town EVERY day until you get the item, just in a random location?

By the way, I haven't encountered that 'Tuesday' error since my first run through.  Although I've gotten a few 'script is hanging' errors, but that could have to do with all the other stuff I have running and being idle on the menu screen for too long.



I'm still lost, but again... I don't like Mei that much...  >.>

Ah, I'll try looking for the trick area enterance then.


More people need to play this game!! 

Ah, you guys found the Cheating Bush! I guess it wasn't hidden very hard. I don't want to give the answer to the secret question away because it makes the game trivially easy if you know it.

I'll only give this obscure clue:


More on the merchant...


And phew, hopefully that Tuesday thing was just a fluke! You had me worried because I couldn't think of anything in the code that could possibly cause the game to hang.

edit:
A new version is available ;)  I didn't have any bugs to fix this time so it's not critical that you dl the update if you already have the game. The main thing I added was...

Upon completing the game with a letter grade of B+ or higher, instructions are given on how to unlock "Endless Calendar Mode". For those who have already done this, go ahead and look at the spoiler below:

<3<3<3

I am very content now.   Downloading now.

Oh, am I missing anything?  Looks like there is space for one more...





IDOLCRAFT FTW

Yes.

Aright, I managed to pick up a lot more items...



REGARDLESS of that though, I got some pretty sweet screens.  Hooray for Endless Calender Mode:




Yet again, I can't stress how awesome this game is. 

I found three new slight glitches/errors, but they aren't really a big deal.



I'm sure they're just minor things that barely matter and could be fixed with a few switch changes, but whatever, just thought I'd tell ya about em. 


Oh, I finally fed that guy by the gym.  I love the dialog that he gives you afterwards. 


Maybe I need a break from IdolCraft...  hahah.

Haha, good work! You've gone farther into the frontiers of Idolcraft than anyone. Lol at the money you had. I wonder how much selling birdies to Kaori at increasingly ridiculous prices contributes to it? 

I appreciate the bug reports much, even the small ones. Most people don't take the time to report small bugs, which is why they go unfixed for so long.

wow~ you're game has gone really far flowerthief :X.
Btw, a suggestion for Bunny would be to change the code to get her to a randomly generated number that you set at the introduction (so it is different each game ). And sorry for not giving you any savefiles... It was because I didn't have any -.-'. (I guess I'm one of those unreliable, lazy beta-testers ) Well, good luck on your game; you should think about making a walkthrough for it (or I might if that is alright with you ^^)

Oh yeah, selling those birdies was mass cash later on.  I was also making tons on DVDs as well (also had the Business books for 120%).  I didn't even bother w/ CD production after awhile.  How much does "Vocal" affect DVD quality/payout?



If you do (or anyone does), I'd be glad to help out. (AIM SN=  SwordSaint892   for ez access to me, if I'm not working or Brawling, I'm probably on here. )  I've kinda put one together in my mind already, hahah.  (For most characters and things anyway.  I've also sketched out maps for my own reference haha.  (Yeah, I really dig the game... )

I thought that same thing about Bunny's number files, but didn't mention it because I think I've already been demanding enough asking for a Endless Mode, hahah.