Jump to content
Black Chicken Studios Forums

Simone Imose: HONORABLE JOURNALIST (aka my attempt to make a new student)


wipeout1024
 Share

Recommended Posts

So, hi guys! I've recently been reading up on Mikka's guide on creating new students for the game, and so I was thinking of creating a character, either as a mod, or as a potential transfer student for year 2! So, let's get to the actual character.

This character is Simone Imose, who i've decided to create because I realized that aren't really that many students of color at Academagia, which i understand but still, and also because I wanted to create another Durand student and a counterpart to Rikildis von Kiep.

Simone is the granddaughter of Alesfan immigrants to Elumia, and has grown up her whole life in Mineta. She's always been interested in finding more about her history and culture, but also about the acquisition of information. She aspires to become a journalist in the future, which is why the subjects she's most passionate about include Grammar and Dialectic. She hopes to do proud by her college and embody Durand's motto, but she plans on doing so not though magical or physical deeds, but by ensuring that the truth is always spoken, and fairness can reign supreme above all. In reality, this translates to her being a well-meaning but nosy person who tries to find out details about other people's lives. 

Not a stranger to practically forcing her way into social groups, Simone is not known as the most subtle person, and has a quick temper when it comes to any kind of lying. Due to this, she does not get along well with Mhadi, as they tend to argue on how to best showcase Alesfan culture, as well as both of them being quite defensive in arguments.

While Simone tries to prevent herself from jumping too quickly to conclusions, her thirst for information means that she doesn't always take the time to ensure all of her facts are straight, meaning that as much as tries to distance herself from what she calls the "petty gossip and rumors" of Rikildis, the content of her reports tend to amount to the same thing. Due to this, she believes wholeheartedly in the Aranaz-Durand rivalry, which she mainly uses an excuse to argue with Rikildis, either through words or in person. 

Among her friends and potential sources of information, Simone is a great advice-giver and confidant, who prides herself on being able to listen to others. To those she detests, Simone is a stubborn girl who refuses to make amends, firmly believing that she is in the right, because she said so.

Those who form a close bond with Simone is that she is somewhat more vulnerable than she is on the outside, with some insecurity surrounding her feeling out of place due to her heritage, and in general feeling stuck between two worlds, her Alesfan heritage, as well as the Elumian society she has grown up in and been surrounded by.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, onyx said:

This is a disaster, you dont have to tiptoe saying people of color, you can say black, academagia does not need these dramas. 

 

Yes, I did mean people of color in general, like people who aren't white. But ya, there's like a grand total of one black character, which i get, but I would imagine in places like Mineta there's like a larger immigrant population. But seriously, Simone isn't gonna be like super full of morals about diversity and shit, I really just want to make a character that adds something different to Academagia, which is that of like the sorta-friendly journalist, which means that if she tarnishes your name and it's false, it's probably by accident rather than something calculated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I'd rather the Team focus on making sure that Academagia's cast is interesting and able to interact in a variety of ways, over maintaining an arbitrary balance of how many characters can or cannot naturally resist a sunburn. As for this character I get the impression her shticks are largely already covered by other students - Lambert is a Durand student who bugs everyone about every bit of information he can find and isn't shy of directly confronting people with it, he's got a rivalry with Aranaz student Aymeri Couer, and Malthezar has the whole "Alesfan heritage" angle covered. As for her journalism aspect I'd say it's different enough from Rikildis' MO that it doesn't overlap, but at the same time I don't think Rikildis would tolerate a Durand student trying to compete with her school paper. Like, at all. She's not above systematically burning down what she perceives as competition and "disproportionate retribution" is pretty much her middle name (see her adventure about that...), so you'd probably need to account for how your student is able to do her thing without invoking the everlasting wrath of Aranaz' gossip queen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If this char is aimed to join Academagia in year 2 she might get added but for year 1 I doubt they will add anything big (like a new student) any more or year 2 will never get finished. 

(Adding a new character to year 1 means they not only need to add this character to both years but the familiar, picture, adventure etc. have to created as well for both years)

If this is for creating you own mod good luck but I personal would wait for year 2 release to have a mod tool that is actual working with newer OS then Windows XP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Metis said:

Personally I'd rather the Team focus on making sure that Academagia's cast is interesting and able to interact in a variety of ways, over maintaining an arbitrary balance of how many characters can or cannot naturally resist a sunburn. As for this character I get the impression her shticks are largely already covered by other students - Lambert is a Durand student who bugs everyone about every bit of information he can find and isn't shy of directly confronting people with it, he's got a rivalry with Aranaz student Aymeri Couer, and Malthezar has the whole "Alesfan heritage" angle covered. As for her journalism aspect I'd say it's different enough from Rikildis' MO that it doesn't overlap, but at the same time I don't think Rikildis would tolerate a Durand student trying to compete with her school paper. Like, at all. She's not above systematically burning down what she perceives as competition and "disproportionate retribution" is pretty much her middle name (see her adventure about that...), so you'd probably need to account for how your student is able to do her thing without invoking the everlasting wrath of Aranaz' gossip queen.

I agree with you on a lot of what you're saying, but having non-white characters is hardly arbitrary. I have literally seen people say that they were put off playing Academagia because of the lack of options for playing someone like them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just having them, no, but adding them primarily for the sake of having them I feel is arbitrary, and that's literally the first thing the OP mentions. And if people are unwilling to play the game because there isn't an option to play a black student I'd say they have problems that go beyond the scope of what BCS could and should address. Not saying that a more diverse selection of options for character creation is a bad thing, or that the fact that there's a greater selection of what I call vampire portraits than black portraits isn't flying right over the line of "arbitrary" and straight into "silly", but claims of it being a deal breaker shouldn't be taken seriously.

EDIT: Anyone else having trouble with the forum seemingly being down, taking ages to load and other stuff like that?

Edited by Metis
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Darkness said:

I haven't played Andromeda, but i've heard about the backlash against sjw propaganda. The video talks about the new ironwoman and ghostbuster fiasco, but there's more out there.
http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/05/black-panther-the-crew-sjw-comic-cancelled-by-marvel-after-six-issues/30856/

"ensuring that the truth is always spoken, and fairness can reign supreme above all."
"Not a stranger to practically forcing her way into social groups"
"Simone isn't gonna be like super full of morals about diversity"

That... looks like an sjw to me, but meh, also saying someone isn't gonna be like super full of evil hardly makes it a good person.

I would like good characters, regardless of color. She is displayed as another prideful black aslefan, it does not bring something new. Aside from Rikidis, there's also Grainne and Sigalis on the newspaper club to give a different perspective.

I mean, in the end, Simone may end up not being actually that different from Rikildis. Her version of the truth is still gonna be altered by her biases, which means that as much as she likes to talk about honesty and pride, she's still not exactly a fair person. And, the thing is, Simone isn't exactly another "prideful Black Alesfan", because she isn't really overprotective or defensive about her heritage. Instead, much more of her focus is on simply fitting in, and being part of the crowd. The reason why she argues with Mhadi is because she doesn't appreciate that he pretty much ends up fighting anyone who makes the slightest slight against Alesfan culture, and he's angry that she doesn't seem to be doing much of anything to like protect that culture.

 

9 hours ago, Metis said:

Personally I'd rather the Team focus on making sure that Academagia's cast is interesting and able to interact in a variety of ways, over maintaining an arbitrary balance of how many characters can or cannot naturally resist a sunburn. As for this character I get the impression her shticks are largely already covered by other students - Lambert is a Durand student who bugs everyone about every bit of information he can find and isn't shy of directly confronting people with it, he's got a rivalry with Aranaz student Aymeri Couer, and Malthezar has the whole "Alesfan heritage" angle covered. As for her journalism aspect I'd say it's different enough from Rikildis' MO that it doesn't overlap, but at the same time I don't think Rikildis would tolerate a Durand student trying to compete with her school paper. Like, at all. She's not above systematically burning down what she perceives as competition and "disproportionate retribution" is pretty much her middle name (see her adventure about that...), so you'd probably need to account for how your student is able to do her thing without invoking the everlasting wrath of Aranaz' gossip queen.

While all of these concerns are quite valid, I'd like to kind of address them one by one. While Lambert also tries to gather information, he mainly does so by skulking around and popping up in unexpected places, while as for Simone, she more often attempts to talk with people to get the information she needs, because she isn't exactly the best at sneaking around. As for Rikildis, I've been thinking about this, and I realized it may be better if Simone didn't have her own paper, but was instead part of the School Newspaper. This means that she'd largely be an ineffectual force for "nicer journalism", for lack of a better word, but also means that Rikildis mainly perceives her as a nuisance than anything really amounting to a threat, as Simone really lacks the foresight and deft planning to put up an organized resistance to Rikildis.

Hope these help to at least sort of address your concerns, and ask more questions!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, wipeout1024 said:

While Lambert also tries to gather information, he mainly does so by skulking around and popping up in unexpected places, while as for Simone, she more often attempts to talk with people to get the information she needs, because she isn't exactly the best at sneaking around.

A valid point, but I believe Grainne Inneith, Rikildis' usual partner in crime journalism "journalism" actually fills that niche - Conversation and Storytelling are her main skills, and she's got no sneaking capabilities to speak of (well, she's in Glamour, but that's hardly a glowing recommendation). Admittedly she gets her information by baiting people with rumors she made up into confessing actual information, which I imagine Simone wouldn't do, but unless you're playing a round of Royals and Rogues Knights and Knaves I don't think "knowingly lies" and "unknowingly spreads false information" are really going to be overly distinct, especially to the casual observer.

34 minutes ago, wipeout1024 said:

As for Rikildis, I've been thinking about this, and I realized it may be better if Simone didn't have her own paper, but was instead part of the School Newspaper. This means that she'd largely be an ineffectual force for "nicer journalism", for lack of a better word, but also means that Rikildis mainly perceives her as a nuisance than anything really amounting to a threat, as Simone really lacks the foresight and deft planning to put up an organized resistance to Rikildis.

As far as I know Rikildis is under no obligation to keep anyone around she doesn't like, since the school newspaper isn't a recognized and regulated "club" like, say, the Bookworms are. And seeing as how her operation is run entirely by Aranaz students I don't think a Durand student could hope to be a part of that, especially if their ideas and methods end up rubbing Rikildis in the wrong way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Metis said:

A valid point, but I believe Grainne Inneith, Rikildis' usual partner in crime journalism "journalism" actually fills that niche - Conversation and Storytelling are her main skills, and she's got no sneaking capabilities to speak of (well, she's in Glamour, but that's hardly a glowing recommendation). Admittedly she gets her information by baiting people with rumors she made up into confessing actual information, which I imagine Simone wouldn't do, but unless you're playing a round of Royals and Rogues Knights and Knaves I don't think "knowingly lies" and "unknowingly spreads false information" are really going to be overly distinct, especially to the casual observer.

As far as I know Rikildis is under no obligation to keep anyone around she doesn't like, since the school newspaper isn't a recognized and regulated "club" like, say, the Bookworms are. And seeing as how her operation is run entirely by Aranaz students I don't think a Durand student could hope to be a part of that, especially if their ideas and methods end up rubbing Rikildis in the wrong way.

ALSO VERY TRUE. But, okay, this is forcing me to flesh out my character, so let's keep on going. While Grainne is admittedly also quite focused on using Conversation and Storytelling to get information, I imagine that Simone's strongest skills would also revolve more around using Reason, Sleuthing, and Flattery in order to get people to open up, which also means she's much more likely to try to buddy up to Professors in order to get on their good side. With her stuff from Dialectic and Grammar, she's also quite interested in trying to be an investigative journalist of sorts, which means that her methods really tend to be piecing together information, which can end up being misinformation. 

Sigalis is also part of the newspaper, is she not? But then again, Sigalis also just hates people in general, so eh. Because of Rikildis' obvious distate of her, it might also make sense for Simone to really just be kind of a failure at being a journalist, meaning that she doesn't really have any influence among the school body, and also that she'll probably gravitate towards people like Tulia Faspalla who are more obvious targets rather than her. In that case, her adventure would probably revolve around trying to find breaking news that no one else in the school knows, or something like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, wipeout1024 said:

ALSO VERY TRUE. But, okay, this is forcing me to flesh out my character, so let's keep on going. While Grainne is admittedly also quite focused on using Conversation and Storytelling to get information, I imagine that Simone's strongest skills would also revolve more around using Reason, Sleuthing, and Flattery in order to get people to open up, which also means she's much more likely to try to buddy up to Professors in order to get on their good side. With her stuff from Dialectic and Grammar, she's also quite interested in trying to be an investigative journalist of sorts, which means that her methods really tend to be piecing together information, which can end up being misinformation.

I can't imagine that approach working for someone who's working from Rikildis' poisoned well, so to speak, and Rikildis dislikes flattery so even if it does work she might end up not taking it seriously.

10 hours ago, wipeout1024 said:

Sigalis is also part of the newspaper, is she not? But then again, Sigalis also just hates people in general, so eh. Because of Rikildis' obvious distate of her, it might also make sense for Simone to really just be kind of a failure at being a journalist, meaning that she doesn't really have any influence among the school body, and also that she'll probably gravitate towards people like Tulia Faspalla who are more obvious targets rather than her. In that case, her adventure would probably revolve around trying to find breaking news that no one else in the school knows, or something like that.

Sigalis doesn't hate people, necessarily, she's just got a competitive streak that makes Basia look reasonable. Meaning that with Simone being kind of an overall failure she's probably going to end up drawing her share of Sigalis' scorn, especially as she doesn't play the game that Sigalis does, or for that matter, that Rikildis does. Basically this character going to end up fighting an uphill battle constantly, and the only reason I can imagine that Rikildis would keep her around is for comic relief in seeing her constantly flounder. Like, why would Rikildis keep the obnoxious holier-than-thou Durand student around in a club currently filled and running with blackmailers, schemers, gossipers and maybe something resembling a journalist if you squint your eyes enough?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sound like you put a lot of work into the char without even considering if the char have a chance to make it into the game. If you had managed to finish this char before DLC 17 then I think you had a good chance to get it in. But with this DLC out and its announced to be the planed last DLC for year 1 it looks like you either have to make this NPC as mod your self for year 1 or create the NPC for joining in year 2 with not knowing the other students at all.

For a year 2 student you also have to come up where and how the Student got the education that is good enough to direct enter into year 2 and why the Student now enter Academagia instead of continue with the old education. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incidentally, the Y1 mod tools are broken with regards to adding new students, so even if you have a Windows XP instance that can run the mod tools as properly as it's ever going to it won't add students properly. Something to do with breaking the game's AI mechanics, I'm not sure what happens but the change is noticeable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Metis. It is probably through the studio's inhouse updated tools that enabled the characters to be added into the family.

In addition if the OP wishes to flesh out the character, a basic personality has to be built in that is remotely different from the vast majority of the student population as others noted, Simone sounds like a mash of characters put together.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mikka didn't add them her self instead the team did take her work and actual made the characters out of her writing up with the year 2 modtools that we current have no access to (Maybe the team even had to make some code changes to add them as I suspect some things are actual hardcoded). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Ascartand said:

I agree with Metis. It is probably through the studio's inhouse updated tools that enabled the characters to be added into the family.

In addition if the OP wishes to flesh out the character, a basic personality has to be built in that is remotely different from the vast majority of the student population as others noted, Simone sounds like a mash of characters put together.

 

Well, I guess with Simone, I'm really trying to create a character that desperately wishes to do good, so people will focus more on that rather than anything else regarding her. Unfortunately, she kind of sucks like that, but that's like the ideal she's constantly striving for. It's also a big part of the reason why she's somewhat angry at Mhadi, because she thinks he's way too overzealous about defending any "slights" towards Alesfan culture.  As i write this now, I realize that in some ways this is quite similar to Miya, but IDK anymore.

And to answer @Schwarzbart's question, I really just came up with this thing as a concept. I don't know if Simone is ever going to actually become a full-fledged character in the game, I just wanted people's feedback on her. The more I'm thinking about it, if this character seems to be decent, her most likely inclusion is as DLC for Year 2 or something. 

Also, @Metis, that's why I'm thinking Simone is probably going to spend most of her time not really succeeding at being a journalist, which is part of the reason why Rikildis dismisses her as an actual threat, which she is mostly correct to do so. While Simone can do logical reasoning and things like that, she simply isn't that cutthroat, just prone to short-sightedness, which obviously doesn't serve her well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if Rikildis doesn't see her as an actual threat, the minute Simone does something to really tick her off is the minute that Rikildis will destroy her anyway. Like I said, "disproportionate retribution" is her middle name, and it doesn't take much to get her gears running.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Metis said:

Even if Rikildis doesn't see her as an actual threat, the minute Simone does something to really tick her off is the minute that Rikildis will destroy her anyway. Like I said, "disproportionate retribution" is her middle name, and it doesn't take much to get her gears running.

Ya, that's why Simone is not gonna be in the best position social ladder-wise in the game. Rikildis is just all-around more competent than Simone, so it's really gonna be an uphill battle for her, even if she's not part of the newspaper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So where did Simone get a first year's magic education, and why would the Academagia accept her as a student if they already have someone in her year who's just all-around better than her? The honestly over everything angle...well, rest assured that even Briardi likely has a few reservations about it - even professors have secrets, you know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Metis mentioned you have to explain where your new Student got Botany, Dialectic and Negation of at last 5. While Botany and Dialectic is not that problematic the education in Negation is difficult to get. Private education is exclusive domain of the very wealthy that is many times combined with noble or even royal birth but in this case then why would she now drop down to a weaker education. Natural Simone could be a apprentice to a other mage but then you have to explain why the apprenticeship was ended by the mage (no a apprentice can't end this on her/his own without becoming a fugitive). As you might have found out already there only 2 backgrounds for the player to have relatives that know magic but for a student entering into year 2 this could be a good explain for a magic education especial if the student is a full year younger then the other students.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/23/2017 at 6:56 PM, Metis said:

So where did Simone get a first year's magic education, and why would the Academagia accept her as a student if they already have someone in her year who's just all-around better than her? The honestly over everything angle...well, rest assured that even Briardi likely has a few reservations about it - even professors have secrets, you know.

I mean, Rikildis is much better at what Simone aspires to be, in things like Journalism and Charm and such, but Simone is quite talented at things involving Dialectic and Law, as she is much more booksmart than she is really great at persuading others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...