Let’s Redesign Akademi High School
First off the name. Let’s just change the name to a last name, cause that’s easiest, let’s go with Hoshino Academy.
The main setting of the game is the school, so it’s important to flesh it out. Personally I don’t have a major issue with the layout of the school. I think the central courtyard is a good idea, the school is fairly easy to navigate, there are a lot of diverse areas to the school, the layout is not a major issue.
As a whole I think the major issue with the location itself is cohesion. Take for example these three rooms.
They feel like they’re all from very different locations, not three rooms in a high school. I think that this could be improved by having a neutral color scheme for the walls/floors and then have most of rooms with wall décor and furniture that changes. For instance the drama club room might be more like a dressing room connected to the theater, or be a dance rehearsal room. The martial arts club during the day has the mats rolled up in the corner of the room.
In addition some of the clubs probably wouldn’t be approved by a prestigious school, so I think it would be more interesting if some of the clubs were more unofficial. For instance the Occult club operates in one of the storage closets, or the gaming club is instead a more informal group of friends in the computer lab. I think that this would make the social dynamics more apparent, for instance you might lose some reputation points for joining the occult club.
The current uniform used by the game, as many have pointed out is the “sailor uniform” which in japan is essentially a middle school uniform. A lot of people have pointed this out before. Although the uniform is iconic in anime, it carries some pretty uncomfortable undertones. These characters are wearing a uniform for very young students (japanese middle school students are ages 12-15) while the characters in the game are implied to be sleeping with older men for money or being seduced by their teachers or taking photos of girl’s underwear. All of these elements are pretty gross at any age but the idea that they’re dressed up as middle schoolers makes it even more uncomfortable. So my solution is to use a high school uniform.
This is a common high school uniform style in Japan. The summer uniform style in silhouette looks very similar to the sailor uniform style. Make the bow red and the skirt blue and the girl’s uniform is very similar to the previously established sailor uniform.
Plus with this version you can add more on top of it. For instance giving the student council blazers while everyone else wears the summer style, different characters can have different sleeve lengths or skirt lengths or add sweaters or different kinds of bows/ties. Characters can look vastly different while still adhering to a uniform beyond just excessive hair accessories or stockings.
In addition with the summer uniform male characters can also have variety in their uniforms. With the male uniform currently employed by yandere simulator there is little variation for male students. With the summer-style uniform you can have various sleeve lengths, ties, or add jackets onto the uniform to vary male students.
The staff is too sexualized. The two teacher rivals will get their own posts but I think it’s kind of gross how sexualized the female faculty is compared to the headmaster, I know he’s supposed to be older but we all know why the female staff is designed the way they are to be sexy for the dev.
The teachers all look alike, which I don’t think is a huge problem, maybe just changing some of their hair colors if they are intended to be distinct individual characters but keeping them similar makes them quickly recognizable. The guidance counselor I think looks fine but should have a different outfit, the hyper-sexualized outfit is too much. Conversely I think that there should be some male teachers or something, it just feels strange that all of the teachers are just sexy women.
I also think it would be interesting to have the staff be more fleshed out. Some of them have favorite students or are supervisors of certain clubs. This would give more obstacles in the social dynamics of the school. Killing one person affects a web of others, insulting one person affects a web of others, befriending one person affects a web of others. And I think that should include the staff.
Finally the mechanics of the classroom.
Currently on each day the player can attend two classes of their choice. The options available are biology, chemistry, language, physical education, and psychology. These classes are intended to improve certain skills utilized in the game. Language in the final product will likely improve speech checks, and chemistry will likely allow you to use more poisons, etc. However I think that since school is such a major part of the game, it should have more utility.
Obviously it would be boring to attend a full class, but I have three ideas of random events that could occur during a class.
Let’s say a player picks a class. While in the class at random a short dialogue option appears where a student asks to cheat off of your work. You could report the student for cheating, hand over your work, tell the student you’ll help tutor them, or say no. These options would either improve or decrease the player’s social status, or even get the teacher’s trust. Small social events like this would be interesting and make the environment feel more like a school with classes and assignments going on instead of a sandbox.
My second idea is to give the player a chance to learn some information at random. Kind of like helpful hints, maybe during the class two girls are talking about how they were going to hang out with Rival X, but she was going to be at the pool tomorrow. Or the player hears the teacher talking to a repairman about how the vents have such cheap screws and should be replaced next year. Or the player learns that certain types of cleaning fluids used by the chemistry room, and the school’s cleaning supplies are flammable, and should be handled with care. Small pieces of information that the player could use to their advantage, making the classes more useful.
My final idea is having a random event for the player to ingratiate themselves to the teachers. Maybe the teacher asks for a volunteer and the player does a simple minigame. Or the teacher asks the class a question and the player has to choose the correct answer (or choose not to answer at all). If the player succeeds these minigames, the teacher likes and trusts them a bit more. Keep this up, and the you’ll become a “teacher’s pet” where the faculty isn’t as suspicious or defensive of you as you’ve proved yourself a good student.
These events would make the class time not feel like a waste or glossed over. They would be useful in multiple ways to gain information or social status or new skills. They would also give the player options for what kind of character they want to be. If they want to be a quiet wallflower they can simply observe. Or they could be a delinquent who gets questions wrong and cheats off other students. Or they can be a studious over achiever who’s respected by the teachers.
These changes and additions I think would improve the setting to make it feel more like a school. Considering how a majority of the game takes place here and that a large part of the mechanics are dependent on understanding the school, these simple changes I feel would help flesh it out from a gimmicky, unrealistic location to a complete academy.
Beyond the school I think there should be a small town or street, but that will be a separate post.
Tldr; make the academy more complex and interesting by adding a few random events and aesthetic changes.
