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I doubt this project will kick off as it is now. You have left some huge gaps wide open and you don't sound too skilled and experienced yourself.

For starters, what will your role be? As far as I can see, you've only left the role of programmer open and I doubt it was on purpose. Someone with those skills would be a desired applicant rather than a project-starter in the Indie game-making sector. And if it were your skill, you wouldn't have forgotten to mention it. So, you intend to lead this visual novel without making an effort in the production yourself?

Second, you don't seem to be the kind of guy who checks his narration flow, spelling and lay out. Example: You gave a plot examination in which you only told you have no names yet followed directly by 'Plot:', thus concluding your plot examination. And the 'Plot:' itself is written rather dodgy and vague as well.

Third, you left a lot of blanks in your planned plot. And not the kind of blanks that leave open writer´s inspiration, the kind of blanks that suggest you got an idea in your head but never managed to put it in written words properly and thus making it not understandable for the reader. So before you try to start this off, try to rewrite your format of the plot to answer at least these details properly: Is the world in which they live Fantasy, or is there no fantasy but only Sci-Fi? Are the Lectras humans or natives from the planet? Are the Human Torrents invaders or are we talking about another world were humans evolved just like they did here only it's not Earth? If the Torrents are invaders, are they part of an Earth government doing it's dirty work like a third-world country these days or the descendants of the people from a colonization ship which arrived long ago? Are the Torrents around industrial age, modern age, near future, far future or industrial with some steampunk far-future technologies? Are the Torrents trying to capture any Lectras Nazi-style or are they fighting Lectras rebel forces? Are the Lectras completely estranged from the Torrent civilization, reluctantly part of it or a part of it being rejected. Why was there a war between the Torrents and the Lectras, started by whom and fought why? Are the Torrents and Lectras both living underground in bunkers, natural tunnels or ancient sewers from their former civilization? Was there a former surface civilization that no longer is due to pollution or did the Lectras and Torrents live underground as long as they've been on this planet? Are the Liven a powerful group in Torrent society, or outcasts or recent genetic experiments? And are these Liven supporters or parts of the Lectra rebellion?

Fourth, don't expect many people to just apply to this offer of yours, especially if this is the only forum you're trying. The Newgrounds writer forum is apparently rather dead these days. I made a story were someone just had to read it and fill in some simple never-wrong multiple-choice and I haven't even gotten a single reaction.

Before we continue any further with your life, I think I'll have to explain some things about ruling an empire first. There are eight factors in this game you'll need to consider before making any more decisions. The status on all eight factors are briefly mentioned at the beginning of each chapter.

-Court control: Rulers surround themselves with their most powerful, for these are the ones with most to lose. When you craft alliances, grand favors or when there are strong ties with the people or with neighboring countries, court control increases. When you make enemies or accept favors, you might lose control of your court and risk a coup. Court control is vital in any action involving politics.

-International reputation: With every international failure or insult, your neighbors will frown upon your behavior. Losing wars, having your spies get captured beyond your borders, or letting raiders pillage your villages, those kind of things. The lower your int. reputation, the more chance war will be declared and the higher it is, the more trade and diplomacy will thrive.

-Reputation: When others interact with you, your reputation decides their behavior. With every failure on your behalf or by your family, a decrease of reputation will occur. With every victory you'll become more admirable. With low reputation, people might decline you help or opportunities. With high reputation come high expectations and trust. Reputation is a good indicator of your political influence.

-Treasury: The amount of gold you can spend. Every month, taxes are collected and soldiers get paid. It's up to you to make sure that you keep a surplus after all the expenses, because suddenly cutting anyone off would be asking for trouble. The treasury has to be balanced to fulfill the needs of the army, the court and your own expenses without taxing the people too much.

-Common support: When you lower taxes, achieve victories or do something to help the people, your subordinates will be happy. And happy subordinates are more eager to enlist, pay their taxes and not riot. Common support is vital in any decision regarding the growth and wealth of your empire.

-Army: With every improvement of your soldiers and every conscript, your army increases in strength or size. With death toll and budget cuts your army decreases. Winning battles is usually decided by this factor.

-Morale: With every defeat and riot the morale of your soldiers decreases. With high morale, your soldiers are more eager to fight for you and better tactics become available. With low morale comes deserting and sometimes even a military coup.

-Order: When your army is too small, morale is low or riots break out, order drops. When criminality is fought or common support is increased, order strives. Order tends to be a good indication of whether you're a good ruler for this country or not.

Dawn of an Emperor

You are the emperor of Valen, one of the mightiest countries in the vast lands of Northern earth. For centuries, many a country trembled in fear at the sound of your war-trumpets. Valen is a country rivaled only by few and all of Valen belongs to you, the royal family of the Van Vale, indefinitely.

Or at least, it did. As it turned out, your father was not the cunning conquerer he thought he was. During the seventeen years under his rule, Valen's proud armies have been thinned out and humiliated time after time. Emperor Jacob Van Vale, your father, was blinded by history and sought to earn his place in it through conquest and victory. But alas, his strategies were lacking and his campaigns rushed and careless.

The Valen's army was beaten over and over again until the well-trained army was reduced to conscripts and outlaws, forced to serve. The treasury is empty and so are the pockets of your subjects due to high taxes. Even the reputation of the Van Vale family no longer holds the respect to guard the royal status.

And thus, after seventeen years in which he ruined the good name of the Van Vale, your father died. Title of King was passed on to you, his firstborn. And with it, the task to rebuild Valen to the country it once was.

First things first, are you a boy or a girl?

A- I'm obviously a dashingly handsome man. How dareth thee call me feminine?

B- It's shocking that you could mistake my scrumptious curves for those of a man, oaf!

My apologies, off course your gender is ever so clear. I'm not too sure of your exact age though. It's somewhere around....

A- I'm 12. While I have very few connections, I'm young and eager to learn. Also, any wrong decisions can still be blamed upon my advisors.
B- I'm 16. While my connections are still thin, no one can label my decisions as childish any more.
C- I'm 19. As an adult I have honed the skills I prefer and made the necessary connections.
D- I'm 28. With the age I have now, I have perfected the many skills fit for an emperor and I've made many friend a in high places.

So now that I know your gender and age, would you mind refreshing my mind about one more detail I seem to have forgotten? How did your father die again?

A- Riots broke out in the capitol and despite the royal guards best efforts, the disgruntled peasants managed to kill my father. My family and I spent one frightening night in the highest tower until the uproar died down. (Age 12 and 16 only)

B- A few influential figures conspired against my father and staged a coup. Although everything went according to their plans with the assassination of my father, the captain of the royal guard managed to apprehend the assassins before they could kill me and the other heirs of the throne. Whomever plotted this coup remained anonymous however.

C- My father died foolishly on his latest battlefield. Shot by a stray arrow in the eye, or so I heard. After he died, Valen's army was driven into disarray and only part of it managed to retreat. Even fewer are still willing to fight on my behalf.

D- I staged a coup on my father. I couldn't bear to see him rip this country apart any further and decided to take action. (Age 19 and 23 only)

Let's talk a bit about your childhood. I've heard rumors about something that happened when you were eight. You reached the age when a young prince is expected to start learning how to rule a kingdom and tradition allowed you to choose your mentor for the next few years. The one you chose would be an important ally to you for life. You chose:

A- Beatrice, your nanny. A nun with a stern face but a soft spot for smiling children. She played with you and your smaller brothers and sisters for as long as you can remember. She would teach you about religion and the people's needs rather than war and domination, but at least she would let you be a child for the time being.

B- Alexandre, a former military advisor. A relic of the times before your father and a man whose gaze could crumble stone. He was 'relieved' from active duty after questioning your father's orders, but he has higher hopes for the next generation. Learning from a man like that would surely make you a man to reckon with on the battlefield.

C- Dumont, a nobleman. He once was a count, but his lands were lost to another country during one of your father's campaigns. Dumont knows everything that happens and will happen in your court, and his every word manipulates the people around him. Surely a good friend for a King.

D- Ferdinand, a merchant. Perhaps an uncommon choice, but even at your age you saw the sheer wisdom of his words. 'Money solves all.' Over the years he would teach you how to amass wealth without difficulties and how to use it to solve your other problems.

The next four paragraphs are a short note about the story and my motivation, feel free to skip if you want.

Until about two weeks ago, I have been playing choice-based story RPG's on my smartphone until they ran out. I had finished read all the 'choice of' stories I could download for free and I could play them no more cause I would never pay for anything through cellphone including the full books they were a sample of. I however kept liking the genre, and to fill the hole I started to write a story myself. As it turned out, I enjoyed this even more since I had to challenge myself with both making the best choices and making the choices hard enough for me not to predict the very storyline I was writing.

Amusing as this was, it served little purpose besides killing my own time. However, few days ago I saw Evil-dog's 'Storyshift' and thought to myself I could maybe get my story in there. But as I checked the Newgrounds writer's forum, I found out only experienced writers with work to show for where wanted. Expected, I never had high hopes anyway. I however found out Newgrounds has a writer's forum as well, so here I am.

The story is about you, the new King of Valen. Now your father has perished, you rule over this once great and imposing medieval kingdom. Valen's reputation changed during your father's incompetent rule. The court is spoiled and corrupt, the military battered and worn out and the people hungry. It's up to you, the new King, to keep these three powers from rebelling against you and to rebuild Valen to what it once was. Will you become an imposing political figure, a fierce conquerer or a man of the people? (BTW: No magic)

The idea is simple: I tell the story of the young emperor of Valen, and I'll let you decide what his actions are. As stated before, you'll have to choose between the nobles, the military and the people. Each one will have to remain at a certain level to be kept from overthrowing you, although a stronger position with one faction may compensate another: When the people are happier the nobles rely on your control over them, the wealth and command of the nobles control the military and the force of the military can keep the people in check. Your choice is usually based either on favoring one of the factions, or honing your skills of controlling them. And there are alternate paths one could take if wished; money and faith have an important role in this story too.

If you want to participate in the story, just post the choice and the letters in front of the options. Example: 1A-2B-3C-4D. I however can make no guaranties on how often it will be updated and if it will be finished. If you post your first decision several weeks after I posted this, I probably won't even read it. But, knowing the activity of this forum, the continuation of the story will probably be per individual. Maybe I even write multiple stories for you guys simultaneously, if there's more than one competitor. And criticizing feedback is welcome, too.