Shining Song Starnova: Idol Empire Gameplay

There are three main mechanics to the gameplay of Idol Empire as well as several related sub-mechanics. The main ones are Training, Jobs and Songs/Lives.

Idol Empire has two main difficulty levels, for both the simulation itself and the Lives. These can be adjusted in the Options screen. Regardless of difficulty certain things (stats, song quality, etc.) will still determine success or failure. You can still fail Jobs on any difficulty, still perform badly at Lives, etc. Adjust the difficulty to suit your tastes. You want the game to be fun, not frustrating. There’s no shame in lowering the difficulty, or jacking it up.

Cash is the probably one of the most important factors in entertainment. In Idol Empire, cash is your main resource. With it you build facilities (rooms), buy decorations, hire and pay your Idols and more. You gain money from Jobs, Songs, Lives, merchandise sales, events and even some furniture. You need a steady source of income to prevent going bankrupt. No money means game over.

Decorations are furniture and wall/floor styles. Your DEC level determines the types of Jobs you are offered. Almost all decorations increase this level, beyond the very basic of basics. DEC has no other effects beyond Jobs.

Free time, which is time not spent on Jobs or Lives should be devoted to training. Make use of your training facilities to improve your Idols stats as that will help with both Jobs and Lives. You can train stats as much as you want without penalty (except for Looks). Just keep an eye on your Idols HP so they don’t become overworked. See the Stats section for more information on the stats of your Idols.

Jobs are a good way to make money. You don’t have to do any Jobs as they are all optional (some stages may require you to complete jobs). Completing Jobs will give you Fame, Infamy, Pure and/or KN. There are three main categories for Jobs. Sleazy (pervy or questionable), Normal and Executive. The type of Jobs you get offered directly relates to your DEC (decoration) level. Buy more furniture to increase DEC.

Job success/failure is usually based directly off your Idols Persona and Look stat. Not all jobs require both stats and, in fact, some jobs just take your time and don’t require Personal, Looks or both.

Rewards and Penalties are given for successful and/or failed jobs. Success is determined by the Idol you send on the Job meeting the requirements for it. Some jobs require Persona, Looks or both. Some just require your time or HP. If your Idol doesn’t meet the requirements, she will fail the job and incur Penalties. Usually this is Pure, Infamy or HP Loss.

Certain things will also affect the rewards/penalties. Usually that will be listed in the description of the job. For example, an Idol with high Pure might incur extra penalties if she fails the job.

Early on, Jobs can be a much needed source of income, however, your Idols are more likely to fail jobs early on as their stats are low. Be careful with failures and Infamy. A better way to make cash early on is with Songs and Lives.

Songs are a good source of income and are required for Lives. You make songs with a Recording Room and an Audio Engineering Room. The quality of the song is based off of the Song Maker, the performing Idols Sing stat and, if you choose to record a PV (promotional video) for the song, the Idols Dance stat will be used. The location of the PV also provides various benefits.

The Song Quality determines the amount of cash generated, the Hype generated at Lives as well as the difficulty in performing the song at a Live.

Your Idols are all really about perfomances and entertainment. Lives are a great way to boost
everyone’s Popularity as well as make some really good cash. You need to have recorded at least
three (3) Songs to perform a Live and you can perform as many as twelve (12) during a Live.

The Songs you perform determine the Hype during a Live and Hype determines the amount of cash you get as well as Popularity. Song Quality is important here. Low quality songs won’t generate much Hype, but are easier to perform. Higher quality songs will increase Hype more quickly but can be considerably harder to perform. The song quality also affects how quickly your Idols HP drains during a Live.

Doing well in a Live will increase Popularity and the money you get, as well as generate renewed
interest in your Songs. Your Hype level will also make the fans buy single-use glowsticks if it’s high enough and you get cash for each one they buy. The size of the venue determines how much cash you get for each glowstick (UO).

Your Idols stats (Sing/Dance/Persona/Looks) directly affect their performance at Lives, so if your Idols aren’t performing well (run out of HP, or trip/fall) then you need to train them more. Also, remember Song Quality is a factor as well. Lower quality songs are easier to perform.

The format for Lives is simple. As your Idols are performing, bubbles will appear from the crowd
and move toward the stage. Each bubble represents a stat (Dance/Sing/Persona/Look) and your Idols will try to pop those bubbles based off of their own stats. Higher stats means the bubbles get
popped faster. The more you pop and the faster you do so increases your Hype. As your Idols pop
these bubbles they will consume HP. You can mitigate this somewhat by having a Laboratory that
has built some Heal Canisters. You can use a canister on an Idol during the Live at any time for
a quick boost to her HP.

You can pop a bunch of bubbles yourself by clicking the mouse on them, however this will not
generate any Hype. It’s mostly useful for keeping the Idols from taking a fall when they get hit
by a bubble. There is also a stage effect you can use to pop bubbles, but it is single-use. However,
that stage effect will generate Hype.

Furthermore, if a bubble hits the stage one of the Idols will take a tumble and she will not pop
any bubbles until she gets back up. Taking a fall will decrease Hype and HP and should be
avoided. Finally, if your Idol runs out of HP she will no longer be able to pop any bubbles.

Lives generate mostly Fame, however they can generate some Infamy.

Scandals are based off of Pure and Popularity (Fame + Infamy). You will never be able to avoid Scandals as they are directly related to Popularity. You can reduce the frequency of Scandals by keeping Pure high and Infamy low. The Shredder can help, so place one in the Producer’s Office. Also one of the Idols has abilities to minimize the effects of Scandals. You should use a Legal team as soon as you can because the hit to Fame, Infamy and Mood from a Scandal can be disastrous.

Stalkers come with Popularity (Fame + Infamy) and will occur more often the higher the Popularity. You will never be able to avoid Stalkers, in fact they will just become more common as you progress. The Security Office will handle Stalkers automatically, provided you have enough security guards. You do not want Stalkers to get your girls. The hit to their Popularity and Mood is very high and can quickly cause the Idol to develop Conditions.

Fanquakes are based off of Infamy. If an Idols Infamy is higher than her Fame your fans will riot and cause a Fanquake. This will stop all rooms from functioning, thus stopping the girls from using them. It will also destroy furniture in the office. Fanquakes can never be totally avoided but you can minimize them. Keep an eye on your Idols Infamy and deal with it. Sending them on a Vacation (Jobs) can drop Infamy, as well as the PR Department. If all else fails, try getting their Fame higher than Infamy. Finally, there is also some furniture (Unlockable) that can help deal with the Fanquakes.

There are several stats that affect many things. Jobs, Lives, Song Quality, etc. are all determined by stats. You can improve stats by having your Idols train in the related room. Your stats are very important in determining success or failure in most cases and will be a main focus during play.

Stamina. Nearly everything your Idols do uses HP. Jobs, training, Lives, etc. As your Idols go about their tasks, their HP will drop. If their HP drops too low they will be Overworked and slow down drastically. This can cause Conditions, injuries or trigger certain other conditions. HP can be recovered in the Break Room. Some Idols abilities will help with HP as well.

This stat reflects the Idols overall Purity. It reflects how “wholesome” an Idol is and has various effects that can be either good or bad. You want to keep Pure as high as possible, though. Low Pure leads to more Infamy and Scandals.

Your Idols Popularity is based off of their Fame and Infamy. As they say in the entertainment industry, there is no bad publicity. Popularity determines many things, including Song sales, Live Ticket sales, fans, etc. With higher Popularity also comes some negatives as the amount of Stalkers and Scandals increases with it. However we’re striving to have the best Idol unit of all time, so we need to get this high!

This is the positive publicity you get. Fame increases from Jobs, Song sales, Live performances, the PR Department and some other events. Fame is fleeting and will decrease over time. Idols can generate some fame automatically if they are made the Center.

This is the negative publicity you get. It does directly relate to your Idols Popularity, though. Infamy comes from failing jobs, and you can get it from Lives as well as Scandals and certain other events. It’s nearly impossible to avoid Infamy but you should do what you can to keep it low. Infamy will increase the rate of Scandals and too much Infamy will cause your fans to riot and cause a Fanquake, which will damage your office.

The Sing stat determines the quality of Songs and the Idols performances at Lives. This can be trained at the Vocal Studio. The Sing stat should be trained early on as Songs are a major source of income, especially early on.

Your Idols Dance stat can help determine the quality of a Song, if you record a PV (promotional video) with that song. Dance also affects their performance at Lives. You can train this stat at the Dance Studio.

Personality. This stat determines the success/failure of Jobs and the Idols performance at Lives. Persona is critical for most jobs and low Persona will cause the Job to fail. Train this at the Personal Coach.

Physical attractiveness. This stat determines the success/failure of Jobs as well as the Idols performance at Lives. You can use the Makeup Room to give a temporary boost to Looks or you can train this stat at the Cafeteria for a permanent boost. Looks are critical for most jobs and low Look will cause the Job to fail.

Conditions are like status effects for Idols. They can be positive or negative and some Idols start with Conditions. Conditions are related to injuries and Mood. Low Mood (orange/red) will cause Conditions. Overworking your Idols will cause injuries and possibly trigger other Conditions. You generally want to avoid most Conditions, however some can be easily managed by keeping your Idols mood high and making sure you don’t overwork them. Conditions can be cured in the Sickbay.

Your Idols happiness and overall well-being is important. Mood will affect your Idols in many ways and can cause negative conditions. You can tell your Idols Mood by looking at their portrait on the left side of the screen. There are several levels to mood indicated by the color of the ring around the portrait as well as the expression the Idol has on her face. The mood ranges from Angry (red), Unhappy (orange), Neutral (gray), Happy (Green) and Overjoyed (Blue). Conditions can start occurring while the mood is Unhappy or Angry.

You can improve mood by paying your Idols well, sending them on Jobs they like, keeping Stalkers away from them and handling Scandals when they occur. There are also some events that will affect mood. Stalkers and Scandals will negatively affect mood.

Finally, Mood will affect the use of NOVA’s, your Idols special skills. You need to keep their Mood at Happy (green) or above to charge their NOVA.

Your Idols have certain passive abilities they can use. These abilities will only apply if that Idol is set as the Center for the unit. To set an Idol as a Center, click Manage Idols and then the Set Center button next to the Idols information.

All Idols have passive abilities they will use while they are the Center of the unit. Anyone can be Center and you can change the Center at any time through the Manage Idols screen. These abilities are extremely helpful and you should always have an Idol set as center.

You can see what abilities the Idol has by hovering over the Set Center button on the Manage Idols screen as well as through the Hire Idols screen.

While an Idol is Center, she will automatically gain experience over time and level up her Center abilities. While she is learning the ability, it is not active. Once she’s leveled up the ability becomes active automatically. For example, once the Idol reaches level 2, her level 1 skill becomes active and she starts learning the level 2 skill.

Finally, leveling up your Center or performing certain feats with them will unlock special furniture under the Unlockables section. These decorations give a good (sometimes great) boost to your DEC value as well as bestowing some very useful passive abilities.

All Idols have an Ultimate Technique, called a NOVA. While their mood is Happy (green) or above, the Idol will charge her NOVA. This is displayed as the blue bar beneath the Idols HP bar on the left side of the screen. Once it’s charged, you can click the HP/NOVA bar to activate it. You can also press Space while the Idol is selected to activate.

NOVA’s are powerful abilities that grant bonuses for a limited amount of time. Some abilities regenerate all Idols HP quickly, increase movement speed and much more. You can see what each Idols NOVA does in the Hire Idols screen.