[img]http://i.imgur.com/Sxx5aGW.png[/img]Your name doesn't matter. It [i]really[/i] fucking doesn't. The name you want mattering is [b]Rusher66.[/b] And when people hear the name Rusher66, you're hoping they're gonna think wow, Rusher66 is a fantastic competitive 6v6 Team Fortress 2 player who [i]isn't[/i] struggling to find a good team above ESEA IM - which, by the way, your current IM team JUST folded even after you just paid up for everybody, because your now ex-boyfriend who carried was VAC-banned a week ago for hacking in UGC Platinum.

You did not tell your parents you're not becoming a doctor for this shit, but you're about to ready to go apply to school again, or play that other game or two everybody's been leaving TF2 for anyway, maybe Rusher66 will be a more popular name there. You're about to uninstall when at that moment, you get a message on Steam from a name that has no business messaging you. Suddenly, you're subbing for the best ESEA Invite team during the first cast of the season, and you've just won them the match.

You're still rewatching the PogChamps fly through Re-chat when you nail the game-winning clutch when it hits you - LAN is in a month. You somehow just subbed for the best team in Invite. People are asking "Rush, what the fuck? How did you score in Invite by not roster riding some guy gamer's shaft?!" or "Rush, fuck TF2, sign this contract already, we need that sick Blizzo money and esperts sponsorships" but you're a goddamn TF2 player which means you've already made up your mind:

[olist]
[*] You're going to play Invite.
[*] You're going to win Invite.
[*] [i]You're going to win LAN.[/i]
[/olist]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/mwsiDmx.png[/img][b]TF2: The Road to Invite[/b] is a standard visual novel that takes place in a fictionalized universe revolving around competitive Team Fortress 2, taking influence from games such as [i]SC2VN - The eSports Visual Novel[/i] and [i]Don't Let Me Crater[/i]. You play through a storyline divided in acts and complete tasks within what's scheduled for that day and night, until you fly out to LAN where you do a week or two of bootcamp.

During the first week, you pick 1 of 4 North American ESEA TF2 Invite teams to try out for. Once you've passed the tests, trials, & tribulations - the real game begins.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/ARXQ8tc.png[/img]As you progress through the storyline, you will be given prompts as per standard visual novel gameplay. How you answer these prompts determines how you develop Rush's character, whether it's getting along with the team you've selected, or making sure that they know they've made the right choice so you don't get cut before LAN.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/7DxgRoL.png[/img]These prompts are based around a mix of competitive TF2 knowledge, primarily community-driven 6v6, as well as basic social interaction skills that will develop what paths you enable for the future of the game. The choices you make also shape how you interact with fellow teammates, opponents, players, friends - and maybe more than that.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Lb1oJ7e.png[/img]You can interact with characters such as reviewing demos and playing PUGs, or join them in other activities such as baking a cake for a friend's birthday on April 26th or grabbing drinks for the team. This helps boost morale, relationship growth, and general log grinding for your levels and stats.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/EN3BXtS.png[/img]There's a multitude of characters you're able to meet, based off real and fictional Team Fortress 2 professional esports players from all over the world. You'll recognize some familiar faces, while meeting new ones. Not everybody will be willing to be your friend at first - not even your own teammates.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/eJEfa7U.png[/img]This is where you flaunt that big gamer brain of yours to make sure people don't think you're all talk, whether for the duration you're training online or once you get to LAN as you progress through the story. It's very easy to make a mistake if you're not careful...but hey, as a Medic main once said, "this is TF2". Arguably, you've already made a mistake getting this deep into the game - might as well see how deep that rabbit hole goes.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/3gQWE92.png[/img]Version 1.0 of [b]Road to Invite[/b] is nearing public beta release. Our dev team was using CloudNovel before we switched over to Ren'Py, and eventually settling with TyranoBuilder Studio. If you're legit interested in this for whatever reason you have be it fucked up or not, good shit, you can check out more gameplay & development footage [url=https://youtu.be/FpKQZl78acs?t=9m1s]here[/url].