kosetsu wrote:I haven't played a huge selection of dating games... Is it doable to make a game with a choice of boy OR girl for the player, then possibilities for that boy or girl to date other boys OR girls?
As in BxG GxB BxB GxG all at once? I don't know how to do this without having to basically draw eight versions of one scene. I want to have a two girl choices and two boy choices for the boy or girl main character.
Is there a way around drawing multiple versions of the same scene? (any example games would be appreciated
)
I have the
same question about letting the player choose the main character's clothing. How would I incorporate whatever the clothes the player chose without having to draw each scene multiple times? The only experience I have with that is Re:Alistair, where the clothes the character bought were never actually worn, but were mentioned in dialog.
(ahhh I love this forum ;u; I literally never would have completed my first game without the answers to my newbie questions I got here. Sorry for more newbie questions)
Anything is possible. You just have to put in the extra work. There is no way to get around putting in the added sweat and tears - you can only be more or less efficient in how you do so.
YonYonYon's suggestion is the easiest and most efficient way to do things and is, in fact, what I am doing in my game.
Basically, every CG has a background layer, then a layer for the love interest, then a layer for the main character, and a layer for the main character's clothes. I have the main character drawn in every pose and CG event, but naked. I can then check using variables who is supposed to be in a scene and what they should be wearing and stack the layers appropriately. This means I only have to draw each love interest once in each pose and outfit and can re-use them in any scene I wish - the same thing for the main character.
That is the most efficient way with the least amount of work and greatest variety. However, there is still no getting around the fact that you need to draw every outfit for every scene and CG that you do. Any unique pose in the game will require a new drawing for each possible outfit, so: Number of Poses X Number of Outfits = Number of Unique Drawings. Two outfits doubles your work. Three triples it. Etc. If you can choose to play as a boy or girl, then double that number again. It can spiral out of control quickly.
If you aren't an artist yourself I would be wary of attempting it. Even as an artist the workload is huge. You have to write the script and plot the gameplay with that in mind. It might be easy to add a new little fun scene in a traditional VN with one main character who wears the same thing all the time - that's 1 new drawing. If you can choose to be a boy or a girl and can choose from 4 outfits, suddenly that new little scene is going to call for 8 new drawings. You either have to streamline and "trim-the-fat" from your script or reuse the same poses for everything. Or spend years drawing everything.
