Love interests in VN

[SammieBee]

So I am not really used to writing scripts or that jazz for a VN and RPG type game but I write books and stories and what have you (and kudos to me for the awards that my poems get me!) but I was thinking about the love interests in my first VN that I am doing. I want to base it off a book I have been working on forever but in my book there is romances between my main female and many girls and a few men too so basically bi-sexual.

Well the VN is the PG version of my book so I wanted to stick close to base and give the option to have an ending where the female lead can end up with a female support. Would this just be asking for trouble? I mean I know many people are babies when it comes to same sex relationships but I don't know.

Maybe I am just paranoid but aside from my rambling would this be a good idea to do?

[Camille]

I think it's fine to have different gendered love interests in a VN. These days it's more and more common for there to be both heterosexual and homosexual ending pairings. (just look at what BioWare's doing--they made everyone bisexual)

[jack_norton]

I think though that simply making everyone bisexual is unrealistic and a bit exaggerated. In Loren we had SOME character bisexual but not all

[bellice]

I never understood why some people seem so reluctant to add same sex options in their game. Fact is, some people who play your game will be gay or bisexual, so why not give them the same opportunities? I know I always felt left out when I played a game with LIs and there was no homosexual option. Not everyone on this planet is straight, for god's sake.

That's what I loved about Dragon Age 2. You could romance any of the LIs with both genders and that was the first game I ended up being completly happy and satisfied with after finishing.

[papillon]

A few people will object. But a few people will *always* object, no matter what you're writing. There are plenty of other things you might put in as love interests that will get some people upset. My best advice on this sort of subject is to consider what sort of objections you're likely to get, then decide whether you think those objections are valid.

A few people who HATE GAY will protest. Do you care?

[Obscura]

The VN community, as far as I can tell, is pretty inclusive about bi and pansexual relationships. Its the driving force for quite a few of its games.

Also, for better or worse, VNs historically have a link with tentacle porn, rapey, and pedo-ish stuff. Bisexual stuff will be very, very, tame and vanilla in comparison. I wouldn't worry about it!!! Relax and have fun making your game!!!

[Obscura]

I guess to give you a better idea...

...your game's reception will be closer to "Hey, awesome and cool!" from a lot of interested folk. The harshest reception will probably be, "Oh look, another bi-game" from people looking for something else.

At least around here, it won't be "I can't relate to this SHOCKING BISEXUAL theme!!!"

[alpine]

I'd say go for it, and if you're worried that people will ridicule you for having same-sex couples then I personally would suggest not thinking too much about it. There will always be people who criticise, no matter what medium you're using, and while making the characters bisexual might close off your game to some people, it opens it up to a much wider audience in the long run. In the end, it's your game and even though you may want to please other people, you should definitely make it the way you want to.

On another hand, there's always the option to make the lead's gender ambiguous to the player, meaning no one would have any sexuality in particular. But that doesn't work very often.

[Sharm]

There's never a way to make everyone happy so you either have to try for making the majority happy or yourself. There are people who aren't going to play it either way. Me, I avoid games with a same sex option. Honestly though, if you say clearly that you're going to have that option anyone who complains about it is stupid.

[Argeus_the_Paladin]

I, for one, care not if you make your character homo, bi or pansexual. What I do care, however, is that you can write what orientation you chose for your characters well and realistically. I believe that is a sentiment shared by many people. And that does not just apply to this medium, but all other walks of arts as well.

[WatchJessieGo]

There are homosexual relationships (and mixes of heterosexual and homosexual relationships) in VNs all the time. I don't think you've got anything to worry about. :3

[SammieBee]

I never understood why some people seem so reluctant to add same sex options in their game. Fact is, some people who play your game will be gay or bisexual, so why not give them the same opportunities? I know I always felt left out when I played a game with LIs and there was no homosexual option. Not everyone on this planet is straight, for gods sake

that's exactly how I felt but I didn't know how many others were like that. I mean the VN and my book are based on my life so I know many people are bi and gay but I just get paranoid about people being offended haha.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I never understood why some people seem so reluctant to add same sex options in their game. Fact is, some people who play your game will be gay or bisexual, so why not give them the same opportunities? I know I always felt left out when I played a game with LIs and there was no homosexual option. Not everyone on this planet is straight, for gods sake

that's exactly how I felt but I didn't know how many others were like that. I mean the VN and my book are based on my life so I know many people are bi and gay but I just get paranoid about people being offended haha.

Who cares about those people? If that doesn't fit your ideology there is no reason that you should have to cater to them. There are a range of gender and sexuality positions in real life, if people are in denial of that and won't play your game because you choose to include it, that's their problem. We have had people tell us that we should remove the homosexual relationships in our games or segregate them to their own game. And I laugh and continue what I'm doing. These are not the people I'm going to go out of my way to make happy and if they don't play our games because of it then it's no real lose to me.

[Samu-kun]

On the flip side, based on just statistics, the chances of a group of people being all bisexual a la Dragon Age is very low, so there's no need for every member of the cast to be bisexual. It just depends on what you want to make and who you want to share the work with. Good exercise of creative discretion is the best. Just do what you think is right and don't listen to any of us.

[PyTom]

For a multi-ending game, I think it's polite to give the user some control over the endings they get. I think the more you mix relationship-types, the more important it is that this control becomes more... reasonable? I mean, if the player gets to pick who they ask to the prom, then that's no problem. But if the decision tree is something like:

Code: Select all

menu:
    "Cast Giant Growth":
        jump liz_ending
    "Cast Wrath of God":
        jump bill_ending

that might be a little confusing to some people, and give them an ending they may not be comfortable with.