Characters dating one another

[Tracy Bullet]

Ok then, as long as you have fun

[sbester]

If sbester wrote a dating sim VN - Part 1.

The two friends become locked in a battle over the girl's affections. Protagonist and friend duel it out in a sword fight that goes on for 2 hours (because hey, why the hell not?). Of course, the protagonist is finally proclaimed as the victor, his blade held firmly against the loser's neck as the unfortunate fellow is forced to yield. But wait! He's got a gun, and is skilled in the art of *Gun Fu*, yo! And BAM! MC is dead! WTF?! Didn't see that coming, did ya? So now the ex-friend takes over as narrator, and he's all like " I'm the best and now girly is all about this". But she isn't. She's actually all about the STDs, and now the new MC is in a fight for his life because he's contracted something awful from her. His life is completely turned around as he's put on trial for the murder of his best friend while simultaneously dealing with medical bills and drug problems. So he finally catches a lucky break when the zombie apocalypse occurs (because it seems to happen in every story these days) and everyone is wiped out, except for the people who have his particular STD, which counteracted the mutant spread in his system. As expected, that means he's forced to team up with that stupid ho that got him infected in the first place to survive in this crazy zombie infested world. And oh, snap! Old MC rises from the dead as well, but he's also got the counteracting STD (because that girl was just giving it away to everyone), so he's back for revenge! Who will you choose to be? Old half-rotten, sword-wielding protagonist, or the gun fu dude that just couldn't stand being an NPC any longer?

...You could try something a little less complicated, but seriously consider it first

[Ozitiho]

-applaude- yay

[KuroOneHalf]

I find the topic post a little incoherent and am having trouble understanding the situation at hand. Is it that there's 2 secondary characters (neither of which have their own routes), and you want them to date each other? Or do you mean when you branch into heroine B, some secondary character guy dates heroine A, and vice versa?

If it's the latter then I am not very fond of the idea. I can't quite come up with reasonable non-selfish arguments as for why I feel this way, but the idea of a heroine being able to be "taken" by another character feels wrong. It feels kinda like netorare, even though it isn't.

Though hey, if you feel strongly about wanting to explore this, then by all means try it.

[Ozitiho]

I did mean the latter. And I when I initially posted I expected a lot more reactions like yours. Because I get that consent. At the same time whenever I see this sort of thing developing in some VN's, I'm always bothered it doesn't come true.

Still gonna give it a shot though, see if it works out. I'm nowhere near there in my writing though, chances are I'll forget before I get to that path.

[Quelcezot]

I'm killing waifus in mine. (Well, husbandos or whatever I suppose) Don't worry about it.

My only potential worry would be that everyone pairing off like the end of a Shakespeare play could feel a bit cozy. Although on reflection if you're going for that, it could be nice.

The idea that the player should expect to own characters they're not even in a relationship with is displeasing to me though. Kind of an unromantic view of love.

Off topic slightly, the terminology "obtainables" that's on the rise really annoys me.

[annpan]

It's funny, concept is not bad! I'm using it in my game. There you should at least be some sort bonding or plot driven related item to allow you to pair up the left over characters in the end of the game. For example, my games involves recruitment, bonding and such to get a certain character romantically attracted to you or said other character. Things shouldn't be so fast pace but gives a steady speed to make players cozy up to this idea. You can see how FE:awakening does this well too.

[trooper6]

I never chimed in, though I meant to.

First the comment I always make when people ask questions like this: If you want to do something in your game, you should do that thing in your game. It is your artistic vision.

Next, i think anything that makes players feel less entitled in dating games is good. I also think anything that makes the NPCs seem like people rather than just objects for the player to obtain is also good.

[Quelcezot]

I never chimed in, though I meant to.

First the comment I always make when people ask questions like this: If you want to do something in your game, you should do that thing in your game. It is your artistic vision.

Next, i think anything that makes players feel less entitled in dating games is good. I also think anything that makes the NPCs seem like people rather than just objects for the player to obtain is also good.

I think the whole entitlement issue in dating games is a bit odd. The idea that 'You will be able to choose from a variety of npcs for your love interest' is pretty much assumed for most substantial vns. It's more noteworthy when this isn't the case.

But from a creator's standpoint, exploring the different relationships characters can have is a very crucial way to distinguish routes through the story. As people, we take romance and relationships very seriously. In my own vn, certain relationships are only possible because of the mentality and views that the mc has. There is one other character as well who can end up with one of two different characters depending on the choices the npc makes and how that has a knock-on effect with him.

To that extent, I think choices affecting who the mc or indeed others end up with makes a lot of sense.

But in many vns there is a large emphasis on just 'choosing'. I've heard a lot of talk about how game overs and punishment in vns is a bad idea, but I'll personally be including something similar in my own project.

If the choices leading up to who your character ends up with are purposefully obvious, the 'easier' the game is the more it becomes necessarily about wish fulfillment.

To me, one of the easiest ways to pull the rug from people's feet and make them really consider their choices and not just breeze through and collect all the guys / girls is to not give the player only correct options.

To those that just want to play through a vn to catch their favorite pokemon (I suppoe pokemon are typically more difficult to catch) I suppose I'm totally fine with vns existing to fill the niche for those people. But having some way to tell the player "That was stupid, now everyone hates you and you're bleeding to death in a lonely hole", to me is a priceless storytelling mechanism if you're confident enough that players will stick around afterwards. For example, I think ardently pursuing a particular love interest is fine - but having even that route's 'girl' be 'taken' by another character as a result of a certain decision could really make the player reflect. It might not have been what the player was going for, but they may even be surprised if the relationship between the other two characters turns out to be a wonderful match and begin enjoying reading about their relationship even if the mc is in a different relationship or none at all.

And as soon as the player knows that their actions have real consequences, they realize how significant their choices are.

If the player decides to do things differently and achieve a different result, even ending up with the character they were trying to the first time, I think their experience would be enriched by knowing the different possibilities.

I'd really like to master that "What can be put in a nutshell belongs in one" thing.