do you think you could make a romance game?
how?
or is it something games will just fail to capture.
how?
or is it something games will just fail to capture.
Romance game
- Thread starter shadow_Fox81
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There are a multitude of ways to entice characters to each-other, but making an entire romance game? Well that sounds borderline like one of those "Girlfriend/Hentai/Flash/Simulator" flashes you see on Newgrounds. shudder
I doubt that an entire game concept will be procured around solely romance in the near future, but it definitely can bolster a character(s) when put in a game properly, if that is any consolation.
And to fully answer your question, no. I doubt I could make the game. To further my point I doubt I can make a clone of pong as of right now. My head is just not in the game this month. But oh well, some things just cannot be helped.e
Edit:
Also take note of the romance novels being put out and look at their reception. You get the 90% majority that has the over-sexualized cover art, a pretty terrible story, and a lack of any real romance. Then you get things like 50 Shades of Grey (I sincerely regret bringing this up, forgive me.) that actually sells well (unfortunately.) So not only would the market be dull, the game itself would likely be an A rated equivalent of burlesque films.
I doubt that an entire game concept will be procured around solely romance in the near future, but it definitely can bolster a character(s) when put in a game properly, if that is any consolation.
And to fully answer your question, no. I doubt I could make the game. To further my point I doubt I can make a clone of pong as of right now. My head is just not in the game this month. But oh well, some things just cannot be helped.e
Edit:
Also take note of the romance novels being put out and look at their reception. You get the 90% majority that has the over-sexualized cover art, a pretty terrible story, and a lack of any real romance. Then you get things like 50 Shades of Grey (I sincerely regret bringing this up, forgive me.) that actually sells well (unfortunately.) So not only would the market be dull, the game itself would likely be an A rated equivalent of burlesque films.
I'd probably just do it as a Visual Novel. Romance wouldn't really translate well as a core-gameplay mechanic.
Dunno, perhaps something like Façade?
Probably one of the more interesting games concerning human relations.
Unfortunately also one of the most hilarious ones to screw around with. One day I will be able to take it seriously and try to finish it.
Probably one of the more interesting games concerning human relations.
Unfortunately also one of the most hilarious ones to screw around with. One day I will be able to take it seriously and try to finish it.
Well, there're many visual novels solely revolving around romance but they aren't games. And then there're dating sims which are but have hardly any actual romance.
I don't think it's possible because you can't make a game solely around talking and interacting with humans. There just aren't enough suitable gameplay mechanics in the development of a relationship for a game.
I don't think it's possible because you can't make a game solely around talking and interacting with humans. There just aren't enough suitable gameplay mechanics in the development of a relationship for a game.
I'd probably do a visual novel, but it would be like Hakuoki on the PSP, highest quality, fantastic music, great voice acting, brilliant story with many options and endings and your choices actually feeling like they make a difference. Oh and the different stories would actually be very different. The romance will be key but it will have an interesting story line, where there is plenty more going on than relationship drama.
Take a look at Katawa Shoujo if you're interested in "romance game done RIGHT." It has made thousands upon thousands of comparatively normal gamers/18-25 year old males cry manly tears, with myself included.Lur-King said:
Granted, it isn't a "traditional" game and is more of a "choose-your-own adventure novel with pictures," but it is very romantic and heart-warming and tear-jerking without being classless like the vast majority of Visual Novels or "romance" media.
Actually, that pretty much sums up what I'd say about the discussion: It can be done, but only if the people working on it are going for romance itself and not for greed. Katawa Shoujo was released for free after years of work (and is native-English despite taking place in Japan with a Japanese VN theme), but any studio that tries it will likely stoop to some low level in order to gain attention for increased sales.
But...but...but they make me feel so special! Like someone actually cares! And they make me have too do my underwear laundry more often too. >.>Lur-King said:
Just kidding, couldn't resist.OT: Really I've gotta go with something along the lines of King's response: while you can definitely make romance sub-plots in your game, building an entire game around a romance story would be rather difficult as undoubtedly it really would just turn out to be a "Visual Novel" type of game.
The problem with romance in games is that to pull it off well you need to be able to invoke a true emotional response within the player of the game. One of the first major hurdles you come to is the fact that not all players will like the characters involved in the romance from the start. So you have to go way in depth and throw in a lot of character developement and backstory so that the players will actually care about the characters. If you manage to get them engrossed in your story, then it'll be easier to pull off the emotional response you're looking for with your romance game. However, at that point, the real question is "Why not just go read a romance novel and save yourself some money rather than buying a game?"
That's really why a lot of people didn't like the "romance" options in the Mass Effect series. Personally I'd argue that with the exception of Liara, there really isn't any emotional connection between Shepard and any of the other characters. I mean really? FemShep and Garrus? Just try and defend that as anything but pure fan-service with Mordin giving sexual advice, stating that FemShep shouldn't be giving Garrus blowjobs (ahem, "injest turian protiens") because it could cause mild hallucinations. There's no emotional connection between FemShep and Garrus (while if you stick with Liara through the entire series, you actually can get an emotional connection by the third game, at least in my opinion), it's done really just for the hell of it.
In short, I'd say that romances are best left for well-written subplots. Try to base your game entirely around a romance and you get games like Cathrine with a dude in his underpants running away from a giant ass monster trying to eat him. Oh yeah, THAT'S definitely every Valentine's Day ever all over again.
Thinking about it you could have a game themed around relationships with a multitude of different dialogue options with speech as the main game machanic but as people have said that would very easily turn into a visual novel so it would be difficult.
If you had conversations and every response was made by you then it could work, maybe. Difficult to implament.
Go play a visual novel, thats the best you'll get at the moment
If you had conversations and every response was made by you then it could work, maybe. Difficult to implament.
Go play a visual novel, thats the best you'll get at the moment
I don't know if it can really be done all that well without it being reduced to a sex simulator. ¬____________¬
Games are about interaction, and killing stuff is one interaction out of many. Why does it get made so often? One reason: It's easy to make.
Create a "shoot stuff" simulator? Depending on how simple the stuff you're shooting are (I.e.: How much AI you'll need), it can seriously be a no-brainer. Depending on what middleware you're running with, you can have a decent implementation going within hours.
Making viable relationship simulators are significantly harder, though. Having a conversation is the most complex thing a human will ever do - seriously, quantum physics pales before the mind-numbing complexity of saying "Hello" right.
You can emulate it (Which is what games have done so far), but simulating it, without Strong AI? Kinda hard to do.
I'm sure it can be emulated better than it has been so far, and I'm certain game mechanics can be built around it to make it more captivating than a multiple choice question, but it would still not be simulation.
Create a "shoot stuff" simulator? Depending on how simple the stuff you're shooting are (I.e.: How much AI you'll need), it can seriously be a no-brainer. Depending on what middleware you're running with, you can have a decent implementation going within hours.
Making viable relationship simulators are significantly harder, though. Having a conversation is the most complex thing a human will ever do - seriously, quantum physics pales before the mind-numbing complexity of saying "Hello" right.
You can emulate it (Which is what games have done so far), but simulating it, without Strong AI? Kinda hard to do.
I'm sure it can be emulated better than it has been so far, and I'm certain game mechanics can be built around it to make it more captivating than a multiple choice question, but it would still not be simulation.
More like "kind of impossible". No AI has passed the Turing test as of yet - the chatbots are...weird.Driekan said:
Not to mention, that even some humans can't pass it.
Simply put, we don't have the technology to build a non-simulation-y conversation mechanic in a game.
I still think that there is space for something like this, make it in a college or something like it where there is more to do then just talk. Imagine a mix between Leisure Suit Larry and Bully with a shitload of easily recognisable music.
A "quest" where you need to make some money to quickly buy a present for your girl with this playing in the background while you ride your bike from student to student to complete their chores.
Skip to 2:25
I think I could play that, or that someone could make a game like that without it being a visual novel
A "quest" where you need to make some money to quickly buy a present for your girl with this playing in the background while you ride your bike from student to student to complete their chores.
Skip to 2:25
I think I could play that, or that someone could make a game like that without it being a visual novel