It really depends on what you want your game to be and what feeling you want the player to have.
Do you want the player to feel like a true matchmaker and a bit god-mode where they have the final say in everything? Then definetly no. It Will irk the player.
However do you want to be your game more of an interactive story where player decision has an impact but is not necceserally the be-all, end-all of it then a canon for characters should be there. For every character really, including some couple forming etc.
Personally I like the second approach more but it Also needs more work and much more and better planning and executions then the first option of a free-for-all system.
Which ever you chose however do make a choice and stick to that or you'll frustrate yourself and the player xD
Anyway, that's my two cents
Thank you putting your two cents in,
@Finnuval!
Yea. I think the second one is what I want instead of the first idea.
Like, I was planning for Character A and B to share a duet. But it's not romantic in any way. It's because they're in the same vocal class.
Also, there's this scene where character A proposes to character B because Character B chose to marry for necessity instead of love and character A would much rather want character B to marry him out of their friendship AND necessity.
Lmao I don't wanna frustrate my precious player XD
I guess I'll just wait for the responses until I'm finished with the demo of my game.
Thank you once again
Mmmm, I lean towards bothering me. Just because you want character A and B to get together, doesn't mean I would like it. What about poor character C?
I think a good compromise would be to give the canon pairing more relationship points, or subtly nudge the player in that direction (notice how Sumia is introduced helping Chrom in Fire Emblem Awakening). That way if I want to match B and C together, I just need to work at it a little harder to get what I want.
@Former_Sky, thank you for the input
Yea. I think that works really well for my relationship idea. Yea. Unfortunately, as of now, I'm kinda doing the whole me wanting to get character A and B together and neglecting character C thing... :/
But I'll wait until I finish the demo of my game to see what the players think of the whole character A and B need to be canon schtick.
Ty for the reply
For me it depends on how forced it is. I have had games where when doing the romance options, its clear that one is way too easy to progress with, or you will options to progress forward with them that are nowhere near realistic. Think you just meet someone and they seem important to the main character right off the back, they barely spend anytime together, but you can already romance them and take them to "bed" or an equivalent level even though you spent no time together. As long as there is lore and character development that are driving the relationship I dont mind being able to tell that there is almost a "pre-determined" pair so long as I can still romance whoever I want.
@Chroma-Creative-Solutions, thank you for your opinion
Yea. I'm working on the lore behind character A and B and a tiny bit of C. But I don't want the player to have a and time playing the game so long as they can date or marry whoever they want...
This kinda reminds me of Rune Factory 4's lore and how the plot doesn't push any couple as canon but rather focus on the plot instead of the 'canon' couple stuff.
Lol. You'll get to romance a lot of characters during the pre and post time-skip
So, you'll have plenty of options. I'm thinking I'm gonna cap it at 13-ish characters maybe? So like 6 can get together and you can get with who you want lol.
Thanks for the reply
I feel like it would need a lot of foreshadowing if it's gonna lead to a bad ending.
Like, if the characters are royalty from different nations that are considering a marriage alliance. (and a lot of people worry about a war if it doesn't happen)
Or there's a prophesy or something.
Or one (or both) is clearly literally crazy for the other and the player directly interferes, turning the person into the secret final boss due to a mental break.
Or i dunno, theres a character from the future and if the player starts interfering with the couple s/he starts flickering worse and worse the more they interfere.
Basically... give lots of hints before it's too late.
Also make it hard to avert the romance.
Like, it's already at full points at the beginning of the story, it happens automatically, unless the player specifically chooses to break them up, by sabotaging varios scenes.
And, even if the player romances one of them, they still have to do something to interfere, or the player will get friendzoned.
Thank you for the idea about foreshadowing why the couple should or should not work. I also want the other characters to put their two cents in about the 'couple'. Say a character tells the player this:
Post time-skip.
Character: I can't help but think that if Character B accepted Character A's proposal then we wouldn't be suffering as we are now...
What do you think?
Player: (2 choices)
Choice 1 dialogue: Nod your head.
If there were a better future had they married I would've preferred that one.
Character: (+ relationship variable with the MC) Yes. Some things may still remain the same, however... I would've preferred them to be partners instead of enemies.
I'm tired of fighting two sides instead of one.
If that were the case, this war would have been over by now...
Choice 2 dialogue: Shake your head.
I think things would've stayed the same if they did wed. And who's to say that their partnership could withstand against the king's wrath?
Character: I... (- relationship variable with the MC)
MC: We must deal with the cards we are dealt with. We can't think of better days while others suffer for our daydreaming. The smarter we are to end this war, the better future others will have.
Character : Yes. You're absolutely right...
...
Yea. the romance between the two characters wouldn't happen automatically.
I was thinking of offering the player three paths to choose from. But then I thought of the fourth path where if you did hook up Character A and Character B, the timeline would be differently but slightly not...
And then there's the fifth path which is the true path where they work together (as alias) to take down the terrible tyrant of a king.
Thanks for your input
