For help on part 1, leave a comment on this blog post : http://www.vdategames.com/wordpress/?p=188
TUTORIAL 2 : PLANNING
Time for a little theory this week. Much of what I cover here is probably stuff you've already thought of, but it's a good idea to go through them one by one.
The character
The first thing you probably should think about (and have already) is your main character, by which I mean your date. Generally, dates end up in one of three categories : neutral, wild and shy. You will of course add many unique minor characteristics to your character to give them a little individuality, but generally you'll find they end up as one of the three.
For your first character, I would suggest going with a more neutral personality, though it's up to you.
Next, we need a name. If you haven't decided on one yet, there are many ways to get one. One odd but practical example is a baby names website. There's loads of them on the internet with long lists of cool and unique sounding ideas.
I also heavily advise against naming your character after anyone you know. It can just get weird.
Next, we need a few personality traits to grow the character out of. Go ahead and make a list of at least 3 interesting facts about your character. They can be hobbies, job, or just something they hate. This won't be the entirety of your character, just a starting point.
This won't be a fully biography at this stage. Odds are your characters' personality will grow as you work on the game. We just need a starting point.
Leave things like physical looks until the end of the tutorial.
The 'plot'
Time to decide on the style of your game.
Notice those inverted commas around the word plot?
Yeah, plot is always a tricky thing to define in these games. If nothing else there is only ever a limited amount of things which can happen in a date without things getting really unrealistic.
Something I've noticed is that there is normally a big trade off between plot and gameplay.
Let's look for example at "Something's in the air" by arianeb. If you haven't played it before, I highly recommend doing so. For research purposes if nothing else.
While you're at it, head over to playforceone and play "Getting to know Christine" as well. http://playforceone.com/pf1_games.php?mygame=Getting%20to%20know%20Christine
While both of these games and a VDG game all share a very similar setting, each has their own slightly different style.
There are basically two philosophies to follow. Do you want your game to be more of an interactive erotic novel, or do you want it to be a game?
Something's in the air is clearly an interactive novel. VDG game are clearly games. Christine is somewhere in-between.
There are advantages and disadvantages to doing either. VDG games can feel like they give more freedom to move around and define how they want the date to go. SITA's amount of description and dialog can add to the characters, but the player can also feel like they aren't affecting the gameplay very much.
Neither emphasis is right or wrong! It simply depends what you want your game to be. VDG games are games and place their emphasis in that direction. Something like SITA is an interactive story.
At some point you will have to choose which style you'd prefer to follow.
If your main concern is appealing to the most amount of people, it is also worth mentioning, that 90% of players don't care that much.
The biggest factor in the popularity is by far size. To most players, more content = better game. If you're following these tutorials with the intention of making a game, don't feel you need to make something with a thousand images though. Just do what you're comfortable with.
The player character
In VDG, the person the player dates as, has always been the player themselves. This is why my player characters have always been a bit of a blank template.
If you want to however, you can force the player to play as a character you've created. Personally, I don't prefer this though. I'd rather play as a personification of myself, rather than some character I have no connection to.
Again, it is up to you though. Some prefer a set player character as they feel it better defines the personality of the PC, but some will also dislike seeing a character they have no connection with dating, instead wishing it was them (or at least something they created).
Structure
There are a many ways you could design the layout of your game, so rather than go through all of them, I'll just be explaining how I do it myself. If you mix it up and use a slightly different structure, that's fine too.
The first thing I do is decide on what locations will be included in the game. The obvious way to do this, is to decide on what endings you want (which in this case is basically sex), then work backwards from here.
So let's theoretically say that you want 2 endings where it's just the player character and the date, and one threesome. For the two solo endings, it's usually a good idea to make them very different. An ending in the bedroom and one in the lounge isn't much variety, whereas one in the bedroom and one at the park makes it a bit more interesting.
A word of warning though - outdoor scenes are usually harder to make the pictures for compared to indoor scenes.
For an ending involving a third person, you obviously need a point in the game where you can meet them. Having your date already know them is advised, as it's a believable way for the three of you to begin hanging around together. Create a profile of this other character in the same way you would the main date.
So far, you should have a list of the following things :
- You date's name
- personality type
- three facts about the character
- The style you want your game to take
- a list of endings in your game
- a second characters name, and her personality type.
Stages
Next, we need to divide your game into it's stages. The obvious way is to use locations.
The story of your date should probably have several stages between the beginning and end. An appropriate amount of time for the date and the player character to get comfortable with each other.
One example could be : Her place > restaurant > cinema > bar > walk home > home > end
However, you certainly don't need one location per stage. A location can have multiple stages. An example fro my first game, Crystal, would be : Her place > party : outfit change > party : bar > party : pool > party : photoshoot > end
Go ahead and create a route for your own game, choosing an end and beginning, then adding a few stages in between.
From there, write down one of the other endings. Pick one of the stages and try to connect it to this second ending. Next, try placing a stage alongside one of the existing ones, as an alternative route.
You should end up with a diagram that looks something like this :
Next, we need to decide what happens in each stage. This is something you mainly need to do yourself, but here's a few tips :
- A conversation in bar, like in real life, is a good way to get to know your date. Make sure she states lots of things about herself to add a bit more depth to her personality.
- Have a good combination of conversational stages and physical activity ones.
- It will be more believable if the earlier stages don't have things like nudity in them.
- Don't be afraid of using scenarios you've already seen in VDG games. The reason something like a sexy photoshoot turns up so often in thee games is that they are very popular.
- Remember that not everyone may share your fetish. An entire stage based around feet would certainly be unappealing to me!
You have two sets of homework this week.
Homework 1
Plan your game. Create a flow chart similar to the one above but with your own locations or stages within locations.
Write at least one sentence of description for what will happen in each stage.
Homework 2
In the next tutorial, you will have to create your date. I will be providing a way where you don't have to spend any money, but if you do, your options will be very limited.
If you can spare $20, this homework is for you.
Use this link to look through the various characters you can apply to the base you got last week.
If you got the V4 base use this : http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?TopID=268274.268295.269113
or this one : http://www.daz3d.com/women?compat_figures=27
If you got the V3, use this link : http://www.daz3d.com/women?compat_figures=46
While you are there, try to find an outfit you like for your date.
If you chose the V4 base, use this : http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?TopID=268275.268291.269892
or this one : http://www.daz3d.com/clothing-accessories?compat_figures=27
If you chose the V3 base, use this link : http://www.daz3d.com/clothing-accessories?compat_figures=46
If you find a character or outfit you like, bookmark it or make a note of it. Don't feel that you have to buy any of these now! Remember, i will be providing links to some free stuff in the next tutorial.