^ This. Take this idea, and run with it.
I think it would be cool to play a “matchmaker” choose-your-own-adventure, where you have to manage your time, talk to people, their families, their friends, and get to know them really well so that you can set them up with each other.
The plot twist is that while the MC is good at setting other people up, they are still single.
So part of the game is self-exploration and finding a match that’s good for you.
Hmm… maybe something for the new label?
This sounds adorable. Like a 90’s romcom.
I personally like such stituations, though there are other people who don’t. One of the first games I started modding was Baldur’s Gate, and that was for the interactions between the MC and NPC. If one went a step-further and played matchmaker, then it would be the same scenario you mention.
Once again, I personally don’t mind. The thing is, especially if you have a lot of NPCs, it requires a lot of writing…mind you, I’m now speaking from a dating sim point of view.
And the thing is, you can also integrate such scenarios into a game. Say like you make a game where you are the ruler. Well, arranging betrothals, and whatnot between nobles, and with neighboring kingdoms would require interacting with those NPCs…and move the plot forward.
The section isn’t very big in Tin Star, and you can only be romancing Yiska and Maria, no more. However, it does occur. There might be another game which has it, but if so, it eludes me.
As for the MC getting together with someone or not, I don’t mind either way. I do prefer games where the MC has a chance of romance, but it isn’t a deal-breaker for me. In fact, the scene in Tin Star allows this option if one picks it…and I did like it.
Definitely don’t go insane with the NPCs if you go this route. I made a game which ended up having 8 romance options for the male and female player, and the romance dialogues themselves were all separate…not just a gender flip, but actually different. In the end it was fun, but it almost broke me as well.
Oh, I wasn’t pushing you to it, but was mostly showing how things could be altered/fit to make situations your own 
Then again, I admit I’m also at the point that when someone does something rather new, or not often seen in a CoG, that garners a lot of bonus points.
@idonotlikeusernames First off, I like your username! (Pleasedon’thatemelol.)
Secondly, thank you! I’m glad you’d be interested in that sort of a side quest. I’m actually still debating the sexuality of my characters, they don’t seem to be able to make up their own minds just yet…So I’m not sure if it may be fully what you’re looking for, but I have ideas for other stories too in which I do plan on involving two guys or two girls in the matchmaking business.
I’m curious though this is slightly off topic, are there fanfics for CoG games? If so, where can I find these?
It’s good though that now a lot more CoG games are including more LGBT content and interactions. Hopefully, you’ve been able to find (and maybe created your own) games that resonate more with you. Though sadly, I still see a lot of people protesting having that in the games on the google store comments and saying that it takes away from the story which is clearly does not.
@Fiogan I’ve gone through the first Lost Heir, but I haven’t had the chance of going through the rest yet. Still, even if it’s lightly done, it is being done and now I have more of a reason to go and get the rest of the series! Thanks for letting me know 
!
@bauldlad Thank you for sharing that! I also feel like sometimes it’s okay to just be friends with certain characters and see their happiness with another character. Yes, it definitely can lead to a little bit of a heartbreak, but that’s life right? I feel like it just adds more to the story and is so much more worth it. Then again, people can argue “this is CoG, we don’t want to be like real life”, and I see their point too, but is it wrong to make it a little more realistic than a story should be?
@Morphine I’m glad you would like having that option! I feel like it could lead to amusing and or heartwarming scenes. I definitely need to get the rest of Lost Heir for this! I think it’s those kinds of things that make the story a little more memorable.
@Cataphrak I agree with you wholeheartedly on that, and I really do want them to seem more real. You point out the issues with that beautifully in that, not a lot of people would enjoy it as much. Personally, I feel like having every single character be clay in your hands makes it a lot easier sure, but has less of an impact overall.
I do actually have some NPCs do things like joking around with each other or just in general show how they act around each other regardless of the MC. However, when I do write them I wonder if people will even care to read about or just move on until the next decision. I guess I don’t want it to seem like it’s all going to waste, but after reading everyone’s opinions here, I can rest knowing that it won’t all be completely for naught.
Yes, I think I’m also okay with having some of those constrictions that life imposes on us in a game. It obviously, won’t be to the same magnitude as it is in real life, but it’s a dimension that I think is important to have, though not required. I think I’d be okay with having a few people not liking the fact that they can’t sculpt everything to their liking if I know that others out there do like that.
@Gower Okay, I think I see what you’re saying. That’s a really good idea! Though, is the difference in interactions more based on a little randomising then? Or do you mean that could be the case even depending how you end the game after the first run through? Or were you just simply giving an example of such an approach, since I’m sure there are multiple ways of doing this.
Also I think that yes, it may take away from the integrity of the NPC especially after a full run through, but it also gives you the chance to experience the game differently because of it. I do agree it would probably work best for comedy, but if done well I’m sure it could be implemented in other genres too.
Alright, I think I’ll end this one here. Now onto the other posts!
I haven’t written any myself yet (though Lord Cass or Dandy may yet compel me to do so, provided my day job stops sucking the creativity out of me), in general I’m sure there are some, there’s certainly a reasonable quantity of fan-art.
Sadly I don’t think I’d be quite up to taking that leap in the foreseeable future, creating English language fanfic would already be a huge leap for little old me.
But this is certainly true. As for what resonates with me, my forum behaviour here is easily tracked, for anyone who wants to give themselves the headache of doing so, and there are certainly a fair number of games and even more wip’s that I’m quite interested in at the moment.
Protesting at LGBT content you mean, yeah that does make me sad, though I’m quite used to it by now and I expect no less from our present-day (internet) culture. I cut my digital teeth in some respects back on the old Bioware boards and this forum is like heaven compared to that one and in its day that one used to be one of the more tolerant ones, in that you could even discuss gay stuff openly there in the first place (even if it attracted dozens of trolls, at least it wasn’t immediately shut down by the admins as NSFW or not family friendly or somesuch rubbish).
Overall culture both in general and on the internet has until the last 1-2 years often been a case of two steps forward and one step back when it came to acceptance of non-straight people. With the growing anger and demonizing of “social justice warriors” of all kinds I’m now seeing some of the most frightening backlash I’ve witnessed yet, I hope that it too will pass and may even be indicative of the last flailings of the old order not wanting to pass quietly into the proverbial night.
I can definitely say there are some, though most people don’t tend to put much up. Most tend to be one-offs, and can sometimes be found within a specific game thread, although there are a couple minor dedicated threads.
Probably the largest one is the Zombie Exodus fanworks:
I got a little busy with some Choice of Rebel’s fanworks:
This was one that I did for Guen:
And as others will attest, I’ve done a bunch of fanart for Guen, Monsters of New Haven High, a piece for Tin Star, and a couple other games. I still need to get some fanart done for Zombie Exodus and @Samuel_H_Young’s Demon Hunter series.
This is what I found, but be careful some of them are quite explicit:
@MizArtist33 No, no it isn’t unhelpful at all! Sure it’s subjective, but that’s what I want, I want to know what everyone thinks of it with their own opinions.
Honestly, I think that’s totally fair and reflective of how people would react in real life. Not everyone is going to just standby and let the one they really love go, some will sure, but not everyone. I was actually wondering if people would do what they can to keep those two characters apart so that they can be with one or the other. I do add that as an option for my WIP because it is a reasonable reaction to have.
Okay, good to know thanks! I know I tend to type way too much sometimes, so I hope I don’t annoy too many people doing that.
I think that a valentine’s theme would be more of a justification to have the matchmaker type situation in it. However, I do still plan on keeping it in my WIP.
As for what I plan on doing with the WIP, I’m a bit on the fence. My original plan was that, you have the option to help Char A and Char B out at the beginning if you’d like, making it easier for the MC to not get emotionally involved in the first place. However, if the dialogue is not seen at the beginning due to not interacting with said characters yet, the option for this comes later where you are already emotionally involved with A or B.
In the second case, it would come as a more of a crushing blow when you learn that yes sure they like/love the MC, but still has strong feelings for the other character as the other character does to whoever you’ve chosen to be with. You are then given the option to step back and out of that relationship and help out the two in question, or continue as you are with the knowledge that the other character may have a heartbreak and other consequences that come with that sort of a decision. I was thinking in the case if you choose to give up your relationship for their happiness, it would take some time before the MC will try to be with someone else. Since I don’t entirely want the “welp, time for the next one” as the only other possibility. I also don’t know if I want to really add that sort of an option at all should the MC choose to step out.
@Carlos.R I will run with the idea then!
I actually had considered doing a matchmaking type game a while ago lol. I’m just not too sure if I’d be the best at writing it even though I’ve actually at times been a sort of matchmaker in real life. I also didn’t know if that sort of game would appeal to a lot of people on here, but I also haven’t really asked.
@Lys I know there’ll always be people who don’t like one thing or another! I’m okay with doing it though if I know that some, like you, will enjoy the content in spite or even because of that.
I know that moving the plot forward can be done depending on the game written, but I’m not entirely sure if my WIP would fall under that category at this time. Again, though I want to do this because I’m planning on making it somewhat important for the sequel depending on what you end up doing and who you end up going with. I do know though that requires a lot of writing, my current WIP is already long as it is for just one chapter, but I think I’d be okay with taking on a little more, provided that people are still willing to follow a game that may not be updated as quickly as some others.
That’s fair, and I’m not sure how big I can make it myself, but I think I’d like to give the player the option of doing it even if they weren’t currently in the relationship with either or only one of the two characters. I may also go with the option as @RagEgnite suggested where there’s a little bit of a cooldown so to speak before you can romance someone else, but the option will be there.
Haha, I think I’m already on the path to breaking down with the current WIP I have, because while I don’t plan on offering more than five romance options for either gender, there’s a lot of extra things that occur depending on what you end up doing and who you interact with throughout the game, especially since I made the first chapter more free form in activities. I want to make it somewhat like an open world, but I know that involves a lot more. Also because I’m crazy figured well…what if the NPCs liked each other…?
Still, even though it almost broke you, would you say it was worth it?
That’s what I’m trying to do with my current WIP and hence this thread, since as far as I was aware, it wasn’t something I ever came across, but I wanted to be sure it’d generate some interest before trying it lol. Though, if you do plan on doing something of this like, I would definitely like to be notified of this!
I don’t regret it now, but I can honestly say it burned me out on doing massive romance dialogues (this was for basically a dating sim part on a game). So, I’m looking forward to working on an rpg or simulation (like a kingdom builder) just to vary things up.
Those will have relationships as well, but also will be much smaller.
Haha, oh I know, I’m trying to get out as much as I can on my own projects because when grad school starts back up again. I know I won’t be able to dedicate as much time on it. Good to know though, when I have some spare time I’ll be hunting around for them since there are a few games I’d love to see fan art for.
Even if you don’t end up writing any of your own, as long as you find some and support those, which as you said you do, I think that’s plenty! If you enjoy them, that’s all that matters right?
It is unfortunately how life is, though it’d be better if it wasn’t. I’m actually not aware of the Bioware boards or the people in there, but I do agree that CoG is a really great community from what I’ve seen of it and interacted with, though mostly a silent interaction from my half lol.
I do agree though that the internet and the world as a whole is becoming a bit more like a mined battlefield where the wrong opinion is to step on a mine and more often than not set off a chain reaction worse than the original cause. I also hope that the situation will be made better, but we know as one door closes another one opens. Something will always come up, but the world’s not perfect so it’s not a surprise. Still, that doesn’t mean we should stop trying and I think games like CoG are a step in the right direction since media in all forms has been the most powerful tool in changing the course of human history.
@Lys I figured there’d be some, especially for the more popular ones. I haven’t poked around on these forums as much as I should have, so I’ll be looking around in them for some of the games I’ve really liked through CoG over the years.
Oh wow, you have certainly contributed a lot to this, and I’m sure they all appreciate the work you’re doing for that. That’s so awesome, and I’m sure endless fun for you? I think I may have seen a couple of your works for Monsters of New Haven High and I really like them!
I will proceed with caution! (Prepares battle armour and a pot for a helmet)
I’m worried I may have the same issue later on with my WIP in terms of all the events that occur and not just romance, but I’ll just have to work through it. I can see how it could burn you out pretty quickly, you did 8 different options with characters that are vastly different and that’s quite an undertaking.
While I will have the match-making, I will for now keep it to matching for just between two characters only and have others with different relations and goals, etc. It’ll still be a lot on the MC’s part but I won’t go more detailed as I could with a more romance based game.
I wish you the best of luck though with your other works though! Even if they’re small, they’ll still make it interesting nonetheless.
Don’t worry I usually try not to interfere in threads that either don’t interest me or make it clear from the start that they have no intention to cater to my preferences, so long as they do not spew the same kind of vitriol as that recent ex tempore thread. If on the other hand I get a little over-enthusiastic or overly hung-up on something I guess just either shoot me a PM, call me out on it directly or if you don’t want to do either just flag it I guess.
I think having characters who interact with each other outside the mc rounds them out more and would make them feel more alive, things which are always pluses. The main issue I foresee with this, however, is that implementation may be difficult and time-consuming. But by all means, if it’s something you want to see happen, go for it.
For one, a falling out would lead to the RO’s death 
; I’d have to check about the other one, though.
@idonotlikeusernames: The relationships would play out rather differently; the relationship with the MC necessarily happens faster than the RO in question would like, so it can actually occur in the game itself, while the RO-RO relationship would happen mainly between the main story and the epilogue.
[quote=“Argentdragon, post:20, topic:27647”]
I think that’s perfectly fair, but I’m going to guess that you, at least, wouldn’t feel bogged down by that kind of information so long as it isn’t in excess or seem completely out of the blue, right?[/quote]
Yes, that’ll be correct. I won’t mind seeing it during a quiet moment before the climactic finale, or if I had seen the characters being friendly with each other from the start. A Pair the Spares situation would just feel lazy.
[quote=“Argentdragon, post:20, topic:27647”]
Also I don’t know of that game, is it a completed game or a WIP? Though that is somewhat similar to what I’m going for, though it may be more of a conversation you have with one of the characters rather than based on a stat.[/quote]
I believe it’s one of the oldest Hosted Game. The first two are completed; you can find the WIP thread for the third game/finale right here.
To further elaborate: you’ll do talk with both parties and know about their crush on the other in the game. The first meeting where the MC clued in on it immediately is more of a reflection of their high Charm stat than anything else.
[quote=“Argentdragon, post:20, topic:27647”]
I was actually considering doing a “matchmaker” achievement if the MC successfully gets the characters together. I’m still not sure though how people view achievements? I’ve seen a handful saying they like achievements a lot, while others going they actually either dislike them or outright hate having achievements in games. I know you can’t please everyone lol, but I think that would be a good incentive for some and add a little more to the story.[/quote]
I’ve seen you’ve already agreed to the idea in another comment, so yay! An incentive to read more of the story is why achievements existed in the first place. For me, it’s especially more so if the action that led to the achievement resulted in an unpopular reaction in the game.
Sorry for my curt replies, by the way. I felt bad quoting so much of your post and replying only with one liners.
And my mc frequently talking to “imaginary” cats has nothing at all to do with that I imagine. 
@idonotlikeusernames Oh yes, I remember that thread…that was uh…interesting to say the least. However, that’s perfectly fair and I don’t tend to flag things or get up in arms much about what people say as long as it isn’t harming others or themselves.
@forWantOf Oh I’m very aware of just how much it’s going to take out of me by doing so, but I always enjoy seeing it and decide I may as well do it too.
Ahhh…what a twist! I like that though in a strange and perhaps morbid way.
@Greyscales Ahhh tv tropes, gotta love 'em! Though I do agree, I’ve seen that done and rarely is it done well or with a lot of reasoning as to why it was done. There are always exceptions but they are few and far between. I would never do it unless the spares happen to have a fair amount of history where it was kinda foreseeable.
[quote=“Greyscales, post:35, topic:27647”]
I believe it’s one of the oldest Hosted Game.[/quote]
Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out later when I have the chance, though I’ll need to play the others two first. That makes sense though, I was pretty much going for something similar to that, but maybe seen a little later in the game unless you’ve met one of them first.
In this case then, it would be visible achievements? I have a few hidden ones but I wasn’t sure if this one would be good as a hidden one possibly. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if hidden achievements are a good idea for some of mine since I’m not sure if people would try to achieve them in the first place. The obvious ones I’ve kept visible, but I don’t know if I should keep the more obscure ones also visible just so people know it’s there.
Pfft, don’t even worry about it. I, on the other hand, feel awful writing paragraphs to short responses lol. I feel like not a lot of people comment on my WIP because I write a page a post lol…
I would be okay with either or. Maybe you can hide the achievements with a vague title and description?
Hmm… I don’t think taboo is the correct term 
When it’s done well, then there’s nothing to be complained at.
Try take a look at this. I think this vid shows it better than my words.
This is an interesting thread as I had this idea for a couple of my characters just recently. Several people have made great points about giving the NPCs agency, which is definitely good to be reminded of often.
Also, I do like the idea of a matchmaking game. It sounds cute, and I love character interaction. It reminds me of Emma by Jane Austen, too, where some characters are hiding their feelings/relationships, other characters are dealing with class struggles/discrimination, and the MC is sometimes more clueless than they realize.