There are probably several different ways to code romance in CoG, but what are some ways of doing it? Any help is appreciated
I haven’t done it yet, myself, but I plan on using variables to track how well your relationship is going with someone.
This is too vague of a question really.
When you say romance, what exactly did you have in mind?
In a straight forward, linear CoG, the best way I’ve found is to have ONE boolean (true/false) and ONE number variable. The boolean is set to true when the romance is active and can be used to check whether romantic dialogue should be shown or not, and the number variable can be used (if at all) to determine how deep the relationship is, and then be used to determine, for example, if the Love Interest will give the player a hug, a kiss, or a kiss during those romance scenes.
In a game like Tin Star or my (as of yet unannounced game) where the player can theoretically see different scenes in varying orders, it might get a little more complex, but that would just call for a few more variables to keep track of which events have happened and which haven’t. For example, if the lovers can have their first kiss in a variety of places, you could add a variable to remember where exactly, so they can make mention of it later on if the plot demands.
Also, if romance is your focus above all other things, you might want to have several variables keeping track of different things. One base variable for how in love the LI is, one for how much they “wear the pants”, one for how much they like the player’s friends/family, one for how much they want the player physically versus emotionally, and so on. Get creative!
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