I don’t care that much about default looks but I heavily dislike default first names. Unless there’s a very good narrative reason to implement them, I just don’t see why we as players should be saddled with them. While character looks are of lesser importance to me personally, IMHO, there should also be good reasoning behind those as well.
If you go for a blonde, blue-eyed MC (not sure what you mean about “his webnovel counterpart”, a character inspiration maybe), for example, it is heavily implied that your MC is white. How is that important for the story or the story universe? Does it even matter in the grand scheme of things? If it doesn’t, maybe consider asking yourself if your game could benefit from opening it up to non-blonde, non-blue-eyed MCs.
To answer the thread title question: I enjoy character customization but it can be too much. Things I like to choose: Gender (especially if there’s a trans woman/guy option and not just a non-binary one), first name, skin/hair/eye color. However, I don’t particularly mind if some games are gender-locked. A Study in Steampunk is, and it’s one of my personal favorites. (Still, if it had been possible to romance a female Finch with a female MC, whoo!)
Hey thanks for replying. I had originally written it as a webnovel, but decided to convert it over to choicescript out of love for CoG games. At first I was just going to keep the MC as he was in the web novel, as I was really connected to him as a character and how his personality affects the story. At least I still have my ol Zackeus there, so changing him hear won’t hurt.
But seeing how important it is to make the MC more customizable, and that I am making the game specifically for you to play. I went back and learned the customizing codes, so now you can customize his appearance. Unfortunately, he will still be a male, as I didn’t want any romance in volume one due to his young age, only like a crush. In volume two you guys will get romance. Plus the other reason is that I don’t feel confident I can write from the perspective of a woman. I don’t want to make it cringey or unrealistic.
I promise however there will be gender choices in future games.
Hey all! I would like to thank you guys for responding to me with your advice and opinions on the matter.
As such, I’ve decided to make the character customizable in personality and appearance so you guys can self insert and enjoy to your heart’s content.
Unfortunately, I feel I need to do a little research on female behavior and such before I can confidently write a realistic female MC. So this game’s MC might be boy only, but I promise the other games will have gender choices. I have many books already written so you guys can expect to have a blast with them soon.
I will post a demo or link here so you guys can play a bit of it and tell me your thoughts on the customization. Once I figure out how to post a demo that is.
I know I’m one of the people who said it was okay to stick to writing a male character if you weren’t comfortable writing from another perspective, but don’t go overboard, please. I’m female and I’m not sure what the heck “female behavior” is. Aside from some basic biological differences, most of the differences between women and men are the result of societal expectations (and even those that are biological tend to be exaggerated by social norms). A woman is different from a man not because she is compelled to perform “female behavior,” but because her life experiences have shaped her differently. If your story takes place in a society of your own creation, you control the social norms that dictate how women are encouraged to be. Female behavior in a society that reveres woman warriors as chosen of the Goddess will have little in common with female behavior in a society that teaches that women can find fulfillment only through raising children.
The most important thing to remember if and when you set out to write a woman character is that we are people. The ways we’re not the same as men, although not unimportant, are very much secondary.
If you can write female characters in a story, fiction or otherwise, you are able to write playable female characters in interactive fiction.
A believable female character in a regular story can easily translate into an IF story, as long as you keep the same pitfalls of tropes and characterization in mind.
About female behaviour, you don’t really need to go that far. Really, just focus on writing the character and don’t worry about what would be considered “female” or “male” behaviour. If the character is good, people aren’t going to be checking what is in its pants.
Take George R. R. Martin as inspiration. When he was asked how he writes compelling women, he replied with “You know I’ve always considered women to be people.”
You misunderstood, two of the main characters are female btw, so I am able to write female characters, but since I have to write from the MC’s head, I feel I would have to tap into how a woman would think to be able to realistically portray that.
I am currently studying the female anatomy and psyche so I can fit it into the customization, like how to include feminine things like menstruation for a young girl trying to be a knight with no facilitations for that, the difficulties women faced in the old and modern societies, how women think and react to men they like. Just things that women deal with in everyday life that differ from men, such as sexual harassment, insecurities, and other things. And hiw they react to it.
I mean no disrespect to women so please dont get me wrong. I just want to write a female character that you can see yourself as.
But as the last comment said, I think I’m sweating it too much. Just drop a link on how to add female codes in customizing the character and l’ll do my best to write it for you.
You are sweating it too much. Just put some thoughts into what gender roles and expectations look like and feel like in your society, for men as well as women. Don’t worry about the “female psyche.” And don’t make a bigger deal of your female characters’ body parts than you do of your male characters’ body parts. (A lot of male writers project their own fascination with the female body into their female characters, and it comes across as weird. Our bodies are as ordinary to us as yours is to you.)
I wasn’t offended at all. Writing outside your own experience can be hard, and you seem to want to get it right, so I’m trying to be helpful. I apologize if I came across as overly negative.
Taking a sick leave when the pain gets unbearable, and stuffing a lot of towels into the armor to keep the bleeding under control, I’d say, although I’m at a loss as to what you mean by facilitations here. But seriously, why do you need that? Is your story doing a day-by-day report of the MC’s activities? Menstruation isn’t any more engaging activity in a game than a migraine.
(Also there is no single “how women think and react”. It depends on individual.)
I would personally say it’s the behavioral pattern I utilize when my hormones are on the fritz, because it is the part of my behavior that’s caused by being female
I’m trying to apply a formula that worked with another female character in the web novel version here, which is why I would include that a some point but not in a wierd or creepy way.
