I always count the player character’s friends and love interests as the main cast of a story, sorry if that was confusing. To me there is THE main character, which is the player character, and the rest of the main cast, who are usually RO (the plant being one of these)
I wanted to make sure I read that right. I tend to want to avoid misunderstandings.
I’m much the same when it comes to the main cast of characters and secondary characters, so, in that way, I also include the ROs, family, and close friends that are part of the central plot as main characters with the Primary Main Character being the one the story is experienced through. The Secondary Main Characters are the rest of the main cast.
This falls into xenofiction, which is cool. I never thought about having a Xeno-Plant as a possibility, but it would be interesting. Read a lot of xenofiction as a kid, and I greatly enjoyed them. It would be interesting to see how you could weave that together.
I watched a video once when discussing xenofiction. One of the first things mentioned is that, when it comes to nonhuman creatures, the first thing is imagining what the world is like to them. What is their culture like? How do they view the world and things inside of it?
From there, build upon it until you know who that character is a person – human, animal, or plant.
Oh wow, I actually never heard of the term xenofiction before, but I guess it’s kind of obvious that it would be a thing. Can you explain to me what it is, sort of?
The thing I’m unsure about is the gender of the plant😭 because how do you even? I guess the safest option is to make them gender selectable, but overall have them disregard the importance of such a label, even if they still bear one.
Overall, Xenofiction is fiction generally told through characters that aren’t human.
There are a few sub-categories, the most known being animal Xenofiction where the Main Character is an animal of some kind. Following that, there’s humanoid Xenofiction. Lord of the Rings would be an excellent example as the story is generally told from Frodo’s perspective (or Bilbo’s in The Hobbit), both of who are hobbits. So, humanoid but not fully human.
After, there is Divine Xenofiction and Alien Xenofiction. Divine Xenofiction generally is stories told from the perspective of gods and goddesses in the animal kingdom. I haven’t read any of those. Alien Xenofiction is rather self-explanatory, but a good example would be a story told from the view of a Predator in the Predator Franchise (or the games where you can play as one?)
Question → is the Plant RO an actual plant you could buy from the store or is it something other?
Because if it’s from the store, or one native to our world, it’ll be a bit harder.
If it’s fantasy or alien-based, it could be whatever you want it to be.
I.E., it can be whatever you want it to be, regardless. It depends how realistic you want it.
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…having an actual plant as a RO would be very weird I think. They’re meant to be a person, not confined to a pot, but able to walk, talk and touch
I’ll admit, I’m laughing something fierce. That would be very odd.
Unless it’s a magical plant person that turns into a more “common” plant-like form for photosynthesis. Still be weird, though.
As a more Plant-Sim like character (I play the Sims, so this is the first thing that comes to mind), building a background on that character would be good. Especially because I think many people would want to ask that RO questions about their species if given a chance.
I’d say build away on this RO. Plants in real life have so many ways that they’re able to reproduce, how the species in question attracts pollinators and their food source. The plant kingdom has so many options to use as a reference – like how Venus Fly Traps catch living things and digest those for the nutrition they need on top of everything else they do.
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…I’m getting flashbacks from a book I read, where a houseplant became an eldritch horror.
I have three, and there are some WIPs in Twine that only have one.
Three ROs of mine play a big role like a main character and writing three routes for them is already a pain in the ass back. I can’t imagine how people write more than four RO feel…
You know what? Three ROs of mine are all female and no one gonna change that. You don’t need to please anyone but yourself.
(I don’t like gender-selectable RO too)
Maybe you should have a clear target audience than trying to target everyone. Less pressure on you.
If you write for money… well I can’t say anything about that.
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I’d say make them characters of their own, without worrying about archetypes other people’s games have. As for gender selectable or not, if you feel they’re better as gender-locked, then do that. You don’t have to try and please everyone; that tends to make things feel shallow and loose.
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Two is fine, that’s what I started with.
I don’t think the number really matters much (though I don’t typically play IFs with a single set RO). What matters is making them significantly different from one another, so that the options feel like options and reach more readers. If all the characters are too similar, you have one group of people being extremely indecisive and the other group not playing the game.
I will definitely not be able to reach everyone regardless of extra effort or not. I guess I should just focus on the characters I have and not fuss over characters I don’t even know yet.
@HoldTh3L1ne @geldar @malinryden:
It’s always nice to start somewhere and see where it goes from there. For now I will leave things as I originally intended them, but I will also seek to fill in gaps with a third character if it fits. Having too many characters is a cause for issues in an entirely different way, and I’d like to avoid feeling overwhelmed :))
Thanks for your responses
Sticking my hat in the debate I say that my preference in IF is for about 8-10 core characters including the player with about 3-5 ROs (if appropriate to the game in question).
Ideally unless the game is catered to a specific gender and sexuality I prefer it to have at least three ROs catered to a specific gender/sexuality if possible. So three female ROs for a straight male player etc. Games which include characters whose gender can be selected are fine.
If a game has three or less ROs that isn’t specific I prefer increasingly to be able to select more elements of those ROs if possible (gender, appearance and maybe the odd other thing).
I am increasingly of the opinion that more writers should try writing stories however where the player is flexible in terms of gender but the ROs are specific, allowing for more realistic depictions of types of characters that suit their respective gender and sexuality and can demonstrate the variety of that within character and personality and if appropriate sexual and dating preferences.
I also like games with a wider range of characters that are not ROs but whom the player can develop strong friendships with in ways similar to developing romances, or even (as with Weyhaven) developing friendships with characters who could be romanced in other plays in different ways.
Ultimately of course the writer should determine what they prefer best and stick with that, since it will be a better game and experience for them.
The minimum number of characters just depends on the story. If this is a Saw movie like scenario, you do not need a lot of characters or locations. If this is Lord of the Rings, you will want a lot. I recommend to go with the minimum number of characters needed to complete your story. The more characters you have, the more work you put on yourself and the reader to track.
Whenever you are thinking about introducing a new character I recommend to think to yourself “Do I already have a character that can fill this roll?” This makes the number of characters to track smaller and rewards the reader for remembering characters that may have come up before.
How many is too many? Too many is the point when you have characters that serve a purpose that someone else could also fill and then you disregard that character afterwards.
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Only having two ROs does run the risk of having someone not like either of them and skipping as a result, especially since in most games ROs are the main characters, but I’d much rather have two fleshed-out characters than two well integrated ROs and few extras thrown in taking time away from the obvious favorites.
It’s even less of a concern if the other two characters are very prominent in story. I think a big part of the reason why people are so focused on ROs is because they’re often the person you spend the most time with and learn the most from.
I love romance plots, but I’m more than fine with no romance if you get the same comradery, side plots, and worldbuilding from the others or if the ROs have an equally good friendship path.
I’m also a bit mixed on gender selectable and playersexual ROs. Some do playersexual perfectly, but often times when I try to romance a female character as a woman it’s very obviously just written for men. Things like characters suddenly grinding their butt on my non-existent bulge or making very specific innuendos.
Or even more subtle things like being able to choose your appearance but you’re always significantly taller and stronger than the female RO. Like why is my scrawny, 4’11, non-combatant railroaded into a fistfight with a massive dude or carrying her significantly taller and heavier gf with zero effort?
That’s where gender selectable ROs are really nice, because as a woman into both masc and fem women I can almost always make the ROs written for women work as more realistic lesbian romances.
It’s also really nice to not be limited to certain gender roles, especially because you’re almost always in the “male-replacement” role. I also often find it a lot more interesting to have even certain non-romanced characters as one gender even or sometimes especially when they don’t change much.
Anyway TLDR I’d much rather have less choices than “false” choices, so even with only one female RO I’d still rather be locked out if you’re not planning on changing much for a fem PC for example. If it’s a good story and I can get just as much content elsewhere I’d prefer that even.
Personally I’d just focus on making the best version of your story in general rather than something that may have broader appeal. It’s easier to write when you’re invested in and proud of your own work anyway.
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Illusion of choice is definitely one of the big problems newer IF writers face. That and trying to pretend it’s just a book with extra steps. An IF could be written beautifully, and be great if it were a novel or short story, but suffer immensely in the user interaction department. Trying to play an IF without knowing the setting, or what the choices actually do, or set aspects of the MCs personality is like playing chess without knowing the rules.
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Very good points.
It’s good to hear another perspective in regards to a lot of the functions in a romance that may not run as smoothly for some. Writing this short story, I already decided upon taking my time to branch every route as organically as possible. If I’m going to implement a sexuality, then it’s going to be as well written and engaging as the others, otherwise why even bother?
Thank you for sharing your experience with RO as a gay woman, you said some things I will definitely take into consideration.
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