But that choice already exists in this game. You get to pick the gender of Watson at the beginning. So how would it be more immersion breaking to have another choice that asks the player if they want non-consesual advances done to them?
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Thatās a good idea 
thanks!
meh as in bad or meh as in boring?
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It just feels weird to me to pick such things in general. I feel like Iām making characters into dolls, not people with their own agenda. If someone is gender-swappable, I default to male as a rule, but it just generally feelsā¦ eh to me. I know itās necessary, but I donāt really enjoy it.
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You could also place a content warning in the choice itself.
Ex: choice | cw: danger ahead!
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Rent-a-Vice did chapter content warnings. You could use these instead of dumping the entire list of CWs at the very start and can add a toggle to turn off these content warnings.
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Meh as in bad, because they might not understand the capacity of what that action could entail.
There are people whose first language is not English so even something as simple as the 2nd example could make them misunderstand imo.
Of course this could be a bit too āprotectiveā, but again, it might be better to tread carefully when it comes to any sort of non-consensual stuff
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If I reach out to a villain, I could understand what the consequences entail if the text before this choice might show me the consequences. Make their cheeks flushed, make them lick their lips, stare luridly, whatever shows they have an interest in MC. Iām not a native speaker, but Iād get the gist of it with enough indicators even if I was A1 at English.
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Not to mention neurodivergent people like myself who might have a hard time reading into tone or implication of certain lines/choices
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Well, I suppose one could tie it to the warnings section of the character creator? Add a toggle there maybe?
ohh truee! hmm 
that would remove all surprise tho, and affect immersionā but it would be a very safe option
Mmm, yeah. much of why I asked this question was to find the balance between what works and notāIād argue based on what we have said so far that around version 2 is bestāif the language and vibe and intentions can be reasonably clear.
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Yeah, Iād be alright with reaching out to our villain if heās sufficiently flushed, desperate and agonized. I generally find visual indicators based on characterās appearance and behaviour working better for me. Perhaps heās shaking, perhaps he breathes heavily, perhaps he looks at you with hunger, these would do wonders in stating the right mood.
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It wouldnāt be a surprise when it comes to the theme of the choice, but you can still surprise with the execution of it :P.
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I loooooove toggles-- you mightāve noticedš-- so maybe let people choose if they want such warnings in choices. Some people might rather sacrifice immersion/surprises in favor of knowing stuff like that
I, also, feel that 2nd example is good enough, if-- like you said-- intentions etc are clear.
Worst case your beta tester will tell you if itās okay or not after theyāve seen a live example from in the game.
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You could maybe combine this with a content warning at the beginning so that players who do find themselves on this route and are uncomfortable can get off the route early. Like maybe have a choice in the middle where the character (and by extension the player) can decide that pursuing this route is not a good idea and lock themselves out of it. Or something like that
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I think the best way would be the third (the player consents, but MC does not / is conflicted), but not remarking that MC doesnāt want that, more that they werenāt asked first. A direct choice that says āand then The Villain kisses youā could be not optimal, because it feels like we are controlling the NPC and puppeteering them as we do with MC. So as Doriana said a few posts later, the distance would solve this. If a player chooses āThe Villain looks at you with clear desire and their hands seem to twitch, as if wanting to touch youā and then we get a nice surprise kiss, thatās great imo, and still anyone who doesnāt want anything to do with it can just not choose that.
Like, itās The Villain we are talking about. If you purposefully choose that they are looking at you with unbridled lustā¦ you surely know whatās gonna happen. This aināt sweet Watson, our darling cinammon roll, this is the Bad Guy who has probably murdered countless people and done who knows what else. Getting a very specific warning of (they will do this, and this and this) is unnecessary imo.
I do think the idea of a TW at the very beginning, hinting that the Villain romance has elements of dubcon, would be okay. And so when they are face to face with the villain, any player who isnāt comfy with that will choose things that arenāt āThe Villain looks as if they want to ravish youā. And everyone wins.
Now, more personally and less for the general publicā¦ I am DYING to see those scenes. Personally Iām very comfortable with bad guys being quiteā¦ proactive when getting what they want, in many ways. Itās an exciting part of romancing a villain: they tend to do whatever the hell they want. You control your character, but not them. It adds the element of surprise and tension that other romances wouldnāt have. Iām also a fan of ROs being proactive in general and showing interest first. This is just a moreā¦ dark version of it. And Iām all for it 
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I am also a proponent for adding toggled warnings, perhaps? You can do it pretty simply by using a single variable and multireplace.
In Startup:
*create Warning False
In game files:
Would you like there to be warnings for specific content [Non-Con Elements, etc...]?
*fake_choice
#Yes
*set Warning True
#No
*comment skip!
......
Later Scene:
@{Warning The following scene may contain elements of [bleh bleh bleh].|}
This is just a random thing, idk. But yeah, just showing how you could do it pretty simply :> Itās also pretty compact, since you donāt need to use an *if statement for the warning. If you wanted, you could also set values [1 = all warnings, 2 = only non con warnings, etcā¦] Though Iād recommend going to the CS wiki for more insight on specifics of this stuff.
Anyway, I love your project, am excited for future content!
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Personally i like option 2 better but 3 is also a good choice. Sorry to parrot others, I myself dont mind but i think a toggle warning at the start where you can choose if you want the warning to show up on the choiceaā¦ does that make sense? I just woke up so sorry if itndoesnt lol
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If youāre adding content warnings, Iād say put them right at the very start of the game so people automatically know that content might exist in-game.
Iām not a fan of this method, as itād negatively affect immersion for me; so long as the language is clear both in the text leading up to the choice, and in the choice itself, itās good enough to have the content warning at the start of the game.
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Itās a game not real life, I think itās ok that we pursue something ā immoralā.
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I love, love, LOVE your ideas, Doriana! Iām a huge fan of ādarkā romances, so reading something like this is very exciting for me! In my opinion, separating player and MC consent is a way to go. This is something you can only do in choices-based games, and I feel like this mechanic is underused when dealing with romances that include darker themes. This approach will prevent the villain from acting out of character, while at the same time ensuring that a player who doesnāt want to interact with such content can easily avoid it.
That said, a clear warning of what such choices would entail is a must, I donāt want my own enjoyment to come at the expense of someone elseās feelings. Even if it breaks immersion, itās better to make sure no one is put in an uncomfortable and potentially triggering situation.
Another thing I wanted to point out, if youāre going to separate player and MC consent, I think you should still include options for MC to feel terrible about the villain kissing them (maybe an option to push them away, or punch them), because even if the player agrees to have this situation, they may still want to roleplay their MC as someone who isnāt into it. And maybe also include an option for the MC to react in a conflicted manner, like āitās so wrong, I shouldnāt do this, but I canāt resist,ā for the players who want their MC to be a total mess (like my Sherlock, lol). Anyway, Iām so intrigued by this idea, I canāt wait to explore it in the game!
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True, hmm 
Perhaps if itās toggleable and the toggle is clearly stated as being both very obvious and appearing only at this specific time
yesāI hope they will find the final needed balance in this little puzzle of what-to-do 
(once I get there, of course)
Oh this could workāthereās a point where this could be applicable, and I could try and make the ābreak offā point very heavy-handed, to be sure.
I do really like the idea of tying the TW to the villaināthat works well!
I very much agree with this 
@Phenrex yeah, a toggle would work well for such a warning, I concur 
NotedāI would never force an immersion-breaking warning on people. I personally find it distracting, too.
Thatās probably a different debate, but I agree 
I think I agreeāfor I canāt remember seeing it much
Hopefully, thereās a way for both groups to be ok ā whether that is with toggleable warnings, overtly clear choices, or some other solutions.
Yes! Thatās also why I like (3) because it allows for quite complex RPing, where the player sets a scene where the MC is, well, in a bad spot.
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