>>1125037 Make them persona style social links that give benefits the more you hang out with someone

In game dating is mostly used as wish fulfillment and/or is limited with no real impact on gameplay. Danganronpa V3 has love suite scenes mostly catering to certain fetishes, when before in Danganronpa 1 it's more varied for example.

Turning in-game dating into a series of mini-games instead of a series of dialogue trees?

What is the gold standard for a romance in video games? Bastilla from KOTOR1 comes to mind.

>>1125037 Make it so that you have to push back on their bullshit in order to create a spark. Being a doormat should be an autofail.

>>1125037 This guy wants to fuck alien and monster girls! ..... and so do i!

>>1125265 Better just make the dialogue trees interesting with branching paths that the romance can take. Too much of it is just ass-kissing

>>1126334 A tale as old as Time.

>>1125037 I liked Panam in cyberpunk. I think romance options are successful when they make me feel like shit for feeling something for a video game character and remind me I have nobody.

>>1125274 >What is the gold standard for a romance in video games?

>>1126521 sadly the genre is deader then disco with no forseeable titles in the future.

Mass Effect was shit from day one.

A good starting point would be hiring people who can actually write. This is next to impossible with current credentialism and woman-focus so simply put you are not getting any decent romance of any kind in your videogames.

>>1126334 You say that like most people don't

The biggest issue with Mass Effect's romance is how they don't let you bang more aliens, and it's especially bad for homos (male, female homos get decent waifus) who have to pick between the cast of Jersey Shore. Though I do follow the Chris Avellone school of "romance in games is weird and creepy", if you're gonna do it at least do it right. What's worse are games that have romance but it's le quirky and ironic like Saints Row 4. >>1125274 Disco Elysium :^)

>>1125037 >again It was never "cool"

>>1125037 >Mass Effect ruined an otherwise promising thing. In hindsight, not really. Romance ultimately gravy to a game at best unless you have highly unrealistic scope or dedicate a majority of a game to it specifically (like I dunno, a VN). They can give you mechanical benefits like what >>1125083 said, some altered dialogue, maybe a bonus scene after the credits roll, but trying to tie entire alterations to it introduces a bunch of complications: >how many story beats is this character involved with that we have to check for? >Accounting for players that don't bother with romance, will we basically have extra routes to work on? >What if you fuck up the romance, will we have to account for THAT too? Brushing these sorts of things off can cause the romance to feel "disjointed" from the rest of the story - especially if it's meant to touch upon core aspects of the character that will be story-relevant later. This results in writing snafus like learning a lesson only to entirely forget it because a key turning point is predicated on that flaw, gating romance points and spoiling the player on later events, awkwardly dancing around the plot by putting the story in a "white room", so we're talking having zany chase antics when someone's dad just died dramatically (Fire Emblem's supports run into this a lot).

>>1125037 Romance systems are pretty much never good in games because in most games the player character is a swashbuckler or pulp-action hero. Getting married is the death of that type of character, there is a reason tongue-in-cheek phrases such as "the old ball and chain" exist. Settling down is the end of the adventure. Having maidens swoon at the hero, that's fine, seducing a foreign princess to escape a perilous situation? great very pulp adventure. But a full on dating system? It just doesn't fit. And the NPC 'wife' is always an afterthought, there is rarely any depth. Unless your game is about the romance between two characters I think it's just better left unsaid, implied, or saved for the ending.

>>1184341 >He wouldn't fuck the shit out of Ogre Fiona ngmi

>>1184341 the fish heads were always ugly as sin

>>1185501 Imagine the vigorous gobbling though

>>1125274 Swordcraft Story trilogy

>>1125037 It was never cool.

When was it ever cool before Mass Effect? I just need to know what you're talking about more specifically, because I never found dating in games to be cool in any way, shape or form. It's a cringe, fake fest of wish fulfillment. I'll accept that games provide wish fulfillment in other aspects that are basically impossible to experience elsewhere, like pretending you are the savior of all humanity and the chosen one, super talented and all of that other bullshit, but at least that's utterly impossible for a single person to achieve and experience. Romance in games is a predetermined path where you engage in the fanfic of an author where you pretend to fall in love with a character and vice-versa, you're basically playing pretend with text. It's fake and gay as fuck and you should do better with your time than genuinely wish we had more or better of that. The only way romance is acceptable in a game is if it's out of your control (As in, your main character is already in a relationship with another character and they interact like couples in universe story). Agentic dating in video-games is cringe.

>>1125037 By having more HMoFA content, specifically with furred females

>>1186904 The swordcraft story games were an absolute treasure, Its a crime how forgotten they are. >>1184178 Honestly I think it works very well in things like fire emblem. Its bad in games where the PC is a blank slate for you to project on, but games were you get to play match maker instead and guide other's through romances is cool Especially if the game is paced right and you can do multiple generations of characters. >>1188732 I always had a softspot for sci-fi with fucked up bizzare genders and sex. Creatures that change sex as they age, so literally a race of cougars and shotas, 3 gendered races, so they can only reproduce by engaging in threesomes, creatures that change sex when they have sex.

In game romance sucks.

>>1188659 This, there's so much crap in mainstream media where some human girl gets together with some ugly ass monster or furry male but we don;t have jack fucking shit for hmofa. Why are people in the mainstream media such fucking cucks?

>>1125274 I like the Morrigan romance in DAO. It avoids most of the pitfalls of other optional vidya romances, the fade to black sex happens early on in it and isn't the victory end state, it doesn't just exist in a vacuum, it integrates directly into the main plot and other characters actually comment on it

>>1125037 fuck romance just make the woman a trophy and make her a playable character when you complete the game everybody is happy

>>1189291 >I always had a softspot for sci-fi with fucked up bizzare genders and sex. Creatures that change sex as they age, so literally a race of cougars and shotas, 3 gendered races, so they can only reproduce by engaging in threesomes, creatures that change sex when they have sex. I like this when it's done for the sake of exploring the sheer weirdness of the cosmos and not when it's done to make some sort of retarded commentary on real life social politics.

>>1188732 maclussy

How to write romance in video games: Appeal to eternal virgin nerds, not normalfaggots. Yes, I want to push the right dialogue choices and be rewarded with a sex scene. I'm a gooner. I have no idea what love is, I have no idea what romance is, appeal to me. I'm the one buying your game and exploring every atom of your creation, normalfaggots are tourists who don't care and will call it cringe no matter what you do. Just copy Mass Effect and accept the fact millions of virgin nerds will quietly appreciate it and a few thousand normalfaggots will whine on twitter.

>>1184178 It also Works as timeskip excuses, when the MC needs to pick up the sword again. But does the hero always need to settle down for the romance? Yeah I know you can't start a family inside a dungeon despite most monster girl games selling this propaganda but just romance? What about battle couples? One night stands?

>virgin girl who has never interacted with any man before (you) >married woman with children but feels more alive with (you), you beat the shit out of her husband, even her children give you their blessings Pick one /v/

>>1241782 First one, obviously.

It'd be nice if romance in games went beyond "Talk to woman until you fill up enough points, implied sex scene, never have a reason to interact with her again."

>Actual good writing >Hire a woman if you want erotica >Actual, good-looking females >Preferably virgin options (or at least someone who doesn't immediately announce their bodycount or is some turbo slut race ) >Hidden harem option Also romance shouldn't necessarily be limited to companions

[glass misha]

>>1184178 There are countless stories of a wayward hero romancing a woman. I don't think having a wife is ball and chain despite the stupid boomer meme. Think of how many soldiers go to war with their wives at home. I think a stay-at-home wife is perfectly viable. And that is not just having a romance interest that is also a in game companion. I usually frame this shit in TES context. So imagine you have a shopkeepr that you gradually romance, at first she offers you discounts. Then when you are officially lovers she offers you free potions she has brewed. And then when you are finally married she offer long-term buff like increase to HP regen after a visit. So not only is it fun to play the story but also you gain buffs from it. Naturally, to prevent this from being a chore to go and visit your wife, it should be set up in a way that you have to return anyway. So lets say that you pick a town as your hub. Certain towns are focused around certain gameplay aspects or aesthetic. After a dungeon or a quest, you have to return to level up or sell gear, upgrade, get new quest etc. And you buy a home there and your wife moves to live in that home. And after certain amount of time she wants to go on a date where she give more buffs or maybe she has leads on certain quests.

>>1125037 In-game dating was never cool, it was always cringe. Even as a teenager playing Baldur's Gate 2 twenty years ago, I thought flirting with a video game character was pathetic and lame. Unless you're going full porno, and the dating is just a means to an end, then it's fine, but actual romance in Vidya? Cringe as fuck. That shit's for unironic incels, and not the cool of incel that resents women, the simp kind of incel that loves women.

>>1245171 Feeling pathetic and lame is cringe. Do not kill the part of you that is cringe - kill the part of you that cringes.

>>1184178 Or have the MC's wife or lover accompany them on their adventures because they compliment each other and need each other from an emotional and pragmatic standpoint.

>>1241782 Who the fuck would take option 2?

More handholding.

>>1125037 More games need "Wife The Villainess" as an option for solving the main quest.

>>1241782 How about I beat the shit out of the children and fuck the husband instead?

If the romance isn't part of the main story or central to the gameplay, it shouldn't be there.

>>1241782 Hags should only be desired if they're cougars and even then should be a secondary choice to actual virgin girls.

>>1293053 What about virgin hags?

>>1293053 >>1293110

>>1293110 No such thing.

>>1125037 are you sure that wasn't fire emblem?

>>1125037 >in-game dating cool >again When was this?

>>1125037 Go the Dragon Warrior route >Save princess from dragon >She falls in love with you at first sight >Take her back to her castle and get engaged with her >Now she can speak to you telepathically and act as a psychic GPS + give you other information(like how much XP you need to level up)

>>1126533 One night stands are not dating. At the very least, you'd have to start with Leisure Suit Larry 3, Leisure Suit Larry 4, and Leisure Suit Larry 5 which star Passionate Patti. Shame none of them are as good as the first. One of them wasn't even a game, it was an office utility suite which was not useful in the least for office work

>>1125274 >Force choke girl >She is now your loyal Dark Side slave Unironically peak. >>1229606 Every memory of what Dragon Age did right before it proceeded to do literally everything wrong hurts.

>>1126533 oh yeah they are delisting larry games. same publisher as the one who released the gay adom sequel btw. >>1125274 what this anon said

>>1187293 dark messiah of might and magic did it.

>>1245171 Your post is cringe kill yourself >>1187293 >Implying seeking my harem of true love is not impossible irl

>>1125274 >>1295889 >What is the gold standard for a romance in video games? Outlast 2 had short flashback segments with MC's childhood friend, who has an obvious crush on the MC. It was short, but it nailed the playful, interpersonal way that vidjya game relationships should feel.

>>1293116 You can smell the misery in that room.

>>1298589 All I smell is neglected pussy ready to be used by someone who cares.

>>1298589 Yeah, I think that misery he was smelling was coming from me. Sorry.

I really liked the dating mechanics in games like Rune Factory and Harvest Moon back when I was a kid, but I kinda feel weird getting into modern games that have that sorta stuff. I think its cause when I was young dating sorta felt like this thing that I'd do when I'm older, but now that I'm in my 30s I feel like I should be going out and dating people IRL. Weirdly enough though, I can go back to those old games and play them just fine, so maybe its just that I aged out of the demographics being targeted by that kinda stuff.

>>1299384 >going out and dating people IRL

>>1188659 I would totally be up for a romance route where the heroine is something of unorthodox beauty like Gardevoir, or beautiful in the way volcanos and thunderstorms are, and you are given magic glasses that make her appear in a more orthodox form of beauty Using these glasses actually triggers the breakup flag because she gets mad she overlooked you being a different species and you didn't

>>1321853 I just want Pokemon to embrace dating mechanics. Dating your pokemon for example.

>>1321884 GF doesn't want to open that Pandora's Box yet, even though they should for the sheer magnitude of discussion and impact.

if you haven't already, check out NeverKnowsBest's video on the genre. It's long but it's also really good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbVsYcYaL4k

>>1292943 >>1294705 The only decent posts ITT Ironically still no mention of the OG

>>1294705 >go to inn after rescuing her but before you return her to castle >dialog implies you have sex >go very out of your way to take the princess to the town with the groupie who will follow you around town >get her to follow as well and then go to the inn >the hero had a random threesome

>>1322035 Cheating is bad .

>>1322035 >>1321853 This + you can gift the magic glasses to her, and she's thankful, before casting them away with a declaration that she doesn't need them.

>>1125037 Let it be opt-in rather than opt-out. The most recent example for me is Baldur's Gate 3. When I do things my companions like, they all of a sudden proposition me for romance. I don't like that. I get having some be the ones to initiate, but it shouldn't be every companion all of a sudden wants to fuck me because I killed a bunch of druids and tieflings. I still like the game but the romance in it is badly done. No Wyll, I wanted you to teach me to dance, I do not want to have gay anal sex with you. Wyll's so fucking bland I thought they were trying to give him some quirk

>>1293004 True

>>1293004 This one is the only one that makes sense in a game narrative, avoids what >>1184178 describes and puts the romance to be integrated in the conclusion of the main conflict of the game

>>1293004 What about wife the villain's daughter?

>>1599255 Video game dating, not irl grooming

>romance is certain >outcomes of romance change instead any games like this?