Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

[jack1974]

See, writing RPGs is not that bad after all!
And indeed, after playing it more I agree that using this at every branch of the game would have been overkill. I'll use it just on the "social bosses". About the target market I might ask for tips when I come to plan the female scenes so that there's some male fanservice too. Since now we can see Luke and he's good looking... and also Tom has more sex appeal I think

[X and Y]

Jack, I'm all for reaching more female audience! Personally, I don't think the first Bionic Heart was blatantly male-only. The female characters were very strong (both physically and otherwise) and quite appealing. I didn't feel marginalised as a female player of the game.

I do feel we could do with some GxG and BxB in Bionic Heart 2, though I'm not quite sure how that'd work out, but it'd certainly reach a broader demographic. Of course, Jack calls the final shots and I just do the writing (and the subtle nudging here and there), hahaha.

Some thoughts ... instead of just making social interactions the options that will impact the flow of the game, why not make other "selections" equally influential? By which I mean, if Character A chooses to, say, open Door A instead of Door B OR help Character B instead of Character C, something will happen? Uh, did I make sense?

[jack1974]

Jack, I'm all for reaching more female audience! Personally, I don't think the first Bionic Heart was blatantly male-only. The female characters were very strong (both physically and otherwise) and quite appealing. I didn't feel marginalised as a female player of the game.

Well to be honest, is the game that was most popular amongst my female friends! So after thinking better about it probably the main reason was more that the writing was <coughs> still done by me

I do feel we could do with some GxG and BxB in Bionic Heart 2, though I'm not quite sure how that'd work out, but it'd certainly reach a broader demographic. Of course, Jack calls the final shots and I just do the writing (and the subtle nudging here and there), hahaha.

For GxG there won't be problems (Tanya & Helen or Tanya & Julia), but for BxB would be harder without introducing new characters, because in the first game all males were definitely straight, so would be a bit weird for them to change in the sequel

Some thoughts ... instead of just making social interactions the options that will impact the flow of the game, why not make other "selections" equally influential? By which I mean, if Character A chooses to, say, open Door A instead of Door B OR help Character B instead of Character C, something will happen? Uh, did I make sense?

I think I understood, but that would be a BIG amount of work I think! I think already making a game like the first one, with several different endings, was quite an achievement . Right now I'm more oriented to make a game with several choices that will end up revealing several different endings and "secrets" (as you know) and have some of those "social boss" scenes (I like the term haha) in key points of the plot. But I also agree that highlighting the options with the skill was making the minigame too simple, I think already having a "target description" with the various traits is good. Like you see "Honest" and you know you shouldn't pick questions related to bribing him with money or forcing him to do something illegal.

[X and Y]

Hahaha, indeed. Well, I should hope that Bionic Heart 2 doesn't reach only male players. Fanservice is not a male-only domain, people! It's equal opportunity (I might get shot for saying this, but oh well).

Yes to TanyaXHelen! I still want to get Tina involved in a GXG pairing somehow. She didn't have such a big role in the first game, but she resonated much more strongly than any other character for me. That's a shame about the BXB: they tend to be more popular among females, don't they? Or am I mixing up my statistics?

We can definitely try to reword the selections so that people have an idea about what skills might be associated with each choice. After all, it's much the same in daily social interactions: you kind of navigate social waters at your own risks, correct? I don't think it's possible to shut down the rollback system, is it? As Aleema pointed out, the rollback does make it much easier to "cheat," but then again the selections are interactive enough that you'd have to rollback repeatedly to get at the correct "solution".

[Aleema]

It is possible to shut down the rollback, but let's not go crazy and shut it completely down. Just block rollback after you make a choice, that should be good.

BxB is attractive to a lot of straight women, yes. Forced pairings of any situation aren't cool though (even though I find Cliff very attractive from Planet Stronghold game, I don't want to see him "ungay" himself just to become my boy toy), so if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

[jack1974]

Hahaha, indeed. Well, I should hope that Bionic Heart 2 doesn't reach only male players. Fanservice is not a male-only domain, people! It's equal opportunity (I might get shot for saying this, but oh well).

Nah this forum is full of tolerant people, including myself
The main problem is that I don't want to force the plot trying to reach all tastes. As Aleema told me privately, there's nothing wrong in trying to make a male-oriented game. I mean for RPGs I think is better to try to please everyone, for visual novels or other genres, you can't always have bisexual or gay romances of all kinds. Last year I made several "female-oriented" games: Love & Order (even if had a bit of GxG was soft), Always Remember Me (pure otome) and Winter In Fairbrook (again pure otome).

Yes to TanyaXHelen! I still want to get Tina involved in a GXG pairing somehow. She didn't have such a big role in the first game, but she resonated much more strongly than any other character for me. That's a shame about the BXB: they tend to be more popular among females, don't they? Or am I mixing up my statistics?

I'm not sure about BxB but from what I know/heard I think so! Tina GxG... I never thought about her like that, but to be honest all she did in first game was flirt with Robert, but she seemed pretty concerned about Tanya so might work

We can definitely try to reword the selections so that people have an idea about what skills might be associated with each choice. After all, it's much the same in daily social interactions: you kind of navigate social waters at your own risks, correct? I don't think it's possible to shut down the rollback system, is it? As Aleema pointed out, the rollback does make it much easier to "cheat," but then again the selections are interactive enough that you'd have to rollback repeatedly to get at the correct "solution".

No you can block rollback if you want, indeed I plan to do it in the final game I am thinking to remove the skills completely though, since I'd prefer the player to play as he/she wants - if player wants to be a sexy Tanya or a intimidating one, it should be all his own decisions I think.

Anyway: today if I have time will try to send you a new storyboard!

[jack1974]

BxB is attractive to a lot of straight women, yes. Forced pairings of any situation aren't cool though (even though I find Cliff very attractive from Planet Stronghold game, I don't want to see him "ungay" himself just to become my boy toy), so if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

Yes that's what I meant to say. Right now the only way to have a BxB would be by introducing a new character. Might do that of course, but have also to take into account artists times, since I still need to get all the main cast characters first! and as of now there are not even sketches of the romance CGs so let's say first I want to get everything done for the main game and then can think about adding new stuff

[abnaxus]

Just for reference, here's an example of a "social bossfight" in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The main character of this game is kind of a 'bionic man' with augmentations that allow him to view the psychological profile of a person, along with personality type. He can also gauge how people react to his arguments. To win, he must pick the right dialogue options with the information he has about a person and get persuasion level up all the way (if everything fails, he can also release pheromones to persuade a person more forcefully).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdtGrddKqKI

The system in Bionic Heart 2 demo reminded me of it, it's just in 2D. I think it fits Tanya very well.

[jack1974]

Oh, I know that game well, I played it, even if I was stuck at first "boss fight" (I suck at action games!).
I'm going try to do what you suggested, have those boss fights only in key points of the game, but since the other characters are normal persons, I can't use the skill system or "special powers". Beside, I realized it could become a total pain to write/code
I'll use a goal-based system though (you need to reach 100%), and keep the traits, so you'll have to guess the right answer based on the target's traits, and each answer will reward you with a certain amount of points. There will be less strategy than it is now, but still there will be some, and probably won't be a too big change for people who were used to the first game system

[anita]

I like the fact that yuou using new writers now. I mean, your game were already pretty good but with new writers, they gained that "something" extra they were missing.
Aleema is my favorite but even this bionic demo is well written? it's by X Y I take? you write well, especially sexy stuff!