Romance options?

[Matty1Monopoly]

This game looks like a cool idea. I was wondering if there will be romance options?

[Vince]

No romances. Our focus is on branching questlines and multiple quest solutions. Writing and scripting romances would take time that's better spent on quests and party dynamics.

[Solo Cat Collector]

Originally posted by Vince:

No romances. Our focus is on branching questlines and multiple quest solutions. Writing and scripting romances would take time that's better spent on quests and party dynamics.

Actually romance would work quite well in this type of game, imo. I wonder why devs shy away from building complex relationship mechanics. Is it because it's something that should be included from the beginning of the project?

[General Plastro]

Considering the theme, i think this game would actually far more benefit exploring this theme.

I mean... seems like pretty bleak world in the ship from the store description and showing how life literally goes on would probably be very important.

Theres a reason why the romances in the Terminator series or even in the Metro series are so powerful in the story.

[Vince]

Originally posted by SoloTOV:

Actually romance would work quite well in this type of game, imo.

I'm not saying they wouldn't. I'm saying that writing and scripting take time and time is a limited resource. If we had more time I'd rather add more complex quests than romances.

Similarly, we don't have psionics in the game not because we dislike the idea but because our programmer wouldn't have time to implement it. It applies to every aspect of the game.

[i_nive]

Originally posted by Vince:

Similarly, we don't have psionics in the game not because we dislike the idea but because our programmer wouldn't have time to implement it. It applies to every aspect of the game.

How about EVAs, are they an option on the Spaceship? I'd rather jump off the shell to experience the vastness of space(my job requires it, I'd imagine) than have something as trivial as <put features that take time to implement>.

[Vince]

Originally posted by i_nive:

How about EVAs, are they an option on the Spaceship? I'd rather jump off the shell to experience the vastness of space(my job requires it, I'd imagine)...

It would take even more time to implement. The ship's model alone would take several months of the 3D modeller's time, implementing it with all the proper effects would also take a month or two.

Like romances it's not an impossible task, but it's a task outside our limited scope.

As for your character, you aren't a crew member but a passenger.

[Keldorn]

I hope some romance options will be in the game later on.

[upuaut2]

Originally posted by Keldorn:

I hope some romance options will be in the game later on.

me too

[Matty1Monopoly]

Shame there won't be any romance options. That's always an easy way for me to get invested in the characters. Otherwise everyone just feels like a checklist of whatever their mission is. It's been an odd coincidence though how plenty of RPG developers have been shying away from romance questlines.

[Ogre Beautiful]

If you like space and romance, I would recommend the upcomnig remake of the Mass Effect games, being a triple A-company they had the resources to dedicate to this kind of feature.

[wizard1200]

Originally posted by Matty1Monopoly:

Shame there won't be any romance options. That's always an easy way for me to get invested in the characters. Otherwise everyone just feels like a checklist of whatever their mission is. It's been an odd coincidence though how plenty of RPG developers have been shying away from romance questlines.

I think that it also helps to get invested into the characters if they tell you interesting stories and romance options are basically a checklist to archive your goal (romance), too.

[Thorin]

Not sure why would anyone expect an rpg to have romance all the time, it would require a nice branching storyline with mutually exclusive options and branching to get what the MC is doing and thinking, also it would require a few (let say 10) vastly different characters with properly defined beliefs and agendas to know how those actions of the MC map compared to the possibly characters you can interact, after this it would be just writing a few paragraph and maybe doing an entire dungeon worth of graphics (if we need those digital boobies that much), so it is not realistic in a generic action rpg that has nothing like that already implemented.

[Zoommeeting]

Irontower devs don't really do loveydovey romance writing. Their writing is more inclined towards hobbesian nature of man and power realism. If you played their previous game, age of decadence, you would understand.

[Matty1Monopoly]

Originally posted by wizard1200:

I think that it also helps to get invested into the characters if they tell you interesting stories and romance options are basically a checklist to archive your goal (romance), too.

Yeah but the reward is a bit more interesting than money or items. Whatever the typical reward for a quest is.

To me what makes an interesting game is what can you do when you have all the upgrades, skillpoints, items, money? There are so many games where that is the end goal and there's nothing else to do. That's why I view romance options as an easy way to add interesting variety. It's not just more xp/money/items.

[Matty1Monopoly]

Originally posted by Thorin:

Not sure why would anyone expect an rpg to have romance all the time, it would require a nice branching storyline with mutually exclusive options and branching to get what the MC is doing and thinking, also it would require a few (let say 10) vastly different characters with properly defined beliefs and agendas to know how those actions of the MC map compared to the possibly characters you can interact, after this it would be just writing a few paragraph and maybe doing an entire dungeon worth of graphics (if we need those digital boobies that much), so it is not realistic in a generic action rpg that has nothing like that already implemented.

Well because this is an rpg. Role-playing-game and the role I would play is a guy who tries to seduce people for my own entertainment. By not having that I am immediately limited in my roleplaying.

I think you're putting a lot of effort into assuming what the bare minimum would be needed to get away with a romance option. You could just have 1 character, perhaps name them Vi so you don't even need to describe their gender lol, then write a few paragraphs of dialogue and make only 1 dialogue option matter in whether or not romance occurs lol. I agree it would be nice to have an intricate romance subplot but it seems like it's pretty late into this game's development to add such a thing.