Dating Sim
Dating simulations have been an increasing more well known genre to audiences due digital marketplaces. Often found in visual (light) novels, touches of the genre can be found in everything from the <em>Dragon Age</em> series to games like <em>Hatoful Boyfriend</em>.
However, some of the most common mechanics in dating sims include:
* A description of the partners
* Preferences of those partners
* A like/dislike scale
[[Descriptions and Preferences]]
Olive is a fresh, young kitten right out of Madam Fluff's prep school. A beautiful calico, Olive had always been concerned about her colors clashing. Over time, and with the help of Madam Fluff, Olive has come to love the fur she's in. Quite a fan of lasers, Olive had her first experience with them at a seedy party on the wrong side of town. Ever since then, she has been drawn to the bright lights, causing her to dance around the walls and take chase to find the next dot.
(set: $like to "laser")
(set: $dislike to "catnip")Frank, a shabby-looking orange tabby, was left as an orphan as a young kitten. Raising himself in squalor, he became well-accustomed to defending and feeding himself through thievery and backstabbing. No stranger to the darker side of life, Frank developed a dependence on catnip many years ago.
While he's attempted to kick the habit multiple times, he finds it hard to keep the cravings at bay. Whenever he has the nip, he gets these wonderful visions of a beautiful siamese cat from his past. In the fantasy, they can be finally together in a nice warm home. But then, like always, it wears off and he must get more nip. MORE CATNIP.
(set: $like to "catnip")
(set: $dislike to "yarn")Princess Tumbleweed was born to a noble family of siamese cats. Used to constantly having her way, she developed a love for yarn - why? because it refuses to conform to the ordered and pristine life that she has grown accustomed to. A fair siamese cat, she is gaining on years. However, because of her breeding and unmatchable beauty, she is still looking for her special feline companion. (Rumor has it she once fell in love with a beagle from another township, but we do not speak of these things. After all, cross species breeding is just completely out of the question!)
(set: $like to "yarn")
(set: $dislike to "laser"){
(set: $frankPoints to 0)
(set: $olivePoints to 0)
(set: $princessPoints to 0)
(set: $pickCount to 0)
(set: $datingCat to "Frank")
|cat>[
(display: $datingCat)
(display: "Choices")
]
}
Usually, in a more graphic medium, the descriptions are images. The women, birds, or other “dated” creatures are seen and details like their height or past events are related through text. And while, of course, we could also do that in Twine, a simpler way is to have written descriptions.
For preferences, to make this example easier, I’ve also limited the entire selection to three main items: yarn, lasers, and catnip.
Oh, did I mention? In this example, we are dating cats!
[[Cat Dating]]In this example, I have three cats: Olive, Frank, and Princess Tumbleweed. (The wonderful descriptions were written by a friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous.)
For each cat, we have a LIKE and DISLIKE scale. For items the cats like, 3 points are assigned. For items the cats dislike, one point is taken away. Getting the most points for a single cat after dating all three means the player is BEST FRIENDS with that cat.
Each date consists of picking two items out of the list of three to present to the cat. After two items, the player moves to the next cat until having dated all of them.
[[Dating]]{(set: $pickCount += 1)
(if: $pickCount >= 2)[
(if: $datingCat is "Frank")[(set: $datingCat to "Olive")]
(elseif: $datingCat is "Olive")[(set: $datingCat to "Princess Tumbleweed")]
(elseif: $datingCat is "Princess Tumbleweed")[(set: $datingCat to "Over")]
(set: $pickCount to 0)
(replace: ?cat)[
(display: $datingCat)
(if: $datingCat is not "Over")[(display: "Choices")]
]
]
(if: $pick is $like)[
(if: $datingCat is "Frank")[(set: $frankPoints += 3)]
(if: $datingCat is "Olive")[(set: $olivePoints += 3)]
(if: $datingCat is "Princess Tumbleweed")[(set: $princessPoints += 3)]
]
(if: $pick is $dislike)[
(if: $datingCat is "Frank")[(set: $frankPoints -= 1)]
(if: $datingCat is "Olive")[(set: $olivePoints -= 1)]
(if: $datingCat is "Princess Tumbleweed")[(set: $princessPoints -= 1)]
]}(link: "Yarn")[
{(set: $pick to "yarn")
(display: "Preferences")}
]
(link: "Laser")[
{(set: $pick to "laser")
(display: "Preferences")}
]
(link: "Catnip")[
{(set: $pick to "catnip")
(display: "Preferences")}
]Dating is over!
Points for Frank: $frankPoints
Points for Olive: $olivePoints
Points for Princess Tumbleweed: $princessPoints