- Sep 26, 2019
- 7,515
- 14,666
- Thread starter PixelsLab
- Start date
- Apr 24, 2020
- 6,706
- 10,972
But it does lead to a lot of confusion in the threads when people ask about a character they've renamed using that name...
Not only that you remove some power of the writers. You can't ever use a variant of their name as a term of affection from for instance their family or the mc. Quick example: in The Deluca Family Luna gets called Lulu by the weird flail guy (Grottardo or something?) and she's annoyed by it. With names that you can change you either can't do that or you have to set it (nickname) yourself which would remove the funny moment as you already knew (or you didn't make it funny and ruined the scene).
- Sep 26, 2019
- 7,515
- 14,666
I can live with that.
Everybody is different. I like having the choice to change them and hate the DeLuca family vn. If having the ability to change lis' names "ruins" a vn, the vn is probably not worth my time.
Thankfully this one is and does. So win win.
I'm not saying its good or bad, just that there's always a tradeoff. And it won't ruin a vn it just removes that specific layer of character depth, makes them feel more alive you know. I don't think there are many people in my life that I've called by just 1 name.
And I personally love this VN, that layer of character depth isn't required for a good story, its just another small point of immersion.
- Sep 18, 2021
- 768
- 2,041
I'd say it depends on the person using the name and the person being named. And how you define "names" in the first place.
Personally, I almost never call people by different names - except possibly over the span of years. ie, someone you know as Andy as a kid might prefer to be called Andrew as an adult because it sounds more mature to them, or you might go from calling someone "Mr. Smith" to "Robert" to "Bob" as your relationship with them changes. Over shorter periods of time (like in the time period spanning most VNs), I'd generally have one name I use and stick to it all the time.
If anything, context shifts usually matter for me more for "titles" than names - for instance, if I'm talking to a friend I might say "I heard your mom went to Vegas", but when talking to someone else I might say "I heard Bob's mother went to Vegas." Or if I'm talking to someone who knows Bob's mother by her name but doesn't know Bob very well, I might say "I heard Alice went to Vegas." Or conversely, if speaking to someone who doesn't know either of them, I might just say "I heard my friend's mother went to Vegas." That's not really different names - Alice is always Alice - as much as it is different ways to describe someone.
But in a story I don't think I'd ever be bothered (or even notice, honestly) if I only ever refer to a character by a single name even if I did tend to constantly call people by different names. Most stories do that anyway (even if you can't rename characters) simply to reduce confusion on the part of the audience (the same reason why most stories don't have three characters named Steve).
The trade-off is that you're empowering the player/reader. Which is something I almost always prefer when you're talking about a narrative choice game/interactive story.
There are multiple reasons why a player might want to change a name. Maybe changing names to match people they know personally allows them to better immerse in a story. Or using names they like helps them care more about a given character. Or maybe they just think the original author-intended names are stupid and can't stand them (honestly, when I was growing up, I'd have enjoyed Final Fantasy IV a lot less if I'd been forced to play as "Cecil" instead of getting to change my name).
And honestly, allowing the player to rename characters doesn't make terms of affection impossible, it just means nicknames can't be derived from the original name. So Barbara can still call her daughter Alice "Cupcake" and Alice can still call her mom "mom" even if you've renamed them both to Anastasia and Zoey. Sure, "Charles" can't be Chuck or Chaz or Charlie or C-Dawg if you can change his name, but he can still be "bro" or "honey" or "Ace" to other people based on the context of their relationship to him.
The main problem with being allowed to rename characters is when you're making a game with voiced characters (because other characters will never be able to call you by your name). But there are ways around that as well: games like Fallout 3 and New Vegas just have people refer to you by a "title", while Fallout 4 has the robot that can literally recognize hundreds of names and use them, or will default to sir/ma'am if you pick a name it doesn't know. Meanwhile, Dragon Age 2 just has everyone call you by your last name, and Final Fantasy X just had people avoid using any name at all and only directly addressing you (so they never needed to refer to you in the third person to someone else).
But very few VNs are voiced, so it's not really a problem that applies.
- Oct 5, 2017
- 7,546
- 10,056
I've seen games that have a huge list of diminutive forms of names that they use to let them transform e.g. James into Jimmy. It's easy to do from a technical point of view.
- Jul 20, 2020
- 42
- 137
Was messing around Lightroom and came up with this, so decided to share. Hope to see much more of Teagan 'cause red head 
- Sep 18, 2021
- 768
- 2,041
Yeah, but you'd still need a back-up default term to use if someone picks an uncommon or completely made-up name.
Conversely, some games will just include a separate variable right from the beginning. ie, when it asks "What's your name?", it'll also include "What's your nickname?" or "What does this person call you?" questions. Sort of like how incest-bypassing games will ask you "What is this character's relationship to you?" to determine how you refer to your "housemates". Or the sorts of games who will ask you what your LI will call you during sex (depending on the genre, the default being something like "daddy" or "master", etc).
Personally, if I were a dev and I wanted to make heavy use of nicknames in-game, I'd probably just include that as a variable. "What nickname does your childhood friend call you?" right after the initial name question. It's quick and easy, shouldn't be all that difficult to code, and would definitely help the overall experience.
- Jan 10, 2020
- 355
- 648
The Intoxicating Flavor 0.8.4 files (48 images)
Is it me or the updates get smaller with each update?
You must be registered to see the links
for 40$ Patrons Is it me or the updates get smaller with each update?
- Jul 9, 2021
- 878
- 3,199
I NEED MORE KATIE !
Sorry...don't mind me...going through some withdrawal symptoms...I NEED MORE KATIE !
You must be registered to see the links
So I turned 31 years old. Soon I'll have to think about who I want to become when I grow up.
Please wish me well. Now I really need it. <3
- May 2, 2017
- 632
- 1,247
- Sep 15, 2020
- 139
- 467
- Apr 16, 2021
- 139
- 342
- Dec 19, 2017
- 27
- 42
