...how could we change how dialogues appear depending on the beginning of the relationship (rejection and disgust) to the final of the relationship (acceptance and joy)? Therefore only two variables are needed and Boku could use already written dialogue. Or is this how is already done and I just confused?
So, variables are tricky things. They act both as a way to add
Variety into the game, while also adding
Stability. If you're confused, that means you're on the right track~
At the start of the game, Sydney (
just needed a character for example) will have 5 different things she can say to Peter, based off of Variable A. Each time you speak to her, she gives one of 5 random things to say. For instance:
Switch - None
Variable:Talk = 0-4
*words of disgust*
Switch - A ON
Variable:Talk = 0-4
*words of begruding praise*
Switch - B ON
Switch - A OFF
Variable:Talk = 0-4
*praise*
If you mean the sex scene dialogues, that's a whole other thing, because it means that you need to identify and pull up the corresponding scene and matching dialogue, which is difficult to do. It's why Nergal, Chilly and myself opted for the much easier method of:
Scene:Blowjob
Variable:BJ = 0
*disgust, anger, gross*
Scene:Blowjob
Variable:BJ = 1
*annoyance, bothered*
Scene:Blowjob
Variable:BJ = 5
*enjoying, wanting more*
At that point, the dialogue doesn't change, because it's been counting up the number of times you've seen a certain scene play out. It's also why rewriting the dialogues gets boring and repetitive - how many different ways can you accurately describe somebody begging Peter for his dick, when they're already pretty much enslaved to him and need it more than breathing?
In any case...
The variables required for any game will always be less than the switches, because you can reuse the same variables for multiple things at multiple times. What's needed is, instead, is definite and concrete times you want to show the scenes, which would determine what is being said at that moment. Urban Demons is, at its core, a sandbox game, where you can fully enjoy just one character completely before moving on to the next, which means that Sydney might love you to the ends of the earth, but Dizzy still thinks you're just a weird kid.
If I were to remake the game from the ground-up, I'd probably put in a more linear progression line, where you couldn't have the next 'stage' of sexual conquest until you've achieved it with one or two of the others simultaneously. Peter would never get a blowjob from Sydney if Mom wasn't also doing it; he'd never have sex unless Sydney, Mom, Grandma, Dizzy, Sarah, Lisa
and Neala were all at that stage, too.
In that way, you can more easily define when/how you want the progression to go, but it's limiting as well, so... six of one, half dozen of another (
makes no difference either way), people are still gonna bitch.
Hope that helps?