VN Ren'Py What do you think of a game that would allow players to choose whether they want human or anthro characters?

[Infamyxxx]

I'm an indie dev and have been working on a thriller VN game with HMOFA content. The game also has point and click features and small puzzle games (which all contribute to the progression of the story and different endings). I have already completed the programming part of the game. The story is also complete. The character arts and animations are the only last things that I'm working on.

So, recently, I got this idea that instead of having exclusively furry female characters, how would it be to actually give the players a choice of furries or human females content? Kinda like two different versions of the same game but the difference of preference for the characters.

What do you think of this idea, guys? Is it gonna fly high or am I gonna piss off everybody because of the lack of exclusivity?

Also, just to be clear, it's not two different builds of the game but the choice in the same game that would allow you to choose. Think of the main menu with two options of "Humans Mode" and "HMOFA/Anthros/Furries Mode" for example.

 

[woody554]

I think you should never half-ass two things if you can whole-ass one thing.

 

[Infamyxxx]

I think you should never half-ass two things if you can whole-ass one thing.

But what if you have two whole-ass things and let players choose which whole-ass thing they like? :3

 

[woody554]

But what if you have two whole-ass things and let players choose which whole-ass thing they like? :3

99% of even 'whole-assed' games are absolute garbage quality and STILL so hard to make that people abandon them at v0.3.

 

[Infamyxxx]

99% of even 'whole-assed' games are absolute garbage quality and STILL so hard to make that people abandon them at v0.3.

I won't. I'll complete my game. I'm done with the programming part and the story is complete too. All the possible endings are set as well. Only character arts and animations are left to work on now.

 

[HarveyD]

If you have the time, money, talent or whatever to provide both, why wouldn't you? Of course, you might think you do regardless. In which case make one, and then if you think it's still worth doing, make the other.

 

[Meaning Less]

As someone that enjoys both, this would only make me confused and struggle to decide which version of the game to play...

Either make a game that has both in which case players can unlock scenes for human and anthro, or instead focus on the one that makes more sense storywise.

There is a reason why many AAA games don't enable custom skins until you beat the game first, there are quite a few important design choices that could result in an inferior experience if you are not playing the way the game was intended to be played.

 

[Rafster]

I... I'm not sure of that. I'm still planning my next game, but anthros will be a main theme on it. The MC will be a werewolf, shifting between human and anthro, and some NPCs will be anthros (rare), others humans (most).

But changing the art/concept of an NPC through a switch? are you going to write the different dialogs if she is anthro or human? if she's either form does that impact in your relationship or just a one night stand? for casual encounters it might work (besides the different text according to the shift) but for NPCs important to the story, I don't know if that's wise. I wouldn't do it.

Of course, I will have characters that can shift their human/beast form like the MC, but that's part of their writing and concept. But not a switch.. I don't like that solution.

So, my choice would be Human AND anthros, option which is not in your plans. If I have to choose between those two.. I would focus on one to save time.

 

[anne O'nymous]

There is a reason why many AAA games don't enable custom skins until you beat the game first, there are quite a few important design choices that could result in an inferior experience if you are not playing the way the game was intended to be played.

Hmm, no, just no.

You are mixing two different things here. The custom skins available only once you beat the game at least once is purely an incentive mechanism. It initially come from the fight games, and was here to ensure that players don't just limits to few fights, but effectively want to beat the game ; "do it, and you'll have a reward even more interesting that your own satisfaction".
But in the same time, until recently many AAA games offered you character customization abilities. It's only when studios decided that their games will be more on the side of interactive stories (Call of Duty, Assassin creeds, etc.) and/or heavily rely on cut scenes, that this was removed. Yet, not totally, and the whole Mass Effect series let you choose if you want to play as male or female.

The real issue with OP question is how well it would fit with the story. A human wouldn't fit really well in a furry world. But if it's a world where furries exist as a species, then it could works and don't necessarily have an influence on the story itself.
It's only for the individual interactions that it will imply some changes. People will not comment on your appearance in the same way depending if you're human or furry. But at story level, globally it would be limited to some reluctance coming from the opposite species. What mean that, while human MC would have to do more efforts to be accepted by furry characters, furry MC would have the same issue when it come to human characters ; therefore the difficulty isn't increased, just switched.

And this is mostly the only point that effectively matters. Whatever restriction/difficulty that hide behind a species choice should have its counter part for the other species.
There's places forbidden to furries ? Then furries must have places forbidden to humans. One of the human characters is strongly racist and don't even want to acknowledge that furries exist ? Then one of the furry characters must be strongly racist and don't even want to acknowledge that humans exist.
If you build your game following this counter part imperative, then all the issues you can face will solve themselves. The furry character need to go to a club that is "furries only" ? Then for the human character the action will take place in the "humans only" equivalent. The humans character need the help of a strongly racist human ? Then the furry character will need the help of a strongly racist furry. A furry character is suspicious about humans ? Then a human character of equal importance will be suspicious about furries.

 

[Infamyxxx]

Hmm, no, just no.

You are mixing two different things here. The custom skins available only once you beat the game at least once is purely an incentive mechanism. It initially come from the fight games, and was here to ensure that players don't just limits to few fights, but effectively want to beat the game ; "do it, and you'll have a reward even more interesting that your own satisfaction".
But in the same time, until recently many AAA games offered you character customization abilities. It's only when studios decided that their games will be more on the side of interactive stories (Call of Duty, Assassin creeds, etc.) and/or heavily rely on cut scenes, that this was removed. Yet, not totally, and the whole Mass Effect series let you choose if you want to play as male or female.

The real issue with OP question is how well it would fit with the story. A human wouldn't fit really well in a furry world. But if it's a world where furries exist as a species, then it could works and don't necessarily have an influence on the story itself.
It's only for the individual interactions that it will imply some changes. People will not comment on your appearance in the same way depending if you're human or furry. But at story level, globally it would be limited to some reluctance coming from the opposite species. What mean that, while human MC would have to do more efforts to be accepted by furry characters, furry MC would have the same issue when it come to human characters ; therefore the difficulty isn't increased, just switched.

And this is mostly the only point that effectively matters. Whatever restriction/difficulty that hide behind a species choice should have its counter part for the other species.
There's places forbidden to furries ? Then furries must have places forbidden to humans. One of the human characters is strongly racist and don't even want to acknowledge that furries exist ? Then one of the furry characters must be strongly racist and don't even want to acknowledge that humans exist.
If you build your game following this counter part imperative, then all the issues you can face will solve themselves. The furry character need to go to a club that is "furries only" ? Then for the human character the action will take place in the "humans only" equivalent. The humans character need the help of a strongly racist human ? Then the furry character will need the help of a strongly racist furry. A furry character is suspicious about humans ? Then a human character of equal importance will be suspicious about furries.

The way I have written the story and the dialogue, there is never a single mention or acknowledgement of the furry girls' "furryness" if that makes sense. It's an HMOFA story where the furries exist as just another regular species. This is why I had the idea for two different versions of the girls because apart from the arts (character sprites and icons), nothing else need to be changed for the story and gameplay to make sense.

 

[Meaning Less]

and the whole Mass Effect series let you choose if you want to play as male or female.

Player character customization is unrelated. You mentioned mass effect, you can't change alien companions into human ones and if you could that would remove the entire charm of those characters.

Some things should not be customizable.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Player character customization is unrelated. You can't change alien companions into human ones in mass effect and if you could that you would remove the entire charm of those characters.

It's not this unrelated, just two sides of the same medal.
And who told you that it would remove the charm of those characters ? For you it would, but you aren't more than me the guarantor of universal taste. How many people would have preferred Liara to be human instead of an asexual Asari ? Not everyone liked Garrus as Turien, and at the opposite there's players who would have preferred to have more Turiens.
In a game like Mass Effect it can have an impact on the story due to the species allegiances, but for a game like OP one, it's more on the side of personal taste. There's players that would possibly be interested by the story, but for who furries are a turn off. And it's to them that this customization apply.

 

[Meaning Less]

How many people would have preferred Liara to be human instead of an asexual Asari ? Not everyone liked Garrus as Turien, and at the opposite there's players who would have preferred to have more Turiens.

The thing is, you say Liara/Garrus and their image instantly pops in my mind, I know them just as you.

But if the game allowed for custom races suddenly we each would imagine completely different characters in our minds, not to mention their backstories would stop making sense unless it was heavily edited and at that point wouldn't it be better to just make another character?

If you make a character generic enough to fit into both races, then chances are that character is going to be heavily diluted.

 

[anne O'nymous]

But if the game allowed for custom races suddenly we each would imagine completely different characters in our minds, not to mention their backstories would stop making sense unless it was heavily edited and at that point wouldn't them to just be another character?

That's why I said that, for Mass Effect it wouldn't works this well.

But in the same time, you are approaching the issue from the wrong angle ; at least in the case of OP question. OP is more addressing the issue from the kink angle than from the story one.
What mean that the level of customization he's talking about is more on the side of "will Asari be asexual or have both males and females". It would still imply changes in the story and the characters background, but really small ones.
This in the same way that, by example, BrainDrop decided to let the player decide if Shauna is a MtF or a female character. It imply some mandatory changes of course, but all relatively small. Small enough to not strongly impact the characters personality. You need to change the reason why Shauna was bullied and protected by MC. You need a different motive for Penelope fascination. And you need another reason for Shauna body shyness. But that's all and not really something unbearable.

In the case of OP, it's even simpler than this since, as long as furries are accepted by the society, you can perfectly fit the same character in both species, with at most small tweak in their backstory.

 

[Meaning Less]

This in the same way that, by example, BrainDrop decided to let the player decide if Shauna is a MtF or a female character.

To be fair, changing genitals isn't a major change and only visible during sex scenes.

Now changing the character from anthro to human requires a complete re-design from head to toe, that's a much more drastic change that impacts the core image of each character in my opinion.

 

[EvolutionKills]

Do one or the other, and even if you could do both, just refocus that extra time and effort into making more content for the side you choose. Or get it done faster and move on. Or get it done to a higher quality so you really stand out from the crowd.

Would you rather be a middle-of-the-road project that sorta appeals to vanilla and furry, or be a really excellent game for one of those audiences?

Nothing says you can't make one game now, and the other game later. But if your project can effectively pallet swap between vanilla and furry, I don't think you're doing enough to cater to either audience enough to stand out. People who are really into furry and want their lupine characters with knotty bitch-breaker dicks aren't going to wowed by vanilla sex with swapped furry art assets. Like really digging down to the metal of what their respective fetishes like takes work, and can't just be easily retrofitted.