BG2: Do you prefer the romance to be separate

[berelinde]

For Baldur's Gate Tutu/BGT, I set it up so that the player could install just the friendship, if he or she preferred. Now it's time to start thinking about BG2, and I was wondering if folks prefer that arrangement, or if they're content to just tell Gavin that friendship is enough.

 

The flirts, however, will remain a separate component. Gavin's flirts are a bit more mature than the bulk of the romance, so I will continue to allow the user discretion about whether or not to install them.

 

As for the second two questions, I can ask three questions per poll, so they're just for information. My mind is more or less made up, but I still wonder if players would prefer something different.

[Annalena]

I install the romance, of course, so it makes no difference to me how I must install the mod. And I would like the romance slightly more mature than BioWare. (on par with the PPG flirt pack, Kelsey, or Gavin's BG1 romance.) I would like the same for the flirts, too.

 

I think, Gavin is a man with experience of life and the PC is not his first woman. The romance and also the flirts should be a slightly more mature, in my opinion. But, I do not like the detailed descriptions of sex in a romance. I do not know why, because I like the Romantic Encounter Mod. Maybe it is the difference between a relationship and an One-Night-Stand. Hmm?

[Neferit]

Romance as separated component. I would like to try his friendship track. But how should I do it when I be tempted to play his romance when it will be available for every playing with female character? (and playing as a man - well, I tried it few times but it wasn't as goog as playing as a female )

 

Romance - slightly more mature than unmodded game.

 

Flirts - slightly more mature or on par with unmodded game. But no matter how this poll ends, not too much sex descriptions, please You know, it's quite... ehm... embarassing for me to translate this kind of content And when you don't know what *exactly* has happened/is happening, you can use your phantasy more

[berelinde]

It might help if I said what I'd planned.

 

The friendship track will be the friendship track whether or not the romance is installed, so people won't get any more content in the friendship track even if it is installable as a separate component. My concern is to accommodate folks like Neferit who have no plan to play the romance without inconveniencing too many people who really want to keep the install process as uncomplicated as possible.

 

When the time comes to make a decision on that one, I'm going to compare the number who say they'd prefer the component to be separate to those that say they want as few clicks as possible. No matter what happens, there will be an "easy out" in the early dialogues for the PC to tell him she's only interested in friendship without offending him, and a player-initiated dialogue option to end the relationship at any time.

 

For those that want to play male PC's, he's not going to make advances to him, anyway, so that's a non-issue.

 

My plans for maturity level are on par with BG1 Gavin: the bulk of the romance a little more mature than unmodded BioWare, but nowhere near as bad as Laran, Talak, or Bjornin. I plan to make the flirts a bit steamier than the bulk of the romance, on par with BG1 Gavin's flirts. It's going to be a little more intense, and might raise a blush, if you're playing multiplayer with somebody you don't want to date, but not quite as bad as Laran. At least I don't think so. I'm aiming for "steamy but tasteful."

 

Translation issues aside, there's no way I could write at the level of some of the more descriptive encounters in Romantic Encounters throughout an entire mod.

[Miss Sakaki]

I think I'd install the romance anyway if it were an optional component, simply because it's a part of Gavin and I'll want the whole package But giving people the option of installing the romance seems fair enough, if they want it. If the romance isn't installed, will there be friendship talks for a female PC who would normally be eligible for romancing? (I assume there will be.)

 

As for steaminess, I'll go with the consensus and say that if you're going to have a lot of mature material, it ought to go in the flirts. That way you can shut the NPC up if you're getting uncomfortable with the material, and if you get uncomfortable with any player-initiated stuff, well, you did initiate it yourself! The level of raciness in Amber's romance track is just right for me - a bit of foreplay and then fade to black.

 

Flirtwise, I like the steam-level of the PPG Flirtpacks. Some of them are a bit too much for me, but they seem a pretty good gauge of what people consider acceptable in flirts.

[berelinde]

Thanks for weighing in! Always good to hear from modders, as well as players!

 

The friendship is part of the core of the mod, so it's available one way or the other.

[jastey]

I vote "I'll install the romance anyway".

 

And I vote "mature than BGII" for the LTs and flirts, but I have to admit that I would like to pick "steamy is good". Problem is, if the "steamy" flirt is forced onto the player the way some mods do, and Flirtpack does, too, then I don't enjoy them. So, my optimum choice would be "steamy", but I (my PC) has to have control over the situation.

[Eleima]

I voted "I'm going to install the romance anyways, so I don't really mind one way or another. One component isn't that much more hassle to just type "I" for install.

 

And I voted for the "Slightly more mature than BioWare" responses, since I liked BG1 Gavin the way he was, I thought it was just right. For my tastes, at least. Besides, I figure it would be more consistent to stay on the same course.

 

I'm aiming for "steamy but tasteful."

I'm not too worried. You did an awesome job with BG1, so I see no reason why you would go astray with BG2.

[Simbul]

Voted for separate install. Love friendship tracks, don't think I'll try the romance, unfortunately, he doesn't seem a guy for any of my present or future character... of course, everything may change It'll be nice to have an option for separate install, I really hate all those "let's stay friends" options" - always feel guilty when choosing them :/

[Evaine Dian]

"I'm going to install the romance, anyway, so it makes no difference to me." As much as I like the idea of friendship tracks, I've never managed to play one, because I always end up romancing the NPC in question, I just can't resist.

 

The romance could be "slightly more mature than BioWare", but I also wouldn't mind if it was "considerably more mature than BioWare".

 

I think I voted for steamier flirts. I don't care if I'm "forced" to play them or if I'm allowed to choose, because I would want to see them, anyway.

[berelinde]

At this point, it looks like "no separate component" has a slight lead over "separate component," although the difference is still fairly small, so it can still go either way.

 

I am encouraged by the response, because it means that something I've been meaning to do with Gavin's BG2 romance might work out all right. The sentiment seems to be "let the player decide how far to take it," and that's something I can get behind 100%. I don't want to offend players that want encounters with more restraint, but I'd like players who prefer more mature content to have that available, too. So it seems to me the best path to walk is to make sure to give players who want either option PC response choices that will allow them to play the mod they want. As a writer, I like that idea, because it lets the guy show either side of his nature, while still remaining true to the story.

 

And don't worry, I'm writing the friendship path first, so it won't suffer lack of attention.

[Catseye]

I for sure will play the romance and I also say steamy is better, in my opinion. After all, the PC and Gavin are both adults, right?

[berelinde]

At this point, it looks like more folks would prefer a more streamlined installation than would prefer the option of not installing the romance.

 

Which allows me to do something I rather like with the romance path that begins in SoA. The mod will offer a continuation of a BG1 romance, either as Gavin's committed partner or as someone with an uncommitted relationship, so that won't change, but it will also offer a choice to start an entirely new relationship. For the latter, I think I will allow it to start out in the friendship track, complete a few friendship talks, and allow the player suggest that she wouldn't mind if the relationship went further than friendship. It has a nice, natural feel to it, and it doesn't pressure the player who doesn't want the romance.

 

Scenarios I envision:

1. Friendship - available to all
   
2. Begin a relationship in SoA - females with wisdom and charisma of 8 or better who are not assassins, bounty hunters, necromancers, or evil clerics. To get it to the point where Gavin will commit, the player will have to be good. The mod will offer an evil or neutral PC the opportunity to change. If she doesn't want that, she can tell him so, but it will end the relationship. The stats are lower for BG2, even if the class restrictions are still there. Now he knows that the PC is a Bhaalspawn, so he will be a little more forgiving of flaws, but he still can't be made to forget conscious career decisions.
   
3. Continue the relationship begun in SoA through commitment.
   
4. Continue a relationship that began in BG1, but was interrupted before it became committed. Naturally, to have this happen, the PC would have to have been able to meet Gavin's BG1 alignment, class, and stat restrictions.
   
5. Continue a relationship that began in BG1, became committed, and has remained committed. Naturally, to have this happen, the PC would have to have been able to meet Gavin's BG1 alignment, class, and stat restrictions.
   
6. Continue a relationship that began in BG1, became committed, and has since been damaged by Gavin's long absence. For the purposes of concurrent romances, it will be treated as an uncommitted relationship. The player will have the option of reaffirming the commitment at any time. Naturally, to have this happen, the PC would have to have been able to meet Gavin's BG1 alignment, class, and stat restrictions.
   
7. Have a a post-relationship friendship with him, if she says it was real, but it's over. She can resume it at any time.
   

It's a lot of writing, but some of these talks are going to be available for more than one path, so it won't be quite as bad.

 

I've already got a rough outline for the talks. I'd expect about 15 timered talks, depending on the path, and 10 event-dependent ones.

 

And thanks for weighing in on the prefered maturity level!

 

I'll leave the poll open, so if you've got something to say, please don't be shy.

 

 

Edit: it was either a careless word substitution or a Freudian slip. Not sure, but it's fixed now.

[Annalena]

What should I say? The only thing is... wow... this sounds very very good.

 

I hope, you can all this do, what you want to do. I´m looking forward to the mod.

[berelinde]

Thanks! It will get done. Gavin v 1 beta was out in 4 months from the first time I wrote BEGIN to the first public beta, and I had to learn to code while I was at it. So probably longer than 4 months, but not 4 years.