Chen Ba has played many dating simulation games, both for otome and male-focused audiences.
"Heartbeat Memories" was the first game of this type he played, but at that time, he played a pirated version and at an internet café that charged 0.5 yuan per hour.
"Love and Producer" was the game he specifically went to play after he became interested in the gaming industry, to mainly experience the gameplay and analyze why the game was popular.
Of course!
Aside from these games, Chen Ba has played most of the popular, high-demand games on the market to some extent.
He doesnât shy away from any themes or genres.
After playing many games, he discovered that the main feature of these dating simulation games is, in fact, character design.
To put it bluntly...
Itâs very difficult to find boys or girls as perfect as those in games in real life.
Thatâs why these games have a market and attract so many obsessed players, even driving them to spend money on their beloved characters.
"Have you noticed when you read novels that the popular urban romance novels are all about character settings?"
Chen Ba laughed and said, "The female characters in them are pure and perfect like heroines from fairy tales, the epitome of countless peopleâs dream girl."
"It does feel that way indeed."
Lu pondered and said, "Ba, do you mean that itâs precisely because they are illusory and unreal that people are so obsessed with them?"
"What else? If you could meet such perfect girls everywhere in real life, do you think these kinds of novels or games would still have a market?"
Chen Ba was speechless.
Isnât that obvious!
Because such girls or boys are hard to encounter in reality, people seek spiritual comfort through novels, anime, and games.
The unattainable is the most precious!
If girls like Shen Youchu were everywhere in reality, they wouldnât seem so enchanting if they were too common.
"So the core of these game characters and their design is the sense of being illusory and ephemeral!"
Real, close to reality?
Chen Ba couldnât help but laugh.
If a game truly had some dating sim characters close to reality, is it about dating? Or just looking for trouble for oneself?
Hey, guys play games to relieve stress and find spiritual solace, and you think itâs fun to make them relive the pains of real-life dating and matchmaking in a game?
"Hahaha!"
The group laughed upon hearing this.
Ba is right; these characters really shouldnât lean toward realism. The more unrealistic, the better.
Otherwise, what would they turn into?
"Although it sounds biased, Iâm not saying everyone is like this."
After Chen Ba coughed, he said, "In reality, there are boys or girls who look and act just like those in games, with perfect personalities and appearances."
But as I said, they are too rare!
So from this perspective, game characters arenât entirely without real-life prototypes.
But because such charactersâ real-life equivalents are so rare and uncommon, 99% of people have never seen them with their own eyes, making them seem unreal, having an illusory feel.
"Female characters, regardless of personality, identity, or appearance, are definitely the dream partners for boys, a fictional dream girl."
"Male characters are no different; though their designs vary, at the very least, they are the prince charming in girlsâ hearts..."
Once this point is made clear, the rest is easy.
Male and female characters are randomly generated by the program, with diverse designs, but the core remains what Chen Ba said: the dream girl and prince charming type!
"The experience of developing âDivine Grace Continentâ comes in handy here. However, this time the affection system needs to be redesigned; we canât stick to the old methods..."
Chen Ba couldnât help but sigh.
"Divine Grace Continent" is great except for the terrible affection system, which caused frequent issues and even a bit of laughingstock.
As an RPG adventure game, such jokes were fine, at least acceptable.
But for a dating simulation game, if the affection system becomes a laughingstock, the problem would be serious.
"Affection..."
While Dong and Lu and others were discussing the gameâs framework, Chen Ba closed his eyes and checked the system page.
[Game Name: Love Advisor Department]
[Planning: 0 (can improve)]
[Programming: 0 (can improve)]
[Art: 0 (can improve)]
[... Overall Score: 10]
The game hasnât officially started development, itâs still in the discussion phase, so itâs no surprise that all scores are zero.
However, the fact that the overall score is ten is really puzzling.
"This is definitely a bug..."
Chen Ba can swear to the heavens that thereâs definitely something wrong with the systemâs overall score; somethingâs not right, anyone who believes it is a fool.
But itâs not a big problem.
Although there are issues with the overall score, at least the branch scores are accurate, and with this "cheat," he can clearly know the feedback of every decision.
"Goodness! Is this system made by Kairo Company?"
Chen Ba hadnât noticed before, but now looking closely, the system interface really resembles Kairoâs pixel simulation games.
Itâs a pity it doesnât display each employeeâs various skill attributes, or it would truly turn into a Kairo game.
He pondered for a moment.
Chen Ba suddenly had an idea.
In the game "Love Advisor Department," because it simulates the process of young men and women getting to know and fall in love with each other, affection cannot be quantified by specific "values."