Hiya, so I’ve been working on this technique for a while and it seems to work perfectly fine and I thought it would be super helpful for people who wish the reader could choose their own gender, but also making it easier on the author.
So I wouldn’t call this a hack, it’s more of a ‘creative’ way of using the @CHAR becomes CHAR command. So I’ll list some pre-requisites for being able to use this below, but I’m sure if you’re already writing a story with a choose your own gender choice, you’ll meet these anyway. (I’ve linked Dara’s tutorials on these subjects if you’re unfamiliar.)
PRE-REQUISITES
- You know how to use the if/elif/else branching commands
- You know how to use the @CHARACTER becomes CHARACTER command
- You know how to enable/disable choices
Now that you know what you need to know, the technique is very simple:
TECHNIQUE
- Create 3 MCs
- MALEMC (This will be your Male default)
- FEMALEMC (This will be your Female default)
- MC (This will be the main character that you use to write with.)
- Let the reader choose their gender using the following choice template:
label GENDER
NARRATOR
What gender would you like to be?
choice (GENDER)
"Male" {
@MC becomes MALEMC
goto MALE
}
"Female" {
@MC becomes FEMALEMC
goto FEMALE
}
label MALE
NARRATOR
Would you like to be referred to as Male?
choice (MALE_CONFIRM)
"Yes." {
gain MALE
goto CC
}
"No." {
goto GENDER
}
label FEMALE
NARRATOR
Would you like to be referred to as Female?
choice (FEMALE_CONFIRM)
"Yes." {
gain FEMALE
goto CC
}
"No." {
goto GENDER
}
label CC
Now, the ‘MC’ character will reflect either the Male or Female body types when they play through the story. If you want to go the extra mile and add CC, you can do so in either the normal way (by using Dara’s template on her website and then using the @MC becomes MALE/FEMALEMC command at the end) or by creating your own CC template that uses enabled and disabled choices.
How? You may ask.
Well, it’s simple, really.
- Firstly, ensure you have the corresponding ‘template’ character on the screen instead of your main MC. (Episode doesn’t like opposite gender commands being used on a single MC, becomes command or not).
Eg.
if (MALE) {
@MALEMC stands screen center
}
else {
@FEMALEMC stands screen center
}
In the CC script, for features that the Male and Female characters share (skin, for example), you can add them both to the same choice. This should save you a few thousand lines from the original branching, considering how many choices are in a CC script.
Eg.
"Copper 07" {
@FEMALEMC changes bodyColor into Copper 07
@MALEMC changes bodyColor into Copper 07
}
And for features that they don’t share (hair, for example), you simply disable that specific choice.
Eg.
"Long Wavy Solid" if (FEMALE) {
@FEMALEMC changes hair into Long Wavy Solid
}
"Short Tousled" if (MALE) {
@MALEMC changes hair into Short Tousled
}
Just be sure once the CC is complete, that you use the @MC becomes FEMALE/MALEMC command again.
You don’t necessarily HAVE to do the CC this way, but I’ve found it saves a ton of lines.
- Get used to changing outfits and having outfit choices.
Similarly to the CC, you will need to have the FEMALEMC and MALEMC center screen for these choices and not your main MC. This is for the same reason - that Episode does not accept opposite gender clothing on characters, becomes command or not.
Write your outfit choices as normal, but you will need to use the if command to enable and disable your choices.
Eg.
label OUTFIT_GAME_1
NARRATOR
What do you want to wear?
choice (OUTFIT_GAME_1)
"Female Outfit 1" if (FEMALE) {
@FEMALEMC changes into F_OUTFIT1
}
"Male Outfit 1" if (MALE) {
@MALEMC changes into M_OUTFIT1
}
"Female Outfit 2" if (FEMALE) {
@FEMALEMC changes into F_OUTFIT2
}
"Male Outfit 2" if (MALE) {
@MALEMC changes into M_OUTFIT2
}
<PREMIUM> "I want to wear this." {
continue
}
I think that covers everything, but now you can write your story as normal and without doubling/quadrupling up the branches. So any tiny edits made in terms of dialogue will be a lot easier to keep track of.
Please keep in mind, this is still your story. If you want a particular scene to play out in a certain way based on the reader’s gender choice, you can still do that via branches. This just removes the need for an extra branch and doubling up on dialogue/spotting. It also gives you the choice to ask if the reader would like to change genders again later in the story by using different gains to the MALE/FEMALE ones I’ve demonstrated.
As always, if anyone has any questions, please let me know. I’m happy to help.
