A Little Inconvenience
The Possibility of Self-Inserting: Let's Talk About It!
Hey everyone. Today, I wanted to speak on self-inserting in A Little Inconvenience. I've received a few comments regarding the idea of a custom character or toggling Sabrina on/off so players can self-insert. In the VN space, especially when it comes to the yandere sub-genre, I know many players like to self-insert. Hell, I like to as well so I understand the need. So that's why I wanted to take the time today to discuss the idea.
Why Did You Go with a Set Protagonist in the First Place?
Two reasons!
1) When I was originally envisioning this game, I wanted to create a set protagonist to fill a void in the yandere space that I've noticed: BIPOC, chubby leads.
2) More freedom when it comes to making art, and thus, more CGs for y'all! Let me explain...
For example, in the opening scene when you're playing as Darius, you see Sabrina from his perspective. When talking to the CG artist, I told her I wanted the CG to focus on Sabrina and have a glow behind her, like a romance illustration from an otome game. Additionally, the glow does give her this ethereal-like presence that Darius sees her as.
This is something I can't recreate with a self-insert character because they're invisible! So the intro scene would literally be Darius talking to Sabrina with the convenience store BG being the only thing you see (and maybe an obscured Darius side sprite, when gets implemented!) That's not as satisfying in my opinion. Right now, I do have an alternative CG in mind in place of this that I think can work if I do implement a self-insert option but I need to think it over more to make sure it'll work and get the same message across.
What would a self-insert option look like for this game?
Toggling Sabrina off, selecting your pronouns, and having unique CGs from a first person perspective (if they already weren't)!
What's giving you pause ?
Money primarily. I self-fund all my projects on top of supporting myself as an individual which is very challenging right now.
And again, if I give you all the option to self-insert, I want to make sure your experience is just as fulfilling as it would be if you were to play as Sabrina herself which means creating alternative CGs in place of ones that feature Sabrina and that costs money. Money in which I do not have.
I have avenues to support my endeavors, such as Ko-Fi and Patreon if you would like to help.
How about a fully custom MC? Such as changing the appearance.
No. I'm a broke lil indie dev who self-funds all her games. This is IMPOSSIBLE.
So will you allow for self-insert?
There's a chance I will. I would like y'all's thoughts on the matter before coming to a final decision. So please, comment and let me know!
Comments
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Grand scheme of things talk: there have been set protagonists only options in visual novels before, and there will continue to be. Heck, A Little Inconvenience is already standing out from the self-insert crowd in the yandere space which is a point for memorability. Besides, it's your artistic decision to ultimately make.
No self insert option please! We need more representation cause the yandere space is already so white enough. I feel so happy when a game has a mc that looks like me! It's the little things, mc wearing a bonnet at night, having the LI help her with her wash days, LI trying out foods from my culture, things like that make me so happy! Those people asking for self-insert option will be fine cause there are a hundred games with self-inserts. If they wanna continue to support, they should be donating, writing fanfic, drawing fanart, and reblogging/retweeting the beautiful art! I love Sabrina and I would love to see more of her, please \^o^/
I play both self-insert and non self-insert games, and I like both. Both should be allowed to have their space in visual novels, and I don't think you should feel forced to make a self-insert if you don't want to.
On the one hand, I understand that self-insert being so popular would lead to more eyes on the game and more sales, which is something that can make it so enticing! But as you said, you'd also have to spend a lot more money and time to make that alternative.
Sadly, you can never please everyone, and I would love if people would still give stories with a set MC more of a chance. Self-inserting isn't the only way to enjoy a story, after all!
Personally, I think you should do what brings you most joy, but when we're so trapped by the expectations of the public, I can definitely understand the hesitation.
Couldn't have said it better. 100% agreed.
I'll preface and say that I don't self-insert. But, I really do think keeping Sabrina as is is so important bc like you said, the representation is severely lacking in this genre. And I even go on to say up the ante of all her appearances in more CGs to make it more impactful
I would love an self-insert option as that is my favorite type of protags in otome games. That freedom makes me enjoy video games in general a lot BUT... it is not necessary for my enjoyment of the game. I did recognize that Sabrina as a character is "rare" in otome games in general and I did appreciate that because I share many qualities with her irl! So, I would feel a little selfish to ask you to make an self-insert when Sabrina is pretty awesome how she is already. One of my favorite yandere games (Particles of Reality) has a set protag and she is very un-customizable. So, my opinion is: If possible I would adore it but it isn't adhering my enjoyment the game either :)
Soo I wasn't one of the people who suggested this, but while I was playing I actually thought about it. Honestly since I started playing visual novels it made me feel very comfortable, especially with this idea of self-insertion and feeling really included in the story, like being the protagonist; and I understand the point of the first CG but if there aren't any more like that, I don't see much of a problem with new ones with self-insertion.
So with all that, even continuing with Sabrina I really enjoyed the game and its story and I'm looking forward to playing the next update!
I was one of the people who mentioned it so I feel I should expand on what I thought, (I wrote my comment quite late and bleary-eyed after playing far too many VN's so I hope it didn't come across as rude!)
The vision you have for your game is absolutely valid and honestly wasn't something I originally thought about, I think if you're passionate about giving that representation to people you should absolutely stick with it!
I personally think it would be a nice addition, but only *if* it's feasible to do so, and not something that should be added because you feel it "has" to be, especially when you have your own vision of the MC.
I'm not a developer so I have no idea how it works or anything, but would it be hard to implement something along the lines of choosing the canon antagonist / choosing a blank slate at the start, where choosing the "Blank Slate" simply doesn't add the CG's with Sabrina in?
Obviously that wouldn't work in CG's where Sabrina and other characters are in the same one, but for instance the one that's in the demo, if it only showed the Damon panel, but didn't cut to Sabrina? (If that's what you mean by first character POV I apologise for explaining it incorrectly)
A self-insert would be really nice. I'm sure that any player that wants a self-insert character would be willing to play without cgs, or the cgs could only be of Darius. That's better than no self-insert at all, which is the alternative.
Or, what if you gave the player a silhouette instead of a detailed sprite? But, maybe you were already planning to do that, anyway.
I personally like Sabrina and think that the you should be allowed to follow your vision for the game.