What the ell is a dating sim

Necro601

Experienced
Joined
Dec 13, 2013
Posts
33
Hello Literoticans,

Looking through my book of ideas when I was younger I can across a plot summary. American protagonist in a Japanese dating sim game of his life. He has no idea what a dating sim is or the personas that the women in his life take on because of it. Could use help in fleshing out his personality in the given change to his life.

Thanks
 
Okay, need something more than this. I mean he's your pro-typical American dork. Go watch Spiderman, any version. That's the guy you're writing about.
 
No not some fanboy or unpopular guy sterotype. I'm talking about believable 18-20 normal guy who is placed into a world that he has no experience with, aka a dating sim. Think back to how you were at that time. That is what I'm trying to flesh out.
 
Maybe it's the Dating Sim part that's throwing me cus you'd never catch a regular guy in that situation but if by some act of God you did fleshing out the character is almost unimportant. It's the fleshing out of the scenario and how it works that's all important.
 
Very Interesting Idea

I think it's a very interesting idea. I'm not absolutely sure I follow what you were getting at with the initial premise, so I'd like to start there.

As I understand it, this American "Everyman" about the age of nineteen is somehow sucked into the virtual world of a Japanese style Dating Simulation game. He is not PLAYING the game. He is the character IN the game.

It just so happens that while I am far from any kind of expert, I have toyed with one or two of these types of games. Enough anyway to know that there are typically three threads that are developing simultaneously.

The first is the development of the individual character. Not unlike rolling stats in almost any RPG. As I say, I'm not an expert by any stretch, but as I recall, the protagonist stats are typically strength, charm, and endurance. Some, more complex, games of the genre add others, but these seem to be the typical base from my limited experience.

The second is tied to the first, but slightly different, the accumulation of wealth and fame. I think of these as the second tier because they are usually based on the stats the character develops as an individual in some way. Although, a few games that I have run across have dropped this by giving the protagonist a set amount of money to spend and picking up during the actual date. I think, though, that you are indicating that the game in question would be the former rather than the latter.

The third tier is the development of the relationship with a girl. Simplified versions may have only one girl available where the more complex that I've encountered have up to six possible girls. (And yes, I went for the "playboy" ending with all six.) Typically, this seems to involve memory skills as it usually begins with learning facts about the girls and being able to solve multiple choice questions as they test you to see if you remember the correct answer to unlock the next level in the relationship. Each level potentially unlocks a new test. Giving correct gifts. Going on dates. Each a test to show that you paid attention to the girls likes and dislikes.

For some reason, I have this visual image floating around in my head of a group of Japanese Yakuza sitting around a board room table placing bets on the potential outcomes as they observe a "typical" American college freshman. Maybe they each have a trained girl that they have "in the game" and the results of some business deal they are brokering depends on the outcome.

So, I can see what you are getting at when you want to flesh out the protagonist. At least I think I can.

The thing is that "American" covers a lot of ground. Let's look at the prototypical jock just as one example. I was born and raised in Texas. Texas in and of itself is larger geographically than many countries. In Texas, or at least most of it, jock means football. End of story. If you play any other sport, you aren't really a jock qua jock. Not with the popularity and fandom that the title usually represents anyway.

But, I've got a good friend that moved down from one of the Northern States. He played Hockey. And where he came from, Hockey was the defining sport in what it meant to be a jock.

Similarly, I had another friend that moved from Texas to another state. He all but took over the football team when he arrived when he was third string here and became the star of the team. Except, playing football there didn't mean what it meant here. Basketball was their sport of choice and while he was a starter here, he sat the bench there.

So, what I'm thinking is that trying to get into specifics as the Dating Simulation games I am aware of do ("Simgirls" with the swim team as an example) might be a little more difficult without choosing a specific geographic locale within America.

Having said that, I don't think people are that dissimilar wherever they come from. I think that wherever you look there are going to be the girls interested in the jocks, the girls interested in the smart guys, and the girls interested in the charming guys and so on.

Being an American Male, I can only give you my particular experiences at that age. I'm probably luckier than most in that I had the opportunity to be a "big fish in a small pond".

Sport - I already mentioned football. I played others as well. Basketball, Soccer, distance runner in Track, Baseball... but, they didn't have the same impact.

Academics - I was actually on the Math/Science team. I had the opportunity to compete against people from other schools by taking tests in those subjects. I also did a little tutoring in Physics.

Music - I played trumpet in the band, piano, guitar, and sang in the choir.

Theatre - I was in several plays. Supporting cast rather than the lead, but I was in them. There were some musicals, but most were not so I differentiate it.

Livestock - I raised animals to compete in livestock shows. I also had something of a reputation for being good with animals. Several times I was given the opportunity to assist with newborn animals who's mothers had died before they were weaned. (Wanna see a girl turn into a gooey mess? Bottle feed a baby lamb that still can't stand very well in front of her. On the other hand, be sure to wipe of your boots when you step out of the pen so the smell doesn't follow you.)

I did other things too, but those are the big five. I wasn't the best at any of them, but I was a strong competitor in each. Typically in each of the five, there was one person that was ALL they did that would outpoint me when it came to competitions.

And in each of those, I had the opportunity to meet different people from all over the country since I was fortunate enough to be able to compete at the county, state, and national level at all of them. (Specifically girls which were MUCH more interesting to me than the guys) In fact, I was a bit unusual in that very few people around me were also interested in more than two of these. I typically did NOT see the same people at each of the five event types. Not actively participating anyway

Also, and perhaps most germane, I was a bit clueless about girls. I can think of a round dozen just off the top of my head that I was interested in, but that I didn't think were interested in me. Only to discover when it was too late, that they were and often left my presence just as frustrated as I was that "nothing happened". However, I did have quite a bit of experience with girls and was considered something of a Lothario based on the sheer numbers. Which in and of itself was a problem in that I seemed incapable of picking just one and sticking with her any more than I had just one interest. This often times led to difficulties with the ones I did make a connection with when they found out about my interest in another.

Was I a "nerd"? I suppose it depends on who you ask. Some people that I have kept in touch with over the years still think of me as one of the most popular guys in school. Mainly, I think, because I was so diversified. Other people would consider my singular lack of cluelessness about the fairer gender as proof that I was a "geek" or a "nerd".

So, which "type" of girl would the Japanese playing the game with my life bet that I would end up with as a wife and mother of my children all these years later? The female athlete? The musician? The actress? The academic? Or the farm girl? Or maybe some combination? Nope, I'm not gonna tell. That's part of the fun.

I don't know if I helped or if you even managed to wade through all this to this point. But, I think I can see where you were going with your idea and I think this was something along the lines of what you were looking for. If nothing else, maybe I sparked enough interest in someone else that might give you a little clearer "answer".
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the feed back. I think we are all on the same page when it comes to the male protagonist. I think my main issue is trying to find that average guy. Having read plenty of manga and the like I find that the male lead is either a paper tiger male like the lead from DxD High, dense/clueless of the women sexual advances or like the hero from To Love Ru. There are others that fall in between but that is not true for an American youth 18-25.

Using myself and others that I know male wise would have been more aggressive in a sexual sense or more keen to the feels given the arch-types found in manga and dating sims. I feel that for the story appeal reader is had to be believable. Maybe I'm just over thinking it.
 
Ahh.

So, I was way off base in what you were asking.

As it happens for a little over a year, I have been writing on a novel about a male who has, in effect, become little more than the house gigolo for seven women. Most of my effort has been in researching just how to make it somewhat believable that it is just barely within the realm of possibility that this man could satisfy seven different women as basically little more than a sex toy.

Obviously, I haven't gotten all of the kinks worked out (double entendre pun intended) or it would already be listed amongst my submissions. I occasionally whip it out and keep trying though. So, I have actually done a lot of research and thinking about something similar to your idea, albeit from the opposite direction. And without the aspect of The Game involved.

I think, and I may be wrong, that the issue is not so much the male protagonist, nor the faceless gamer(s) (they are faceless, right?) operating/betting on him, as the women involved.

Would the average American male be attracted to a female ball buster that is so misanthropic that people would think she was lesbian except she treats women the same way so she must just be a frigid, asexual bitch? Mmm. Honestly, he might at first due to her looks and the challenge. But, I think the average 18-20 year old man would most likely wander off pretty quickly for a more easily obtainable target unless she gave some hint that he might just have the heat to thaw her. The question then becomes just how much would he put up with before sending her a vibrator with his resignation?

By the same token, the girl who has been passed around like a book of matches and has had to have a pillow strapped to her neck and back because of how easily she falls and pulls someone down on top of her might have a certain brief appeal for the average 18-20 year old horny American male. However, what little I know of the subject seems to suggest that they would equally quickly move on to pastures that were a little less overly grazed.

While I can see your point about the development of the characterization of the male protagonist, I would argue that the three pitfalls you mention present through the interaction of the male with the female(s) in question rather more than through the characterization of the male without them. And as such it is actually the females that require more attention than the male. (Save for the To Love Ru scenario which I had to look up and will address separately.)

Let's agree, for the sake of argument, that the prototypical American male aged 18-20 engages in dating in the hopes, if not the expectation, that there will be a sexual component to the relationship in the foreseeable future. In fact, a recent survey said that about 30-40% of both American men AND women have every expectation that sex will occur sometime between the second and fifth date with very, very few agreeing that it would be appropriate on the first date.

With this in mind, in the gaming scenario you propose, I think that going beyond the fifth date would present as either the paper tiger if she was not interested and he continued to pursue or the clueless wonder if she presented cues that the audience picked up on but he did not.

I think here the cue is to present the female(s) in question as providing some hint that they would be willing to entertain the notion soon but not too soon and delivering on that hinted promise no later than the fifth date unless some obvious circumstance postpones. Maybe, just maybe, up to seven if the woman was truly exceptional. And I don't just mean Aunt Flo stopping by for a visit, although research indicates that most males, no matter how horny, tend to balk at earning their red wings if the female in question doesn't.

Maybe she found out about one or more of the other females he is also pursuing just before the pivotal date when she was ready to see if he could dance any better horizontally than vertically? Maybe there was a death in the family? I think most males would allow for a sixth date in those circumstances?

As for the "To Love Ru" scenario, I had to look it up and actually spent more time pondering it than the others. I myself has some issues with this scenario. When I was thirteen. By the time I was eighteen, the only thing that would slow me down was if there was an obvious boyfriend in the picture. (Unless he was being an asshole and she was obviously trying to get rid of him, but that's a different subject.)

In my case during that age range, I approached one well known model and one well known porn star cold. I don't know. Maybe it was having a little sister that had won seven beauty pageants and two paying modeling gigs by the time she was fourteen, but I just wasn't overawed by them. I'd seen the little princess without her makeup when she first woke up after all. (shudder) Anyway, it was only one date each and there was no sex, but I think we had a good time.

Having said that, I did have several friends that suffered from the whole sweaty palm dry mouth afraid to look like a fool routine well into their twenties when approaching a woman to speak to for the first time. So, maybe that is something the average late teen horny male experiences. I just don't know.

But, even the worst of them didn't have any problem that I noted once the ice was broken and initial social contact was made. (Moving the relationship from "the friend zone" was a different scenario.)

I won't swear to it, but I think most of the pitfalls you mention would be easily avoided through the simple mechanic of having the protagonist turn away if the fifth date came and went without sexual contact. In fact, you might even have one of the girls put herself back in the running after doing so by becoming the sexual aggressor to underscore the point.

Hope that helps. And in case you couldn't tell from my super long responses, I'm really excited about the idea and look forward to reading it once you get it submitted. (And I'm not as young as I used to be so there's a little bit of a time factor here. So, chop chop. Get to typing. :D )
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback and I am glad to post the fledgling plot line for the story I am writing out.

Summary

Our male lead is your normal guy that we all know or live as. Not super geeky or super popular. He is just well rounded and confident with himself. The story is about how his world is completely changed into that of an adult dating sim game. Not being a fanboy of the culture our hero has no idea about the arch-types and the situations in hentai that can lead to meaningful relationships or sex. This is a problem since the female leads in his life will now personify these new hentai logic/dating sim personas on top of their own identity.

The conflict deals with how he interacts given each situation and how quickly things can turn to sex given that he is pursuing a main love interest. Yet being a hot blood man of 18-21 (haven't decided on age yet) he is warming up to the fact of hentai-logic (term used in forums) affects his self and the women around him.

I have decided to mix the arch-types of women in this story. For example the rich bitchy girl found in American stories and mix it with a Japanese persona found in their lore as way to add to the ensuing hilarity.
 
Back
Top