Originally I posted this under Hobbies/Gaming, but as I'm looking for input on a game I would like to make, and not on a commercial game that already exists, I will also post it here.  I apologize if the forum is inappropriate.

I make games as a hobby, and have done since the days of the Commodore 64.  I have dabbled mostly in Interactive Fiction — the Zork-style text interface, for those who remember that game.  Game engines have improved since the Infocom days and now include embedded images and complex text parsing.  Often my games contain a transgender element:  during the game, the protagonist is transformed to the opposite gender.  I've always found this a fun and interesting game element to play with, though I consider myself only borderline transgender.  I prefer the protagonist to change voluntarily, but some players enjoy an involuntary change too.  It usually involves some fantastic, magical, or pseudo-science method (real-life methods are fairly slow in a game context). 

I have two plot sketches in mind; one is a modern-day tale about a touring band caught in a quarantine during an outbreak of a DNA-altering virus.  The other is a Conan-style sword-and-sorcery adventure.  In each, the player has the option of starting male (and becoming female) and of starting female (and becoming male).

I hope to find a few men here that can guide the design stages.  What would be fun to do in a game where your character starts physically as a woman and becomes a man?  Would you want your character to choose this voluntarily?  Would you want the change to be fast or slow?  Would your character be interested in women or men?  Would you prefer a game set in a world with modern-day situations, or would you prefer to transform into a shirtless Conan-style barbarian warrior?  All things are possible in a game; it's a question knowing which choices are interesting.

I realize this may not be everyone's cup of tea.  All I want is to create a game that the community can enjoy, that presents interesting and dramatic choices.

If this interests you, either PM me or email (greendoubleaught at my gmail address).

Sounds cool. I myself would vote for old school fantasy game with magic and stuff. Have the main char be a complete sexist pig and then mess with the wrong person, get cursed into the opposite sex that way. Now he/she would have to learn to walk in the opposite genders shoes and learn his/her lesson to lift the curse. At the end, if the main char makes amends, they will have the option to keep that gender or change back to normal.

-Kelly

That is one option; the player could be allowed that path, among others.  I would prefer to let the player choose how to behave, rather than to compel the player to act like a sexist pig — it seems unfair to punish player for a choice that I forced him to make.

Let orientation also be a choice. One game has you get married but whether the brother or the sister is based on your own gender, instead of deciding for them, let their choices be used.

I agree that it should be the player's choice.  It remains to be seen what the best way might be to present that choice.

1.  The game could ask up front, "Does your character prefer men or women?"  Orientation is hard coded.  The player can only initiate romantic relationships with his or her preferred gender(s).  Advantage:  I absolutely know which option the player prefers.  Disadvantage:  Too confining.  After the player is transformed I may need to ask again.

2.  The game does not ask for the player's orientation, but instead deduces it from the player's actions.  The player can initiate romantic relationships with either gender at any time.  Advantage:  more flexibility for the player; the player can role-play a transition in orientation if desired.  Disadvantage: It takes much more coding and writing to provide a variety of viable responses (eg, the character is female and mostly into women, but just this once tries to seduce a male NPC as part of a stratagem).

Option 3. Limited NPCs can be wooed. When they can, you have twins or siblings or 2 friends of opposite genders. Once one is started, the other is no longer available.

That's an option too, of course.  If the player woos the woman, the game decides that the player prefers women; the corresponding male is whisked off stage, so to speak.  Of course, the game could also remove all male romance options at that point.  In practice it is very like option 1, only more subtle.

I wouldn't do that, you cut out all the bi people then. Let each set be its own choice.

That is a good point.

If I follow your point about paired romances correctly, your suggestion implies that each romance has some critical plot element about it, and the player can pursue the plot through either avenue?  That is to say, suppose the player needed a favor; he could get it either by seducing the tavern wench or the barkeep, but to do both would be redundant; after one has been completed the other may be dispensed with.  Was that your thought?

If the romances are optional, I do not see why pairing them is necessary; if 75% of players prefer women (for example) I would spend much time on paths that few would tread.

The plot part was only part of my thought.

If you gear your game to 75% of people and cut out the rest, you lose. If that balance is closer to 50/50, which I think more likely, than you cut yourself even more. You eliminate a part (even if optional) of the game for 1/4 to 1/2 of the people playing it.

My thought is to build romanceable NPCs in proportion to demand.  In the event that 75% of the players prefer women, then I would write female NPCs at a 3:1 ratio with men.

For now, it is safest to assume demand is 50-50 between men and women — more like 25-25-25-25 when the player's own gender is accounted for.  If demand turns out to skew one way or another, I would prefer to respond to it rather than commit myself to arbitrary symmetry.

I can agree with that point. Definitely something to get feed back on first so I am glad you are asking.

I would still be cautious of how those possibilities affect game play for any other parts.

I absolutely agree.  It's easy to paint yourself into a corner unless you plan carefully.  If any romantic relationship is required, I will be sure to provide them in enough variety.

At this point I'm considering ways for the player to fill in her backstory.  In addition to choosing her body's starting sex, male or female, she could choose:
1.  I am a [woman] and always have been.
2.  I used to be a [man] but I was cursed to be a [woman].
3.  Outside, I appear to be a [woman], but I consider myself a [man].
4.  I always wanted to be a [woman], and now I am one.

In that way the player can help set some of her character's starting goals:  to seek change, to change back, both, or neither.

Perhaps. I do know it is not likely I would ever want to play this game.

I understand.  Interactive fiction (especially without images) is a medium of limited appeal, and I am attempting a game with a difficult subject matter to boot.  I hope to handle the subject gracefully, but even if I do, the audience will likely be very small.

My plan is to build the game as a puzzle-based Conan-style sword and sorcery adventure, which happens to contain a path where the protagonist changes gender due to magic.  It may be a wholly alternate path, or it may be unavoidable; I don't yet know.  I want to see how it fits together.

FYI, using female pronouns for someone who is FTM is insulting.

I agree, and I quite understand.

I may have caused some confusion.  At this stage I am leaning toward a setup that caters to FTM as well as MTF players, and I want to offer the player a way to be called by the pronoun of his or her choice.  That is why the starting selection appears as it does (for now; it is provisional) and why I feel the player may sometimes be "she."  Both transmen and transwomen would be included.

You could use more neutral terms such as they/them or her/him.