Not sure which forum this belonged in so I figured this was probably the best place. Anyways, I'm currently in the design process of an rpg with a realistic goal. Like oblivion but I'm not setting my expectations that high. Like a watered down 3rd person version of the elder scrolls. My question is this,... If an rpg features a character race option is it required to have both male as well as female genders to choose from? The reason I ask this is because I'd much rather stick to making just male warriors and not female. I mean nothing at all against women, its just that having 2 genders and everything that goes with it may drastically increase the workload. That and I'm not very good at modeling females. So thats a whole other hurdle by itself. But I'd really appreciate some thoughts and opinions on what direction I should go with that. Thanks everybody.

I think that if modelling workload is your only concern, you should just start with the male only version and look for an additional modeller to join you while you work on the game.

I don't have any evidence to back this up, but I suspect that the vast majority of players don't pick a female character when they only have a single character. For a party RPG, yeah, a female cleric or priest or sorceror(ess) but not when you only have one character. PC RPG's tend to be very heavily dominated by male players. Console RPG's are maybe a bit more of a split.

It won't only increase the amount of modelling you'll have to do, but you may have to write your quests such they branch according to the gender of your character. You can't have your male warrior flirting with a male prison guard (well you CAN but you do run the risk of offending a certain number of people if you do) and any dialog which refers to he's and she's may have to be split into two as well.

I wouldn't bother, personally. I think it's highly unlikely it would be a dealbreaker for anyone. If you're really bothered though, code it such that there are two genders and use the same models and dialog for both. Then you can always come back and add in female models and dialog in the future should you so wish. Equally, if you never do wish, all you have to do is take that option out of the character creation screen and it will never be an issue.

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Original post by sybixsus It won't only increase the amount of modelling you'll have to do, but you may have to write your quests such they branch according to the gender of your character.

thats actually the other factor I was concerned with. Having to modify the script and several other things for the convenience of both genders.

For now I guess I'll just keep it male specific. Anybody know of any rpg's with only male characters?

Thanks for ya'lls tips. its greatly appreciated.

Certain games only have certain classes available in specific genders, like diablo I and II (I believe they're changing this is III). I can't remember which game but I remember there being certain races only available in a given gender as well. Honestly, having a game with no females playable characters is better than no game at all or a game with bad looking female characters. I wouldn't sweat it too much, especially for an indie game. If you get someone that complains, your reasoning is very justifiable and I think most gamers playing indie games would completely understand.

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For now I guess I'll just keep it male specific. Anybody know of any rpg's with only male characters?

Ever heared about the gothic series? The hero is male. Always. In fact you can't even costumize the hero at all. It doesn't do the game any harm if you ask me.
Having a fixed hero can even be an advantage, because you can create a strong story around them.

I never really got into the elder scrolls games (tried morrowind once). One of the main reasons was, that I couldn't really identify with the avatar.

Edit: Oh yeah. Just to make it clear. I picked gothic as an example because it is very similar to the elder scrolls in that it has a vast freely explorable world and offers a lot of freedeom to the player.

I think you could take advantage of your design decision to add some personality to your game world. Why are there only men (or women) in the world? How does this effect the political/environmental aspects of your game? Or if you like, who's to say your not dealing with A-Sexual people/creatures/robots? Or some other form of reproduction/gender combination thereof? Maybe they're all Vat-Grown clones of a dying world?

If you want a complete game world you are probably going to end up wanting females in it.

The setting of the game, storyline or a few other factors could be used to explain the lack of Women running around.

How are you going about creating your game? Are you modding, using a licenced engine, do you have a team put together? Are you just a lone artist...?

Another idea which just struck my mind.
How about a pirate RPG? As far as I know there weren't any women on pirate ships (luckily so since I don't wanna imagine what there lives would have been like)

So you place some pirates on a ship or an island and you have got a setting whithout women which kind of makes sense.

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Original post by Dieus If you want a complete game world you are probably going to end up wanting females in it. The setting of the game, storyline or a few other factors could be used to explain the lack of Women running around. How are you going about creating your game? Are you modding, using a licenced engine, do you have a team put together? Are you just a lone artist...?

No the game is going to be an original work. There will be females in like the taverns and other places. But what I meant was having to make females another addition to each playable race along with all the weapons and armor that would have to be crafted for them and the parts of the script that would have to be altered so it sounds politically correct for the female half.

But yeah the game will feature females in various locations in the game world. Just not as a selectable character race. I'm just afraid its going to add to production time and cost.