Heartline

Cinevva's analyzer read this game's design doc and its source, then wrote the brief below. "Make your own" hands it to the game creator as your opening message, so you start from a real spec rather than a one-line idea.

Rebuild “Heartline” as a dark, responsive, choice-driven romance visual novel web app. Use a centered shell on a near-black plum background with a subtle purple radial glow, rounded corners, thin muted-purple border, and a soft shadow. On desktop the shell is split into a left sidebar (about 330px wide) and a scrollable main content panel; on mobile stack the sidebar above the content, make the step navigation horizontally scrollable, and use a single-column form layout. The visual style is polished, accessible, and text-focused: off-white typography, muted lavender descriptions, pink and violet gradients for primary actions, translucent dark cards, rounded controls, and pink outlines for selected options.

Title and sidebar: show the brand “Heartline” and the tagline “A choice-driven romance visual novel about identity, boundaries, and messy feelings.” Show three progress steps: “1 · Create you”, “2 · Meet the cast”, and “3 · Choose a route”, with the current step highlighted in translucent pink and a pink/lavender border. Include the note: “Some routes explore manipulation, jealousy, and unhealthy communication. They are fictional, clearly labeled, and your choices can set boundaries or leave.”

Step 1, protagonist creation: show the eyebrow “Build your protagonist”, heading “Start with who you are.”, and supporting text explaining that the player customizes identity, presentation, and the kind of people they want to meet, and that nothing here locks them into a route. Use rounded translucent cards in a two-column desktop grid. Include:
- A Name text field, defaulting to “Alex”, with a 24-character limit.
- Pronoun buttons: “she/her”, “he/him”, “they/them”, “she/they”, “he/they”, and “custom”; default selected “they/them”.
- Gender identity buttons: “woman”, “man”, “nonbinary”, “genderfluid”, “agender”, and “custom”; default selected “nonbinary”.
- An Identity notes text field labeled “Optional self-description”, defaulting to “self-described”, with a 36-character limit.
- Orientation buttons: “straight”, “gay”, “lesbian”, “bisexual”, “pansexual”, “asexual”, and “questioning”; default selected “pansexual”.
- Encounter preference buttons: “men”, “women”, “nonbinary”, and “mix”; default selected “mix”. This setting filters the cast in the next step.
- Body sliders for Height (140–210, default 170) and Build, represented as a weight slider (40–130, default 65). Display values as “170 cm” and “65 kg”, updating live.
- Demihuman traits buttons: “human” (state none), “cat ears + tail”, “fox ears + tail”, “rabbit ears + tail”, “deer ears + tail”, “wolf ears + tail”, and “bird ears + tail”; default human.
Selected buttons have a visible pink outline and subtle pink background. Finish with a right-aligned primary gradient button “Continue to the cast →”.

Step 2, cast selection: show eyebrow “The cast”, heading “Who catches your attention?”, and text: “Pick a route, or create your own love interest. Rough routes are labeled because chemistry is not the same thing as safety.” Display compatible characters as cards. With “mix”, show all five; with men show only the man, with women only the woman, and with nonbinary only the nonbinary character. Each card shows a large emoji, name, pronoun pill, style pill, bio, and a primary “Meet [name]” button. The exact cast is:
- Mira Vale — she/her, woman, gentle, 🌙; “A patient muralist who remembers everyone’s favorite color.” This is a warm route.
- Rowan Kade — he/they, man, rough, 🦂; “A sharp-tongued musician who tests people before trusting them.” This is a volatile route.
- Sol Ardent — they/them, nonbinary, gentle, ☀️; “A sunny archivist who asks thoughtful questions.” This is a warm route.
- Vex Marlow — she/they, woman, rough, 🕯️; “A charismatic night-shift poet with jealous streaks.” This is a volatile route.
- Jules Hart — he/him, man, gentle, 🌿; “A calm gardener who believes honesty can be learned.” This is a warm route.
Below the cast, add a “Relationship starting point” card with selectable options “strangers”, “friends”, “dating”, and “married”, defaulting to “strangers”. Add a “Make your own character” card with the text “Create a custom route with a name, pronouns, vibe, and a boundary-first story.” and a ghost button “Create custom love interest”. This button starts a route using the displayed placeholder character “Your Character”, they/them, custom gender, gentle style, ✨, and bio “A love interest you design yourself.” It does not need an additional customization form. Include a “← Back” ghost button.

Step 3, route scene: when a character is selected, reset Connection/affection to 0, Boundaries to 50, and start at scene 1. Show an eyebrow like “[relationship] route · [gentle or rough]”, heading “A first conversation with [character]”, and a scene layout with a tall rounded gradient portrait tile containing the route emoji and a bottom badge “[pronouns] · [gender]”. Beside it show a dialogue bubble with the character’s name in pink, scene text, and three large selectable choice buttons. Each choice includes the choice text and a smaller consequence preview beneath it. Under the dialogue show two meters: Connection, whose displayed value is affection and whose fill begins at 50% plus affection × 3 (clamped 0–100), and Boundaries, whose value is 0–100 and begins at 50. Use a dark bar with a multi-color green-to-yellow-to-red fill.

Implement exactly two scenes per route, with the gentle routes using this warm script:
Scene 1: “[character] slides into the seat across from you” in an almost empty café. Choices: “Offer a sincere introduction” / “You make space for a real conversation.” (+6 connection, +0 boundaries); “Make a joke about the awkward silence” / “The tension softens into a laugh.” (+4, +0); “Ask what they need from this relationship” / “You set a clear, caring tone.” (+3, +8).
Scene 2: “[character] asks what you want this connection to become.” Choices: “Say you want to take it slowly” / “Your pace matters, and they respect it.” (+5, +10); “Say you are ready for something serious” / “The honesty brings you closer.” (+8, +0); “Say you are not sure yet” / “Uncertainty is allowed here.” (+2, +5).
For rough routes use this volatile script and show a clearly visible red/pink warning panel: “Content note: this route includes jealousy, manipulation, and unhealthy communication. You can set boundaries or leave the route at any time.” Scene 1: “[character] arrives late, then acts like you are the problem for noticing.” Choices: “Name the behavior calmly” / “You refuse to accept blame for their choice.” (+2 connection, +15 boundaries); “Apologize just to keep the peace” / “The moment passes, but your boundary weakens.” (+3, -12); “Leave the conversation” / “Walking away protects your time and safety.” (+0, +20). Scene 2: “Later, [character] says you are the only person who understands them.” Choices: “Ask for mutual respect, not exclusivity” / “You make room for closeness without control.” (+4, +12); “Promise you will never leave” / “The promise feels heavy immediately.” (+6, -15); “Tell them you need time to think” / “You choose clarity over pressure.” (+2, +10). Clamp boundaries between 0 and 100 and advance to the next scene after each choice.

For gentle routes, instead show a green success panel: “Route tone: gentle romance focused on communication, trust, and consent.” After the second choice, show the ending rather than another scene: eyebrow “Route preview complete”, heading “You made an impression.”, subtitle “Your choices shaped the first chapter with [character].” In a card, if Boundaries >= 55 show “A relationship with room to breathe” and “You asked for honesty, pacing, or mutual respect—and the story is ready to continue from there.” Otherwise show “A connection that needs care” and “The chemistry is real, but so are the warning signs. The next chapter can focus on boundaries, repair, or stepping away.” Include pills for “Connection [value]” and “Boundaries [value]”. Add “Choose another route” (ghost) and “Edit protagonist” (primary) buttons. During scenes include “Restart route” and “Leave route” buttons: restart resets the two scenes and meters; leave returns to cast selection. The ending buttons respectively return to cast or protagonist creation. Keep all text, state changes, selections, filtering, meter arithmetic, and route outcomes functional rather than decorative.