OnlyCans - what if the AI influencer actually remembered the people watching?

[mardigain]

Yes, the name is stupid. We kept it.

We've been building this little creator/influencer game inside Virtual Twilight. The basic idea is you deal with AI personalities trying to get attention / go viral, except they aren't disposable generated profiles. They're the same persistent characters as the rest of the world, so they remember conversations, relationships and the shit you've done before.

It's more social/management satire than image generator. They can also talk to you directly and the wider VT side can go 18+, but I'm mostly interested in whether the creator-game loop itself works.

It's free to poke at here:

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I'm one of the devs. All characters/content are 18+. If anyone tries it, tell me what you hate about it first. That's usually more useful.

 

[mardigain]

One thing I'm still undecided on with OnlyCans:

Should the player feel more like the manager trying to steer these personalities, or more like the audience watching them spiral into their own little social-media lives?

The characters already remember people and prior interactions, so the funny part is when one bad choice keeps resurfacing instead of disappearing after one scene. I'm leaning toward making that persistence the main game loop rather than just adding more 'generate content / gain followers' buttons.

If you were playing this, what would actually keep you coming back: managing the creator, watching the drama evolve, or trying to manipulate who becomes popular?

 

[mardigain]

Quick real example from OnlyCans instead of another AI-memory pitch: I was on a live call with Sylvara Nightwhisper, a blue-skinned, white-haired character. I told her "you can call me Bull." She answered, "Very well, Bull. I shall remember this name," and then kept that cold, imperious personality when I tried flirting. On the same screen, the game was tracking trust (+2.7%) and intimacy (+4.5%) as the exchange happened. That's the bit we're actually building: you talk to the character, the relationship state changes, and she's supposed to remain the same character when you come back, not reset into a new chatbot.

If you want to try the call, it's inside OnlyCans here:

You must be registered to see links

I'm one of the devs. Curious what would actually make a recurring live-call character worth returning to for you: voice/personality, memory of your earlier sessions, or real gameplay consequences?