An Open Letter to All Porn/H-Game devs

[oaiki]

Dear devs,

Your gripe is not really with the "All Porn/H-Game devs", for the most part the installation, registration and data store are all handled by the chosen engine; the exception being the few hand-rolled offerings.

Your gripe is with the providers of Unreal, Unity, RPGM, Ren'PY, Your chosen Web Browser and any of the other game engines used by your favourite Porn / H-Game.

Game Devs develop the game scripts, create and render the grapics and animations and code the game in the engine's idiom. They rely on standard infrastucture support provided by the engine and don't care (have no choice) where or what it is so long as the engine allows them to create a distributable package.

If you want your issues resolved open a support ticket on the Game Engine providers site.

Selected Support Sites:

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[qwoppe]

RPGMaker does it by default, and it's really easy to do in renpy, if I'm understanding correctly. It's a single line of code in the options.rpy file. You just have to change config.save_directory to none, like so.

config.save_directory = None

Unity and Unreal though, I have no clue. Depends on what save system the dev is using.

So it would be super easy to amend this problem for Ren'Py games at least with a minimalistic universal patcher. Or just do it by hand if you don't keep up with as many games as I do.

 

[oaiki]

So it would be super easy to amend this problem for Ren'Py games at least with a minimalistic universal patcher. Or just do it by hand if you don't keep up with as many games as I do.

Not convinced this does what you think ...

## Save directory ##############################################################
##
## Controls the platform-specific place Ren'Py will place the save files for
## this game. The save files will be placed in:
##
## Windows: %APPDATA\RenPy\<config.save_directory>
##
## Macintosh: $HOME/Library/RenPy/<config.save_directory>
##
## Linux: $HOME/.renpy/<config.save_directory>
##
## This generally should not be changed, and if it is, should always be a
## literal string, not an expression.

define config.save_directory = "JJsAmateurNight-1673386801"

options.rpy as issued ... My reading of this is that if it is set to 'None' all save files and the 'persistant' file will be dumped in the OS specific save files root; that is, $HOME/.renpy on Linux

[edit] and will probably fuck up any other game saves you have done this to [/edit]

 

[Mystic]

 

[peterppp]

Not convinced this does what you think ...

## Save directory ##############################################################
##
## Controls the platform-specific place Ren'Py will place the save files for
## this game. The save files will be placed in:
##
## Windows: %APPDATA\RenPy\<config.save_directory>
##
## Macintosh: $HOME/Library/RenPy/<config.save_directory>
##
## Linux: $HOME/.renpy/<config.save_directory>
##
## This generally should not be changed, and if it is, should always be a
## literal string, not an expression.

define config.save_directory = "JJsAmateurNight-1673386801"

options.rpy as issued ... My reading of this is that if it is set to 'None' all save files and the 'persistant' file will be dumped in the OS specific save files root; that is, $HOME/.renpy on Linux

[edit] and will probably fuck up any other game saves you have done this to [/edit]

you can't read that from a single line of config setting. you have to look at the code where this setting is used to know what will happen. or you can read the documentation where it says what will happen

Setting this to None creates a "saves" directory underneath the game directory. This is not recommended, as it prevents the game from being shared between multiple users on a system. It can also lead to problems when a game is installed as Administrator, but run as a user.

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[morphnet]

My point about you not reading was directed at your assumption of my situation and concern, I then moved on to new information that being a sandbox does work.

My documents "might" be understandable but just how often and how long do you spend in the registry of your personal pc seeing porn game names that you feel that it requires a thread and for ALL devs to modify their games?

Here is an example, I have a garage, a storm is coming tomorrow. I will not be able to fully seal it off in time. Water is getting in. Don't you think it would be wise to do what I can to minimize it?

Weird example if using it for windows.... if so, you DON'T have a garage, you have 4 poles and a palm leaf roof over your car.
That has been windows since xp. With online backups, syncing, restore points, removing users ability to control processes, tracking and logging recent activity, storage in temp folder, caches, etc. etc. not to mention your browser history or torrent depending on how you downloaded the game, AV and security app logs and other 3rd party software etc. etc. but sure make games portable and keep names and saves out of the registry and AppData (a hidden folder by default).

You are not "doing" all you can, you're asking all car dealerships to stop selling cars with sunroofs.

Here is another example, Windows is a privacy nightmare. Do you sign off all your data to Mr. Gates or do you do your best to kill what telemetry you can?

Firstly microsoft is more than just windows, yes microsofts software is a privacy AND security nightmare but I love it when people use this argument... do you even know what data microsoft software collects? do you know what data is sent and where? Do you know how it is stored and for how long? You might want to look into that before calling 1984.

As for clutter, I realize this may be a quirk, perhaps a remnant of a christian upbringing but I do not like seeing porn outside of its own time and place. It's somewhat related to this phenomena:

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“If you notice the self-criticism, think about where this comes from—question the messages and see if there are any alternatives that are healthier, or if your narratives need updating,”

As I said...

Honestly from your replies it seems like your problem is with you not being comfortable with and accepting who you are and nothing to do with portable games or privacy or clutter.
That is something only you or you and a little help can fix.

Not starting a thread asking ALL porn game devs to modify their games....
Also seeing a game name in the registry is not porn, that's like complaining you see "girls! girls! girls" on a strip club on your way home....

And although I may not need privacy, porn is legal and my PC is mine alone, others may. I'd think many do.

How many of those do you think have people digging through their pc's registry to see if they have played porn games?
If you read these forums, you'd know a lot of people playing these games can't even find their saves....


So at the end of the day, you don't need privacy, porn is legal where you live and it's your own private PC, which brings us back to you asking ALL porn game devs to modify their games because YOU have an issue with what YOU are doing...

 

[anne O'nymous]

Here is another example, Windows is a privacy nightmare. Do you sign off all your data to Mr. Gates or do you do your best to kill what telemetry you can?

This is the most ridiculous possible argument to explain your thread.

Whatever where the data are saved, if telemetry there's, it will gather and send the information anyway.
You are angry because you're convinced that Windows will tell the world that you have an "AppData/Roaming/renPy/BoB-1550464321" directory, while you totally discard the issue when Morphnet explain you that Windows can possibly tell the world that you are playing a game named "Banking on Bella", including at what time, frequency, and for how long, you played it.
It's as ridiculous as worrying because you fear what people will say about the fact that you haven't changed your socks in two days, while you're also not wearing pants. You expose your underwear to the world, but only care about your socks...

If you were really as concerned about this kind of issues than you want us to believe, you would have a double level IP filter. One on your computer, to filter the connections at application level, and one outside of it, because you're clearly the kind of person convinced that Windows' telemetry would bypass the first one.
Then your complaint would looks more credible, and you would be consistent regarding your fear. And, of course, then you wouldn't care a single second where games store their data, knowing that you solved the real issue instead of trying to fix something that isn't even a side effect.

It's the reason why almost everyone assumed that you are sharing your computer, or use one that someone else could look at. Because it's the only case where your complaint is rational and coherent.

And although I may not need privacy, porn is legal and my PC is mine alone, others may. I'd think many do.

What fallback to the basic: If you're ashamed of what you are doing, or fear that someone may discover it, don't do it.

You're expected to be a grown adult to be here, and grown adults assume their acts and their possible consequences.


Edit:

If the games were portable it would be easier to know the location for sharing them, any emergencies in the OS wouldn't impact them, everything you need related to that game would be in that game's folder, seems convenient and easier to understand to me. Why is that bad or difficult to do?

It's neither bad, nor difficult, just ridiculous.

Regarding the sharing part, what you want to share is the game, not the data regarding your own playthrough. Therefore, keeping the data strictly outside of the game directory is what is needed.
As for the "emergencies in the OS" part, it's way better, and easier, to move the whole AppData (for Windows) folder, than to browse the TB of data in your hard drive(s) to find and move all the small bit of data that you need to keep.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

Instead, I'd like to shift to another question that I actually do not know the answer to: Why not? If the games were portable it would be easier to know the location for sharing them, any emergencies in the OS wouldn't impact them, everything you need related to that game would be in that game's folder, seems convenient and easier to understand to me. Why is that bad or difficult to do?

Simple answer? It's far easier for the player. Using Renpy as an example, you can just delete the game, come back to it months later, and your save is still right there without you having to do anything at all.

 

[eugeneloza]

While making the app truly portable is possible, you need to understand that it doesn't solve the problem and creates a lot of complications:

1. You cannot hide something in Windows unless you use a good sandbox environment. Just Ctrl+F in Registry Editor and you'll be surprised to discover that Windows took a note there of every EXE you have launched many years ago. Check your antivirus/firewall logs, you'll find your EXE there too.
2. You need to guarantee that the game folder is fully writeable by the local user. Which sometimes is not the case. There is a folder specifically dedicated to guarantee writeable safe space for the app (AppData in modern Windowses, .config in *Nixes). It takes a bit more advanced user to fiddle with regular folder permissions. It's by far easier to explain to users that to delete the data, go to C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local(Low) and delete the folder named "mysuperawesomegame", than to explain that they need to move the game from Desktop to root of some drive, right-click it, check permissions tab, make sure current user has read and write permissions, if not - change those and apply the changes. On some OSes like Android/iOS the game "folder" isn't even writeable at all by any default; if you are making a cross-platform app you'll need to implement two independent solutions which will result in a set of independent bugs.
3. As most NSFW games are WIPs - you'll have a hard time upgrading your game version losing all the progress if care not taken to copy the save/settings files too.

Yeah, Unity's PlayerPrefs is the worst possible solution. But note the note about "more advanced users" above. Some (most?) games are made by beginners. And the question often sounds like "will this game be made or not" not "if save this game in current folder or in registry", in some sense you aren't choosing between "game done perfect" and "game done poorly" but between "game done" and "game not existing".

 

[gingisep]

This is the most ridiculous possible argument to explain your thread.

Whatever where the data are saved, if telemetry there's, it will gather and send the information anyway.

Sandboxing allows to limit access to connection interface, and this is what I do with most of the offline games I play.

You are angry because you're convinced that Windows will tell the world that you have an "AppData/Roaming/renPy/BoB-1550464321" directory, while you totally discard the issue when Morphnet explain you that Windows can possibly tell the world that you are playing a game named "Banking on Bella", including at what time, frequency, and for how long, you played it.

This one I can agree with, yet the original concern was not for the OS to work as wiretap, but other games being active wiretaps.

By coincidence, this is also how virus and trojans works.

 

[beerpig]

I get the OP but the issue is deeper.

Keeping program files and user data separated is a standard practice, for at least three reasons: 1) restrict writing access to executables to avoid exposing them to malware, 2) easier backup of user data, and 3) let multiple users share the same program files.

As such it's completely understandable that porn game devs stick to this, even if it means needs to hide at least two separated directories to hide the game.

What game devs should not be doing is:

• to plop user data in "random" locations. For example, in Linux the user data should be all inside $HOME/.config (configuration files), $HOME/.local/share (files that the user shouldn't edit directly), or some directory like this. Same deal with Windows and OS X, put things in the right directories so the user can find them later on.
• Program files should not require an extremely specific path, such as /usr/games or what have you. So if the user wants to run it from his home folder, even if slightly insecure, so be it.
• Any sort of opt-out outbound data. It should be always opt-in; ask the user before sending info, don't just assume that it's OK.

Additionally: if you need further privacy for your junk, either restrict access to your user account or stick all the junk that you want to hide inside a virtual machine.

 

[TurtleGiroflex]

People on the internet complain so often about privacy issues while there are actual means and tools to guarantee your privacy already, although not always it'll be pleasant, comfortable or even affordable. Because shock, there is a trade of.

People often complain about Google when there are actually dozens of browsers more focused on privacy and anonymity, which for instance is the case of Tor Browser. One that does its job so well that imo creates another kind of problem, which is hiding identity of actual criminals.

Same goes for windows complains, there are tons of forks of linux that aims to be more privacy-wise, and its being open-source you have a more clear vision of its problems. Hell, you can even make your own fork if you have the knowledge to do so.

So you could just run a fork of linux with windows running inside a virtual machine, with a vpn running on the linux layer camouflaging the whole connection. Or do it better, use linux and run two layers of virtual machines with windows.

But again, why would you want to do that? Why would you concern so much to hide that you play "Blowjob Simulator" for 12h a day and its saved under My documents while you may be a common person and porn games are allowed in your country?

I mean, why would you think a big tech, would concern about what a single person do? All they want are the statistics, and thats all we are for them, a small part of a percentage.

You know nothing of my worries. I just don't want to be reminded of my random degenerate urges while I troubleshoot problems. I want a clean break sometimes.

But yeah, i am sorry. You were right and i see now that i know nothing about your worries.
While i thought it was a matter of sharing a computer with other people i was clearly wrong. I don't get at all why all the fuss.

But as i said up there, the tools and means to do what you want are already out there. But there is a trade of, it will be more troublesome, it may use more resources of your machine, it may run glitches and bugs in cases of sandbox.. But as i said, its a trade of.

 

[morphnet]

I'm hearing why it doesn't matter, I don't agree but I think that line of questioning is a waste of time, we're not changing each other's minds and you seem to struggle with the idea I'd want something that I think may be good in general even if I personally don't have a practical need for it. Emotional and psychological needs be damned.

I was not trying to change your mind, I was pointing out that the request you made was ridiculous and that your problem had nothing to do with your request so even if by some miracle your request had been fulfilled you would still have your problem.
what your thread should have been called is " Help me find ways to not think about what I jerk off to until I jerk off to it again"

You can change the narrative as much as you want but this thread was a personal request for your personal issues and changing it now to be a good Samaritan call to help all those poor porn people just makes it all the more ridiculous.

Instead, I'd like to shift to another question that I actually do not know the answer to: Why not? If the games were portable it would be easier to know the location for sharing them, any emergencies in the OS wouldn't impact them, everything you need related to that game would be in that game's folder, seems convenient and easier to understand to me. Why is that bad or difficult to do?

Others have done a great job answering this but seeing as how you asked I'll add my 2 cents as well.

Location : Portable does not make it easier to "know" the location this is an assumption on your part based on your handling of your folders / files. I have a hentai folder and a external only for porn games. Inside my hentai folder I have folders for Japanese games, in there I have folders for the different genres and mix folders for games with multi-genres
Western games, in there I have folders for the different genres and mix folders for games with multi-genres

Opening explorer, opening D drive, opening hentai folder, opening western games folder, opening mix 1, closing mix 1, opening mix 3, opening grandma's house folder, doubling clicking exe....
Yup that makes life easier....

It is far easier to installed them into program files and just use the icon on the desktop that way they are all in one place.
Just off the top of my head, some people dump all games in one folder, some have most in one folder and their favorites in another, some have them sorted by date or updates and who knows what other methods people use.

Now given that you clearly want to keep the games separate from your main drive/folders, if it was portable and your second/backup drive dies you loose the game, your settings AND all your saves. Using a separate location for config files and saves means if you loose your drive you just need to download the game again and pick up where you left off....

FYI if you right-click a desktop icon you can open a file location. That seems easier AND faster than going to explorer and drives and folders....

I'm also going to give you an example now, there is a game on this site that requires a player to save at a save screen because the game comes in separate parts / folders and the player needs that save to start the next part.
The amount of players unable to grasp this and that keep reporting the game as broken is ridiculous and that is without having to interact with any files.

Now with your request, these players would have to copy saves from one folder to another and given that they can't even save at the right time / screen, what are the chances they would see...


and pick the right save to move to the new folder?
You might also want to search for the term clipboard, given the worries for tracks!

Sharing: hardly applies to the masses which is what you have now switched your focus too but sure....
As others have stated, you are sharing the game files NOT your config files, save files etc. In fact sharing your settings could be a real pain i.e. starting a rpgmaker game in full screen etc. etc.
Since all the game files are in the archive / folder you downloaded sharing is NOT a problem.... and yes that includes games that need to be installed.

Emergencies in the OS: this one makes NO SENSE! if the OS breaks / crashes / gets infected and the restore point does NOT work you loose the game but your saves are still safe and lets be fair here, if you loose your OS, your porn games are the least of your worries... Now if you had sector corruption / bad sectors that would affect portable and or installed games so being portable would not help.

Everything related to the game in the game folder : Another assumption on your part and a poor one at that. Most gamers have NO idea what is needed for their games to run until something breaks and they are told (sometimes not very clearly) what is needed to get them running again.
Simple things like the correct version of directX, .NET, python, Java etc. but you are saying these player would know every file a game needs and at a glance will be able to tell they are all there in the game folder?
Just look at some people trying to explain to players how to copy saves into their save folder in rpgmakers games, the save folder is IN the game folder and it still takes a few tries sometimes.

Why is that bad or difficult to do?

Software has become stupid friendly for a reason, users are often too lazy or stupid to be trusted with their own apps, files and folders. Do I support the "IDEA" of people learning more about the app, software they use and learning the bare minimum of what the app, software actually does which would make "portable" a slightly more viable option? Yes I do!!!
Will that ever happen? No!

Making ALL porn games portable is NOT a realistic, safe or viable option.

 

[oaiki]

you can't read that from a single line of config setting. you have to look at the code where this setting is used to know what will happen. or you can read the documentation where it says what will happen

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I stand corrected. However, there is no mention of config.savedir, which appears to be dependent on config.save_directory (console screenshot attached), in options.rpy nor in any of the scripts deployed by Ren’Py when creating a game project; so why would a Dev go against the recommendations accompanying config.save_directory?

Also, as you clearly point out, the

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for config.save_directory specifically recommends not setting it to None.

As I mentioned in my post most Ren'Py Games Devs are not interested in the mechanics of the engine, they are happy enough to just develop their game; there are few reasons to tinker with Ren’Py internals particularly as they may break the game and the saves in future updates.

 

[hoshimota]

I dunno man, it sounds like maybe you should just go back to whacking it to magazines and VHS tapes to be safe

 

[gingisep]

I was not trying to change your mind, I was pointing out that the request you made was ridiculous and that your problem had nothing to do with your request so even if by some miracle your request had been fulfilled you would still have your problem.

You can tell this even if people provided actual working solution to the issue, and that part of security development has its own industry?

I really mean it: asking for the moon might not actually take you there, but works as a medium for people to improve their vision of what is doable or not.

The user proposed this directly to the developers, while another front of user replied it's more related to your preferred OS setup and isolation level.
That improved knowledge on both parts.

There are plenty of things a game development firm can do, like ship the software with an actual "security sandboxing configuration" that does not overlap with other software.

Joking, of curse they can't do it, they barely have time to ship actual game features.

I dunno man, it sounds like maybe you should just go back to whacking it to magazines and VHS tapes to be safe

Funny thing that an actual form of security improvement is seen as a regression.
It's really true that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

 

[40C72]

The solution to this was mentioned already: use a sandbox. A VM will obviously separate the "naughty" files from the main operating system. For true portability use Sandboxie, which effectively does the same thing but puts all the user files in a "Sandbox" folder that can be moved to an external drive. When all's done there's zero leftovers on your system

Also, this is a really stupid gripe to have to begin with. Every single program you run will affect your system in some way. If you monitor the file operations a program makes (you can test this yourself with something like SysInternal's Process Monitor) you'll see that they open, read, and change registry keys and write to temporary files on disk. This is unavoidable. Don't like it? Use a sandbox/full-blown Virtual Machine or dualboot another system.
Make sure to do a complete restart after you whack it--wouldn't want any pesky traces of porn games hanging around in memory, right?

And, as other people already said, complain to the game engine developers. Their engines are the bits responsible for dirtying your blessed C drive with pornographic saves. I'd also reconsider why you have this problem. Are you afraid of your parents/girlfriend finding out? I can guarantee they're not dissecting your disk trying to find ".\CockMaster\SexyGayStepbrother.save". I can also guarantee that glowies are not monitoring your computer waiting to bust down your door for having sexual material

And, if you're genuinely worried about privacy/security (as in, companies profiling you), I get it--I'm a huge advocate for privacy in the digital age and compartmentalise every application just to be safe (which everyone should do anyway)--a visual novel porn game is not going to compromise you privacy or security wise. Actual steps to take would be whitelisting internet access, minimising telemetry where possible, using OS applications, switching away from big companies, using email aliasing services, using a non-cloud password manager, using a hardened browser with a common fingerprint (LibreWolf, Tor), etc.

But what do I know; you should probably wipe the drive and then microwave just to make sure no crusty bits are hiding anywhere in your system

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

And, if you're genuinely worried about privacy/security (as in, companies profiling you), I get it--I'm a huge advocate for privacy in the digital age and compartmentalise every application just to be safe (which everyone should do anyway)--a visual novel porn game is not going to compromise you privacy or security wise. Actual steps to take would be whitelisting internet access, minimising telemetry where possible, using OS applications, switching away from big companies, using email aliasing services, using a non-cloud password manager, using a hardened browser with a common fingerprint (LibreWolf, Tor), etc.

I wanna throw in some additional, and general, PC advice with this point. If you're on windows, get Winaero tweaker. Thank me later.