For
ME this exactly the turn off. I dont see any benefit in that walking. There is nothing that changes. In the end I have to walk from A to B to trigger event X. In the VN I just click to trigger X (or there is this horrible "free-roaming" present and I have to click-walk to trigger event X
). In 99% of all RPGM (and "free-roaming" VNs) the movement doesn't add anything meaningful. As a mechanic it is just a click that takes longer and the user has to find where the trigger is.
Walking in a map only adds to the gameplay when the walking itself is a form of decision making. When there are more than 1 trigger at any given time, or events I can miss. As long as there is only one trigger to avtivate, the walking has no meaning. It is just stretching the playtime. Some VN ports of RPGM games show that perfectly - they are the same games, just without that tideous running and a streamlined and (more) fluid gameflow.
IMHO as a designer you have to think about the system you want and/or need. Always question yourself with a simple question. Does that add anything meaningful to my game? - If the answer is yes, fine. No ... dont add it ^^ And as I said, in the majority of RPGM and movement VNs there is nothing that the movement adds to the game. Nothing for the player. There are a few exceptions where you have more options at any (mostly) given time and the movement of the player is part of the decisions that impact the gameplay. But that is hard work and hard to do right. I think in High Life and The DeLuca Family it is at least not useless - but at least currently The DeLuca Family could work without that and could be played as a VN without movement with just some minor adjustments. And that are the better ones that I can think of ...
And yes. Movement can add something to the feeling of the game even without adding anything to the gameplay. But in most cases it is just there to stretch time or add grinding.
I dont know why so many devs think they have to add more gameplay into their VNs. Maybe because they think the are more game than without it. To many games try to make a business simulation with the foundation of a VN. I think there is a reason why most good games of that genre are not famous for there stories ^^ And believe me, as a german I played alot of them in the 90s ^^ They are mechanic/system driven games. They have to have a great mechanical structure and only after that you can try to add a story to this. I think you can build such a game, but that has to be a simulation of any kind first, and then you can add a lewd story to this. And I dont think that this genre is the perfect spot for this. And yes, I think a game like "Die Fugger 2" (dont know the english title) with more explicit nudity and sex could work perfectly. They even tried it with games like "Wet - Sexy Empire" but that was not a good game, because the systems and mechanics where flat and got repetitive very quickly.
Ok ... but I get in rambling mode ... so I cut it here ^^
When you think that RPGM is the better choice for you to make your games that is perfectly fine. For ME these games are not fun to play, because I hate it that I have to search for the trigger to continue. Even worse when you get the answer "just use the walktrhough or hint system". Both of that are lazy and bad game design. As soon as it is not obvious (or at least easy to understand with some thinking) what and where to do next, its a failure. And yes when I remember correctly that wasnt a problem in your game ... but I am not sure (sorry). But than you have the other "problems" with RPMG. The horrible audio menu (I have to set the volume via windows settings to 2% and ingame on 20) and every game starts with 100!!. Then there is that save system where you need more clicks to save/load than to shut down you whole system. Most games use that horrible 4:3 ratio and are laggy even on good PCs.
And again ... sorry. Now its over.
Keep up your good work and maybe in the future you or someone make a Renpy/VN version of the game
Edit: Any spelling or grammatical error is an expression of my individual personality and is intended as a statement for my free spirit. Deal with it ^^