Another random joins the struggle

[Aramitz]

Heya,
I discovered this site a few months ago and I don't really remember how, but I'm glad I found it.
Trying games allowed me to discover a lot of things, whether related to gameplay, mechanics, art, writing, or specific kinks, that really piss me off.
And a few nice finds, among all the rest, of course

I do enjoy games that are vaguely close to actual games (aka with some mechanics, and not pure novels), where you have to struggle to survive/thrive/whatever. My favorite probably being Claire's Quest, which is surprising considering how bad my experience with RPGMaker is; but this one is a gem; too bad its development is that slow, and split between two projets...
I also liked Trap Quest and Degrees of Lewdity, even if both have their limits. I like the fact that you have quite a strong influence on what happens to your character (even if you "lose"), whether by disabling specific fetishes, or by influencing your imposed partner (contrary to some games having various sex stats/counters, but where each enemy has a specific scene you have no influence on, meaning to avoid specific content you have to basically ignore most of the mobs).

Frankly, my dream game might be an erotic hack'n'slash with the possibility to theorycraft various character builds, fueled by some sweet loot, and enough variety in scenes so you can influence what happens to your character even in defeat. I don't know if that exists, though, to be frank.

And when I'm not here to enrich my culture of video games and game mechanics, or my knowledge of the english language, I'm also trying to see what kind of engine would be suitable for a possible project, considering I'm not an artist, so I can not provide enough art to decently use art-heavy engines (like Ren'Py ?). Twine might be a decent start, but I don't know what kind of limitations it suffers from.

I don't really expect answers to these questions, since I am basically asking very specific questions on a very general subforum, on a topic with an unrelated title, but well, who knows...

 

[Winterfire]

I'm also trying to see what kind of engine would be suitable for a possible project, considering I'm not an artist, so I can not provide enough art to decently use art-heavy engines (like Ren'Py ?). Twine might be a decent start, but I don't know what kind of limitations it suffers from.

I don't really expect answers to these questions, since I am basically asking very specific questions on a very general subforum, on a topic with an unrelated title, but well, who knows...

I am not an artist either and I have used both Ren'Py and Unity3D.
Twine is good and pretty common for text based games.

Truth to be told, you did not offer much information, choosing a Game Engine depends on many factors including what you like, languages you are familiar with, and so on.

I personally like Unity3D so I would probably make even a text based game there, Lilith's throne is a pretty successful text based game and uses Java.

If you do not have any personal preference nor a language you are particular familiar with, I would say go for twine.

 

[Aramitz]

Thanks for your reply, @Winterfire .
My issue is that I don't really know the core features & limitations of these engines. My very limited knowledge comes from the few games I've briefly played that were using said engine.
So, basically, in my head, Ren'Py is focused on VNs (that are generally quite linear). I don't really know about Unity3D, but considering the "3D" in its name, I don't know if that could work.

To try to summarize what I'd like to eventually do in my wildest hypothetical dreams, I'd like something quite sandbox-y where you can visit various locations/biomes to trigger semi-random events (e.g. CoC), with a more developped combat system (including both classic combat & erotic combat moves), and influence your character directly through it's loot/gear, and indirectly through actions both initiated by you or others (e.g. developping kinks/addictions...). Since it's already quite wide, going for text-based and adding 2d art (other characters / monsters) after seems way more reasonnable than trying to add animations or art on everything, considering I'm not particularly wealthy (also, I personnaly majorly turned off by 3D art in general)
Which is why I looked at Twine. But again, since I don't really know the rest, I'm unsure. Also, I don't know if one can find ready-to-use quality of life modules for said engines, in order to get a few basic UI/QoL features without always reinventing the wheel.

Of course, this is clearly not an emergency. I have a regular job I intend to keep, which limits my time, and there is already a lot of design work to do (on paper or on a blog of some sorts, I guess, to keep a track of what I'm doing / plan to do, and why) before even trying to start to implement something.

Anyway, thanks again for your help.

 

[Winterfire]

The real answer is more complex than this but to keep it brief and simple: They have no limitations, the only limitation is the developer's knowledge (about the language and engine both).

Ren'Py is most commonly used for Visual Novels, the linear ones are called Kinetic Visual Novels whereas those that offer choices and a branching story are far from being linear.
You can, of course, make a different genre with Ren'Py too but you might find other game engines easier to use if you were to make a top down RPG, for instance.

As for Unity, I made a mistake calling it Unity3D, I remember that it used to be called like that (Probably remember wrong) but it is generally called simply "Unity".
It is a general purpose game engine and you can pretty much make anything you have in mind with it: If you take a look at the game I am making (in my signature), you can see that I am making a 2D RPG with it but a mini game also uses 3D.

Your idea seems pretty doable but I am quickly noticing that it would be a lot to keep track of, not a problem but you should totally consider writing a game design first.
I have never used Twine but I am fairly sure it could handle it, same goes for Unity.

My suggestion is: Download Twine and make something simple with it, you do not even have to publish it, simply make something quick, easy and simple and then "evolve" from there.
Despite me saying that there is no limitation, the best way is to see that for yourself by using the engine and should you not like it, it will not be too late to switch to something else you are comfortable with.
Starting such a big project with those doubts would be an over-kill imho.

 

[Aramitz]

I completely agree with you regarding how important design is.
I do realize it will take a lot of time to get even à prototype working, and even more to get something remotely FUN.
I however am not bound by time contraints and I am mainly doing this as a hobby and a challenge.
I think that basic modules, like combat, can be in a working condition in a reasonable future, since once the underlying systems are in place, the rest, aka adding and balancing content, can be done progressively. Meaning I can work on a proof of concept like you suggest and still get something that can grow into an actual game.

I will probably take advantage of the design period to gather more information about the various engines available.

Thanks again for your comments.