Are VNs popular because they're easy to make or because a majority of the audience enjoys them?

[polaris_spirit]

As I've developed my own game, I often checked out the most popular NSFW games on itch.io and here, and it seems like the majority of them are VNs. I have to wonder if VNs are popular because they're easy to make for devs or because the porn game audience enjoys them. The two games I'm developing are a JRPG and an FPS built on GZDOOM, but I do question how much gameplay the average person wants to play through before they get to the porn. Half an hour? An hour? I tried to time the quests in my JRPG so that its about 30 minutes between porn scenes, and the player can always set the difficulty to easy and use a certain item to escape combat if they really don't want to engage with the gameplay.

 

[tanstaafl]

Both. AVNs are by far the easiest to make of this type of game other than pure text based, but on top of that, people like stories. Not everyone, but enough that they will remain popular.

 

[polaris_spirit]

That makes sense too. There must be a pretty significant portion of the audience who come looking for character/story rather than gameplay.

 

[prpa]

Both. AVNs are by far the easiest to make of this type of game other than pure text based, but on top of that, people like stories. Not everyone, but enough that they will remain popular.

Yes, I just enjoy getting lost in a good or at least we'll written story. That’s actually why I struggle with a lot of gameplay segments; they tend to pull me out of the experience.

Back in the day, there weren’t many pure visual novels in English, so I ended up playing a lot of RPG Maker games instead. The problem was, just when the story was getting really interesting, I'd hit this long stretch of walking through maps full of random encounters. It totally broke the flow and made it hard to stay invested.

 

[polaris_spirit]

Yes, I just enjoy getting lost in a good or at least we'll written story. That’s actually why I struggle with a lot of gameplay segments; they tend to pull me out of the experience.

Back in the day, there weren’t many pure visual novels in English, so I ended up playing a lot of RPG Maker games instead. The problem was, just when the story was getting really interesting, I'd hit this long stretch of walking through maps full of random encounters. It totally broke the flow and made it hard to stay invested.

That's no good! I was planning on implementing cheat codes that would allow the player to turn off encounters completely, but I was going to make cheats a Patreon subscriber benefit.
Thanks for your input BTW

 

[Zoe Archangel]

That's no good! I was planning on implementing cheat codes that would allow the player to turn off encounters completely, but I was going to make cheats a Patreon subscriber benefit.
Thanks for your input BTW

Asking people to pay you money so they don't have to play your game is a questionable business model. If you recognize that part of your game isn't fun/interesting, you should improve it or remove it.

As for my opinion, don't waste your time with standard rpgmaker combat. If you aren't doing something interesting, like in Eushully games for example, just stick to a VN. The best adult games are almost entirely either VNs or games that are good despite their "gameplay," not because of it.

 

[Doorknob22]

Game mechanisms and pornography do not naturally belong together. Some people just want to fap and not miss pussy because they have shitty reflexes or suck at solving puzzles. An AVN is a much more natural medium for delivering porn than a proper game.

 

[Goeffel]

I tried to time the quests in my JRPG so that its about 30 minutes between porn scenes,

the very best to me though is when I can time it (or at least some of it) myself. It is typically not every 30 minutes that I want some sexy sth., sometimes i want to play more, sometimes I want to read story, sometimes sex scene.

But it seems hard to pull off, and I think it may not be suitable for every game/story.

 

[polaris_spirit]

the very best to me though is when I can time it (or at least some of it) myself. It is typically not every 30 minutes that I want some sexy sth., sometimes i want to play more, sometimes I want to read story, sometimes sex scene.

But it seems hard to pull off, and I think it may not be suitable for every game/story.

Very true. My game has a gallery system that you can view whenever you like, so you can always watch any scene again if you weren't in the mood for it the first time it came up.

 

[MissCougar]

I think a VN hits good because under the right conditions it can attract a good artist who might not be the best coder and good art can be very enticing for people!

If you are a bad artist though I don't think any tool will help you really.

 

[ventebanger]

It is relatively easy to stitch up an AVN, especially if it's kinetic. But it's easy to underestimate the challenge of putting together a good story and writing, something the audience craves, and something many AVNs severely lack.

 

[Letstryitout]

I would think the majority(not professional gooners out there) wouldn't want to spend time on the sandbox while their other hand is on their shaft, especially if it's lubed up. But also, sandbox tend to consume more time and investment, people may not want to give that time to masturbating.

Honestly, I would say anyone who is commenting under the general discussion subforum is not the majority, but it's the experienced gooners who spend quite a bit of time here.

 

[polaris_spirit]

I would think the majority(not professional gooners out there) wouldn't want to spend time on the sandbox while their other hand is on their shaft, especially if it's lubed up. But also, sandbox tend to consume more time and investment, people may not want to give that time to masturbating.

Honestly, I would say anyone who is commenting under the general discussion subforum is not the majority, but it's the experienced gooners who spend quite a bit of time here.

Yes, it definitely seems to me like its a matter of managing expectations. Essentially my aim is it to let the player know my game isn't the kind where you can immediately whip out your junk and get to work. You have to take some time to learn about the world and the characters, do some quests, then you'll get to the fap material. My hope is that there's an audience for that kind of thing tho.

 

[Letstryitout]

Yes, it definitely seems to me like its a matter of managing expectations. Essentially my aim is it to let the player know my game isn't the kind where you can immediately whip out your junk and get to work. You have to take some time to learn about the world and the characters, do some quests, then you'll get to the fap material. My hope is that there's an audience for that kind of thing tho.

Well, then you have your work cut out for you. You need to make the player want to play your game and not just the scenes.

I'll say NLT games and Siren's Domain games are interesting where it's puzzle/mystery. While, "a Struggle with sin" and "Peasant Quest" is more RPG-like. While something like Renryuu Ascension is an RPG/Management mix. While most Renpy stuff depends on the Management style sandbox I'll give example of (Mist). Obv we have some gems from Japanese sides like Seed of the Dead 2, which is a shooter. These would be examples from me that I consider interesting sandbox.

Good luck. Hopefully, you will create something cool, and we recommend a game like yours in the future.