Beautiful models, broken English : Why I quit so many VNs early

[Midzay]

The best places for more detailed critique are probably the threads themselves, Discord servers, or even starting a dedicated thread asking specifically for story feedback.

I imagine it as a page with short reviews (1-2 paragraphs of personal opinion) from the author. If there are many reviews, you can divide them by games, topics. At the beginning of the page, the author describes: what he likes in games and what he doesn't like.

Other reviewers create their own pages. This way, players can find a reviewer who is close to them. This way, diversity of tastes is supported.

What I think is dangerous: AI has increased the share of garbage. Finding good content has become much more difficult, and it will get worse - more people will use AI. That's why I thought about "human" selection of the best or worst.

If you want, I’d be happy to read through your story and give you my honest thoughts. At the very least, you’ll know exactly how one “demanding reader” perceives it.

I will let you know if you are present on this forum. By the way, the developers themselves are interested in giving games for review.

 

[Matt_Morlan]

I have no doubt that specialized curation with a solid reputation will become more and more important from now on. It’s simply impossible to keep up with all the new releases and play them deeply enough to really understand whether you’re in a good story or not.

 

[Midzay]

I have no doubt that specialized curation with a solid reputation will become more and more important from now on. It’s simply impossible to keep up with all the new releases and play them deeply enough to really understand whether you’re in a good story or not.

Absolutely. I look for "diamonds" in films and paintings that touch on erotica. I am drawn to sharing rare lucky finds in a couple of places.

This thread may be close to what the topic starter is looking for https://f95zone.to/threads/story-first-games.86340/post-17868844

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

The game had a really good launch, but honestly I couldn’t handle all the hate messages at the time. I was going through a rough phase in life and I just didn’t want to deal with it on top of everything else. This forum is great, but honestly beginner devs really need to understand exactly who they’re dealing with here.

I posted my first drawings on deviant art in my teenage years, and worked in HVAC in later years. This place has absolutely no bants compared to that. I get more annoyed by the overly-pedantic posters in general threads than any hater.

 

[Matt_Morlan]

I posted my first drawings on deviant art in my teenage years, and worked in HVAC in later years. This place has absolutely no bants compared to that. I get more annoyed by the overly-pedantic posters in general threads than any hater.

I don’t doubt there are much harsher places out there, and honestly this forum has been a mostly positive experience for me too. But I think if someone is just starting out and doesn’t yet have a thick skin for criticism, it’s really easy to get dragged down by the negativity of a few people.

 

[TribalJOB]

I fell into that trap once, of stopping a story because a bunch of guys thought the protagonist was “impure” just because she had a boyfriend before the MC. I’ll never do that again. The game had a really good launch, but honestly I couldn’t handle all the hate messages at the time. I was going through a rough phase in life and I just didn’t want to deal with it on top of everything else. This forum is great, but honestly beginner devs really need to understand exactly who they’re dealing with here.

Unfortunately, a lot of devs fall into that trap at some point. The pressure can be overwhelming, especially early on.
But now that you’ve got more “maturity” about dealing with that kind of noise, why not pick that story back up and tell it the way you originally intended?

Hmm. I don't know. Solo Leveling is kind of different because it's Korean. I'm not sure how they categorize things. But that technicality aside, I'd still put Solo Leveling in Shounen genre territory because it's still basically an overpowered character that gets this incredible opportunity who usually comes out on top without having to come out of it incredibly scarred, physically or mentally.

Off the top of my head, it'd be like Reincarnated as a Slime vs Berserk. If you're looking for brutal, Berserk is ... oh boy. Berserk still has elements of fantasy but it's still Seinen.

To explain it better, most Shounen I've come across have characters who are overpowered or there's something special about them or they're the "chosen ones". Seinen is more like if regular humans like us were thrust into dark, unusual situations. Does that make sense?

So in Eternum, Orion is basically fulfilling that kind of "chosen one" archetype, he gets special powers to overcome obstacles, and things generally work out for him to move the plot along. He's not your average person.

Whereas in Acting Lessons, the MC may have slightly unusual circumstances (traded crypto and retired really early) but overall he's your regular Joe Schmo with perfectly normal reactions to shitty or crazy things that happen in his life and he just has to deal with them as best as he can with no external, universal force to help him.

Got it. That actually makes the difference between the genres much clearer now, thanks for taking the time to explain it.

Coming back to VNs/AVNs though, my wife and I definitely lean toward stories with darker tones. Whether they’re realistic or not, violent or not, what matters to us is that the protagonists are forced to face the flaws and darker sides of human nature.

As an analogy, we’ve always preferred DC movies like The Dark Knight or Man of Steel over Marvel ones, which usually feel too black-and-white for our taste.

 

[Matt_Morlan]

Unfortunately, a lot of devs fall into that trap at some point. The pressure can be overwhelming, especially early on.
But now that you’ve got more “maturity” about dealing with that kind of noise, why not pick that story back up and tell it the way you originally intended?

It’s not the right time for me yet. I realized cranking out 400 DAZ renders a month is just not the kind of work I enjoy. I put a lot of effort into the images, but my writing still isn’t where I want it to be (which is why this topic caught my attention).
On the other hand, I’ve been making 3D games that aren’t story-driven and I’m way happier doing that. Since I do this as a hobby, I don’t feel the pressure to go one way or another just to please anyone, and for now, that’s good enough.


Anyway, someday I’ll finish it… and it’ll be one hell of a novel! =D

 

[TribalJOB]

It’s not the right time for me yet. I realized cranking out 400 DAZ renders a month is just not the kind of work I enjoy. I put a lot of effort into the images, but my writing still isn’t where I want it to be (which is why this topic caught my attention).
On the other hand, I’ve been making 3D games that aren’t story-driven and I’m way happier doing that. Since I do this as a hobby, I don’t feel the pressure to go one way or another just to please anyone, and for now, that’s good enough.


Anyway, someday I’ll finish it… and it’ll be one hell of a novel! =D

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Damn! Your renders are mouth-watering !
But I can imagine that grinding out 400 renders a month would kill anyone’s motivation .
Especially with all the headaches DAZ seems to cause, judging by the complaints I’ve seen in various threads.
If I ever decide to publish my own story, the visuals will be 100% Blender. Not really an option anyway: having banned windows from my home for over 10 years now .

Anyway, whenever you do feel like coming back to your story, though, I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. “One hell of a novel” sounds like something I’d definitely want to read . Don’t forget to ping me if you ever publish it .