Biggest aspect lacking most in adult games?

[RomanHume]

interact with characters in either a non-erotic or erotic way at our discretion but keeps a logical story.

This jumped out at me because when we started our game we had a very binary mind-set of, "Players will either want to fuck this character, nor not want to fuck this character." And so our game featured a mechanic where you could just turn off a character and move on with the ones you enjoyed.

It never once occurred to us in our simple brains that there would be players who would want to continue interacting with a character and not have sex with them. But we learned later that it is indeed something that players want. Unfortunately we've got too much on our plate already to go back and write in new branches that allow for this possibility.

But we've already decided that when this game is done and we start on the next, we're definitely going to account for that option and work it in.

We came at this with zero experience but it's been a fascinating ride learning about the different groups of players surrounding these types of adult games.

 

[Segnbora]

The biggest flaw in adult games is that they so rarely answer the question "why?" with anything other than "sex good, sex nice, want sex."

Take two open/swinging/NTR games, for example: The Adventurous Couple and Because I Love Her. In the former, we know they opened up their relationship, but at this stage the MC has been (if you make certain choices) relentlessly cheating on his wife, and (if you make certain choices) she's finally doing the same. At this point, I need to know why. Have they gone too far? Are they drifting apart? What would possess the female NPC to (spoilers, but I'm not gonna hide them) bang the dude's father behind his back or in direct contravention of his wishes? Other than the fact that he's hung like a stallion, I have no reason to understand her behavior. I can pretty easily intuit several, but the game's not giving one to me.

In the latter — and I expect this will become clearer in the imminent update — the girlfriend is essentially incapable of resisting the BBC once it's offered. Why? Because the MC is having fantasies about other men? Okay, but why is she into it so soon, so quickly, so easily?

Triangle gives us a largely realistic look into an MFF threesome, and I fully believe the motivations of the girlfriend and the young blonde ward. But why is the MC cheating on his sexy, open-minded, bisexual girlfriend? We never get an answer; it just resolves so we can move on to the threesome and he gets off (pun intended) scot-free.

This is the brilliance of games like Depraved Awakening or Wicked Choices: the characters are fucking for reasons. Even if the actual sex is utterly depraved, I know why every character involved is naked and frictiony. I know why a zillion MCs want to have sex, but I almost never know why the NPCs want to have sex. Especially transgressive sex.

I realize this is just a long-winded way of blaming the writing and the characterization. There will always be games where it's just "hot woman, fuck hot woman," and that's fine. Great, in fact. But games with more ambition have a higher bar to clear, and they rarely do.

 

[quinfax]

I probably don't really have much to offer but i'll throw in a few pennies.

1. A coherent story - Pretty straightforward
2. Atmosphere - A lot of stories don't really set this up well.
3. Motivations - Why do we or people do what they do.
4. Diverse cast - I feel like to many games have the same 2 or 3 types of characters. Spruce it up the world is a diverse place.
5. Choices that matter or at least are hilarious. i don't mind some dead choices as long as you get a humorous reaction from making certain choices. Dragon quest likes to do this.

I know I didn't go into super detail. But I feel these are lacking in a lot of adult games.

Like many i think the winds of changing are slowly coming. Let's make adult games some more than meet and fuck.

Excelsior

 

[Domiek]

This jumped out at me because when we started our game we had a very binary mind-set of, "Players will either want to fuck this character, nor not want to fuck this character." And so our game featured a mechanic where you could just turn off a character and move on with the ones you enjoyed.

It never once occurred to us in our simple brains that there would be players who would want to continue interacting with a character and not have sex with them. But we learned later that it is indeed something that players want. Unfortunately we've got too much on our plate already to go back and write in new branches that allow for this possibility.

But we've already decided that when this game is done and we start on the next, we're definitely going to account for that option and work it in.

We came at this with zero experience but it's been a fascinating ride learning about the different groups of players surrounding these types of adult games.

This one caught me off guard. A version ago I released an Amy focused update where you essentially get over the last sexual hurdles and make her yours so to speak. I recieved quite a few messages begging me to continue developing content for her even though I had just "completed" her story.

I was like whaaaaaat? Her story is JUST getting past the introduction stage! Idk if that concern was caused by peoples past experience with other games, or because sandbox/map travel games are so closely associated with shallow harems and grind fests.

 

[LeopoldWilliamReynolds]

This one caught me off guard. A version ago I released an Amy focused update where you essentially get over the last sexual hurdles and make her yours so to speak. I recieved quite a few messages begging me to continue developing content for her even though I had just "completed" her story.

I was like whaaaaaat? Her story is JUST getting past the introduction stage! Idk if that concern was caused by peoples past experience with other games, or because sandbox/map travel games are so closely associated with shallow harems and grind fests.

I'm so glad you said that because that's also a pet peeve of mine. The story doesn't necessarily end once sex is had. There's so much more to tell. I think this is because there are some developers who have never had sex before and don't realize that the endgame isn't sleeping with someone for the first time. That's also why some animations are so clunky (not gonna name any names), with characters awkwardly porking and never doing things that people who have sex actually (like kissing for example!!). It's sad to see games where the sex is basically just porn style fucking with exaggerated positions and no intimacy.

 

[RomanHume]

I'm so glad you said that because that's also a pet peeve of mine. The story doesn't necessarily end once sex is had. There's so much more to tell. I think this is because there are some developers who have never had sex before and don't realize that the endgame isn't sleeping with someone for the first time. That's also why some animations are so clunky (not gonna name any names), with characters awkwardly porking and never doing things that people who have sex actually (like kissing for example!!). It's sad to see games where the sex is basically just porn style fucking with exaggerated positions and no intimacy.

This I agree with 100%. We made the conscious decision to make sure the sex happens early, often, and that it's part of the overall story. We wanted it to be more about the development of the relationship, which the sex is of course part of, but that there should be all of this evolution happening around it.

We felt the story shouldn't really start so to speak until after the sex. Because that's when things get interesting. That is where the potential for drama, conflict, romance and all the good things that make a story kick off.

And I think you're right, life experience does play a part of the author's point of view. When all you've ever watched is porn you have a skewed sense of perspective. I groan at the tired old trope of "first a handjob, then a blow job, then you eat her out, then she lets you do anal, and finally after all those hurdles we get to the vaginal sex. I have never been in a relationship or know of anyone whose sexual experience followed that path.

Most of the sex scenes in our story are short and quick at the moment because they happened as a matter of impulse and opportunity between the character and his partner. As the relationships build and the MC and his partners become more intimate with each other, we'll start to explore all of the other fun things people can do having sex. But we wanted a more natural progression than the typical porn style advancement.

 

[Thasd2123sddszDaw]

I think most games, (Especially in the RPGM Games) is missing variety of choices for H content (Tit fuck, vaginal, anal, blowjob) options. Basically making the game bland.
Take Succulence for example, when enslaving a certain male character, its should have an option on how you want to H scene to be, such as blowjob, tit fuck, vaginal, anal or potential gang bang (If their is more then two characters.)
The other would be enslaving certain female character for h scenes as well. (yuri/lesbians scenes)

This is what I want to see in an RPG Hentai game.
1. Choices for sex options
2. Player character enslaving NPC's (Through Mind control, Corruption, domination, blackmailing.)
3. A Diverse cast of characters (Preferable Female Protagonist.)
4. NPC characters stats, (I.e Relationship, Corruption and Lust. the other is percentage on how close you can fully dominate an NPC.)

 

[Domiek]

I'm so glad you said that because that's also a pet peeve of mine. The story doesn't necessarily end once sex is had. There's so much more to tell. I think this is because there are some developers who have never had sex before and don't realize that the endgame isn't sleeping with someone for the first time. That's also why some animations are so clunky (not gonna name any names), with characters awkwardly porking and never doing things that people who have sex actually (like kissing for example!!). It's sad to see games where the sex is basically just porn style fucking with exaggerated positions and no intimacy.

There's a much simpler explanation here. Animations are hard and take a long time to render. They're even more hardware dependent than still renders. It's much easier to animate a single thrusting pelvis than it is to animate two faces kissing with the camera upclose, exposing any flaws in the constantly changing expression.

I know I struggle with this and am trying to improve. That's why the devs with really good animations stand out.

 

[Conviction07]

There's a much simpler explanation here. Animations are hard and take a long time to render. They're even more hardware dependent than still renders. It's much easier to animate a single thrusting pelvis than it is to animate two faces kissing with the camera upclose, exposing any flaws in the constantly changing expression.

I know I struggle with this and am trying to improve. That's why the devs with really good animations stand out.

Eh, I'm perhaps in the minority but I don't really care for animations even if they are at the standard of say Milfy City. Every time I see a game with an animation, all I think is how much I'd rather see 50 or 100 extra renders.

 

[Domiek]

Eh, I'm perhaps in the minority but I don't really care for animations even if they are at the standard of say Milfy City. Every time I see a game with an animation, all I think is how much I'd rather see 50 or 100 extra renders.

The tradeoff for a small animation is a handful of renders at best, not 50. Especially as hardware improves, posing, lighting, writing scenes takes longer than the render itself. But I have seen others share your sentiment as well. I've also seen those who say they wont play any new games if there aren't animations so i guess it really boils down to just preference.

 

[おい！]

Story, Story, Story, sex should take second place, I keep hearing how much time devs spend on games. So why shouldn't they spend time on the story first. Some of the best VN's I have played have very little sex in comparison to the story, it seems to me that a lot of devs seem to focus more of their time on dick and tit size, than a decent story. Instead of making a game grindy have a story that moves on, why should someone have to keep repeating the same conversation 50 times over with the same person, before they can progress.

 

[whiskeyrose]

• Making it a game. Very often there isn't any player interaction or real choice, but rather just "click until you get to porn". 0.1 version renpy games with "choose scene A or scene B" choices aren't gameplay. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it needs something where I have to think in order to play the game. Holding control through events that raise my stats so I can see new scenes isn't gameplay, it just timegates shitty daz renders.
• In the same vein, having the player interact with the characters and having them change in a meaningful capacity. Very often (especially renpy games) will have a system where you talk to a character, and there is a "sex" option which opens up the 7 stairway to heaven scenes. It doesn't matter if you've assfucked this girl in an ally 20 times, the handjob scene is the same.
• Like others have said, having a halfway decent story. The writing in lewd games (mine included) suck ass. The kinda shit that passes as classic here is atrocious. The plot of "I build a relationship with my long lost daughter until she fucks me" is not a good story; I don't care how many scenes there are of me holding hands with my little goblin before she sucks my dick like a pacifier, it's a shit setting.
  • To extend on this, that doesn't mean you need to have a masterpiece of a story, but you need to acknowledge what it is you're making in a lewd game. There are some exceptions to this where the writing is fantastic enough to be a serious item (Wife Trainer is a great example). But by and large what a dev considers to be a "good story" is a plotline about how your single mother decides to fuck you because you do a days worth of yard work.
• Making it a game (again). Going to repeat this because 90% of the shit on the latest updates page is just "skip text to see porn. If I can 100% your game without reading a line of text, its not a game. It doesn't matter if a game mechanic is bad or simple, but goddamn it just needs something there.

 

[K18]

Here's what i thought of.

Male Protagonist with some personality and ambition, not a complete blank slate and he has a backstory where he has something going for him. Instead of commonly being either the short 18-year-old H.S/college student creeper or the overly-awkward gamer geek/plain guy who gets suddenly lucky by chance. And the game doesn't rely heavily on blackmailing, mind control, drugging, sleep groping, voyeurism, or making lots of jokes when interacting with characters.

More variety in settings & themes. Majority of games here setting take place between home, school, & maybe working-place with a day-to-day life/slice of life/contemporary theme. I'd like to more settings & themes ranging from Space Opera/Space Fantasy, Military Sci-fi, High Fantasy, Medieval Fantasy, Gangster, Private Detective, Cyberpunk (with Gangster or Private Detective), Secret Agent/Hitman. Explore more fantasy/supernatural elements.

To go along with settings/themes, i guess plots other than the vague ones of being a student, reacquainting with family, and having sex with the aid of a supernatural being/item. A rise to power story, World domination, famous war hero or sole survivor who's send more dangerous missions, revenge after being royally screwed over and betrayed. Random ideas here.

 

[おい！]

Here's what i thought of.

Male Protagonist with some personality and ambition, not a complete blank slate and he has a backstory where he has something going for him. Instead of commonly being either the short 18-year-old H.S/college student creeper or the overly-awkward gamer geek/plain guy who gets suddenly lucky by chance. And the game doesn't rely heavily on blackmailing, mind control, drugging, sleep groping, voyeurism, or making lots of jokes when interacting with characters.

More variety in settings & themes. Majority of games here setting take place between home, school, & maybe working-place with a day-to-day life/slice of life/contemporary theme. I'd like to more settings & themes ranging from Space Opera/Space Fantasy, Military Sci-fi, High Fantasy, Medieval Fantasy, Gangster, Private Detective, Cyberpunk (with Gangster or Private Detective), Secret Agent/Hitman. Explore more fantasy/supernatural elements.

To go along with settings/themes, i guess plots other than the vague ones of being a student, reacquainting with family, and having sex with the aid of a supernatural being/item. A rise to power story, World domination, famous war hero or sole survivor who's send more dangerous missions, revenge after being royally screwed over and betrayed. Random ideas here.

Do you mean the short 18-year-old with the 18 inch dick?

 

[K18]

Do you mean the short 18-year-old with the 18 inch dick?

I meant games where the MC is shorter than most of the girls, looking like a dwarf and has a scrawny-looking body compared to them.
Speaking of 18 inch, have you seen what the

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from

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?

 

[おい！]

I meant games where the MC is shorter than most of the girls, looking like a dwarf and has a scrawny-looking body compared to them.
Speaking of 18 inch, have you seen what the

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from

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?

Well you could erect a marquee with that.

 

[Nottravis]

Story, Story, Story, sex should take second place, I keep hearing how much time devs spend on games. So why shouldn't they spend time on the story first. Some of the best VN's I have played have very little sex in comparison to the story, it seems to me that a lot of devs seem to focus more of their time on dick and tit size, than a decent story. Instead of making a game grindy have a story that moves on, why should someone have to keep repeating the same conversation 50 times over with the same person, before they can progress.

Totally. Absolutely. 100 per cent concur. I spent a good four months writing my story adding and discarding plot ideas before I settled on the final version. This had the benefit of really letting me get inside the heads of the characters too, which was an absolute boon when it came to their dialogue and understanding what actions they would take in response to the players.

 

[Xalenda]

And the game doesn't rely heavily on blackmailing, mind control, drugging, sleep groping, voyeurism, or making lots of jokes when interacting with characters.

Going to need to disagree with you there, as those are mainly kinks and/or fetishes. I like games that have those kinds of tags included in them, even if they aren't quite what I was hoping they'd be. I believe the word you're looking for that encapsulates all of those tags (and more) to be "corruption".

Blackmail can lead to serious ramifications down the line (Man of the House) where the blackmailed party finds a way out and proceeds to enact their revenge on the MC. Whether this means that the person being blackmailed is forever off the market, or it was just the flag needed to set up their eventual turn, this choice offers various different branches and paths, making it highly versatile in gaming.

Mind-control is usually pretty basic, but it allows for a slow, methodical rearrangement of a person's thoughts, leading from "Ew" to "Ooh" (Snow Daze, Urban Demons). While it can be seen as a simple You-Me-Fuck button, proper utilization is all about dominance and submission in a specific manner.

Drugging is almost like grinding in a lot of games, in that the relationship can only improve thanks to assistance from an outside source (Corruption). This is usually done to create a 'gating' system, but can be done very well if the time is taken to work out what feels like work, and what feels like a slog (Lab Rats 1).

Sleep groping, and to some extent voyeurism, gives the player a chance to see what they can look forward to in the future (pick any game, especially ones using Honey Select or Daz models), and lets them crystallize their goal to fuck "this one" and not "that one".

As for jokes and humor, I have quite a bit more to say on that subject.

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[FranceToast]

Story, Story, Story, sex should take second place, I keep hearing how much time devs spend on games. So why shouldn't they spend time on the story first. Some of the best VN's I have played have very little sex in comparison to the story.

I agree with you 100% on this, and in fact one of my favorite games here still doesn't have any sex in it (yet) but a totally engrossing story...HOWEVER...as someone interested in making my own game, I also tend to notice that in the comments of almost every new game released here is the constant refrain of "is there sex yet?", as well as critiques of the sex that is shown (I saw someone complain about the dick color in one scene) I know these aren't going to be my audience anyways since my planned game(s) will be more about story, but you can see why many just end up working on the sex animations.

 

[おい！]

I agree with you 100% on this, and in fact one of my favorite games here still doesn't have any sex in it (yet) but a totally engrossing story...HOWEVER...as someone interested in making my own game, I also tend to notice that in the comments of almost every new game released here is the constant refrain of "is there sex yet?", as well as critiques of the sex that is shown (I saw someone complain about the dick color in one scene) I know these aren't going to be my audience anyways since my planned game(s) will be more about story, but you can see why many just end up working on the sex animations.

Well you can go to a lot game threads and see comments like: Is there a walk through? Does anyone have a full save? Are there any cheats? etc.............

IMO you cannot please everyone as a dev and if I was a dev and on patreon I would go by the comments made by the donators and not people on this site. After all it is the donators that are bringing in the bucks, not leeches like me.