Can anyone else just not be bothered with episodic adult games?

[Gutsandguts]

I don't understand why so many devs opt to build their games these ways, I can understand it from the perspective of being able to finish an episode quickly(somewhat) and make it look like a game is progressing well but in general it always feels like the first few episodes of a game are kind of pointless to play.

Not only that but they're usually buggy as hell and lacklustre in content while later episodes are far superior, which is obviously going to leave a bad first impression. Later episodes will have completely different mechanics, better art and the dev if they're new will generally be a much better developer. The early episodes are usually too borked for it to be worth the effort making them as well rounded as later chapters.
Then there's the issue of having to download parts separately which for the player, for me at least is just an unnecessary hassle.

There's also the problem of some episodes just being complete shit and it feels super lazy, say one where all the content is just you grinding for ages in hopes of a scene then it's just wrapped up and you have to hope the next episode is decent.

All in all it just seems like a poorly thought out way to make an adult game.
Especially if they're doing it just for the sake of "Haha...look, I finished something"

 

[Loqic]

I think it's just that like you are saying.
Most devs here are just starting out and their first releases can be messy due to inexperience. So instead of scrapping hundreds of hours of work and starting all over, just start fresh with the ending of the last episode as a starting point. It's not the most elegant solution, but at least we are getting something to play.
I always keep it in my mind that the majority of devs are just amateurs.

What I rather see though, is that they start off with way, way smaller projects and finish it, to get some experience and not start with a badly thought out behemoth of a game.
Maybe they also get a lot more support for a large project if they already finished some smaller ones, instead of an abandoned grindfest that was 2 years in development.

 

[Gutsandguts]

What I rather see though, is that they start off with way, way smaller projects and finish it, to get some experience and not start with a badly thought out behemoth of a game.
Maybe they also get a lot more support for a large project if they already finished some smaller ones, instead of an abandoned grindfest that was 2 years in development.

Yep, many times I've seen a dev start out with their first game and it's just like oof, it's your first game and you want to put in animations, tons of different variations, a big story, tons of areas, loads of scenes...

Definitely huge issues in the planning area with many games, too many just keep adding on to the pile then it slowly becomes evident they're never going to be able to finish it.

Biting off more than you can chew then scrapping your game to start a new one is just not a good look for a profession that massively relies on public perception of your works.
But yeah wrapping up part of a game and just calling it an episode really isn't a good solution either if it's not a well planned out idea.

The only one I really pay attention to at this point is Lida's Adventure because it's such a fascinatingly stupid game, I have no idea why they decided it needed to be episodic.
If something is to be episodic devs should really pay mind to how long each episode is because as said some episodes can be terrible with massive sections of grind, some are stupidly short while others are decent. Having no element of consistency is not good.

 

[polywog]

Being invited to participate in a beta test, or game demo is a privilege, but not everyone is into that sort of thing.
If you don't like them, look for only games that are completed

https://f95zone.to/forums/games.2/?prefix_id=18

 

[Hagatagar]

Most episodic (adult) games remind me of typical mangas -> Delay the end because you can make more money that way and you don't have to risk a new story.
Many episodic games don't even seem to have a planned ending, they just add new stuff and try to please the gamers.

It would be nice to see smaller / shorter games with only one or two girls to 'conquer' and maybe choose between them.
You can do it in three episodes, like the

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in movies.

And if you have done a good job in world building, you can expand the world with more stories, or maybe give supporting characters from the first game a own story (If they are a little more developed and are not just one-dimensional characters).

 

[polywog]

My advice to noob devs is... save your big idea for your second game. Make your first game small and simple for practice.
Then setup your website, online store, social media accounts, etc.
Once you have completed a game, and have fans that are willing to follow you to hell and back, then you can milk the cow.

 

[Gutsandguts]

Yeah I've said that many times over the years, release one or two small games and people will have some faith in your brand. Even if you're tacking it from a money grabbing angle that's just the most logical route to choose since otherwise people will just get fed up if you're not consistent or clearly dragging your knuckles. There's so many games on here that should have been finished a long time ago and so many scorned ex-fans who will never pay for the full release, if said release ever happens.


When a game goes episodic more often than not I just assume the dev doesn't know what they're doing with the game, especially when they make the first episode have like 10 hours of content. Not really an episode is it...

 

[freedom.call]

Excuse my ignorance, is there a difference between episodic and, you know, monthly-ish updates?

 

[polywog]

Excuse my ignorance, is there a difference between episodic and, you know, monthly-ish updates?

technically yes. episodic is like soap opera, each episode is a day, a week, an event, a chapter, each update ends

monthly-ish updates with no structure.... added random shit, 800 words, 650 images... do not conform, to the addiction model

 

[chainedpanda]

I generally ignore episodic games. Although I am trying to break this habit.

I am not a fan of VNs, I want at least the illusion of gameplay. With terms like "episode", It implies that there is no gameplay, merely it is yet another VN. Generally, its the kind that feels like "play for 20 minutes, get bored, grab a walkthrough and restart".

 

[Farnuge]

I don't understand why so many devs opt to build their games these ways, I can understand it from the perspective of being able to finish an episode quickly(somewhat) and make it look like a game is progressing well but in general it always feels like the first few episodes of a game are kind of pointless to play.

Not only that but they're usually buggy as hell and lacklustre in content while later episodes are far superior, which is obviously going to leave a bad first impression. Later episodes will have completely different mechanics, better art and the dev if they're new will generally be a much better developer. The early episodes are usually too borked for it to be worth the effort making them as well rounded as later chapters.
Then there's the issue of having to download parts separately which for the player, for me at least is just an unnecessary hassle.

There's also the problem of some episodes just being complete shit and it feels super lazy, say one where all the content is just you grinding for ages in hopes of a scene then it's just wrapped up and you have to hope the next episode is decent.

All in all it just seems like a poorly thought out way to make an adult game.
Especially if they're doing it just for the sake of "Haha...look, I finished something"

Money.

A well developed game takes time. More time working on the game means less time working in more conventional jobs. So you've either got to put something out - get patrons - or attempt to self fund your way through a game. And if you self fund your way through a game, put out a final version, and its terrible, then you're doubly screwed. At least with episodic content you can tell if what you are making it worth the time you are putting into it.

Yes, a well funded game run by a major studio will almost always be far superior in quality to those by indie studios that develop bit by bit, and release on early access or through kickstarters. But then there's always a few games that are episodic in nature, or perhaps version based. Minecraft, Terraria, Rimworld. All blockbuster games, all were started 'unfinished' and released new additions to the games slowly over time. They weren't telling a story, so they weren't techincally episodic, but each release was a complete/well thought out idea much like an episode.

It can and does work both ways, but it sounds like you just can't be bothered to support or wait for the episodic versions.

 

[Basilicata]

I like to say projects are like relationships. You do a couple of small ones for fun and practice at first. Leave your 'masterpiece' ball and chain for later.
A perfect advice I clearly didn't follow... And I regret it now.

 

[Mimir's Lab]

Episodic games can work much better than the alternative (release after set development time), but not when it's done badly. A lot of the problems I see when I read a story is that the writers tend to write themselves into a corner with no logical way to proceed (You fucked the landlady and the roommates, now what?). Thing is, the episodic format actually works wonders if you aren't trying to release your entire game/VN all at once. You (the dev) have to think of a chapter of an episodic game like an episode of a tv show. At the beginning of the episode, you set up a problem that will be the focus of that episode. At the end of the episode, you either have resolved the problem, reached the climax, or the problem has evolved or led into another problem, which you can use for the next episode. This is a massive boon for the developer because it gives him a structure to work with and allows him to set good stopping points that can reset the pacing of the story. This structure gives you even more to work with the more obscure the end goal of the story is, though you'd do well with having a certain end goal in mind.

If you develop your game to be released patch by patch instead of episodically, you are bound to get an incohesive mess as you struggle to determine which is a good stopping point to include in this patch. Or you get the infamous "You have reached the end of this route for this version", which I'd argue is much, much worse than an episode giving you a minor conclusion.

 

[desmosome]

You, and probably many of the devs you are complaining about, seem to not understand the concept of "episodic."

It has nothing to do with gameplay mechanics, separate downloads, quality of the story, grinding, or even update size.

Episodic just means each episode has a self contained story. Serialized is when each episode is part of the longer story, often ending in cliff hangers.

Episodic shows include stuff like CSI, Law and Order, Simpsons, etc. Serialized shows include Breaking Bad, LOST, etc.

But these are not black and white. Many episodic shows include serialized subplots that run through multiple episodes. Pretty much all serialized shows will have episodic elements to each.. well.. episode.

In the porn game scene, you pretty much never see truly episodic works. BaDIK incorporates great episodic plot lines, but it's base is still a serialized story.

 

[Doorknob22]

Few points
1. Releasing in "updates", "drops" or whatever allows developers to gain money before the game is complete. With game piracy all but the norm, hoping that thankful players will pay after they enjoy a game is a huge risk for teams investing months and . Building a crowd of supporters who believe in your game and willing to fund it based on your vision and progress is a much more feasible financial plan.
2. Another reason for releasing in updates is syncing with players/customers expectations. Discovering what works and what doesn't, what people want to see more of and what annoy your followers.
3. Having said all that, I find the tendency of releasing shitty early updates and knowingly leaving them with glaring flaws to be despicable. Developers should be committed to releasing a a high quality products end to end even if it means going back and fixing bugs, spelling mistakes, rendering mishaps or whatever in earlier updates.

 

[Cainhurst]

Episodic games can be fun but, here you see a lot of devs show proof that they have no real plan or narrative in place. Play episode one of a game and it is more thriller by episode 3 the thriller is non-existent but the sex is all over the place, like the dev forgot his own plot and made another derivative "gotta fuck 'em all"