- Jun 16, 2017
- 6,956
- 7,766
Can we all agree that Summertime Saga is the pinnacle of adult gaming?
- Thread starter Gigajue
- Start date
The thing is that vast majority of these story-driven games are solipsistic, meaning that NPCs do not exist outside of their interactions with the MC. They're not active AI players tasked with anything, but simply passive parts of events that the player illuminates with his presence. You, as the player, walk to a certain location at a certain time and meet a certain character you can do something with if you satisfy certain criteria. Sometimes RNG is employed to make it appear less deterministic and mechanical.
It would require a higher level of game developing skills to create NPCs who have 'lives' of their own and are capable of forming spontaneous interactions between one another (including exchange of information and negotiating course of action) which are not mediated through pre-scripted interactions with the MC.
- Jul 27, 2017
- 1,140
- 4,276
You don't have to invent advanced AI to write interactions between different girls into your game or even have the faintest hint of choice and consequence, even if it's only an illusion. Or if you're want to be really lazy just write the story assuming the MC is going to fuck every female he meets, which is how 99% of players are going to play your game, because that's how you've designed it.
Skill is absolutely a part of it, but time and focus are as important, if not more so. Making an interacting system of entities like that is a significant undertaking for a solo dev, especially if they're not a programming expert, and all that comes at a cost to the H content people expect from them. You can tell, too; most games that have that focus are forced to skimp on other content and rely on the sandbox aspect to the detriment of any real coherent focus.
Even AAA games rarely have meaningful, nonscripted NPC interactions for the same reason, unless it's a flagship system of the game - doing it even halfway decently is no trivial task, and not really a question of skill. Cost-benefit analysis doesn't favor it is all it really comes down to for most.
These interactions are sometimes present, but again, most of the time, they take place in front of the MC and need the MC to illuminate a jealous fit scene, for example. Nothing really active happens behind the MCs back, it's usually just some criteria and passive counters ticking in the background: if MC had sex with NPC A and MC had sex with NPC B and x days passed then... And if you want a convincing simulator of infidelity and emotional consequences of relations involving more than two actors, there have to be more than one actor out there. The in-game world and its inhabitants need to have some sort of life of their own, independent from the MC's activities. 99% of the time the only actor in the game is the player-controlled MC, playing out scripts written by the game creator. If the creator's vision is a porn game, not a 'realistic' dating simulator or morality play, then a porn game it will be: let's just fuck whoever and whatever is fuckable and forget about the world. And that's how pornography is usually consumed. It would be quite odd to wonder whether the people having sex in a porn clip are in a intimate relationship with themselves or perhaps some other people and what the consequences of whatever they're doing might be. Most of the time it's just visual, voyeuristic admiration of the act itself, temporarily disconnected from any social context other than what's happening at the moment: just one, two or more human bodies getting physical while the viewer watches from a safe distance. And it's best that every body involved is happy with the whole situation, so there is no doubt about consensuality.
It's a fun game that has a good streamlined experience, but I wouldn't consider it the "pinnacle of gaming", it always depends on the players' individual tastes.
There is no sigle pinnacle imo.
I'd say the best porn game is Last Sovereign, especially since they added images, but it's not quite the best when it comes to gameplay and porn itself.
On the other hand Sengoku Rance is peak porn game with gameplay, by far. Altho I'm playing Karynn's Prison right now, and if they balance the game better in the future it might be even better to me (different genre tho).
I'd say the best porn game is Last Sovereign, especially since they added images, but it's not quite the best when it comes to gameplay and porn itself.
On the other hand Sengoku Rance is peak porn game with gameplay, by far. Altho I'm playing Karynn's Prison right now, and if they balance the game better in the future it might be even better to me (different genre tho).
Overall a pretty good VN. I also like the art by a lot. But the story is for my taste a bit to stretched and I also would love to hear some sounds (not necessarily voices) during the ero-scenes.
No. The fact that you would say that about it speaks volumes about what's wrong with the whole genre of adult games, and how low your standards are. The only thing that separates SS from the rest of the point and click crap is the quality of the art, and even that has declined over time and less and less new character art and few to no sex scenes with every update (and the updates have slowed down so much the game wont even be close to finished for years, after 5 years of development!), and there are very few animations in any case. The writing is atrocious, the gameplay is forgettable and not actually fun most of the time. SS might be the best of the current crop, but that just means the current crop sucks.
- Jan 9, 2021
- 96
- 267
- Dec 12, 2017
- 28
- 12
It personally doesn't appeal to me but I admire the creator's work ethic and how it's a lewd game with actual work done.
- Dec 2, 2020
- 12
- 27
While it's not the pinnacle of adult gaming, I feel it's close to the pinnacle of what can be done with renpy.
- Jul 30, 2017
- 2,083
- 3,230
I've tried four times to get into that game. I tried really hard. The problem is that the introduction is extremely boring. I have to like, grab the shovel, and mow the lawn, get the gas or something, then talk to a chemistry teacher about homework for like 5-10 minutes. Then I have to put a jigsaw puzzle together. I have to help the aunt plant flowers or something. I can never get past the boring introduction. The mother is fat & unattractive. I don't get it.
- Apr 14, 2020
- 1,816
- 4,018
Harem Hotel exists, so no.
SS is very good, but no taking poor Judith to pound town drops it a peg for me. I would have impregnated Judith if it was allowed lol I prefer her over the role reversal “She’s All That” you get from the Cheerleader. Or the MILF next door Mrs johnson that you should clearly be leaving to Eric because they like each other and there are already enough MILFs for you to bone—- or Mia’s mom, who is like trying to fuck Tammy Faye Bakker when Mia is vastly superior and one of the best characters in the game.
SS is very good, but no taking poor Judith to pound town drops it a peg for me. I would have impregnated Judith if it was allowed lol I prefer her over the role reversal “She’s All That” you get from the Cheerleader. Or the MILF next door Mrs johnson that you should clearly be leaving to Eric because they like each other and there are already enough MILFs for you to bone—- or Mia’s mom, who is like trying to fuck Tammy Faye Bakker when Mia is vastly superior and one of the best characters in the game.