HTML Creating Project Genesis - Development thread

[Marcus_S]

Hi there, Marcus here!
By me being on this site it's probably not a surprise that I like playing video games and adult video games.
For a while now I've been thinking about creating a game of my own. Some months ago I decided to try doing it. I'm using Twine to make it, so it will be an HTML based game. The graphics are real porn pictures (at least for now).
The game itself is a VN crossed with RPG and Strategy, inspired by Japanese adult games like Eushully games (I fucking loved Kamidori Alchemy Meister!!), Rance games and that sort.
Currently it's before demo stage, it'll be ready in about a week to show it to public. The game has choices, combat and free map movement at the moment. Future plans include upgradeable base and inventory system. I'd like to share my thoughts and ideas, also the progress I'm making.
About the base story: it's a post-apocalypse-like situation. An unknown virus caused a worldwide epidemic, most of the male population is effected: they became impotent. (It's a terrible way to shoehorn harem/polygami into a game, but sorry, I'm just an amateur.) So you are one of the man who is uneffected. This means you are a fairly rare subject, people will be interested in you for one reason or other.
That's it so far, please share you opinions with me.

 

[Marcus_S]

Hi! While I was writing the passages and dialogs dilligently, I stopped for a moment and started thinking.
How much text is too much text? And how much text is enough text?
So basically how important is story and character build? I know many of you guys will say: oh yes, it's very important. But is it important enough to read pages and pages of dialogs and descriptions? To be really honest, I myself rarely read the story bits in many games (and not just porn games). So does it worth it? Typing and retyping pages and pages just to be skipped?
On the other hand I don't want to create another porn image gallery with lines of "you meet a woman in the forest. she looks sexy. you take your big cock and plough her." I want the situation to be somewhat believable at least.

Please, let me know what you think about it.

 

[HiEv]

Future plans include upgradeable base and inventory system.

If you're using the SugarCube story format in Twine (which I'd recommend, based on your description of the game), then you might want to use my

You must be registered to see the links

(UInv) in your game.

As for your questions on how to write the text in it, that all depends on the kind of game you're trying to make. That said, if you're making a story, I'd recommend plotting it out, especially the various possible endings. I've seen a lot of game authors just write as they go, and then they end up writing themselves into a corner, leading to them dropping the game since they can't figure out what to do next.

Once you know the endings you want to make available, it may help with some decisions on what things you want to write about and how you want to write them, since you will be able to see how using them leads the player to the various possible endings.

Hope that helps!

 

[Marcus_S]

If you're using the SugarCube story format in Twine (which I'd recommend, based on your description of the game), then you might want to use my

You must be registered to see the links

(UInv) in your game.

As for your questions on how to write the text in it, that all depends on the kind of game you're trying to make. That said, if you're making a story, I'd recommend plotting it out, especially the various possible endings. I've seen a lot of game authors just write as they go, and then they end up writing themselves into a corner, leading to them dropping the game since they can't figure out what to do next.

Once you know the endings you want to make available, it may help with some decisions on what things you want to write about and how you want to write them, since you will be able to see how using them leads the player to the various possible endings.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for the tip, I'll check out UInv, when I get to that phase in the game. (And yes, I am using Sugarcube 2.)

Also, thank you for the suggestion, that is a good way to write the story.
But actually what I was interested in is how much are people willing to read in an adult game. One end is too little text (per passage), the other end is too much text. So if I just have basic dialog and a lot of sex, it's better just to watch porn. But with too detailed descriptions and long winded conversations maybe it's better to read adult novels.
So my question is: where is the golden middle path?

I know it's not an easy question to answer, but that's why it's good to have many people with different opinions here.

Edit: for anyone interested, there is a short demo

You must be registered to see the links

. Feedback is appreciated!

 

[HiEv]

So my question is: where is the golden middle path?

I know it's not an easy question to answer, but that's why it's good to have many people with different opinions here.

There is no one single magical "golden middle path". The length of text which is considered "good" varies based both on the quality of the text itself and the predisposition of the reader. A good writer can get away with longer text than a bad writer.

The closest thing to an answer I can give you is that each passage shouldn't be much longer than what would fit in a 1280x720 browser window, because it's generally recommended you make the user scroll as little as possible. That said, each passage doesn't have to end on a choice, it can just be a link to the next passage. So, you should either break a lot of your long passages up into multiple passages, or use the

You must be registered to see the links

to keep multiple linear passage texts within a single passage.

Basically, it's up to you to determine what is or isn't too much too much text for your game. Once you have something written you can ask, "What parts are too wordy, too short, or need more choices?" and people will tell you, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a variety of opinions on that unless you're doing something really wrong.

That said, the boxes around your spoken text look weird, and the colors of text aren't easy to read because they lack sufficient contrast from the background. I'd recommend using the

You must be registered to see the links

to make sure that your text has a contrast ratio of 7:1 or more so that it's readable to even visually impaired people. Also, I'd recommend using standard writing techniques, where people say things in quotes, rather than on lines after a dash. And having names colored the same way as spoken text is confusing. At first I thought that the one character's name was a broken link because it was in red. (Also, "Entrance" is spelled wrong on the map.)

That said, I'd recommend taking a look at other well-liked Twine games, such as Westane's "

You must be registered to see the links

", to see what they did right, and then apply that to your game.

Hope that helps!

 

[Marcus_S]

There is no one single magical "golden middle path". The length of text which is considered "good" varies based both on the quality of the text itself and the predisposition of the reader. A good writer can get away with longer text than a bad writer.

The closest thing to an answer I can give you is that each passage shouldn't be much longer than what would fit in a 1280x720 browser window, because it's generally recommended you make the user scroll as little as possible. That said, each passage doesn't have to end on a choice, it can just be a link to the next passage. So, you should either break a lot of your long passages up into multiple passages, or use the

You must be registered to see the links

to keep multiple linear passage texts within a single passage.

Basically, it's up to you to determine what is or isn't too much too much text for your game. Once you have something written you can ask, "What parts are too wordy, too short, or need more choices?" and people will tell you, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a variety of opinions on that unless you're doing something really wrong.

That said, the boxes around your spoken text look weird, and the colors of text aren't easy to read because they lack sufficient contrast from the background. I'd recommend using the

You must be registered to see the links

to make sure that your text has a contrast ratio of 7:1 or more so that it's readable to even visually impaired people. Also, I'd recommend using standard writing techniques, where people say things in quotes, rather than on lines after a dash. And having names colored the same way as spoken text is confusing. At first I thought that the one character's name was a broken link because it was in red. (Also, "Entrance" is spelled wrong on the map.)

That said, I'd recommend taking a look at other well-liked Twine games, such as Westane's "

You must be registered to see the links

", to see what they did right, and then apply that to your game.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for the advice, that's exactly what I'm looking for here. I'll check the contrast checker and change the text accordingly. I want the "main" characters' conversation to be distinguished somehow.
I know there are some HTML games, which have good examples, but I'd like to try something new. Of course, if it's not working, than I'll change to a working style.

 

[eosar]

If you are a good writer that can draw a reader within the world of your story, you can get away with a lot of text.
If you are okay at writing, mix and match with visually pleasing pictures in between.
If you are meh or worse, then focusing on using the appropriate pictures with a good quality-content ratio will help sell the game.

Text-heavy games however tend to have grammatical errors hidden in plain sight. I recommend combing through from time to time or enslaving someone else to check it for you.

Walls of text are a big no, but scrolling 5 times to change the page is also a bad thing.

Sandbox grind is a pain, but easy wealth should only come from the cheat menu, balance is your nightmare.

People like randomness, linearity becomes dull fast. The trick is keeping the randomness meaningfull.

If it does not have to be forced, keep it optional. Fetishes are the bread and butter of porn games, but we all have our quirks and tend to avoid stuff that kills the mood.

Played the demo, i like the potential. Build the foundation first, branch out later.

This is probably a one-time posting, so good luck with the development. Experiment at your leisure.