HTML Do all game developers truly write their own erotic sections?

[KingCocoa]

Might sound like an odd title. I'm working on a mod of an existing HTML game on here which has evolved into an entire overhaul. It's my very first time coding anything or using Twine, so it's been a really fun learning experience.

I can get a lot done within a few hours per day already, but the thing that makes me stall is writing the actual sexual content.

Is this a common problem? Do other devs just have backlogs of erotic text ready to go in their projects? Is there a "smut generator" I can punch a few keywords into to have an AI do the work for me?

I'm not sure if this kind of topic belongs here, but as someone who isn't naturally a writer, I'm just curious as to what the usual process is.

 

[Nagozo]

I'm guessing people who create adult games also create the adult parts of it, if they can lol

My guess is that you just don't particularly enjoy writing smut. I kind of get that, because I usually leave lewd scenes for last within writing phases. My process is that I set up a sequence of scenes for story purposes, then consider where I can add any lewd scenes. I'll write the whole sequence aside from the erotic parts, then take some time to chew on how the smut should be presented. I only actually write it when I'm in the mood for it, which is less often than my general writing moods.

Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if there are devs who do the exact opposite: write a load of erotic scenes, and later figure out a story to tell around them. I think it just comes down to personal preference.

 

[Turning Tricks]

I've seen a lot of VN's on here that were obviously written by people with next to no sexual experience. And I've seen a lot of VN's on here where they basically copied the script from your average "shot on digital cam" porn production. Personally, I am trying to write my scenes as "somewhat" realistic. Of course, I am writing a lot of stuff that are only fantasies for me as well, so I have to improvise. I think it helps me that I am no longer hung-up over sex or talking about it. I'm told old and have had too many ex's to worry about that stuff anymore, lol. It helps if you isolate yourself and try and do your dialogue when you are not going to be interrupted. I do regret that I am not currently in a relationship at the moment though, because it would be awesome to bounce ideas off someone I was intimate with.

One thing I think ruins a lot of promising games on here, is when the devs use polls or donations to steer their story. I believe you should write what you like or fantasize about or have any passion over. I see it reflected in the quality of the story, if the dev is actually passionate about it. Whereas, if I had a poll and 75% of my supporters said "We want more foot fetish!" - as an example - anything I attempted to write would be terrible, IMO. I just can't write well about a subject that does nothing for me.

"Oh ya baby! Wiggle those toes! Hmmmm!!! That it's bring the big piggy on home!" -- HAHA

Don't get me wrong... there's a lot of very talented writers out there who can write about ANYTHING! They are pros, and they get a contract that says "Write me 5000 words on the decline of the chad fly population in the Northeast" and they will write an article that makes it sound like they've been studying that shit for decades. I once read that L. Ron Hubbard was one of these people. Before all that Scientology crap, he apparently was one of the most prolific writers of his era, and could churn out copy on any topic super fast. I still consider Battlefield Earth one of the best SciFi's ever written and that thing was War & Peace in size, lol.

 

[GNVE]

Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if there are devs who do the exact opposite: write a load of erotic scenes, and later figure out a story to tell around them. I think it just comes down to personal preference.

I think this will probably reflect in the VN itself. When looking at Crimson High the story is quite clearly more important with sex scenes only being used sparingly as pay-off. Vampires (which are about a third of the girls or so) literally can't have sex because reasons which seems a bold choice in an Adult VN.
On the other end of the spectrum you have games like HS Tutor where the story is the bare minimum to get the player to the next adult scene.

For the first two projects which are short I have just written as it comes while having in mind where I want to end up. The large project I am working on I have story beats in mind but generally no idea how to get there just yet.

I do think though that generally speaking my non-sex scenes are better written than my sex scenes. Although in my first project did not convey the passage of time very well.

 

[Saki_Sliz]

Do other devs just have backlogs of erotic text ready to go in their projects?

There is something similar.
Art, audio, effects, 3D and 2D character models. I call all of these things 'assets'.
Assets are of course a major part of game making, but no one really plans for assets to be a problem.

Say for example, making a text adventure game because you can't make art and you can only commission a few pieces or use porn images. IE you are working around the problem, but you are not really solving it. The other alternative is building a team, ie having an artist for a team. This solves it is a Indie way, or a professional way, by hiring the work out. However, the are two other solutions not as common. You can of course develop the skill and do it yourself, art made with DAZ 3D is a common example, but I would say is still a lot like hiring out the work, just a lot slower, and you're more self conscious about your work.

The fourth solution is as you hinted at, having a back log of some 'asset.' I don't have an issue designing and posing characters because I have a 'backlog' of character sculpts that I can blend between to make each character unique, and a workflow that I can reliably use over and over again. I don't have an issue making code because I have a back log of projects I've learned from and can use as examples. While I do have a bit of a collection of stories I've made, possible senarios, and fan fictions, I haven't refined my work yet to a polished state. ie I describe having characters as 'sclupts' not just models, I went through the process of designing specially made sculpts and importing them into blender/daz so that I can quickly use them on the default mesh, no extra work needed. Stories I have are just experiments, not good examples of how I think I should go about writing for future projects. But I am commissioning a writer and have plans to rework the script using their writing as a guide/template.

Having a 'collection' is a special solution to a problem. For example, I've made an effort to have a collection of tilesets i like for maps because it allows me to experiment with world building. for one project I got a lot of the work done, but the onlything limiting me is a lack of assets, so I have to crank out a bunch of character art. the point is that the forth solution is all about dealing with the problem of 'assets' the most direct way possible, simply have lots of 'assets.' When you have the assets, your problem isn't 'do I have assets' or 'i need assets,' you can move on to the next problem 'what's the best kind of writing to match this story/mood/scene?' That is to say, having a collection is a lot like being an experience programmer or artist, you can answer the problem, but you are free to not just write the first thing that comes to mind, but be willing to experiment and improve. The type of devs that do have 'backlog' of text won't just copy paste the text, they would do what I do character sculpts, pick out the things they want, and blend it together to make a unique character/story/scene.

 

[MidnightArrow]

Might sound like an odd title. I'm working on a mod of an existing HTML game on here which has evolved into an entire overhaul. It's my very first time coding anything or using Twine, so it's been a really fun learning experience.

I can get a lot done within a few hours per day already, but the thing that makes me stall is writing the actual sexual content.

Is this a common problem? Do other devs just have backlogs of erotic text ready to go in their projects? Is there a "smut generator" I can punch a few keywords into to have an AI do the work for me?

I'm not sure if this kind of topic belongs here, but as someone who isn't naturally a writer, I'm just curious as to what the usual process is.

You say "game developer" like it's just one thing, but instead it's three very different areas of expertise, programming, artwork, and writing. If you call yourself a writer, then yeah it's expected you should know how to write a sex scene. If you don't, then just say so and maybe try and get some writers onboard in the recruitment forum after you have a good game framework to show off.

I can do all three, and when I need a sex scene I just write it.

 

[PTSdev]

As someone who loves writing and coding, developing a game is just a fun way to combine two of my favourite hobbies. But writing requires a completely different mindest than coding. On some days, I spend hours brooding over a new routine or some stat calculations, on other days my brain is in writing mode.

My game is going to include lots of branching storylines which requires quite a lot of planning. The most difficult aspect of writing lewd scenes is to keep them interesting. Lots of porn games fall into the trap of repetition. In my opinion, you shouldn't cut corners. A good sex scene needs some buildup. You can keep things simple once "it" is happening, but there's got to be a nice setup.

My personal style isn't overly descriptive, instead I work a lot with dialogue. I try to avoid "porn dialogue", unless the scene demands it. My game revolves around the adult entertainment industry, so porn scenes are a part of the story. But there are more intimate scenes as well. It's about finding the right tone for each scene.

An AI can never write a good story, because writing is a very intuitive process. It also takes time and practice to get better at it. I still consider myself a noob when it comes to storytelling. Writing essays / articles is much easier for me. But creative writing is highly entertaining. I love putting my characters into weird situations to find out how they react to them.

 

[GNVE]

An AI can never write a good story, because writing is a very intuitive process. It also takes time and practice to get better at it. I still consider myself a noob when it comes to storytelling. Writing essays / articles is much easier for me. But creative writing is highly entertaining. I love putting my characters into weird situations to find out how they react to them.

I just put the new

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through its paces (see this thread) and it is scary how close it gets in just a day of mucking about. (Invest more time and you might get better results.)

 

[The Rogue Trader]

I just put the new

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through its paces (see this thread) and it is scary how close it gets in just a day of mucking about. (Invest more time and you might get better results.)

I saw the OpenAI at work, and I say it's definitely getting one step ahead of all the other AI services.
But I agree with PTSdev that it can't write a good story, and for a very simple reason: that to write a good story you need something you want to tell. You need to know where you want to go with it.
AI is a very interesting writing tool and it can entirely replace human writing for the soulless texts that nobody really cares about: filler, product descriptions, blog articles, chain emails etc etc. It can entirely replace ghostwriters that take your sketch or bullet points and transform it in a self-help book that hundreds of unwitting people will buy for a couple of dollars and probably will never read.
But for good novels, even Visual/Kinetic ones, you need a writer at the helm, that decides what the AI needs to say, the message, the character development. Writing a good story needs a good story and I don't think humans will be dislodged from there any soon.
Plus, writing is fun: if you have an AI do it, where's the fun? It's like sending a drone to climb Mount Everest for you.

To get back to the thread: I can understand what the OP is speaking about: writing good sex scenes is quite difficult for me, too. I can easily decide what I want to show and create a rough script of who does what and then pose and render the characters, but when it comes to add dialogues/descriptions... well, sex is something that is best experienced, not described.
I always end up spending much more time trying to get a good pace and style for a single sex scene than writing a whole section with several branches.

I've developed two tricks, but how well the work is still to be determined.

If I'm making the renders: I write a provisional script (Pic1: A does this; B does that, C reacts this way), then pose the characters (making every change necessary), then I play them in Ren'Py adding every description or dialogue (but my characters don't talk much when they make love) that the images suggest me.
It still needs several days of brain-squeezing and multiple iterations.

If I'm just the winter and I've no art to lean on, my trick is reading lots and lots of porn novels. I've a library with thousands of titles on my PC. I pick one at random, browse until there's a scene depicting what I need, convert to a male POV, remove all the cheesy lines, cut the length to 1/10 and split it into small VN-screen sections.
By the time I finish, the scene doesn't really resemble the original one any longer.

 

[GNVE]

I saw the OpenAI at work, and I say it's definitely getting one step ahead of all the other AI services.
But I agree with PTSdev that it can't write a good story, and for a very simple reason: that to write a good story you need something you want to tell. You need to know where you want to go with it.
AI is a very interesting writing tool and it can entirely replace human writing for the soulless texts that nobody really cares about: filler, product descriptions, blog articles, chain emails etc etc. It can entirely replace ghostwriters that take your sketch or bullet points and transform it in a self-help book that hundreds of unwitting people will buy for a couple of dollars and probably will never read.
But for good novels, even Visual/Kinetic ones, you need a writer at the helm, that decides what the AI needs to say, the message, the character development. Writing a good story needs a good story and I don't think humans will be dislodged from there any soon.
Plus, writing is fun: if you have an AI do it, where's the fun? It's like sending a drone to climb Mount Everest for you.

I agree writing is fun but not everyone agrees. I'm guessing that there are Dev's out there that like writing code and/or making art more than writing the story. I can totally imagine them wanting an AI that you give a short brief to that will write scenes or storylines for them.
I agree that writing the entire story is still a bit much for the open AI chatbot (at least without a lot of coaching and fenagling) but it can help you get out of a bind if you are stuck as a writer or don't know how to get to the next story beat. But A couple of AI generations from now I am guessing that the AI might be able to do the writing for you if you really want to.

If I'm just the winter and I've no art to lean on, my trick is reading lots and lots of porn novels. I've a library with thousands of titles on my PC. I pick one at random, browse until there's a scene depicting what I need, convert to a male POV, remove all the cheesy lines, cut the length to 1/10 and split it into small VN-screen sections.
By the time I finish, the scene doesn't really resemble the original one any longer.

Interesting idea. Might try this when I get stuck.

 

[The Rogue Trader]

I agree writing is fun but not everyone agrees. I'm guessing that there are Dev's out there that like writing code and/or making art more than writing the story. I can totally imagine them wanting an AI that you give a short brief to that will write scenes or storylines for them.
I agree that writing the entire story is still a bit much for the open AI chatbot (at least without a lot of coaching and fenagling) but it can help you get out of a bind if you are stuck as a writer or don't know how to get to the next story beat. But A couple of AI generations from now I am guessing that the AI might be able to do the writing for you if you really want to.

It definitely can get you out of a bind. I've no issue saying that an AI can write perfectly usable passages when we can't be assed to do it ourselves. But the good story is in that brief that you mention and that you need to feed to the AI, and that "you" needs to be a human, because only a human can tell a good story from a non-good story. Otherwise, you'll end up facing the good old GIGO situation.
AI is a writing tool, a powerful one, but not too different in philosophy than browsing your library (or Google), find a half-dozen books that deal with a similar situation and see how other authors solved it. Only immensely faster.
Personally, I tried several times to have previous bots write dialogues for me, but I always ended up with filler content that, after a couple of review iterations was completely cut away in favour of the non-filler lines I put there myself.
So far their place in my workflow has been having something on the screen to go beyond the "white page syndrome" ("No, no, that isn't something she would say... This is what she would say"). I'm impressed by what I saw from OpenAI, although I've not yet tried it myself (not a fan of giving them my phone number).

And, let's admit it: a lot of the devs that don't care about writing the story of their game, don't have a story for their game. Just a setting, a situation, a starting point. Those games usually end up with enraged fans and are abandoned unfinished after a few months/years of beating the bush.
Anne O'Nymous compared those games to soap operas. They make up shit on the fly as the story progresses, wandering aimlessly and dragging the story until production tells them to rush out some "grand finale".
And, back to my original point: soap operas aren't exactly known for telling good stories (whatever Chiun from the Destroyer says ).

As a writer with no skill nor hardware to make good art, I've made often known my opinion that those artists that want to focus on the art and don't care about writing a story should team up with writers that are bad at art and want to write stories (cough cough).

 

[PTSdev]

I like the soap opera comparison. I've already said this another thread: Crowdfunding can become a huge problem for a game if there's no clear vision behind it. I get the idea of letting backers decide upon plot points, but as a writer I highly disagree with that practice. It's my work of art, even though it's "just" a porn game and I want to be the one in charge. If I make storytelling decisions the audience doesn't like, so be it. Of course, being open towards criticism is important. Many games go down the drain, because the dev (team) refuses to listen to the users. If my game has a shitty story, I should definitely look into the problem and try to improve my writing skills for the next project. But you simply can't fix a broken story with a few adjustments. Writing has many levels.

Community feedback is absolutely necessary when it comes to game mechanics, bugs and technical issues, though. Imo, a good compromise for backer rewards is to let them vote for cosmetic changes and visual design elements.

There are lots of porn games which clearly don't give a shit about the story, which is also fine. Just be honest with it. Take a look at "Corruption" by MrC. There is no real story. It's just "click on event, make girl go bimbo slave", repeated over and over again. Even though the game has lots of technical issues as well, it's very popular. That's because it never claims to be anything else than a "make girl go bimbo slave" simulator.