RPGM Hello everyone! Got some questions! Volosis's Naughty Adventure

[Yukionna Studios]

Hey everyone ~ my name is April and I'm a co-developer of a project called "Volosis's Naughty Adventure" ❄ which is a Female Protagonist dark fantasy rpgm game that delves into many fetishes and is heavily choice based. Where actions like acting vile towards someone grows how evil/manipulative you are. You being, Volosis, an apprentice Necromancer.

That's the short summary- but that's not why I'm posting as I'm looking to have a couple questions/recommendations- ️ (and I apologize ahead of time if this is not in the right section to ask these questions! Very very new here and not used to forums-)

So on to my questions!

1. Best places to build a fan base for your game?

We have been posting on reddit mainly- but it's hard to find places to promote NSFW indie titles - our discord is currently just sitting at me, my co-owner and our new artist. Would love to have discussions prior to a Alpha release if possible. Or is it one of those situations where after the Alpha build is out, that people really take interest? Completely fair if so! Perhaps his forum is the best place to chat up about the game? Is there a place for Developers to discuss their game before release here? (Again, new to forums so I apologize for my noobish questions!)

2. Female Protagonist Games, are they rare because of any reason in particular?

Maybe it's because I'm a woman myself, but I find that Female Protagonist games are far and few compared to Male Protagonists. Is this simply because people are more inclined to play the character that their gender correlates? Or are Female Protagonists just not favorable in smut games? Volosis as our MC is a "stranger" to civilizations as she was raised away from others. We take this as an opportunity to allow players to define how she reacts to the world around her. And depending on how she treats the people around her, will influence her emotional reactions in plot points and decision making. (Simple Example: She may get a new companion if she is Lawful Good vs. That same potential companion may be an enemy if she is Chaotic Evil.) This ties into the next question.

3. Do people actually like H-Games with lots of plot, story, and decision making?

Currently the plan for Volosis has always been about having a good lengthy story, with major plot points and decisions. Some simple and complex puzzles and things to think about. On paper it works beautifully. However - do people tend to avoid games that require more than just fapping to? I understand there is probably people out there that do like myself, however am I setting myself up for failure if H-Scenes aren't around every corner and simple to get to? Not to say there isn't some that are gonna be easy to achieve, but many would be hidden behind plot and time dedication to characters. Obviously making characters entertaining and enjoyable to talk/interact with is important on that note...just want a general idea what everyone thinks.

 

[SoberSphagghett]

Whoever decided to call a female Volosis is dead to me.
At least she can resurrect them, right?

Seriously though, my answers to the questions:
1)no answer, also who's game?

2)Female protag games aren't rare at all. nearly 50% of all games on f95zone feature a female protagonist.
A great deal of those are female protagonist exclusive, some turn her into a futa.

#2) The problem is most female protagonist games here are shit. They quickly devolve into a cum-rag protagonist.
A cheating, brainless fuck-hole with no other reason for existing than to reveal scenes of her getting violated.
I have a personal vendetta, so the answer is heavily skewed Against making another fMC game, without the option of changing/choosing gender.

3) With how many people praise simple fuck-hole games, you'd be inclined to think no.
However, there are story driven games on this site, even going so far as being 'no sexual content' story-focused games, which to me is bizarre.
I joined the ranks of f95zone, thinking this is a porn site.
It is not. It is a repository(for lack of a better word) of content used for ease of access. Content not exclusive to games.
Content not exclusive to porn/the adult-oriented.

#3)There are those who do greatly appreciate a proper story.
I myself Adore having the ability to make choices in games,
non-linear gameplay that is meaningful.
A vibrant world is full of life and a love for creation, regardless of size, scale or magnitude.
A vast world can be empty.
Some, though not many, support the games they previously 'acquired' through this site, Only once they're Satisfied with the Quality.

 

[Saki_Sliz]

Welcome to the Forums! Thanks for posting!

#1 Forum posts can be hit or miss. Sometimes they manage to catch the attention of the right people and lead to great discussions, sometimes your thread gets burried before anyone notices it and you hear nothing. Forums can be good for talks where users interact with each other, while reddit post tend to be more between the OP and individual users (many parallel conversations). As for building a community, I can only speculate due to my lack of experience or success. What different users like to talk about I don't know, I like to talk about game mechanic and design... which great this sub forum section and dev subreddits, and I don't pay attention to much else

#2 I think Male protag is more common not because of anything as deep as powerfantasy bs, but simply, mostly guy players and guy devs, and guys are mostly interested in girls, and male protagonist project tend to lean into having many female characters, better so than other games. I actually prefer female protag games because the game design is often different and more about control and managing the character state, stats, and world variables. basically less story, more gameplay. making gameplay is hard, making story is easier, which also encourages male protag type games, since a male focused game gets its smut by exploring the world, not exploring game mechanics. Store also allows for more indepth characters, thus more interesting characters, more intimate encounters, etc, which may also encourage the pro story design most devs go for, which thus may encourage more male protag games.

We take this as an opportunity to allow players to define how she reacts to the world around her.

That is exactly the kind of gameplay I want, and what' I've been exploring in my own projects. I like what I call 'exploration' which is playing the game systems, seeing what you can do, and then, trying to get the outcomes you want... albeit with some randomness. Examples include degrees of lewdity or trap quest, trying to complete the game with cursed clothing or something. But these games don't reflect a character's personality, and I still want characters with depth and personality, so a mechanic like what you describe is what I've been looking into.

#3 I'm here for the tech, with the lewd being the icing.

do people tend to avoid games that require more than just fapping to?

different types of games have different focuses. by analyzing how the game promotes itself, you can understand what the game focuses on. Say for example, a dev like me who says, makes a really cool lewd trading card game. say its really simple, like some battle simulation sending people against a castle or something, if you can visually understand what the preview images are showing, you can get a guess for how the game plays, feels, and what kind of fun there is to have... but say its more like a collectable card game, with cards battling cards, unless there is cool effects going on, most of what the player will see is people playing a card game, which means spending time learning how the game works, not actually time spent playing or fapping. different people have different priorities. examples include, i like 'no sexual content' games because they don't rush into things to get the players attention, the makers are able to focus on other things, such as quirky characters and gameplay. Management games, I have no attention span for, if I look over a game and it seems too much like a management game, I avoid it. I'm looking for 'cool' and 'erotic' being the icing, but 'cool' is #1 for me, be it a zombie apocalypse game, a sci-fi shooter game, etc. its also why I prefer to look at games on itch.io, because they tend to be more gamy than smut...

but I will add, I agree with

The problem is most female protagonist games ... quickly devolve into a cum-rag protagonist.

where the female protag is a hero, the enemy is everything wants to do the naughty, there isn't a really good progression to the lewd, its more of a negative consequence (a contradictory design considering the lewds are what players want). Its why for my own project I want the best of both, female protag, but other female characters, and the playey may be the one leading things.


Overall, I actually blame technical and skill limitations from allowing people to do more with projects, these are all mostly non commercial hobbyists, and what you are finding (pro male protag) is the result of what's the most obtainable, most acceptable, and sufficient to scratch the itch for the majority. my favorite type of games aren't a genre, they are classified like 'hidden gems' but my favorite are games that are small and hyper focused on one simple idea, be it a kink, a mechanic, etc. so long as the project isn't to bloated or tries to do too much, if the dev focuses on something, then they spend more type exploring that something. a good example or the first game I found that did this was a dump simple futa girl game, futa wasn't just a box they ticked off on a large project, it was as small project that 'explored' the many niches and variations of the kink. even though the game was super small with little to no story, it felt deeper than most story focused smut games for me.

sorry for the ramble, its friday and I'm drinking

 

[pepette]

Hello

There aren't that many of us, so I'm glad to see another woman here! welcome to the team.

I know that "economically" speaking, it's a good idea to make sure that the game you're making will appeal to as many people as possible.
That said, creating a game is a really time-consuming job, and if you want to stay motivated throughout the game's long development period, you really need to make sure that the game appeals to you first!

#1
I'm not going to be the best person to advise you on this, as it's not my strong point (as I don't monetize my game, I don't spend much time promoting it. My goal is to make test with this one, and monetize the next)
It's hard to get people to follow you before you've published a first version.
I know some people create a thread on "progamming, development & art" to interest players before release.

#2
"female protagonist" games are a little less numerous than "male" ones, but there aren't as few as you think.
On the other hand, the lesbian genre is over-represented. There are also quite a few games where the chicks are dicks (bimbo)...
And in the rest, there are a lot of games that are very shy about the representation of males (colored silhouette, just the dick, or no head).
In short: your game will do some good, and renew a bit what's on offer.

As far as I'm concerned, I get feedback from both male and female players (even though fewer women play) and I can tell you that the "female protagonist" genre appeals to quite a few people.

#3
It's all about balance.
If all your scenes require hours of play to get unlock, you're going to bore players (and it's not just a gender thing: I get bored myself if it's too slow).
You're making an "adult" game, so players need to enjoy it regularly.
Also, the shorter your "hot" scenes are, the more regularly you'll need to add them (you can alternate with heated moments that don't come to a climax... or not right away).

As for the choices that matter. I'd say that from what I've read on different games, most players like it.
However, the more you put in, the more work you'll have to do to make each route credible.
I don't know your script, so my comment may not be right, but here's what's likely to happen: At first, you won't have too much trouble managing. But after a while, there will be so many possible routes, that each update will either be short (but including all routes), or will only concern certain routes. And then your players will complain.

***
Oh... another "detail", you are going to have many players complaining that you program on RPGm. Don't worry, there are plenty of players who like it (what they really don't like is walking simulators)

In any case, reading what you're planing to do, I can't wait to see your game appear in "the latest update" !
good luck to you

 

[InnocentLurker]

3. Do people actually like H-Games with lots of plot, story, and decision making?

Currently the plan for Volosis has always been about having a good lengthy story, with major plot points and decisions. Some simple and complex puzzles and things to think about. On paper it works beautifully. However - do people tend to avoid games that require more than just fapping to?

Well the only real answer to this is that some people do and some people don't, however I don't think it's realistic to set yourself up expecting to have a polished well-written game that appeals to everyone for maximum success, especially if this is your first project.
What you want to do is find an audience and ask what they want, not what "people" generally prefer, get more specific basically, which shouldn't be so hard if you already have games that inspired you to make your own, do you think you want to share an audience with your favorite games?

2. Female Protagonist Games, are they rare because of any reason in particular?

Maybe it's because I'm a woman myself, but I find that Female Protagonist games are far and few compared to Male Protagonists. Is this simply because people are more inclined to play the character that their gender correlates? Or are Female Protagonists just not favorable in smut games?

Well I could probably count the female porn game writers on one hand, women aren't real.
So with the vast majority of games written by men the female-protagonist games are also written by men, and just a look at porn anatomy is enough to say how different men interpret things.
So the perspective to have is less that people prefer one kind of protagonist or another but that there are associations made with them on how existing writers handle their characters, where the female protagonist tag is dominated almost exclusively by corruption and submission while male protagonists are treated more as the standard.

This just goes back into what I said previously with finding an audience you can understand. Ask yourself what kind of scenes you want to write and whether that's what the audience you've chosen would want to play. In the case of a female protagonist just expect to find more success with those tags. Or, seek out another audience and interpret your game for what they would want. Or just make what you want first, but don't expect a massive success.