Hey there, I'm a new ero-game dev!

[iceCreamRush]

Howdy all!

Joined up as I decided to take my first step into the world of making adult games. Wanted to drop in and pick brains, share my content and development, and just generally hang out. My first work will be a short gay kinetic VN called 'The Ambassador's Coterie' which I'm making for a gamejam on itch.io; I'm looking forward to sharing it with y'all when it's ready!

For a conversation starter: Do y'all prefer 3D works or 2D works when it comes to visual novel stuffs? In my mind I see 3D as 'broader content for less work' versus 2D as 'more authored/stylized work that feels more personal/hand-crafted'. I can't argue that 3D seems like the way to go if you want to do a lot of CG-work but as a 2D-focused author just seeing the sheer volume of content in 3D games is intimidating when I compare it to what I'm limited to with my tablet. I'm also really crap at making organic models in 3D and I haven't yet got the funds to fuel that sort of work anyway, which adds a little intimidation factor haha.

What do y'all think about 2D/3D? Does it matter to you and do you have a preference? I'm running a poll but feel free to answer with more detail.

Anywho, thanks for having me and I hope y'all like my works as I go. I look forward to hearing what y'all think about the topic; I'm still really new to adult software so I'm still finding my feet. Hearing what folks think about that, I hope, should help me get savvier and be a better content-maker faster.

 

[PoorSoul]

Nice to meet ya, a lot of people seems to like 3D stuff especially when the modelling is good or by a team they know makes good stuff. Personally I like 2D stuff since it takes up less space and runs better on my computer! Haha! Look forward to your stuff though!

 

[iceCreamRush]

Look forward to your stuff though!

Thank you!! I hope y'all will enjoy them. It's going to definitely feel 'low-budget' from me to start though at first; unsurprisingly, it's because I have very little money to invest into the works. I wonder, do images count as links for the 'don't post until you have three posts' requirement? I'll test that at the post's end to show what I mean!

I'm presently stuck doing just pencil-work for my CGs but I hope to get to full color with enough support. I'm going to try and keep the art clean and well-rendered though even if I can only do pencils for now. I really have no idea where this road might lead, but that's kind of also what's exciting about stepping into this brand new sort of art-making for me!

 

[Hagatagar]

Since you're certainly capable of making decent drawings, you should stick with 2D, especially if you only want to make a short game where you don't have to draw too much.

There are enough people who don't like the typical DAZ, VAM or HS models or find them all too similar looking.

2D, as you mentioned, can have a much more personal and unique touch that can make you stand out from other games, at least visually.
This can definitely help you as a newcomer, as recognisability is extremely important.


Ultimately, it is very important to choose a path that you are good at and doesn't cause you too much effort.
Most new developers quit because it's way too much work (than what they expected) or that it isn't fun for them anymore.

 

[iceCreamRush]

Agreed, it is a bunch of work! Even being as economical as I could, I still wound up with 19 CGs (removing expression/state variants: 8 CGs) for just an hour's worth of play. I used as much pre-made assets as I could, too haha! The character sprites are commercial ones, the backgrounds aren't custom, and so on. I could do all that, but I wanted most of the key art done in 1-2 weeks so that had to get 'condensed'.

Even so, I've never shied away from projects that need a lot of work to get running, just so long as I can expect that it would be 'worth it' by the end. I've got no idea what sort of response folks'll have to my first (probably too ambitious) work so I'm playing it pretty conservative with budget and time investment. I'd be happy to pour a lot of time and money into this sort of work if I get a fanbase eager/interested in my content.

Speaking of, this is my third post! As I understand at, that means I'm allowed to post links at the moment. It's still kinda crusty around the edges but I'll be posting the work-in-progress version of the game over in the directory ASAP!

Just to return to the poised question though: If you were given the choice between sprites or a more 'drawing-like' style is there a big divide between those two art styles for y'all? I know RPGMaker games tend to straddle both sides of that line but I'm not sure if that's more developers being economical with their budget or being driven by customers preferring that split.

e: Seems from what I'm seeing it may take a while for it to show up once I submit a request; for those who're curious and don't mind a still not-quite-finished version of it, feel free to check it out here:

You must be registered to see the links

 

[Hagatagar]

In general, I would suggest asking these kind questions in more suitable areas of this forum, such as Programming, Development & Art or perhaps General Discussions.
Since Introduction is not visited by many users, you will get way less feedback here.

 

[iceCreamRush]

Good idea! May as well start up a development thread for the game while I'm at it in Programming, Development & Art, too.