How good does the writing quality need to be in an adult game for you?

[Redhunter357]

How decent should the writing be to keep you engaged in a game? (Assuming we're talking about a game from your favorite genre.)


By average, I meant agreeable writing without language errors and such. It necessarily won't feel as good as content coming from a native writer, but I'm confident that many would find it enjoyable if I did other things right. In any case, I do have a native-speaking pal who's willing to point out my mistakes and even rewrite dialogue where necessary, but the problem is I can't ask him to do my work for me. So turning my imagination into words will be largely up to me, even if the process isn't perfect.


Thank you.

 

[Nadekai]

• That you can replay it, and find no (unintentional) contradictions in lore, descriptions and etc.
• Naturally proper grammar (I don't expect perfect english, but atleast decent enough)
• Story being unique is probably the biggest factor of them all
• Distinctive Character Writing too
  

 

[allanl9020142]

I usually don't have high expectations for the writing. It's amazing when something is top-notch and really grips you but it's not a requirement. As long as there's a "hook" to get me to play and the grammar is at a competent level, it's good enough. I don't think I'm asking for the moon here. Nobody's grammar is perfect but just kind of tired seeing some stuff.

However, some I let get a pass if it has creative features, a good gimmick, gripping story-telling, etc.

Competent as in:
- No written upspeak: "I wonder ...?", "Maybe ...?" "I didn't do it, though?"
- Not using "though" at the end of every other sentence like it's some kind of verbal tic. There are options like: Still, but, however, although, etc.
- Not needlessly contracting words like, "I am" when you're emphasizing it.
- Stop writing "OMG", "WTF", and "tho". You're not texting someone. You're writing a story.

Special mention: Not a deal breaker but just odd.
- While it's not incorrect, it kind of takes me out of the story to see VNs with settings that are explicitly in the states but a lot of British-English terms are thrown in.

 

[Nadekai]

- Stop writing "OMG", "WTF", and "tho". You're not texting someone. You're writing a story.

I agree with this, it's certainly weird seeing this, however, I do find that "social idol" persona, and similar characters do get a pass in that, as it adds certain flavor to them.

 

[Nadekai]

I agree with this, it's certainly weird seeing this, however, I do find that "social idol" persona, and similar characters do get a pass in that, as it adds certain flavor to them.

- Stop writing "OMG", "WTF", and "tho". You're not texting someone. You're writing a story.

Oh, speaking of this, Lessons in Love depicts this aspect perfectly, as it has texting part, in which characters act like they are... well, texting.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Strictly speaking I don't need writing to enjoy a game, if the game has other strengths, like AQE.

However, most adult games put a significant emphasis on story, and from those games I do want good writing, which means, in order of descending importance:
1) Good characterization through dialogue. That's the most important one. Witty dialogue, with competent use of SUBTEXT.
2) Obviously competent prose. No stupid heavy infodumps, no unneeded scenes that add nothing, all that stuff. In my eyes these are fairly basic writing mistakes that can make your writing a detriment to your game. Sometimes no writing is better than a lot of bad writing.
3) No major grammatical errors, decent style (not too dry, not too purple). I overlook quite a bit of mistakes as I'm not a native speaker, so if your prose seems sloppy to me, you've got a serious problem.
4) Probably some plot, although it doesn't need to be all that intricate. Just a consistent story without significant plot holes will suffice. If I want my brain tickled by omg the best plot twist ever, I can always read a book. But most of the time there has to be some plot going on just to facilitate conflict and tension through which the characters and relations will develop.

 

[allanl9020142]

I agree with this, it's certainly weird seeing this, however, I do find that "social idol" persona, and similar characters do get a pass in that, as it adds certain flavor to them.

Yea, if it's someone who's meant to be that kind of character it makes perfect sense. If everyone is doing it, then I can't take it seriously. It just makes every character look stupid. I hate saying "cringe" but yea, I cringe pretty hard.

 

[Feds Suck This White Cock]

Writing is the most important thing in H-games simply because once you finished the game, you'll remember it for the good plot instead for the good H scenes. Of course a game with good plot and good H-scenes is just next level shit but most of the times you can't have both.

It's been quite some time since I last played a game that had even just one good thing of the 2. Devs are putting too much effort in making the sex scene good instead of making a good story but it's even hard to get hard when you see 2 boobies if there's no erotic background or whatsoever.

If you're for a fap you at least want to have a good one and plot really does help.

 

[SatinAndIvory]

For me, quality of storytelling trumps quality of "writing", storytelling being characterizations, growth, and plot, "writing" being anything grammar and language related. If you're a master storyteller in all other aspects but you have engrish level writing, the engrish will annoy me but I could still get into the story. On the opposite end, if you are a Grammerly god but you cant tell a story worth a damn, I wouldn't give a shit about your story.

Also, as a somewhat related aside, writing doesn't have to be overly flowery with big words. Unless you're writing a time piece, keep the language that requires a dictionary in the mind and off the page.

 

[desmosome]

Having at least passable grammar and enough command of the language to express your ideas and characterizations is a requirement. Without even this, there is no hope of writing anything worthwhile. There are people who literally don't read anything, but that's just how abysmally low the standards are when it comes to porn games.

Now if you have a decent grasp of the language, which I think you do based on the posts here, your actual writing skills come into consideration. However, nobody expects real writing talent from amateur porn devs. We do get exceptional works once in a while, but people are lenient in this regard.

So yea, write whatever you want. It's not like you will take writing classes to hone your craft, right? I think your English is good enough to not get in the way of whatever you wish to write.

 

[nulnil]

Unrelated to the post, but really wish people would stop calling Visual Novels 'games'. I know they're technically games, but they're completely alien compared to every other genre.

Now related to the post: Under the assumption said game is not a VN, the writing doesn't matter that much. A fun game with bad writing always beats a boring game with good writing.

 

[allanl9020142]

How decent should the writing be to keep you engaged in a game? (Assuming we're talking about a game from your favorite genre.)


By average, I meant agreeable writing without language errors and such. It necessarily won't feel as good as content coming from a native writer, but I'm confident that many would find it enjoyable if I did other things right. In any case, I do have a native-speaking pal who's willing to point out my mistakes and even rewrite dialogue where necessary, but the problem is I can't ask him to do my work for me. So turning my imagination into words will be largely up to me, even if the process isn't perfect.


Thank you.

Wait, hold on. You're not a native English speaker? From just this small paragraph, I'd say you're a lot better than half of the native English speakers I've seen online.

There are people who like to go around and say they're bilingual or multilingual but it's usually just a half-assed grasp of the second language and then filling in the blanks with memes or random slang. I haven't seen any of your writing but I feel like just from this, you seem to have more than enough fluency. I'm sorry for wasting your time by harping on the grammar part so much.

If you're trying to figure out how to write a story that will keep people engaged, maybe just study some of the VNs that are praised for their writing. "What did this make me feel?" "Why did it make me feel that way?" "What exactly did the writer/dev do here?"

The individual scenes, the overall plot, various "tools" (music, scene transitions, free roams, etc.) that are used to convey lines in a different way or give it emphasis. One advantage of a VN is that you can create a sort of unique way of telling a story that's not expressed just through the writing. It's easier to "show, not tell" in a game than it is for any normal, written story.

Being more well-read also helps to give you a deeper well of methods to express yourself in words. It can help make your characters seem more "human". Make people care about your characters. Whether it's to praise them or complain about them. Make them feel like they're their own people, not just a dude writing them to all speak the same way.

Building a vast world and exploring it or really knowing the subject matter of your story also just make for some pretty engaging stories.

There are also VNs that are really popular with mediocre plotlines but the gimmick and writing for scenes is what draws people in. Being a DIK being a prime example. Melodramatic plotlines with real world inconsistencies but what draws most people to it is how fleshed out characters can be through interactions, American Pie-esque hijinks, and the sentimental or exciting moments he can create in individual scenes.

Other VNs I can think of at the top of my head would be: MadWorld, Chasing Sunsets, A Father's Sins, Friends in Need, and Desert Stalker.
Each of them having something about them that make it feel like an interesting read. Whether it's characters you can sympathize with, every sentence feeling natural and meaningful, a thrilling and uncommon story that feels believable to some extent, characters acting in a way that feel real, or intricate details in an open world.

I went on a rant. Sorry about that. Feel free to ignore my presumptuoness if there's nothing useful to glean from my crazy babbling.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

If you're trying to figure out how to write a story that will keep people engaged, maybe just study some of the VNs that are praised for their writing. "What did this make me feel?" "Why did it make me feel that way?" "What exactly did the writer/dev do here?"

Yes, this is a good study method, but I would suggest picking apart good literature/screenplays instead of adult VNs, highly praised or not. For most elements of a story there's an overlap anyways. You can study good plot structure, dialogue, worldbuilding, charaterization, and prose from any good SFW work. Lessons learned that way will apply universally, so why not do that? The selection is greater, and there's infinitely more analysis available. "Why Tarantino is a master of dialogue?", boom, you have a mountain of essays and youtube videos explaining it to you.

The only thing you can't learn directly from SFW works is sex scenes. That's where you turn to adult works for inspiration. However, one should keep in mind, that there are a lot of overrated games that manage to attract people despite poor writing. If you really want to be sure that an adult game has genuinely good writing, pick a game that has obvious deficiencies in other parts. I.e. it has little or no art. That way you'll know it's not praised because coomers fell for pictures of big tiddy mommy of their dreams and rationalized their love of the game afterwards.

Or, just pick a game that you think has the hottest scenes, trust your own taste.

Building a vast world and exploring it

ALARM! ALARM! DANGER AHEAD!

I mean, yes, having clever worldbuilding fed to you through a good story is a magnificent reading experience. When executed well, that is. But it has a chance to absolutely ruin the story, when the author is in love with their world and can't restrain from shoving as much of it down the reader's throat through mediocre story. Worldbuilding is something you need to carefully budget, for lack of a better term.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

The most important thing is that the dev does the fetishes I enjoy, and does them well. This requires some writing chops. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare, it just has to be good enough for immersion and investment in the characters. Which most ero-games fail due to bad English, stupid cliches, a rush to deliver frequent "content" for the patrons at the expense of character development, and a myriad other reasons. The story isn't even that important, but the characters have to be believable, I must want to see them corrupted and I have to be able to enjoy the corruption process.

Unrelated to the post, but really wish people would stop calling Visual Novels 'games'. I know they're technically games, but they're completely alien compared to every other genre.

The line can be blurred in VNs that have a lot of variables and resource-management. Something like Suzerain, you could equally call a strategy game or a CYOA / VN, it has more moving parts than some simpler strategy games.

 

[Living In A Lewd World]

If you make a VN, for me personally it is important that the plot is interesting and well structured and that the image sequence already can convey the plot. Only if that catches me, I would try to start to read. If I like what I read, that can be a big surplus. But when I don't like, what I read, I would not stop to play, but just stop reading and take the game as a beautiful picture book.

 

[chainedpanda]

Writing quality is important, but I think the two most important aspect of games are characters and plot. Quality only serves to enhance these two elements.

Even if a game has subpar quality, but excellent plot than a lot of the writing problems make up for it. Characters are a bit tricker in that regard. Mostly because poor writing can make interesting character designs fall completely flat.

 

[w4nk3r]

Depends upon my mood. But a consistent problem for me is when the story gets long, I'll start to skip through to the sex scenes. At the end of the day, I'm looking for a story with sex scenes. If I want a great story, I'll read a novel. ymmv

 

[nulnil]

The line can be blurred in VNs that have a lot of variables and resource-management. Something like Suzerain, you could equally call a strategy game or a CYOA / VN, it has more moving parts than some simpler strategy games.

Thing is though, there's no way to mix a VN and another genre. They're defined by their minimal interactivity/gameplay, but nearly every other genre has a strong focus on gameplay, or at least interactivity. You could mix fighting and strategy mechanics together for example, but VN's don't really have any game mechanics to mix anything with at all.

 

[allanl9020142]

Yes, this is a good study method, but I would suggest picking apart good literature/screenplays instead of adult VNs, highly praised or not. For most elements of a story there's an overlap anyways. You can study good plot structure, dialogue, worldbuilding, charaterization, and prose from any good SFW work. Lessons learned that way will apply universally, so why not do that? The selection is greater, and there's infinitely more analysis available. "Why Tarantino is a master of dialogue?", boom, you have a mountain of essays and youtube videos explaining it to you.

Yea, for sure. Still, I'd argue ... hmm, not sure how to say this. It's kind of like, you gotta give the people what they want. I'd say there's merit to dissecting what's been proven to work in this sphere. Although that doesn't mean I don't 100% agree it helps to be well-read. One of my favorite devs/writers is NeonGhost of Friends in Need who seems like a very well-read person based on what he's said or brief interactions with him.

I mean, yes, having clever worldbuilding fed to you through a good story is a magnificent reading experience. When executed well, that is. But it has a chance to absolutely ruin the story, when the author is in love with their world and can't restrain from shoving as much of it down the reader's throat through mediocre story. Worldbuilding is something you need to carefully budget, for lack of a better term.

LOL. Yea, that's true. There are definitely many, potential pitfalls to world building. When well done, it's amazing. It's just that it's more likely to become too big to handle for most writers. However, there are some good examples of world building in regards to VNs. Eternum and Desert Stalker being two I appreciate. It doesn't have to be all about it, right but it's more like I appreciate what they do to really create a different world. (I'm pretty sure those two are developed by actual teams instead of solo devs too).

I really do agree with what you said. I was just giving an example of stories I find engaging is all. I do know some devs who do too much on the world building. It eventually feels like the writer is worrying about the pebbles laying on the side of the road rather than the road itself. Pedantic details that don't matter at the expense of the plot. It's especially relevant when people are waiting on updates for a game. Precious dev time being used to work on those things rather than move the story forward in a satisfactory way.