How to add meaning to sexual content in adult games ?

[LS47]

Hello everyone,

I've been interested in story-focused porn games for a while as many of my favorites share many themes and values that resonate quite well with me, even inspiring me to start writing my own scenarios for my future porn games. However, I cannot go through many of these games without wondering for what reason do those games even have sexual elements in the first place. What justifies it ? Why did their authors choose to follow the way of adding porn scenes in their games while their stories very often could have stood on their own, and possibly given them better traction in getting funds to help them finish their projects (if that's their motive) ?

I'm in the process of finishing a pitch for my first adult game, and I've already laid out the foundations for the setting, the hook, and the core gameplay, but it is hard for me to justify the presence of porn when some simple tweaks could have made the story work just as well. I can't help but keep asking myself what value does porn add to my game because, while some genres lend themselves quite well to the sexual connotation (like management games), some more action or story-focused games (like RPGs) very rarely have any in-game tie-in to the sex scenes in gameplay or in the context the story provides.

So maybe some of you who have been playing or studying those games for a long period of time could help me in figuring out this issue. I personnaly am not one of those people who pretend the reason those games introduce these elements is because sex sells, but I am willing to hear an explanation as to what is it about porn that would attract people to projects that otherwise would not reach their attention ?

 

[TheeSonus]

Both love and lust are natural parts of human beings. The more you get to know and love a character, especially if the game allows you to pursue such a relationship with them, it's just a natural progression. If done right, it can add a lot of emotional impact, as well as depth to the character.

Though, uh, it usually isn't exactly used for that... and I mean, I'm not exactly a good writer, so I've got no clue how to actually put into practice what I'm saying...
This is the part where I shamelessly plug Divine Dawn because it has really fucking good character writing that makes me genuinely care about them. So, you can check it out if you want.

 

[gman1119]

Hello everyone,

I've been interested in story-focused porn games for a while as many of my favorites share many themes and values that resonate quite well with me, even inspiring me to start writing my own scenarios for my future porn games. However, I cannot go through many of these games without wondering for what reason do those games even have sexual elements in the first place. What justifies it ? Why did their authors choose to follow the way of adding porn scenes in their games while their stories very often could have stood on their own, and possibly given them better traction in getting funds to help them finish their projects (if that's their motive) ?

Some of these games get over $10k in proceeds a month, and can be made by 1 or 2 people, I think that is the major motivation.

 

[Jinsoyun]

I'm not a game dev or a writer, so take everything i say as it is. Just a random comment.

Fate/Stay Night is an interesting example for your question. The original VN had a great story, an interesting and expandable world building and very compelling character. Very soon the studio realized that the 18+ rating limited the audience and they got rid of the tacked on sex scenes as soon as they could in order to become mainstream. Then after they got popular, the kept dipping back into the ecchi / erotic aspect of the franchise to get even more viewers and money.
So one example demonstrates that moving towards either goal can increase the size of the audience. In theory, at least.

The first F/SN VN is also a very good example of a story where the sex is not a core part of the experience and so it could be removed without much trouble. But at the same time it did spark the imagination of the audience, and well, the internet did what the internet does.

I think what's important is what you want to make. Hitting a homerun for your first try is awesome and i hope you succeed, but what might be even better in the long run is to find your "voice", what fits you best. In writing, any situation can be handled in a hundred ways and it will be up to you to decide each time.

 

[LS47]

Some of these games get over $10k in proceeds a month, and can be made by 1 or 2 people, I think that is the major motivation.

That's kind of a stretch, only a very short percentage of adult devs make enough money to live off their games comfortably. And my post wasn't about motivating devs to add porn, I was talking about the justifications of tying porn elements with gameplay or story elements.

 

[Sphere42]

I don't see any mention of your specific ideas so it's hard to give a concrete answer. A satisfying "star-crossed romance" or "loving wife gets corrupted/stolen" story includes sex almost as a core necessity even if it is not explicitly shown (yeah okay you could write a version for asexual people but that wouldn't appeal to the much larger audience with normal sex drives as much). Same for Game of Thrones or whatever the new "adults only" popular show is, sex adds to the setting by grounding it in basic natural instincts. This is the "story with sex it doesn't shy away from" type, not exactly what I would call a "porn game".

But there also are well-integrated sex-centric stories and mechanics where the main intention clearly was to create pornographic content with a supporting framework or justification. LonaRPG is a a crapsack apocalypse "survival sim" so rape is a natural part of a female underdog character's life there. Violated Heroine (despite the name) gives you more opportunity to fight back and also offers a different angle: using sex to achieve your goals. The male MC version tends to go more into slave/brothel sim territory because femdom seems to be less popular than maledom in general, regardless of protagonist gender. And some games take this to the extreme where casual sex simply is the norm in their fictional society, or major aspects of it fundamentally rely on copious amounts of sex. I mean Monsters Inc. exists as a child-safe version where the entire parallel world literally depends on making human children scream(/laugh) as a foundation of their society and technology, that's no less ridiculous than the R18 "Succubus Inc." version where everything runs on semen instead.

So the "why" is either "because I want to" or "because sex is an established part of the setting and explicitly showing it suits the tone I'm going for", while the "how" really depends on the exact world, story, and also the sexual content or fetishes you want to include/are interested in yourself. Easy enough to see how JoJo could include loads of manly gay sex, not so easy to justify a catgirl harem.

 

[Synx]

Maybe because the devs wanted to make an adult game? Most of them start out as hobbyist, and just want to make something they enjoy. They like adult games and want to make their own.

Not much different than amateur writers. They enjoy a genre or setting, and want to write their own story about it. It often has mistakes and parts might not make sense, but hey who cares much in the end if its just an hobby. Their plan was never to make it big, and if it happens it's just an haply accident.

That's how I see most adult VNs; it's just a side project made by some amateur game developer. The sex scenes don't always make sense in the general story, but that's fine. They are making something they like and often providing it for other for free, so why should I nitpick about a sex scene not fitting in the story.

 

[obibobi]

That's kind of a stretch, only a very short percentage of adult devs make enough money to live off their games comfortably. And my post wasn't about motivating devs to add porn, I was talking about the justifications of tying porn elements with gameplay or story elements.

An even smaller amount have good story telling. I could count on one hand the amount of western adult games I've played that could hold up without the appeal of sex scenes. Japanese are an exception because they have a proper industry over there.

You're asking why do they add porn when the fact of the matter is, they need that added spice.

 

[ZephyrCloack]

Hmm... well let's start by stating the obvious the majority user population in this Forum want porn.
Some are willing to grind for it and want games with it, others want it ready to start their fap session.

To resume my opinion in that matter.
No porn isn't a requirement for any game, story or movie unless that's part of the goal of the project , though how much % of this project needs to be porn completely depends on what is the devs goal.

What justifies porn in a project?
Well porn is lore the kind we rarely witness in projects without it, not knowing this lore can allow players, readers and viewers to imagine alternative interpretations of their favorite stories, knowing well it should bring at least temporary satisfaction.

What value does it bring ?
The value it brings probably can't be 100% answered, because it does bring attention as well as censorship, it can enrich the project or just feel like an extra that wasn't worth spending the time to witness and finally represents a goal to achieve but only for those interested.

Now how does a project having porn attract people,
the answer will differ once more from person to person, i myself expect a different experience from porn games i expect a more mature approach as an overall, though that doesn't mean i can't enjoy simple porn games though those rarely impact me positively and more than 70% of the time i don't even bother sharing an opinion about those.

 

[nulnil]

Let's assume you are talking about why even have porn at all, rather than what does the porn have to do with the game. Introducing sexual content adds a new layer to your demographic, who would want to view the game's sexual content. This may entice someone who would otherwise not want to play the game, but it's not without it's faults.

Ok, so then there's the part about what does the porn have to do with the game, which I've already made a thread about (assuming again you're talking about gameplay). It goes over Sexual Game Mechanics, which are what they sound like. Here's a few examples of them:

• Degrees of Lewdity: The combat system is based around defending your holes from (or using them against) enemies. Simple and straightforward.
• Karryn's Prison: A similar case, but a larger focus on offense.
• Rignetta's Adventure: The lust meter acts as a down-bar. The longer an enemy grabs you, the harder it becomes to revive yourself.
• Breeders of the Nepheylm: Must I explain?

Pretty much the impact of the porn (in the context of a game) lies on the effect on gameplay. More direct, centered sexual game mechanics will have more impact than one-off scenes that give you +1 health.

 

[gunderson]

Let me give you two scenarios, and then I'll address which is the more likely to turn a profit.

Scenario 1: You have no unique writing, coding, graphical design, or broader game development talent or skills. You want to write a story for sale or sell an indie game, either of which are work-safe. Odds are, you fail spectacularly. Your game goes up on Steam or itch.io or your story goes up on Kindle, basically nobody sees it, you get bad reviews because you have no skill or talent, you make basically no money and waste your time.

Scenario 2: You have no unique writing, coding, graphical design, or broader game development talent or skills. You decide to make a porn game or porn story and post it here/itch/Patreon/Subscribestar/whatever other places people go right now to post their porn game. Now the question isn't just one of 'is your game/story good,' but also one of 'does your porn game/story appeal to an audience?' That latter one doesn't necessarily require you to be the best game dev/artist/writer/whatev, but is more a matter of if you're doing something original or helpfully unique such that it energizes certain fetishists. My experience is that this avenue just in practice has better odds of succeeding, all else being equal.

Here's the big problem: people who fetishize a creative job tend to only think of the success stories. But for every Twilight written by a weirdo Mormon with obvious fantasies of being in a three-way with two gay dudes who kinda both want to kill her, there are thousands of other masturbating Mormons whose tame-to-slightly-spicy YA story doesn't resonate with anybody. For every Flappy Bird, there are a thousand clones nobody's heard of. Similarly, not everybody's going to make Summertime Saga or be Sade or Notch or whoever. But I think the odds, while low, are still better for success with zero baseline skill or talent if you're making porn than if you're making work-safe content right now. So I think it's an (perhaps depressingly) accurate calculation more than anything.

Note: this calculation assumes you have no real talent. If you're a decent programmer or writer, then the calculation tends to flip: you're better off posting on Kindle or making a Steam game than making a porn game. But most people just don't have talent or skill in either, so this is the most broadly useful advice IMO.

 

[Deleted member 5410619]

What value does achievement add to a game?
What value does a victory screen add to a game?

A feeling a pride.
Of joy that you achieved your goal.

Sex is both overvalued and overrated.

Lets take a simple example:
A game could have a single sex scene like mass effect.
Not even showing much.
And the idiots of the world will ree how there is sex in a childeren toy(just shows how stupid they are)

People freak out because there is sex in your game but wont bat an eyelash when the slaughter throught armies in the most vicious ways possible.

Adding sex to the game shoudnt be a case of:
Why shoud i add sex.
It should be:
Does this fit the game.
The fact it is sex shoudnt even register and yet because of the idiots who i legaly can not murder for anoying me with there blatent stupidy.
People act like sex is somehow special.

Sorry.
A bit of a pet peeve of mine.
In short:
Adding sex scene's shoud be threated no different then adding any other scene.
Add it because you think it makes the game better.
If you think it doesnt dont add it.

And know that no matter what people will find a reason to hate your game.

 

[Meaning Less]

People act like sex is somehow special.

Would you play f95 games together with your sister, brother, friends? Would you watch a movie you know has long explicit sex scenes together with your mom,dad?

Explicit sex scenes are special because they are intended for masturbation, if the goal was anything else than the sex can just be implied or ommited, simple as that.

Games intended for masturbation are obviously not the same than games intended for general entertainment, most people want to keep both things separated for good reason...

 

[Deleted member 5410619]

Would you play f95 games together with your sister, brother, friends? Would you watch a movie you know has long explicit sex scenes together with your mom,dad?

No.
Just like i dont watch romance or horror movies with them.
Different kind of entertaiment with family.

That is just a matter of time and place.
Plenty of action movies has sex scene's.
Nobody bothered by those.
Atleast nobody sane.

Porn is something you either do alone or with someone you fuck with.
Just like video games is something you do with gamers.

Different entertaiment for different groups.

Games intended for masturbation are obviously not the same than games intended for general entertainment, most people want to keep both things separated for good reason...

Yes.
Just like you got shooters, management sims, walking simulator's, etc.
Porn is just an other gerne.
Nothing special.

 

[Meaning Less]

Porn is something you either do alone or with someone you fuck with.

Exactly, that is why games and porn games are two different things, they have different purposes.

So to answer the question:

However, I cannot go through many of these games without wondering for what reason do those games even have sexual elements in the first place. What justifies it ?

The reason why they add sexual content is because they are making porn games and not just games.

Sexual content is the meaning of porn games, if you remove that then you are making a normal game for another market that has very different expectations.

 

[desmosome]

Easy enough to see how JoJo could include loads of manly gay sex, not so easy to justify a catgirl harem.

I was with you until this. JoJoBros are not gay, man. They only look gay because they are at the pinnacle of manlyness.

 

[Sphere42]

I was with you until this. JoJoBros are not gay, man. They only look gay because they are at the pinnacle of manlyness.
View attachment 2302995

Not saying they are, but it's both easy to make them gay in a fan fiction/porn parody and also easy to produce material which appeals to gay consumers while remaining fairly faithful to the art style and themes of the canon material. Meanwhile even a single typical anime catgirl would look rather out of place. Contrast that with e.g. One Piece where it would be more surprising to NOT have a canonical catgirl harem island somewhere, even though I'm pretty sure Luffy still wouldn't understand sex after fathering half a dozen children.

 

[danarchist_lewd]

I like sex games because I enjoy the narrative component to sexual content and sex games usually scratch that itch. In addition, I like when it requires some skill to get to the sexual parts so it feels rewarding.

 

[JustXThings]

If anything, I find non adult games have too little sex in them. Do people fuck in real life ? Yes. So why people do not fuck in games ? So if the question is about meaning, sex has always meaning and gives much more depth to relationships and sexual tension makes conversations more enjoyable. A relationship w/o sex is like pasta w/o sauce. Edible yes, but that is pretty much it.

There are quite a few of AAA games that noticed this and many players that got ultra invested in the relationship system of those games. Having sex in the game and characters that find themselves attractive and make sexual remarks makes the game more enjoyable, not less. Examples, Witcher, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect, etc.

If the question is why adult games do porn instead of soft core. Well, they are adult games, not AAA games. They have limited player base, resources at their disposal and their appeal is that they are interactive porn. That's how they earn their fees.

 

[Sphere42]

If the question is why adult games do porn instead of soft core. Well, they are adult games, not AAA games. They have limited player base, resources at their disposal and their appeal is that they are interactive porn. That's how they earn their fees.

Let's be honest the real reason for the "not AAA games" part is that credit card companies (or whoever is pulling their strings) still follow absurd puritanical beliefs regarding sex and actively shut down any efforts to the contrary by denying them access to modern financial systems. "Sex sells" as they say and you can't convince me the game companies would abstain for "moral" reasons when they're fine with predatory gambling, microtransactions, dishonest pay2win matchmaking, graphic violence and pretty much every other sin in the holy books. You wouldn't get Pokémon Vulva + Penis Editions of course but GTA? A waifu gacha LoL spinoff? They would easily blow their previous profit margins out of the water with that.