How to Make your Dream Game? List of Questions and Queries Thread from a Newbie Game Developer? Appreciate all Help!

[nathanjoneswork2]

Hi there!

First of All, This is Going to be Long, so Thank you for reading and be sure to add in your questions or answer mine for I wanted to create this thread as an advice for Beginners who want to make their own dream game come true.

Thanks for F95 , we've been able to play and experience many amazing games that has just given me so much Lewd fun, entertainment and relaxation! . I've been playing many great games on a binge and many have inspired me. I know game development is not an easy process, and it could years to perfect it, but it all has to start with a dream. I have a bunch of questions and queries (more to come later) about the whole process and thought instead of posting several threads, I just make one big one.

I would really appreciate anyone with any experience to reply, but the replies from game devs would be really helpful.
Okay, So here's what I wanted to ask...

1. How much work and important is the writing component compared to the Visuals and How do you really start on a Story?
Would you work on the worldbuilding first, or the characters or is it borne out of a specific fetish that grows into becoming a plot and you make a story as you go? What in your opinion is easier to code... a Visual novel character focused style of game, vs a sandbox world with rpg elements to roam around (day/schedule) and have a narrative when needed?

2. What in your opinion is harder to make, 2d sprites or 3d models? I am much more inclined towards creating something in 3d but I hear its very advanced and hard and takes years. and I don't know how does one actually draw a character there and have various positions/facial expressions etc. I have heard about 3d modeling in daz3d , is that what what devs mostly use or there are other better alternatives for 3d modeling.
Also, since we are talking about daz, Is it better to actually make the models , clothes, animations yourself or you have to buy them from the daz store for example? Does it require a creative knowhow of how to draw art on like a drawing tablet for example in the 2d games making, or more tech knowledge of 3d model and animation with photoshop/image software knowledge is required for background?

3. How much coding knowledge do you actually need for creating the game? Is it only Python knowledge that is needed or more to it than that? Also is there a resource to learn specifically about ren'py (a ren'py game script) or more trial and error via decompiling? How long does the coding process take in regards to the writing and art?
I know basic python and have been learning advanced but at what level do you think it is enough to start on a game and it not become a whole list of compiling errors that you spend days and weeks fixing.

4. What is the motion animation process like, 'cause that must be a whole different thing from creating models and expressions and positions in various ways . I for one think they are a good bonus but I've heard it takes a long time, and if it takes weeks or months for what lasts like 10 secs, I think I'll commit that much time on the story instead, but again some are looking for straight to sex games , and some are actually hoping for dialogue and writing.

5. Can you use the same facial expression/positions/action for different models or is it all separately one to one. Like for example How do you make a scene where MC gropes a Girl's ass? or a Kissing scene? How long would it be?

6. What are renders? and Why does rendering take so long and how long does it take for a simple scene to render? What if one doesn't have a high end PC with Titan GPUs?

7. Is this Flowchart correct? Story writing -> characters -> dialogues -> 3d model making face expressions and clothing -> other background and asset -> animation for sex -> voice / sound -> music -> coding -> render -> (if )translation -> marketing -> bugtest -> release -> updates. Or what are the key components I'm missing here cause I haven't actually gone through it. What complications usually arise at common during the production of the game?

I know its a lot , but really would help come one step closer to reaching my goals and I know many others who are hoping to make something out of their imagination. Hope I can as many replies I can get so everyone gets help out of this thread.
Thanks so much for reading!
Please Keep Safe out there

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

Some more Questions here :

8. Game Programming Languages one would recommend to learn , from Easier to the Hardest. From the one Used the Least to Most Widely used.
9. With patreons rules against Incest and Rape/Forced , How can you post a project there and not have it immediately violating the rules and removed.
10. (From a Friend) Is there any Discord groups to join for ren'py game development that folks can discuss on things and share knowledge.

 

[DeadPotato]

Heya! Welcome! Great seeing another aspiring dev here! (I'm a long time forum lurker myself, recently started working on my own game)

I can answer some (hopefully all) of your questions. Know that this is from my perspective, it's my opinion and from my experience. Do not take it as fact, only for reference. C:

1. In my opinion, the writing component makes or breaks the game. It is the most important part of the game. DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS. Good characters, story will stick with people, long after they play it.
For my game, I start with a very simple concept (a medieval fantasy story), then i start fleshing out chunks of general information (the plot and characters), then after I'm satisfied I dive into the details.
It is easier to create a Visual Novel game than a sandbox world RPG. Just by their nature. A sandbox world RPG requires a lot more work that one might think (and a lot more work to make it good too).

2. 3D modeling is definitely harder. To make it look good is even harder. I cannot give any help/tips on 3D asset work as I don't have experience in it myself but I can tell you that the visuals are not what makes the game good. C:
Hopefully somebody with 3D asset work experience can help you with this question.

3. If you're using Ren'py, it is very easy, even for non-coders too! Just check out a few tutorials and you'll be up to speed very quickly!

4. Animation definitely takes quite a bit of time, but it's not going to take months. It all depends on your workflow and experience.
I'll definitely support you for committing time on the story! Here's the thing, you have to also decide on your target audience. Do you want to focus on the audience that wants straight to sex games or the audience that wants dialogue and writing?

Yeah... I think these are the questions I feel like I can answer. Good luck!
Lemme know (PM me or something) if you have a project in the works and need some testers (or feedback!) I can help with that whenever I'm not working on my own game! C:

 

[Amampathaka]

Really nice idea to make thread on this. am also a noob lol in game dev and didn't know who to ask questions to without looking stupid! Sorry I don't have answers for you but can I ask questions to get answers to as well?

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

Really nice idea to make thread on this. am also a noob lol in game dev and didn't know who to ask questions to without looking stupid! Sorry I don't have answers for you but can I ask questions to get answers to as well?

Yes, absolutely! Feel Free to. I wanted this forum for an open discussion about things, and Glad to see I'm not the only one Starting out new!
And do you have a game in mind that you draw inspiration from and want to make something similar in that regard?

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

Heya! Welcome! Great seeing another aspiring dev here! (I'm a long time forum lurker myself, recently started working on my own game)

I can answer some (hopefully all) of your questions. Know that this is from my perspective, it's my opinion and from my experience. Do not take it as fact, only for reference. C:

1. In my opinion, the writing component makes or breaks the game. It is the most important part of the game. DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS. Good characters, story will stick with people, long after they play it.
For my game, I start with a very simple concept (a medieval fantasy story), then i start fleshing out chunks of general information (the plot and characters), then after I'm satisfied I dive into the details.
It is easier to create a Visual Novel game than a sandbox world RPG. Just by their nature. A sandbox world RPG requires a lot more work that one might think (and a lot more work to make it good too).

2. 3D modeling is definitely harder. To make it look good is even harder. I cannot give any help/tips on 3D asset work as I don't have experience in it myself but I can tell you that the visuals are not what makes the game good. C:
Hopefully somebody with 3D asset work experience can help you with this question.

3. If you're using Ren'py, it is very easy, even for non-coders too! Just check out a few tutorials and you'll be up to speed very quickly!

4. Animation definitely takes quite a bit of time, but it's not going to take months. It all depends on your workflow and experience.
I'll definitely support you for committing time on the story! Here's the thing, you have to also decide on your target audience. Do you want to focus on the audience that wants straight to sex games or the audience that wants dialogue and writing?

Yeah... I think these are the questions I feel like I can answer. Good luck!
Lemme know (PM me or something) if you have a project in the works and need some testers (or feedback!) I can help with that whenever I'm not working on my own game! C:

Glad to see I found another forum lurker like me who got inspired and started on working on something by yourself. And Totally understand all the information coming is just a matter of perspective, everyone has a different way to do things.

1. I agree absolutely with that. There are many games which might not have the best renders or animations of all time, but the story stuck with me long after the game and thats a sign of a game which made an impact. And Lets be real, Even in the best of Adult games here, the Graphics are not going to look like RDR2 or Cyberpunk anytime soon so it all really comes down to the story and writing. Yes, I've been recommended to make a Visual (short) game first before diving head into Sandbox.

2. I think that would be the biggest hurdle for me then, the 3D Asset work if I decide to make a game with 'realistic' graphics. You're very right on that point, Either make a great 3D assets and art, because if you do an okay enough job on it, it'll look far worse on the screen.

3. I have been trying to learn more about Ren'py and noticing that some devs have been really able to enhance it and make it not look like the 'default' template but a thing of its own to add flavor to the game.

4. Seeing that I am the target audience for Story first, Sex later... I think I know which kind of audience I'll be looking for hahaa!

Thank you for the wonderful reply friend. I'll make sure to PM you and talk about games development and more. Glad to have your input!

 

[AmazonessKing]

1. VERY. Story is what keeps people hooked to the story, writing in general is what makes a character likable and memorable, while visuals can only make it memorable. I'd say that it honestly depends on what kind of game you are making would make world-building or character development something to prioritize, but ultimately, you want both.
If you want to build an story, think of a concept, any, and see if you can build an story around it, look at any little detail it can have, and once you have something basic or even very detailed, you will probably change things along the way. Just keep yourself concise with the narrative.
A visual novel will always be easier than anything, and it's actually a very good learning tool.

2. 3D is easier to do get into but harder to take advantage of it's full potential. 2D is hard to get into since you do need to learn how to draw, but with constant practice you can get better in no time. Ultimately, as you say, you can buy assets in Daz. I personally prefer 2D.

3. Ren'py uses Python as base, so you are good to go. It's very simple and you can learn the basics with any youtube tutorial and then go from there. Advanced stuff requires python coding, but the community is very active and you can find an answer to most of your questions.

4. I'm not sure what you specifically mean here. If you mean making an animation, it takes A LOT of time depending on what you are using and it gets a bit more complicated in that aspect, whether it is 2D or 3D. My advice is, don't bother with animation, as you say, that time can be better spent on literally everything else, including making more still images.

5. Recycling is a good thing as long as you don't make it evident or annoying. This is easier done in 3D.

6. Renders are the finalization of a 3D model into a 2D image, literally. IT takes long because your gpu and cpu are processing the 3D models, that includes backgrounds and the character models and any lighting and effects you have, into an image. Single images don't take as long, videos and animations take longer because you are rendering an image per frame of animation, so imagine how much time it takes.

7. The flowchart is whatever you think it needs to be done in that specific moment. Yours is nice.

8. Python and C++ should be enough. Maybe java, but... I don't think you will use it. Python is easier, C++ is way harder.

9. Tricky one, I personally advice against using patreon because of those rules, use subscribestar instead. If you need to use it, though, patreon usually don't give a lot of troubles to new users. So you can have your project there until they decide to bother you. If that happens you can either listen to the demands they have in order for you to keep the game, or just ditch them if you have subscribestar. Best thing you can do as a beginner is have both.

10. Yes:

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And F95 own server, although I don't really use that one.

Good luck, mate. The best advice I can give you is that even if you have very ambitious ideas, start small, test things out, and grow slowly. Don't bite more than you can handle.

 

[Amampathaka]

Yes, absolutely! Feel Free to. I wanted this forum for an open discussion about things, and Glad to see I'm not the only one Starting out new!
And do you have a game in mind that you draw inspiration from and want to make something similar in that regard?

Okay TY! Well my dream game I wanna make like crime n adult gta lite with mission, romance n lot more dirtier sexy plot filled with lots of sexy time and adult fun. I like crime thriller genre.
I know it sounds too much lol that's why I wanna make something small first n then see what happens but like that's my dream game like that.

Question I have is, between creating a game with hero being the same personality , or make one what has different start points for different dialogue and personality, like mass effect or dragon age , how hard can I get?

And why do some hands updates take like 6 months to come??

 

[Laikhent]

2. using 3d models is easier because you can just buy the models (there are some free out there too). I don't recommend making a 3D model from scratch if you are not into it, because it would take a lot of time to learn and I doubt it would look as good as the work of someone that enjoys to work on that field. I recommend looking for free assets and playing a bit with them to learn.

For clothing, it's much easier than to make the whole character from scratch (will still have to learn though), but buying or looking for free assets will save you a lot of time.

For poses / animations, it's easier and you will need to learn anyway. But for more complex animations you will want to get them from ppl that made them using a motion capture device (for instance, running / walking) (I think the most common animations you can probably find for free out there).

And yes, you should look into daz, that will one of your best friends if you are going to use 3D assets.

--

5. You can use animations from one character on another if certain conditions are met. To know how to make an animation you can check youtube videos about it. Also, take a look about inverse kinematics. In DAZ you can buy facial expressions.

8. Just learn the one you need (based on the plataform you will use to create the game). I recommend learning as you make the game, since that drastically increases your motivation to learn.

9. For incest, I see games doing this: When you meet your mother, the game does not say it's your mother (even though in the context you can easily identify she is) and asks what is your relation to her and then an input box appear to the player with the name 'Maid' on it. Then, the player notices it's actually his mother and changes it to 'Mom' (not sure if I was very clear here). Another way is to just make her your step mom / step sister, which is close enough.

For rape, I do see some games using rape and getting away with it. You will probably be fine if you don't grab too much attention. Patreon itself does not care about it (they only added those guidelines because their payment processors were requiring it), but they will ask you to remove that content if ppl start complaining about it. You could also focus on blackmail instead of rape, since it's similar enough but not against patreon terms.

 

[samyek01]

I highly recommend the old EC(please don't start a flame war) series on making your first game.

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[DeadPotato]

I highly recommend the old EC(please don't start a flame war) series on making your first game.

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Hey now. Old EC is pretty good. Before the fire nation attacked.

 

[AmazonessKing]

Ah, yeah, I agree, extra credits used to be pretty good. There's a point where you just realize you shouldn't listen to it anymore, so at that point you probably should stop.

 

[Zippity]

I'll see if I can help either give my personal opinion or help directly give some advice/answers to those questions:

1 - How much work and important is the writing component compared to the Visuals and How do you really start on a Story?Would you work on the worldbuilding first, or the characters or is it borne out of a specific fetish that grows into becoming a plot and you make a story as you go? What in your opinion is easier to code... a Visual novel character focused style of game, vs a sandbox world with rpg elements to roam around (day/schedule) and have a narrative when needed?

This will always depend on your over all goals, and what you are planning to develop... If it is a Visual Novel of any particular style, then writing really needs to be the key element... Telling a good story requires one or more story/plot elements that are interesting and creative... If your focus is more on the porn and less so on telling a good story, then I guess starting with fetish ideas first might be helpful...

I personally find that I enjoy a well told story more so then just having the erotic content, but that does not mean I don't mind a balance of good story alongside erotic content... Based off the experience I've had playing/reading these things over the years... For me, if the balance is more in favor of the erotic content, then 9 times out of 10 most likely the story is going to probably suffer... It's rare to find a more porn focused VN/Game where the story telling was done well, as they have a tendency to be not all that good, if not horrible... Mostly due to lack of creativity and/or over the top and stereotyped characters (usually they fall into highly overused categories or their personalities lack depth), meaningless dialogue (usually just filled with lots of lewd thoughts, profanity, over played personalities, and unrealistic talking), and lack of any story depth (focusing more on the sex stuff and/or over used tropes, along with poorly skilled story telling and over-the-top/hard-to-believe plot themes)...

What I usually suggest for getting started on the writing, is to just jot down your basic ideas first... And they don't even need to be necessarily related to one another or be in any particular order... Then go through the ideas and work out a structure and/or order to the ideas you think will best create an over all story... Then plot out (usually I find that an outline format works well) a story from beginning to end... Taking into account any choice based story branches... You do this just to have a clearer picture of story flow and connectivity, which will aid in keeping the continuity in check... You don't necessarily need to include all the details (it is up to you how detailed to make the outline), as you can work that all out as you develop everything later on... And don't treat the outline as set in stone, it's just a tool to help you keep everything straight... From there you can weave your story...

Some folks build up background details as well, such as names for locations, character names/details, inter-relations between characters, settings, etc... Maybe even do some story boarding...

My suggestion as to your style of game, I would determine that up front... I personally find it tediously annoying to go through a lengthy amount Visual Novel based story telling (choices or not) to then see it change gears into a navigation style/etc. for no good reason... Determine a format early on and stick with it for the life of the VN/Game... Sure, you can have a VN style introduction, but if you plan to include navigation or another format other then general VN, put it into place right after the intro... Don't wait until an hour+ into a VN/Game with one style, and then throw another style at the player/reader... You'll find it annoys more folks what that occurs then not... It makes folks think you have no clear idea of what you want to do or how you even want to go about it...

Obviously a Text Based game is going to be the easiest to code, depending on the engine... With a Visual Novel being next in line, again depending on the engine, as well as how many visuals you plan to use, along side any complex game play mechanics you want to add... Making a general game, again depending on the engine used, can be rather daunting to code as you try to interweave all the various game play mechanics along with story and imagery...

True sandbox erotic/adult VN/Game are not that common... The number of true sandbox erotic games I've ran into, in this niche industry, I can probably count with one hand... Sandbox is a power word developers like to throw around to sound more choice based then what they typically tend to be... Having a limited choice navigation system where you can choose very specific places to go on a whim, is not

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or even

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... The meaning has become diluted in many peoples minds, due to how often it is used wrongly by the entire gaming industry of developers in-general, usually as a ploy to attract customers...


UPDATE - Instead of adding more this this particular reply, I just added follow up answers/suggestions/etc. in various replies later in this thread...

Zip

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

1. VERY. Story is what keeps people hooked to the story, writing in general is what makes a character likable and memorable, while visuals can only make it memorable. I'd say that it honestly depends on what kind of game you are making would make world-building or character development something to prioritize, but ultimately, you want both.
If you want to build an story, think of a concept, any, and see if you can build an story around it, look at any little detail it can have, and once you have something basic or even very detailed, you will probably change things along the way. Just keep yourself concise with the narrative.
A visual novel will always be easier than anything, and it's actually a very good learning tool.

2. 3D is easier to do get into but harder to take advantage of it's full potential. 2D is hard to get into since you do need to learn how to draw, but with constant practice you can get better in no time. Ultimately, as you say, you can buy assets in Daz. I personally prefer 2D.

3. Ren'py uses Python as base, so you are good to go. It's very simple and you can learn the basics with any youtube tutorial and then go from there. Advanced stuff requires python coding, but the community is very active and you can find an answer to most of your questions.

4. I'm not sure what you specifically mean here. If you mean making an animation, it takes A LOT of time depending on what you are using and it gets a bit more complicated in that aspect, whether it is 2D or 3D. My advice is, don't bother with animation, as you say, that time can be better spent on literally everything else, including making more still images.

5. Recycling is a good thing as long as you don't make it evident or annoying. This is easier done in 3D.

6. Renders are the finalization of a 3D model into a 2D image, literally. IT takes long because your gpu and cpu are processing the 3D models, that includes backgrounds and the character models and any lighting and effects you have, into an image. Single images don't take as long, videos and animations take longer because you are rendering an image per frame of animation, so imagine how much time it takes.

7. The flowchart is whatever you think it needs to be done in that specific moment. Yours is nice.

8. Python and C++ should be enough. Maybe java, but... I don't think you will use it. Python is easier, C++ is way harder.

9. Tricky one, I personally advice against using patreon because of those rules, use subscribestar instead. If you need to use it, though, patreon usually don't give a lot of troubles to new users. So you can have your project there until they decide to bother you. If that happens you can either listen to the demands they have in order for you to keep the game, or just ditch them if you have subscribestar. Best thing you can do as a beginner is have both.

10. Yes:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

And F95 own server, although I don't really use that one.

Good luck, mate. The best advice I can give you is that even if you have very ambitious ideas, start small, test things out, and grow slowly. Don't bite more than you can handle.

Hi there, Thanks for your wonderful Reply friend!

1. I see, Yes ofcourse the concept should be detailed enough to build a world around it. I've noticed that jumping between too many ideas all at once leads nowhere.

2. Hah , Quite the Catch There. One is easier to get into, harder to master. The other takes fair amount of creativity before you can be even decent, but once you're there, it gets to the smoother curve.

3. Thanks, I'll be checking the community coding sections and will try to join in python discords and forums when I am more advanced in it.

4. I meant the actual sex animation which are different from the 'render' animation back n forth many games use. Animations which are separate and require a ton of effort. And Yeah, time can be better spent on quite many other things.

6. Thats a brilliant definition thanks!

8. I've heard Unity used Javascript and C# , Unreal uses C++ while Ren'py uses Python. So it makes sense, with the steeper curve, one can create more advanced game but which are all the more harder to make and the code as well is harder to learn.

9. Got it, thanks!

10. Awesome!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

Okay TY! Well my dream game I wanna make like crime n adult gta lite with mission, romance n lot more dirtier sexy plot filled with lots of sexy time and adult fun. I like crime thriller genre.
I know it sounds too much lol that's why I wanna make something small first n then see what happens but like that's my dream game like that.

Question I have is, between creating a game with hero being the same personality , or make one what has different start points for different dialogue and personality, like mass effect or dragon age , how hard can I get?

And why do some hands updates take like 6 months to come??

I think I've read this on one of the other threads which are exactly about this. More character choices means more dialogues, more extra renders, different consequences and alternate paths. I think, one has to keep a clear goal in check where the story is headed, I've seen many great VN's try to serve every kink niche ever to not be able to capitalize on one, but again depends on you and how hard you want to make for yourself for the price of additional game runs!

Love GTA, and Crime is great genre that combines well with Adult Content.

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

2. using 3d models is easier because you can just buy the models (there are some free out there too). I don't recommend making a 3D model from scratch if you are not into it, because it would take a lot of time to learn and I doubt it would look as good as the work of someone that enjoys to work on that field. I recommend looking for free assets and playing a bit with them to learn.

For clothing, it's much easier than to make the whole character from scratch (will still have to learn though), but buying or looking for free assets will save you a lot of time.

For poses / animations, it's easier and you will need to learn anyway. But for more complex animations you will want to get them from ppl that made them using a motion capture device (for instance, running / walking) (I think the most common animations you can probably find for free out there).

And yes, you should look into daz, that will one of your best friends if you are going to use 3D assets.

--

5. You can use animations from one character on another if certain conditions are met. To know how to make an animation you can check youtube videos about it. Also, take a look about inverse kinematics. In DAZ you can buy facial expressions.

8. Just learn the one you need (based on the plataform you will use to create the game). I recommend learning as you make the game, since that drastically increases your motivation to learn.

9. For incest, I see games doing this: When you meet your mother, the game does not say it's your mother (even though in the context you can easily identify she is) and asks what is your relation to her and then an input box appear to the player with the name 'Maid' on it. Then, the player notices it's actually his mother and changes it to 'Mom' (not sure if I was very clear here). Another way is to just make her your step mom / step sister, which is close enough.

For rape, I do see some games using rape and getting away with it. You will probably be fine if you don't grab too much attention. Patreon itself does not care about it (they only added those guidelines because their payment processors were requiring it), but they will ask you to remove that content if ppl start complaining about it. You could also focus on blackmail instead of rape, since it's similar enough but not against patreon terms.

Thanks for your reply mate!

I see, yes I was browsing around and came to know it would take atleast months or even year to understand how to make a 3d model from scratch and its doubtful it'll even look good. Editing them and smartly playing around with the Free assets would be a wise choice.
As for animations and poses, yes thats something to be learned , would be very handy later!

Have to make Daz my new best friend it seems haha!

Inverse kinematics is something that relates to a robot manipulator or animation character's skeleton according to google, will research furthermore.

Thats very creative, replacing "Landlady" or "Maid" with the relationship you want with them.

Interesting knowledge about Patreon and yes, I see Patreon doesn't really mind blackmail , will continue to dig deeper there...
Thanks for the advice!

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

I remember Extra Credits, Used to watch a bunch of their stuff back in the day, and going to go back into it. No matter what the current scenario and inclinations are, they do have a great vault of content for game devs from the earlier videos.
Been trying to find more youtube channels like there for game dev advice.

 

[nathanjoneswork2]

I'll see if I can help either give my personal opinion or help directly give some advice/answers to those questions:




This will always depend on your over all goals, and what you are planning to develop... If it is a Visual Novel of any particular style, then writing really needs to be the key element... Telling a good story requires one or more story/plot elements that are interesting and creative... If your focus is more on the porn and less so on telling a good story, then I guess starting with fetish ideas first might be helpful...

I personally find that I enjoy a well told story more so then just having the erotic content, but that does not mean I don't mind a balance of good story alongside erotic content... Based off the experience I've had playing/reading these things over the years... For me, if the balance is more in favor of the erotic content, then 9 times out of 10 most likely the story is going to probably suffer... It's rare to find a more porn focused VN/Game where the story telling was done well, as they have a tendency to be not all that good, if not horrible... Mostly due to lack of creativity and/or over the top and stereotyped characters (usually they fall into highly overused categories or their personalities lack depth), meaningless dialogue (usually just filled with lots of lewd thoughts, profanity, over played personalities, and unrealistic talking), and lack of any story depth (focusing more on the sex stuff and/or over used tropes, along with poorly skilled story telling and over-the-top/hard-to-believe plot themes)...

What I usually suggest for getting started on the writing, is to just jot down your basic ideas first... And they don't even need to be necessarily related to one another or be in any particular order... Then go through the ideas and work out a structure and/or order to the ideas you think will best create an over all story... Then plot out (usually I find that an outline format works well) a story from beginning to end... Taking into account any choice based story branches... You do this just to have a clearer picture of story flow and connectivity, which will aid in keeping the continuity in check... You don't necessarily need to include all the details (it is up to you how detailed to make the outline), as you can work that all out as you develop everything later on... And don't treat the outline as set in stone, it's just a tool to help you keep everything straight... From there you can weave your story...

Some folks build up background details as well, such as names for locations, character names/details, inter-relations between characters, settings, etc... Maybe even do some story boarding...

My suggestion as to your style of game, I would determine that up front... I personally find it tediously annoying to go through a lengthy amount Visual Novel based story telling (choices or not) to then see it change gears into a navigation style/etc. for no good reason... Determine a format early on and stick with it for the life of the VN/Game... Sure, you can have a VN style introduction, but if you plan to include navigation or another format other then general VN, put it into place right after the intro... Don't wait until an hour+ into a VN/Game with one style, and then throw another style at the player/reader... You'll find it annoys more folks what that occurs then not... It makes folks think you have no clear idea of what you want to do or how you even want to go about it...

Obviously a Text Based game is going to be the easiest to code, depending on the engine... With a Visual Novel being next in line, again depending on the engine, as well as how many visuals you plan to use, along side any complex game play mechanics you want to add... Making a general game, again depending on the engine used, can be rather daunting to code as you try to interweave all the various game play mechanics along with story and imagery...

True sandbox erotic/adult VN/Game are not that common... The number of true sandbox erotic games I've ran into, in this niche industry, I can probably count with one hand... Sandbox is a power word developers like to throw around to sound more choice based then what they typically tend to be... Having a limited choice navigation system where you can choose very specific places to go on a whim, is not

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or even

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... The meaning has become diluted in many peoples minds, due to how often it is used wrongly by the entire gaming industry of developers in-general, usually as a ploy to attract customers...


HEADS UP - I'll be editing this reply so I can answer more of your questions later today, alas RL is calling so I'll post what I have thus far...

Zip

Thank you for Such an insightful reply, and yes, take your time when you feel like posting more. Good writing and story sticks with you long after the game is played and done, if the characters are memorable and you can form a connection then many other flaws can be ignored willingly, and in the end, even the best of games are just an endless grind doing the same thing, but the narrative is what puts the flavor on top of it.
Off Topic, But one of my favorite games ever is The Witcher 3, and I distinctly remember some guy giving it a bad review on his own website stating "you just kill monsters, what else" and if you really think about it, yes..you do! But then mario is just jumping , and Every FPS is just shooting things and so and so... So without context or flavor, there is no point in creating the game.
Unless, that is , if one wants to make the sex focused game with superficial characters making no sense and 'cut to the chase'.

This is something I've discovered from reading fair amounts of erotica, the build up can sometimes be even better than the 'actual' thing and most of the top rated games in here are just the example of that.

 

[Zippity]

Thank you for Such an insightful reply, and yes, take your time when you feel like posting more. Good writing and story sticks with you long after the game is played and done, if the characters are memorable and you can form a connection then many other flaws can be ignored willingly, and in the end, even the best of games are just an endless grind doing the same thing, but the narrative is what puts the flavor on top of it.
Off Topic, But one of my favorite games ever is The Witcher 3, and I distinctly remember some guy giving it a bad review on his own website stating "you just kill monsters, what else" and if you really think about it, yes..you do! But then mario is just jumping , and Every FPS is just shooting things and so and so... So without context or flavor, there is no point in creating the game.
Unless, that is , if one wants to make the sex focused game with superficial characters making no sense and 'cut to the chase'.

This is something I've discovered from reading fair amounts of erotica, the build up can sometimes be even better than the 'actual' thing and most of the top rated games in here are just the example of that.

When it comes to games in general, regardless of market, that include some narrative and/or story that is told well, I find they are more enjoyable... But I can understand how other gamer's are not really interested in the story aspects, and just want a game with good mechanics and fun times doing stuff... Everyone has different needs and different expectations when it comes to general gaming... If you look at most games out there, yes a vast majority of them are go kill this, go kill that, go rescue this, go fetch that, etc... Mostly because those types of quests and mechanics are just easier to create and produce into a game... Just look at the history of games in general, and you'll see a very common theme that still persists to today... And gamer's are fickle group of people these days, who come from varying backgrounds...

Not like back in the day when we used to go to the local arcade for hours every week, hangin' with your friends, spending quarters/dimes like they were mana from heaven to keep ourselves entertained.. Or computer nerds on our Commodore-64/Vic-20's/TRS-80's/etc playing computer games we bought at our local Target/K-Mart for 5 bucks each... Or even original Nintendo Gaming Consoles our parents bought us for Christmas one year, and launched the console system craze...

Because these days, due to availability, gaming is far more open to the masses... It's not a few small sects of folks anymore... So the diversity of games has to grow and adapt as well, to fill the entertainment needs of varying players...

As to the build up effect, I've always been a big believer that when you build up to an event, it has a tendency to feel much more powerful when the event is finally reached... Problem these days, is that some developers just don't think or care about that, and want to get to the erotic content as quickly as possible... And I think that is more out of sense of enticing initial donations, then to actually tell a good story that just so happens to have some erotic content in it or through out it... You can tell it's an intentional ploy, in most cases, when it appears super early in the story/visuals, and/or is in the initial out the gate release... Mostly because it usually feels forced, rather then truly having meaning in the story... Some developers do better at it then others, without having it feel so forced...

2. What in your opinion is harder to make, 2d sprites or 3d models? I am much more inclined towards creating something in 3d but I hear its very advanced and hard and takes years. and I don't know how does one actually draw a character there and have various positions/facial expressions etc. I have heard about 3d modeling in daz3d , is that what what devs mostly use or there are other better alternatives for 3d modeling.
Also, since we are talking about daz, Is it better to actually make the models , clothes, animations yourself or you have to buy them from the daz store for example? Does it require a creative knowhow of how to draw art on like a drawing tablet for example in the 2d games making, or more tech knowledge of 3d model and animation with photoshop/image software knowledge is required for background?

I thing the difficulty depends on the graphics engine your using, available tutorial videos, and your adeptness at learning and experimenting with the software needed... For some folks, if it's 2D, then that usually means using Hand Drawn artwork... So if you have a good 2D artist, whether that is someone who uses a computer drawing pad, or someone who draws on paper/canvas and then scans in the images, then for those folks it is either time consuming or super easy, depending on their talents as artists and the complexity of the artwork... As to what 2D imaging software there might be, outside of hand drawn graphics, I'm not sure...

I can't speak to the skill level needed to use Daz3D or Honey Select or Illusion... I would assume it depends on the experience level of the artist and the complexity of the software... Daz3D, for me, looks very daunting at first impressions... But I think most folks tend to use pre-made models and then just modify them to fit their needs... In that way some of the work is already done, over creating a model entirely from scratch... Where as HS/Illusion probably has more built in functionality and default models to work with, for creating things like posing and animation... How difficult it is, again I could not say... But I do know that Honey Select was never intended to be used outside of Japan, as it is not allowed to be sold outside of Japan... Therefore it's use is usually via a pirated copy of the software... Which entails some possible legal issues when it comes to making money off it's use... Illusion is much newer, and the only thing I really know about it is that anything created with it, is considered the property of the software company that made it, and therefore they own the copyrights to anything generated with it... So, yet another legal hurdle to be concerned with, especially if making money from it's use without written permission... Daz3D has fewer legal restrictions when it comes to free use and/or licensing... Those are just the big 3...

Alas, I can't speak much to the technical usage of those graphics engines...

3. How much coding knowledge do you actually need for creating the game? Is it only Python knowledge that is needed or more to it than that? Also is there a resource to learn specifically about ren'py (a ren'py game script) or more trial and error via decompiling? How long does the coding process take in regards to the writing and art?
I know basic python and have been learning advanced but at what level do you think it is enough to start on a game and it not become a whole list of compiling errors that you spend days and weeks fixing.

It depends entirely on the Visual Novel/Game Engine... Ren'py is designed more with Visual Novel creation in mind, and is easier to code with then if you were to use Unreal or Unity... Unity and Unreal require far more coding knowledge, as they are really intended for general game creation... They can be used for Visual Novels as well, but the coding is still far more complex... There a ton of tutorial videos out there for Ren'py... Not quite as many for Unreal and Unity... I can't speak for the more text based engines... The RPGMaker engine is designed for older top down small-sprite based RPG adventure style games of like the 80's and early 90's... And as it is designed for easy of use, so it doesn't require as much coding as you would find with the more modern gaming engines I already mentioned...

Each engine has it's original intentions and limitations... Adding more complex gaming designs into Ren'py, beyond it's basic Visual Novel system, will require more advanced coding knowledge if it is to work as intended... Same goes for most of the other engines as well...

I mentioned this in another thread, but the time involved between visual design, authoring the text, and coding will all depend on your level of experience with the various tools, your skill with each category, and the complexity of what your developing.... But most likely, if it's a Visual Novel, you will spend more time with Visuals the most, then it's a toss up between the coding and story generation, depending on engine used, story complexity, game play mechanic, and your skill... And all of it will definitely depend on your innate creative talent in any/all of those categories... Just remember that a good Visual Novel can not stand strong on it's visuals alone, regardless how many folks may publicly swoon over them initially... And most players/readers in this niche market, never say a darn thing... It's only the minority of players/readers that ever speak up in places like this or even on sites like Patreon... We are but a fraction of the overall player base/readership... That is just a fact of the adult/erotic/porn industry in general, regardless of this distinctive niche of it...

Zip

 

[AmazonessKing]

Problem these days, is that some developers just don't think or care about that, and want to get to the erotic content as quickly as possible

To be fair, it's also a problem with the consumers, but that's why a guy before said you need to find what public you are aiming for, the ones who just want to reach sex as quick as possible or those who are willing to wait a bit longer for a better story. I think that fi you are going to build an ambitious story like that, you should at least develop it until the point of sex but without rushing it. But as you say, most of these are done intentionally to lure people in. I personally prefer to leave a "sneak a peek" of what is going to happen at the end of each version, even my very first one, instead of rushing the story.