If I were to work on my own game...

[freebirdfreebird]

I know, I know. Another person with absolutely no experience asking dumb questions.

I'm interested in making a game, but have no idea what engine or the like to use. My game would be 2d (probably drawings? I'd rather not use renders) and I'd attempt/want to use a paperdoll system for the sex scenes and such to allow variety. Though- big issue- I'd want POV scenes. Everything else would be button based, no movement and the like needed.

To give a basic idea, it'd be a slave trainer game, focused on humanoid fantasy races in a medieval world. Slaves can be bought, but are very expensive, so capturing and training your own is the way to go, though some characters may be convinced to join. RNG characters with various looks, etc. I'd aim for something like what Pink Tea does, though more freeform. Like a slave trainer game crossed with Porn Empire. If I could make scenes similar to Pink Tea, but with a paper doll system to fit with the scenes, it'd be wonderful.

 

[thecardinal]

Cool concept. Where's the question?

 

[freebirdfreebird]

I'm mostly asking what engine would be best, and if there's any tools (in engine or otherwise) to make/allow for paperdoll systems.

 

[Epadder]

Ren'py has "Layered Images" built in that could be used for a paperdoll system

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It also has the built in features of a standard VN (Save/Load/Dialogue Display/Rollback/Etc), the other systems would have to be custom

 

[thecardinal]

Ren'py would be your best bet. I would recommend finding a game (not many paperdolls here, try lemmasoft forums) and unpack it to get a feel for how it works.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Well, it depend what you mean by "paper doll". If it's just a character you customize, then Ren'py is good for you, but if you mean an articulated puppet, then I'm not really sure that it's the better choice. (Yeah, sometimes I don't recommend Ren'py.)

Ren'py can do it with its

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, but mostly you'll have to build every single animation. There's workaround to limit this, but they also make each structure more complex to design. You'll also need to decide if you focus on the animation, making the puppet composition (what images must be displayed) as variable, or if you do the opposite ; So, will you apply transform inside a layered image, or build a dynamic ATL structure.
This being opposed to an "engine" like Flash, by example but Unity probably have frameworks for this, that come with functions to apply the transformation/rotation, or even deformation (what Ren'py can't really do) you want directly to any part of the puppet you want. Those ones being better for an articulated puppet model, since the animation is totally separated from the composition of the puppet.

 

[freebirdfreebird]

Hmmm. With unity, would I be able to make the puppet be variable (skin color, breast size, hair, head, etc.), or would I have to make a new puppet each time?

 

[Epadder]

I actually decided to look at 'Pink Tea' and see what you were referencing directly... His current game (Slave Lord: Elf Trainer) is in Unity and his original game (Slave Lords Of The Galaxy) was in Flash. But yeah if you want animations and a paper doll ... you'll probably have to bend Ren'py so much to make it work...

My original thought for this paper-doll system was from Custom Reido V, you basically got random girls with specific body types/hair/eyes/skin tones but all the sexual scenes for the characters were the same everything except those random elements were changed (static like most Japanese VNs).

Unity isn't really going to be limited by much really except your own experience and ability to code/find code to manipulate, it has methods of doing some stuff but is more programming intense than Flash (I think I have no experience with Flash) or standard Ren'py.

 

[freebirdfreebird]

Yeah, I don't personally have the time to learn to code now, that's why I thought Renpy might be nice. I guess I won't be able to do anything. Really disappointing, the type of stuff I want just isn't out there it seems.

 

[anne O'nymous]

[...] would I be able to make the puppet be variable (skin color, breast size, hair, head, etc.), or would I have to make a new puppet each time?

With both Ren'py and Flash/Unity, the puppet is just a bunch of separated elements ; traditionally left arm, left upper arm, and so on, then "this clothes" left arm, left upper arm, and so on, here again. So you'll need to have a left arm, a left upper arm, etc. for each color skin/body type, you can't escape this. Well, I'm sure that you can draw them in the fly with Unity, but it don't worth the trouble.

Yeah, I don't personally have the time to learn to code now, that's why I thought Renpy might be nice. I guess I won't be able to do anything.

Try Flash. Many of the people using it, even for "advanced games" don't really have a background in coding and it's half visual, half coding. Basically speaking, you use a menu to add the left arm, a menu to place it on the screen, the mouse to move it where you want, then you add the code to make it rotate according to the animation pattern you want to apply at this time. It's not as easy as my sentence let it thought, but neither it's as difficult as it can seem at first.
There's some people knowing Flash around there, you can ask for the right free tools and some references about how to do it, and see if you can learn it or not.

 

[OhWee]

Simbro has a 'paperdoll' system, i.e. one that allows you to dress the characters in different outfits. As far as i can tell, these outfits are overlays over the character models. It also has animations, i.e. movement while having sex, fighting, etc. And of course, the character models overlay the scene background. As for movement, it has a 'click to go here' map system, when you pull up the world map.

Not sure what system it's built on though. A custom game engine maybe?

 

[freebirdfreebird]

Flash might be an option, I believe that is what JSK uses, and that's the style of game I want to make. (Overthrow the Demon Queen as example). I'd take advice on that. Also- is there a way to rip the code from a game to look at? That might help me understand how to get started coding wise.

Stencyl seems interesting, but abimation seems like it would take forever in stencyl.

 

[Egglock]

If I understand you correctly the games you mention, there are a couple things that come to mind. There are two options I can think of, one is find a 2D animation software, unsure which ones are the best, so the advice I can give in this department is check this

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link and do a google search with the tag "2D animation software" , the second option is to manually draw out the poses or known as "traditional animation".

As far as coding goes, there's so many programming language out there it's hard to cover all the syntax. I suggest doing a bit of searching and reading pertaining to what type of programming language the engine uses. At it's simplest form in regards to your game, it's no more then adding an image button and linking them to events that trigger when a condition is met, and if the event satisfy a condition it triggers another event. Shouldn't take too long to learn, it's not like you're trying to code your models to move or do anything complex.

As to which engine you should use, try them all and see which one fits your workflow.
Check this link

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under the Tool spoiler to see a list of available engine, plus other resources that may help you along the way. It's hard to say which is best suited for your needs as everyone's workflow, knowledge, and skills vary.

Regardless of which engine you choose, you'll have to learn some form of coding, there's no getting around that.