Is it possible to earn some money with this type of game?

[TranscendentThots]

I'm low on money, and I have a little knowledge with 3d, so I'm wanting to develop a simple 3d game, with less focus on programming and more focus on visuals, and then promote the game on patreon...

So if you could write what is your favorite game and why you like it it would help me to know what kind of game i focus on develop.

1*What's your favorite game?

2*Which art style do you prefer?

3*What kind of game genre is your prefer?

4*what would you like to see in a 3d game?

5*What do you not like about a game?

should I worry about royalties?

I have some problems with what sound like your underlying assumptions. In no particular order:

• Everybody loves games that get regular updates.
• Everybody hates games that promise the moon and then can't deliver.
• Download the free Genesis 8 figures and buy genitals for them from Renderotica. This is the absolute bare minimum you need to create a looping sex animation. Use freebie clothing or make your own. You might have to buy hair. Oh, wait. You want the game to be in 3D, not 2D? If it's 3D models and not 2D rendered images, you'll also need to purchase Interactive Licenses for all of your content. This is getting expensive...
• Make pictures. It doesn't matter how. Make them look as good as you can with your limited 3D abiltiies. Stick to one male and one female character. You really can't afford more right now.
• For backgrounds, use free HDRIs and simple cubes.
• Patreon is not for promotion. Patreon is for getting paid. Linking people who already care about your game to your Patreon is promotion. What you meant to say is that you want to monetize it through Patreon.
• Since it sounds like you probably won't be able to wow us with the graphics or the gameplay, I sure hope you're an amazing writer, because good storytelling is what makes readers fall in love with your characters in the first place.

So with all of that out of the way, here are my honest answers to your questions. In order:

1. My favorite game is not relevant because you are trying to make something fast and easy with no skills. My favorite games were all labors of love by the developer with big budgets to buy assets or else highly skilled designers who could make original assets in-house. Sometimes both.
2. The art style I prefer is not relevant. If your main goal is to make money, you can't buy very many assets, and if learning 3D is too much effort for you, then you can't make assets, either. Your art style is whatever Daz gives you.
3. My favorite game genre is First Person Shooters. What now? But, no, seriously, again, the answer doesn't matter. You are going for fast and cheap. Make a Kinetic Novel with RenPy. If you have time left over before the rent is due, add some simple choices and story branching, upgrading it from a Kinetic Novel into a Visual Novel.
4. What I would like to see in a 3D game is quality and effort.
5. I don't like it when games promise the world and then stop updating when they don't make as much money as they thought they would.

That said, if you can learn 3D and learn to write and keep your expenses under control and scope your project responsibly, there's technically no reason you can't keep pushing new updates every month or two. And that's really all you need to do to rise to the top of the Graphtreon charts. Keep pushing updates. Do that for over a year, and people will start to think you can actually finish the game. Actually finish the game, and people won't get mad when you start a new one.

If you somehow do a really high-quality job while doing all that, while also maintaining your IRL work/life balance, it might even be worth putting a really polished version of the game on Steam.

Anybody can do this, but it takes work. I'm not convinced you're willing to put in the work to get good at it, and you might not have the time to get good at it. Prove me wrong, if you can.

Or just get a real job. That's probably easier.

 

[TessaXYZ]

Truth is that the best most people can hope for is to recover the costs of making the VN in the first place. If you're doing it for money, you're picking the wrong hobby to cultivate. It's an enormous time sink, and you'll burn yourself out in under a month if you're not doing it because it fulfills something for you personally.

 

[GNVE]

This is the crux isn't it.
What the definition of making money? Making a little or making enough for the job someone has or making a ton of money.
Some creators are truly blessed as they make a ton of money. Some even gave up their college degree supposedly.

That's why it's already stupid to put money into the equation.
Some games, like AWAM perhaps got lucky or were there at the right time.
I am sure there are other games like it on this site.
Other make no money or small amounts. Probably 90% of game creators make no money.

And then the story. This is could be ok but in all honesty i never became the second King. I have ideas but how to tell those ideas is the really really hard part. Triggering emotions, make people slip into the protagonist and feel empathy is so hard.
It sound great on paper but in reality it mostly sucks.

What i am writing was already said before by others but it make me aware of my own short comings. Even though i licked blood and wanted nothing more than to make my own game.
Perhaps as a hobby with no money return but slow and long cycles. You have a life after all.

But at the same time i am not a fan of Patreon. It's a great platform but for games i always think that other games (indi) getting usually no funds but charge an amount at the release.
Others release it in alpha as a pre-release. Lot's of games don't make it, some few do.
But i am not in it for giving my money on a monthly basis to some dude. Even though it maybe a game i like. I rather would pay for price of the game.
Same goes for YouTube creators.
There are only a small amount of channels where i would say they are actually good. The rest is just not good.

For a while i followed channels like LGR or the 8-bit guy. Because i am sooo nostalgic. But these people, even considering that they put a lot of time in this, making really a good living with their channel. So i am not sure if i should feel bad about myself or not. On the other hand they also get a cut from the commercials i have to endure.

That's why everyone things i wanna be an influencer. Make it to the top, be a big earner. But that's just not how it works (imho).

As for our games on this side. The majority can only played really once. There isn't a reason to play them twice. I am at the point where i got really bored with most of them. Even the big titles. Perhaps that's my state of mind.

So now i just play with DAZ a little and being happy.

I still like to draw and even knowing i am not great, it brings me a lot of joy.
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I like the drawing of (your) cat. It's definitely a lot better than my drawings haha...

When I said make money I was thinking about making a little money on the side. But upon reflection this isn't a great side hustle. It takes way too much time. So you'd need to be in the category earning a living wage. Of course there can be a lead-up to that but you will need to land into the living wage category eventually if you want to make money off of it and not work yourself to death.
What living wage means of course depends on where you live. I'd probably need to make $4000-5000 dollars on Patreon due to taxes and other expenses (like needing to replace an expensive PC every x amount of years, buy new items in the Daz store, I'd need an office because I can't have my business at home etc.) but I live in a high wage country.

I think Patreon is good for established creators you have some confidence in. But I agree I'd want to have a way where you could support the creator as a one off.

As for telling a story. In this niche you don't need to be a great story writer. the games are on a spectrum between story focused to filling between sex scenes. You should not try to be original. to quote South Park: "Simpsons did it!" pretty much every story has been told before. Sometimes better, often worse. It is about finding your own voice to tell the same old story.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

I like the drawing of (your) cat. It's definitely a lot better than my drawings haha...

When I said make money I was thinking about making a little money on the side. But upon reflection this isn't a great side hustle. It takes way too much time. So you'd need to be in the category earning a living wage. Of course there can be a lead-up to that but you will need to land into the living wage category eventually if you want to make money off of it and not work yourself to death.
What living wage means of course depends on where you live. I'd probably need to make $4000-5000 dollars on Patreon due to taxes and other expenses (like needing to replace an expensive PC every x amount of years, buy new items in the Daz store, I'd need an office because I can't have my business at home etc.) but I live in a high wage country.

I think Patreon is good for established creators you have some confidence in. But I agree I'd want to have a way where you could support the creator as a one off.

As for telling a story. In this niche you don't need to be a great story writer. the games are on a spectrum between story focused to filling between sex scenes. You should not try to be original. to quote South Park: "Simpsons did it!" pretty much every story has been told before. Sometimes better, often worse. It is about finding your own voice to tell the same old story.

For me personally, i just take it slow. I do it, because i have nothing else to do. I have a real job and can live off it.
So this is really a hobby and if i can design something nice, i am ok with it.
I just found out over the course using DAZ, that it is indeed very much time consuming. I spend in the beginning literally the whole day doing nothing else than create and render slides.
Where they are now? In the garbage.
So it's not that easy but it was teaching me a valuable lesson. Have a plan.

Like i said, i am not seriously making anything and since i am not good animating, there won't be animations at all.
And, i am heavily influenced from one game which i really love. Light of my Life. It is really a great game where i was able to connect with the characters and became even emotional.
Most other games are mainly for quickies but nothing more.

Thanks, i do draw and i have fun with it. I discovered the geometry knowledge is a plus to have. I am not great in it but i try from time to time to getting better. There are kids that are better than me.
Faces are really hard to draw but it can be done.

I had to laugh. Simpsons did it. I loved that episode but it's true. Every story is already told. Though there is some room. I think it is important to make the player emotional because you will care for that character. But most games i have played left me with a disconnect. Most male characters are just pricks. I really dislike harem games for example and can not take any joy out of it.

As for money, i think it's probably true that most are making not a lot of money. And then there are the top tier earners. I think i started to hear about Patreon when i was playing the Sims 4 and modded the game. One creator made a prostitution mod and it's actually very great. This person, of my memory, made about $14000 Dollar a month.
To me, that was kind of unreasonable but people love the mod and so they pore money in it.
And you are finding some games that are making equally amounts and i wonder. I just don't understand it. Even though i make enough to live, i think i can't afford to spend money on a monthly basis.
Creating a game is costly too if you buy them. So you want to careful what you are using. The lesser you use the better. DAZ has a lot of tools build in. The challenge is, to learn them.
And also try to use free assets. Strangely, most assets for Sims are free.