Is the amount of sex scenes important in the first release?
- Thread starter Mr. Mayhem
- Start date
the earliest I tend to check on a game is at v.05 or v.06 so it's completely irrelevant what you do at v.01.
early, easy sex does put me off though so it's definitely a negative.
early, easy sex does put me off though so it's definitely a negative.
- Jun 10, 2021
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I read a lot of the responses but wanted to add mine... TLDR: Little to No sex scenes in early game is best
One of my favorite games is Melody and I really liked her Aunt to begin; however, I was actually disappointed at how quickly she got in bed with me. If you do the Melody only and shut down all other sex avenues, it's actually quite some time before you get to sex scenes with her. There is a lot of character building which is one of the most important parts of the story. However, if you allow the lesbian scenes, there there are some scenes between Melody and her friend early on, but nothing with the MC. One of the things I like about this game is that you can choose if you want to engage or not engage in those scenes. So if you want more sex scenes, there are options and they don't have to be with the MC (so for those that want to be loyal to only one person, that option is there.)
(I forgot there was an extremely early sex scene with MC and side character before meeting Melody. After my first play through, I never engaged in it because the "relationship" was extremely shallow and very little character development in the game, so I just ignored it after my first time.)
Character development and storyline are where you need to focus. You could certainly show solo scenes and depending on the type of game, spy cams or peeping. Also, be careful with late game turning into nothing but sex scenes. Even once the relationship is fully developed between the MC and partner you need to continue having character development, go on dates, have them talk about their past, something besides always getting down to sex.
One of my favorite games is Melody and I really liked her Aunt to begin; however, I was actually disappointed at how quickly she got in bed with me. If you do the Melody only and shut down all other sex avenues, it's actually quite some time before you get to sex scenes with her. There is a lot of character building which is one of the most important parts of the story. However, if you allow the lesbian scenes, there there are some scenes between Melody and her friend early on, but nothing with the MC. One of the things I like about this game is that you can choose if you want to engage or not engage in those scenes. So if you want more sex scenes, there are options and they don't have to be with the MC (so for those that want to be loyal to only one person, that option is there.)
(I forgot there was an extremely early sex scene with MC and side character before meeting Melody. After my first play through, I never engaged in it because the "relationship" was extremely shallow and very little character development in the game, so I just ignored it after my first time.)
Character development and storyline are where you need to focus. You could certainly show solo scenes and depending on the type of game, spy cams or peeping. Also, be careful with late game turning into nothing but sex scenes. Even once the relationship is fully developed between the MC and partner you need to continue having character development, go on dates, have them talk about their past, something besides always getting down to sex.
- Jul 3, 2018
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It's not very important, what's more important is the style of the game, the interesting plot, and people look forward to what will happen next.
I think it depends on your game. If you are making a sandbox game and you have implemented most of the functionality, I think it's accceptable to release it without a lot of erotic content. However, my advice would be to have atleast a certain amount of sex scenes in the game, otherwise people might complain that there's nothing new compared to the previous version.
- Aug 5, 2016
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You want to leave players wanting more while also satisfying them enough to not reflect negatively upon your game when the next update comes out to keep a sustained interest as it develops. Early versions that work on me usually have:
1) an introduction to an overarching plot (e.g. I am the devil and I've given you a special power to mind control but you'll have to do something for me at some point)
2) an introduction to a main set (but NOT ALL) of characters
3) a promise of sex in the future (usually some frosty bitch because I love a frosty bitch)
4) a promise of sex in the very near future (usually a slutty milf because I love a slutty milf)
0.1 exists to advertise 0.2 and beyond.
1) an introduction to an overarching plot (e.g. I am the devil and I've given you a special power to mind control but you'll have to do something for me at some point)
2) an introduction to a main set (but NOT ALL) of characters
3) a promise of sex in the future (usually some frosty bitch because I love a frosty bitch)
4) a promise of sex in the very near future (usually a slutty milf because I love a slutty milf)
0.1 exists to advertise 0.2 and beyond.
No, I could care less about that in a first release, proving you're actually going to have a valid game on the other hand is.
Fastest way to make me hate a game.
Dead ends, I don't care if the game isn't finish, if there's going to be a dead end then don't allow that choice to be valid to start with. Remove the option to even take that path until it's somewhat ready. Barring actually not having a finished story. I'm not completely ignorant it's a first release.
Kinks that aren't valid. If you don't understand your advertised kinks or they're not even there then don't claim them or add them in until they're ready.
Poor story- Even a finished game with a crap story is gonna make me hate the game. So the first release needs a strong hook that will make me keep checking on it.
Unnecessary mechanics, don't add in crap that has no point yet. If you're going to have a crafting system, make it work or keep it disabled until it does. We don't need a fully fledged clothing system if you have no options to actually use it or it doesn't mean anything. I've found to many games where people really don't care if you're walking around nude, so WTF is the point to start with.
Lighten up with frivolous mechanics. Does my character really need to brush their teeth and eat dinner? Why can't it be a single action relegated to "does morning routine" so I don't have to click 50 times. If eating serves no story purpose then ditch it. You just assume your toon has eaten because a few bucks are automatically deducted each day for food expense.
I love games like Glife but holy fuck there is so much frivolous shit in it that I disable many aspects of it just to save on my carpal tunnel and clicks.
Oh I went off on a ramble, so no I don't need a sex scene in the very first release. I just want something thats interesting, not busted, doesn't irritate me and isn't pointless.
Fastest way to make me hate a game.
Dead ends, I don't care if the game isn't finish, if there's going to be a dead end then don't allow that choice to be valid to start with. Remove the option to even take that path until it's somewhat ready. Barring actually not having a finished story. I'm not completely ignorant it's a first release.
Kinks that aren't valid. If you don't understand your advertised kinks or they're not even there then don't claim them or add them in until they're ready.
Poor story- Even a finished game with a crap story is gonna make me hate the game. So the first release needs a strong hook that will make me keep checking on it.
Unnecessary mechanics, don't add in crap that has no point yet. If you're going to have a crafting system, make it work or keep it disabled until it does. We don't need a fully fledged clothing system if you have no options to actually use it or it doesn't mean anything. I've found to many games where people really don't care if you're walking around nude, so WTF is the point to start with.
Lighten up with frivolous mechanics. Does my character really need to brush their teeth and eat dinner? Why can't it be a single action relegated to "does morning routine" so I don't have to click 50 times. If eating serves no story purpose then ditch it. You just assume your toon has eaten because a few bucks are automatically deducted each day for food expense.
I love games like Glife but holy fuck there is so much frivolous shit in it that I disable many aspects of it just to save on my carpal tunnel and clicks.
Oh I went off on a ramble, so no I don't need a sex scene in the very first release. I just want something thats interesting, not busted, doesn't irritate me and isn't pointless.
We went with a massive branching CYOA for our initial release.
So while technically it's only a single sex scene, it came with multiple paths and lots of images.
At the end of the day, every game is its own thing and has a unique path. Just do what's right for your project. It's fine asking people their opinion, but if you try to please everyone you'll end up pleasing no one.
So while technically it's only a single sex scene, it came with multiple paths and lots of images.
At the end of the day, every game is its own thing and has a unique path. Just do what's right for your project. It's fine asking people their opinion, but if you try to please everyone you'll end up pleasing no one.
- Jan 21, 2021
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it doesnt have to be explicitly sex scenes but there should be some lewd scenes. maybe like peeping on a character bathing or walking in while theyre changing, maybe a dream scene if that is to impactful. if its a porn/hentai game with a story that has no room for an insane amount of sex in the first part a few lewd scenes would help to keep people who just want to jack off stay interested and it wouldnt get heavily in the way of the story you want to write
- May 25, 2020
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Again depends on how long the rest of the non-sexual content is. You should aim to have a sexual scene per 15 minutes of non-sex stuff, by non sex/sexual stuff I include lewd/sex talk since nothing is technically happening, it's not a sex scene.
- Jul 27, 2017
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That seems... excessive and overly generalized. Not every game is a fapfest meant to be played with your dick in your hand. But even if you're making a game like that, why would you autistically plan out how many minutes have gone by without fucking? That seems like a good way to make the usually terrible writing and plotting in these games even worse.
- May 25, 2020
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Well I'm sorry, but some of us are here to get our buzz going and not sitting with a no boner or semi the whole afternoon. Ok, maybe 15 minutes is a bit too often, but 30 minutes is fine too. Just don't do a stat grind or story fest that lasts 6 hours until the first sex scene.
Why don't you just go watch porn? The best writing is something like Fate/Stay Night or Game of Thrones, which is a sex scene is something that is used as a natural progression in the storytelling not shoehorned in there for hormonal babies.
- May 25, 2020
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I'm just giving my opinion, I dunno why certain people are so butthurt, I'm not hunting your comments and berating you for a difference of opinion. F off, I don't have to explain why 6 HOURS is too much of a gap between sex scenes, if you want a light erotica great story, then go read some books. Don't talk to me about porn, you don't think I do ?
I mean that's also just my opinion, you sound like you're the one butthurt lol.
Yep exactly. It's so much better than this...
Which is the dumbest thing I've ever seen, instantly lets everyone know your story is porn-tier garbage.
- Aug 8, 2017
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I know I am late to this thread but for a lot of us here that's been here for more than 1 year it is story over sex scenes.
If its a good to great story then sex scenes are good but not needed in a first release.
If push comes to shove you can have a a "fuck buddy" to start with and then move away to the heroines as they or there story gets to the point that sex is needed to complete there stories.
Take Katawa Shoujo for a great story with 5 different girls with 5 different paths. https://f95zone.to/threads/katawa-shoujo-four-leaf-studios.4276/
Great stories and the sex is at or near the end of each girls story.
More and more players are looking for incest and pregnancy content with other fetishes thrown in.
For controversial fetishes like ntr, rape, mind control and hard core fetishes like scat and BDSM should be made avoidable to get the most players to play the game/VN.
Light bdsm like spanking is okay for most players.
It depends on what kind of game you are making and what kind of story it has.
As long as there is a situation in the first chapter where sex scenes come naturally, I don't see a problem with there being 10 of them, but it has to be natural. Many developers add such scenes to the first chapter of their game just so they don't have to face any criticism from disgruntled players who are always complaining about something. In the end, you won't please anyone. If the sex scenes aren't there, a lot of players will be at home crying in the corner of their rooms and making comments about what a bad developer you are, how trash your game is, and how they'll never support you. (A good example is the game The Gray Dream, whose developer faced extreme criticism for not having sex scenes in EP1, and there are many such games.)
On the other hand, there will be many more such players who will understand that it is necessary to give it time and space, that the game somehow develops, that there is some progress, and that it takes more time to come to such scenes. Some games don't even have such scenes in two or three chapters, but they are still popular and successful. Acting Lessons, Leap of Faith, Being a DIK, Summer's Gone - these are games that definitely did not dominate sex scenes at the beginning. SG does not have them to this day, and despite this, the developer is quite successful.
So, in short, it must arise naturally; it cannot be created there just to be there, and no, they don't have to be there at all if it's not appropriate. I'm more interested in the first chapter to see what the game will be about. This means what kind of story it has, what kind of characters there are, what kind of environment it takes place in, what possibilities the game offers me, and so on. Show what you offer to players.