RPGM Lewd Battles mechanics

[przpriv]

Hello! I got some free time, and I'm never really satisfied with the content of games, soooo I’m trying to make my own "pearl." I don't have any prior experience with any game engine or programming, but RPGM looks easy to understand and has all the functionality that I want to implement into my game. Maybe I'm too lazy or really bad at searching, but I can't find any data on NSFW battle systems—specifically, restraint mechanics, and all the bad things that could happen to a heroine when she can't move.

To summarize, I'm looking for some guides or samples on how to create lewd fights with actions that can be triggered at any time, restraint mechanics, and other actions that can only happen after the heroine is restrained. When the heroine's status is changed to "restrained," the enemy should only be able to perform specified actions.

All my attempts are pretty bad. When the heroine is restrained, the enemy still performs all the actions on the list, even trying to restrain her again. The worst part is that the enemy isn't using the actions specified for when the "restrained" status is active.

 

[osanaiko]

Speaking specifically to your problem: searching for "nsfw battle" is probably not going to help - it's more a question of finding how and where to add conditions to the actions an enemy can take in RPGM, and referencing the target character state in making that decision.

anti rpgm rant follows:
RPGM is simple only if you stick to the core built-in functionality - items, map navigation, JRPG style battles. But as soon as you start adding your own systems on top of that it becomes a programming task. Unfortunately RPGM is a very weird environment to "program" in - lots of stuff can only be accomplished by configuring triggers and events via the Developer GUI application. It can be extended by writing Javascript but then it becomes hassle of finding other people's existing modules, understanding how they are supposed to work, and the integrating that to the core game platform.

 

[przpriv]

Thanks for your response! I'm slowly getting the hang of this engine and expanding my database of plugins for different elements. Contrary to my expectations, I see that I need to learn some basic JavaScript to better customize these plugins. I think I'm learning quickly by introducing one function at a time so that I can calmly understand how variables and switches work. As for battles, I've decided to leave them for later when I have a better grasp of the basics.

However, another question comes to mind—can you recommend a good AI generator for creating scenes? The main concern is consistency in generating characters so that they look identical but differ only in pose. If my project takes shape and gains interest, I’ll probably hire an artist to collaborate with, but for now, it makes sense to keep my expenses to a minimum.

 

[osanaiko]

However, another question comes to mind—can you recommend a good AI generator for creating scenes? The main concern is consistency in generating characters so that they look identical but differ only in pose. If my project takes shape and gains interest, I’ll probably hire an artist to collaborate with, but for now, it makes sense to keep my expenses to a minimum.

Well, this is something that I *am* qualified to talk about, because I'm currently making a game using AI image generators.

I use "Stability Matrix" to do a local install of StableDiffusion, specifically the Automatic1111 webUI.

For the specific "look" that I want for my game, I'm using the "PonyDiffusionXL_v6" model with a specific LORA for the art style I want (mimicking the Summertime Saga game artwork style)

I've found that it takes a LOT of manual work to get specific image setups (poses / scenes), and a lot of manual image editor work to get character's looks and clothing to stay consistent. And I really do mean A LOT LOT! Stuff like "frankestein" combining lots of different source images, then using IMG2IMG to blend them together and convert into the desired art style. Doing dozens to 100s of generations to find the ones that look the best. Then again frankensteining the best ones together to fix anatomy or clothing problems. Finally, detailed photo editing of clothes/facial features, followed by a final IMG2IMG pass at a low (like 0.2) Denoising strength setting to smooth out the edits.

I might be a bit excessive in the amount of perfectionism I am putting into it.

If you want to read more about what I'm doing come checkout my Dev thread, linked in my signature.

 

[XforU]

I haven't made a system like that, but I assume it will work something like this.

Req: gif/video plug-in.

Ability calls common event the runs your animation on screen. Attach effects and variable to said common event to track progress (cumming, state of undress and such). In case you need to interact with the scene, you'll need to set the common event to run parallel and be able to complete a task (cum, end, progress) to exit processing. Troops will also need to run a parallel event that tracks the progress var.

For abilities that only work when character is restrained you'll need to add a few conditions to abilities that work only when "restrained" state is active. You have to make sure the state gets removed at some point or make is purely visual to avoid the problem that you're having (enemy does 10 things at once)

It's not hard to do, but it will be time consuming. This isn't the best way to do it nor is it the most efficient... It's the easiest.

 

[przpriv]

After reading osanaiko suggestions. I've come to the conclusion that one way or another I need to do some edditing, so
I think I'll just create an actor in Koikatsu(for example), set the pose, take a screenshot and draw the exact pose and actor in a graphics program using layers.(why not just with koikatsu? There's something wrong there, I can't say what but it doesn't fit my concept, maybe unnecessary "depth"?) The art style I want is something like Star Knightess Aura or Samurai Vandalism you know, typical anime style, simple but pretty neat. It's been a few years since I last drew something, I've never been good at drawing people, but I'm pretty good at redrawing, so I think I'm up for the challenge. For obvious reasons i think at first i just draw one or two images and fill the rest with raw koikatsu . This game is meant to be a "proof of concept" at this stage, not a full-fledged 0.1 release.

XforU regarding your post, I have already partially figured out such a solution (at least in my mind, I still have to apply it in practice), but the biggest problem I see is that in some battles there will be two actors, one female with whom I want the enemies to interact, the other male, where it is an absolute no-no. For now, my only idea is to introduce a rule that the male actor is immune to the "restrained" status, but I think that there may be stupid situations when "enemy x" uses restrain on "actor Male"
I guess ican't have everything without a solid understanding of javascript

 

[XforU]

After reading osanaiko suggestions. I've come to the conclusion that one way or another I need to do some edditing, so
I think I'll just create an actor in Koikatsu(for example), set the pose, take a screenshot and draw the exact pose and actor in a graphics program using layers.(why not just with koikatsu? There's something wrong there, I can't say what but it doesn't fit my concept, maybe unnecessary "depth"?) The art style I want is something like Star Knightess Aura or Samurai Vandalism you know, typical anime style, simple but pretty neat. It's been a few years since I last drew something, I've never been good at drawing people, but I'm pretty good at redrawing, so I think I'm up for the challenge.

XforU regarding your post, I have already partially figured out such a solution (at least in my mind, I still have to apply it in practice), but the biggest problem I see is that in some battles there will be two actors, one female with whom I want the enemies to interact, the other male, where it is an absolute no-no. For now, my only idea is to introduce a rule that the male actor is immune to the "restrained" status, but I think that there may be stupid situations when "enemy x" uses restrain on "actor Male"
I guess ican't have everything without a solid understanding of javascript

That's pretty doable without coding. Make restrain attack aoe with multiple effects and only the female will get the state since the male is immune. This is a workaround that will work while you figure something out.

 

[przpriv]

Good tip! But I should probably start addressing all the weird temporary solutions, but when I spend two hours trying to do one thing, I get mad and put "another weird switch No. X" and go on to do something else XD

 

[przpriv]

Fucking hell... I literally throw up with graphic processing, I absolutely have to consider outsourcing in terms of art. Below is about 20h of work on one pose... I have everything in layers so, individual appearance modifications are a smaller problem but I am still not satisfied with either the face or the hair....

Spoiler: Picture

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Any opinions?

 

[przpriv]

So, back to the topic. A piece of information for posterity and those interested
Maybe not the simplest, but a solution that can be applied without dedicated plugins:

When using a skill, e.g., "pussy grab" a common event is triggered, which turns on a specific switch.
The "Troops" section has several battle event tabs that activate when the corresponding switch is turned ON in the "moment" span. This then triggers the sequence of actions in that tab.

If I want an event to be multi-stage, as in the case of skill pussy penetration (in my setup), a common event runs with multiple conditional branches. These branches, depending on the value of a variable, activate different switches, which in turn trigger different battle event tabs.

It is crucial that at the end of each sequence, the given switch is turned off again. In the final step of the sequence, all relevant variables are reset to their initial value - 0. Similarly, I set up another common event that triggers in case of victory/lose/escape, which resets these variables.

I still haven’t figured out easy way to set different actions depending on the different enemies participating in battle, so for now, I'm sticking with "uniform" troops. I do have a rough idea of how to do it, but it would require creating several separate common events, switches and variables for each type of enemy. To be honest, at this point, I don't think it's worth the effort.

 

[osanaiko]

I'm glad you found a way to implement some of your vision.

However the next step with multiple enemies and multiple target actions is a classic case of "combinatorial explosion"... and you are very rightly daunted by it.

1 enemy type x 1 target x 5 stages of action progression = 5 paths to configure/code.

but (for example) 3 enemy types x 3 target states x 5 stages of action x 3 different attack areas (mouth, pussy, ass).... shit now you got 135 code paths to write!

Part of the difficulty here is that you are working with RPGM's default developer user interface, which as you have found requires you to repetitively manually setup the conditions / switches etc. in all those fiddly little UI windows.

Using a "real" programming language lets you abstract some of the work with reusable functions and data structures. And that is possible in RPGM, but you have to move your implementation into javascript files - and of course become a programmer, who specializes in interfacing back to the "API" of the RPGM game engine. Not the easiest thing to do, and far less documentation for that sort of work than you might like.

 

[KordNTR]

Ok, so from a purely design point of view there is very little different between a regular combat system and a lewd one. This is going to be general design advice as RPGM is a cesspool of paid plugins and easy but non-flexible solutions. So onto my advice:

1. Make the mechanics make sense within your universe

In the best combat systems, especially lewd combat systems, the combat and universe are fundamentally linked. Think about games like Karryn's Prison, Flying Princess Interbreed, and TF Card Battle. Each of these games have very different combat but in each of them, the mechanics are integrated into the world. In Karryn's Prison, Karryn is holding back her desires and the enemy are raising them with "attacks" which can lead to sex and further corruption of Karryn's character. In Flying Princess Interbreed, the angry-bird-like uses the familiar formula to have your units breed and create more units, linking in to the overall monster-master princess trying to save her kingdom (even though generic). In TF Card Battle, there is not much of a "story" but the theme and mechanics are fixed, you are using your card's abilities to transform the enemy before they can transform you.

2. Play lots, brainstorm lots

Play as many games, both lewd and otherwise, as you can. Some of the best lewd combat systems have come from taking what worked as a non-lewd system and using it for the lewd. Think of the Slay the Spire lewd clones (though only some of those are actually good as opposed to band-wagony). The more you play and make note of what you liked and what you didn't like, the more you will be able to understand what makes them good.

3. Playtest - on paper and digitally

Don't start playtesting digitally unless absolutely necessary (e.g. the game uses a physics based system), you can playtest most things with pieces of paper, dice, cards, and playing pieces. Playtesting on paper will save you a shit tonne of work coding things that might not work. Analog design is fast and cheap to do. Playtesting should never stop as you design your combat system, if you have people that care and are not freaked out by the lewd, have them playtest the system too.

4. Designing mechanics is an artform that you practice not a formula you follow

All of game design is ultimately an artform that requires practice to get good at. The more you design, the better your skills will become, just keep at it and learn from those games you like, and you will notice that your skills will increase.

 

[przpriv]

After several months of work and silence, I think I’ve finally got everything under control. It wasn’t possible without some heavy .js, but I now have a complete system that does exactly what I expected it to do. Due to hundreds of complications and several major changes to the mechanics along the way, it took quite a while.


In the end, my “EroCombatSystem” turned into a fairly large project made up of multiple separate plugins: overwritten vanilla AI, graphical plugins, data plugins, and plugins operating on variables such as Arousal and Pleasure. It may sound a bit overambitious, but I eventually concluded that fragmentation is essential for proper debugging. This way, it’s easy to quickly identify the culprit behind any specific battle-related issue.


In the future, I’m considering releasing the complete framework itself for NSFW games. The whole thing currently consists of around 20 plugins handling various gameplay aspects — from automatic calculations like Pleasure, through advanced Standing Pictures, all the way to the EroCombatSystem module itself.


I think that within a month I’ll be ready to release my proof of concept. I may have gone a bit overboard with what I wanted to include in the first version, but I simply couldn’t move forward without having a fully functional Standing Picture system that supports nearly every aspect that might ever appear in the game.

Spoiler: MC

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Spoiler: or "shamed" variant

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[osanaiko]

Welcome back, bro.

Cute art, and very much looking forward to seeing what you have made. NSFW battle systems are very very much within my "critical ero damage" vulnerabilities, so I am already hooked on the concept.

Did you consider getting a small group of alpha-testers and releasing a playtest version?

 

[przpriv]

Hmm… regarding the alpha test — generally speaking, just like I mentioned earlier, I should be “ready” (at least by my own standards) within about a month to share what I’ve managed to put together. There are still a few things left to polish and adjust, and most importantly, to properly wrap up the prologue, which I’ll present in full as my proof of concept.


Overall, I think version 0.01 will be a sort of “unlocked” build, and saves from it won’t be compatible with 0.02. Some mechanics — like the EroCombatSystem — won’t reach their full scope within the prologue. But I believe that’s exactly the point of a proof of concept: to show what the game can actually do, instead of promising castles in the air. Especially since this is my first project, I feel somewhat obligated to present my capabilities solidly as a creator — hopefully to earn some trust and not get lost among hundreds of other developers.


It’s also kind of funny how something that started almost a year ago as a “quick idea” — damn it, I’ll just make something myself because this theme feels underused — has turned into hundreds of hours of work. And not so much in RPG Maker itself, but rather on the “canvas” and in code, just to make sure the mechanics actually fit specific situations. Those stupid Standing Pictures… the amount of work they took was ridiculous. I quickly realized that a simple “Show Picture” wouldn’t be enough: clothes needed to be damageable, characters needed to be able to change outfits, actor poses had to be switchable, and appropriate “stains” had to appear in the correct places — different ones depending on the “owner” of those stains.


On top of that, the character should react differently to nudity depending on corruption or arousal levels. And since I chose a character who’s rather… generously endowed by nature, I also had to account for a “push-up” effect when wearing outer clothing. At this point, though, the whole system boils down to simply drawing the appropriate clothing variants (intact / damaged), creating an item in the editor, adding a notetag with a name matching the graphic file — and everything just works automatically.


The only thing I’ve put aside for now is “damage migration” — meaning assigning clothing damage to a specific item. Right now it’s global, although you still can’t equip a second outfit until you repair the first one


And that’s all for something that’s technically just a “cosmetic” gameplay element — a simple standing picture system that I ended up spending a massive amount of time on, simply because I couldn’t find any existing solution that met all these requirements.


Alright, enough bragging
As for the production itself — the setting is Dark Fantasy, with strictly monster-based gameplay, similar to… maybe Agnietta or Syahata’s Bad Day?


At least when it comes to the NSFW side of things — by that I mean the type of scenes, not the combat style — although it would be a mistake to compare it to anything on a 1:1 basis.


I’m also curious whether there’ll be some kind of backlash accusing the project of being NTR, since I’ve noticed people tend to interpret what is and isn’t NTR very differently, even when it comes to interactions and relationships with supporting characters.


Anyway, it’s the holiday season right now, so I’m taking a bit of a break, but I’ll be getting back to work soon and should be able to wrap things up and show something before long