Most games don't know when to start with sexual content

[John4511]

It's either you open the game and BAM, full sex scene immediately which kills all the anticipation and build up or you play 8 releases and nothing is happening.

The list of games that actually time it right is very short.

I can actually handle 8 releases without sex scenes much more than some games that drop the first episode and half of it is sex scenes. No build up. At that point it's like watching porn, so why not just watch porn.

But even then only game with almost no sexual content that I don't mind going that slow is Summers Gone. That one has amazing build up.

Halfway House is also one that takes it slow but it gives you good build up and makes up for the lack of actual sex with teasing, renders and the quality of models.

But most games have awful pacing.

 

[DawnCry]

It is mostly because most developers do a short demo and they kinda want to show what to expect, so they add a fast scene or two to catch attention. It makes more sense when they at least make it a dream or a voyeur scene, but well, that's about it.

 

[baneini]

A good rule would be don't show characters naked before you get to know them.
Allude to sexual scenarios at the beginning of the game, give the player a hint of whats to come, but don't stuff hardcore scenes in their face as the opening. I don't know of any of these people, I don't care.

As for pacing and stories having relevant content: Any conversation that isn't sex dialogue should be in the vicinity of it, as in it relates to something that relates to something else that is sexual to provide tension. If its completely removed from any sort of porn theme it would have to be funny, engaging, informative and porn game devs aren't good at that = you get filler that doesn't need to be there to enjoy the game and which hurts pacing.

 

[Malachite1789]

At that point it's like watching porn, so why not just watch porn.

I've been wondering that myself. There is a part of the audience that just skips through games for the sex scenes and i just have to wonder why they even bother. There's plenty of easy (relatively) to access porn out there, why go to all the trouble of downloading a vn to just skip all the story?

 

[John4511]

It is mostly because most developers do a short demo and they kinda want to show what to expect, so they add a fast scene or two to catch attention. It makes more sense when they at least make it a dream or a voyeur scene, but well, that's about it.

Ye, I get that, but I feel like that's a cheap way to get someone's attention. I would honestly prefer a demo that just builds up the story like let's say Being a DIK first episode. Don't think there was any sex in there and it still immediately blew up bcs it had great writing and models. Same with Halfway House and Summers Gone.

But hey, that's just me, most prolly prefer the types of demos that you described so I get it.

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

I've been wondering that myself. There is a part of the audience that just skips through games for the sex scenes and i just have to wonder why they even bother. There's plenty of easy (relatively) to access porn out there, why go to all the trouble of downloading a vn to just skip all the story?

Yeah, everyone's so impatient these days.

 

[fyl3toys]

But even then only game with almost no sexual content that I don't mind going that slow is Summers Gone. That one has amazing build up.

No way in hell I'm downloading a game from here that has no sex. That's dumb.

 

[Synx]

Ye, I get that, but I feel like that's a cheap way to get someone's attention. I would honestly prefer a demo that just builds up the story like let's say Being a DIK first episode. Don't think there was any sex in there and it still immediately blew up bcs it had great writing and models.

Didn't DIk had some gloryhole scene in the first release if you went with the DIK route? With one of the side characters.

A good rule would be don't show characters naked before you get to know them.
Allude to sexual scenarios at the beginning of the game, give the player a hint of whats to come, but don't stuff hardcore scenes in their face as the opening. I don't know of any of these people, I don't care.

As for pacing and stories having relevant content: Any conversation that isn't sex dialogue should be in the vicinity of it, as in it relates to something that relates to something else that is sexual to provide tension. If its completely removed from any sort of porn theme it would have to be funny, engaging, informative and porn game devs aren't good at that = you get filler that doesn't need to be there to enjoy the game and which hurts pacing.

I strongly disagree with this approach. If a games story is all about getting laid, it doesn't have a story in my eyes. A good porn game should have a main story line that isn't about sex. A story needs some mystery to be interesting and a story about just sex is to predictable. You pretty much know after seeing her tits, comes a blowjob, then sex, anal, threesome, etc. It becomes more of a shopping list to collect all the different sex scenes then a comprehensive story.

It's one of the main reasons for me why I start to skip text in a game if theres to much between sex scenes. You know the destination which makes the journey meaningless. It doesn't matter what happens between all the sex scenes. Who cares what problems the characters have when in the end your magic dick is the solution for everything.

 

[jamdan]

There isn't a best time to start sexual content. It should all depend on the story and characters.

A big problem is when the sexual content starts, a lot of devs don't know where to go from there. So the pacing is off and is dragged out unreasonably to delay the sex. And when the sex finally does happen, it's all downhill from there. The dev either loses interest or the game becomes repetitive. Sometimes both.

Another problem is when the dev wants sexual content ASAP. So there is little to no buildup, which make the scenes lackluster and forgettable. Or they toss in some cheap side-sex early on that serves no purpose other than cheap side-sex. Use that time for buildup with the LI's, please.

 

[Kallel69]

No way in hell I'm downloading a game from here that has no sex. That's dumb.

I mostly agree with you on that. I accidentally downloaded a no sex game once, played it a while before i realized, got pissed and now always make sure that it doesnt have that tag. BUT i did download one game after that that had no sex and that was Princess Maker 2 because I guess its like some granddaddy of all life-sim/trainer games and corruption games. Haven't even played it yet.

 

[anne O'nymous]

A big problem is when the sexual content starts, a lot of devs don't know where to go from there.

Because most of them see it as the finality of their game. Therefore, they build all the the game around it, this even when it have an effective story. If they were doing the opposite, building the game around their story, then adding sex in it, the result would be better. No need for the basic hand-job, blow-job, sex, advance.
If there a reason to put a sex scene at this moment, put it, period. And it can perfectly start with an anal scene, and later in the game we will have a simple blow job, what the matter ? It's how it works in life ; well, perhaps not the "anal on the first time" part unless you're very lucky.

 

[VirtualMantis]

I feel like it may be down to mainstream views of virginity and chastity. Having sex for the first time is supposed to be this big massive deal, that your whole hormonal life culminates towards. So of course, we've got to take forever to build to a scene, because it's meant to be romantic. Or the protag has sex right away, to show how horny everyone is/slutty all the women really are. I find this a lot in Japanese games, where some of them don't want to show women having an interest in sex at all, so they get raped. Or all they think about is sex 24/7. Unless it's a corruption game, there's no middle ground.

As for why people play these games instead of just watching hentai or porn, personally I watch hentai too, but I play these games to feel like the protag. I like the fantasy of forced etc. but I don't want that to happen to me in real life. And as much as you can arrange con non-con scenes in real life, you can't guarantee everyone will be free, or cute, communicative enough, or share your sexual orientation. So RPGMaker gangbangs it is lol

 

[LewdCatgirl]

Not going to lie, most of the time I don't want to wait a long time for the sexual content. If I'm playing this sort of game it's because I want that kind of content and if I didn't feel like it at the moment I'd be playing a normal game.

Like sure if you can get me to actually care about the plot and characters outside of the porn sure that's great but I have no faith in the vast vast majority of games being able to do that regardless of how quickly they get to the porn.

 

[SecretSal]

Another problem is when the dev wants sexual content ASAP. So there is little to no buildup, which make the scenes lackluster and forgettable. Or they toss in some cheap side-sex early on that serves no purpose other than cheap side-sex. Use that time for buildup with the LI's, please.

Although sometime the cheap side-sex is the best part (at least, for some people). The writer needs to work harder on those scenes to convincingly compress the buildup into a much shorter timeframe. But when it's well constructed, those are usually my favourites. Maybe I have less patience for drawn-out relationships these days, but for whatever reason, I have a soft spot for quick and dirty encounters. They're not that uncommon irl either, so not much suspension of disbelief necessary.

 

[Winterfire]

There is no right time to "Start with sex scenes", if you were to make a game centered about brothels and prostitution and your MC is an avid consumer of those services, starting with a sex scene would be a good way to introduce the MC and the story.

 

[Geralt_R]

There is no right time to "Start with sex scenes", if you were to make a game centered about brothels and prostitution and your MC is an avid consumer of those services, starting with a sex scene would be a good way to introduce the MC and the story.

There is a right time for each genre though.

If the game allows for a solo romance it usually cheapens all the dramatic utterances of "I love you!!!" a lot when the MC (or sometimes the LI) have lots of (mandatory) sex with other people before that, if a solo option exists and it's not just one additional option in a harem game etc slow burn is definitely the better choice with optional encounters for those who really can't wait. And many times VNs don't get that right and you do get the feeling the (mandatory) sex was added to keep folks interested sinced apparently many people don't understand what delayed gratification is and shout for instant gratification. Of course if you do make a slow burn game you'd better make sure you have the capacity to deliver numerous and regular updates, no one wants to wait two or three years for something to happen in a slow burn VN that only has two or three updates per year.

Your scenario is of course very different and it would be a bit silly not to show sex scenes early on in this instances. So it heavily depends on whether or not your game is Price of Power or Pale Carnations.

Not going to lie, most of the time I don't want to wait a long time for the sexual content. If I'm playing this sort of game it's because I want that kind of content and if I didn't feel like it at the moment I'd be playing a normal game.

This is something I never understand. Why bother with VNs then instead of going straight to p-hub etc? I always feel that the "novel" part in VNs should be the focus and that the various scenes you get should feel rewarding and as something that is a direct result of the story - unless it's your run of the mill harem game or so then it's ok when things escalate quickly. But everything that is more story focused and allows you to pick a solo route feels cheap when you get a lot of scenes with other characters before that (sometimes even mandatory and not avoidable) or when escalate too quickly with the main LI.

 

[LewdCatgirl]

This is something I never understand. Why bother with VNs then instead of going straight to p-hub etc? I always feel that the "novel" part in VNs should be the focus and that the various scenes you get should feel rewarding and as something that is a direct result of the story - unless it's your run of the mill harem game or so then it's ok when things escalate quickly. But everything that is more story focused and allows you to pick a solo route feels cheap when you get a lot of scenes with other characters before that (sometimes even mandatory and not avoidable) or when escalate too quickly with the main LI.

Oh I was mainly talking about the more rpg or renpy type games. VNs I don't get into as much (for porn, I've gone through several such as FSN in a non-horny context).

 

[woody554]

if you want the sex scene to have maximum impact you tease and delay it until frustration. if you want the sex scene to be meaningless and forgettable you show it early.

both have their fans. god knows why, but some people want shitty meaningless sex scenes and they'll fight you to get it.

 

[Doorknob22]

The porn game "industry" is young and due to its nature lack tools for learning, develop best practices, share information etc. As a result, 99% of the games released are by amateurs who did not release anything before the game you played and are making rookie mistakes.

I learned from master Mike Adriano. He does hardcore gonzo porn but most of his movies start with a long (10 minutes give or take) teasing session where the girls walk, talk and generally tease the viewer. As a quick rule of thumb I derive from this, I feel that 10 minutes of play time between the introducing the girl and the sex are an acceptable minimum. In those 10 minutes, it would be good if the player would see the girl at least once or twice.

 

[mickydoo]

Maybe because no

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bothers to make renpy porn games that suit your taste.