My concern about the development of my game

[Keisi]

Hello f95 community!

I am Keisi, a beginner developer who is in the final stages of development of my first adult game (it will be on Renpy with a sandbox-rpg dating-sim system and using Koikatsu Party/CS for the models/maps).

I am writing here to ask a question that has been in my head since the idea of developing my own game was born after years of playing different hentai/adult games, both indies and professionals:

I decided to develop my game with Koikatsu because the modeling is quite well done with that anime style and also because the idea that I had in my mind I had not seen yet (or at least I have not played).

My problem comes at the beginning when I decide which maps to use. I looked for the ones that had the most similarity or same style so that an anime character with an asset or scene that was too realistic would not look "weird". So far so good, I decide which maps I will have for the moment, I start looking at them and thinking about how I will work with them, etc. Until I start to realize that I have seen these maps before in other games... I start to investigate what games they are used for and what I can do about it.
Well, on several occasions I was about to abandon the idea of becoming a developer and continue with my normal life, but, I began to learn how the mapping works and I began to do a "total rework" of those maps and although with limited knowledge , I have them already made, but the base of these maps are maps available for free from the Koikatsu community and used in other games (base maps).

Every day that I remember this, I want to abandon all the work already done (I have been working on maps, characters, interface, history, code... etc since November with zero exp) and leave the idea of being able to dedicate myself to this, for the simple fact of "fear" that people "accuse me" of copying other developers or plagiarizing...
Note: I have been since the first day that I decided to become a developer without playing any indie game or that is from here or patreon or anywhere other than an online hentai games that I play normally in Nutaku)

My other concern is related to the same thing but with the ideas I had, my ideas are based on non-hentai games and making their hentai version of it.
But I have returned to investigate focusing on the games that also use Koikatsu and I have seen that some features/systems that I plan to implement are also in those games (I do not know in what way, since I do not play any, just based on the reviews and screenshots)...
I know WoW did not invent the level system or roleplay and that rpg games in general have the same or similar systems but in their own style (for example), but I have seen in different communities of different devs many dramas between communities and accusations of all kinds from plagiarism to blatant copies of features and others things...

I'm spending many hours reworking and working on systems and interfaces so that I have my own style (I've always wanted that) but I worry about the other part.

Just to clarify, just in case, I never wanted to copy anything from anyone when i decided to be a developer, I want my own style. I decided to stay away from all indie games on f95/patreon/itch.io/etc so as not to influence myself. And I'm going to do everything in my own style and try to "innovate" in some things if I can.

Am I being too hard on myself?
Do players really care if a map or system is similar to another game even though it has its own style? I don't mind as a player, on the contrary, it gives me variety in different games (it is my main thought always to move forward).

Thank you to all for reading me! Oh and sorry for my bad english sometimes, i'm trying my best!

 

[Droid Productions]

Short answer; every developer (in porn or elsewhere) plays the best of the competition. You're not helping yourself by 'not playing'.


Nobody expects these games to be 100% novel in assets or ideas, but hopefully by knowing what's out there you won't accidentally 100% copy existing games.

 

[Keisi]

Short answer; every developer (in porn or elsewhere) plays the best of the competition. You're not helping yourself by 'not playing'.


Nobody expects these games to be 100% novel in assets or ideas, but hopefully by knowing what's out there you won't accidentally 100% copy existing games.

Thanks for the reply.
Obviously I do not play so as not to influence myself without realizing it, thinking that it is my own idea and then realizing that it was not really my own idea, just in case.
But I know what's on the "market" for games made with Koikatsu and I know what people like it and what I like. It's simply to avoid doing: "oh look at this, I like it, I'm going to borrow the idea. Literally"
Anyway, I understand what you are saying and I appreciate your comment

 

[AdventAnyx]

«Un artista copia, un gran artista roba» (c) Picasso
Good artists copy, best artists steal.
Isn't it a great motto for the site we are at?
My personal advice is to stop worrying and make the game. Almost no one cares if they saw the assets somewhere else, if the fap-material is good. You aren't going official with Koikatsu being your engine anyway, so why bother?

 

[Doorknob22]

If you think about an idea "this is cool", keep it. If it makes you feel proud of the outcome, keep it. Whether the idea was purely your own or not has nothing to do with your decision to include it. The only thing that matters is the result. If it's fun. If it's cool. If it's sexy.

On a personal note: I've been writing pr0n since 1998. Yes, that's probably longer than some of you guys are alive, let alone fucking. I have a loyal fan base of hundreds of loyal readers and probably thousands of casual readers. When I finish a story, if I remember it was inspired by another story (someone else have written) I am never ashamed not only to admit it, but to link to the original story and let my readers compare if they'd like. I'm confident enough in my writing ability to take ideas from others and transform them into something original. And my readers keep following me, for years, because they love my writing.

Bottom line: the way is less significant, only the outcome matters. Fun. Cool. Sexy.

 

[Laikhent]

Am I being too hard on myself?

Yes. And btw, even if you reinvent the wheel and make everything original, ppl will find another thing to complain, don't worry

And if even after ppl comments here, you still think about stopping because you are worried about what could happen, you could consider taking anxiety medication (after speaking with a doctor) because you probably have a higher than normal anxiety level that can be treated.

Anxiety is normally not a bad thing (it helps us deal with possible future bad outcomes), but when it gets to the point that makes you want to give up on something you want to do, then you could consider treating it.

If you take anxiety medication (again, after seeing the doctor), your worries will magically disappear and you will feel much better. Just note that there are side effects, so you should probably only take them if your anxiety continues making you want to give up and making a game is something you really want to do.

 

[Mimir's Lab]

If Stan Lee (and co) can rip off Norse mythology and create an extremely successful superhero from it, you can do whatever it is you're thinking as long as you aren't copying things word for word. There's hardly anything original nowadays; What makes content original is how you rearrange familiar content in unfamiliar ways.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Every day that I remember this, I want to abandon all the work already done [...] for the simple fact of "fear" that people "accuse me" of copying other developers or plagiarizing...

Look around you. More than 50% of the available games are a copy-past of another game, while 50% of the Daz3D games use the same out of the box cheap assets.

While there people saying that they've already seen this or that in another game ? Yes.
Should you care about this ? No.

 

[Winterfire]

You are being too hard on yourself, most of my current game has not original assets, even bought ones are bound to have been bought and used by other people before me.

Another game of mine had original maps, but the textures were from textures.com, which are used by other people (even some AAA companies!)
All characters you see in most DAZ3D games are not original, especially that pesky black-red haired woman, I saw her way too many times, and I never played any of those games.

Even in those with almost full original content, I still used free music.

Of course I am not saying you cannot make a fully original game, but it is time consuming and it will probably suck as it is very likely you are bad at something... Be modelling, texturing or music making... Unless you are a genius at everything.
Viable way to make fully original games is by having a team.

 

[anne O'nymous]

«Un artista copia, un gran artista roba» (c) Picasso
Good artists copy, best artists steal.

Except that it's not what Pablo Picasso said.
The original quote looks more like, "artists copy, great artists pay homage". He said that when asked about some of his paintings that were so look-alike to well known master pieces, that they could have been qualified of plagiarism. And his defense was that he wasn't going from their creations to his vision of them (what would be stealing), but from his creations to something that remember what they did (what is a tribute). What can also be read as, "it's Picasso, so we will forgive him".

What you're quoting is Steve Jobs alteration of Picasso's quote.

 

[Keisi]

If you think about an idea "this is cool", keep it. If it makes you feel proud of the outcome, keep it. Whether the idea was purely your own or not has nothing to do with your decision to include it. The only thing that matters is the result. If it's fun. If it's cool. If it's sexy.

On a personal note: I've been writing pr0n since 1998. Yes, that's probably longer than some of you guys are alive, let alone fucking. I have a loyal fan base of hundreds of loyal readers and probably thousands of casual readers. When I finish a story, if I remember it was inspired by another story (someone else have written) I am never ashamed not only to admit it, but to link to the original story and let my readers compare if they'd like. I'm confident enough in my writing ability to take ideas from others and transform them into something original. And my readers keep following me, for years, because they love my writing.

Bottom line: the way is less significant, only the outcome matters. Fun. Cool. Sexy.

98? It's been a long time since then, you make me feel old (I'm almost 30 years old) hahahaha
I really understand what you're saying, and yes, it's something like that for me, it's just trying to avoid problems... But yes, I really think like you.
Really all my ideas are born from a mix between several WoW expansions, Blade & Soul, Nutaku hentai games, etc...
And obviously the "hentai" part is inspired by some successful games that I have played or seen.
I am looking to do something in my own style and if someone compares something from my game to another game, I will have no problem saying what has inspired me.
I simply want to "avoid" the accusations of the "super fans" from other games, although it is something that I doubt that it can be avoided.

Anyway, I try to focus on my things and see how I can offer in the best way what I want to create.
Thanks for your reply btw

 

[Keisi]

Yes. And btw, even if you reinvent the wheel and make everything original, ppl will find another thing to complain, don't worry

And if even after ppl comments here, you still think about stopping because you are worried about what could happen, you could consider taking anxiety medication (after speaking with a doctor) because you probably have a higher than normal anxiety level that can be treated.

Anxiety is normally not a bad thing (it helps us deal with possible future bad outcomes), but when it gets to the point that makes you want to give up on something you want to do, then you could consider treating it.

If you take anxiety medication (again, after seeing the doctor), your worries will magically disappear and you will feel much better. Just note that there are side effects, so you should probably only take them if your anxiety continues making you want to give up and making a game is something you really want to do.

Oh don't worry about that hahahaha
It is more of a problem of "insecurity".
This is totally new to me. Being a gamer is not the same as waking up one day and saying: "Today I'm going to create a video game and I'm going to try to make people fall in love with my girls."
It's a process that I'm still assimilating hahahaha
It's not anxiety, it's a bit insecurity, and I guess what can happen to anyone, fear of failure?
Anyway, I keep going, I'm in the part where I'm already tweaking the interface and the base code and I'll get to work on a second/third reading of the story and quests for my first version and start writing. dialogs, renders, etc... you know
Also, I appreciate your comment and that you take the time to read me

 

[Keisi]

You are being too hard on yourself, most of my current game has not original assets, even bought ones are bound to have been bought and used by other people before me.

Another game of mine had original maps, but the textures were from textures.com, which are used by other people (even some AAA companies!)
All characters you see in most DAZ3D games are not original, especially that pesky black-red haired woman, I saw her way too many times, and I never played any of those games.

Even in those with almost full original content, I still used free music.

Of course I am not saying you cannot make a fully original game, but it is time consuming and it will probably suck as it is very likely you are bad at something... Be modelling, texturing or music making... Unless you are a genius at everything.
Viable way to make fully original games is by having a team.

Yeah I Feel you hahahaha
Same thing happens with the MC in Koikatsu, reminds me of the guy from brazzers, multiprofession guy hahahahaha
And yes, I know what do you mean... Yeah, maybe I'm being hard on myself
Thanks for your comment

 

[Keisi]

Except that it's not what Pablo Picasso said.
The original quote looks more like, "artists copy, great artists pay homage". He said that when asked about some of his paintings that were so look-alike to well known master pieces, that they could have been qualified of plagiarism. And his defense was that he wasn't going from their creations to his vision of them (what would be stealing), but from his creations to something that remember what they did (what is a tribute). What can also be read as, "it's Picasso, so we will forgive him".

What you're quoting is Steve Jobs alteration of Picasso's quote.

Every day it's a good day to learn something new!
I did not expect a comment from you here sincerely... You are almost like an idol to me (no fanboy hahaha)!! Thanks to your posts and your help to other users in the programming/dev section I have learned a lot about the basics of renpy and py, especially the afterload, which I am still afraid that could happen every time I release a new version and my girls have a new level cap or new quests... hahahahaha
I appreciate this comment and the previous one and I agree with you.
Again, I appreciate your contribution to the community of devs and I assure you that you will have a special mention in my "credits". Really, along with others here and from the lemmasoft community, you all are good teachers

 

[anne O'nymous]

You are almost like an idol to me (no fanboy hahaha)!! Thanks to your posts and your help to other users in the programming/dev section I have learned a lot about the basics of renpy and py, [...]

Well, there's days that are grey and cold, and where everything goes badly ; including your English skills, I fear to proof read what I wrote today. Then, browsing a thread, you read something like that, and suddenly the sky is bluer.

Thanks a lot. I do my best to help, and it's always a pleasure to see that it served to someone.