Need help with the vision of my next H-game (I made 2 vids yall can view to judge)

[Luximora]

So recently I came across this

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video and the aesthetic really stood out to me, I want to make game with this vibe, I've also been looking at a lot of liminal horror like backrooms and shit so its been on my mind. But I'm wondering what kind of game I want to make. I know regardless, its going to be an Metroid Vania game, the player will be scavenging the map consistently for weapons for combat, and also unlock some permanant upgrades on the way aswell. The main combat loop is vaguely inspired by madness combat games on new ground (I found

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especially fun) I currently have two concept (I made these both in 2 days, their just to get an idea):

This one is a side view, more of what you'd expect a metroidvania to look like, I am very confident I could make a very fun game with this style:

The second one is more experimental, I think it fits the vibe I'm going for more and has a creepy vibe of being watched, but I also don't know if the camera will be annoying to rangle in the long run and if the action combat will fun or frustrating. The camera angle would be unique for each room which could risk being disorienting aswell. Picking up dropped guns and stuff off the ground might be hard, it just feels like alot of issues could come from the style:

Which one do yall think would be better?

For the vbe/setting/artstyle, I'm going for near future urban fantasy


And here's some art I'm concepting for the protaganist:

 

[zARRR]

Oh hi Luximora you are back, I thought you abandoned the developing landscape.
Quite the jump from cute Pokémon fangame to the horror liminal world

 

[Luximora]

Oh hi Luximora you are back, I thought you abandoned the developing landscape.
Quite the jump from cute Pokémon fangame to the horror liminal world

Oh shoot, I remember you to, what a coincidence. I'll admit for a really long while I had no clue what I wanted to make after that old project fell through, you see this but I have a dozen projects of me testing different ideas seeing if anything sticks. On the bright side, coding so many side projects gave me alot more experience, but I decided at a certain point I kinda need to put my foot down and make something. It definitely is a big departure though lol, I do still want to make cute games, I actually made a little project in my time working through projects, I ended up abandoning it since it was so unrefined, and I couldn't land exactly how the gameplay loop would work with the love interests without the affection feeling transactional (throwing gifts at a character till they love you imo is boring game design) but id love to revisit it in the future, I kinda recently was introduced to some retro dating sim games that are surprisingly in depth that have inspired me for the future for sure. Thats for the future though, it'd be bad practice and discipline to hop on another project after announcing another. I'm very tired of making projects but not actually releasing anything y'know? I want to start, make and finish a game.

 

[zARRR]

Oh shoot, I remember you to, what a coincidence. I'll admit for a really long while I had no clue what I wanted to make after that old project fell through, you see this but I have a dozen projects of me testing different ideas seeing if anything sticks. On the bright side, coding so many side projects gave me alot more experience, but I decided at a certain point I kinda need to put my foot down and make something. It definitely is a big departure though lol, I do still want to make cute games, I actually made a little project in my time working through projects, I ended up abandoning it since it was so unrefined, and I couldn't land exactly how the gameplay loop would work with the love interests without the affection feeling transactional (throwing gifts at a character till they love you imo is boring game design) but id love to revisit it in the future, I kinda recently was introduced to some retro dating sim games that are surprisingly in depth that have inspired me for the future for sure. Thats for the future though, it'd be bad practice and discipline to hop on another project after announcing another. I'm very tired of making projects but not actually releasing anything y'know? I want to start, make and finish a game.

Understandable, glad you have been searching and discovering your game development skills.
But hopping through a project to another is generally bad publicity and will turn in you in a no good developer in the eyes of others.
Therefore finishing and releasing a project is the best idea to build up a status.

Yes some retro dating games have in deep mechanics and the giving gift dating system it’s very plain, it’s fun only as a side element such as in farming simulators, but if you are aiming to write games where the focus is also love, it is terrible.
Rune factory solves this by inserting events and dates constantly to reward players that follow characters, whereas Stardew valley follows the event mechanic in theory but LIs fall flat.

 

[Luximora]

Understandable, glad you have been searching and discovering your game development skills.
But hopping through a project to another is generally bad publicity and will turn in you in a no good developer in the eyes of others.
Therefore finishing and releasing a project is the best idea to build up a status.

Yes some retro dating games have in deep mechanics and the giving gift dating system it’s very plain, it’s fun only as a side element such as in farming simulators, but if you are aiming to write games where the focus is also love, it is terrible.
Rune factory solves this by inserting events and dates constantly to reward players that follow characters, whereas Stardew valley follows the event mechanic in theory but LIs fall flat.

Oh I haven't heard of rune factory, I'll have to give it a try some time. And yeah, couldn't agree more, alot of dating sims do a pretty poor job of simulating dating. I found

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recently, really good that goes into alot of the flaws of romance in video games and mentions the few (its really only two) games that succeed in using romance as a central mechanic, it was pretty eye opening. I'll need to re watch it in the future when I revisit this idea.

 

[zARRR]

So recently I came across this

You must be registered to see the links

video and the aesthetic really stood out to me, I want to make game with this vibe, I've also been looking at a lot of liminal horror like backrooms and shit so its been on my mind. But I'm wondering what kind of game I want to make. I know regardless, its going to be an Metroid Vania game, the player will be scavenging the map consistently for weapons for combat, and also unlock some permanant upgrades on the way aswell. The main combat loop is vaguely inspired by madness combat games on new ground (I found

You must be registered to see the links

especially fun) I currently have two concept (I made these both in 2 days, their just to get an idea):

This one is a side view, more of what you'd expect a metroidvania to look like, I am very confident I could make a very fun game with this style:

The second one is more experimental, I think it fits the vibe I'm going for more and has a creepy vibe of being watched, but I also don't know if the camera will be annoying to rangle in the long run and if the action combat will fun or frustrating. The camera angle would be unique for each room which could risk being disorienting aswell. Picking up dropped guns and stuff off the ground might be hard, it just feels like alot of issues could come from the style:

Which one do yall think would be better?

For the vbe/setting/artstyle, I'm going for near future urban fantasy


And here's some art I'm concepting for the protaganist:

View attachment 4796501

Instead for the game gameplay choice, you have two completely different takes.
A Metroidvania is fun when the world feels connected, when you obtain multiple upgrades that boost your gameplay and most importantly when the combat loop is fun.
But if you are going for that uncanny liminal valley aesthetic, the second one is better.

You must be registered to see the links

This video at 25:20 shows an indie game called Dead seater that acknowledges how you have to play with the camera to induce in the player a sense of being disoriented and unsettled.
If you choose the second option, you also have to value the combat aspect, which is clunky, you can manage to turn it into an enjoyable and tense experience; but just like old REs and SH, you aren playing then for the gameplay, but to be scared and the atmosphere.
In fact you could argue that the complicated gameplay is an element of his anxiety inducing attacks

 

[zARRR]

Oh I haven't heard of rune factory, I'll have to give it a try some time. And yeah, couldn't agree more, alot of dating sims do a pretty poor job of simulating dating. I found

You must be registered to see the links

recently, really good that goes into alot of the flaws of romance in video games and mentions the few (its really only two) games that succeed in using romance as a central mechanic, it was pretty eye opening. I'll need to re watch it in the future when I revisit this idea.

Rune factory 4 I suggest you to play, it’s phenomenal as a farming simulator and life sim (It’s both on switch and steam).
It shows that in the end even if you have a simple gameplay loop that is repetitive, the mechanics and secrets as well as the writing will keep you glued to the screen.

I have watched a bit of that video, I don’t like much the YouTuber, but I have to rewatch it again, also it mentions my favorite game here, Katawa Shiujo so it’s intriguing.

 

[zARRR]

Instead for the game gameplay choice, you have two completely different takes.
A Metroidvania is fun when the world feels connected, when you obtain multiple upgrades that boost your gameplay and most importantly when the combat loop is fun.
But if you are going for that uncanny liminal valley aesthetic, the second one is better.

You must be registered to see the links

This video at 25:20 shows an indie game called Dead seater that acknowledges how you have to play with the camera to induce in the player a sense of being disoriented and unsettled.
If you choose the second option, you also have to value the combat aspect, which is clunky, you can manage to turn it into an enjoyable and tense experience; but just like old REs and SH, you aren playing then for the gameplay, but to be scared and the atmosphere.
In fact you could argue that the complicated gameplay is an element of his anxiety inducing attacks

But back on metroidvanias and experimental gameplays, the real dilemma is how can you add a romance system to these genres of gameplay?
For a metroidvania I believe an hub system where your partners reside is elemental to any form of live relationships bonding, as well as a bunch of allies helping you along side the exploration. And we cannot forget rivals to encounter can add meat on the loop.
Whereas with the RE-like gameplayit is trickier, Should there be also an hub where LIs live? Or should the dating simulator be part of the exploration, the story all along, where your choices and adventures are a key element to the dating aspect?
Or every level is a stage and there is a management screen where you can gather materials and talk to LIs?

 

[Luximora]

Instead for the game gameplay choice, you have two completely different takes.
A Metroidvania is fun when the world feels connected, when you obtain multiple upgrades that boost your gameplay and most importantly when the combat loop is fun.
But if you are going for that uncanny liminal valley aesthetic, the second one is better.

You must be registered to see the links

This video at 25:20 shows an indie game called Dead seater that acknowledges how you have to play with the camera to induce in the player a sense of being disoriented and unsettled.
If you choose the second option, you also have to value the combat aspect, which is clunky, you can manage to turn it into an enjoyable and tense experience; but just like old REs and SH, you aren playing then for the gameplay, but to be scared and the atmosphere.
In fact you could argue that the complicated gameplay is an element of his anxiety inducing attacks

I gave it a watch, it was a nice video to see before bed, had a very cozy vibe. It's kinda wild that the dead seater's dev is the same person who made lethal company.

I've been thinking it over, and both for the sake of both scope creep and having a more focused vision for the game, I think I'll lean more into survival horror, where you scavenging for items instead of getting permanent upgrades like a metroidvania. So I think I'll go with the second option.

Since this is an H-game, sexual stuff is going to be in there, but before talking about that i wanna explain the story idea I have. The protagonist would be a young incubus serving as a soldier in the military of the Infernal Federation (name wip), a faction in hell that is where alot of the trade in the underworld happens. In this game's world, demons aren’t inherently evil, like people, they can be good or evil. They can move freely between earth and hell, they can take the appearance of a human and most humans don't think they exist.

I imagine the story beginning with a joint operation alongside the CIA on earth, targeting a cult leader who is suspected of being a demon fugitive who escaped hell to evade prosecution by the Infernal Federation courts and has been stirring up trouble on earth with their worshipers.

Most missions will go something like this, being their own self contained arcs but each will be vaguely connected.

Now finally to discuss sex scenes i have one idea that I know for sure I'm going to do and one that I will do if I can fit it within my scope without overworking myself. The first easy one is that in the story you'll meet characters that you grow closer with in the story, getting more intimate scenes with them as you progress, so it'd be tied to story progression. The second one is more ambitious and harder, the idea is making it so you can have sex with the foes in game during combat. In alot of h-games with combat you can get a sex scene when you lose, which I always thought was dumb, since it rewards losing and being bad at the game, so I was thinking of making a lust meter since the protaganist is a incubus, its goes up when you attack and do damage, dodge etc. Think how in alot of games your charge your ultimate by attacking and stuff. When its maxed out you both take more damage and do more damage, you can also press a button to spend the entire bar to eliminate an enemy by aiming your "ult" at them, the in world explanation would be the protaganist is increasing the enemeis lust with incubus pheromones or whatever and it result in a sex scene with them, after they cum they'll be gone from the combat area and your list meter is back to 0. I think that rewards actually attacking enemies, being aggressive and playing well, and also lets you complete eliminate an enemy aswell which is nice. The problem is, depending on how many enemies I have in my game, that could be alot of sex scenes to draw, so if I want to keep the scope manageable I'm not sure if I can do that. I'll see though, maybe its perfectly doable.

I kinda wrote this all in one go and didn't proof read so if anything doesn't make sense lemme know.

 

[zARRR]

I gave it a watch, it was a nice video to see before bed, had a very cozy vibe. It's kinda wild that the dead seater's dev is the same person who made lethal company.

Agreed, Lute products moody and relaxing videos perfectly to view before going to bed or when you are tired, he is even very funny.
His youtube style reminds me of another YouTuber that I also appreciate very well and dissected YIIK and Tloz Oot which is Running Shine (

You must be registered to see the links

)

For the developer, it is wiiiiiild!
It shows how talented he was already with this small free game, although I prefer games that aren’t multiplayer.

I've been thinking it over, and both for the sake of both scope creep and having a more focused vision for the game, I think I'll lean more into survival horror, where you scavenging for items instead of getting permanent upgrades like a metroidvania. So I think I'll go with the second option.

Since this is an H-game, sexual stuff is going to be in there, but before talking about that i wanna explain the story idea I have. The protagonist would be a young incubus serving as a soldier in the military of the Infernal Federation (name wip), a faction in hell that is where alot of the trade in the underworld happens. In this game's world, demons aren’t inherently evil, like people, they can be good or evil. They can move freely between earth and hell, they can take the appearance of a human and most humans don't think they exist.

I imagine the story beginning with a joint operation alongside the CIA on earth, targeting a cult leader who is suspected of being a demon fugitive who escaped hell to evade prosecution by the Infernal Federation courts and has been stirring up trouble on earth with their worshipers.

Most missions will go something like this, being their own self contained arcs but each will be vaguely connected.

Mmmh I see, it can work as your first game I suggest you to go for a simple story, don’t try to overload yourself with lore and mindbending plot twists.
I can view a main base where you could upgrade stats and manage missione and Love interests while choosing for the next level, a bit similar to Lethal company.
Remember if you can beat them with the story, beat them with the atmosphere but since you are aiming at crafting relationships, writing must be charming.
Again an example of short serviceable writing that is consistently solid is Summer Memories and no one plays that only for the plot (using this example since you played it)

Now finally to discuss sex scenes i have one idea that I know for sure I'm going to do and one that I will do if I can fit it within my scope without overworking myself. The first easy one is that in the story you'll meet characters that you grow closer with in the story, getting more intimate scenes with them as you progress, so it'd be tied to story progression. The second one is more ambitious and harder, the idea is making it so you can have sex with the foes in game during combat. In alot of h-games with combat you can get a sex scene when you lose, which I always thought was dumb, since it rewards losing and being bad at the game, so I was thinking of making a lust meter since the protaganist is a incubus, its goes up when you attack and do damage, dodge etc. Think how in alot of games your charge your ultimate by attacking and stuff. When its maxed out you both take more damage and do more damage, you can also press a button to spend the entire bar to eliminate an enemy by aiming your "ult" at them, the in world explanation would be the protaganist is increasing the enemeis lust with incubus pheromones or whatever and it result in a sex scene with them, after they cum they'll be gone from the combat area and your list meter is back to 0. I think that rewards actually attacking enemies, being aggressive and playing well, and also lets you complete eliminate an enemy aswell which is nice. The problem is, depending on how many enemies I have in my game, that could be alot of sex scenes to draw, so if I want to keep the scope manageable I'm not sure if I can do that. I'll see though, maybe its perfectly doable.

I kinda wrote this all in one go and didn't proof read so if anything doesn't make sense lemme know.

I highly recommend you to go for the first type of sex scenes, the second one albeit gameplay interesting and even lore wise cool it can be a mess, an herculean endeavor that can destroy the atmosphere of survival horror. I agree that obtaining sex through defeat and loss mechanic is a phenomenally stupid idea that goes against every written law of game design. I prefer story tied progression or you could connect another gameplay aspect to the incubus characteristics to play aggressively, but again since you are aiming at an horror atmosphere the aggressiveness of the gameplay can play against the theme.
Anyways it’s your game, but that’s my idea, you can still add this mechanic later after completing the main content and side content as a bonus.

 

[Luximora]

Agreed, Lute products moody and relaxing videos perfectly to view before going to bed or when you are tired, he is even very funny.
His youtube style reminds me of another YouTuber that I also appreciate very well and dissected YIIK and Tloz Oot which is Running Shine (

You must be registered to see the links

)

For the developer, it is wiiiiiild!
It shows how talented he was already with this small free game, although I prefer games that aren’t multiplayer.

Mmmh I see, it can work as your first game I suggest you to go for a simple story, don’t try to overload yourself with lore and mindbending plot twists.
I can view a main base where you could upgrade stats and manage missione and Love interests while choosing for the next level, a bit similar to Lethal company.
Remember if you can beat them with the story, beat them with the atmosphere but since you are aiming at crafting relationships, writing must be charming.
Again an example of short serviceable writing that is consistently solid is Summer Memories and no one plays that only for the plot (using this example since you played it)

I highly recommend you to go for the first type of sex scenes, the second one albeit gameplay interesting and even lore wise cool it can be a mess, an herculean endeavor that can destroy the atmosphere of survival horror. I agree that obtaining sex through defeat and loss mechanic is a phenomenally stupid idea that goes against every written law of game design. I prefer story tied progression or you could connect another gameplay aspect to the incubus characteristics to play aggressively, but again since you are aiming at an horror atmosphere the aggressiveness of the gameplay can play against the theme.
Anyways it’s your game, but that’s my idea, you can still add this mechanic later after completing the main content and side content as a bonus.

I see, yeah that all makes sense, thank you, I have a far clearer idea of the game, I think I'll post the first dev blog next Saturday (May 10).

I dont mind making the story big, writing has never been much of an issue for me, though bug stories do risk feeling convoluted, hard to follow and possibly pretentious. I'll try and make sure its a good story first rather than a story thats big and mind bending just for the sake of being big and mind bending.

You have a point with the second idea being a pain, work wise, after hearing your points its probably best if I dont pursue it, at least for now. Though I do want to give a bit of a counter point for the mechanic, even if I wont add it. If done right I think it could really enhance the vibe of the game, for example encouraging the player to be aggressive in a horror game instead of hiding forces them to move and face the monsters, during gamplay id want the player to think something like "oh God, I dont want to fight that thing but I have to" instead of stealthing around, if I encourage playing aggressively. As for the sex scenes, I think sex and horror can actually be ties together in pretty interesting ways, like im both horny and terrified, my only concern besides the amount of work it'd be, is it could get in the way of pacing, you'd be in the middle of a mission then BAM! Sex scene. But yeah its not a big deal now since I dont think I'll add that anytime soon unless I learn to draw faster.

 

[Velomous]

I'd say go for the second style, not a lot of good 3d hentai games out there. And you do horror games? Maybe you could make an SCP~ish hentai game, I'd play that!

There's an artist called

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that makes some SCP hentai minicomic thingy, like this

Spoiler: Hentai Mini

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That, combined with ur horror vibe second clip made me think an SCP-like hentai game could be really cool. Although it sounds like u already have a direction so maybe stick to that instead.

But still; 3D is what I suggest due to lack of good 3D hentai games; It's also closer to the vibe that video you linked to at the start was going for, there's a bunch of horror games with simillar vibes, they're usulaly sorta retro~ish, going for that 90s and early 2000s look with low-poly models, like fears to fathom, unspoken and even iron lung

 

[zARRR]

I see, yeah that all makes sense, thank you, I have a far clearer idea of the game, I think I'll post the first dev blog next Saturday (May 10).

No worries, we will see on Saturday then

I dont mind making the story big, writing has never been much of an issue for me, though bug stories do risk feeling convoluted, hard to follow and possibly pretentious. I'll try and make sure its a good story first rather than a story thats big and mind bending just for the sake of being big and mind bending.

Well future players will be the judge of that, but even if your story isn’t big or convoluted charming and fun characters can play a gigantic role. Just ponder on all indie smash hits where the writing is the focus, games like Undertale or Hades have a very straightforward plot and a few plot twists, but people love those games (aside from the usual gameplay, secrets and music) also for how the characters are portrayed and interact with each other.
Sans is iconic not just because of Megalovania or his final fight, he is iconic because of the writing, if Sans was a blank slate with no chemistry with Papyrus, the player or all the world it wouldn’t had such impact.
Which is also the reason why writing is important for romance.

You have a point with the second idea being a pain, work wise, after hearing your points its probably best if I dont pursue it, at least for now. Though I do want to give a bit of a counter point for the mechanic, even if I wont add it. If done right I think it could really enhance the vibe of the game, for example encouraging the player to be aggressive in a horror game instead of hiding forces them to move and face the monsters, during gamplay id want the player to think something like "oh God, I dont want to fight that thing but I have to" instead of stealthing around, if I encourage playing aggressively. As for the sex scenes, I think sex and horror can actually be ties together in pretty interesting ways, like im both horny and terrified, my only concern besides the amount of work it'd be, is it could get in the way of pacing, you'd be in the middle of a mission then BAM! Sex scene. But yeah its not a big deal now since I dont think I'll add that anytime soon unless I learn to draw faster.

Yeah gameplay wise it can be added a mechanic to push the player to act faster or they will be penalized.
And horror and sex I cannot talk much about it, I played a couple of Japanese horror sex games and they left me more traumatized than aroused or in love.
Anyways good luck