Opinions: What makes a good sex scene?

[Ricktor]

I have run into a brick wall. I am making my first VN and everything I do in a sex scene does not seem very sexy to me. The dialog is bland and overused, so I have a bunch of renders of sex scenes we have all seen 1,000 times. Does anyone have any suggestions of games or VNs where the Dev. did a really good job on the sex scenes. The one that come to mind for me is Estate Dominate, and I don't think there is even a actual sex scene in it yet. (I guess it does now that I think about it, just not MF, FF, MM). Maybe I have just spent too much time on this site, and after you see the same thing over and over and over, I can't think of any way to make it unique. Any thoughts?

 

[Avaron1974]

did a really good job on the sex scenes. The one that come to mind for me is Estate Dominate, and I don't think there is even a actual sex scene in it yet.

You really will have to explain the baffling logic as to how a game with no sex scenes does sex scenes well.

That being said the only sex scenes I really enjoy are lesbian and the one game I saw that did them well was Life Changes for Keeley.

There are some really hot scenes in Dog Days of Summer, Naughty Lyanna and Erisa's Summer but LCFK had a really well done one.

 

[GrayTShirt]

Alot of the poses seen in VNs are pre-made. It's easy to just click and be done with it. Try to work on how to pose, look at camera angles, lighting, gloss effects. Even pre-made poses need some fine adjustments. You can also use them as a starting point to get something you want.

 

[RanliLabz]

Massive amounts of sexposition! (I may be the only one who wants this or does it ) If all the 'Uhhhh! Fuck me harder!' - 'Yeah, you're so wet, baby' stuff isn't doing it for you, perhaps let the characters talk about something else? A plot point, perhaps, or about getting a friend to join them?

And if your renders seem like stuff you've seen before - get creative! Have sex while parachuting, or on top of your passed-out aunt, or through an interdimensional portal... try more tantric stuff, or give the MC three dicks and the girl a penis-shaped rhino horn. You can pretty much do anything in a game - but if you stay vanilla, it will probably look vanilla.

However, if you are more vanilla-oriented, check out the Sexart and Joymii porn - it's very nicely posed hardcore erotica.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

You really will have to explain the baffling logic as to how a game with no sex scenes does sex scenes well.

I don't like Estate Dominate, but it does have a few hot scenes, if you are into the subject matter. It just doesn't include any actual sex. I guess it depends on what you classify as a sex scene. To me "sex scene" is more "a scene that has the intent to be arousing" than actual "this scene portrays sexual intercourse."

Like, Dr. Amana has a scene that's just about a kiss and I consider that a sex scene.

 

[31971207]

Context, and more context. IMO, unless the artwork is extraordinary knowing the characters and the situation help. Same as real porn, if the actress is a 10+ then the context probably doesn't matter that much. But if she is a 5 or 6 then the set up and acting matter.

 

[desmosome]

• Set up. Situation. Context. Relationship dynamics. This is like the foreplay to the foreplay and can really enhance the scene.
• Not too short. I mean, no one can fap to some scene that ends after clicking 5 times.
• Sex dialogue and descriptive text/narration. This is by far the most important I think. It's probably hard to find your own groove on this. A realistic depiction of sex usually won't have too much dialogue. If that's what you are going for, you really need to step it up on the other areas to make a good scene. I, personally, feel like the ability to make drawn out dialogues is what separates VN scenes from other mediums like porn videos. Admittedly, the dialogue that can occur during sex hinges on the fetish involved. Something like Male/femdom, NTR, BDSM, corruption, etc etc will probably be a lot easier to make dialogues for than some vanilla loving sex between couples. You can look towards Japanese games and their notoriously long scenes to get some ideas on that front.
• Visual representation. 2D art has limitations on the number of CGs per scene (due to commission costs I suppose). At most its like 2-3 + some variations. 3D stuff has the advantage here in that there can be much more variation in the visuals. Meaning more positions are possible within one scene. More dynamic representation of whats going on.
• Animations. Eh... I made a whole thread about it, but basically I say treat it like extra gravy on top, rather than the main dish.

 

[Winterfire]

You will not always find "sexy" what you write, you only have so many fetishes whereas in a game you must include even things you do not necessarily find hot.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

You will not always find "sexy" what you write, you only have so many fetishes whereas in a game you must include even things you do not necessarily find hot.

I disagree. People who write for fetishes they don't enjoy rarely do a good job with it because they just don't get it. I guess if they're good at writing it can be passable, but it will never feel right. Just look at most foot fetish content crammed into vanilla games that's always completely uninspired and just there because "I guess I should have a footjob or something, right?"

 

[Winterfire]

I disagree. People who write for fetishes they don't enjoy rarely do a good job with it because they just don't get it. I guess if they're good at writing it can be passable, but it will never feel right. Just look at most foot fetish content crammed into vanilla games that's always completely uninspired and just there because "I guess I should have a footjob or something, right?"

I never said they do a good job, some do, some do not.
My point is that if you are pretty vanilla but want to write various fetishes to make your game diverse, you will rarely find all of the sex scenes "hot".

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

I never said they do a good job, some do, some do not.
My point is that if you are pretty vanilla but want to write various fetishes to make your game diverse, you will rarely find all of the sex scenes "hot".

Yeah, but my point is I would prefer if you didn't. There is a large audience for vanilla content. If that's what you're into, that's what you should write. Don't put content into your game to mark items off a checklist.

Making your game "diverse" by including watered down fetish content helps nobody. The people who come for the vanilla content don't want it and the people who want the fetish content will be disappointed because a) there won't be enough of it besides a token scene or two and b) your writing probably won't make it hot because you're not into it.

 

[79flavors]

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.

Just keep in mind that the biggest sex organ is the brain. If you can stimulate that... the rest is child's play.

Beyond that, like all sex... preparation, foreplay and execution.
Build tension, create anticipation then then do... something. We can argue from here to next Sunday what that "something" is, but honestly, it matters less than the strength of feeling you created getting to that point. As you say... Estate Dominate is great at doing that - especially the

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scene.

There's a lot to be said for spontaneity... something you rarely see in a VN. But that brief moment of rushed and raw passion doesn't come from nowhere. There is always some sort of preamble to it.

But in terms of VNs, I'd personally say the dialogue matters more than the images. You can show the greatest animation in the world, with fluid dynamics previously only seen in a Di$ney blockbuster. But if you just throw it onto the screen without preparing the player as to WHY that scene matters... you've wasted 3 days of rendering time. And let's be honest, most people aren't doing good animations or even good static images sometimes - which is why it's even more important that the brain be prepared long before the player sees something titillating.

Which is not to say images can't be put to good use. A well delivered side glance, a cheeky smirk, an "accidental" wardrobe malfunction or a stolen look can really create a sense of spectacle.

I suppose part of my point is that a good story can save bad images, but a bad story can't be rescued by good images.

But my main point is to get the player wound up long before they see naked flesh. If that's not obvious to you, perhaps search some of the

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. Like all amateur stories, it's a complete mixed bag of poor, good and excellent examples - but find a few stories you like and figure out how they did it. If your VN is a particular genre... maybe look at the

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for that same genre for inspiration and technique. Because if they can do it well without any images, you should be able to do it better with images. If you're more visually minded, maybe check out porn videos by the MissaX studio - they aim for at least 15 minutes of content before the actors get down and dirty, perhaps there's something to be learned there too.

 

[Avaron1974]

recreation Okay hunni, i'm sorry, I forgot those scenes. I'm a bad girl with a bad memory.

2 scenes in Bad Memory stand out incredibly ell, 3 depending on your kinks. There are male and female protags but I only play female so scenes may vary....

First is Jada licking MC's pussy during a drive. Not easy to make pussy licking look hot, and I am legit surprised I forgot this it's still one of my fave pussy licking scenes, but it's done well and sets the scene for the characters involved on their relationship going forward.

Second is where Ellie wakes MC up licking her pussy. That initial part of the scene is really good. I'm not huge on scissoring given how small I am and my partners ar generally bigger and stronger than me it can hurt but it's the start and the end that make it good. Starts out hot and sexy and ends lovingly.

Third is the "depends on your likes" scene. There is a shrink that had a thing for the MC years earlier and a bit of a submissive side. MC makes her lick her pussy in one scene that, as a sub, looked hot as fuck. Some people have issue with how it looks forced but given the shrink can also fight and would beat the shit out of the MC, also how she never tries to fight back nor once says no. She wants it she just likes the game that's being played between them more.

 

[DuniX]

You can just open your hentai manga collection and copy whatever you find the best.

 

[Cokane0]

There are a lot of good replies in this thread OP, lots of them are very valid.
My only advice to add is that you are over thinking it and 2nd guessing yourself too much.
Just go with the flow, If you like something there is a 100% probability that someone else out there will like it too.
If you don't like a scene you make, there is still a 100% probability that someone else out there will like it.
Have some more confidence in yourself. Don't be too judgemental of your own work.

 

[khumak]

Something I noticed when I was modding is that whether one of my sex scenes really worked or not mostly depended on whether it was centered around something that I personally enjoy. If it did then i could immerse myself in the scene both while I was writing the dialog and also while doing the renders to try and make it as hot as possible. If I tried to do something I'm not really into then I found myself guessing what other people might like and mostly failing at it.

So the rule I use now is that even if I'm trying to expand my horizons a bit and try something a little outside my usual boundaries, I need to be able to zero in on at least some aspects of the scene that I personally find really appealing or I may as well scrap it and pick some other idea.