Questions about what make a game good?

[MovieMike]

Hey All,

I've been slowly formulating ideas for a game in my head while practicing in Daz and working with renders. I have quite a few posts of sample renders I've done in the Daz art thread in this forum.

Every time I get to the point of actually starting and writing and rendering specific scenes I always been to think too hard about different aspects of the game so I figured I'd ask here and see what people think and see if a few opinions can help me out going forward.

1. I'm leaning toward using a male PC. What I'm wondering is what's a good number of main characters in a game. Like does he live with 3 women and have 3 main options, 5, 7, etc? And is it better to have more options but less content for each or fewer options but more content for each.

2. What are people's opinions on using whole images of people, background, etc vs using a static background with sprites/images superimposed on top. Or is a combination a good idea?

3. Is a story-driven game vs a slice-of-life/sandbox type game more your style? I'm leaning toward using Renpy and keeping it pretty simple so like a VN with choices, but on the other hand I also like the style of Summertime Saga or Milfy City, it makes it feel like more of a game and makes me skip things less.

4. Which sounds more intriguing as a set up:

a. Play as a MC in a halfway house (basically a home for recently released inmates or addicts) as you try to get your life back on track. Living and working with you are other characters, sexy of course. This would be a modern, slice of life type game where you have tasks and missions to complete for characters.

b. Play as a MC in a group of college students who are studying abroad for a semester. Using that to find a way to keep these characters together. Similar to above but different setting and missions/storylines.

c. Play as an MC in a world where fantasy elements are real and you're tasked with keeping the peace between the now intermingling worlds. If you're familiar with the Fable graphic novel/comic series or the Wolf Among Us game it'd be a similar idea, minus the well known characters.

d. Sort of an episodic adventure where you and your partner hunt problem creatures. I'd lay this out like a tv show, so 10 parts per season, 1 season is a complete game. season 2 is a sequel, etc.

Thanks for reading!

 

[HopesGaming]

For something like this to be possible requires that every human being on this planet be stripped of their individuality.
Preference. As simple as that.
Now, granted that some preferences are more popular than others, that is true. But not in such a way that it would neglect any of the other choices.

As a new dev myself the thing I can say about this is - read through your list, find out what YOU like, and make the game the way you envision it to be.
I just jumped straight into it. Without reading about preferences or what's popular. And I'm having a great time, and I feel people can tell if a game dev is enjoying his work.
This is simply my opinion of course.

 

[redknight00]

If you want want an answer to what makes a game great, you ask 10 people and you will get 10 different answers, at the end of the day all you can do is you best. Thankfully, doing your best and producing a game you can be proud of and is passionate about is all you need for a solid start.

That said, a and b are not even worth clicking a thread, we already get 2-3 new games like that every day, I'd say to go for c and d.

 

[Gomly1980]

Good is subjective, we all like different things.

I need a decent story and prefer something with gameplay like an RPG while sex scenes don't bother me so much while some prefer pure porn.

The only thing I genuinely hate are real porn games like life selector. It's a personal thing in that I think a lot of the porn stars they use look like mutant swamp donkeys.

 

[Akatriel]

As a new dev myself the thing I can say about this is - read through your list, find out what YOU like, and make the game the way you envision it to be.
I just jumped straight into it. Without reading about preferences or what's popular. And I'm having a great time, and I feel people can tell if a game dev is enjoying his work.

I think this is vital. You're the only person making the game, so you have to also be it's biggest fan (At least for a while) You're passion and taste will be the first line of quality control, it needs to meet your standards before anyone elses.

While there is no sure golden path to follow. There are many well-documented ways to tank your game. I would be aware of following other established porn games too closely, and well, tropes. As it's easy to be turned off by a game that is apeing another porn staple that either wasn't that good or is too over saturated. Also, there's so much culture to pull ideas from, and all yours have already been done in our little H-game sub-genre.

Making a game like Summertime Saga, with the same engine, using the same Daz character render tool, is just asking for your game to be compared to Summertime Saga. You're picking a (metaphoric) fight with an already well-established brand with loyal fans and years more dev time. Why?

(My 2cents. I'm also an aspiring dev, and have dropped many projects before they came to fruition)