Questions on developing a game

[PeterEnis23]

Hello everyone!

Ive always been looking into creating my own games. I used to "program" text-adventures in QBasics waaay back, also fiddled with RPGmaker, these days you would find me creating boardgames, cardgames and PnP-Games (my own rulebook, story/world, dice-system...). Ever since enjoying these kinda games, Ive been thinking about making my own.

So, I have some idea. But Im no artist nor a programer nor a developer (yet).
As such I have a few questions prior to starting out.

1.) Licensing / Making Money with "Lewd Games"
- Whats important to know about Licensing?
I dont mind sharing some profits if I ever release a game of quality, but Id like to know upfront if I lose any rights to my project by using certain softwares, images, lybraries or whatever.
- Whats important to know about monetizing the game?
Id like to know what ways there are, sure there is Patreon and similiar, but are there less obvious things one should know about?
And most importantly: What kind of "taboos" have to be considered? Obviously, legal age. But other than that, what else can get you in trouble?

2.) Art
- As Im not an artist and dont really have a budget, what are the "best" options for me?
I have been considering using "real porn" as this would be easily doable, but could I ever sell such a game without having to fear getting sued for using copyrighted pictures. Am I right to think that its not really possible to monetize a game using "real porn" art?
Other than that I can only think of Daz (alternatives?) or drawing it myself, but as I cant draw well, I would need to find someone who would be willing to work with me. Question to experienced developers: How likely is it to find someone who wants to draw and who keeps on it for a prolonged period of time?

3.) Programming Languages
- I heard RenPy is an easy one that allows for basic game elemts, but Id greatly appreciate if anyone can point me to a list with various pros and cons on alternatives. Ultimatively I want a few more interactive elements then the average game here has. Im not sure on the details yet, but it would be great to know the limits and effort needed of a given programing language.

 

[GNVE]

1). Read the licences you agree to. due to EU laws they have become more readable and less long. Make sure the licence allows you to commercialize the product and that it doesn't ban the use of adult content. There are a lot of free resources available. (e.g. public domain creative commons etc).
Generally I'd avoid licences where you need to give a part of your profit to the licence holder.
The most important thing to know about monitization is that you are unlikely to make a living out of this. Few devs actually make enough money to make this a full time thing.
There are several ways to monitize your game: Free to play with fake money, whales and all that stuff; ads; subscription based like Patreon and/or direct sales through itch.io or Steam. It all depends on the game you are making.
For things that can get you into trouble, I suggest you read the TOS of Patreon. they are pretty run of the mill for most tech companies.

2). While it is unlikely you'll get sued by using real porn the chance is not zero. And if you get sued it can get expensive fast (20.000 for a lawsuit is nothing and that is just the upfront cost let alone what you need to pay if you lose.)
Other than Daz Honey Select is often used by people. but I don't know much about it.

3). Renpy is easy to learn hard to master. But that will be true for any type of game engine. I do think that python (on which Renpy is based) is one of the easiest languages to learn. Generally I'd suggest to start small, try out a few things, make a load of mistakes and only then start making a larger more complicated game.