Sandbox or story-driven ?

[Esyre]

I'm working on a game idea and there is one thing that stops me from actually making it : I don't know if it should be sandbox/rogue-like or story-driven.

- sandbox more than rogue-like because I won't make randomly generated models/sprites (it means every situation is handmade) and probably not random profiles (TBD for this one), but I would still find a way to make some replay value. It would be non linear as the player would chose what happens during scenes.
- what I mean by story-driven is not necessarily a game where you just read some text and sometimes there are some pictures. There would still be choicing during scenes but they would happen according to the story, as there would be dialogues and stuff between all of them, as well as more main/secondary characters.

So I'd like to know some opinions about those approches.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I don't know if it should be sandbox/rogue-like or story-driven.

Why not both ? There's few games like this, and the mechanism works fine when it's well handled.

 

[215303j]

Personally I vastly prefer branching story lines.

In sandbox games, you spend most of the times clicking on rooms / locations which turn out to be empty, then find someone, spend some moments in meaningless repetitive communication before finding out you need to find someone else. But, by then, one hour game time has passed, you you begin again to click at room 1 (empty), room 2 (empty) etc etc....

Waste of time and, most of the time, absolutely unneccessary for the purpose of telling the story.

Replay value is also actually smaller because if I manage to get through a sandbox game, I sure as fuck am not going back a second time to see what I may have missed. In a branching story approach, you enable "skip seen content", make different choices than on the first playthrough and finish the game again in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Chameleo]

If I wanted story with sex as soon as possible, I would watch porn. I prefer sandbox, if it's done well.

 

[pasunna]

True to be told
it's about you actually want to make a game that have gameplay or a visual novel
if you just want to tell story then the rouge like or sandbox isn't a thing
that will add many work load done about game play mini game
and fewer people will appreciate your effort at all
they call its grind it's annoying bla bla bla

so go heavy with the story and render and maybe a real choice
that you will kill it here

but... beware of branching
it is very easy from the commentator or an Idea thinker perspective
but it will dump you in the PSTD later when you are working on it
If you choose that path prepares yourself for depressing backward form headache to your head

and... if you are going to make a game that have gameplay not a visual novel
then ignore most of the critique here
they can't even separate a game with gameplay and a visual novel game
and will talk down on to your game
like every game need to have decent long progress high realistic logic story bla bla bla
and ignore all of your gameplay mechanic
that took a load work equalize to the decent story Visual novel game has

and the last suggestion
try to make it real first before take too much time on the Idea thinking
you never know how hard it would be and what is your limitation until you really make it
touch it by your hand you will feel the pain from the fire
more real than ever from talking...good luck

 

[Deleted member 1914375]

Personally I prefer story, that's what VN is all about after all...

 

[Hamfist]

It would be entirely on what "it" is I would say. the story line I have been building wont work as a sand box (it would be stupid as a sandbox) but possibly not horrible as a VN, now mine will still be pretty lame but adding extra grind for little no results will just make people hate it. it also depends on how much work you want to put into it, even the simple ones are a lot of work looking at coding and rendering etc. if your torn down the middle on which way it should go try whatever your more comfortable with or what you would download and try for your own play first. just my 1.5 cents.

 

[Esyre]

Thanks for those answers.
I'd like to add that I'm not talking about those VN with money, time, transport, etc where sometimes the game gives you some scenes so you don't get bored.

 

[lewdlabx3]

A mix of both is way more attractive I guess

 

[Hamfist]

well said Trex

 

[Kinderalpha]

I'll share my thoughts on the subject as I relate a lot to this question. Recently I've decided to jump on the bandwagon of adult game development and see what I can offer to the genre, along with introducing new and interesting ideas. I started off with a story based approach, mapping out plot arcs, narratives, backstories, and all this content. I got pretty far and began working on the game itself but it dawned on me that I wasn't really doing anything different. Just because I'm telling a different story doesn't mean it's going to be that much of a different game. This troubled me because it was quite difficult to make this game stand out if it's only unique pillar is the story. I would strongly recommend you consider that yourself, if the only unique pillar to your game is the story and not the delivery or content of your game then you may accidentally create a another daz copy-paste.

After this I decided to throw everything out the window and recollect on what I truly wanted to achieve, the goals, and my personal rule set of what I want in the game and what I want to get out of the game and so forth. This led me to a genre which you happen to mention above which is roguelikes. For me it was a clear decision that this was my option and what I was looking for. I wanted a new approach on the deliverance of adult content, I want an interactive and replayable world, and I wanted overlapping systems and fetishes.

Now I reached this conclusion based on examining my own pillars, rules, goals, and vision for the type of game and the feel of the game I want. I think it's important to really focus on how you want the game to feel and play because that's going to dictate how you deliver your content whether it be through a story or other mediums, and then decide what kind of tech you can use.

Tech is a big deal, most small game developers pivot their game around what is available to them and what they are proficient in. If you are a huge writer and not a great designer/programmer then Renpy or the visual novel tech is your home. Maybe you can write a little, do okay renders, and are decent at programming. Well then using a tech like RPG Maker fits your needs. I'm not going to lay out every combination of skill sets, but my point here is that often times the scope and scale of your game is limited to your skills and what your professional and you shouldn't disclude that when choosing the type of game and the tech that you're going to use in it.

For an example, I am a terrible writer and I am terrible at storytelling. However I know a little about game design, and I'm familiar with a game framework which lets me build just about any 2D game I would like. This also gives me a lot of freedom because I know how to program. I also I'm alright at doing renders and this leads me to where I'm at now. I could have been working on that story game that I mentioned above, and struggled every day to write a story that's coherent, empathetic, and interesting, but I I know I wouldn't have enjoyed myself. Instead I'm working on a roguelike that focus heavily on replayable content and and fetish variety. I'm having way more fun now then I did at any given point upon working on that previous project.

Tl;Dr the question your asking is pretty in depth and relies heavily on your personal vision, tech available, your skillset, and who you are. I feel there is a lack of sandboxes, and experimentation on what does and doesn't work in them. But even a sandbox is out of reach if you're limited to renpy and limited programming knowledge. So it all depends really