Stack choice for new game

[blacknieve]

Hello everyone,

I need a bit of advice on stack choice for the game I want to make.
If you're curious, check this: https://f95zone.to/threads/the-game-pretentiously-called-ultimate-sex-god.171523/

I JUST WANT TO MAKE A GOOD GAME FOR MYSELF (and share it with everyone else, contributions welcome)

For the engine I am considering either Unity or Godot; I'm a bit taken aback by the scandal involving Unity a few months back... then again, it doesn't really affect this game in any way since it's going to be 100% free for everyone.

These are the details of the game:
- open source; free for all; for that, I need a place where to upload it; Github probably does not allow smut, so any other git repo providers you can recommend?
- Running on Linux and Windows; having web and mobile is bonus; (I can fix up the interface for some compatibility for mobile)
- 2d side-scroller with pixel art; Nothing too fancy, I guess. I liked zell23's games for the looks (+ Succubus Diary), as well as excessm's for the mechanics;
- no major requirement on programming languages; I can probably easily do C#, JS, Java, GDScript (can't be too hard), Ruby, but I'd stay away from Python;

Any and all advice is welcome.
Thank you for reading.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I need a bit of advice on stack choice for the game I want to make.

Well, by definition a stack is expected to be

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way more often than

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. Especially since there's nothing to stack in a side-scroller except the inputs ; what is anyway automatically done by the engine.

But to be fair, there's absolutely nothing in your post that is possibly related to your question, what mean that there's either a translation issue, with "stack" not being at all the word you wanted to use, or a total lack of knowledge regarding programming ; but someone lacking so much of knowledge wouldn't pretend to be able to code in four, possibly five, different languages.

 

[Wreggx]

- open source; free for all; for that, I need a place where to upload it; Github probably does not allow smut, so any other git repo providers you can recommend?

I think Github is fine with uploading nsfw related codes etc.


For your game: keep in mind, a side-scroller porn game is usually filled with game over sex scenes and 'evil' tags etc.

But since you dont want anything dramatic or 'brutal' in your game, you need to find another way on how to punish or rather reward the player.

So let's ask some questions:
(These scenarios are usually used for sex scenes ontop of the main ones that come from beating levels, bosses, etc.)

What will happen when the player dies?
What happens when an enemy attacks the player?
What happens in/after game over screens?
What happens if a player chose a wrong dialogue option in the game?

If most of these questions are answered with: "lose hp/respawn or similar" it will become frustrating and a chore to eventually see some sex scenes.
Surely a less 'depraved' side-scroller can work but then you have to find ways to make the actual gameplay worth the effort.

Ultimately you should always put yourself in the position of an actual player. If you need to beat 2-3 levels in a row just to see some kinky pixelart, is it worth the player's time? (Some people enjoy text-based games but the majority plays games for the visuals.)

 

[blacknieve]

Well, by definition a stack is expected to be

You must be registered to see the links

way more often than

You must be registered to see the links

. Especially since there's nothing to stack in a side-scroller except the inputs ; what is anyway automatically done by the engine.

But to be fair, there's absolutely nothing in your post that is possibly related to your question, what mean that there's either a translation issue, with "stack" not being at all the word you wanted to use, or a total lack of knowledge regarding programming ; but someone lacking so much of knowledge wouldn't pretend to be able to code in four, possibly five, different languages.

I used stack, as in, development stack, choice of programming language and libraries:

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I don't pretend I'm an expert in so many programming languages, just that I am familiar enough with them that I can read any documentation and make sense of it. Admittedly, most of my experience comes from test automation, rather than development. Because of that, I've been around for the past 10 years or so.

Since I never did game development, I am looking for a starting point and to get some pointers from other game developers' experience.
Perhaps blockers that I am not seeing right now, stuff like that.

Does that clarify things?

 

[anne O'nymous]

I used stack, as in, development stack, choice of programming language and libraries:

Why the fucking fuck youngsters can't stop to over complicate their life, formalizing abstract concepts that works better when they aren't normalized ? The more choice they have, the more they want to limits everything...

I don't pretend I'm an expert in so many programming languages, just that I am familiar enough with them that I can read any documentation and make sense of it.

I never talked about being an expert, I talked about knowledge. A codding language isn't a vocabulary and grammar, it's a logic. You don't design a Java code like you design a JavaScript one, and you don't implement an algorithm the same way in C# and in Java.

Perhaps blockers that I am not seeing right now, stuff like that.

Oh, there's blockers, tons of them, most not being solvable by a software.

You want to make a side-scroller, so the main blockers will be:
- Your capability to balance the difficulty, and fun, inside a level and through the whole game.
- Your capability to anticipate players' ability.
- Your capability to renew the challenge with every single level, without changing drastically the feeling, yet will still offering something enough variety for the game to not end boring due to its repetitiveness.
And there's no software to help you with that.

The points that can be "solved" by software are purely contextual, and the right solution isn't the one that someone will give you, but the one that match your own habits.
You want it to be in pixel art, what mean that you'll need a a drawing software that stand more on the side of bitmap than one the side of image edition. Yet it's totally possible to do pixel art with Gimp or Photoshop, and not necessarily more difficult, or longer, if you already know how to use those software.
Even when it come to the game engine, the choice isn't limited. Game Maker is as good for what you want, than Unity or Godot. Hell, even Unreal could be a viable option here. Which one to choose depend only on you.
Hell, even writing the code will be easier and faster with an external text editor that you know how to use, despite the time needed for the importation/reload, than with an integrated IDE that rely on a logic that isn't yours.

 

[blacknieve]

The points that can be "solved" by software are purely contextual

That is the worst and best possible answer I could get.
It actually boosts my confidence that everything will be fine as long as I put in some elbow grease.
It means modern game engines are flexible enough that I don't need to worry about anything really, aside from my own abilities to handle them.

> Your capability to anticipate players' ability
That is something I have not even thought about. It's a great tip!

> Why the fucking fuck youngsters can't stop to over complicate their life
Man, you should see the Javascript/ Typescript environments. Or rather, you shouldn't, to stay on the safe side.
Overcomplication is their middle name lol. It's becoming too much for me as well.

As for pixel art, yes, I was thinking Gimp or this little nifty website:

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It provides lots of utility that makes pixel art simpler, easier.

Thank you. I appreciate the help.

 

[blacknieve]

What will happen when the player dies?
What happens when an enemy attacks the player?
What happens in/after game over screens?
What happens if a player chose a wrong dialogue option in the game?

If most of these questions are answered with: "lose hp/respawn or similar" it will become frustrating and a chore to eventually see some sex scenes.
Surely a less 'depraved' side-scroller can work but then you have to find ways to make the actual gameplay worth the effort.

Ultimately you should always put yourself in the position of an actual player. If you need to beat 2-3 levels in a row just to see some kinky pixelart, is it worth the player's time? (Some people enjoy text-based games but the majority plays games for the visuals.)

I really liked Corruption of Champions, the first one. It was text based.
However, that was the first and last one that I liked. It's a matter of taste for the content, I guess.

I'll try to answer those questions.
1. What will happen when the player dies?
Haven't thought of game over scenes yet. But I'd like not to have CGI (just static images) at all. I haven't thought of how I'll handle that just yet, to be honest. I did think of some mechanics, but they are bound to change.

2. What happens when an enemy attacks the player?
Player is restrained, charmed, fucked. In that order. There will be some ways to resist if you want to.

3. What happens in/after game over screens?
I'm thinking of not adding them at all. The sex scenes should be part of the game. Making the opponents cum before you.

4. What happens if a player chose a wrong dialogue option in the game?
Trying to have as little text as possible in the game, not dialogue choices.
Choices should happen in the form of fetishes and positions when you charm an enemy. Something along the lines of that.

I don't want a less depraved side-scroller. I want a more depraved side-scroller.
Something like battle fuck games, but for a side-scroller.
And yes, I understand how much development effort goes into that kind of game. It needs lots of animations.

But hey, I am not doing this for profit, so anyone can contribute and I will add stuff in if I like it. They can fork it, mod it, whatever, as long as they don't get money off of it. The work is supposed to be free for everyone.

 

[blacknieve]

Right now, I'm only thinking of:
1. Choosing an engine. (going with Godot starting next week if I get no other replies warning me against it)
2. Drawing the player and the walking or running animation.
3. Making the player walk or run across a level.
The best part is that I can do number 3 with a placeholder, then replace it with my animation.

All of that should be doable across 1 week if I invest a few hours, I think.

That's it for now. Nothing too earth shattering.
Then I'll move on to the first enemy and define its interactions with the player.
Then do the animations for each "scene".

Rinse and repeat until I have enough enemies to put together the first level and the initial demo with it.