Starting my own game and all my doubts.

[Deleted member 1066026]

(I hope I'm writing it in the right place), recently I have been thinking of starting my own game based on a BNHA idea that I have (I know there are at least 4 games related to BNHA, but my idea is to be more story-driven than the one that already exists). Some doubts that I have:

- Game Engine: Most games are made using it, I honestly wanted the battle system to be a major part of my game, but I can't recall a single Ren'py game where the fights are cool to play and don't make me wanna skip them, the other alternative that it comes to my mind is RPG Maker MZ, I like cuz of the battle system and the game could be more sandbox. The main problem is of course the fact that RPGs need stuff like tilesets, sprites, etc. and I don't think that with the available on the internet (free) that the world would look like the BNHA one. But if I have to learn Renpy then I would. but it would be easier (for me) and fun doing it with RPG.

- The game Core: My idea involves the character having the generic mind control quirk, but it would be separated into three routes for the girls. Purity (you date the girl and she feels in love with you, the quirk is not used on them at all) is the good hero arc, Corrupty (you use the quirk to slowly use the girl's mental weakness to break them and control them without them noticing), the vengeance arc and Blackmail (I'm unsure if I would use it, since finding a way to blackmail all the girls would be hard, so I might make it exclusive to some girls and tie with the Corruption, but basically it would be exactly as the name say), the destruction arc.

As stated above, each arc choice would result in a different arc for your character. If during the gameplay, the player chooses more than one, different endings would be unlocked. (Redemption arc, fall of the hero arc, etc). I really want the game to be story-driven and fair for each of the player's choices. You can be the nicer guy ever or the worst living being to ever exist. The only problem being with that idea is that mind control is a pretty generic power, but I can't help to think that the other games alike haven't used it like this, but I can be wrong.

So when it comes to the game itself, those are my main issues.

- Now about Patreon, I never used it and don't know how it works or how safe it's, so there is that, I was reading this other thread of a guy from another country where porn is illegal (it's not in my country) and they were talking about how the bank knows how you much you make and how it's made, all those things concern me. I already have a stable job and have no intention of living only from the game creation, it would be a hobby mainly. So I guess the main question would be, from a user's and developer's perspectives. How much is worth actually making a game like this, since it's a very complex game to be made.

If anyone could give me their opinions it would be great thanks.

 

[Meaning Less]

Renpy Route:
If you choose renpy you should focus first on creating the battle mechanics to see what you can do, that way you will know if you are able to satisfy your own vision since it sounds like a major part of the game.
If you can't reach a satisfactory result go back to rpgm since it already has full combat mechanics available.

RPGM Route:
You haven't mentioned so I'm going to assume that you are using 3DCG for the art since you are worried about sprites.
If so, you could create character sprites using 3DCG renders also, either pixelate them or use them as they are.
There are a few western rpg games using 3dcg sprites. It will take some time but that will save time from writing the battle system from scratch on renpy.
For the map you probably could get away with native rpgm maps and tilesets because they should already have plenty of japan-city assets.

 

[desmosome]

Standard RPGM battle is a waste of time unless you can do one of 2 things, or preferably both. 1) Innovate cool battle and character building mechanics. 2) Balance it just right

1. This is the harder part. Most people are sick to death of the basic jRPG combat. You know, the ones where you just lvl up and don't influence the character build at all. With the basic list of generic magic and skills. We've been playing it since NES days. You want to add something to it. If there are multiple characters, you want to make sure they each get some unique mechanic or role that differentiates them.

2. Balance is EVERYTHING. Even without huge innovations, the proper balance could make it worth playing. Even with the coolest system, the wrong balance can ruin it. The Last Sovereign doesn't have new battle mechanics, but the balance is finely tuned to make things challenging yet fun. Limited exp, gold, and time has an effect where your decisions on what to upgrade matters, so there is some character building aspect as well.

Pronant Symphony, Evening Starter, and Feat & Hunger are just some examples of RPGM/Wolf RPG games that has good gameplay.

This is all assuming you want to make a core gameplay loop involving battles designed to be fun. If you just want battles for the immersion factor, you don't really have to think about it too much. Like "female protag get raped" games don't expect you to enjoy the battles. It's just there so that they can lose (often suicide skill) and get raped. Also, if the battles are infrequent and used for story purposes, it also doesn't really matter that much how fun it is. Just don't fall into the trap of thinking you can use the basic RPGM combat without much thought and expect people to enjoy it. Most will just cheat immediately if it seems bad and you are just wasting their time.

There are also Renpy games that have cool battle systems. Void's Calling and "Damsels and Dungeons" come to mind. It's been years since I've played those, but I remember thinking it was fun and wasn't compelled to cheat. Ataegina is pretty good also (slightly messed up balance and OP spells).

 

[sup3rbreakout]

Monster Girl Dreams also have a pretty neat battle system for Ren'py

 

[F22232425]

It could be overwhelming to design a perfect battle system on your own.
Perhaps you could focus more on story and character development
while making beautiful and epic cutscenes?

 

[Nunu312]

The largest aspect of game design that often gets overlooked are all the tiny little things that need to be done. The things you don't necessarily think about. For a battle system it can be done in Renpy, it's probably no even that hard with the correct architecture and experience with the engine. Making it real time would be difficult though. At the same time RPGM has it's own issues as you said with sprites and that it's just much more difficult to use than Renpy, especially if you want to do anything complicated. It's been a while since I seriously dipped my toes into RPGM but I would recommend Renpy just because, in general, if you want it to do something, it's pretty easy to make it do it and there is a lot of help if you ever get stuck.

The reason those little things that chew up time are important are because you aren't proposing a small game. Three separate paths in itself is reasonably similar to making 3 games. Yeah you can reuse a bunch of stuff between them but the extra work is not to be underestimated, and you want progress to be easy to facilitate that.

On the Patreon angle, if you want to be serious about your project monetising it can be good, even if you aren't looking to support yourself off this. It's a mindset thing. Also if you do make money, it can give you a bit to just throw towards dev every now and then. Commission some art or music and such.

That being said Patreon wont touch this, you'll need subscribestar. Mind control deprives a character of their free will which means sleeping with characters who can't consent, which means rape. Thats a no no for Patreon. Can't imagine the blackmail route would be better.

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

Renpy Route:
If you choose renpy you should focus first on creating the battle mechanics to see what you can do, that way you will know if you are able to satisfy your own vision since it sounds like a major part of the game.
If you can't reach a satisfactory result go back to rpgm since it already has full combat mechanics available.

RPGM Route:
You haven't mentioned so I'm going to assume that you are using 3DCG for the art since you are worried about sprites.
If so, you could create character sprites using 3DCG renders also, either pixelate them or use them as they are.
There are a few western rpg games using 3dcg sprites. It will take some time but that will save time from writing the battle system from scratch on renpy.
For the map you probably could get away with native rpgm maps and tilesets because they should already have plenty of japan-city assets.

Yeah, I agree I think I will take a look into other renpy games with the battle system to see what can be done. I apologize but I don't know what exactly is 3DCG, by the name I assume is 3D models of the characters? Sorry, I mostly don't play those types of games, my main interest is 2d ones.
Yeah, that's what's concerning me the most is making a generic-looking RPG Maker world and breaking the immersion. My hope would be to use any money made through the game to commission personalized tilesets and sprites. Thanks for the answer, I will take a look in-depth on renpy to make a better choice.

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

Standard RPGM battle is a waste of time unless you can do one of 2 things, or preferably both. 1) Innovate cool battle and character building mechanics. 2) Balance it just right

1. This is the harder part. Most people are sick to death of the basic jRPG combat. You know, the ones where you just lvl up and don't influence the character build at all. With the basic list of generic magic and skills. We've been playing it since NES days. You want to add something to it. If there are multiple characters, you want to make sure they each get some unique mechanic or role that differentiates them.

2. Balance is EVERYTHING. Even without huge innovations, the proper balance could make it worth playing. Even with the coolest system, the wrong balance can ruin it. The Last Sovereign doesn't have new battle mechanics, but the balance is finely tuned to make things challenging yet fun. Limited exp, gold, and time has an effect where your decisions on what to upgrade matters, so there is some character building aspect as well.

Pronant Symphony, Evening Starter, and Feat & Hunger are just some examples of RPGM/Wolf RPG games that has good gameplay.

This is all assuming you want to make a core gameplay loop involving battles designed to be fun. If you just want battles for the immersion factor, you don't really have to think about it too much. Like "female protag get raped" games don't expect you to enjoy the battles. It's just there so that they can lose (often suicide skill) and get raped. Also, if the battles are infrequent and used for story purposes, it also doesn't really matter that much how fun it is. Just don't fall into the trap of thinking you can use the basic RPGM combat without much thought and expect people to enjoy it. Most will just cheat immediately if it seems bad and you are just wasting their time.

There are also Renpy games that have cool battle systems. Void's Calling and "Damsels and Dungeons" come to mind. It's been years since I've played those, but I remember thinking it was fun and wasn't compelled to cheat. Ataegina is pretty good also (slightly messed up balance and OP spells).

Yeah, my objective with the battle system is to give the player the choice to build his own power set (choose from multiples types of quirk that he can acquire throughout the game) and of course, choose his own party, I think that would make it more fun to play since it would give people reason to replay the fight if they ever lose it.

1/2. I want to do exactly that, each character would be different enough do the player would be winning something by using them and vice-versa. I'm gonna take a look at the examples you gave me, thanks.

I want to replicate most of the anime/manga fights, so I guess there is not a lot of dungeons and similar things unless I add them myself. I can always go with the route of having fights, giving the player the option to train as a way to advance with certain characters but if they don't want or are stuck, a cheat code like most games.

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

It could be overwhelming to design a perfect battle system on your own.
Perhaps you could focus more on story and character development
while making beautiful and epic cutscenes?

Yeah, if the fight system doesn't work or it just becomes a waste to everyone, I would focus on writing the fights to be more engaging and unique.

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

The largest aspect of game design that often gets overlooked are all the tiny little things that need to be done. The things you don't necessarily think about. For a battle system it can be done in Renpy, it's probably no even that hard with the correct architecture and experience with the engine. Making it real time would be difficult though. At the same time RPGM has it's own issues as you said with sprites and that it's just much more difficult to use than Renpy, especially if you want to do anything complicated. It's been a while since I seriously dipped my toes into RPGM but I would recommend Renpy just because, in general, if you want it to do something, it's pretty easy to make it do it and there is a lot of help if you ever get stuck.

The reason those little things that chew up time are important are because you aren't proposing a small game. Three separate paths in itself is reasonably similar to making 3 games. Yeah you can reuse a bunch of stuff between them but the extra work is not to be underestimated, and you want progress to be easy to facilitate that.

On the Patreon angle, if you want to be serious about your project monetising it can be good, even if you aren't looking to support yourself off this. It's a mindset thing. Also if you do make money, it can give you a bit to just throw towards dev every now and then. Commission some art or music and such.

That being said Patreon wont touch this, you'll need subscribestar. Mind control deprives a character of their free will which means sleeping with characters who can't consent, which means rape. Thats a no no for Patreon. Can't imagine the blackmail route would be better.

I used both engines before and Ren'py is slower to learn and different from RPG Maker lacks plugins and add-ons. I already have some in my MZ that accelerate the whole process of advancing with the girls and the whole system. But you are correct, making in RPG Maker brings other problems as making sprites and tilesets that are beyond my capability.

I totally agree with you, using the money to evolve the game seems the best thing to do, especially since right now I'm doing it for fun and to get better at drawing.

Shame, since I believe that most people would support Patreon more easily than through subscribestar. I could always remove the rapey vibe from the game, to make it less work and Patreon-friendly. But at the same time, I don't think I would enjoy making that type of game.

 

[Irequirethemedicalassist3]

remember to include a sexbomb scene

 

[LionelGold]

If you're making a BNHA game, don't worry about there already being a few of them. Just try to make your one better than what's already there. I think most people who will be playing a BNHA porn game will be more interested in the quality of the lewd stuff, rather than the battle mechanics.

I'd suggest focusing on the story and the art/animations over the battle mechanics. That being said, if having dope battle mechanics is a big part of your vision then I wish you good luck (And I can understand why in a BNHA game tbh. You of course need to have some sort of battle system) . Just keep in mind that while I can't speak for everyone, I think most people who play these kind of games aren't playing them for cool battle mechanics, since they can find those in regular games. They'll be playing for the rewards.

Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

remember to include a sexbomb scene

No idea what that is lmao.

 

[Meaning Less]

Sorry, I mostly don't play those types of games, my main interest is 2d ones.

making sprites and tilesets that are beyond my capability.

How come you can create 2d art but sprites and tilesets are beyond your capability?

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

If you're making a BNHA game, don't worry about there already being a few of them. Just try to make your one better than what's already there. I think most people who will be playing a BNHA porn game will be more interested in the quality of the lewd stuff, rather than the battle mechanics.

I'd suggest focusing on the story and the art/animations over the battle mechanics. That being said, if having dope battle mechanics is a big part of your vision then I wish you good luck (And I can understand why in a BNHA game tbh. You of course need to have some sort of battle system) . Just keep in mind that while I can't speak for everyone, I think most people who play these kind of games aren't playing them for cool battle mechanics, since they can find those in regular games. They'll be playing for the rewards.

Good luck!

I agree, the battle system is for the sake to enhance the story mode, but I'm aware how fights are never the priority of people on this site. I guess I just need a system that doesn't either bore or piss people off.

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

How come you can create 2d art but sprites and tilesets are beyond your capability?

I never tried to make tilesets so I'm pretty must lost on it. Or how to add to the game, etc.

Edit: Sprites I don't mean the character's busts, I meant the one from the RPG maker where they walk and you interact.

 

[Meaning Less]

I never tried to make tilesets so I'm pretty must lost on it. Or how to add to the game, etc.

Open an rpgm game and check inside, they are literally tiny pictures...
There are plenty of tutorials online on how to convert normal art into rpgm sprites and so on.

Well the end goal is mostly what makes you more confortable, so mess a bit with both rpgm and renpy to check pros and cons.

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

Open an rpgm game and check inside, they are literally tiny pictures...
There are plenty of tutorials online on how to convert normal art into rpgm sprites and so on.

Well the end goal is mostly what makes you more confortable, so mess a bit with both rpgm and renpy to check pros and cons.

I know what they are, don't instantly make me capable of doing like it, but thanks I'm gonna take a look at some tutorials.

 

[F4C430]

Like "female protag get raped" games don't expect you to enjoy the battles. It's just there so that they can lose (often suicide skill) and get raped.

It frustrates me when devs in that genre think like this...

 

[Deleted member 1066026]

The largest aspect of game design that often gets overlooked are all the tiny little things that need to be done. The things you don't necessarily think about. For a battle system it can be done in Renpy, it's probably no even that hard with the correct architecture and experience with the engine. Making it real time would be difficult though. At the same time RPGM has it's own issues as you said with sprites and that it's just much more difficult to use than Renpy, especially if you want to do anything complicated. It's been a while since I seriously dipped my toes into RPGM but I would recommend Renpy just because, in general, if you want it to do something, it's pretty easy to make it do it and there is a lot of help if you ever get stuck.

The reason those little things that chew up time are important are because you aren't proposing a small game. Three separate paths in itself is reasonably similar to making 3 games. Yeah you can reuse a bunch of stuff between them but the extra work is not to be underestimated, and you want progress to be easy to facilitate that.

On the Patreon angle, if you want to be serious about your project monetising it can be good, even if you aren't looking to support yourself off this. It's a mindset thing. Also if you do make money, it can give you a bit to just throw towards dev every now and then. Commission some art or music and such.

That being said Patreon wont touch this, you'll need subscribestar. Mind control deprives a character of their free will which means sleeping with characters who can't consent, which means rape. Thats a no no for Patreon. Can't imagine the blackmail route would be better.

Taking a look back at this message, you said that Patreon would be a no-go, but there are games like Corrupted Kingdoms, Jikage Rising (a naruto game), and Something Unlimited (Dc game) that have rape content/tag. So like, it's just a matter of time or until someone reports to Patreon take it down? Or does Patreon have a problem with how the rape content is?