What are good H-Rpg mechanics and essentials?

[Restia985]

I am working on a massive H-RPG game of my own with a small team and a big budget. I’d like to know what you think are good additions to any such game. Is more balanced, normal combat good or do you believe gimmicky mini games are better? What additions to the game are good as well? Things like text logs, gallery, a retry option when you lose to not have to go through things again, etc? Anything that comes to mind would be nice to know! Any games you might want to reference as exemplary are welcomed too.

Edit: I am considering using RPG maker MV, MZ or the one that’s about to come out called united. I also plan to check out wolf rpg and game maker to make sure they aren’t preferable. I am leaning towards using MZ due to it being newer and because a member of my team will be doing the coding for it.

The game will try to be open world with plenty of secrets and treasures to discover if you look around for a bit. It will have an experienced female protagonist in both sex and combat. I do plan to make town/city management somewhat relevant because I want to add invasion mechanics with a personal army of sorts. It’s certainly an ambitious project that I am holding back on for other games first, because practice makes perfect.

Money isn’t really an issue and not what I am after either. I plan to make this title completely free and available for download on steam, here and some other pages. Depending on the success and reaction from the people that play it I might open a patreon to not use my own pocket money and begin hiring/outsourcing some of the work load. Hope this gives a bit more insight.

 

[Sphere42]

You need to specify a lot of other parameters to get useful answers. What engines are you considering? What broad sexual themes are you interested in? Are you forced to abide any content restrictions due to payment platforms? "Skyrim UHD Remaster but you can date NPCs and start a family" is a vastly different beast from the typical Japanese RPGM rapetowns or hero harems.

Personally my main gripe (other than theme/fetish preferences ofc) is ludonarrative dissonance. Most female protagonist HRPGs present said protagonist as a seasoned (or just gifted) warrior only to start her at lvl1, losing to starter area goblins and getting raped, falling for the most obvious traps and ambushes and being scared of 2-3 regular bandits in cutscenes. Game Over Rape as a whole makes little to no sense to me, I get rewarded for failing? And if I do play well and get a gallery unlock my "reward" is free access to those horrible rape scenes I worked so hard to avoid? Or a boring cliché "happily ever after" with a single sex scene at best?

Individual mechanics really depend on the tone and setting. In Rogue-like you play as a power nullifier on three legs dating X-girls, but you're also a student under Xavier and someone like Laura/X-23 can turn you into mincemeat even without any powers so it makes sense to have various stats governing what the girls will agree to. In the old Slave Maker where you're literally training sex slaves the notion of a consent/obedience requirement for anything other than oral is absurd.

 

[Restia985]

You need to specify a lot of other parameters to get useful answers. What engines are you considering? What broad sexual themes are you interested in? Are you forced to abide any content restrictions due to payment platforms? "Skyrim UHD Remaster but you can date NPCs and start a family" is a vastly different beast from the typical Japanese RPGM rapetowns or hero harems.

Personally my main gripe (other than theme/fetish preferences ofc) is ludonarrative dissonance. Most female protagonist HRPGs present said protagonist as a seasoned (or just gifted) warrior only to start her at lvl1, losing to starter area goblins and getting raped, falling for the most obvious traps and ambushes and being scared of 2-3 regular bandits in cutscenes. Game Over Rape as a whole makes little to no sense to me, I get rewarded for failing? And if I do play well and get a gallery unlock my "reward" is free access to those horrible rape scenes I worked so hard to avoid? Or a boring cliché "happily ever after" with a single sex scene at best?

Individual mechanics really depend on the tone and setting. In Rogue-like you play as a power nullifier on three legs dating X-girls, but you're also a student under Xavier and someone like Laura/X-23 can turn you into mincemeat even without any powers so it makes sense to have various stats governing what the girls will agree to. In the old Slave Maker where you're literally training sex slaves the notion of a consent/obedience requirement for anything other than oral is absurd.

Thank you for the input! I appreciate it and will edit the original post to give the needed info

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

The essentials at the top of my head:
*Quest log.
*Map.
*Gallery.

Other notes:
*Wolf is probably a better choice if you can code well.
*Newer is not necessarily better.
Older rpgm engines have way more plugins and shit available for them, here are sites that may be useful if you wanna go with rpgm:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

*Check: Renryuu: Ascension, that game will probably provide you with some nice tips.

 

[Restia985]

The essentials at the top of my head:
*Quest log.
*Map.
*Gallery.

Other notes:
*Wolf is probably a better choice if you can code well.
*Newer is not necessarily better.
Older rpgm engines have way more plugins and shit available for them, here are sites that may be useful if you wanna go with rpgm:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

*Check: Renryuu: Ascension, that game will probably provide you with some nice tips.

Thank you! I want to have my friend do most plugins so that they will fit the project’s needs. Do you know what language wolf rpg uses? I’ll definitely check out the game for inspiration

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

Do you know what language wolf rpg uses?

No idea about the specifics, but i can give you a pretty great example of a game made in wolf:
https://f95zone.to/threads/niplheims-hunter-branded-azel-final-blacktrain.15962/
Perhaps, if you care to search the internet, you could find details about how this game was made. Good luck~

 

[zuulan]

I think seemless Releationships between player and NPCs and also between NPCs should be important. you could try to give NPCs and players a Traits thats interact and trigger with situations. Traits, like, slutty, greedy, loyal, adventurous and so on that have effect on bigger ecosystem.

But important is also That game has sensible economy especially when there is a management feature.

 

[Restia985]

I think seemless Releationships between player and NPCs and also between NPCs should be important. you could try to give NPCs and players a Traits thats interact and trigger with situations. Traits, like, slutty, greedy, loyal, adventurous and so on that have effect on bigger ecosystem.

But important is also That game has sensible economy especially when there is a management feature.

Yeah, I have been reading up a bit on economics and investments just to make it seem realistic, but in the end it’s a game and I will definitely make it fun. A lot of people seem to complain about the last sovereign’s economy feature because of how complicated and less than rewarding it can be without a walkthrough. I want it to be similar yet simpler to that one. Whilst the trait idea does have potential I think it could be a little bit too on the nose and it could downplay their actual personalities with just one word describing them. Might have to talk it out with the team

 

[Sphere42]

I am considering using RPG maker MV, MZ or the one that’s about to come out called united. I also plan to check out wolf rpg and game maker to make sure they aren’t preferable. I am leaning towards using MZ due to it being newer and because a member of my team will be doing the coding for it.

Travel will make or break your game if sticking close to the default RPGM configuration. I wouldn't really say there's a "right" or "wrong" way but building an immersive and interesting open world which doesn't get derided as a tedious "walking simulator" takes a lot of effort. Meanwhile a more compact or convenient design could break immersion or be flat out boring, look at Guild Wars 2's Waypoint system (they basically had to make them much more scarce in expansions so mounts had any reason to exist at all) or criticisms of Elden Ring's open world when contrasted with Dark Souls 1 (you could argue they had to introduce the mount just to ferry the player from dungeon to dungeon, although that is not entirely true). I also agree with the other reply that a map, log or similar navigation tool is extremely helpful.

The game will try to be open world with plenty of secrets and treasures to discover if you look around for a bit. It will have an experienced female protagonist in both sex and combat. I do plan to make town/city management somewhat relevant because I want to add invasion mechanics with a personal army of sorts. It’s certainly an ambitious project that I am holding back on for other games first, because practice makes perfect.

Decide early to what extent sex will feature in "combat" or its equivalent. Doesn't really make sense for an experienced fighter to get molested by random bandits (especially not those "you got groped 3 times so you came and are stunned for 2 turns" variants) without just stabbing them for critical damage the moment they try. On the other hand if you can play as a succubus/femme fatale you need to balance sexual against non-sexual tactics, and if sex is the only option it needs a "skip known scenes" setting for random encounters.
Large-scale management is a can of worms you probably want to avoid. Giving the players control over an entire city just adds way too many opportunities for abuse, plot inconsistencies/cutscene dumb/"but thou must" situations and cries for additional sex options. You can pull off similar mechanics on a smaller scale though e.g. reputation in the Adventurer's Guild, a monster breeding system for use as battle pets/partners or a secret society which can't afford the more egregious excesses such as declaring a town-wide orgy.

Money isn’t really an issue and not what I am after either. I plan to make this title completely free and available for download on steam, here and some other pages. Depending on the success and reaction from the people that play it I might open a patreon to not use my own pocket money and begin hiring/outsourcing some of the work load. Hope this gives a bit more insight.

Well Patreon doesn't like rape or bestiality which is easily 90% of the F-MC HRPG content on this site so that might be an issue. Can probably be avoided if you don't link directly to that content from the Patreon page though.

 

[Restia985]

Travel will make or break your game if sticking close to the default RPGM configuration. I wouldn't really say there's a "right" or "wrong" way but building an immersive and interesting open world which doesn't get derided as a tedious "walking simulator" takes a lot of effort. Meanwhile a more compact or convenient design could break immersion or be flat out boring, look at Guild Wars 2's Waypoint system (they basically had to make them much more scarce in expansions so mounts had any reason to exist at all) or criticisms of Elden Ring's open world when contrasted with Dark Souls 1 (you could argue they had to introduce the mount just to ferry the player from dungeon to dungeon, although that is not entirely true). I also agree with the other reply that a map, log or similar navigation tool is extremely helpful.


Decide early to what extent sex will feature in "combat" or its equivalent. Doesn't really make sense for an experienced fighter to get molested by random bandits (especially not those "you got groped 3 times so you came and are stunned for 2 turns" variants) without just stabbing them for critical damage the moment they try. On the other hand if you can play as a succubus/femme fatale you need to balance sexual against non-sexual tactics, and if sex is the only option it needs a "skip known scenes" setting for random encounters.
Large-scale management is a can of worms you probably want to avoid. Giving the players control over an entire city just adds way too many opportunities for abuse, plot inconsistencies/cutscene dumb/"but thou must" situations and cries for additional sex options. You can pull off similar mechanics on a smaller scale though e.g. reputation in the Adventurer's Guild, a monster breeding system for use as battle pets/partners or a secret society which can't afford the more egregious excesses such as declaring a town-wide orgy.


Well Patreon doesn't like rape or bestiality which is easily 90% of the F-MC HRPG content on this site so that might be an issue. Can probably be avoided if you don't link directly to that content from the Patreon page though.

Damn thank you for the feedback! This was really helpful to read. I really like the ideas you mentioned with the scaled down management

 

[Kallel69]

Not so much a mechanic but a quality of life thing is to make sure your game can go full screen, windowless, arrow keys and/or wasd, gallery/gallery room(if applicable), save slots(if applicable), multiple sound/volume options, lighting and effects on/off options, always running option, skip and fastward dialogue keys/options, etc etc.

I'm sure theirs more but ive played games where it didn't exsist and/or was a mess which is why I'd tought I'd mention it.

As far as good H-Rpg mechanics and essentials? hmm...
"Is more balanced, normal combat good or do you believe gimmicky mini games are better? What additions to the game are good as well?"
Thats a tough one since no idea how you wanna do combat wise or level/area/story/game progression and it being open world, and i'm more familiar with liniar games. But I think having at least 2 different win conditions for most normal enemies is a must. The basic reduce HP to 0 is probably what your looking for one but the other might depend on what your central game mechanic and story revolves around. Building something with slaves? A capture mechanic. Trying to subdue a prison? Lust/Cum mechanic. Traveling through Undertale? Dialogue mercy mechanic. etc.
As far as mini games go, it comes down to their implimentation, polish, flow, and theming of the game you want to create. I'd say unless your going for a job simulator w/out a core mechanic having an all gimmicky mini games game isn't normal, but having as a side/optional/or reward thing is cool. I personally like good mini games as a reward but not to progres and but it takes a lot of time and effort to do it right. If possible incorperate exsisting mechanics or even the core mechanic into it to save time and it will probably look and play/flow neater. Karryn's Prison does this with thier combat mechanic UI and thier waitressing job, secritary job, bathroom whole in the wall, stripper stage, and soon their weight room job minigames.
Oh and clothing removal/deteriation is pretty commen in combat centered h-games but only apply it if it fits. A lot of people want it in games but its hard to do right for continutity/stories sake.

 

[nulnil]

I think one of the most missed things in turn-based combat is a lack of thinking/strategy. It is extremely boring when the most optimal move is just whatever hits the hardest. You want to have the player actually think about which attacks or moves they do on their turn.

That being said, you don't want combat to be a linear puzzle that only certain moves solve. Let players make mistakes and survive, no one will play perfectly.

 

[Restia985]

I think one of the most missed things in turn-based combat is a lack of thinking/strategy. It is extremely boring when the most optimal move is just whatever hits the hardest. You want to have the player actually think about which attacks or moves they do on their turn.

That being said, you don't want combat to be a linear puzzle that only certain moves solve. Let players make mistakes and survive, no one will play perfectly.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Nunu312]

A fundamental thing about making an adult game is eroticism, but it goes further than that. You could very easily make a normal game that contains some porn... Which is fine... But it's nothing special. It will only be good if you can make a good game on it's own.

The goal here, for most of us, is to create something erotic, a blend of adult themes and sexuality expressed through story, character and gameplay.

So the question isn't just what gameplay we like, it is what gameplay will help you express these things.

If it is an open world, exploration game with city management aspects and invasions, how does this support the eroticism?

If you are exploring are you finding logs to build a house to get +10 population cap and the monsters you kill give you +1 land claim spots to build it on? Or are empowering a shrine to a fertility goddess that causes your population to grow by ten in an orgy of supernatural fertility. How does this effect the culture of your city or the perspective of the Heroine?

An invasion mechanic is interesting but what does it add? This isn't a rhetorical question, traditionally this is used to apply pressure and grant weight to that city building mechanic. This is great in a city builder as their pure sandbox can often be rather dull without an external pressure (city skylines vs frostpunk). How does this pressure improve the eroticism of your game? Is it through that pressure causing the characters to be stressed and create emotions in that can be explored through powerful intimate moments?

My advice would be, instead of trying to find some mechanics that people like and building a game around them, find inspiration in either mechanics or world building. Something specific and memorable that when people see it they will think of your game. With just what you've said it is difficult to give specific advice.

 

[zuulan]

A fundamental thing about making an adult game is eroticism, but it goes further than that. You could very easily make a normal game that contains some porn... Which is fine... But it's nothing special. It will only be good if you can make a good game on it's own.

The goal here, for most of us, is to create something erotic, a blend of adult themes and sexuality expressed through story, character and gameplay.

So the question isn't just what gameplay we like, it is what gameplay will help you express these things.

If it is an open world, exploration game with city management aspects and invasions, how does this support the eroticism?

If you are exploring are you finding logs to build a house to get +10 population cap and the monsters you kill give you +1 land claim spots to build it on? Or are empowering a shrine to a fertility goddess that causes your population to grow by ten in an orgy of supernatural fertility. How does this effect the culture of your city or the perspective of the Heroine?

An invasion mechanic is interesting but what does it add? This isn't a rhetorical question, traditionally this is used to apply pressure and grant weight to that city building mechanic. This is great in a city builder as their pure sandbox can often be rather dull without an external pressure (city skylines vs frostpunk). How does this pressure improve the eroticism of your game? Is it through that pressure causing the characters to be stressed and create emotions in that can be explored through powerful intimate moments?

My advice would be, instead of trying to find some mechanics that people like and building a game around them, find inspiration in either mechanics or world building. Something specific and memorable that when people see it they will think of your game. With just what you've said it is difficult to give specific advice.

I think you should make difference in Porn game and adult game. Porn game focuses on porn. Adult game is game that targets adult audiance and includes content that is not proper for minors. H-Rpg dont need to be porn game it can be softcore adult game where is totally possible to avoid adult content. And adult content should have meaning, not just there in your face.

I think adult games should have proper motivations for adult activitys. like lust meter that gives penaltys when its full, or need to have offspring or even get magical power by having sex.

Personally, i never think its motivating just a grind the game to unlock some adult pictures or story says i should fuck every hole i see moving. Adult life should be part of game not centre of it. Build a House or work hard to pound some "slut"

So having adult interactions you need real motivation. otherwise you can just watch porn vidoes.

 

[Restia985]

A fundamental thing about making an adult game is eroticism, but it goes further than that. You could very easily make a normal game that contains some porn... Which is fine... But it's nothing special. It will only be good if you can make a good game on it's own.

The goal here, for most of us, is to create something erotic, a blend of adult themes and sexuality expressed through story, character and gameplay.

So the question isn't just what gameplay we like, it is what gameplay will help you express these things.

If it is an open world, exploration game with city management aspects and invasions, how does this support the eroticism?

If you are exploring are you finding logs to build a house to get +10 population cap and the monsters you kill give you +1 land claim spots to build it on? Or are empowering a shrine to a fertility goddess that causes your population to grow by ten in an orgy of supernatural fertility. How does this effect the culture of your city or the perspective of the Heroine?

An invasion mechanic is interesting but what does it add? This isn't a rhetorical question, traditionally this is used to apply pressure and grant weight to that city building mechanic. This is great in a city builder as their pure sandbox can often be rather dull without an external pressure (city skylines vs frostpunk). How does this pressure improve the eroticism of your game? Is it through that pressure causing the characters to be stressed and create emotions in that can be explored through powerful intimate moments?

My advice would be, instead of trying to find some mechanics that people like and building a game around them, find inspiration in either mechanics or world building. Something specific and memorable that when people see it they will think of your game. With just what you've said it is difficult to give specific advice.

Thanks for the advice! I definitely see where you are coming from

 

[Deleted member 440241]

One of the reasons I love The Last Sovereign is the way it incorporates sex into the story and world. Sexual combat isn't some gimmick tacked on to make an RPG into a porn game, it's incorporated directly into the world building and lore of the game.

 

[rk-47]

having multiple roamable small areas instead of one giant area, think of treasure of nadia where there was the map that took you from place to place but each place was relatively easy to traverse and hard to get lost in, and had a map on places youve discovered/not discovered

 

[doomslug78]

For the love of god add a clear quest log. Unless the game is groundbreaking in other aspects, the lack of directions really kills my motivation to continue playing.

 

[kintarodev]

Seems the concept is a bit over the place for now. Neverthless, just in order to save you some time, just give up checking on game maker. Most of it's active community is reduced to the official forum; thus it's a really endogamic one. Getting advice from the usuals there is hard most of the times. This is the testimony of someone who started his dev steps there. Ideally I would recommend you Unity which, unlike what popular opinion says, it's far better suited for 2D projects than any of its direct competition. Good luck.