What are the details that makes a game perfect?

[cnwolf]

Note: i read all the "what makes a game great" threads on this forum

Hello f95zone forum, i'm getting somehow better at rendering and have some ideas for a game, but would like to know the question above.*

I can remember that everytime i watched a youtube video about a big upcoming game (like GTA for example) i read all these comments full of really good ideas of small details what they wanted to see in that specific game, and asked myself: Why does no such company makes a survey or just read the damn comments?

*So my question is not about the story, characters themselves or mechanics. It's really just about the details. You can answer in key points. Since it's an adult game, asking this community is the best idea. I would be really thankful for every comment.

Examples:

- seeing no empty rooms: a table with a smartphone, glasses, flowers look more esthetic then an empty table
- beeing able to make a character get breast surgery, bigger lips or maybe even botox for formed cheeks (visiting hospital, paying for it etc.) -> Good example: Good Girl Gone Bad

 

[u z i]

for me, good choices of music and sound effects really elevates the gameplay experience and adds immersion. some good examples would be BaDIK, SpaceCorps XXX and CoBD.

 

[Mytez]

Attention to detail
Games like Private Community where characters that are related have similar facial expressions or gestures, giving you the impression that they have shared a life together.
Also, having the UI and everything (if freeroam) change depending on the time of day. Seeing bright light coming from outside a window when you are supposed to be during the evening/night feels off.

Good looking background characters
I've always said that the background characters from Become a Rock Star could be the main LIs from a regular AVN.
Seeing background characters that are more than stock models and have had some love and care put into them, elevates the overall quality of a game.

Impacting the world (kinda)
If I gift something to a character, I want to see that thing in her room when I go visit her.
Basically seeing something that I did before come up again, even if it's just sitting there in the background.
That's what makes you think, "Damn, this dev thought about everything."

 

[recreation]

Attention to detail
Games like Private Community where characters that are related have similar facial expressions or gestures, giving you the impression that they have shared a live together.
Also, having the UI and everything (if freeroam) change depending on the time of day. Seeing bright light coming from outside a window when you are supposed to be during the evening/night feels off.

Good looking background characters
I've always said that the background characters from Become a Rock Star could be the main LIs from a regular AVN.
Seeing background characters that are more than stock models and have had some love and care put into them, elevates the overall quality of a game.

Impacting the world (kinda)
If I gift something to a character, I want to see that thing in her room when I go visit her.
Basically seeing something that I did before come up again, even if it's just sitting there in the background.
That's what makes you think, "Damn, this dev thought about everything."

^100%

 

[Deleted member 229118]

Minnor skin flaws.
It makes a person more alive if they have minnor skin flaws like freckles, a birthmark, one of the minnor wounds you get from constantly opening your minnor wound.
I forget what is was call but: My girlfriend amnesia got a good example with your girlfriend.
I instantly noticed how she looked more real then most flawless smooth skins we got.

Hair movement: Granted most adult games are picture's but in alot of games hair doesnt change no mather the weather.
Standing in the rain: Perfect hair.
Heavy wind: Perfect hair.

Changing clothing.
Wearing the same stuff everyday can work when it is a school outfit, work outfit or slave outfit, etc.
But i think most people own more then 1 piece of clothing and wear different outfits.

Body variation.
Big tits, small tits, normal tits, different hair styles and coler, etc.
While i like my girls shaved down there not all girls shoud be shaved.
Atleast not until you convince them too.

Talking to eatchother.
People feel more alive if they have conversations.
It is also a great way to see how corruption is comming alone.
Mom is anger sis is eating breakfest in her underwear.
I gotta work on mom before i continue with sis.

Creampie.
I dont know why but i enjoy seeing my cum dripping out of girls.
Some porn has the girl covered in more sperm then humanly possible to produce and other have it be entirely invisible.
I prefere something in between.
Something to mark her until she is cleaned up.

Face change's during sleep rape.
The joy of sleep rape is the risk of getting caught.
Facial change's is a good way to see when to slow down or stop.

Reading glasses.
Having some wear glasses when reading and not at other times make them look more realistic.
As there eye sight has grown less.

Risk of being too loud:
A common joke around the forum is how you can pound your sister to kingdom cum and nobody will hear it.
Having to keep track of your sound adds a bit of realism.

Empty or glassed eye's.
The joy of mind control is the feeling of control.
Monotone voice, empy or glassed eye's.
Even if it is unrealistic it adds to the feeling of control.

Extended families.
Mother, father, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncle's, nieces, newpews, etc.
So many fatherless single mother and single sister families.
It makes me think we have a serrial killer on the loose.
Joking aside i wish games put more effort into getting full families.
I get that it takes time and effort away from focusing on the girls you can accauly corrupt but something as simple as keeping your father in the dark would add alot to the games immersion.
Or dealing with family visits.

Personality change's.
Very few games get this right.
The logical change that would happen when you corrupt someone.
Going from normal girl to slut shoudnt happen over night nor shoud you behave like a normal girl in one scene and a slut in the next.

Veriation of personality.
Different people have different hobbies, prefered colers, political leaning, etc.
This shoud be shown in they way the live.
What kind of clothing they wear, how there room look, etc.
For example: A nerdy girl might have a D&D rulebook in her bookcase where a punky girl has oversized speakers for her ipod.
Likewise someone might cover up alot where others corver up nearly nothing depending on there personality.

Weather effects:
Wearing a thick coat because it snow's, sun glasses because of the sun shine.
Having rain give your charater a wet look and a debuff because of being drenched.

Immersive sound.
If your game has sounds stuff like hearing a waterfall or bird sounds in the forest is immersive.
Likewise hearing your footsteps while sneaking helps raise the fear of getting caught.

Undressing is a gift:
Undressing a girl is like unwrapping a gift.
You shoud savior the moment as you slowly pull down her panties or open her blouse.

Slave corrupter:
Having a girl you have already corrupted help you corrupt one of her friends or family is a huge turn on.
As she value's your will more then the betrayel of her loved once's.
The look of betrayel in the victems eye's, the lust in the eye's of the slave, the victem fear of being turned into a slave who would happly betrayel her family and friends for her master.
That look is worth a thousent pussies.

 

[khumak]

The things that I think are most commonly missed that IMO are required for a great game are music and sound, some sort of antagonist(s) or threat, complex characters who have both positive and negative traits, and some sort of built in system to ensure that the options the player has for things to do all lead to something interesting.

If the game has no sound, to me that limits the game to being mediocre at best. Visuals are important, but sound is just as important. Sound sets the mood much moreso than the visuals.

Some sort of antagonist or threat for the main character to struggle against is a requirement for me. That can be a villain of some sort or it could be some sort of event that the main character needs to prepare for like an invasion or a flood or whatever. Basically something bad will happen unless I prepare for it and overcome it.

Give me a reason to both like and dislike aspects of most of the characters. It's fine to have some stereotypical one sided characters but character flaws make people more interesting and for a villain redeeming traits of some sort make them more interesting. Make each character interesting enough for me to get some sort of emotional attachment with them.

The last one is particularly common in sandbox games. There should be very few chances if any that I can choose to do something where nothing happens. If nothing is going to happen then that should not be an option. Put some sort of system in there to restrict my options to only things that can lead to something interesting happening.

 

[SeventhVixen]

Perfection doesn't exist, but everybody knows that. The thing is that specially in porn, the difference of tastes is quite important, and maybe that's a good reason why you may have looked at all post of the same nature and even start another one xD Your shit is the treasure of other. Some people put graphic preferences (maybe not quality but the attention at details as you said in the OP), for other people perfection are their fetishes.

When I think if a game is good or is less good, (more close to perfection, more away from it), It all goes to game design, and is the same way be it a NSFW indie game made by one dev or a SFW Triple AAA studio.

And the first question of game design is if the game one is trying to tell (the story), fits the way you're telling it (the gameplay). examples.

-If is an Harem Game (story, purpose), have good menus telling the state relations with everyone? (gameplay) (Can be both good or bad, because maybe exactly how the game is built, the lack of the menu telling the relations improves the game, or the contrary).

-If is a linear story,(story) choices/branching (gameplay) are gonna make it a better story? Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. Maybe you have a good story that works better without choices.

-Does a heavy story based game that relies in storytelling (story) needs Perfect 120 frames per second sex animations?(fap gameplay). Sure maybe don't hurt, but doesn't need it to.

-It is cool to have billions of planets to explore(story) but they're all samey without nothing much to do in them apart for walking and picking rocks? (gameplay) -you know what game I'm talking about.

What in the end makes us enjoy more or less a game if is the Game Design have been right, (Is not a thing you have to think about, its just a feeling when you finished) A porn flash game with simple graphics doesn't need a mobile over the table, but a Daz game trying to feature a realistic modern house, it does.
But apart form the Attention of detail in graphics, that is important for every game that pretends to be realistic,
other things go to tastes.
Any game that tries to tell an story and bring an emotion, or scare you, needs music.
Those things are tools for the right work.

But of course, there will be users other users that will tell you that don't care for music cause play without sound.

So in the end all depends on what one is trying to do, to use the right tool to the right work, and that experience never fails, 90's NVs and graphics adventures didn't have mobile phones over the tables because there were not mobile phones yet, but they have phones, and a sock poking in the crack of a door, and the school calendar glued in the door of the fridge.

 

[cnwolf]

Thank you all for your comments, if anyone else have other points please mention them too.

SeventhVixen

So my question is not about the story, characters themselves or mechanics.

You literally did the opposite and mentioned "story" 11 times. Of course Game Design is the most important thing, thats obvious, thats why i asked for the details. Reading them gives me ideas to create the game better.

 

[Niteowl]

Nothing is perfect and everybody has different opinions as to what makes a game better.
I'd personally agree with many comments in this thread. I would also disagree with several others.
I love some popular games I also think other popular games are garbage and can't fathom why anybody would play them.
Things that are important to some, like light slanting in at the right angle depending on the time of day or realism, are meaningless to me. Either way no indie games look as real as the cheapest movie or tv show.
It's ok to get ideas.....but ultimately, imo you need a vision of your own....the ideas maybe can improve it but that's the strating point...a story/concept you love.
I set out to make a game because I had a story and characters I liked and wanted to make them come alive in a game.....

Imo devs who just 'want to make a game, any game', never end up completing anything.
Just a thought hope it helps.

 

[cnwolf]

Niteowl
Thank you for your comment.

It's ok to get ideas.....but ultimately, imo you need a vision of your own....the ideas maybe can improve it but that's the strating point...a story/concept you love.

I 100% agree on that. I already have the concept of the story. If i didn't had one, it would just be another thopic asking "Hey guys what kind of a game should i make?". But these small details can make a big influence to the whole game. Maybe not the empty table but Malaficus ' , khumak 's and Mytez ' comments were really helpful.

 

[Tyranicon]

Games with actual background lore/environmental storytelling.

Not what most people look for, but I dig that kind of thing.

 

[Fliptoynk]

That's a tough question to crack imo since one's treasure is a trash to another so let's look at it by the end result. If yer itchin' for it's next update, or playing it again and again, then it's perfect i think

 

[whiskeyrose]

Some nice details I appreciate:

• If the game includes impregnation somehow. (anyone who knows my work/writing isn't surprised by this). It doesn't need to be the focus or even be a plot point, but if the game references the risk of pregnancy then it's so nice. I'll settle for an ending card with a preg belly but I'll also appreciate if a character berates MC for nutting in them without protection (even if they never actually get pregnant).
• Interestingly (and this one is a new realization to me), but sound effects. It's stunning how fast I can cum to flesh slapping noises or rhythmic thumping of furniture.
• When characters change based on your actions. If I use my mind control juju drugs or fuck some coed into a coma then I appreciate that she changes next time you talk to her. Also appreciated if there's some kind of status page that updates a bio for how this character changed based off your interactions. It's a bummer if you do crazy shit with a character and they don't change whatsoever except you can ask for different sexual favors in a dialog. An example of this done wells is Wife Trainer, and The Company.
• When a game has meaningful choices that aren't "Fuck this person/Fuck this other person/Don't fuck anyone" Good examples of this are Wife Trainer, Incubus City, and other titles I can't be fucked to remember at the moment.
• When the game has a realistic approach for why a woman wants to fuck MC. There is some rational writing and shift in a character that makes the transition from fully functional adult to walking semen depository. Magic is acceptable, but even more plausible reasoning is better, such as if MC has some kind of influence, power, or other desirable traits (Note: Having a 14 inch long dick does not count as a desirable trait).
• Conversely, when the game plot follows the porno-land approach. That is that the setting is fully accepting that everyone is hot, and everyone is having casual sex at the drop of a hat. The Chronicles of Alexstraza are an example of this being done well; it makes sense that you can wander in a house and fuck some MILF because you passed several couples having sex in public on the way over, it's just the way that world works. It's when the writer presents some kind of realistic world with the values our reality has, and then characters will suddenly fuck MC for seemingly no reason to the bewilderment of side characters that causes an issue.

Alright, that's my opinion.

 

[Fliptoynk]

Risk of pregnancy... That's a nice challenge. Might as well buy her knickers with wednesday on it to cock-block myself or say goodbye to my swinging days game over. Though, I hope she decides to go on pills after a couple of banging cuz 11 outta 10 women aren't fond of rubber.

Sound effects... Wouldn't care much. I'd be surprised to hear someone in'ere play porn on 1kw sound system though. How about a background music? Playing "it's a heartache..." as bgm would be nice as a shock absorber incase some chick turned you down. "You spin me right round babeh right round" just as both of you are ready to go.

Behaviour changes... That makes sense. Though, their changes should be according to their personality. You can't expect a bookworm turn to bimbo after her sexual awakening. She's either a push over or a remote control if you know what I mean.

Realistic approach... Good luck with that. If you make a plot line for her that's realistic aka common, it makes sense but I dunno, kinda plain you know. And you dun wanna make it too silly as well.

Porn-land approach... No comment. Go for it.

And that's just me.

 

[polywog]

seeing no empty rooms: a table with a smartphone, glasses, flowers look more esthetic then an empty table

This is a good point. Game developers are often programmers, good at math, with a healthy appreciation for order...
Their rooms are neat and clean, and it shows in their games. Players on the other hand, need to clean their rooms.
It might be difficult to get past the OCD and clutter things up, but it has to be done for the sake of realism.



https://f95zone.to/threads/everyday-items-scene-clutter.31199/

https://f95zone.to/threads/everyday-items-unofficial-bundle.37870/

 

[khumak]

Some nice details I appreciate:

• If the game includes impregnation somehow. (anyone who knows my work/writing isn't surprised by this). It doesn't need to be the focus or even be a plot point, but if the game references the risk of pregnancy then it's so nice. I'll settle for an ending card with a preg belly but I'll also appreciate if a character berates MC for nutting in them without protection (even if they never actually get pregnant).
• Interestingly (and this one is a new realization to me), but sound effects. It's stunning how fast I can cum to flesh slapping noises or rhythmic thumping of furniture.

I'm curious about the pregnancy thing. I strongly dislike pregnancy in an adult game if the woman is showing but just knowing that she's pregnant as long as she's not showing doesn't bother me. Do people who are into this get off on the visual so she has to be showing or is it just knowing that she's knocked up or even that there is the possibility of it if someone cums inside enough? I'm asking from a development perspective, I have no interest as a player.

I would have no objection to including scenes where the guy cums inside and there could be dialog where she gets mad because she's not on the pill or whatever, but if that's as far as it ever gets would that be enough for people with that fetish to care about it or is that just wasted effort? For anything I was developing she would either never actually get pregnant (cumming inside is not a guarantee) or the game would end before she ever showed. Most games that have that option I either pull out or cum in her ass or mouth to make sure she doesn't get pregnant just in case they added scenes where she would be showing (even though most of the time there are zero images where she actually is).

I absolutely agree about the sound. The sound totally sets the mood for the scene. Music and/or sound effects that match the scene make that scene twice as good. It doesn't even have to be that involved, as you mentioned it could just be some thumping furniture or moaning, or even some creepy music.

 

[whiskeyrose]

I'm curious about the pregnancy thing. I strongly dislike pregnancy in an adult game if the woman is showing but just knowing that she's pregnant as long as she's not showing doesn't bother me. Do people who are into this get off on the visual so she has to be showing or is it just knowing that she's knocked up or even that there is the possibility of it if someone cums inside enough? I'm asking from a development perspective, I have no interest as a player.

I would have no objection to including scenes where the guy cums inside and there could be dialog where she gets mad because she's not on the pill or whatever, but if that's as far as it ever gets would that be enough for people with that fetish to care about it or is that just wasted effort? For anything I was developing she would either never actually get pregnant (cumming inside is not a guarantee) or the game would end before she ever showed. Most games that have that option I either pull out or cum in her ass or mouth to make sure she doesn't get pregnant just in case they added scenes where she would be showing (even though most of the time there are zero images where she actually is).

It's just my particular fetish. It's not pregnant women being a fetish, but the act of procreation or at least the pursuit of such. I understand it's not for everyone. I just end up moaning about it because the impregnation fetish is flanked pretty hard by the cuckhold fetish, especially in real porn. I can find a million "black bull breeds cuck's wife" movies, but "Married couple tries for child" I'm convinced just flat out doesn't exist.

 

[Joraell]

I think the answer to this question is in the question itself. "The details"

 

[BossFloof]

I'd argue you cannot bring it down to specific details. The overall experience must be amazing, and with that the details depend on your gameplay, style and narrative.

If you create a visual novel, the details are much in the writing, character and world building and in the options you have as the player. Sound does not play the most important role, but can be the one detail that makes the game "perfect".

If you're making an action game, the details are in the effort you put into snappy controls and vfx like screen shake and explosions but also very importantly the sound. There's this great example talk by Vlambeer about the details that can make your action game "perfect":

You must be registered to see the links

In our example with Nitro Girlz, we try to reduce our world through a stylized approach, much like Mirror's Edge took away lots of detail to focus on the important gameplay part. Our dating locations receive more graphical details to allow for nice photos, but our core focus is the arcade-y race feel of our core gameplay as well as nice sound and (hopefully) fully voiced dialogue.

tl;dr - put the detail where it has the most impact in your particular game!

 

[Jonboy80]

It's very dependent on the game itself and what the creator's vision is for his/her title but for me:

A decent story or reason why the MC is doing what they're doing.
Spellcheck and grammar passes.
Ideally, custom assets. While I don't *hate* seeing reused models, it is a bit of a bore to see the same person in a slightly different environment under a different name and story.
Detailed environments. Put some stuff in the rooms. A bed and PC in a bare room looks dumb. Wouldn't kill you to add a pile of clothes or some books to a table or something to that effect.
Give your characters different clothes. When you play a story/time based game and the characters wear the same clothes for three weeks straight... yeah. One or two different outfits go a long way in making it more immersive.

Those are really my biggest wants for a game to be more-than-good for me. I like to experience creativity when playing games or VNs, not just spank one out and be done with it. Sex for the sake of sex is a let-down.

Everything beyond that is going to be based on the creators whims. I'm fairly open to most genres and the ones I'm not interested in (Feet, Obese, Male/Male, SadoMas/BDSM and Humiliation), I avoid.