Be careful with that policy, some games are bad compressed (many HTML games at launch) and can end with that size and only 5 minutes of content.
What is the secrets of a good and successful project
- Thread starter bumbiee.soft
- Start date
This is ridiculous.
Any half decent developer should strive to make the size as small as it's needed to be, not bigger cause he can't be arsed to downscale assets or remove useless components/code/etc.
Imagine a retina in a 3D game, imagine it's taken from a texture website, in 4k.
You wouldn't need to have the retina in the game in 4k resolution unless you have some eye socket fetish.
That texture would have to be downscalled to how much it needs to be.
There are two measures of success in art, and sometimes they are both present.
1. Commercial success.
2. Cultural influence on subsequent creators.
- Jun 16, 2021
- 1,719
- 2,930
according to this forum the key to succsess could be
(and i hate all of it).
- incest
- no NTR
- MILF
- pregnancy
(and i hate all of it).
Firstly, I wanted to thank everyone who participated in the thread. They mentioned a lot of important factors so far, and I'll consider all points mentioned.
When some mentioned about longevity of project. I started to search about it and it seems, it is a very important factor of success.
About size of the game, I'd say I mentioned it in a very bad way. I'd better to mention the amount of content in the game rather than size (maybe because when you want to download a game the first thing you see is the size of compressed file).
Finally, after years of being a dev, I still consider myself as a junior one, so any criticism, any help, any point would help me a lot. I'm all ears and I want to learn more from you. Thank you very much so far.
When some mentioned about longevity of project. I started to search about it and it seems, it is a very important factor of success.
About size of the game, I'd say I mentioned it in a very bad way. I'd better to mention the amount of content in the game rather than size (maybe because when you want to download a game the first thing you see is the size of compressed file).
Finally, after years of being a dev, I still consider myself as a junior one, so any criticism, any help, any point would help me a lot. I'm all ears and I want to learn more from you. Thank you very much so far.
I would say the main things I see in common with most successful games are:
1. The interface feels polished. A game with a crappy interface, or even just the default interface for whatever engine is used just doesn't feel professional. It feels like an amateur project. It probably IS, but you don't want it to feel that way.
2. It includes sound effects and music (I'm amazed how many games are completely lacking in this department).
3. All of the major characters have at least some endearing qualities to them (including the villains), ideally minor characters as well but that's less important. The villain should almost never be a pure monster. It's ok for him to just be a rival. He doesn't have to be Ted Bundy.
4. The visuals need to be at least reasonably good and not include blatantly obvious problems like obvious clipping through objects, characters floating instead of actually making contact with the floor/bed/etc, characters in sex scenes making good contact without clipping through the other character, etc
5. Game mechanics that are actually fun, whether that's an engaging story, a good mix of questing/grinding vs rewards, etc. A big part of this is making sure the pacing of the game is set up such that you are drip fed some rewards on a continual basis throughout the entire game. I should not have to grind for 10 hours and then FINALLY get rewarded at the very end. Same goes for a story based game, I should not be blueballed for 90% of the game and finally get the girl at the end. If she's that hard to get then there should be secondary love interests that give it up more easily.
6. A satisfying ending where it feels like the main character actually won. In an adult game that generally means you get the girl (or girls) eventually and you don't have to settle for sloppy seconds after watching your rival get them first unless that's the whole theme of the game.
1. The interface feels polished. A game with a crappy interface, or even just the default interface for whatever engine is used just doesn't feel professional. It feels like an amateur project. It probably IS, but you don't want it to feel that way.
2. It includes sound effects and music (I'm amazed how many games are completely lacking in this department).
3. All of the major characters have at least some endearing qualities to them (including the villains), ideally minor characters as well but that's less important. The villain should almost never be a pure monster. It's ok for him to just be a rival. He doesn't have to be Ted Bundy.
4. The visuals need to be at least reasonably good and not include blatantly obvious problems like obvious clipping through objects, characters floating instead of actually making contact with the floor/bed/etc, characters in sex scenes making good contact without clipping through the other character, etc
5. Game mechanics that are actually fun, whether that's an engaging story, a good mix of questing/grinding vs rewards, etc. A big part of this is making sure the pacing of the game is set up such that you are drip fed some rewards on a continual basis throughout the entire game. I should not have to grind for 10 hours and then FINALLY get rewarded at the very end. Same goes for a story based game, I should not be blueballed for 90% of the game and finally get the girl at the end. If she's that hard to get then there should be secondary love interests that give it up more easily.
6. A satisfying ending where it feels like the main character actually won. In an adult game that generally means you get the girl (or girls) eventually and you don't have to settle for sloppy seconds after watching your rival get them first unless that's the whole theme of the game.
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- Sep 8, 2021
- 135
- 329
Effort. Plain and simple.
It doesn't matter how big your game is, how small it is, what content it has, what audience you're intending it for, what the plans you're plotting for it are, or even what the dream for ultimate product is, how much effort into your game is the most important factor of any successful game. If you put in effort, it'll eventually find its playerbase and groove, no matter what the game entails. This really shouldn't be a secret, but based on all the shit/half-assed games you can find on this site, it seems to be. And yeah, sure, there are also plenty of successful porn games out there where the devs don't give two squiggly shits, but you'll also find in those cases the players can most definitely tell. A lack of effort is a lack of soul, and all gamers, even monkey-brained porn gamers, can tell when a game doesn't have soul.
Or at least, that's my two cents.
It doesn't matter how big your game is, how small it is, what content it has, what audience you're intending it for, what the plans you're plotting for it are, or even what the dream for ultimate product is, how much effort into your game is the most important factor of any successful game. If you put in effort, it'll eventually find its playerbase and groove, no matter what the game entails. This really shouldn't be a secret, but based on all the shit/half-assed games you can find on this site, it seems to be. And yeah, sure, there are also plenty of successful porn games out there where the devs don't give two squiggly shits, but you'll also find in those cases the players can most definitely tell. A lack of effort is a lack of soul, and all gamers, even monkey-brained porn gamers, can tell when a game doesn't have soul.
Or at least, that's my two cents.
what? i love coca cola. and that's even after they removed the cocaine. imagine how much i'd love it before
if you mean it's unhealthy, yeah but... they did remove cocaine
To some degree I agree with this, but just "effort" is well not enough.
This reminds me of drama stories from developers that spent years over years over years working on a project because they changed game engines, or they made their own. And then when released they sold 100 copies or something like that.
Their whole post-mortem marketing was based on people feeling bad for them.
Also this related a lot to people praising others or themselves based on simply time spent.
"I've been a game developer for 10 years" - yeah bro, but what did you achieve in this time?
I doubt most people give 2 fucks about just ... time. They want a good product first and foremost.
Sorry this whole thing triggered me a bit because way too many people working on their own projects know only to scream left and right that they've been doing X and Y for [insert number of years] but have yet to be successful. They completely miss the point of content creator - content devourer.
- Aug 25, 2018
- 13
- 21
My English might be bad, but i dont give respect to this language I will try my best
Some points quite shared with artist and indie game developer in general with similar question. Anyways, what counted as "Success" is depend on you.
Ok! *Clap Hands* Now we are random developer, driven by passion. Not insanely popular, but you have some followers, maybe friend too.
0. Luck crossed with timing, both should work together. You might got blessed by all mightyJe-- algorithm, but if timing said "but you not gain much interaction from this", you will not get much. This part makes reason why there are some underrated/less known artist. Or game developer in this context.
1. "To Parody, or Not To Parody",
It's quite easier to make H-game parody due to existing audience, hence easier bump to exposure. But if you not going to make parody from anything, don't worry, at least you have more freedom to character design, but need more effort to exposure your original game, especially if you haven't build your community yet.
2. "Audience and their Fetishes"
You can't force every single audience to like your work as one genre may have lower interest than others. This also applied on public forum and community.
3. "Consistency! also followed with open to critic and always communicate with community."
We speaking from non H-game like Subnautica or No Man's Sky as example, their early release isnt that good, mocked by players even, yet they open their ears to fans and they become good game. This also applied to you. Your fan give critics, discussion, or idea? take the notes and learn from it, Apply that to your next project.
(Note: You dont need to strictly follow every single one, choose what's the best and do that)
4. "Make your game at least enjoyable"
Mainly about bug, and other technical part, or aesthetic, maybe. Go figure.
This should be on early point, but since we speaking of H-game, hence we need more CG scene, the priority will be lowered
5."What make MY H-game stands out from others", say you want making H-game with uncommon genre, or interesting story, or good artstyle that hooked more people, or this game is so Hardcore, or make it comedic (and/or) so ironic enough so that people will makes meme from that, or other factor. Dont stressed out if you cant see it, your fans might can see that
---
TLDR: Luck + Timing gives biggest bump, but you can still build your own "success". Just keep your effort to consistently make game that are enjoyable, hear your fans words. Eventually you will score one.
Some points quite shared with artist and indie game developer in general with similar question. Anyways, what counted as "Success" is depend on you.
Ok! *Clap Hands* Now we are random developer, driven by passion. Not insanely popular, but you have some followers, maybe friend too.
0. Luck crossed with timing, both should work together. You might got blessed by all mighty
1. "To Parody, or Not To Parody",
It's quite easier to make H-game parody due to existing audience, hence easier bump to exposure. But if you not going to make parody from anything, don't worry, at least you have more freedom to character design, but need more effort to exposure your original game, especially if you haven't build your community yet.
2. "Audience and their Fetishes"
You can't force every single audience to like your work as one genre may have lower interest than others. This also applied on public forum and community.
3. "Consistency! also followed with open to critic and always communicate with community."
We speaking from non H-game like Subnautica or No Man's Sky as example, their early release isnt that good, mocked by players even, yet they open their ears to fans and they become good game. This also applied to you. Your fan give critics, discussion, or idea? take the notes and learn from it, Apply that to your next project.
(Note: You dont need to strictly follow every single one, choose what's the best and do that)
4. "Make your game at least enjoyable"
Mainly about bug, and other technical part, or aesthetic, maybe. Go figure.
This should be on early point, but since we speaking of H-game, hence we need more CG scene, the priority will be lowered
5."What make MY H-game stands out from others", say you want making H-game with uncommon genre, or interesting story, or good artstyle that hooked more people, or this game is so Hardcore, or make it comedic (and/or) so ironic enough so that people will makes meme from that, or other factor. Dont stressed out if you cant see it, your fans might can see that
---
TLDR: Luck + Timing gives biggest bump, but you can still build your own "success". Just keep your effort to consistently make game that are enjoyable, hear your fans words. Eventually you will score one.
- Sep 8, 2021
- 135
- 329
I actually think you agree with me fully, I just didn't elaborate.
I'm not saying effort is all you need, just that for any project to actually be "good and successful" there definitely needs to be effort put into it. It's hard to break apart and study the varying parts in all the successful games on the market, but if you were to attempt to, effort would be a major underlying factor in pretty much all of them. Effort gets the ball rolling.
Though, to your drama game point, I do think the porn game market is a lot different from the regular game market. It's a lot less saturated and filled to the brim, and a lot of what is there can be considered pretty bad by most standards. Porn gamers are always on the look out for new product, whereas regular gamers often have so many options they amass a list of games they need to finish first. That's what it's like me for at least.
Unlike the regular game market, I truly believe if you put effort into a porn game consistently enough and long enough, it'll eventually be found and liked by some section of the porn game community. Assuming you also put effort into marketing and such too.
It's a lot easier to get discovered overall. Not easy, but easier. The fact so many "popular" porn games are actual pieces of broken dog shit where the devs no longer care about what they put out/abandoned games the devs left behind are testament to this. People are willing to put up with games that are going absolutely nowhere, all because of a lack of options lol
Does the genre affect the success of the project? I mean, is it possible for a fantasy game to be more successful than a sci-fi game?
Exactly this. With my own recent release, event though the game has almost 1,800 unique images (due to most of them being frames of animation), I have kept the file size right down (to under 200MB) with WEBP format. It is a much more efficient format than PNG, GIF or JPG.
I should imagine the genre does affect the success of the project (no reason why it would not). Some genres are always going to be more popular than others. People's tastes change over time too; all the recent talk about "artificial intelligence" (AI) has likely spurred a renewed interest in certain science-fiction themed content.
You are indeed correct, I fully agree with this. Thank you for providing more details.
- Aug 13, 2018
- 36
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This. I've been trying to make a game for sooo long, but I've never considered myself a dev yet because for several reasons I still don't have anything to show for it. Yeah, it's been quite a journey and I think I've learned quite a bit, but nothing players can "consume". So yeah, I even feel like a fake assigning myself a dev role in some erogame dev discords, heh.
I might not be or feel a dev yet but I do think I can consider myself an artist, and I feel this is actually more an issue for artists or the japanese doujin "market". As an artist I've always felt tempted to use more popular preexisting game characters because it's obvious how much quicker other artists grow when using them but, I don't know, it's not like I'm against it (I have a series of RE and CP2077 sets planned), I just prefer creating my own stuff. Yet, it's hard to make people care about your OCs or stories as "just an artist". And I think that's one of the reasons I want to make games. Unlike the japanese doujin audience I get the feeling the "western" game audience actually prefer games with original characters so it's the perfect outlet for me and the things in my head
This thread has been really good so far, a lot of stuff that doesn't hurt being reminded about and some others that I didn't know. For example, I almost made the mistake of "officially" trying to release a v0.00001 of my game. And, of course, there are the things that are still hard to do even if you are aware of them. In my case I still struggle with dealing with feedback and balancing what I truly want in my game vs what will help it make it more successful. For example, removing some stuff so you can publish on Patreon or remain true to what you want. This has been a big reason why I have scrapped many ideas.
About dealing with feedback and how to separate it like Droid said, I think it's a bit more complicated than that. For example, about "Subjective stuff that you agree with", it might not be as subjective as you'd think, like the lighting of a scene. Sure, at some point it is subjective but it can definitely be objectively crap lighting. And that's the hard part, being open to the possibility of being wrong while not second guessing every single thing. Also when it's stuff you disagree with, but it's not so clear if you should change or not. Sure, it's easy when it's stuff like having futanari characters or not. But, for example, I've been getting some negative feedback about one of my characters being disproportionally big boobed and I wonder if I should reduce them a bit. I love the character as it is, but also it's not like huge breasts is a main theme of my game. At the moment I'm not changing it, I don't think I've gotten a big enough "feedback sample" to consider it a problem, but also not completely discarding the idea yet because it's not a change I think would derail the game even though I don't agree with it. But I can live with it.
So yeah... as you can see, I think dealing with feedback is probably one of the hardest things
It's definitely a hard thingt I can live with it.
So yeah... as you can see, I think dealing with feedback is probably one of the hardest things
This is your baby.Anyways... do find people to share the game with. The easiest way to burn out is not getting positive feedback from your game. My point was to differentiate between testers/friends and end-users, and try to make sure end users get a fleshed out and tested first release.
Getting patrons is a different matter from making a good game and the strategies tend to be opposed. If you're looking to the projects that have the most patrons, they:
- are perpetual. When people know the name, have tried it and liked it, and get into the habit of checking it for updates the creator sees more money than they would from finishing the game.
- make big promises. Whether they come through on these or not is another matter entirely, but they always have this impressive-looking set of plans and if the project has been going for several years people are more likely to assume that these promises might eventually see the light of day.
- zeroed in on a ripe market. CoC is the granddaddy of western erogames and that focused in on furries primarily - people who are, historically and collectively, thirsty and have disposable income.
- started from a good framework. I'm only just now mentioning anything that relates to the game itself and it's this one because it's the most important one for attracting an audience. If the core idea of the game is being expressed well enough through the framework they chose - whether that's a management game, RPG, side-scroller or whatever else - then it can get people seeing the potential of it regardless of what state it's actually in. This is very important because people will stick to something they see as having potential for a very long time and through many disappointments.
- got lucky. There's really no two ways about it: exposure and attachment are largely luck. You can follow in the footsteps of a successful project and still languish in obscurity for no other reason than bad luck. This is where perseverance has to come into play. The longer you're around the more likely it is that people will have heard the name of your project before. It's always difficult to break into a market that's dominated by big names but the nice thing about erogames is that people are always looking for more.
You have three choices: Writing, Gameplay or a Sex Dispenser.
The thing about Writing is you need to think as an actual Novel Volume or at least Episode that has its own plot threads that are resolved with a conclusion and are satisfying the readers through it's writing, far too many times projects get boggle down in graphics and renderings, and it shouldn't take a year just to finish one episode, that's why those simple character sprites + BGs are your friend.
You can make more Volumes and Episodes and you can improve over time and develop the characters and overreaching plot further, you can even have an outline for your plot. What you don't want your project to be stuck in limbo on just one episode.
Next is Gameplay. You can have Simple Gameplay but it needs to be "Fun" Gameplay. "Fun" is Not Subjective. A Game is Fun simply when there is the appropriate Player Skills that are Tested through Challenges. There are many Genres to choose from that relating to many Player Skills with their own structure and pacing for the Challenges, we call that Genre's "Core Gameplay".
As for a Sex Dispenser, that's the equivalent to giving a plot to a porn movie or reading a hentai doujin, we only need to give it a bit of context, some character and a bit of emotion to make them more interesting than just a random porn pictures on the internet. The only thing you need is to have a satisfying amount of content in each update.
Where most projects fail is they are a terrible amalgamations of all the three choices by not making a choice and not having a clear direction and criteria by which the project is judged by.
It's a Threshold, not a Sum, players can well judge by all three individually and sure some might not care about one criteria, some want porn, some want story, some want gameplay. And you can Fail all three.
The thing about Writing is you need to think as an actual Novel Volume or at least Episode that has its own plot threads that are resolved with a conclusion and are satisfying the readers through it's writing, far too many times projects get boggle down in graphics and renderings, and it shouldn't take a year just to finish one episode, that's why those simple character sprites + BGs are your friend.
You can make more Volumes and Episodes and you can improve over time and develop the characters and overreaching plot further, you can even have an outline for your plot. What you don't want your project to be stuck in limbo on just one episode.
Next is Gameplay. You can have Simple Gameplay but it needs to be "Fun" Gameplay. "Fun" is Not Subjective. A Game is Fun simply when there is the appropriate Player Skills that are Tested through Challenges. There are many Genres to choose from that relating to many Player Skills with their own structure and pacing for the Challenges, we call that Genre's "Core Gameplay".
As for a Sex Dispenser, that's the equivalent to giving a plot to a porn movie or reading a hentai doujin, we only need to give it a bit of context, some character and a bit of emotion to make them more interesting than just a random porn pictures on the internet. The only thing you need is to have a satisfying amount of content in each update.
Where most projects fail is they are a terrible amalgamations of all the three choices by not making a choice and not having a clear direction and criteria by which the project is judged by.
It's a Threshold, not a Sum, players can well judge by all three individually and sure some might not care about one criteria, some want porn, some want story, some want gameplay. And you can Fail all three.
- Sep 22, 2019
- 200
- 385
Pay attention to story structure.
Start with a hook. You want to immediately show people why should play your game. Give them a taste of what's in sore the very first scene, whether it's wacky comedy (Eternum, What A Legend!), corruption (Pale Carnations), or graphic violence and domination (Desert Stalker). If you've got great renders, show them off. If you're a writer, then write something powerful.
You can slow down a bit after the hook. Introduce the MC's ordinary world, introduce the other characters. Then give the MC a goal (or two), and put some obstacles in their path. Let them overcome some of those obstacles. In Eternum, the first goal is getting a copy of the in-universe game. In BaDIK, it's finding a place to sleep.
Finally, end your first episode on a cliffhanger. You want your audience to go away wondering what's happening next so they keep following your development. Eternum ends its first release with the reveal that the supposedly safe VR game everyone is playing can kill people. BaDIK finishes its first release by having the MC tased by a girl who's grinding on top of him. Ideally the twist should build on everything that's happened so far. It also sets the scene for your mini-hook in episode 2.
BaDIK and Eternum follow the structure with basically every episode (BaDIK also follows the setup within its seasons). Other devs are more free form, but you should keep it in mind, especially for your first release or two.
Start with a hook. You want to immediately show people why should play your game. Give them a taste of what's in sore the very first scene, whether it's wacky comedy (Eternum, What A Legend!), corruption (Pale Carnations), or graphic violence and domination (Desert Stalker). If you've got great renders, show them off. If you're a writer, then write something powerful.
You can slow down a bit after the hook. Introduce the MC's ordinary world, introduce the other characters. Then give the MC a goal (or two), and put some obstacles in their path. Let them overcome some of those obstacles. In Eternum, the first goal is getting a copy of the in-universe game. In BaDIK, it's finding a place to sleep.
Finally, end your first episode on a cliffhanger. You want your audience to go away wondering what's happening next so they keep following your development. Eternum ends its first release with the reveal that the supposedly safe VR game everyone is playing can kill people. BaDIK finishes its first release by having the MC tased by a girl who's grinding on top of him. Ideally the twist should build on everything that's happened so far. It also sets the scene for your mini-hook in episode 2.
BaDIK and Eternum follow the structure with basically every episode (BaDIK also follows the setup within its seasons). Other devs are more free form, but you should keep it in mind, especially for your first release or two.