What makes/breaks a game for you?

[redknight00]

Thank you a lot for your detailed comment. It was very helpful. One thing I'd like to know more about is the "Options galore" part, as it certainly made me think a bit extra about story telling.
Don't you find it fun to not know if an option is important or not? By limiting the number of options, it's very evident that each option is important. By having a lot of options, it may or may not be important, but it can widen the experience by letting your character express your own thoughts, adding to the immersion.
Or are you simply against options that leads to game over screens or will obviously have a negative impact that spoils the game?

In my upcoming game (Episode 1 is released for free next friday) I have a different system than most VNs, where all stats are hidden to the player, never to be explicitly revealed. In the end of each episode you will be given a relationship report on your choices and how NPCs feel towards you. This system calls for several choices to be made throughout the episodes and some of them definitely will be major as the story evolves, while others may not have any impact. For a player such as yourself, is that a system you'd dislike?

For me, the purpose of giving options to the player is to give the illusion of control over the story with satisfying responses to certain situations. When the choices given are obvious binary win/game-over, it's not a choice at all, in fact the player is forced to act a certain way and while it's valid for the developer to act this way at times, giving a choice to the player only to force him to pick a specific one is not.

That is not to say every choice should be equally valid or have consequences, for me the simple fact that the MC is responding differently according to the player's choice is enough even if the consequences are only momentary reactions of the MC and the other characters.

 

[baneini]

lily of the valley

Lily of the valley is simply poorly made. I'm fine with well made rpgm games but I quit that one because it didn't guide the player enough, point is 1 example doesn't mean all of them suck.
Some games have walkthroughs which make them playable if they're not in their current state.

The main make or break thing for rpgm would probably be time consumption, they can take more time which can either be very good or very bad depending on the person. Hard to get into but great once you're used to it.

 

[Dr PinkCake]

For me, the purpose of giving options to the player is to give the illusion of control over the story with satisfying responses to certain situations. When the choices given are obvious binary win/game-over, it's not a choice at all, in fact the player is forced to act a certain way and while it's valid for the developer to act this way at times, giving a choice to the player only to force him to pick a specific one is not.

That is not to say every choice should be equally valid or have consequences, for me the simple fact that the MC is responding differently according to the player's choice is enough even if the consequences are only momentary reactions of the MC and the other characters.

Yes! Totally what I was getting at. We are alike.

 

[metalbeard]

Thank you a lot for your detailed comment. It was very helpful.

My pleasure! :extremelyhappy:

Don't you find it fun.... that spoils the game?

Spoiler: Get your options here, HOT options right here---- YOU CHOSE POORLY! :@

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In the end of each episode... a system you'd dislike?

Spoiler: Hmm

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Spoiler: Sigh

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I do wish you the best of luck for your game. May it be AWESOME and be filled with awesome erotica :FeelsGoodMan:

 

[Dr PinkCake]

My pleasure! :extremelyhappy:

Spoiler: Get your options here, HOT options right here---- YOU CHOSE POORLY! :mad:

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Spoiler: Hmm

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Spoiler: Sigh

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I do wish you the best of luck for your game. May it be AWESOME and be filled with awesome erotica :FeelsGoodMan:

Thanks again! I hope that I can achieve what I have envisioned. I'm a big fan of consistency in games and attention to detail and the BB issue you mentioned bugs me too. I also dislike few renders and a lot of text, so I will strive for ambition.

Here's a kiss from Leah as thanks for your detailed answers.

 

[metalbeard]

Thanks again! I hope that I can achieve what I have envisioned. I'm a big fan of consistency in games and attention to detail and the BB issue you mentioned bugs me too. I also dislike few renders and a lot of text, so I will strive for ambition.

Here's a kiss from Leah as thanks for your detailed answers. View attachment 93233

Oh Leah...

 

[Aiden]

NTR by far breaks a game for me... The messed up stereotypical kind (the real one) a lot of people here seem to think NTR means any girl having sex with any male that isnt the protagonist... which is dumb...

Basically if your trying to seduce your family in the game, and the couple next door have sex, people scream "NTR ! how dare her husband bang the milf next door!!" I for one dont care, let the milf next door have her fun, we might get our turn eventually ! Same goes if mom dates before we seduce her, or sister already has an established boyfriend...

To me Eric from BB wasnt hate-able because he was banging Ann(mom) I moved past that as I knew eventually the MC was gonna get her (if the game hadnt been abandoned, Thank you mods for filling in the blanks !!) He was hate-able because even if you extended an olive branch to his punk ass, the very next week the dude is trying to get your mom to ship you to Military School so that he could have his way with your sisters as well, and try to con your family out of your own home... **** him sideways !! so I only saw Eric as a NTR attempt on Alice and Lisa since Ann didnt belong to us in the first place (he stole nothing)

For real NTR that ticks me off, look at Girlfriends Amnesia, and the character Adrian, I hated that mofo form the start, he had his shot at the main girl, was a rapey creep and lost his chance, yet the writing in the game places him as her doctor's assistant so he can molest main girl in elevator, later on (through bad choices, kudos to author for making it a choice for cucks only) he can slam the hell out of main girl infuriating the player !! Lastly the endings in the game, the main ending isnt happy, its bitter-sweet and melancholic, the twin sister ending is kinda messed up but happy, and has an awesome "in your face" moment", but the NTR ending ?!!? The dude gets rewarded for all his rape and shadyness, his ending has him rich, successful, famous, steals our girl, impregnates her? (might be MC's baby) and the main girl gets cured of the amnesia in his route...

Corruption also gets on my nerves cause very few people can pull it off well, most just make the female main character a filthy slutty piece of human meat that a dog wouldnt want to pee on...So far the only good ones I have played were Coceter Chronicles, and so far A Wife and Mother. In those two games the female MC is slowly corrupting, she is having urges to bang people not her life partner and what not, but she isnt so far at least being blackmailed into it, forced, raped, etc. She chooses who she ****s with !! She is still cheating and becoming a slut, but with people she wants rather than the entire town.

 

[Jimmybob]

Seeing "0.1" next to the title.

 

[NandabaCanti]

Things that are sure to draw me towards a game:
* Original and/or unusual content/scenarios
* Well-done pixel art
* Anything with plenty of voyeur/spy content
* Sexy monster girls
* Well done Futa content (preferably where the Futas have balls)

Deal Breakers:
* Excessive grinding
* Ugly dude(s) featured prominently in most of the art
* Anything that focuses on Furries/MLP
* Full on gay only games that aren't focused on futas/traps
* Clunky UIs that require moving the mouse all over the damn screen to click on tiny buttons for every single interaction
* Amateur 3DCG with bad lighting, terrible anatomy, stiff/unnatural posing, and poorly fitted clothing.

Stuff that annoys me, but don't necessarily stop me from playing:
* Censorship
* Mechanics added for no other reason then to drag out a game (RPGM game devs love this shit for some reason)
* 3DCG littered with giant cartoonish anti-gravity breasts and overcompensating penises
* Ball-free futas
* Unity games (this often ends up being a deal breaker, but not always)

 

[Nightcrawler]

killers for me personnaly
1 lack of story
2. Grinding (unless dev throws in a few teasers to keep me fapping )
3 beastialty
4 Futa
5 Shota
6 Loli

i see those tags i run a mile
they are my personnal pet hates and im sure their will be a lot of people that disagree with me which they are entitled to, It's all about opinion

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

So this is pretty much my ideal game:

- Trainer/corruption game with female protag.

- Lots and lots and lots of choices, especially for the early game. The idea being that you, the player, can tailor the progression to your liking.

- No forced H-scenes whatsoever, in fact there should be a pure no-sex path, at least as far as MC is concerned. There can be stuff going on around the MC which she will react to according to how you've developed her. But never, ever force something on MC that the player has no choice to opt out of.

- Good writing. You should be able to relate to the character and her predicaments. Care should be taken to keep MC's dialogue and thoughts in line with all the earlier choices, again so that you as a player feel like your choices are having the impact you want on her.

- Decent gameplay to space out the H-content and better pace the game, and also give MC something to do besides just sex, or resisting sex. Again, she should be a believable person that the player can empathize with. That makes it more immersive when you resist the degradation and more ''wrong'' when you nudge her into it.

 

[Dr PinkCake]

I'm surprised by all the fantastic responses in this thread; so detailed and useful. Keep em coming, they're really making me think extra during development and I bet they are helpful for other devs as well.

 

[Nerra]

Game breakers for me are incest, bestiality, futanari, using 'canned' hentai art, furries, torture/extreme BDSM, and incest. Did I mention incest?
I think it's very disturbing to see how many games posted on this forum have incest.
Lousy grammar and poor spelling also don't thrill me very much, but I do realize that some game developers their native language isn't English.

 

[baneini]

I think it's very disturbing to see how many games posted on this forum have incest.

Why? Incest porn is great.

 

[Unknown Developer]

What I really like in and adult game is gameplay. Any adult game have sex pictures, some of them have simple (or even complex) animations, but few of them can be interesting without the sex. If we are talking about genres, reverse rape is usually something I give a shot just for being there, I like strong willed girls.

NTR is something that really makes me drop a game without even trying, I know many games with this genre have option to remove it, but only having it on the genres tab is enough in somecases for me to not even look. Guro is another one of those.

 

[Dr PinkCake]

Game breakers for me are incest, bestiality, futanari, using 'canned' hentai art, furries, torture/extreme BDSM, and incest. Did I mention incest?
I think it's very disturbing to see how many games posted on this forum have incest.
Lousy grammar and poor spelling also don't thrill me very much, but I do realize that some game developers their native language isn't English.

What do you look for in a game? You only mentioned dislikes. I'm interested in the positives as well, as many games on this sites wouldn't sit well with you.

 

[Nerra]

What do you look for in a game? You only mentioned dislikes. I'm interested in the positives as well, as many games on this sites wouldn't sit well with you.

I prefer games with 3d art.
Female protagonists, because those games usually involve more choices (to me anyway) than Male protagonist games. I'm not adverse to Male protagonist games, but a lot seem to be "hump anything with a pussy" type games with little story.
The game that I can't wait for an update on is Valiant Warrior Astrid. Depending on what the developer(s) do with the story, I think that game is almost perfect. Great artwork, good writing, and using the RPGM in a way that makes sense. Another game I'm looking forward to an update on is Farmer's Dreams.

 

[JackBeNimble]

Futa. Total gin-dicking hard-on kill. Immediate uninstall for me.

What makes a game? My real hope is replayable scenes, but I have to admit I'm a sucker for well-done 3D with animation.

 

[YellowBrick]

My biggest problem is when developers take their story too seriously leading them to mess up the pacing and erotic aspects. For example; I used to love Dreams of Desire, but I feel as though my interest in it has waned after episode 10. Lewdlab seems to have forgotten he is making a porn game and is instead trying to turn a good porn story into a mediocre game story.

Instead of innovating with new erotic situations that serve the plot, the main character literally just fucks his family because he doesn't have anything else to do. When he finally does fuck his family he either just walks up to them and asks "want sum fuk?" or he just rapes them in their sleep. Remember that awesome BJ/Footjob scene by the dinner table where your mom was right next to you? Or how about that cool thing were you fucked a family member and then got to see their dreams being affected negatively by the spell? Well, there are none of those cool things happening anymore and all the stakes are gone!
(see gif)

Dreams of Desire used to be the bomb, I stayed up long into the night playing it just to see where Lewdlab would amaze me next. That's no more though, unless something changed drastically by the end of episode 11. Either way, the game is just worse to me personally.

What was it Trump once said? "sad".


Edit: Oh and I guess having no mouse support in RPGM games sucks pretty bad too.

 

[OhWee]

On the 0.1 (or 0.01) thing...

We don't have complete consistency as to what version numbers should mean. Each developer has their own preferred definition for this, so it's kinda meaningless in a way. Some people's 0.1's have a lot more gameplay, content, and are just better overall than other 0.1 releases. That being said...

If a game doesn't have a lot of content, that 'breaks' it for me. So I often pass on initial releases, unless the discussion in the forum thread convinces me otherwise. I've been disappointed too many times by games with a lot of promise, that get abandoned before the story gets anywhere, so I'm kinda done wasting my time taking chances on initial releases that are 'slow playing' the story.

To me, update numerology that is more descriptive is a bit more useful. Say 'Fun Relations, Day 2 update' instead of 'Fun Relations 0.2'. The 0.2 is meaningless without context, and if you aren't bothering with a changelog...

As for specific genre types, etc. that make or break, well that comes down to my own personal prefereences, so I think that is less useful for this discussion.

Anyways, back to what else breaks a game for me. I'm kinda done slow-playing stories over multiple updates, so at this point, if the changelog is useless, I like to peek at the CG to see if there is any actual sex going on yet. So Renpy games are at the top of my list (yay Unren.bat!), and Unity games are closer to the bottom (because I don't know how to/am unable to extract the CG). If I can't get a good feel somehow as to what to expect (i.e. scan the CG real quick to see if the characters I'm interested in are getting banged yet, etc.) yeah I'll end up taking a pass most of the time.

And if I can't enjoy the CG outside of the game in some fashion, then that's a negative 'selling point' for me. Sometimes I like to just look at the characters in some scene I played to reminisce, without having to actually play the game again. This isn't necesarily a deal breaker, but it can be the straw that breaks my interest in a game.

That isn't to say that I won't play that game eventually, once the story reaches a point where I'm going to get some CG sex scenes out of the deal along with a good story, but thanks to all of the abandoned projects littering this forum/hobby/gaming niche, yeah I'm kinda done getting my hopes up for a game, only to see a developer walk away from it.

Edit: Also, huge downloads. I hate those!