What makes these games appealing to you?

[vir_cotto]

Hey all...

I am always looking at improving myself and what I can do better. Best way is to learn from others.

What is it that you like/love about below games. What makes em pop for you?

Acting Lessons/BaDik, CoBD, DeLuca Family, Milfy City, Timestamp, Big Brother, A Wife and a mother, Summertime Saga, DMD and Good girl gone Bad for instance?

Thx

Acting Lessons/BaDik, CoBD/DA, DeLuca Family - great story writing, fleshed-out characters, deviation from usual (boring) tropes, nice and some pretty unique models, animations...

Timestamp - while I could add this game to those above, I'm still not sure if the story is full of illogical nonsenses or that's just because of the story. Models are great, animations also. I don't like Unity or Unreal in adult gaming but I don't mind that in this case.

Milfy City - there is absolutely nothing worth my time except nice models. Everything else is forgettable.

Big Brother - if anybody wants to be a developer-whore, he/she can learn from this garbage.

A Wife and Mother, Good Girl Gone Bad - I'm not interested in games with a female protagonist.

DMD - it was fun, it was the best incest game (Parental Love has that title for a very long time now) - for those into that fetish - and became worse and worse. Now it's on the way to become new BB. Or even worse.

SS - it feels like a big world. Unique graphics are always plus (if done right). Didn't play it for a long time now.

 

[anne O'nymous]

On that do you find similar type of situations happening in the games I mentioned above? Do they answer all your questions regarding characters and their lives, situations? IF so then I seriously need to have a look at how the devs handled those situations without it being drawn out.

There's probably game with that, but I don't remember them right now. But one thing you can look at is the scene regarding Luna's past in The DeLuca Family. The interesting part being that it's a mix between past and present. It reinforce what the player will feel, while telling a lot about how Luna dealt with it and how it still affect her.
Take note that all don't rely only on the dialog. The lighting is an important part of the emotions sent by the scene, as well as the contrast sometimes between what is said, and how the character look. Same for the contrast between the reality and what the scene show us. Like by example what will probably stay as the saddest scene in an adult game, when Luna hold Sofia's hand when... well, when ! There's what is said by Sofia, what is shown by the CG, what Luna thought, and what we, adult players, know as being the truth. And each one of those things contradict the three others. As player we are put alternatively in Sofia's shoes and Luna's ones, while still knowing what will happen, still expecting that we are wrong. And it's because of this mix that the triggered emotions are so strong. We aren't anymore just spectator of this sad thing, we are implicated.
Only HopesGaming know, but I'm sure that this sole scene needed more than one week of works and was redone many times.

The whole quest ("My Name is Luna") itself is really interesting. The way Luna feel betrayed at first, how it annoy her, how later she deal with the situation, then with MC's decision. And as always, it don't rely only on the dialog ; the CG, the angle of camera and the lighting have their part to play. When Luna is looking at the TV on the couch near the MC, it's not just what she say that tell us how much she hate this situation and "want him back". It's also the way she look.
It's one of the force of games like The DeLuca Family, Heavy five or Philly's ones, the CGs tell us what isn't shown on the dialog, give us the tone that is missing.

 

[Fzoner95]

What is needed for an enjoyable experience? A straight novel (kinetic), almost like in The Visit? Some choices like in DMD or Dreams of Desire? A lot of choices like in GGGB? A sandbox game like Summertime Saga or Milfy City? Hot renders? 2D images? Great music? A phantastic story? Humor? A sense of danger and violence? Strange fetishes?

I'd say all and none of the above.

I am a simple man. Or maybe just the lust area of my brain is. I enjoy simple sex scenes. Or rather fabricated situations. A patchwork of situations, like anne O'nymous called it. But yet a story is nice and believable characters are great.
So I think the most important thing is to find your own thing. Do you want to tell a story or rather have something that you consider hot? Do you want to include simple jokes like in Dirty Pool or clever funny writing like in Waifu Academy? Do what feels right.

Here are some general important points:

• Flesh out your characters a bit, people enjoy that even in a stupid story
• Having music greatly improves a game
• Grinding is bad except when it's done really well (like in SS)
• Have your characters interact, plot against each other! Usually much more interesting than just MC banging all the chicks
• When you do a drama game add some light humor. When you do a simple slice of life game add some danger oder at least some kind of obstacle or riddle
• Let players enjoy the nudity by not giving everything at once. Let them earn it. Dream sequences are usually too cheap.
• Keep your gameplay as simple as you can handle it. A simple and straight game that works fine is much better than an aspiring game with mechanics when there is nothing to do.
• When you use some trope like magic or time travelling think about how it works and explain it to the player or let him find out and then stick to it

Of course I can only speak for myself. For example I don't like Good Girl Gone Bad at all and I seem to be quite alone here (No, it's not because of the female character, I love A Wife and Mother and Inevitable Relations). But that's okay, different people like different things.

 

[SeventhVixen]

So from all those games I played 5 or 6 but I did not played more than 30 minutes most of them, and only find really appealling two, Summertime saga and Deluca Family.

SSaga just for gameplay (conversations, fairly enjoyable freeroam...) and Roxxy story. It's well written and sexy. Problem with the rest of the game is that is Very in progress as it has been reworked lots of times, and I don't find appealing what the other story archs that are already there. Other than that, the gameplay elements of SS are appreciated (lite graphic adventure style of exploring, fiding objects, crafting, etc). Those elements had made me play lots of times enduring the pieces of story that were not interesting (for me).

Delucca Family has a story that unfolds, characters that show personality, and enough aspects of gameplay to keep it more interesting. And for games in progress I quite prefer the release of good story chunks more than adding 30 Teaser of girls that say hey and show cleveage so you can fuck'em in update 40. (or maybe get some head on update 20) (after a handjob in update 10)

The other games, asi I said I only played two more from them, not saying names, but I guess some of them is their fault there is a lot more of games that look the same, and that do not try to make a story nor gameplay, because: (I'm going to try not to be harsh):

-1. Grind instead of gameplay (Badly understood gameplay)
-2. Well worked character personality/character story arch is not some nice daz models from daz store with some boring enviromental lighting that just show you from all angles how well modelled and textured are the models from the daz store. as anne O'nymous was saying, a game can have an incredible character build-up just by showing good scenic renders That Told a Story, they don't even have to talk.

So.... good story and gameplay.
Of course we're talking about nsfw games here... I like them sexy but don't even need to be sexual. I just enjoy more a good game with sexiness (like half the games from the 80's-90's than a SJW appealing game of these days)

PS: Tlaero games are good examples of good story.

 

[Volta]

Acting lessons: primarily realistic characters/characterisation is what kept me engaged, all of them felt human and "real", even mad carrot to a degree, Liam stole the show and of course the good handling and balance between lighthearted stuff and heavy melodrama, the whole game had a bittersweet thing going for it which is nice since a lot of games fail at having an overall feel that makes the game work as a whole

BaDik: honestly isn't doing a whole lot for me right now, some of the characters are great but the cast is a little too big for me to engage with any individual yet, visuals are good and an attempt at bringing in more gameplay elements is nice but i don't feel like they do much but make me want a cheat mod right now, may work better in the future.

CoBD(and depraved awakening) - Story, they both have a story i wouldn't get bored of without the sex, how many games can you say that about? great production values and solid styles of writing and characterisation work in both games favour too, also they both have a solid overall feel, similarly to acting lessons.

DeLuca family - N/A, haven't played since 0.2, though it had a good premise and interesting characters, i've seen it praised for the latter a lot

Milf City - imagine a tired old idea done well, yeah, that. Also ICSTOR taking his game up a notch, moving to Ren'py, making his MC over 12 years old, no mind control + rape BS so far, basically it's like ICSTOR legitimately looked in the mirror and worked out some of his failings, got to hand it to a dev who can not just refine his style or evolve it but actively pick and choose the good from the bad, shows he's got his head on right, give or take so delay shenanigans.

Timestamps - The story wasn't doing much for me till the last two updates, now i actually think it has a story rather than just being a well animated romp, which by the way the animations are very good, in fact visually the entire game is very good, writing leaves a little to be desired though but since i can't predict the story 100% anymore at least it leaves me with a want to speculate, which was the main pull for DoD as well, pity the endings didn't deliver the kick it could have on that one.

BB - it's bad by modern standards but it's like judging a 60's car by today's standards, the whole adult indie VN thing has come a long way. At the time graphics where top notch, almost everything else is not worth mentioning, though the Eric Vs MC thing was interesting while it lasted, not for the NTR but for the clear and present rival to the MC

aWaM - this simply doesn't interest me in anyway at all now, graphics are great(mostly) but otherwise, meh, nothing that every other corrupt the fem MC game doesn't have and frankly if I, as the player, am working against my own PC's best interests, why bother?

Summertime Sage - also nope, though it is better than many sandbox types

DMD - too rapey, too Loli

GGGB - never actually tried it, the art put me off

To engage me with a game you need a combination of a few things, each to at least a decent level but the sum of the parts matters more than an individual element of the game, those parts are:

- Story, if i can predict where it's going to end in the 0.3 then why should i bother doing anything but holding skip till the next sex scene?

- Graphics, renders and animation(s): i'd prefer if my eye didn't bleed while i was playing, but honestly you don't need CoBD level graphics, but they are damn nice.

- Characters, personality matters as much as visuals here, DeLuca girls look good but there are others i prefer on that front, the personalities make up a load of the difference, for example i didn't care at all for any one of the girls in Lancaster boarding house because not one of them interested me the way that Belle from LLtP did, let alone the surprisingly predatory Linda in Milf City, yes i know it's ICSTOR surface level stuff but it engages me because it breaks the pattern so much and so well.

- Gameplay, more relevant to sandbox games but if your game is a VN this still counts, use the medium you've chosen to it's fullest, if your using RPGM then make a damn RPG, if you're using Ren'py give me story, horses for courses.

- Dev behaviour, a good dev attitude makes all the difference to how a game is received, be open, honest, realistic and communicate your aim. i don't care if your update schedule is two weeks per update, a month or per quarter, just make it worth the time gap, don't say "it will be done by Friday 101%" and then fail, say "it''ll be a week or two" and then drop it in that window, even if that window is a little later than you'd like, basically don't leave us hanging expecting something, better to surprise us with an update being done a week early.

Damn that was longer than i expected it to be.

 

[jamdan]

Acting Lessons: This is one of my favorite games, even though I just did 1 playthrough. I really hated that fire, which is why I didn't play it again. I liked the story and Melissa is one of my favorite girls ever. Im a sucker for trying to help damsels in distress, makes you feel good.

How it could've been better: A way to avoid that fire. Players play these games to feel good (not just physically ) so forcing them to choose between 2 people they became attached to is low (when it involves death).

-------------------------
BaDIK: Basically the same as AL, like the story and the girls are all pretty and interesting. Lots of drama, which may or may not be a good thing (at least it keeps things interesting, fun to speculate)

How it can be better: I turn them off, but I didn't like the mini-games. Feels like a waste of time for a player and development perspective.
------------------------
CoBD: Story, it has an interesting setting too and the girls are all nice. Like the different personalities, they have some complexity.

How it can be better: Nothing really comes to mind.
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DeLuca: I like Mafia stuff, and the story is great. Its kind of dumb, but I have always liked games where MC can "rank up" (99.9% of these are regular games). the girls are great too, Luna is one of my broken girl repair projects.

How it can be better: Needs a replay gallery.
-------------------

M-City: This one is pretty generic from a story perspective, but I like Caroline/Sara enough to play it anyway. One of the first (if not the first) "AAA" adult game I played.

How it can be better: Takes years to update, dev needs to hire some help. But for the actual game, the stories are a bit generic like i said (besides Caroline). That wall climbing mini game is impossible.
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AWAM: I have downloaded this twice, but deleted it both times. Its probably a problem with immersion. Although when I did play it, it felt like it was really really slow plot development. I suppose that might make it more realistic though.

How it can be better: Cant comment, as I haven't played that much. But If I had to say from what I played, the story needs to progress a little quicker (go from a snail, to a fast snail).

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Summertime Saga: Like the quantity of things to do, I like the art too. A pretty good variety of girls too, petite, emo , busty, chubby etc. I particularity liked Roxxy's development. Character growth was nice.

How it can be better: Save compatibility , better hints. The mini-games are dumb.

-------------------------

DMD: A long story and I like the girls for the most part. The long buildup between D/F was good and there isn't that much drama (besides with the mom of D, which makes sense)

How it can be better: I'd like it more if you can choose whether or not to pursue D (I know what the game is called lol). Choice is always nice, this game does have good choice on the other stuff though. If Jen/Elena didn't' look like 12 year olds.

-----------------

Timestamps: This is the only Unity game I am playing, I like the story (really the only time travel game I like) and the girls are interesting. Bacon is cool, but not Evil Bacon. He sucks. Gaz fits my "damsel in distress" hero complex lol.

How it can be better: Really, the sandbox/free roam isn't needed.




So a general summary of what makes me play a game (not just the ones above) or is definitely a bonus

+ Good story, Im not expecting Stephen King or something but put some thought into it.
+ Nice models, obviously they need to be pretty. another + if they are unique art styles (Offcuts, Light of My Life etc.)
+ Related to the above, model diversity. Not everyone needs to be a DDD with hips/ass that can kill. Petite girl, busty girl, chubby girl, emo, nerd etc. Personality is important too, I'd say more so.
+ Choice, linear games are perfectly fine (some of my favorites are) but if you have something particularly dark it needs a way to be avoidable (house fire, death etc.)
+ Good hint system if its a sandbox/free roam, if not then I wont play it (exception for SS, as the WT is really good)

- Grind, some grind is fine (like in DeLuca) but if you need to do something 25 times its a no go.
- Free-roam/sandbox that has a bad or no hint system
- Too much choice, yes I listed Choice as a + but if it gets too complex it just becomes a nightmare to get what you want without a guide. bad for the dev too, many a game has been abandoned because of route complexity problems.
- 90% of mini-games

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Thx all.. some good info.

 

[Joshua Tree]

With so many games out there, it's a bit hard to say what is appealing and not.

Everyone got their own kinks and preferences. I lean more towards taboo stuff, but try just about anything. I prefer games where the protag got a LI/objective to pursue. If the player get the freedom to pick from several, I don't mind. I don't like it when the protag end up nail half the city on his/her journey though. Kinda make a LI pointless. If you take the typical "generic incest flare" game, you end up bone the entire family down the dog just about, which just make it silly.

Story and character development trumps eye candy. Doesn't matter how good the creator is at create scenes and images, if can't string two sentences together.

A big turn off is if the characters shallow and dumb as bread. Can add elephant dong males and women that rival Lolo Ferrari to that pile as well. I read some place, some creators goes over the top because it get easier to model scenes. Idk, maybe take lessons from porn movies. They make it work.

As a fan of rpg games, and similar. I like it when the player get choices. More choices than a) take it up the ass, or b) choke on it. What if the player prefer neither?

 

[desmosome]

DPK - He is the master of characters. Characters that act and feel real. Natural dialogue. Humor. He goes for situational comedy which is a tier above humor deriving from memes and references.

Philly - Ambience. Overall plot. World building. Probably the best at cinematic story telling.

Hopes - A little bit of mix of the above 2 guys. His game isn't going for straight realism, but the characters are quirky and interesting. They are well written. Overall plot developments that keeps a sense of mystery and intrigue.

All of the 3 guys above excel at portraying information and emotions through visuals. Camera angles, lighting, how the scene plays out.

There is another recent game that rivals the above in visual story telling. Primal Instinct by SilkandMilkProductions. I think this game does the best job out of all existing games in portraying emotions through expressions and mannerisms.

GGGB - I think coding is the most impressive aspect of this game lol. The art, story and everything is great, but the amount of freedom and variations in how the story plays out based on the staggering amount of choices is incredible. It's a miracle that this game has so few out of place moments even when you do a really weird playthrough that mixes good girl and bad girl actions.

I havn't played the other games much or at all, so I can't really say. I tried STS and Timestamps, but the annoying gameplay made me quit very fast. I am pretty adverse to free roam/sandbox unless those mechanics have a specific purpose within the framework of the character's goals and the overall plot. For that reason, I prefer an epic or grand hero's quest when it comes to free roam (The call of the Void). A real sandbox "gotta catch em all" like A Spell for All also work. A true real life sim like High-Rise Climb or Sex, Love, Second Base also fit the sandbox gameplay. I guess STS can qualify as a life sim, but it honestly just felt like scene hunting. Pretty subjective I guess.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Great stuff i've added your ideas comments in a file and will review later. Some people are just born with a knack for certain things and seems DocP, Philly and Hopes have that. Some of us will have to work harder on certain aspects to improve on whatever we working on.

Thx again.

 

[Joshua Tree]

Great stuff i've added your ideas comments in a file and will review later. Some people are just born with a knack for certain things and seems DocP, Philly and Hopes have that. Some of us will have to work harder on certain aspects to improve on whatever we working on.

Thx again.

Sometimes, we see people try copy the formula of someone else, because it seems successful. But tbh, have creators find their own way and path is more interesting than play the same old someone else made before. I don't think anyone is really born with such skills, it more depends on their interest and practice (a lot of it)

 

[Deleted member 167032]

I don't know man... Some people just "get's" it you know. Suppose can be likened to "talent". Don't get me wrong I worked just as hard on my game as theirs same with many other devs. These great devs to me just seem to "get" what people want.

I totally understand what you saying about originality, but if you look at Doc, Philly and Hopes they all made/make something different than the norm. And mostly not incest in most cases which shows you it can be done.

I pour my heart into RTP, so do the co-writer Rogue. We discuss and argue and laugh about the story we have planned yet it's not well recieved. Personally I need to find out what "makes" a story tick. Rogue believes he knows and good on him. I however am not so sure.

I will get there I believe. I am my worst critic i guess.

Sometimes, we see people try copy the formula of someone else, because it seems successful. But tbh, have creators find their own way and path is more interesting than play the same old someone else made before. I don't think anyone is really born with such skills, it more depends on their interest and practice (a lot of it)

 

[Joshua Tree]

I don't know man... Some people just "get's" it you know. Suppose can be likened to "talent". Don't get me wrong I worked just as hard on my game as theirs same with many other devs. These great devs to me just seem to "get" what people want.

I totally understand what you saying about originality, but if you look at Doc, Philly and Hopes they all made/make something different than the norm. And mostly not incest in most cases which shows you it can be done.

I pour my heart into RTP, so do the co-writer Rogue. We discuss and argue and laugh about the story we have planned yet it's not well recieved. Personally I need to find out what "makes" a story tick. Rogue believes he knows and good on him. I however am not so sure.

I will get there I believe. I am my worst critic i guess.

You can't please everyone all the time -) I find, either someone like your work, or they don't. I always been advocating for creators to make the game, they want to make. Then players can make the choice if they want to play it or not. See to many times people complain a game doesn't have x or y, or doesn't do this and that. People will always compare your work to others as well, don't let that put you down. It's okay to look up to other creators and talent, but there can only be one "you", you know.

What make a good story ticks, is different from person to person. I'm more into "closer to reality" stuff. Others hate that. Different folks, different strokes...

 

[Hadley]

Most important for me is a believable Story. I liked RTP until it went completely crazy with Superpower-Soldiers, Yakuza, Russian Mafia and some crazy Plot-Twists. Stuff like that kills the immersion for me.

 

[Ragnar]

Lessons/BaDik = Good renders and interesting stories
CoBD = Story, settings, sex.
DeLuca Family = Not iterested
Milfy City = Not interested
Timestamp = Not interested
Big Brother = Not interested
A Wife and a mother = Not interested
Summertime Saga = Waiting for ver 1.0 before touching it
DMD = Started playing it years ago, It's just a habit now.
Good girl gone Bad = Sex, replay value, options, different paths, graphics, story...

If you are looking for the formula to success, forget it, there is no such thing.
You can try it with the most popular genre, incest, but there are hundreds of games about it already, some of them better than the most successful of Patreon.
There are good games that go totally unnoticed and bad ones from that list that win over four figures every month.

 

[MrJBJ]

DeLuca family - beautiful, interesting plot, realistic bodies. (good writing supported by beautiful images)
Good girl gone bad - nice art, many options, good writing. (you have many choices that change and shape your game)
Don't really liked/played the others.

 

[BrokenDreams]

First of all, why are you considering this games? Is it because you personally enjoy them or that they are popular by your standards? Do you want to create a popular game or do you want to tell your own story?

If you really want to know about the general opinion on this games then i will suggest you to go through their respective game threads.The games listed by you have three distinct types of audiences. Mostly it is the same sets of people who take part in this sort of discussions and hence you would not get the proper representatives for all the three factions. For example, if you follow the discussions in this sub-forum, you will get the feeling that some games(or, some genre's) are universally hated. However, on the concerning game threads you will see that many people are loving that game blissfully unaware of the fact that their loved games are being shredded to pieces by the elite members of the community.

Just try to give your best is all i would say. There are many fans of your game and they appreciate your effort. If the talent is within you, you will surely find success through hard work. I respect every devs who try their best. The end product may not be of a certain standard but at least they tried through honest means. Now, there are elite members in this community who would go to a new game thread-->play the game-->will encounter a tag they don't like-->will scream 'Trash','Dumpster Fire','Delete' and gloat in their elitism, there is nothing constructive in such criticisms. Funny thing is, even after their 'elite' criticisms, many people still enjoy those games. This are the people who will honestly tell you -what makes a game truly popular.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Just the fact that you do not even know (if you addressing me that is) a game called Retrieving the Past that in itself tells me that my game is not a major success regarding popularity as you would've heard of it.

I am gathering peoples thoughts and ideas as to what they like so that my next venture will be something closer to what a broad spectrum of players like, That is all.

Thx for your tips...

First of all, why are you considering this games? Is it because you personally enjoy them or that they are popular by your standards? Do you want to create a popular game or do you want to tell your own story?

If you really want to know about the general opinion on this games then i will suggest you to go through their respective game threads.The games listed by you have three distinct types of audiences. Mostly it is the same sets of people who take part in this sort of discussions and hence you would not get the proper representatives for all the three factions. For example, if you follow the discussions in this sub-forum, you will get the feeling that some games(or, some genre's) are universally hated. However, on the concerning game threads you will see that many people are loving that game blissfully unaware of the fact that their loved games are being shredded to pieces by the elite members of the community.

Just try to give your best is all i would say. There are many fans of your game and they appreciate your effort. If the talent is within you, you will surely find success through hard work. I respect every devs who try their best. The end product may not be of a certain standard but at least they tried through honest means. Now, there are elite members in this community who would go to a new game thread-->play the game-->will encounter a tag they don't like-->will scream 'Trash','Dumpster Fire','Delete' and gloat in their elitism, there is nothing constructive in such criticisms. Funny thing is, even after their 'elite' criticisms, many people still enjoy those games. This are the people who will honestly tell you -what makes a game truly popular.

 

[BrokenDreams]

Just the fact that you do not even know (if you addressing me that is) a game called Retrieving the Past that in itself tells me that my game is not a major success regarding popularity as you would've heard of it.

I am gathering peoples thoughts and ideas as to what they like so that my next venture will be something closer to what a broad spectrum of players like, That is all.

Thx for your tips...

I know your the developer of RTP. I just wanted to say if you have your own story to tell, produce the best version that is possible. The games you mentioned are popular among three distinct group of players(there are crossovers). If you want to generalize what made them popular, you will get contradicting statements. Every game you listed found success in their own unique way. You know the basics of a good game, just find your unique factor.

 

[MrJBJ]

Do you have a copy of your game here? I couldn't find it.
If you have one, please link it and if you don't, I'd recommend sharing it.
It sounds counterproductive to share your game for free, but advertisement value and direct feedback from more people is worth it, in my opinion.
In general, I'd recommend to always make what you love, what you can be proud of. If you'll love your game someone will love it too.
But if you want to be popular and earn more money, make your characters do nasty things in good visuals, fill in as many tags as you can and let people shape the game for you with their nasty fantasies.