What makes these games appealing to you?

[Deleted member 167032]

Just look at my signature the F95 link is in there...

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.

 

[MrJBJ]

Just look at my signature the F95 link is in there...

Whoops Clearly I should go to sleep The game looks good. I'll try it later.
I now only play as a girl ( don't judge me )but I'll make an exception.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

You'll find RTP is not just straight forward male MC... there's a strong females as well but the game plays many of the main characters not just main MC... Let me know what you think once you caught up...

Whoops Clearly I should go to sleep The game looks good. I'll try it later.
I now only play as a girl ( don't judge me )but I'll make an exception.

 

[Daxter250]

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

you literally came up with all the games i either found too boring or too vanilla xD. throw in some games like kurovadis or roundscape adorevia and i will write ya a fucking poem as to what i like about 'em ^^.

 

[ijako3]

I like humor and good comedy in these games, overall im enjoying the games that don't take the ''really serious'' route nowadays when it comes to the story nonetherless, i still like some story in it, but more on the silly side and not badly written.

I don't enjoy serious games that much anymore, because -
A) they tend to go in a way that have too many unresolved/unexplained plotholes and devs tried too hard to surprise people that play the game.

B) Well, they tend to be too serious, for example i can't really play incest games that are more on the serious side, because they just make me feel weird.

 

[HopesGaming]

As a dev I tried to see what the appeal of my own game is and what has made some people like (and some dislike) it.
So, what I've learned is that my renders are average-above average, sex is nonexistent (heh), sexual tease is liked by the player base (Gracie's rooftop kiss etc).

But the appeal has been the story, characters, and dialogue/banter. When I released my game the market was mostly dominated by incest and had it's booming time around there. 90% of the games released were incest.
So the start appeal was that it was different. The story, not near anything professional, was liked due to how different it was from the usual games.

So basically- interesting story (harder than anyone may think), character development, good dialogue, not too narrative-heavy (show don't tell. It's a visual novel not a book)

99% of my 'negative' comments and bad reviews come from people disliking lack of sex and rarely anything regarding the story and setting. So that is the 'con' of doing it my way.

That's for my game and what I think the appeal is/was.
I can imagine other games having different appeals.

 

[forzato]

I've played most of those games with the exception of Deluca Family & summertime saga.

To summarise
- Learn how to develop characters & build story arcs like a tv show script. Shonda Rhimes tv writing masterclass is a great start
- Niche ideas are difficult to build a following. There's so many boy lives with mum in a new town safe stories here.
- Don't go over the budget expecting success. Avoid too many plots & characters. This is a marathon, not a sprint!
- Artwork quality is very important to players.
- Replayability and a scoring system can build loyal fans faster early in the development.
- Watch out for the end game if you have one main target. Once sex has been achieved it's time to think about closing the story.
- Don't rush the main target interactions either. It won't feel like a grind if you provide plenty of side plots to keep engagement.
- Audio - music, environmental effects are just as important as artwork but are often an afterthought by developers.
- Voiceovers aren't necessary but they can definitely help. Always make it optional though and consider it after development when you have a larger budget and don't have to worry about long term contracts.

 

[spitfire335]

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

I do like Being a Dik, Seeds of Chaos and a few other games on here. The one thing I like above all is player choice. Some games no matter what you choose, you end up in a harem. Harem ending are nice and all, when there is a route like that separated from individual girl routes. Being a Dik does this well. The main character can choose to spend time with the girl he likes instead of being railroaded towards every girl. Another thing I like in these games is variety. Girls should be white, black, Asian, blue (if widowmaker or mystique are options), tan, pale you name it. I just like more than a few here am a sucker for romance in games and don't mind waiting for lewds if there is going to be sufficient build-up with the chosen girl. Endings with the chosen girl are a cherry on top that is always great to see.

 

[TheBigPebis]

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

Doing the big nutte

 

[MrJBJ]

Let me know what you think once you caught up...

The main problem is that I can complete your game by pressing skip text and a few more clicks.
It is a nice story, with detailed visual support, but it's just a story.
Nothing wrong in doing it this way, but most popular games have more choices and or actual gameplay.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Fair enough it's not your type of VN... This whole topic is not about RTP.. but rather what you guys/gals think makes a game appealing which I have received various answers for.

The main problem is that I can complete your game by pressing skip text and a few more clicks.
It is a nice story, with detailed visual support, but it's just a story.
Nothing wrong in doing it this way, but most popular games have more choices and or actual gameplay.

 

[syfy88man]

So Vicky spilling her guts about her past did nothing for you?

For me, I want to know the backstory and why is she is where she is in the game story

 

[syfy88man]

Here is my list of games
The Coceter Chronicles - good details and interesting story but at first it was center on the Queen and the Queen unborn child as why she was being exciled to Earth

BaDIK- good immersion( like MikeMaster game - college life), humor, graphics/animations, and brought me memories of watching Revenge of the Nerd Movie

College LIfe - yes it is grindy but has a backstory where the MC is going to college to save his sister and his mother from a over abusive father

DeLuca Family- great set of characters, the story, slow build up, and a backstory to Luna and should we help her or just not help her since most see her crazy or unstable mentality issues

Timestamps- Amazing graphics, quirky story, left it on a cliffhanger in who really down in the basement near the time machine

Depraved Awaking and City of Dreamers - Philly is able to build a story with really good game details but as you play the game, you can choose to help this person and team up, or just say hell with it and do the game story on your own to get to the game ending story

Long Live the Princess - Love the story and yes it has a funny sidekick Pixie Fairy but it has a backstory where you know things and somehow was trained already but there a big choice that coming soon where you can save her and work with her or will you be the bad guy and own her since she is nothing but a target to be taking down when she show up in the game

Bastard Girls - has a good backstory that the father left early in your life and you was raised in a orphan house but once you hit the legal age, you was given this letter to go to this school that is on the island but you found out a backstory to you but the people who are there are following a old code of living and having power in a family castle housing system from the old days like king and queens

Dreams of Desires and The Lost Memories - this had a good story and a backstory as well that you wanted to learn more about the family but the creator of LewdLabs even went to make a add on story to explain what and why Tracy was doing what she did in the DoD game but at the end, it has 2 choices, to either go with Tracy and help her, or say hell with it and then lost her but at the end, it had a cliffhanger showing that the father was still alive

Wicked Choices - my first love since it had a little demon that needed help but as you play the story and if you did the backstory, you will see that angels and demon might have been a real people and that there a back story with the MC and he can choose to believe the story and do his part or just hell with it and and follow the written propitiates about the returning MC

Then of course your game
Retrieving The Past - it has a backstory and already we see that there is a nightmare and you want to figure it out but as you go through the story to see that there is story with everyone in the game and somehow is connected to Jensen but somehow with his training, it has made he a better man in life but also in love since he a true fuck machine for ladies who want a all night bang workout, lol

 

[thedude]

Acting Lessons - most of the characters are likeable, a male character that really is portrayed as a friend and does this job exceptionally well, amazing writing, drama, plot twist, capable of making me evaluate my own life.

Being A Dik - graphics, sex scenes, beautiful and likeable love interests, great secondary characters, a good balance between light moments and drama, amazing writing. reminds me of movies like American Pie which I loved as a teenager. each of the main characters going through their own issues.

CoBD - still didn't play it, but I plan to do so sometime.

DeLuca Family - same as CoBD.

Milfy City - tried it because of the graphics. Unbearable to play. No story. Stupid characters. Extremelly unlikeable MC. Hate incest. Playing it on the "clean" version makes the setting (if there's any) even more ridiculous.

Timestamp - don't plan on playing it

Big Brother - tried it because of the graphics, but extremelly grinding. again, hate incest. the dev left the players' reaction influence on his story and he dropped the only path I was interested on (Eric).

A Wife and Mother - don't plan on playing it because the dev seems to be an ass.

Summertime Saga - don't plan on playing it.

DMD - "dating my daughter". just the title itself makes me stay away from this game. again, hate incest.

Good Girl Gone Bad - corruption and cheating: my two favorite sexual kinks. a lot of paths. choices that really have an impact on the story and characters. a lot of options to choose for all kinds of kinks: vanila, corruption, cheating, incest, lesbian, futa, group sex, threesome, impregnation, cuckold, anal, titjob, etc. a very decent amount of scenes for all paths explored (good, something in between, bad, very bad). extremelly professional dev, with almost 31 monthly updates and each of them with substantial content.

 

[HoboCop86]

Spoiler: What is it that you like/love about below games

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Acting Lessons:

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BaDik:

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CoBD:

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Deluca Family:

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Milfy City:

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Timestamps:

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Big Brother:

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A wife and Mother:

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Summertime Saga:

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DMD:

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GGGB:

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Light of my life/Where the heart is:

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Since this is all about what makes a game stick out for us/what makes us wanna play and keeps us playing, I give you my little checklist that I go through when I see a new game.

Spoiler

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I hope that helped a bit

 

[ASLPro3D]

Hmm... got pointed to this thread to offer my thoughts.

I have to be honest, I don't have a lot of time to play games after starting my own and only tried, briefly, some of the games you've mentioned.

As for being a successful game, I think it is relative... I see some games out there that I ditched within 5 to 10 minutes of playing them make thousands of dollars a month, while the ones I enjoy are consistent in the sales, but barely make it up to 2k a month.

For mine, I am on a downturn right now because I've been away from creating dealing with my wife and her health... but, in my best days, I was generating nearly $1,500 a month and to me, that was successful.

Because I've lacked time to play other people's games, I haven't had the opportunity to play your game, so I am just going to give you the advice that I've learned based upon my experience... I will try and give your game a shot, sometime this weekend.

Make the game and tell the story you want to tell, be consistent, be honest with your patrons/fans and be as dependable as you can be... do that and you will make money in your game, it may not be 10k a month like some out there... but you will be telling the story that you want to share with people and that is worth more than any money in the world (at least to me).

Be original in your storytelling, pace it well and don't "blue ball" your fans... make sure that the characters are engaging, easy to relate to... if they can't relate to the main character, make the others believable, understanding and diverse in their backstories... but really, you want to try and make your main character relatable, as this is the individual that drives the story and someone that a player can easily associate with, understand and want to make better... the key is letting them step out of their normal, daily grind and escape into someone slightly better and don't have to grind the rest of the day to play.

Understand the fetishes that you inject into your game and make sure there is a believable reason for them to be there... the best fetishes to add are the ones that you, yourself, have and know. Don't add something in because you think it might make you money... if you are doing that, you are creating the game for the wrong reason and it will be easy to see in your storytelling and delivery of that.

Stick to what you know and understand... if people like it, they will return to it and support it. The main thing is you are telling the story that is sitting inside your head, bouncing around and want to get told... do that and everything should fall into place.

Short of that, I will give your game a try this weekend... but I wish you luck and stay your course.

~Jack

 

[Benn Swagger]

1st ... how I won't appeal to a game instantly ...
When the banner of that game is one or multiple character of that game are naked. It's tell me how that developer doesn't love of their own made characters, and only using them for milking moneys. Same as Sexy post too.

2nd ... how I won't appeal to a game after playing it ...
Characteristic = Appearance. I cannot be convinced and appealed to a game, that the character and their appearance are incompatible. You want to tell a story of a good mother, yet she dress & make up like a slut ... wearing bodycon clothing & alluring make up.

3rd ... how I think a game can go popular ...
You character must be not a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu, Perfect on all things. Sure skilled rendering can push your game, but game like Timestamp didn't attract a lot of people due to the main character is just perfect of human being. Handsome, Long Dick, Basket Ball Captain and all women sucker for him in the first sight. If it's not for the incest theme, I won't like timestamp at all.

Sure, there's a combined of luck or more reason into it, but for me, these 3 are strong reason how people gonna attract to your game.

 

[khumak]

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: I liked the story and I liked the way the relationships and choices interacted with the different characters. Didn't really get into it that much but did enjoy what I played of it.

Being a DIK: This pretty much reset the bar for adult games for me. There are a few things I could nitpick, but this game has a good story, good characters, good dialog, good renders, great animations, great music, great interface. The dev for this game really threw down the gauntlet. I think even if this isn't the type of story you like you can't help but look at this game and think, THIS is what an adult game should strive for, even if you'd prefer a different storyline or different art style or whatever.

Milfy City: I thought he did a better than usual job of making characters with semi believeable incest storylines. In particular I thought the big sister's personality was really well done.

TimeStamp: Great renders

Big Brother: The renders for the mom were incredible

Summertime Saga: Tried it, liked the art style but disliked almost everything else about it

DMD: Characters were too young looking so didn't like it

Didn't play the others.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Let me know what you think of RTP but as I've said this topic is not about RTP really more for the future...

Hmm... got pointed to this thread to offer my thoughts.

I have to be honest, I don't have a lot of time to play games after starting my own and only tried, briefly, some of the games you've mentioned.

As for being a successful game, I think it is relative... I see some games out there that I ditched within 5 to 10 minutes of playing them make thousands of dollars a month, while the ones I enjoy are consistent in the sales, but barely make it up to 2k a month.

For mine, I am on a downturn right now because I've been away from creating dealing with my wife and her health... but, in my best days, I was generating nearly $1,500 a month and to me, that was successful.

Because I've lacked time to play other people's games, I haven't had the opportunity to play your game, so I am just going to give you the advice that I've learned based upon my experience... I will try and give your game a shot, sometime this weekend.

Make the game and tell the story you want to tell, be consistent, be honest with your patrons/fans and be as dependable as you can be... do that and you will make money in your game, it may not be 10k a month like some out there... but you will be telling the story that you want to share with people and that is worth more than any money in the world (at least to me).

Be original in your storytelling, pace it well and don't "blue ball" your fans... make sure that the characters are engaging, easy to relate to... if they can't relate to the main character, make the others believable, understanding and diverse in their backstories... but really, you want to try and make your main character relatable, as this is the individual that drives the story and someone that a player can easily associate with, understand and want to make better... the key is letting them step out of their normal, daily grind and escape into someone slightly better and don't have to grind the rest of the day to play.

Understand the fetishes that you inject into your game and make sure there is a believable reason for them to be there... the best fetishes to add are the ones that you, yourself, have and know. Don't add something in because you think it might make you money... if you are doing that, you are creating the game for the wrong reason and it will be easy to see in your storytelling and delivery of that.

Stick to what you know and understand... if people like it, they will return to it and support it. The main thing is you are telling the story that is sitting inside your head, bouncing around and want to get told... do that and everything should fall into place.

Short of that, I will give your game a try this weekend... but I wish you luck and stay your course.

~Jack

 

[tomcire]

The story, not near anything professional...

Still better than twilight.
And still better than most comic/superhero/action stuff.
___
Talking about the games:

Big Brother, Summertime Saga, DMD: I think they were the most ambitious games when they were launched and the audience became loyal and attached to those games. The incest fetish demand was there and they were the answer, they set the line, it doesn't mean that copying them may be the winning strategy, they have their flaws without doubt, at least, these are my 2 cents.

BaDik, DeLuca Family: They are quite different. About BaDik the render quality is without doubt very high, but their strength is that they work well even as non porno visual novel, they are good work for their genre even if you remove the sex. BaDik still would work as a college comedy, De Luca Family (that still has no sex scenes) will work as comic-like mafia story AND their mechanics are not annoying. The grinding part of De Luca Family and the fighting minigame of BaDik are not frustrating.
It doesn't mean that copying them would be the best for you.
Author of BaDik and CoBD (I didn't play this one) had already a community of fans, besides the quality of those game, they were already popular before they were ever played.

I will play your game and I will write my review, maybe it will help.
I think that all (or most) of these games didn't just used this forum to publicize their game, but many different other channels, visibility is important to reach the audience... as the first impact. I would suggest you to change the banner, good render, but that pic doesn't push me to download your game, it does not convince me because it tells me nothing about the game, it's just an ass in front of a camera, and and ass in front of a camera didn't save Suicide Squad from being a terrible movie, and doesn't exist a perfect formula.
Nobody wanted to publish HP at first, a best seller (a real best) is always spontaneous and nobody can predict how it will end, as the other Rowling's Saga that didn't end as well as the publisher thought.