What part do you focus on an RPGMaker game?

[CoconutPanda]

Hello, I've been making an RpgMaker game for months now. I am trying to balance my story, gameplay and adult scenes. So I was wondering what do people most focus on when it comes to playing an rpgmaker game.
Do people want erotic scenes early?
Are you more interested in how the story is?
Does gameplay have to be really fun?
Does it need to be grindy?
Do you need a ton of adult scenes?
And one of the questions that has been bothering me, Do you need a good art for an adult game?
Stuff like that.

 

[anne O'nymous]

So I was wondering what do people most focus on when it comes to playing an rpgmaker game.

The RPG part, and it's the reason why I rarely play western RPGMaker games. Most of them are just visual novels coupled to a walk simulator with, sometimes, combats as excuse for the engine choice, while really few are role playing games.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

Do people want erotic scenes early?
Are you more interested in how the story is?

Not necessarily, but you better get the fetish "hook" in there early. E.g. if it's gonna be a trainer game, set up that relationship early, even if it takes hours for the training to get to anything explicit. If it starts 2 hours into the game, I might not play that far. I go into each game with a mindset of "let's see if this sets up an interesting premise", in terms of the sexual aspect. If it does, then I can get invested in the story and the gameplay and everything else.

Does gameplay have to be really fun?
Does it need to be grindy?

It should at least be competent. I'm not expecting Final Fantasy 6, just something moderately challenging and engaging. Ideally there shouldn't be much grind, as in "I have to kill another 100 goblins to be able to afford a better axe to kill that boss". I can understand if there's some repetition and padding, but it shouldn't come down to doing the exact same thing over and over consecutively. Also, as a tip, have plenty of fast-travel options; Backtracking isn't fun either.

Do you need a ton of adult scenes?

No, my fav on RPGM right now doesn't have a ton of scenes, and it takes 15+ hours to get to some of them. It's a slow corruption game, and I'm fine with that.

And one of the questions that has been bothering me, Do you need a good art for an adult game?

Need, no. It's a bonus, but the writing is more important. I can even enjoy text-only games if the writing is really good and the fetishes work for me, along with some decent gameplay.

 

[Meaning Less]

Interactivity, being able to walk around town and talk with npcs is why most people opt for RPGM instead of other engines for their stories.

Many of those games have no grind, no rpg elements and few erotic cgs. Because what really matters is how interactive the exploration is and how much added freedom the sprite based RPGM system adds to the story.

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

what do people most focus on when it comes to playing an rpgmaker game.

Here is my formula of success:
1. An interesting, skillfully written story.
2. Beautiful art to greatly enhance that story.
3. Simple, smart UI to wrap all of that sexiness up in.
4. Interesting combat and gameplay mechanics.
5. Wide range of kinks, even the more hardcore and rare ones.
6. And last but not least: Background ambient, music.

 

[Crazy_Chameleon]

I think you should frontload at least one Erotic scene. Some people switch off a game because they don't like the art style or the scene writing. And if there's a lot between them and that content then they can just decide they can't be bothered.

I think the story focus is fine as long as it's engaging. One of the best story advice I heard was from the creators of South Park. Then is your enemy But is your friend. To explain if what happens next in a story can be described as X happens and then because of that Y happens .. Then it's pretty boring. But if you have X happens But then Y happens! It's much more interesting. Obviously you don't want to give your players whiplash but avoid boring them with long logical chains of events. The shit that happens to fuck with your characters is what stops them getting mired in a tedious game loop.

And remember when making characters they need both flaws and virtues! I've seen either extreme and it either creates an unbelievable Mary sue or a boring asshole that no one empathises with. Consider not only what they say but the way that they speak. How do they laugh? Do they give people nicknames? etc. Characterization is super important in a hentai game because you need people to love the characters. Otherwise they wont enjoy the hentai. Good characterization is arguably MORE important than a solid plot.

Make sure that the game loop is simple and easy to understand. And each element feeds into it. If you have them searching under every nook and cranny to find things they will quickly grow bored. No one really wants to play a hentai game that resembles an open world game.

And for the love of god DON'T MAKE A GAME WITH TIME PRESSURE!!

People who like this are a special and rare breed that aren't really worth catering to. Most people hate it.

Also random encounters are universally despised.

I think that's everything I would say

 

[Deleted member 229118]

Gameplay.

Sex is great but get repetative fast.
Story...
Most porn stories are so boring i skip them.
Gameplay is what keeps me invested.

However good gameplay is hard to find even in none porn games.

For example:
https://f95zone.to/threads/the-evil...round-append-v2-08-osanagocoronokimini.92201/
Is simple but fun.
So is:
https://f95zone.to/threads/the-imperial-gatekeeper-v1-75-tengsten.33616/
https://f95zone.to/threads/lab-rats-2-v0-51-1-vren.7260/
https://f95zone.to/threads/hentai-high-school-v1-10-0-public-beta-sp1-sp4-hhs.1016/

I wish more porn games where games first and porn second.
I mean if i want a quick fap i got movies, stories, etc.

However good gameplay is extreemly hard.
You got to have a decent pacing, interesting mechnic's and something that motivate's you for playing.
Part of why i like brothel games is the building up of my bussiness gameplay.
The sex itself means nothing outside its more interesting then selling boxes.
Or corruption games like:
https://f95zone.to/threads/superpowered-v0-45-03-night-city-productions.124/
Where the mind control is both powerfull and limited.
It give's you a lot of power but not total power.
Ever option has a downside and i having to balance what i want vs the cost.
For example: Do i want to gain more control over them at the cost of hard to farm favor's?
Do i want them to be horny all the time but still dress in suits?
Its a puzzle game where you balance different options get the closed possible to your desired result.

You could for example make a game about reprogramming woman.
Where you accauly have to take into considering people need to eat, drink, sleep, etc.
Just think about it.
How do you run a household of mindless drones who wont eat, sleep or drink unless told?
You set up sceduals.

Or you could have a game about sneaking around.
Where you have the thrill of stalking your latest victem without getting caught.

A good game makes you feel like you earned your reward rather then just get it.

Now as it is a porn game the challange's shoudnt be hard.
Just take effort.

Lets take a simple example of a game i came up with(but can not make due to lack of skills and patience)
Terror:
The idea behind the game is that your the eldest son in a family who already raped his mothers and sisters into submission.
His father is a cop and the only one the main character fears.
The gameplay loop is that you need to keep the womans fear stat below 100 and above 0.
If they get too afraid or too brave its game over.
While at the same time you got to avoid getting caught by your father.
Who would kill you for what you did.

The gameplay is mostly moving around the house and keeping the girls in line while trying to avoid your father catching you in the act.

Like lets say your fucking one of your sisters on the toilet and your father came home early.
You have to keep your victem very quiet to avoid the father hearing you and killing you.
Likewise if fear drops to 0 the girls will simple tell dad(your dead) or if its gets to 100 they kill you out of fear.
Now add to this that the girls obediance is tied to fear.
For example to have a foursome you need to have them all have 80 fear.
Thing is.
Its very easy to get lost in the mood and get to 100 fear or neglect a girl so she gathers the courage(0 fear)

Or a game where you have a harem and you need to balance there many needs to keep peace in the harems.
A lot of games focus on harem building.
Very few focus on how difficult it is to keep them.

Gameplay is fun.
I enjoy building things.
Corrupting people.
Exploiting them.
Sex is fun but power is better.
And a game that makes me feel smart, powerful and in control because i played it well is always more fun then:
Skip unseen text: Skip to sex scene.

 

[Uthuriel]

So I was wondering what do people most focus on when it comes to an rpgmaker game.

On not downloading it...

 

[Deleted member 4866084]

The quit button when I realize it's not Ren'py.

 

[Crazy_Chameleon]

Lol people do love their renpy .. But I've never seen anything beyond a visual novel done in renpy without extreme clunkiness. Don't get me wrong it probably CAN be done. But Malificus DOES have a point about gameplay. It doesn't have to be complex. In fact it's better if you keep things simple. There's so many plugins for rpgmaker that it can feel tempting to use them. But every layer of complexity you add also adds to development time. Try to make sure what you are adding is actually worth it.

Rpgmaker combat is okay. But it's really NOT great. And as a solo dev you'll never have time to balance it properly if you start adding in additional layers. Few difficult combats are way better than lots of easy ones. How difficult you make things depends on what you want to get out of it. Some people genuinely enjoy easy combat that makes them feel powerful .. Other people won't enjoy combat unless it's challenging. I think balancing this out properly comes after feeling out your audience a bit. Err on the more difficult side of things at first. If it's 'too hard' there will be a lot less backlash against you nerfing it than if it's too easy and you make it harder. And before you nerf it make sure that you are properly signposting the correct use of skills. E.G I make high evasion enemies but there's a class that has lots of certain hit attacks that is made for dealing with them. But it's not like the player can read your mind!

Just remember that rpgmaker gameplay is something everyone has played before. It's never going to be stellar. The best you can hope for is fun. Try to create some cool systems outside of combat to make up for it. Consider adding a debug or auto win op skill that can skip combat .. some people are only in it for story and lewds and they will appreciate the option! plus if you make things way too hard it gives you breathing room to balance it out as the players can still pass the content.

For example in my game I have an influence system that is used to buy building permits that you can construct building with gold that eventually increase a regular income value. I also don't have any gold drops and the players sole income stream is these buildings and selling crafting materials that they can also get an income of through buildings. The idea is to create a loop of continual re investment and growing rewards! With both influence and money being used to advance the main goals as much as combat power. and the crafting materials being useful in upgrading equipment and as a revenue stream.

People LOVE feeling like they are accomplishing more than one thing at once. If a single activity feeds into multiple goals even slightly then it always feels more rewarding than simply working towards a single thing at a time. It's like say you get a quest to kill 10 bears and also deliver 10 bear hides .. That bear kill now feels more meaningful and rewarding. Even though the game devs could just as easily have asked you to kill 10 bears and given you the same rewards as both quests. The player still FEELS smarter

In this way I create buildings and they give me income and resources that I can use to buy supplies and advance the story and buy more buildings and craft weapons that upgrade the characters and now I have more income so I can buy more buildings and now I have more resources so I can afford that new armor I wanted and so on and so on .. Create a feeling of growth and investment in the out of combat systems that rewards the player for their participation.

Sure i could just give the player gold for combat and have them buy their shit but that just feels like an arbitrary rationing system rather than an actual reward for their efforts. Your scope is limited so you have to use psychology a bit to keep people invested

 

[Adase]

Use the mechanics unique to RPGmaker the fullest.

Great examples :
- Karryn's prison
The combat mechanic is brilliantly mixed with the lewd/sex scenes
- Nymphomania paradise
Decently extensive clothes changes using equipment mechanic and the line of sight exhibitionism. The last aspect fully uses the fact that you can actually control the movement of your character in-game and it gives a sense of the space as well.

If your game can be substituted by a renpy when the combat and walking are gone, you're doing it wrong.
Good story is always welcome but focus more on the setting on how the sex scenes come to be is more important

Good art is always welcome, but focus more on arts that are arousing and match well with the setting. Like the original urban demon. Erotic scenes should be plenty and should be accessible. Don't do the VN stuff, where a scene happens and that's it. We'll never see it again.

Do it where the player can repeat it if they want with variants if necessary, it gives the player a feeling of actual control/interactivity in the ROLE playing sense. Instead of just watching a story unfold with most VN stuff.

Grinding is not always bad. But the grind has to be fun. Again like Karryn's prison, the grind involves the player doing a certain sex acts to be able to ge it as a skill. It's fun but still can get old. Don't do it like LOQO type of grinding where we need to grind hours to get a random card with a lewd image on it.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Do people want erotic scenes early?
Are you more interested in how the story is?
Does gameplay have to be really fun?
Do you need a ton of adult scenes?

Generally, yes to all of these. But exceptions can be made.

A perfect game would have a story that is interesting even without the porn, and a ton hot of scenes, and it won't blueball you too much to get them, and the gameplay loop would be very addictive by itself... But in absence of perfection, we can overlook some weak spots.

Since you're using RPGM, it's more likely that your gameplay won't be very fun (sorry, that's just the way it is, it's hard to overcome its limitations; not impossible, but also not very probable). Okay, that's not great but not the end of your gamedev career. You'll just need an extra interesting story, or extra hot porn, or have some fetish done perfectly to offset dull gameplay.

Does it need to be grindy?

No? What kind of question is it? Grind is BAD unless the grind loop includes sex scenes (and even then, too much grind poisons everything).

And one of the questions that has been bothering me, Do you need a good art for an adult game?

No. Obviously, having good art is never a detriment, but you can do without. The Last Sovereign had no art whatsoever for a very, very long time (it has some commissioned art now, but that's not relevant to the point). You can have great smut without any art. Put on you Big Writer Pants on and deliver. It can be done.

 

[baloneysammich]

But I've never seen anything beyond a visual novel done in renpy without extreme clunkiness.

I mean... it isn't called a "visual novel engine" for no reason.

Part of the problem is that most devs are amateurs, and amateurs are wont to re-invent the wheel [poorly] rather than use and contribute to

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.

 

[Crazy_Chameleon]

I wasn't trying to dis renpy just relating my own experience I quite like renpy games too when I'm after something a bit simpler. But I've seen renpy struggle to do things that are baseline in rpgmaker. As for grimd.. well that's a loaded term. Eliminating ALL grind would mean turning your game into a scene gallery. But too much is definitely bad especially if it's not fun and a grind CAN be fun. You just have to do it in such a way that it feels rewarding and that overgrinding is not necessary.

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

On the topic of Renpy, i haven't seen any good combat done in it.
Combat in Renpy always turns out okay-ish at best.
And combat is something i rather enjoy having in my rpg's.