What type of roguelike/roguelite mechanics would you like to see in a NSFW game?

[LewdLore]

Looking for some inspiration on what would work well in terms of gameplay while still keeping the visuals relevant.

 

[DuniX]

The problem is roguelikes isn't ideal for NSFW games as the Porn tends to run contrary to the Gameplay.
This is not so much a problem with regular RPGs as players can just reload and death doesn't really matter that much.
But with Roguelikes you are expected to start over.

Best Bet for Roguelikes is a Battle Fuck System where you get the porn while the game continues on as you keep winning.
Loop Queen series also as an unlock system where you get scenes either by losing or just killing monsters.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Well, for Roguelike you can look at Hard Stuck, pretty difficult to get more roguelike-ish. With roguelikes I think there's a temptation for the dev to tie sex to defeat, and that is actually a trap. So, HS actually avoids that, it does a pretty good job of incentivising you to see as much sex scenes as possible during gameplay, potentially giving you all content in one run, but you can't do it recklessly or you will lose, and losing does not give you any scenes on its own. Succubus Forest as another example of a game that doesn't fall into this trap. While getting sex scenes is very much inevitable there, they are just another way for enemies to deal damage, so you play the game with the best intention to win and you still get content.

Finally, Going Deeper, as an example of roguelite with fairly complex narrative attached to the game (even though I have issues with gameplay there).

Another thing, with roguelites, I'm really not a fan of simple beneficial unlockables with meta-progression, which is very common element in r-lites. Unlockable challenges are fine, obviously. Novel strategy cornerstones can be fine, if they really are novel strategies and not blatantly more viable strategies.

 

[Doorknob22]

Features you can turn off easily.

Seriously: when people play a porn game, they want to fap. No one wants to miss imaginary pussy because they are bad gamers. As a developer whose game has empire management elements (and may be on the top 2%-3% "gamiest" porn games), trust me when I say you should focus 95% of your efforts on putting imaginary penises in imaginary vaginas, and the rest should be nice features players can easily toggle off. If you're investing more effort into that, you're investing into content most of your players won't care for, hence you're wasting your limited resources.

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

Looking for some inspiration on what would work well in terms of gameplay while still keeping the visuals relevant.

Slight rant not aimed at you OP but just on broad naming conventions in general

I am sick to death of the over labeling of everything with broad terms... Names used to describe key parts of a game 'platformer' because you jumped on platforms, 'action' because there was action, 'sidescroller' because it was a sidescroller. Now they seem to be used to create elite 'i know what you dont know' naming conventions, like some 1800's country club.

Rant over.

Rogue like as lewd doesn't seem to work outside of being a pervy but basically normal game, because roguelike is just a bundle of actual game mechanics/design loosely lumped together & if you combine them to make a rogue like you just have spelunki with dildos & skimpy costume changes... and yes some people would play that.

There are games like that on here but they are generally designed around pron on defeat, which I find an annoying game concept because either have an unwinnable game or one you are intentionally failing at.

What aspects do you consider to be unique to a rogue like or what mechanics are you definately looking to use?

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

Features you can turn off easily.

Seriously: when people play a porn game, they want to fap. No one wants to miss imaginary pussy because they are bad gamers. As a developer whose game has empire management elements (and may be on the top 2%-3% "gamiest" porn games), trust me when I say you should focus 95% of your efforts on putting imaginary penises in imaginary vaginas, and the rest should be nice features players can easily toggle off. If you're investing more effort into that, you're investing into content most of your players won't care for, hence you're wasting your limited resources.

I'd add this to my earlier post as well. If you REALLY are set on doing a Roguelike then split it off from your porn game in some way, i.e. do the game you wanted but then have the princess etc. you rescue, capture or whatever you were aiming for added to a separate, porn driven game. Maybe use game mode 1 to generate currency or items for game mode 2.. Then make game mode 1 skipable or have an easy mode.

 

[LewdLore]

Another thing, with roguelites, I'm really not a fan of simple beneficial unlockables with meta-progression, which is very common element in r-lites. Unlockable challenges are fine, obviously. Novel strategy cornerstones can be fine, if they really are novel strategies and not blatantly more viable strategies.

I agree, I'm typically not a fan of meta-progression either, I think one of the few 'acceptable' ways to implement them is meta unlocks that are not downright power increases, just additional items/skills/classes etc that grant you more options to change up your playstyle and whatnot. Essentially meta sidegrades rather than upgrades.

Features you can turn off easily.

Seriously: when people play a porn game, they want to fap. No one wants to miss imaginary pussy because they are bad gamers. As a developer whose game has empire management elements (and may be on the top 2%-3% "gamiest" porn games), trust me when I say you should focus 95% of your efforts on putting imaginary penises in imaginary vaginas, and the rest should be nice features players can easily toggle off. If you're investing more effort into that, you're investing into content most of your players won't care for, hence you're wasting your limited resources.

Good points, I guess it's generally best to have the base game be easy with optional difficulty increases akin to Ascensions in Slay the Spire in the case of roguelites.
Possibly making the gameplay turn-based or a mix of turn-based an action-based segments designed so the player can fully enjoy the porn without breaking the flow of gameplay could be a decent idea, I guess?

Slight rant not aimed at you OP but just on broad naming conventions in general

I am sick to death of the over labeling of everything with broad terms... Names used to describe key parts of a game 'platformer' because you jumped on platforms, 'action' because there was action, 'sidescroller' because it was a sidescroller. Now they seem to be used to create elite 'i know what you dont know' naming conventions, like some 1800's country club.

Rant over.

Fair, to me roguelike makes perfect sense by itself since it has rules that are very set in stone (permadeath, turn-based, procgen, no meta progression, typically RPG) but I do think of roguelite as sort of a descriptor of game systems (typically only permadeath + procgen with the rest being optional plus elements or systems from other genres) rather than a genre in itself so while I agree that roguelite doesn't say much in itself, roguelite platformer or roguelite deckbuilder are pretty descriptive.

Rogue like as lewd doesn't seem to work outside of being a pervy but basically normal game, because roguelike is just a bundle of actual game mechanics/design loosely lumped together & if you combine them to make a rogue like you just have spelunki with dildos & skimpy costume changes... and yes some people would play that.

There are games like that on here but they are generally designed around pron on defeat, which I find an annoying game concept because either have an unwinnable game or one you are intentionally failing at.

What aspects do you consider to be unique to a rogue like or what mechanics are you definately looking to use?

Definitely agree with the porn on defeat point, it doesn't make sense to be punished for winning or rewarded for losing.
I do think there is a target audience for porn games that are more gameplay oriented while still having a decent amount porn content but yeah, it could be challenging to execute.

I like a ton of roguelite games so my inspiration is all over the place but if I had to point to some I do generally love the RPG aspects like character stats, races, classes, skills, items, combat formulas etc so I would most likely be looking to implement them into my game. For how to tie them in with porn, I think stuff like presenting combat results or even combat animations as porn animations could work decently well with most genres.

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

I do think there is a target audience for porn games that are more gameplay oriented while still having a decent amount porn content but yeah, it could be challenging to execute.

This is extremely challenging, because you basically have to make a game that would function & be enjoyable as a non lewd then figure out how to get lewd into it, and the people who turned up just for the lewd will be annoyed that they have to do unrelated stuff to get there (unless is skip able).

I like a ton of roguelite games so my inspiration is all over the place but if I had to point to some I do generally love the RPG aspects like character stats, races, classes, skills, items, combat formulas etc so I would most likely be looking to implement them into my game. For how to tie them in with porn, I think stuff like presenting combat results or even combat animations as porn animations could work decently well with most genres.

Sounds like you want to make an RPG? maybe with turn based combat (theres a few like this that work quite well, as instead of health you aim for enemy clothing etc.).

 

[Diconica]

No single way to get to content. Some developers lock content behind single paths. The seem to be incapable of figuring how to make the content available in different ways. The point is to give the player the ability to play the way they want without missing out and having to pay 20 times just to see all the content.

Multiple ways to solve problems and continue the journey. While fighting a monster or character is an option allowing for other means would be good, maybe you bribe the person, maybe you have succubus power and entice them, or just out right fuck them or maybe you cast an illusion to make them think they are... A potion in their drink.... sleep, or whatever..

Of course then with those options the characters and monsters should have different skills and or be immune to stuff. That could be a natural immunity or it could be an items that gives it to them which could be the means by which the player attains it.

If you really want to get into it. Forget using a class system use a skill tree and have them earn points that they can spend on the skill tree such as combat or crafting or defense...

effects of different monsters sexual attacks could be different. Not just different types of sexual attacks but the out come if successful. The results of a loss of combat to a monster should and could also be different. They don't need to be a game over.
A slime might leave the character dehydrated and out of breath or all slimy and need to clean up or the armor will just fall back off. A different slime might dissolve clothing and armor. Being captured by an orc could lead to imprisonment which you need to escape from. same with bandits. A giant might use your character to season his soup broth by forcing you bath in it.

The biggest feature I want to see is the game completed. Often games aren't completed for one reason or another. I think a lot of times the issue is with the lack of developer's programming experience. They see a more daunting task before them as they progress because they are incapable of taking advantage of better methods that would reduce the work they have to do. example: If you create a spell and find yourself having to write code for how it effects each and every character individually you are doing it wrong. Just imagine how you work is going to pile up if you have 10 character and 10 features that would be 100 things you need to create. If you do it correctly you write one set of for all of them and at best modify the dialogue and visuals on the character level.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

I'd like to see not rape, but dubious consent in the gameplay, and unlike in combat (where I want deterministic hit & damage mechanics, maybe also deterministic enemy behavior), here I would want an RNG component to keep things interesting.

So for example, MC could be offered to do something suggestive / sexual / self-transformative for some benefit, but it shouldn't purely be a buff, there should be longer-term downsides too. Basically randomize the H / TFs, make them granular, and still leave it up to the player what they want to see, and whether it's worth doing gameplay-wise in the current playthrough. But the balance would have to be right - short-term benefit, long term a bit / a lot more questionable. It might also work without being random, the randomness could come from the regular gameplay, procedural generation etc.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

I'd like to see not rape, but dubious consent in the gameplay, and unlike in combat (where I want deterministic hit & damage mechanics, maybe also deterministic enemy behavior), here I would want an RNG component to keep things interesting.

To add to this, it doesn't even have to be fully random. It can be deterministic in the context of a single run (seed). If you have a character with base immutable psychological stats, and these stats vary just a tiny bit between different runs, you can have a different outcome when making same decisions between runs. You can think of this as another layer of roguelike mechanics, just for character, ahem, developement.

 

[Qahlz]

One neat example of rogue-like gameplay in a porn game is in "Grace of the Labyrinth Town", imho. Although even there, the porn is mostly detached from the actual rogue-like mechanics.

As a quick overview how it works in that game: When you challenge advanced dungeons, you lose all your equipment/items when entering them - so each run you have to gear up from scratch. Even levels are lost when starting a new dungeon run - this also means that you can freely experiment with your build, and may even need to adapt it to the equipment you find.
Outside of dungeons you can exchange lewd favors to make dungeon runs easier - e.g. learning how to identify items so you don't have to use scrolls blindly or use scrolls of identification, or unlocking more classes and advanced skilltrees.