HTML Which one would you prefer in an HTML porn game?

[OldSailor]

I'm making an HTML porn game. Now when I review it I realized one thing, the story is not very gripping. If I try to change the story, it will take me back to the beginning and I will have to revise all the text and lines accordingly. This means that I won't be able to add anything more to my project. If I keep the story as it is, I can add more freedom and interactivity to my game. But if I revise the story, it will cost me hours, so I won't be able to add more freedom to my game compared to the previous option.

I am a bit undecided about what to do and this will be my first game. When starting a game, I tend to practice rather than sitting down and writing game design documents for hours and hours, and I did that, and now I'm in this situation, so I'm curious to hear the majority's opinion on this.

Summary: Would you prefer a more immersive and deep story or a game where you have more freedom and interaction?

 

[peterppp]

what's stopping you from revising the story and then add whatever stuff want to the game? so you spend a few hours more. so what? a few hours is not much. not enough to make it into this big dilemma you think you have. or are you dying tomorrow?

 

[Brosewood]

The main question is, what are you trying to make?

If it's your first project, I'd recommend making something more linear as it's easier. Sandboxes can get complicated fast (for example, in my last update for Stuck in Sutton, I had to factor in 5 outcomes to a previous event + 4 relationships + player's attributes and finances for a single story event). Having to go back and fix something is something you're gonna have to get used to.

 

[Guntag]

I prefer games with choices that matter, allowing the player to in fluence the story or the characters. And the opposite of linear isn't sandbox. There are plenty of sandbox games (or at least with a sandbox design) that are completely linear. The opposite of linear is branching paths.

 

[Rafster]

I don't see why you can't stop and rewrite the story. Yeah, It may push your progress back, but it may leave you with an story that you're happy with.

Now, it's terrible when you launch the game, and then you have to rewrite the story a few updates later.

 

[OldSailor]

I would like to thank everyone who offered their valuable opinions. What I want to do is to make a sandbox that offers the player a really good degree of freedom. I don't want there to be no story at all, and I think that sitting down and planning a story like writing a book will put me behind in the game design process for a while and I might get rusty. Because while I'm doing all this, life goes on and I also have to study for my exams and keep up with my daily life. I can't do everything at the same time, so time is very precious for me. But the lesson I learned from your comments is that I need to put the story on a solid foundation. Thank you my friends.

 

[TurtleGiroflex]

I was thinking about extending the story that why i've never been interested in that specific genre until at somepoint i began to enjoy. But long story short, i've been always more visual kinda of guy so the story wasn't my main focus on porn games, until the day i met Corruption of Champions which was a game made for the now defunct flash player. I might me wrong but in my head it totally relates to what people aim to do on HTLM5 based stuff, at least on the porn games scene.
Well, for me at least the great plus of a game which is based on text, or with visual support but the main focus on the story is the ability to make choices, those who will eventually change the course of the story.

Dead ends, bad ends, moral and ethical choices... Those who will at some degree alter the story you're reading, making even the simpliest game a bit more immersive since you're dealing with your own choices and seeing what effects they cause on the story as a whole.
A bit of customization is enjoyable in my humble opinion, making your characters or even your partner (partners?) more suitable to your own kinks

At least those were the things that trapped into a session of reading stories while i should just be fapping ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't think that the customization part will be too hard to do, since you may make them all variable based. I mean, player chooses to have red hair, the game just treats red hair as $hairColor and all the texts will act accordingly. Branching paths on the other hand may be a pain in the ass and for that i desire to you the best luck.

But hey, im sure there will be plenty of people eager to test your game even if the story doens't feel gripping for you. Maybe releasing the game and updating according to the feedback you'll receiving may be a good idea.

Sorry for the huge text, wasn't my intetion.

 

[ronnierotten]

Would you prefer a more immersive and deep story or a game where you have more freedom and interaction?

these are not mutually exclusive really.

 

[Brosewood]

I don't think that the customization part will be too hard to do, since you may make them all variable based. I mean, player chooses to have red hair, the game just treats red hair as $hairColor and all the texts will act accordingly. Branching paths on the other hand may be a pain in the ass and for that i desire to you the best luck.

Depends what customizing affects. Something like hair color is pretty easy to add in via $hair, but things such as body size, clothing worn, breast/penis size can have a pretty direct effect on how a scene plays out.

 

[Satori6]

Because while I'm doing all this, life goes on and I also have to study for my exams and keep up with my daily life. I can't do everything at the same time, so time is very precious for me.

That's probably the case for 99% of developers: there's either a job, school, or both.

It's just a matter of consistency, really. An hour a day may not seem like it will net you a lot of results, but they add up.

 

[TurtleGiroflex]

Depends what customizing affects. Something like hair color is pretty easy to add in via $hair, but things such as body size, clothing worn, breast/penis size can have a pretty direct effect on how a scene plays out.

Yeah, haven't really thought about that when i gave that example but indeed, depending on how far that customization will affect the gameplay and the scenes it can get more complicated to implement

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

More freedom and interaction, but you have to properly support (for lack of a better word) everything a player can do. I don't need a simulator with copy-pasted text everywhere with no personal touch. The more of a sandbox-simulator the game is, the less able you are to provide quality content for each permutation of everything the player can do. You end up with something that feels like a patchwork rather than a cohesive experience.

 

[OldSailor]

I have read and considered your recent comments and something has clicked in my mind about what to do. I'm going to remove some of the complexity that I've added to the game and make it a game with simpler gameplay, but with a deeper story and progression. Given that this is my first work, I think it's best not to get bogged down in too much detail.

 

[desmosome]

Looks like you found a direction, but I'll just echo some other comments.

Freedom and complexity is good, but it comes with a drawback of messing with a smooth, dev controlled pacing of the story. And player freedom is nothing unless you are able to make a sufficiently responsive and expansive world. In fact, very few sandboxes manage to pass the threshold where it transforms into an actual "game" and not just a VN with extra annoying steps and lots of repetitive actions and scenes.

It's a lot of work, and since you are working with limited time to devote to development, I'd say it's a good idea to shift focus into a more story rich format. Story also takes time obviously, but it's something that presses on at whatever pace you can write it. Incomplete "sandboxes," especially ones early in development, are absolutely worthless to play most of the time.