discussion What unsolicited advice would you give to porn game devs?

[Crpapjda]

1) Add options. If something can be an option, add it as an option. Skip scene? optional. Dark textbox? Optional. Textbox opacity? Optional. Text speed? Optional. Outlined words? Optional. All of those thing are just a couple of lines of code. In renpy its literally a couple of lines so easy to implement that you can file the file online and add it. Just take one of Kogas mods and implement it. I understand that other engines have other complications, but they are not that hard.

2) listen to your community. They can get really annoying, but sometimes they can have good ideas. I recently played a new version of a game that was grindy, but not extremely, the community commented on it, and in the new version the grind was cut like 70%. The game is shorter, but more interesting. They may want unrealistic things, like alternative scenes based on fetishes they do or do not want, but some of their feedback is a good source of ideas.

3) AVOID GRINDY MECHANICS. Unless the grind is FUN on it self (usually it isnt), grind just gets boring REALLY fast.

I believe this points work for sfw and nsfw

 

[id_do_her]

one thing i'd say is: try not over-narrate so much / write less. i'm all in for some good story and dialogue but some games it feels like the devs go on and on with narration, showing only this one image. im sure your story is thought out but we don't need to read 50 pages of narration, especially at the start of a game. that's not how you hook players/readers. let's not kid anybody, these games are not written by hemingway.

 

[Dobermann]

Stop putting smart phones in your game. Having to navigate a tiny screen, inside a small screen, inside an actual smartphone is annoying as fuck!
There are degrees of offenders, but if you have minutes upon minutes of clicking and clacking bullshit conversations in the mock up smart phone, then you should rethink your approach to game development.
IF you cannot escape the fucking need to implement a texting scene, then do it in the original renpy window but frame it differently or put a fucking mock up phone next to the box.

For crying out loud.

 

[HandholdDegen]

Unsolicited advice #1: Talk to a woman. You really show your lack of experience the way you portray women. Get some life experience.

Unsolicited advice #2: Rape is not a small thing. Stop treating it like an awkward encounter that you just walk away from. Better yet, maybe don't squeeze in a rape scene everywhere you can.

Unsolicited advice #3: Stick to one story at the time. You very probably don't have the skills and consistency to pull off side plots and bring it back to the main plot in a satisfying way.

 

[Rebel 357]

Be careful of demands that are disguised as advice. There are plenty who will want a particular kink put into a game, while they may not demand this outright, they will be sneaky about it and try to pass it off as advice.

1. General rule for devs, don't try to appeal to everyone. This mistake is made by way too many devs.

2. Devs that bend over and compromise their artistic integrity show weakness. That in today's world leads to the injection of wokeness and censorship in games. The dev will end up pissing off everyone and losing support.
Because many are guilty of this, we devs end up with the negative image that we are all greedy and spineless, that our games are just products to consoom. Instead of them being the works of art we designed them to be.

3. Learn to familiar with your tools( art software, music software, game engines, etc.) before becoming a game dev. There are devs who make the mistake of taking too much on , while making their first game and trying to profit from it. Which is why some end up abandoning their first game very early. You could start out as hobby dev with very small projects to help you grasp the industry and learn about being a game developer.

4. Get rid of the bad apples from the industry. The industry is plagued with many problems that has gone on for far too long. More gamers are unwilling to pay for games and support the industry as result of the problems plaguing the industry. There are even those calling it a crash and making videos of the industry crshing and burning.
If you rely on money to support your games and put food on the table, then understand that the bad apples ruined the industry not just for gamers but for good devs as well.

"But overtime, the Industry has become less and less about the art of making it an incredible and complete game, and now it's all about the bottom line."
"If buying isn't owning, then pirating isn't stealing"

I would also check out videos on the industry through Odyssey or LBRY.

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Gaming Giants such as Nintendo are our enemies to both, gamers and devs. They need to be removed from the industry. We don not need them to stiffle creaitivty and the freedom of making our games.

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Palworld being sued by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company

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PS - The propaganda pushers and extremists don't like that term because it exposes them. What people refer to wokeness down below:

 

[Zilcho]

Spoiler: The Game Developer's Manifesto (abridged)

Be careful of demands that are disguised as advice. There are plenty who will want a particular kink put into a game, while they may not demand this outright, they will be sneaky about it and try to pass it off as advice.

1. General rule for devs, don't try to appeal to everyone. This mistake is made by way too many devs.

2. Devs that bend over and compromise their artistic integrity show weakness. That in today's world leads to the injection of wokeness and censorship in games. The dev will end up pissing off everyone and losing support.
Because many are guilty of this, we devs end up with the negative image that we are all greedy and spineless, that our games are just products to consoom. Instead of them being the works of art we designed them to be.

3. Learn to familiar with your tools( art software, music software, game engines, etc.) before becoming a game dev. There are devs who make the mistake of taking too much on , while making their first game and trying to profit from it. Which is why some end up abandoning their first game very early. You could start out as hobby dev with very small projects to help you grasp the industry and learn about being a game developer.

4. Get rid of the bad apples from the industry. The industry is plagued with many problems that has gone on for far too long. More gamers are unwilling to pay for games and support the industry as result of the problems plaguing the industry. There are even those calling it a crash and making videos of the industry crshing and burning.
If you rely on money to support your games and put food on the table, then understand that the bad apples ruined the industry not just for gamers but for good devs as well.

"But overtime, the Industry has become less and less about the art of making it an incredible and complete game, and now it's all about the bottom line."
"If buying isn't owning, then pirating isn't stealing"

I would also check out videos on the industry through Odyssey or LBRY.

You must be registered to see attachments

Gaming Giants such as Nintendo are our enemies to both, gamers and devs. They need to be removed from the industry. We don not need them to stiffle creaitivty and the freedom of making our games.

You must be registered to see attachments

Palworld being sued by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company

You must be registered to see links

PS - The propaganda pushers and extremists don't like that term because it exposes them. What people refer to wokeness down below:

^ this right here. Well said, sir.

As for specific advice, there's a difference between the raw grind and a "gameplay loop", although some devs can't tell. If you create an enjoyable start-to-finish chunk of content that's repeatable, scalable, variable, and enjoyable, you can extend the length of your customer's gaming experience without it feeling like an absolute slog. Focus on getting a small loop feeling just right, then tweak or expand on it as necessary while adding story elements or whatever else you think you need.

 

[exerp]

Learn your tools​

Do the tutorials the come with your dev tools (e.g. renpy). And do them a second time about 6 months later.

At least skim all the docs so you have an idea of most of the things your tools can do (e.g. renpy has surprising amount of good stuff hidden away in corners). You dont need to learn everything .. just be aware it is available. then you can go read the docs on it when you do decide to try it out. But if you dont even know it exists, you wont be able to use it.

Learn to use

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. They are weird and confusing but so very useful once youve learned. Most text editors and IDEs support global search and replace with them (sometimes called grep or regex). This will save you a ton of time. believe me.

Learn to use tools like Linters. (renpy has it built in with the "Check Script (Lint)" command in the renpy launcher.)

Keep your project orderly​

use version control like git; at least on your scripts. not doing so will be messy for you.

Break up your code (scripts) into smaller files. No .. smaller than that.
Really .. it may not seem like it when you start out but it can make managing a project easier.

Be consistent in everything you code (e.g. names for variables labels etc.; filenames; formatting, etc). its a lot easier to make changes if you can global search for things in your project.

As much as possible separate any functions; variable handling; etc; from the dialogue part of the scripts.
i like to setup separate python functions that i use to change variables (stats) like "attraction" "corruption" etc. then when i need to change a variable in the dialogue script i call those functions. the function can then "take care of business" such as posting a notification; checking for crossing thresholds (like if a LI gets corrupted enough to unlock a fetish); or whatever else. the great thing about putting things like stat changes in a function is you can change what the function does without having to change every place in the script where it is used.

Dont go it alone​

Find a code buddy. either someone who will work with you on your project or someone you can trade code reviews with. no one is a perfect coder and we all "need an editor."

You could ask around on places like this website or the renpy Discord if you dont already know someone you can do this with.

 

[zakarmmusa832]

Daz specific: If your character is wearing heels and you use a preset pose that doesn't include heels... please fix the toes of the heels so they aren't flattened out and distorted. Thankya

 

[Anoxia]

Ask a million times for proofreading, we all forgive spelling errors, but written nonsense and google translate really kills things quickly

 

[MattShizzle]

The big one is - for the love of The Flying Spaghetti Monster - DON'T FUCKING BLUEBALL!

 

[cuddlewumpus]

Practice developing a game or at least a significant amount of content before you go live with it. You'll pick up a lot more steam if you show up day one with some skills or a wealth of content

 

[Vulky]

Dear VN developers, I use the left hand to manage the mouse, if your VN is good, my right hand will be occupied. So don't make everything more complicated than it should. Concentrate on writing a good story with decent dialogues, eroticism and graphics.

 

[entry1]

faster movement speed

 

[MattShizzle]

Less yakking. You're not writing The Great American Novel (or whatever nationality if you're not American) Nobody wants to read War and Peace length dialogue (ESPECIALLY internal dialogue.)

 

[Python3]

Don't make MILFs look like they are teenagers.

Easy on the tits, those that worship humongous mammaries are a sub-set of the clientele.

 

[MattShizzle]

Don't make MILFs look like they are teenagers.

Easy on the tits, those that worship humongous mammaries are a sub-set of the clientele.

Certainly don't make them where the woman would realistically not be able to stand up if they were of such size. Same for dick size of MC.

 

[verybadboye]

grindy game does not equal good game. please do not make the same repeatable quests to raise affection and things like that be extremely long and tedious

 

[HandholdDegen]

Unsolicited advice #4: Finish your fucking game!

Unsolicited advice #5: In case of a non-VN especially, but also for some VNs, focus on developing the sequence from beginning to end of your game BEFORE getting bogged down with side-content.

 

[Clunk676]

I would just like to see more games finished well and not rush the ending because the dev got bored or burnt out

 

[rocketsheep]

General

• There is a reason why most porn games are visual novels. If your main motivation is that you want to write a porn game, then you want to write a visual novel. Only try something else if you have a clear vision. (*)
• There is a reason why the vast majority of visual novels are implemented in Ren'Py. Do the same. It's super easy to learn. No, doing it in Z-code or from scratch in Prolog or Assembler is not a reasonable alternative. And doing it in RPG Maker or Unity isn't better. (*)
• There is a reason why most visual novels do not use 'sandbox' mechanics. If there is only one or two places where the MC can reasonably go next and experience something that is not a repetition, then a sandbox is the wrong format, and if the MC first needs to wait 5 hours, a sandbox with time keeping is twice the wrong format. (Note that how much you planned to fill the sandbox with is irrelevant; only what you actually manage to implement counts.) (*)
• You may want to use sandbox mechanics to give free choice what to experience in what order during explicit scenes. But make sure that this doesn't impact undo functionality (for returning to whatever came before the explicit scene) or one-handed usability.

(*) You are an individual, we get it. But doing this differently than everybody else is stupid unless you know precisely why in your case it isn't. Driving on the wrong side of the road doesn't prove your originality. It almost never makes sense, and in the rare case that it does make sense you had better be able to explain precisely why and how.

Visual

• It's called a visual novel, not a commented slideshow. That's because the story comes first. It's fine if you are an artist motivated by the visual side. If you try to fit a story to hundreds of images already created (or worse, found somewhere), it's likely going to be crap.
• Don't let anyone tell you what tools to use for the images, or which models. (Unless it's the advice of an experienced colleague.) If you can produce great drawings quickly, then great. Do it. (Or I would love to see an AVN in claymation like Wallace and Gromit!) If you can use something like Honey Select, Daz3d or Koikatsu well, then use that. If you have to use stock models, then that's fine. We keep seeing the same actors and actresses in movies and series. Some people complain about it in AVNs, but it's not a real problem. If you are able to use original models, even better. If you cannot create images, then you had better be a competent writer. Cooperate with someone who can do the images.

Novel

• While the genre of visual novels started with actual novels, nowadays it's often short stories, novelettes or novellas. Or something entirely else, based more on film and TV. Decide what sub-genre you actually want.
• A visual short story or novelette is great for a first project that you can actually finish before the initial publication. It will provide valuable feedback for your next project. If you want to start with a long project, instead of releasing a short version 0.1 consider starting with a finished prologue.
• If you want to do a long-term project that will be released in many installments, you have two options. The first option is to finish the outline of the entire story first, filling in as much detail as necessary to be sure it's viable. This ensures that the project won't ramble on without direction for ever, accumulating ever more unrelated threads and characters. Don't be afraid of finishing. If you didn't actually want to finish, you can add major branchings and alternative endings as part of the same VN, or add spin-off VNs. You can start work on the next novel in a series. Or you can start on another work in the same universe. There is no reason to be afraid of finishing. But of course you should always finish with a proper ending, even if it leaves an opening for a sequel.
• The second option is to base your work on an episodic genre. You still need a viable plan that reaches many episodes ahead, but if you are doing something like a VN version of a sitcom, or maybe an AVN version of something like Star Trek (with the regular cast encountering a different new love interest every week), then you have a lot more freedom.
• If your updates are slow, people will have forgotten much of what happened previously, but will often be reluctant to replay everything. That's a double bind that can cause them to ignore your updates. Structure your work into episodes (even if it's a novel). Episodes should have a consistent length (in terms of playtime, not development time) and may span several updates. Start each episode with a recap of what happened before, with emphasis on what is relevant for the new episode. Try Being a DIK to see how this can be done very professionally, and the eccentric Jeijei's Harem to see how it can be done with very little effort.
• If you are not a competent writer, find one to work with. Even if you are a competent writer, if you are using an episodic format and run into writer's block, consider using a guest author.
• If your English isn't good enough, write in your native language. Find a sufficiently competent translator, or if you translate it yourself, get the help of a native English speaker who can read the original version. If you don't know if your English is good enough, maybe start with a short project in English to get feedback.
• Follow standard advice for writing novels etc., such as "show, don't tell". Collect and follow special advice for visual novels. In particular, a picture can be worth a thousand words. That's a thousand words that your readers don't want to read because they are redundant. Read advice on writing romantic and erotic literature.
• Know the classics. Not just the major works of AVN, but also read printed love stories and pornographic literature. That means modern mass market paperbacks, but it also means evergreens such as Casanova and de Sade. You can learn a lot of tricks of the trade from both. Come to think of it, you can do worse than basing your AVN on a classic that is in the public domain. IMDB is full of erotic films that were made that way. Just make sure that you don't copy the original text but rewrite everything to fit the new format.

A cooperation between a writer and a visual artist may be tricky for many reasons. If you don't respect and value each other's works it is going to be very difficult. Since the story generally comes first, one way of actually doing it can be seen in The Higher Society, text-based vs The Higher Society Illustrated. But you probably shouldn't publish the text-based version, as it seems to confuse people and makes it hard for the illustrator (probably one of your earliest and most attentive readers!) to propose changes to the part of the story they are working on.

Also, when choosing a title, make sure it can be found in a search. People keep thinking "Cosy Cafe" is not on a site because they spell it "Cozy Cafe". So maybe cosy/cozy is not a good word to use in a title. The same is true for punctuation as part of a word. "Por ( n ) tals" is more or less OK as a punny title, but sucks when you want people to actually find it. (Also, when I just wrote it without the extra spaces, the forum software turned it into Portals. WTF?) Google is good at this kind of thing, but more simplistic search functionality often isn't. Accented letters can also cause problems with search. Even dropping an accent is not necessarily a solution. People who have accented letters on their keyboard, are likely to enter "Cosy Cafe" as "Cosy Café" and then may not find it despite having used the British spelling for cosy/cozy.