discussion Recent crappy sandbox games

[fernandotorres]

In terms of playability, I think sandbox games make you know you're playing something and enjoy the game. Some of you like to just hit Skip and watch the whole game like a cartoon, but novel games don't add anything when it comes to accomplishing something in a game. When you do things in the game like quests, earning money, paying rent, repairing or buying, farming, cleaning and so on, when you earn money, when you use it to progress in the game, you are playing a game. Steps of debauchery is one of the sandbox games that I love and like, but the money earned is too much in the game. For example, you come on Sunday to collect the rent you will pay, but you already have 4-5 weeks of rent money accumulated. So you don't have to do missions anymore and the game leaves you empty at some point.

So what do you think about this? Are there any games that you like or that you think could be better? Do you comment under the subject of these games? Or do you think that the comments you make are read by the developers?

What do you think about the future of sandbox games? Nobody expects a game of GTA 5-6 quality, but there are still people who can do very good things, and if they can do this kind of thing, they will have done an advanced job of being the best Adult game ever.

 

[magk1245]

I really like Invasive Species, but the development is *really* slow and there are lots of systems and storylines that don't really go anywhere right now.

I tend to kind of agree with you on sandbox games. They can be really compelling when they're done well, but a lot of devs make their games a mile wide and an inch deep. I'd like to see more sandbox devs focus on smaller, more manageable games while keeping that free roam/sandbox feel, because when it's done right it's much more satisfying to me than a linear VN experience.

 

[AlBetGam]

I like a good sandbox game, but I think it's much more challenging to get 'right' than a standard VN, and when you get it wrong it really sucks to play (which is why so many people have a visceral hatred for the tag).

Personally I like Masters of Raana and Another Chance- very different sandboxes, but both very fun.

 

[Ryuji]

I like a good sandbox game, but I think it's much more challenging to get 'right' than a standard VN, and when you get it wrong it really sucks to play (which is why so many people have a visceral hatred for the tag).

Personally I like Masters of Raana and Another Chance- very different sandboxes, but both very fun.

Agree, I would even say sandbox are probably between the hardest tags to make good games, if not the hardest

 

[KippyKeppy]

As a dev. Sandbox requires knowledge of engine's (ue, unity, godot) and how they work. Vn are much simpler and kinda hand hold you. So jumping into engines and not really knowing c++, c#, or Lua can really make those kinds of game suuuuuper hard to make.

 

[AlBetGam]

As a dev. Sandbox requires knowledge of engine's (ue, unity, godot) and how they work. Vn are much simpler and kinda hand hold you. So jumping into engines and not really knowing c++, c#, or Lua can really make those kinds of game suuuuuper hard to make.

That and a real commitment to playtesting (ideally with someone who isn't the creator), which I think a lot of devs just don't do much of.

 

[Alderin]

Sandbox games is really hard to pull off as other said, because it's quite hard to make it filled with actually interesting thing to do. Instead, most of the time it's just that, filling... Better have a small sandbox game than a large one, and few but well made mechanics than many half baked one. But that's very ressource intensive

 

[Vulky]

Making a decent sandbox game requires a lot of planning, coding skills, debug, extra features. Many developers fail because they aren't able to think as a player approaching the game with zero knowledge of the plot or the mechanics.

 

[fernandotorres]

Making a decent sandbox game requires a lot of planning, coding skills, debug, extra features. Many developers fail because they aren't able to think as a player approaching the game with zero knowledge of the plot or the mechanics.

I realize it's very difficult. Producers should definitely use their strengths together. They should share their knowledge with each other. This would lead to both a growth in the industry and a huge increase in quality. This is perhaps the thing that game makers are avoiding to utilize the most. It seems to me that everyone wants to keep their knowledge to themselves and make money.

 

[User_3471]

99% of them. New, old, doesn’t matter. I hate them. Period.

 

[MattShizzle]

Just about all sandbox games are shit. Only ones not are true open world where you can go around and do what you want. It's a waste of time when you have to find the one right place to go to advance the story, and only a bastard dev also makes it that it has to be a specific time. Any grinding whatsoever is also a shit game.

 

[Mekinim]

When done well, sandbox games are great but more often than not especially in small independent projects it just winds up being sandbox for the sake of sandbox. So the game either becomes a chore to figure out where you have to go next to progress without proper signposting, and sometimes with Korean MMO levels of grind on top.. or the sandbox part is so trivial the game might as well be a kinetic novel with unnecessary steps in between.

 

[Magooo]

When it comes to adult-themed games, I don't have much interest in sandbox games. Instead, I prefer VNs, where I can immerse myself in a hopefully good story and enjoy the scenes.

 

[keni]

norteI don't know, I usually like them all, although I would complain about the update time.

 

[goons]

I like a good sandbox game, but I think it's much more challenging to get 'right' than a standard VN, and when you get it wrong it really sucks to play (which is why so many people have a visceral hatred for the tag).

Personally I like Masters of Raana and Another Chance- very different sandboxes, but both very fun.

I’ll probably check out another chance later today

 

[entry1]

When you do things in the game like quests, earning money, paying rent, repairing or buying, farming, cleaning and so on, when you earn money, when you use it to progress in the game, you are playing a game. Steps of debauchery is one of the sandbox games that I love and like, but the money earned is too much in the game. For example, you come on Sunday to collect the rent you will pay, but you already have 4-5 weeks of rent money accumulated. So you don't have to do missions anymore and the game leaves you empty at some point.

well the problem is when you have any sort of gameplay you need balancing and that takes time, skill and a lot of testing, which you won't find in a first project from a solo dev. That's why you see so many bad games, it will take a few years and multiple projects before we will see something really good in the game department

 

[fernandotorres]

well the problem is when you have any sort of gameplay you need balancing and that takes time, skill and a lot of testing, which you won't find in a first project from a solo dev. That's why you see so many bad games, it will take a few years and multiple projects before we will see something really good in the game department

I think if instead of being greedy, 3-5 quality producers who join forces and act like a single company work together, these problems will not be a problem. GTA 6 is not made by 1 person, after all, there is a huge company behind it. So the number of steps you can go alone is very small. You will be stuck at some point. If you share your knowledge with other people or other game makers, I think it will go to a much better place.

 

[entry1]

I think if instead of being greedy, 3-5 quality producers who join forces and act like a single company work together, these problems will not be a problem. GTA 6 is not made by 1 person, after all, there is a huge company behind it. So the number of steps you can go alone is very small. You will be stuck at some point. If you share your knowledge with other people or other game makers, I think it will go to a much better place.

yeah because that's easy to just get more people, and how do you plan to pay them? Because adding people doesn't magically increase your donations by 5 times. Big studios can afford to pay because they have ton of money or can get funding from investments groups (tencent, embracer etc.) a no name devs most likely can't get a loan and the risk is massive.

 

[fernandotorres]

yeah because that's easy to just get more people, and how do you plan to pay them? Because adding people doesn't magically increase your donations by 5 times. Big studios can afford to pay because they have ton of money or can get funding from investments groups (tencent, embracer etc.) a no name devs most likely can't get a loan and the risk is massive.

At this point nobody will give them credit anyway. I don't know but that's one of the main reasons why the Loli or Adult game industry is not developing. Not getting investment. In fact, if you bring virtual environments or people in front of you with a VR headset where people can get away from all their troubles, things can take a completely different turn. There was even a movie. The guy was working for the government. In the far distant future. In his house, he lived with a girl made of holograms. He was in love with her. Then they shut her down or something. I think that such a future can at least be achieved with VR glasses, even if not holograms. Then adult game makers can make very, very big money.

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[entry1]

I don't know but that's one of the main reasons why the Loli or Adult game industry is not developing.

It's a relatively new market, look at how much it took indie games to take off, once big studios(in the porn industry) will notice it's profitable they will hire developers to try making games.