discussion How important are gameplay mechanics in a porn game?

[Don Tebjos]

You play a game because it has gameplay. The mechanics need to be engaging enough for you to keep playing, otherwise you might aswell just go watch videos to get off

Agreed. I think videos games are meant to be played, not read or watched. Now don't get me wrong sometimes it can still be enjoyable even with lack of gameplay, but most of the time I just don't get it

I think what flusters me the most is how I've never found a h game where sex in itself is the gameplay. I mean of course there are, but never found one engaging enough to keep me playing after story/grind ends.

Like, you've got minigames for work, running, spying, etc.., AND THEN the long awaited sex part is just CGs or animations that have at most a little level of interactivity.

It's not like sex is lacking potential, you have tons of parameters that could lead to proper and engaging gameplay

Now I've also seen some interesting and original things, so I keep searching lol but to this day I haven't found a h game that I could come back to weeks or months after for its gameplay

 

[PurgedMilk]

I'm a writer, working on a game right now with someone, and I would like to make my own game at some point. I'll probably go with a simple VN for the first, but as a player, I've always enjoyed gameplay elements, like daily stat tracking, actual movement around a map, needing to balance who you spend your time with versus an antagonist, or competing, up to more complex elements like platforming and interactive realtime chat options or time trial components.

How much do ya'll think other people actually care about that kind of stuff, though?

I'm honestly not sure, since I myself often get annoyed at over-featured sandbox games or old-school turn-based games. Sometimes it can feel like a big time waster when you just want to fap, other times it makes the overall game much more fun, imo.

I will say that personally I prefer story driven VN games over sandbox games. Having a map can be a good addition, but in a lot of games it just feels kind of pointless. The best example of a good map is IA. Each room/location had extra content that had to do with the actual location as well as the characters.


I really like when games have story progression systems locked to certain times of day and locations, and I like flag systems as well. I think the biggest worry incorporating these aspects is making sure you fit into the right middle ground between earned slow burn story content and instant gratification. Some games just immediately drop you into the sexual content, and while that is okay in some ways, it doesn't make a game super memorable or engaging.


As for the usage of platformer style mini games and otherwise, I honestly don't think they have any good use in a purely VN game. That stretches into more sandbox style games with extra gameplay. SOME can be okay, but even small instances of mini games in an erotic VN feel kind of obnoxious and out of place...

 

[PurgedMilk]

Agreed. I think videos games are meant to be played, not read or watched. Now don't get me wrong sometimes it can still be enjoyable even with lack of gameplay, but most of the time I just don't get it

I think what flusters me the most is how I've never found a h game where sex in itself is the gameplay. I mean of course there are, but never found one engaging enough to keep me playing after story/grind ends.

Like, you've got minigames for work, running, spying, etc.., AND THEN the long awaited sex part is just CGs or animations that have at most a little level of interactivity.

It's not like sex is lacking potential, you have tons of parameters that could lead to proper and engaging gameplay

Now I've also seen some interesting and original things, so I keep searching lol but to this day I haven't found a h game that I could come back to weeks or months after for its gameplay

If you like Loli then lost life is a good example of the sex being part of the gameplay. That game literally has zero dialogue...

 

[Don Tebjos]

If you like Loli then lost life is a good example of the sex being part of the gameplay. That game literally has zero dialogue...

Indeed, I like the philosophy of the title. But to some extent in the end i still find there is a lack of interactivity

Let's say this one goes to the extreme opposite of many cohabitation games lol

Not long ago I found this game

You must be registered to see links

It's ultra basic, and doesn't play for long, but the mechanic itself has huge potential

It's a clicker game, but the minimalistic animation matches your click. After a little while you can go berzerk and click even faster lol

Still would like to be able to go even faster, but heh that's not so bad

 

[PurgedMilk]

Indeed, I like the philosophy of the title. But to some extent in the end i still find there is a lack of interactivity

Let's say this one goes to the extreme opposite of many cohabitation games lol

Not long ago I found this game

You must be registered to see links

It's ultra basic, and doesn't play for long, but the mechanic itself has huge potential

It's a clicker game, but the minimalistic animation matches your click. After a little while you can go berzerk and click even faster lol

Still would like to be able to go even faster, but heh that's not so bad

Woah that's hilarious. Very obviously using elinalise images as the "elf gf". Cliff is looking might fat and bald these days lol. Tbh I typically don't like parody games, and this wouldn't interest me enough for a download, but the mechanic you mentioned does have me at least a bit curious.

I'm interested in eventually making my own interactive VN game, and I also struggle with the concept of what interaction and actual gameplay mechanics are actually additive to the game and don't detract from the experience of the gameplay loop. So this might not be a bad game to sit down and explore later on.

I wonder how difficult it would be to program a similar gameplay function as lost life into a ren'py game... Definitely gonna need to dig some more on that lol

 

[PurgedMilk]

Indeed, I like the philosophy of the title. But to some extent in the end i still find there is a lack of interactivity

Let's say this one goes to the extreme opposite of many cohabitation games lol

Not long ago I found this game

You must be registered to see links

It's ultra basic, and doesn't play for long, but the mechanic itself has huge potential

It's a clicker game, but the minimalistic animation matches your click. After a little while you can go berzerk and click even faster lol

Still would like to be able to go even faster, but heh that's not so bad

I'm not sure if you've heard of/played it before, but you might want to look into cloud meadows. It definitely has a solid breeder gameplay loop and I enjoyed it personally, although it does run into the issue you spoke of with regards to not having very interactive sex scenes... Still worth a look imo

 

[Don Tebjos]

Woah that's hilarious. Very obviously using elinalise images as the "elf gf". Cliff is looking might fat and bald these days lol. Tbh I typically don't like parody games, and this wouldn't interest me enough for a download, but the mechanic you mentioned does have me at least a bit curious.

I'm interested in eventually making my own interactive VN game, and I also struggle with the concept of what interaction and actual gameplay mechanics are actually additive to the game and don't detract from the experience of the gameplay loop. So this might not be a bad game to sit down and explore later on.

I wonder how difficult it would be to program a similar gameplay function as lost life into a ren'py game... Definitely gonna need to dig some more on that lol

You must be registered to see links

It's disapointing in pretty much every aspect (CGs are nice though), but there definitely was some idea

If only the CGs were not totally random it could have been thrilling

(first image in the thumbnail is actually a gif that shows whats gameplay looks like)

 

[nasty nate]

Depends on the game mechanics. Some RPG/Porn games are actually quite fun.

Of Devotion and Despondence: REBRED: I think it's this one, I played it recently and thought the combat was actually pretty unique for a porn game. I do like a bit of corruption mechanics as long as there is some sort of progression pay off, like at each stage of corruption you get a little taste of something new be it a scene or some raunchy dialog. ​

 

[Karamchad]

Decent gameplay will always improve leaps and bounds any porn game. Interactivity one of the big reasons to play a porn game.

 

[UgoFrizzi]

Gameplay has a good importance to me, I really enjoy cohabitation/simulator games, and one of my favourite adult games is probably evenicle 1, which is arguably more gameplay that actual scenes, both for the captivating story and the great gameplay

 

[GrandTed]

The most important facet of a game mechanic in this genre: does it tdraw you into the story, or take you out of it? Making choices, passing QTEs, these can make you identify with your character more. Pausing the plot to go sort your salad removes you from the game.