discussion Sex or story?

[DannyO24]

I know, the obvious answer is both..

Hi guys,
First post, long time on/off lurker.
I've been messing with Daz and Renpy for a while now and decided to try making my own VN.
It was going ok, learning a lot but my first attempt quickly turned into a fuck-fest with almost every scene ending up with the MC
having sex, which is fine but the story was minimal at best, made little sense and was all over the place...Ok, lesson learned, start over.

Now I've come up with a decent story, but there isn't a lot of sex scenes during the first few days as I try to establish the characters and move the story along at a decent pace. So I've gone from one extreme to the other...which brings me to my question..

Which is more important? A decent story or lot's of sex?
Another question I have is once you, as the MC, have had sex with a character are you still interested in having further sexual interactions with that character? or is it all about the first time?

I get that everyone will have their own preferences, just curious what the majority thinks.

I like a balance of both, but if you have good sex scenes and plenty of them people are more forgiving of a lacking story.

 

[Roki1212]

I like a balance of both, but if you have good sex scenes and plenty of them people are more forgiving of a lacking story.

For me, too. I can stand the lack of sex scenes if the story is good. Medium burners are the perfect point.

 

[pb8-1s]

The ones I realized I enjoyed the most and remember after some time are ones that are a bit more story heavy, but include a good bit of teasing before the 'main event'.

 

[Bananana73]

A worthwhile story elevates the game a ton. But most devs cannot write a worthwhile story. If you're going to try, I'd suggest you sprinkle in some quality scenes upfront so people feel like it's worth giving the story a chance to see more. If you just try to front-load the story, most people will check out early.

 

[Romalous]

Im mostly a story guy personally it's why i play so many RPG's and point and click adventure games

 

[rocketsheep]

Story and sex are equally important for me. I love some VNs that have no sex at all and aren't AVNs. I also love some adult games that are basically just glorified slideshows including some short videos, or which are 3D sex simulators. What really shines are AVNs that do both well. I love Eternum for its great plot. It doesn't have a lot of sex scenes, but the ones it has are really an integrated part of the plot and are often incredibly funny, too. Harem Hotel is almost the opposite case (while also, unfortunately, being a sandbox and therefore a bit grindy). It has a lot of sex from the beginning, much of it repeatable, but as it advances, the world building and story get more and more detailed and important and draw you in.

As to sex scenes with the same character again: It depends on the character and it depends on how much variation there is. If you keep presenting the exact same sex scene again and again the character had better be extremely hot and the sex scene absolutely breathtaking. I am all for many sex scenes with the same character so long as the character is sufficiently attractive and the sex scenes are sufficiently varied in what happens, in perspective, and in how they fit in the plot.

 

[Delpp]

For me it's art > story > sex for sex games.

If art doesn't appeal to me I won't try it, if the gameplay is to tiring or the story to unbelievable I'll stop.

 

[MattShizzle]

But if there's no sex, it's a shit game.

 

[LewisCarroll]

I know, the obvious answer is both..

Hi guys,
First post, long time on/off lurker.
I've been messing with Daz and Renpy for a while now and decided to try making my own VN.
It was going ok, learning a lot but my first attempt quickly turned into a fuck-fest with almost every scene ending up with the MC
having sex, which is fine but the story was minimal at best, made little sense and was all over the place...Ok, lesson learned, start over.

Now I've come up with a decent story, but there isn't a lot of sex scenes during the first few days as I try to establish the characters and move the story along at a decent pace. So I've gone from one extreme to the other...which brings me to my question..

Which is more important? A decent story or lot's of sex?
Another question I have is once you, as the MC, have had sex with a character are you still interested in having further sexual interactions with that character? or is it all about the first time?

I get that everyone will have their own preferences, just curious what the majority thinks.

I'm kinda in your boat too with my first VN/Game. Such a Sharp Pain walks the line of too much / too little sex in the game. There's a quick startup sex scene then BAM, you're in the story for a while before any sex happens. Good game to look at if your a dev.

 

[keni]

a little of both

 

[james223]

A really good immersive story with nice sex scenes

 

[smite22]

You need a balance of both IMO. A good story enough to pull people in and wanting to follow it. It also needs a good blend of sex scenes after all that is what we are all here for. Different LI's with different kinks is always a plus for people as well. Choices on content to the reader so they can cater it to their preferences. As far as repeat encounters with a LI it depends on the story, a one time hook up that knocks up someone elses girl would be a one time hook up option. I usually gravitate towards the harem building style of games and when you add a LI that tries to corrupt others into the harem even better. I do enjoy the pregnancy path with games as well... if you deposit the seed then it should breed.

 

[CndnViking]

Okay, I know you clearly want us to pick one or the other, but I'm going to give a bit of a twist on the "both" answer, cause I genuinely feel like it's the right one:

For me, at least, overdoing one at the cost of the other (in either direction) makes me lose interest. The real "art" of this pursuit, that sets the great games apart from the okay ones, is finding an appropriate balance. Too much sex with no story and I have a hard time getting invested in the characters and caring what's going on. At that point, I might as well just look at pictures. But too much story (especially if it's not very compelling or well paced) with too little sex, and it defeats the purpose of this genre of game. I need to get enough of both that I never get bored of one or frustrated by the lack of the other.

As to your side-question about repeated interactions with the same character, I think that's a matter of variety and plot development. Take a game like "Dating My Daughter" for example - you have a lot of hook ups with repeated characters, but each time adds something new into it: a new act, location, position, taboo, etc. so it never feels like you're just doing the same thing over and over again. That keeps me wanting to see what's going to happen the next time, and keeps it from getting too "old."

Whereas in a game like "Love & Sex: Second Base" each character for the most part has 2-3 versions of their sex scene, and once you've seen each of those you're just replaying the same handful of frames over and over... and yeah, at that point I lose interest. (Note: That's not a complaint about that game - the lack of many of my favorite taboos aside, I really like it and the amount of depth that's in there, but the repetitive nature of the sex scenes is one of the top entries on my "cons" list.)

 

[Dovahkiinzz]

both of course

 

[Magooo]

Sex > story. Obviously just a series of sex scenes would be pretty blunt. A little story to lead from one sex scene to another is perfectly fine. It's the better alternative to a great story between bad sex scenes. If you don't have to go for one or the other the true answer is obviously both.
Also more than one sexual interaction between characters should not only be more of the same. Something has to be different. Feed another kink. Switching from private to public places is just one example.

 

[Raodos455]

both or neither, a good story always sells and porn sells too

 

[Sunsett]

I believe that both should go together when creating an adult game, but there is one important rule that should never be ignored. HAREM AT THE END ALWAYS!!

 

[BS3DX]

no, or If you want to make a good AVN, you need both.

 

[JoshXD]

Both for me an H game has to have story and sex and of course it has to be well done

 

[Barryton42]

for me: 50/50, it is good to have story and sex scene as reward