discussion why are sex mods rare?

[NarutoZzoR]

Modding takes effort and if it's hard to monetize, it's hard to find a reason to do it. Passion can only take you so far

 

[CambionDreamer]

You work on the game dev's schedule rather than your own. They released an update/DLC? Get ready for "Update" "Update when?" "Mod Broken" "Is this canceled?" to flood any inbox the downloaders know about.

 

[Scales]

I'd say that nude mods are very common, showcasing human horniness.

Sex mods, on the other hand, have a mechanical aspect that makes them more complicated. You don't just need to have a texture swap, you need animations, compatibility, user interface, integration, etc. Like Skyrim sex mods are interesting, but most are boring... cast spell to start posing. That's it. But ones that weave sexual rewards into quests are amazing, even if they lack the same depth of control. It's a lot of work, and the reasons for avoiding that work has already been listed out by others here.

 

[nishaven]

I think mostly because of engine limitations.

 

[User_59941]

I think the games themselves can make a lot of difference. For a lot of games adding sex just wouldn't make much sense.

 

[Lenrimnellac]

A lot of work for something that is hard to monetize, at least that's what I think

That makes sens. Time is money and it is true for dev too.

 

[User_111574]

I wouldn't say it's rare. There are thousands of such mods for Sims 4, no less for Fallout 4, Skyrim, Enderal, Fallout NV, Nehrim, Oblivion.

 

[Montimer]

I have to disagree with the "it's hard to monetize sex mods"
Bullshit. 99% of people who make sex mods and try to monetize them are doing it wrong. It's a genuine skill issue or laziness or both. NSFW has actually one of the easiest times marketing itself because people searching for NSFW are searching for a specific thing - sex, more sex content.
You have rule34 sites where you can upload screenshots, attach a link to your paysite, encourage people to support in comments. You have many forums specifically dedicated to sex mods. You have social media where you can draw people to your mods.
All it takes it putting a bit more work towards marketing whatever you wanna do.
Although if you wanna monetize your sex mod, you gotta do EVERYTHING for free, otherwise you risk being in breach of many game ToS.

As for the original question:
It takes time. If the game has actual visual representation of sex, you need to not only have programming knowledge but also animation skills. With animation skills also comes need to know how to edit models. You also have to be willing to fix your mods after each update.
In many games, making sex mods even requires you to create an entire framework. Who the fuck is going to do that much work, right? People who create these frameworks are either extremely talented programmers or have entire teams trying to crack the code and repurpose the game's functions.

It's actually easier to create a visual novel as all it takes is some mediocre knowledge with python for renpy and ability to pose models + decent writing skill.

 

[Daisies]

Most games with even a small modding community have nudity mods at the very least.
Sex mods are a pretty big ask. The game has to be modding-friendly to begin with, and even then its incredibly difficult to implement.

 

[vixidev525]

I have to disagree with the "it's hard to monetize sex mods"
Bullshit. 99% of people who make sex mods and try to monetize them are doing it wrong. It's a genuine skill issue or laziness or both. NSFW has actually one of the easiest times marketing itself because people searching for NSFW are searching for a specific thing - sex, more sex content.
You have rule34 sites where you can upload screenshots, attach a link to your paysite, encourage people to support in comments. You have many forums specifically dedicated to sex mods. You have social media where you can draw people to your mods.
All it takes it putting a bit more work towards marketing whatever you wanna do.
Although if you wanna monetize your sex mod, you gotta do EVERYTHING for free, otherwise you risk being in breach of many game ToS.

As for the original question:
It takes time. If the game has actual visual representation of sex, you need to not only have programming knowledge but also animation skills. With animation skills also comes need to know how to edit models. You also have to be willing to fix your mods after each update.
In many games, making sex mods even requires you to create an entire framework. Who the fuck is going to do that much work, right? People who create these frameworks are either extremely talented programmers or have entire teams trying to crack the code and repurpose the game's functions.

It's actually easier to create a visual novel as all it takes is some mediocre knowledge with python for renpy and ability to pose models + decent writing skill.

I think a lot of people don't buy lewd content. So much so many card companies don't like dealing with it (that and charge backs). Maybe things are changing, but about the only way to monetize it is to take donations and that seems like it doesn't really make good money for the skill and time people put in. There are a few successes, but isn't that kinda like Only Fans. A few big hits, while most people not making enough to pay rent.

 

[Montimer]

I think a lot of people don't buy lewd content. So much so many card companies don't like dealing with it (that and charge backs). Maybe things are changing, but about the only way to monetize it is to take donations and that seems like it doesn't really make good money for the skill and time people put in. There are a few successes, but isn't that kinda like Only Fans. A few big hits, while most people not making enough to pay rent.

As bad as it is, Patreon exists. Subscribestar exists. If you're smart, you can make it work.

 

[LUVGAMZ23]

I agree with most of what's been said.

Nude Mod = Swap. Sex Mod = mechanical.

Then there's the puritanicals that dislike nude mods and HATE sex mods. And those very puritanicals will make it EXTREMELY clear that the owners of the unmodded game will have moral / financial / legal / etc... consequences if action isn't made against the modders.

Heck, PORN SITES like THIS ONE is under near constant attack for a year now. How much shit will a sex mod attract from a non-porn game?

 

[Cloppy]

Games typically package everything in their own formats that have to be reverse engineered. There's a reason you can't run a Nintendo game natively on a PC and need an emulator to run it.
So basically we're talking having to reverse engineer the model, skeleton, animation, and code systems, make your own models, animations, and code, and then getting it baked into the game without breaking everything.
Easy.

 

[Sarya]

An example of sex mods rightly done on something other than a RPG is the paradox interactive games ( mostly crusader king and stellaris).

 

[deffel]

As many said already it is a lot of work.

First of all if a game does not have the dev kit / mod kit released creating something like a sexmod becomes so much harder to impossible.
Even if it does you always run the risk of getting shut down via cease and desist - or you need to to do it anon like which will limit your possibility to profit (fame or money). They still may go after the sites providing the mod or patch the game to ruin your work.

I always thought something like a moneypool that pays out to "sex modders" would be a great thing but then Patreon came out and made that no longer viable without much positive effect on sex mods sadly.

 

[langy77]

I think there's becoming less incentive because you could create stuff for VAM, Koikatsu, HS2, etc where much of the work has already been done. Importing a look and feel of say Skyrim is probably easier than going the other direction.

 

[Omegalord]

Some Devs do intentionally make games hard to mod and part of it is to avoid mods like nude / sex mods. The reason is even if they are not responsible for it people will hold them accountable.
Others don't mind what comes with it.
Keep in mind many of them have investors involved who have a lot of control and don't want any negative publicity.