Out of your favorite erotica games are there any mechanics or ways the game did something that just hit your buttons right, something you’d love to see other games do?
A while back I set my mind to making my first erotic game in Twine, got distracted and didn’t get far, but now I’m back in the mood to work on it and curious about what things folk like, as inspiration.
(Also does anyone have any twine game recommendations? They seem hard to find)
Considering this is Erotic games and not just Weight Gain games, when it comes to VN’s, I loved how Snow Daze, via the writing, made you feel like you were building a house of cards that with a simple gust, could knock over everything and how on the first playthrough, you’re never sure when to say something, or when that something is too far and pushes them over the edge.
In general though, I love the Free Cities Future Society mechanics, how it truly begins to narratively and mechanically tailor itself to what your fetishes are and what you will allow, really truly making you feel like the Arcology you own is YOURS.
Will edit it if I can think of others, but generally mechanics that make you feel like you’re building or maintaining your state/harem I really enjoy.
A couple of general things I enjoy in games:
Progression and build up: This seems to be a fundamental for most erotica, but even the driest gameplay loop has kept me transfixed in anticipation of the next text description or character sprite. As long as the loop doesn’t feel so contrived as to intrude on the experience, I’m happy to be led by the nose and play along, so to speak. With a progression course set, it also gives you a means to subvert expectation for extra spice - a character doing something unpredictable or the session going in an exciting new direction.
Organic characters: good and engaging characters, again, should go without saying in games like these. Outside of outstanding character writing, some of the more memorable games for me in this regard employed a simple trick to convey an organic, natural-sounding character - variable speech triggers. Having a character say different things not only over the course of the gameplay loop but from session to session lends an unpredictability to a character and helps make each session unique and personal to the player, feeling less scripted.
It not only builds a narrative in the player’s mind as to why a character could be chatty in one session and quieter in the next, but also gives a player a reason to replay if they want to see all the character lines, interactions etc. Don’t be afraid of holding stuff back - a dedicated, switched on player will make it their mission to find it!
Both of these play on a more fundamental idea of setting expectations and subverting them, going off-script. That variability is the all-important spice to tease and stimulate the player as they explore and enjoy the experience. Don’t be afraid to break expectations! Most savvy players will be looking to expect the unexpected so play into that.
Really it’s just 3D models for me.
NOT that Daz stuff, I mean the custom made stuff.
Custom made models that can adjust or adapt to whatever circumstances they’re put in, gaining weight in certain areas, inflating this, stuffing that, whatever.
Daz models mean the developer is stuck with whatever presets and shape keys came with the model, and they have to shell out quite a lot of money IRL for the CHANCE to get their models into the shapes they need them to be, but there’s this point when you’ve seen literally every model in the entire catalog and it makes the game feel cheap, despite the massive price tag.
Back on topic: granular body changing mechanics that aren’t just a series of prerendered pics, I guess. I like it when the breasts swell from milk production, or when a belly gets bigger after eating too much food.
Seems like there’s not enough people working on their 3D skills (despite Blender being free, COUGH) and choosing to buy or pirate prebuilt assets instead, which massively hurts the game’s appeal to me.
I really like the phone in Forks, I like it when VNs give you something more to interact with than just smashing the forward button. Interactable phones in games like GTA/VtMB2 and stuff are really interesting to me for some reason
For text adventures like Trials in Tainted Space and… Zork, I really like RPG mechanics and developed worldbuilding, how you can fuck around the space station and talk to people, different classes and dialogue based on your stats, et cetera.
Generally, Sliders which allows you to be realistic proportions and whatnot.
A progress meter telling you how far you’ve made it along with your character or someone else. To spice it up, have time table with sections telling your progress until you update it yourself.
Sliders with locks on them. You have to unlock more option both directions to progress the character itself.
Interactable characters via mouse click or drag. More complex the code for touching, the better it is.
Background characters that do noticeable conversations or actions while you do something else. Obviously not the same thing over and over again. More fluid type of actions.
And what @Amygdala said.