Hi everyone,
a couple of weeks ago i made my first post presenting the super-early version of a game i’m currently working on. It’s called Slug Cores, and it’s an RPG about slug like parasites nesting inside bellies to give the host great powers!
First i wanted to say that i had a really good impression of this community, and all of you seemed very very polite! <3
Second, i wanted to give you some updates on the game, the problem is that as of now i have little to show. This is not due to me being lazy (that wouldn’t be a problem since this is just something i’m doing for fun), but because the game is still in a very early stage and still have to do a lot of pre production before beginning coding and modeling. I’ve actually realized that making a game is so so difficult! Expecially making an RPG.
Enough talk, here’s the question: when it comes to fetish games, or games that in general contain a lot of erotic themed material, are you interested in plot or is it just something that you don’t care about? Also, why do you play fetish games in the first place? Is it just for arousal or you also look for “regular entertainment”?
My idealized version of the game i want to make, and also of a fetish game that i’d like to play, is that of a game that is like all other games that i like, it has good plot, good gameplay etc. but also kinky stuff! But maybe you look for something different. Let me know!
I would say that if a game mostly revolves around fetish material, then a plot isn’t really that necessary.
However, a game can have hidden lore beneath all the erotic material, that fits well for a game that revolves around kinks, because it isn’t mandatory to follow. So if you really want to make a plot for such a game, then that could be a good way of implementing it.
When I play in any video games I don’t care about plot at all, because I can remember only a few games in my whole life which have good story like: “To the moon”, “Undertale”… So, when I play in fetish games first priotity is good graphics where I clearly can see how character sprites changes when characters gain weight. Second priority - gameplay. That is all.
Make the game that you want to make, then you’ll have far more fun making it. Doing it all yourself requires a lot of time and commitment, and it’s very easy to get burned out making something you don’t truly enjoy. Lore and storytelling isn’t impossible to combine with fetish material, there’s plenty games on this site that prove just that (Some Bullshit, Evoria and Roundbound just to name a few). You’re never going to please everyone because everyone has different tastes and interests, so start with what you like then build from there.
Thanks! Really appreciate this kind of reply. In fact, the idea of making a game that people won’t like bothers me a lot, even though i know that this project should be something i’m doing mainly for myself to enjoy and have fun. Thanks for the motivation!
I remember a person said that most people only care about the fetish content and little about anything else, and even the “interdimensional eldritch being disguised as human” John Carmack said that the story in videogames isn’t important and is just there. But i disagree with all of the above , as there are examples of games that have good story and some games here have genuinly good story, is just that is not an easy feat to achieve and when creating a game, developing an story takes a lot of time and having to change some stuff in case one is not comfortable with how it is can break a lot of stuff. And most people work alone or with 1 or 2 more people (when it comes to games like the ones that are shared in this site).
For me, i prefered that the game should have an story. It doesn’t have to be like Metal Gear leves of writing but at least to explain stuff.
I’d say that, though as many have pointed out plot is not that necessary, it can very well still add to the game even in the fetish department, for me a GREAT example is “Apostles” by WaxerRed.
Still, I do believe the best way to make a game is to make it how you want it.
P.S. If you want help with story stuff or Voice acting I’m happy to help.
I might need some help in writing dialogues, since i’m not a native english speaker there might be some difficulties in that. Right now i don’t really need help as i’m focusing on getting things done in gameplay and graphics. In the future, would you be interested in helping with dialogues?
I’d be glad too help. If ya want I can share my discord contact.
Sure! Thank you, send it to me in pm or here however you like
When you publish your game, write in the description that you are looking for a person who will help correct the dialogues and this person will find you.
Lol, i remember that quote from Carlack! He also compared videogames to porn movies, saying that both had plot but wasn’t really important. I guess in the case of erotic games it’s a mix between the two 
But yeah i agree with you, story is important and i’ll put it in my game
If you make a good plot, it is one of the strengths of your game. If you don’t, it is secondary to what does work in your favor. Don’t discount the power of storytelling–you still need to expect people to sit through the thing you make, and when there’s a lull in the action, it can be useful to have entertaining characters and plot threads to follow along with. There’s a couple projects on here, like Some Bullshit, ApocXL, and the recent Archer Quest, that take a lot of time to focus on narrative, and it’s only to their benefit because there’s a lot of downtime between kink scenes, so the writing helps a lot.
EDIT: To add to this, when creating your characters, you can use the kink element to make them stand out. Look at ApocXL: yes, there’s a lot of stuffing, and Amber likes it and all that, and blah blah blah big of she, but the spectacle also serves to define her as a person. She has a very specific attitude towards her interaction with the game’s kink element, and it goes beyond whether or not she enjoys it. She’s inherently gluttonous, she likes seeing her upper limits, and she (somewhat recklessly) takes any chance she can get to engage with that element. All this helps to flesh her out, as well as the other characters who have to put up with their antics. The game’s cast becomes more memorable for all of this.
It’s like the violence in an action flick in a way. Sure, you can show Buffguy McShootman blowing up helicopters and stuff all you want, and it’s fun, it’s what we all came here for, but his opinions about the thing we see as spectacle can make him more than just a generic cool guy and into someone that the audience will actually remember down the line for more than just “being cool.”
All I’ll say is to be aware of the difference between ‘elaborate’ and ‘stupid’. A good plot is a huge appeal whenever it comes to a proper game, assuming you’re aiming for something that could be potentially more streamlined into media. While it isn’t necessary for the story to have complexity, it can draw interest and investment whenever done effectively. The tricky part will be balancing the two so that neither feels stitched onto the other. Know your limits, and honestly, write whatever you find fun.
As an ace person who lacks any actual kinks, my opinion is invalid, so yeah. Take this with a grain of salt.
You asked for opinions, so here’s mine:
I always want the plot to be as good as possible. Sometimes that means literally no plot at all (hello, Tetris!) Other times it’s pretty much the whole game, and highly intricate.
But I don’t play fetish games for regular fun. I only want fetish stuff for sexual reasons, and so a great fun game with 0% fetish content is good news to me. And when I am after fetish content, I want it at 100% concentration. It’s fine if fun and fetish overlap, but at least one should be really great, like at maximum, and the only shouldn’t get in the way of the first.
So I think a fetish game should deliver the fetish content consistently, so the plot must serve that goal. If there are alternating fetishy and plotty episodes, they are undercutting each other and the game has a deep problem. Instead, the plot should be about the fetish content or very very closely related. That way, everything is automatically both plot and fetish.
There are exceptions, like denying fetish content for a little bit because a character is teasing the player, or building up a character’s backstory, or a fun super-fetishy interlude that doesn’t advance the plot at all. But the main idea stands: in a fetish game, please don’t let anything get in the way of the fetish.
‘The tricky part will be balancing the two so that neither feels stitched onto the other.’ What are the ‘two’ you’re talking about?
If you want your game to have an elaborate plot, by all means go ahead. While an elaborate plot is obviously far from essential for a fetish game (or any type of game for that matter), if you play your cards right it can absolutely be a positive addition. As I see it there are two ways you can go about it:
If you’re afraid you’ll mess up and set off a bunch of people, then shift the focus away from it and nobody will complain. That also means people won’t be especially taken aback if you do a particularly good job at writing up an overarching story, but if you want to play it safe that’s the way to go.
Otherwise, you can integrate it into the experience at a deep level, but that brings its own risks. Done well, and if it can stand on its own, it can serve as a much needed break between the points of interest (fetishy stuff actually happening) which can both keep the player interested in the game and create buildup and tension for whatever’s ahead in the experience.
If the plot fails to rouse the player’s curiosity, however, it’s just going to pad the experience out and bore them to death, and there’s only so much frustration a person can take before they drop your game altogether and move on to more gratifying things.
Ultimately you’re just weighing risks against each other, and whether it’ll be worth it or not depends on whether you’re confident in your skills as a writer and if your game can reach the type of audience that would enjoy what you have to offer.
A deep and elaborate plot may have trouble with fitting in the fetish elements without them feeling at odds with the situation, to the point of being farcical. A game like Some Bullshit skirted this by specifically calling out the nonsense that embroiled the main characters.
My best advice for fetish game writing would be to invest time into making emotionally engaging and compelling characters to captivate the audience. Make us care about and connect with them so that we can share in their same pleasures that unfold over the course of the storyline. With fetish writing you can have simple or complicated premises but audiences will want to focus on the meat of the matter. As long as the character fits well within that narrative situation, be it simple or complex, then you will be fine.
Tell the story you want to tell, but make the characters fit well and worth caring about.
Related to AlexKay’s point: Everybody has a broad-strokes personality, and some characteristic habits of speech and action, and strongly held opinions… lots of things that a real, unique person has and a cardboard cutout doesn’t. These aren’t plot, they’re characterisation, and the nice thing about characterisation is that you can deliver a lot of it without interrupting anything (plot, fetish stuff, whatever), because it’s less what people do than how and why. It’s the opposite of making them cardboard cutouts with zero traits except what the plot needs.
But this character detail is more something that allows for good things than a good thing itself, I think. What makes us attach to a character is, for example, when they want something we want, or can imagine ourselves wanting. A protagonist or ally-type character should inspire us to root for them, and a villain the opposite. The more you do this, the more player attention you’ll have to add in a bunch of plot intricacy if that’s what you’re after.
Short answer: Not really
Long Answer: I’m only here to see women get fatter and unless the ‘elaborate story’ is involving that, I don’t really care too much. Although good gameplay is good too