Game-design philosophy (Patreon)

I was surprised with the amount of interest that my last post caused, and you had very interesting things to say about the subject of Adult Visual Novels. Many of you had views and opinions that are very similar to mine, but since you're interested I'll share my ideas on how I tackle the creation of my VNs. 

I didn't start with a clear game-design philosophy when I decided to jump on this task, but I guess the basic ideas where already somewhere in my mind. I only really played a few Adult VNs before deciding to try my luck with GGGB and I’ve learned quite a bit since then, both by looking at those other games and by trying to improve upon them with my first project. Somehow I managed to complete GGGB, and after such a big undertaking I feel I’m clearer on what my take is when making a Visual Novel and my ideas are more mature. I’m sharing those ideas for those who are interested, and they may even prove to be of use for those interested in creating their own VN projects who might be looking for some guidance.

So, these are the core design elements I think about when creating Our Red String, and they were already present in GGGB:

INTERACTIVITY: The first thing that was clear on my mind from the get go is that I’m making a game, not a picture book. This means giving the player agency through choices. Actions have consequences in the world of the game and its characters. This is what makes the story feel alive, your ability to influence it in a meaningful way. This is the core element of the experience. But to keep the experience a game there has to be some element of difficulty, something left to chance. By not having 100% control of where the story goes, ignoring what consequences your actions can have, the story takes you with it. Rather than directing it from above, you’re trapped in its flow. If I’m doing a good job that’s what you should feel like when playing. Of course it’s just an illusion, but a well made one at that.

CONTEXT: I want to create a story and characters you can relate to or care about. I feel people who search this kind of adult interactive experiences do so because they are dissatisfied with the mainstream content you can so easily access in all those streaming platforms. In those videos you have just the sex, but you lack a context. Who are those people and why are they fucking? I believe games provide the context that’s missing in the audiovisual productions. Most adult Visual Novels try to provide a “why” to the sex scenes they portray through a developing plot. But I try to go beyond that:  not to give just a reason why sex is happening between those characters, but also to convey the feelings attached to it. That’s what makes you emotionally involved in the sex that’s portrayed, and what makes it much more hot and satisfying. That’s why in ORS I tried to set up a lot of interesting emotional connections between characters.  So no brain-dead characters or plastic dolls in an empty plot that’s barely an excuse to jump from sex scene to sex scene.

GAMEPLAY FLOW: The goal here was very clear: no pointless wasting of time. No grinding. No meaningless choices. That’s accomplished by not giving the player more control than is needed to immerse him in the game and its story. You don’t have to move your character around the map, like in and RPGMaker game. You don’t have to grind for stats or worry about weekly cycles and game-play loops. You don’t make pointless choices about breakfast or other trivial stuff that doesn’t influence the story in any meaningful way. The game-play is conducted through choices, and every choice you make must be essential and have a noticeable effect on the story. Having some kind of stat system is important too, since it’s the means the player has to communicate with the game, keeping track of his or her progress. GGGB had one so rudimentary that’s laughable, but it enabled the players to track Ashley’s disposition towards Good and Bad and served as a measure of what choices and branching storylines were available. With ORS I expanded on that, adding more complexity, and trying to display that complexity in a cool and accessible manner. A good UI is really important, and a well designed one is a sign of quality (and also makes the game easier to navigate and enjoy). Not counting GGGB’s bare-bones features, ORS was my first time designing a UI. I put quite a lot of thought into it and I also had a lot of fun designing it.

ART:  The art used for ORS or GGGB could’ve been done very differently and the core experience wouldn’t have suffered, but good presentation is paramount. It’s what sells the game and what differentiates it from books or text-based games. When dealing with something erotic, eye-candy is super important and often times half of the arousing experience, sometimes even more. My way of tackling art in GGGB and ORS has been slightly different, but the core idea is the same: I want to provide art as good looking and as plentiful as possible. I want to develop the visual aspect as much as I can, making varied scenes and characters and packing as much drawings per scene as I can. Also, I want the look and style of the characters to also be interactive, so they change depending on the player choices, giving him the ability to alter not only the plot of the game but also the look of it. In GGGB I had to do everything on my own and now I have someone who helps with the color and a studio taking care of the backgrounds. The next step would be to hire full-time an artist who’s better than I am and let him do all the art, but that takes a ton of money. Hopefully in the future I will be able to... Oh, and a mention to the audio presentation of the game: the soundtrack is also a sign of quality and can immerse the player in the game if chosen and used correctly. That’s why I’m slowly having OSTs especially made for ORS!

I think that’s basically it. To summarize: Lots of meaningful choices that open interesting branching storylines, interesting and rich characters that can involve you emotionally in the action, a smooth game-play flow that doesn’t get in the way of the experience and sexy looking art and presentation. 

I guess it’s pretty simple, but it’s not that easy to do, especially when you take care of everything yourself and like to make things as complex as you humanly can, which is why I tend to do (lol). But I like challenging myself to create something I can put a piece of me in and be proud of, and so far I’m enjoying it! I hope you’re enjoying it too, and I hope you enjoy even more what’s to come!

Once again, thank you a ton for your support, without it none of this could’ve happened, and I want it to continue, so please keep believing in this project!