Well, it's soon to think about christmas gifts, but I thought it would be an interesting gift for my boyfriend (He'd get other presents as well, of course). The thing is, I don't know a thing about this type of games and what'd be good and what bad or boring. Can you give me any advice about some of the principes which can be usable in AGS? The star would of course be me, me and only me ;). Do you think it would be a good idea, anyway? Thank you very much for your replies.
Send me the pics and I'll make the game for you ;)
Quote from: SSH on Sat 02/08/2008 20:10:55Send me the pics and I'll make the game for you ;)
Seconded.
Also .... I would think my girlfriend (if I had one) would be the coolest chick EVER if she made an erotic game for me.
Ahh.. this brings me back to the good ol' days when I used to make games with AGI (Adventure Game Interpreter).
This is related to 'Erotic' but I don't imagine it was made for anyone in particular.
This fellow named Richard Eter made a game called F*ck Quest; and this is with double wide pixels and text parsers. It's mainly about a gentleman on the hunt for sex.
It's actually quite humorous. I never expected anyone to have made a game like this, but here it is: F*ck Quest (http://www.geocities.com/rich_eter/fq1.htm)
Perhaps it will give you ideas on your 'erotic' game for your gentleman. ;D
This is like...the best thread ever. I'll be horribly disappointed if it's a joke.
Make him a quiz game were he has to answer questions about your likes and dislikes. Reward him...accordingly.
...
Best...thread...ever.
EDIT: F*ck Quest is about as erotic as a brick. Nobody has, to my knowledge, ever made what you could term an "erotic" AGS game. There's been a few attempts at injecting some scenes of sexual activity into a handful, no pun intended, of games (released and unreleased), but they've more or less failed miserably.
I wouldn't say it's impossible, but they all seem to be of the "Ooh, yeah! Stick it in me, baby!" variety, rather than a serious attempt at eroticism.
Off-topic apologies.
EDIT: Actually, this may not be such a good idea. Boyfriends aren't guaranteed to last forever, and things like this have a habit of ending up on the internet. Or it might do the rounds among his friends. You can never be too careful. :-\
QuoteDo you think it would be a good idea, anyway?
Uh... Yes and no.
Yes because I can't imagine any male not being thrilled and extatic from getting such a gift.
No because making a decent game, even in AGS, is hard work. I don't know you, so I don't know if you have the scripting experience etcetera to build an interesting game all on your own, but even if you are, you'll probably have to do ALL tweaking, beta testing and so on all by yourself with a project like this. And if it's to be a gift, I assume you want everything to work perfectly, so that means tons of hard work.
I imagine that your boyfriend wouldn't be very happy if he launched the game and the opening credits said "Thanks to [twenty male names] for beta testing" (and I assume that's not how you would want to make such a present either).
If you're willing to take on this task all by yourself, I wish you best of luck. Though I don't have much experience with this kind of games, here are a few recommendations (many of which I think goes for any game):
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Immediacy, immediacy, immediacy. There are basically two ways of making any kind of document. You can try to make your interface so transparent that the player feels like he's really a part of it and forgets that he's just clicking a mouse and watching sprites on a computer screen (immediacy), or you can try to make your interface so interesting that it becomes part of the experience and the player values the interface because it adds something (hypermediacy). For this kind of game, I would definitely say that you want immediacy. You want your boyfriend to feel like there is no game and that he's inside the game, so make sure your interface doesn't pull him too much out of the experience of "being there".
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Design your form to fit your content. Use AGS's settings wisely, and make sure that whenever you have the choice, you make the game serve your story instead of adapting the story to suit the game. For instance, I assume this will be a rather photo-heavy game, so 320x200 resolution with 8-bit color is a no-no. Since you're making this for your boyfriend, you can give it to him on a memory stick or CD, so there's absolutely no reason to take e.g. download size into consideration.
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Create a story. Not all games need a good story, but you're trying to create an experience here, and you don't get a good erotic game by taking a bad game and throwing in a couple of erotic photos, no matter how great the pictures are. I mean, it wouldn't be that hard to make "Strip Tetris" or something like that in AGS, but what would be the point? You're not giving him an erotic game to exercise his brain.
Create a complete experience. Make sure that every tiny little aspect of your game supports what you want to make here. If, for instance, the music in your game is awful, change it! You don't want him to remember this game as "That collection of photos with the default Sierra iconbar and ABBA in the background".
Don't forget the interactivity. This is a game, not a "My pictures" folder, so make sure that whatever kind of game you're making, your boyfriend actually gets to play it and not just watch it.
Make it personal. You have a target group of one person. That is a luxury most game makers don't have, so use that for what it's worth. Integrate his personality in the game. You can call him by name, you can refer to or play his favorite bands, and so on, and so on. On a larger scale: What kind of video games is he interested in? You can create a story tailor-suited for his interests. If he loved Nelly Cootalot, dress up as Nelly and make him a pirate game with an erotic twist. Also, don't forget the love. The great thing about a gift game is that it can be personal. This is a gift from a girlfriend (I assume you are a girl, apologies if I'm wrong) to a boyfriend. Make sure that the message you send with this game isn't "hi, I'm a dirty skank and I want you to do me" -- make the game as spicy as you want, but the bottom line you're mediating should be more like "I love you, and this is my way of showing it".
Best of luck on the game. I agree with all statements saying that this sounds like a really great gift, but let me add that one of the things that make it great is that you
make it yourself. If you send photos to SSH as suggested, it would still be a good game (possibly better), but it's a difference between a great game and a great gift, and making something yourself, no matter what it is, is the best way of making the gift personal.
Quote from: LimpingFish on Sat 02/08/2008 20:52:19
EDIT: Actually, this may not be such a good idea. Boyfriends aren't guaranteed to last forever, and things like this have a habit of ending up on the internet. Or it might do the rounds among his friends. You can never be too careful. :-\
Huh what? Was that not the original purpose?
Hmm, perhaps you could just make a plain game where he's the main character and the main goal was to get you to pose for some pictures. Then the pictures would just show as images. No hard core nudity or penetration, just some cute pictures with a christmas lingerie on. That'd be very man's dream, that is, if they had a girlfriend who did games or so...
Sorry, no photos... ;) I've got to meet with my friend before I'll have them. She's quite good at photografing :)
I'm not too afraid about it ending somewhere it should't. After all, I know him for more than two years (and we never, for all that time, argued) and I'm quite sure that if we ever split, he wont do such a thing, he's not that type:)
Quote from: Liliana on Sat 02/08/2008 21:59:21
I'm not too afraid about it ending somewhere it should't. After all, I know him for more than two years (and we never, for all that time, argued) and I'm quite sure that if we ever split, he wont do such a thing, he's not that type:)
Paris Hilton probably said the same thing about Rick Salomon ;)
Here ya go (http://games.agagames.com/?game=are).
When you have a demo ready, please post it. :)
I'm not exactly certain that addressing a forum predominantly made up of young males about erotic games is a high percentage idea.
Quote from: LimpingFish on Sat 02/08/2008 20:52:19
F*ck Quest is about as erotic as a brick.
I must be attracted to quite a few bricks then :-\.
Although F*ck Quest was the first and only type of game I've played like that, I'm pretty sure I'd prefer the
Quote from: LimpingFish on Sat 02/08/2008 20:52:19
"Ooh, yeah! Stick it in me, baby!"
over something with the attempts at being sincere and heart warming with a sprinkle of eroticism.
Ok, so I MAY prefer a dirty sex filled game over any other attempts.. doesn't mean I won't Enjoy something of the likes of which Thoumas posted:
Quote from: Tuomas on Sat 02/08/2008 21:57:41
Hmm, perhaps you could just make a plain game where he's the main character and the main goal was to get you to pose for some pictures. Then the pictures would just show as images. No hard core nudity or penetration, just some cute pictures with a christmas lingerie on.
I think if it were a 'serious' girlfriend of whom I've been dating for at minimum one year, I'd prefer Thoumas' suggestion. The other approach would probably just be too strong and give the wrong signals.
Quote from: ProgZmax on Sat 02/08/2008 23:18:11
I'm not exactly certain that addressing a forum predominantly made up of young males about erotic games is a high percentage idea.
She wouldn't ask a bunch of young men, if the present was going to an old lady instead. It's probably better she asks us, we'll be able to tell her if it's a good or bad idea, better than any of her female friends.
There's nothing erotic about pornography.
Quote from: Liliana on Sat 02/08/2008 21:59:21
Sorry, no photos... ;) I've got to meet with my friend before I'll have them. She's quite good at photografing :)
Will she be a part of the photos? Cause you do realise that your boyfriend seeing you with your female friend would weild unbelievably good results! ;)
*ahem*
I actually do think it's a good idea. Then again there are alternatives. You could make a video of yourself (or with your photograph friend, even better), and post it somewhere... There are sites to do that.
and yes, it is porn, but in the end, it is a gift, it 's specifically for someone, not some random porn on the net.
And certainly I would be most eager to beta test it. :P :P
Just when things are starting to get creepy, we can count on Nikolas to jump over the line with both feet.
Quote
Just when things are starting to get creepy, we can count on Nikolas to jump over the line with both feet.
What? How?
Quote from: olafmoriarty on Sun 03/08/2008 01:33:03
There's nothing erotic about pornography.
Now that really depends, now doesn't it?
I personally think this is an awesome idea! If you manage to pull this off by christmas, I'm sure he would be exhilarated. I know that I would be thrilled if my gf would make a game for me, let alone an erotic one :D
Quote from: vict0r on Wed 06/08/2008 16:47:13
I'm sure he would be exhilarated
I too think he would be quite flabbergasted, if not even exuberant!
... yeah, sorry. I'll stop that. :=
Quote from: vict0r on Wed 06/08/2008 16:47:13
If you manage to pull this off
MUST... RESIST... OBVIOUS... JOKE
Quote from: Akatosh on Wed 06/08/2008 16:55:52
I too think he would be quite flabbergasted, if not even exuberant!
Erm... What? I don't get it :P ;D
I thought this was going to be an announcement by m0ds that he's finishing Kinky Island.
Quote from: Liliana on Sat 02/08/2008 20:05:44
Well, it's soon to think about christmas gifts, but I thought it would be an interesting gift for my boyfriend (He'd get other presents as well, of course). The thing is, I don't know a thing about this type of games and what'd be good and what bad or boring. Can you give me any advice about some of the principes which can be usable in AGS? The star would of course be me, me and only me ;). Do you think it would be a good idea, anyway? Thank you very much for your replies.
Not to break up the hilarity of this thread (though olafmoriarty, in particular, speaks wisdom (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=35282.msg461932#msg461932)), but what kind of advice are you looking for, more precisely? When you say you don't know a thing about "this type of game", I guess you mean erotic games specifically, not adventure games in general, right?
Have you even decided that this will be an adventure game, or could it have some other kind of gameplay?
Since you're building the game around a set of photos, that sets up a lot of constraints right away. I'm reminded of Dr U-Turn's Revenge (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=33952.0), another game made as a gift (though--I very much hope--of a somewhat different nature). You might still want to have a look at that for inspiration, and to get a sense of the level of dedication required.
I guess the big question is: Are you going to use the photos in the game as "live" events, or are they just going to be still images or photos (like the dirty pictures that drive the plot of Au Naturel (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=34572.0))? If live, is the whole game going to use photos for graphics? Are you going to appear as a character in other scenes of the game as well? In that case, won't you have to take a whole bunch of photos for other situations, too? That could be a lot of work. Or are you going to use a mixed art style, with illustrated backgrounds and animations for the non-erotic scenes of the game? (That, also, could be a lot of work.)
Another thing: is your character supposed to be you, or are you (role)playing as someone else? And is the player character going to be your boyfriend, specifically? Does the game take place in fantasy-land or something close to reality? That choice determines a lot of how the story and gameplay is going to be.
One way to integrate them is to use the photos to create a non-interactive cutscene, maybe the reward for winning the game or for achieving a major objective (this is how most of the explicit scenes in the Leisure Suit Larry games are used). Or you could put together some gameplay that makes the erotica interactive. That's another major design decision.
Here's what I would recommend: Use the photos to create a scene or scenes that happens "live" within the game. If not, you might as well just give your boyfriend the pictures and not bother with the game. However, I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to make these scenes too interactive. Some dialog options or a bit of multiple choice (maybe branching paths) is fine, but if you rig the whole thing with hotspots and inventory items and so on it can easily get a bit silly and embarrassing (as well as potentially requiring more hardcore shots than you might want to do).
Since it sounds like the point of the game is to get to the pictures, don't make the rest of it more complicated than it has to be. For instance, it's probably easier to make a first-person game (like Myst) than a third-person game, since you don't have to create graphics and animations for the player character. Since the photos are still-pictures, the rest of the game can consist of static screens as well, whether you decide to go with photo-style backgrounds (see The Oracle (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=27111.0)) or make your own graphics.
The same goes for story and gameplay. August may be early to think about Christmas presents, but it's not a terribly long time to make a game, especially if it's your first time. If you don't have any particular ideas, how about something classic and simple like a "Strip Quest", where the player has to solve a bunch of puzzles to get you to take your clothes off, and see you pose at the end? (Don't make the tasks too difficult: you want it to be fun, not frustrating.) Does that make sense for the photos you were planning?
As for how to make the whole thing "work" and be maximally sexy, you should know what your boyfriend likes better than we do. I think a lot of it comes down to writing the dialogue to go with the pictures. That's what sets the imagination going and makes the whole thing come to life.
If all of this sounds daunting, maybe a game isn't worth it. Have you thought about making something more like a picture book or photo-comic? You could do that on the computer, too. Like an interactive movie with little or no interactivity. It's probably a lot quicker, and can be just as sexy. (In truth, adventure games are not renowned for their steamy eroticism.)
I hope that helps. It'd be interesting to hear what direction you decide to go in. Good luck, and I hope your boyfriend enjoys his present! (He does like adventure games, right? Otherwise, I'd rethink this gift... unless your secret agenda is to convert him to the joys of point-and-clickery.)
(Oh, and if you do feel you need to run it by beta-testers, you could always swap out the images of you with some generic porn model. It's not like it's hard to find pictures of naked women on the Internet. Actually, I encourage you to use placeholder graphics like that instead of waiting for the photoshoot and possible reshoots.)
Quote from: Snarky on Thu 07/08/2008 05:05:37
I think a lot of it comes down to writing the dialogue to go with the pictures.
Seconded. An additional thought: This would be a perfect game to voice-act instead of having dialogue on the screen, assuming you have a good enough microphone.