12 Simple Steps To Creating A Satisfying Adult 3D Game
If you’re reading this, you’re already doing better than most devs, because most of them aren’t searching tips on how to improve!
Daz3D Render Quality:
1. Use HDRIs for lighting: I know, I didn’t believe it either, but the advice is true: the biggest difference you’ll see in character model quality comes from lighting.
Recommendations: (Joelgecko’s Photoshoot HDRIs, and PaperTiger’s HDRI X-Ray Camera so you can use light interiors with those HDRIS.)
2. Get the best skin textures from store-bought characters, and use them on your own characters. Make sure the skin has lots of HD detail.
Recommendations: (KK’s Store has the most photorealistic skins I’ve ever seen)
3. Be picky - I’ve combed hundreds of characters, and I’m left with a handful of the best textures and body shapes that I customized for re-use.
Recommendations: (Mousso, CynderBlue, and Fabian for male characters)
With Jasmine, I finally found HD skin textures that really give her a realistic and unique look.
Story:
1. You must practice small stories before taking on big ones. It doesn’t matter how many TV shows, movies or novels you’ve consumed - that’s not the same as experience in creating. Storytelling is a skill like another; you wouldn’t expect to pick up a paintbrush and paint like Michelangelo. Yet, millions of wanna-be storytellers assume that this craft is something you’ll be instantly good at.
2. A series of events is not a story. You also need consequence, character growth and an ending that closes the conflict that has defined the narrative.
Emma talking about Ace isn’t just dialogue; it also defines her personality, her relationship with Ace, creates foreboding around his arrival, etc.
3. Create content you’re passionate about. Because the most important fan of your game is yourself, and if you don’t satisfy yourself, you’ll lose interest and give up.
Coding:
1. Decide what gameplay you want to make, and then work backwards to learn how to do it. This way you’re always growing as programmer. If you build a project limited by your current knowledge, you’ll never venture into greater possibilities.
2. Try to plan gameplay as much as possible. Coding is like a weaving a carpet—when you pull on a single thread, it affects all the other parts.
3. Optimize and simplify. A game is like a machine: the more moving parts there are, the more things that can break down. Looking for ways to merge game mechanics, or even taking the time to re-organize your backend code will save you a lot of headaches.
Keeping game code neatly compartmented into modules allows me to add and remove game mechanics without breaking things… mostly.
Gameplay:
1. Games are intended to be as rewarding as possible. That said, a bit of work can make the reward more satisfying, but if there’s too much work for the player, the prize won’t be worth the struggle.
Recommendations: (Itch.io’s Free Sound Effects can really add a satisfying umph to every click)
2. Complicated? Bad. Complexity! Sure, as long as the player gets it! Introduce gameplay slowly, using tutorials only if you must—ideally, your game mechanics should need no explanation.
3. If a gameplay mechanic only serves as “filler”, it probably doesn’t belong. You want players to feel as if every interaction has some sort of value. A conversation with that NPC might make the game world feel immersive—but why not also make it have some sort of utility for a quest?
(In Nemesis Party, the Interact Menu options are getting replaced with mechanics that offer insights into the characters while still providing lewd rewards.)