How to improve my games?

[Sylrissa]

Yes, I played some hentai games too, but really the problem wasn't much the nudity/sexuality, but the totally stupid plots and lack of any character personalization/development. It was just a crazy display of sex and like you said wank-fest Still I was mostly joking, even if my games would be different from other hentai, there would be still lots of problem in selling them and getting coverage (and people would probably have prejudice and not even try them).
Since is already hard to get a bit of coverage as it is, I don't want to jinx my chances by risking so much You'll have to be satisfied with my current level of sexyness in games which anyway is still quite high compared to any other western manga indie dev!

No worries there, as i'm very happy with your games the way they are, just thought I would put my two cents worth in, in the fairness of discussion

[thesleepykitten]

Yes, I played some hentai games too, but really the problem wasn't much the nudity/sexuality, but the totally stupid plots and lack of any character personalization/development. It was just a crazy display of sex and like you said wank-fest Still I was mostly joking, even if my games would be different from other hentai, there would be still lots of problem in selling them and getting coverage (and people would probably have prejudice and not even try them).

Reminds me of an article covering 18+ otome games:

18+ Otome Games for Women

Like one day, I wouldn't mind a mature Otome game, but yea... It'd be more of an otome game that *just* happens to have tastefully done erotic content, since it's about the story/characters, which just has a nice moment of intimacy in their relationship (and the scene could probably be turned off if desired.)

Since is already hard to get a bit of coverage as it is, I don't want to jinx my chances by risking so much You'll have to be satisfied with my current level of sexyness in games which anyway is still quite high compared to any other western manga indie dev!

We're happy. We love your games! :D I also tried the Loren demo and enjoyed it, so I'll be purchasing the full game very soon.

[jack1974]

Yes I read that blog post already (an user sent it to me) and I agree on what you said. I think something like Elenor / Amukiki or Elenor / Rei romances would work in a otome game as well, with some sexy stuff thrown in but done very tastefully.
Also cool about Loren !

[DoctorMario911]

All i can say is make some games like Loren game and u will do just fine. Which i bet is the most popular game and a big success.

[biscuit]

Yeah, Loren was the first Winter Wolves title to completely enthrall me. I mean, I LIKED the others I've played before (Spirited Heart, Flowershop, Summer Session) but this was the first to really all click together for me. Part of it was probably the old-school RPG dynamics (I like the tactics and customization!) but most of it was due to the excellent writing and the interpersonal development.

The written scenes really sealed it for me. I mean, raising sim, stats, RPG... the game mechanics themselves aren't where the fun lies, even though they can be very satisfying. I really enjoyed the written text scenes. As a matter of fact, the extended texts/encounters (from Spirited Love GxG improving over the BxG side, and from Winter in Fairbrook's improvement over the Summer one) were really what clinched it for me with a lot of the previous games. If all I wanted was just a little timekiller to play between classes or after work, I could play Tetris or play Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. (Not slapping multiplayer or Tetris though; I still like them!) But what really gets me coming back to a game is the story and the characters... which the written scenes deliver on.

[jack1974]

Yes basically when I stopped writing the games myself
I was crazy to think I could write good stories not even being a native English speaker, and also I needed to take care of the coding/design/testing etc. with the few time left (so that I could finish a game in a decent amount of time). When I look at Planet Stronghold I can't avoid to think how much better it would have been if Aleema or one of the other writers had written it from the beginning. Ah well, there are always the new upcoming games

[abnaxus]

Regarding hentai games, there is a big difference between the ones that center around sexing up as many girls as possible (and consequently lack any noteworthy story) and actual visual novels where the sex scenes are either wholly absent or tacked on (like the sex scene in a Hollywood movie).

And sometimes even hentai RPGs with nonsensical plots ones can still have good gameplay.

[jack1974]

I agree, but the problem is I can't sell hentai games at all, and for sure not in portals like Steam. I have already few chances to get on it, I don't want to reduce them to 0%
Also as I said I have nothing against sexy/erotic content if done in the proper way, but I want to keep making games available for all the audiences Already the kind of content you see in Loren was considered very risquè, I don't want to push it too much

[abnaxus]

But then again, The Witcher 2 is on Steam and that game has full frontal nudity...

[jack1974]

I know, many people refer to that but I think it's because the game is a AAA game so it's better say that it got on Steam DESPITE the frontal nudity. Also I think there's a general hostility towards anime art in games so hentai is (wrongly) associated to underage teens, and don't forget that a game on Greenlight that had sexual content was banned already. So in summary, if I had 10 million dollar budget to make a 3d RPG I could even put frontal nudity, but right now I need to keep low profile