a question

[lamont Sanford]

If a game is more of a traditional adventure game with only a small amount of sex would it still interest you? There will be explicit sex but it will not be the focus of the game and you wont be just doing things to jump from one sex scene to the next. Anyway weigh in on it, I would like to hear your thoughts.

[Ehlanna]

A game is a game, the sex is a bonus!

[Severn]

A game is a game, the sex is a bonus!

Pretty much this, I enjoy the adventure games adult or otherwise, if people were just in it for the sex they could read an erotic novel.

[M]

The more content the better, really.

[wildcat68]

I agree. The game is what is fun, the sex is a big bonus

[fleet]

I agree with the previous responses.

[lamont Sanford]

Thanks for the responses.

[TheBrain]

I agree mostly with the posts above, however I do enjoy erotic tension in games like this. Finding out what is possible with what girl and then working out how to achieve it is quite fun. This, of course, doesn't mean it has to be a game has to go from sex scene to sex scene.
In fact, in most games I prefer the situations where you don't get sex instantly, but have to go through several situations and maybe get some small erotic scenes in the process. A girl does not need to get naked on the first date, ending it with a sexy kiss or a hint there may be more would be enough to keep me immersed and interested to continue.
Many games tend to take things way too quickly for my taste, it would be good to mix in more traditional game concepts, but perhaps with a erotic/relationshippy context. For example, in SD3 there's a very small puzzle where you need to give Gary the computer game to open up an extra date with Molly. I would enjoy it if games expand on puzzles like that.
On the other hand, I don't think creating completely unrelated puzzles would add too much for me.

[Nezumi]

Provided they are well done, any game is good, if sex is included, even better but it has to be a seamless transition between the normal and the sexy. One thing that can ruin the experience is when a really great game is made and the creator tacks on a sex scene somewhere just to call it a sex game and vise versa. As an example in your Perils game, I have done multiple run throughs of it trying to find all the sex scenes but stop at the end of Friday Night as Saturday's adventure just seems rushed and not really a part of the game.

[ExLibris]

If a game is more of a traditional adventure game with only a small amount of sex would it still interest you? There will be explicit sex but it will not be the focus of the game and you wont be just doing things to jump from one sex scene to the next. Anyway weigh in on it, I would like to hear your thoughts.

In general I prefer adult games to have actual gameplay. In particular, there's a thrill to be gained from solving a well-designed puzzle that's more satisfying than even the best sex scene (in a different way obviously). However, that being said, I think the game still has to be about sex otherwise the sex scenes seem simply gratuitous and unconnected with the game as a whole. SD3 is a good example of what I'd like to see, in that the puzzles and gameplay are all linked to the story (and the story is about sex, specifically the PC's choice between Becky and Molly). There aren't any puzzles in SD3 that are there simply for the sake of being puzzles, everything feels well integrated into the gameworld and the game is more believable as a consequence. I personally feel that Goblinboy's more recent games (Meteor and especially GoP3) have gone too far the other way in emphasising the sex at the expense of both gameplay and story.

That also touches on something TheBrain said, that sex scenes are better with build up as that increases the player's sense of anticipation. It's also a maxim of mine that I enjoy a sex scene more if I feel like I've done something to achieve it. Good gameplay can provide both of those things.

[clawixp]

In my opinion, there are several keys to a good adult game.

The first is character creation. You want characters with differing personalities, tastes, criteria (for sex), etc. When I see, or envision, a character, my first thought is "What do I need to do to see her naked." I'm of the opinion that every game should have at least one "freebie" (Like Melissa from SD3). Most other girls/guys should require work, be they gifts, actions, dates, etc. And each path should match the girl's personality. They need to feel like a real person who, while enjoying sex a lot, also has other interests besides just fucking.

The second key is the story. The sex and the story should go hand-in-hand. In my opinion, the game's primary goal should revolve around sex, be it with one girl/guy or lots of girls/guys. There can be a background story that develops as the game progresses, but the sex needs to be a part of that. I didn't get that with Peril in Pleasantville. It seemed like a lot of the sex was just there to be sex and had absolutely nothing to do with the alien part of the game.

The last key is choices. If you're going to have a game with choices, then those choices need consequences other than just branching storylines. Your choices (if they're known) should change how people view you or react to you. As you interact with the world, the world should shift with you.

The hardest thing about creating an AIF game is anticipating what the player is going to try to do, similar to running a tabletop game. Which is why all of my projects come to a stand still.

[poisson]

Yes, in fact, it would interest me more than a hardcore sex game would.
Take for example this tiny yet famous series called Frank's adventure, the only sex in it is in the form of photographs you collect but its so much fun to play it.
Eventually, it's always the tease factor that matters to me, not full blown sex sequences.

I enjoy a sex scene more if I feel like I've done something to achieve it.

It's all in the sense of achievement and then you get a little tasty reward! What more could you desire ?

[ExLibris]

The hardest thing about creating an AIF game is anticipating what the player is going to try to do, similar to running a tabletop game. Which is why all of my projects come to a stand still.

There's an old saying in tabletop role-playing that in any situation there are four possible responses: the three reasonable and intelligent responses the GM has anticipated, and what the players actually do

There can be a background story that develops as the game progresses, but the sex needs to be a part of that. I didn't get that with Peril in Pleasantville. It seemed like a lot of the sex was just there to be sex and had absolutely nothing to do with the alien part of the game.

Just to show how idiosyncratic players are, I didn't feel that most of the sex scene in PinP were gratuitous (although I did feel that the alien plot wasn't strictly necessary). While I would have preferred it if the sex scenes had been more strongly connected to the story (in particular if there had been some consequences to dating Emily or Contessa), in general I felt that the player had to do enough to achieve the various minor sex scenes that they felt like part of the game. Weirdly, the scene I had the least interest in was the finale, even though it's a result of the most sustained period of gameplay in the game. I suspect that might be because Becky wasn't dangled in front of the player enough. Despite the fact that it's established in the introduction that Becky is the girl the PC lusts after, he hardly ever sees her in a sexual context (apart from the party and being able to spy on her twice, all of which are quite easy to miss) so I was never at a point where I was really looking forward to finally getting her. By contrast Katie/Emily/Contessa get much more buildup without any payoff.

YMMV

[kessie8yl]

By and large I agree with what most people have said here... Although I don't know exactly what you have in mind and how far you've got into storyboarding your game, but if I may I would suggest that you can actually kill two birds with one stone here.

By all means a little sex scene or two in the middle would spice up any game - these are "adult" games, after all. I think I understand your concerns though, so I would suggest that you take your lead from the "James Bond" type of ending where our hero finally gets to have his way with the, so far, untouchable and/or mysterious beauty he's had the hots for since she first laid eyes on her.

That way you will get to please the "regular" gamers by slaying the monster or the putting the bad guy in jail (or whatever the true goal is) but you'd also hold the interest of those lagooners who may not bother with the rest of the game unless it ends up in giving that girl a good shagging...

You won't need to involve her much in the plot, just have her pop up now and then to tease the player by being totally gorgeous and seemingly out of our hero's league. Keep the other girl(s) in for the sex scene(s) you already have in mind (you can even kill her off later, if you feel inclined)...

As far as getting to the "star prize" is concerned you don't have to do any major re-writing to set up any special conditions or add loads of variables, etc... No taking her out to certain bars, buying the right thing at the store, wearing the right colour underwear, etc - Just complete the final mission and she's there, wanting to show our hero how grateful she is

We lagooners may not know much, but we know what we like

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing the results.

[TheBrain]

You won't need to involve her much in the plot, just have her pop up now and then to tease the player by being totally gorgeous and seemingly out of our hero's league. Keep the other girl(s) in for the sex scene(s) you already have in mind (you can even kill her off later, if you feel inclined)...

As far as getting to the "star prize" is concerned you don't have to do any major re-writing to set up any special conditions or add loads of variables, etc... No taking her out to certain bars, buying the right thing at the store, wearing the right colour underwear, etc - Just complete the final mission and she's there, wanting to show our hero how grateful she is

I thoroughly disagree with this, adding a "star prize" like this would just seem rushed and out of place if she played no or a minor role in the rest of the story, much like the ending with Becky in PinP.

I'll sketch two scenario's to elaborate.

First we have the tradional "princess captured by evil villian", the hero goes to rescue her and she's so grateful she has sex with him. Beside perhaps some "visions" you couldn't involve the captured princess in the story and she's there ONLY at the end. All sex or sexy scenes leading up to that point will be totally irrelevant.

Compare this to scenario two, a princess has an epic quest to recover some family heirloom/secret/etc. In a similar fashion the hero would go on a quest, but the princess could still be actively involved. For instance after a initial "solo" quest the hero could return home with his findings so far to impress the princess (and get a little reward *wink wink nudge nudge*). Further on the princess might even join the hero, which inevitably leads to more "rewards", but at the same time the princess won't give it all up until the very end.

You can notice some similarities in these scenario's, with a princess as the object of desire and an epic quest to fulfill that desire. However, in the second scenario there's much more room to immerse the player into wanting the princess. This acts as a motivation to continue playing, despite that there may not much sex scenes along the way. Secondly it builds tension, you WANT to get the princess naked and what not. In the end the reward of having sex with her would be much greater than if she wasn't actively involved in the story.