tlaero wrote:If we're going to name the genre, let's call the style "arianeb" instead of "vdate," since both Chaotic and I were inspired by Ariane, but not much by each other.
Sure. I said vdate not because of Chaotic's games, which btw I think are lame, but because all of them are about "virtual dates". In the case of your games, there tend to be several of these virtual dates until the goal of full contact sex is reached. On the other hand, BEW does not feel like a 'virtual date' game. It feels more like a visual novel with a lot of sexual content and choices. Most of the difference probably comes down to the fact that there is a lore in BEW that is revealed bit by bit ingame. The fact that the author conceives a detailed universe in the background that is alive and that the PC needs to take into account is what I think distinguishes BEW from the rest.
But you say that you and Mortze are also working along those lines in these games. I think that is very nice and given that everything else is top notch in your games, I'm sure this series of games you two are producing is going to be excellent.
W.r.t. the time it takes to develop BEW, I don't have any complaints to tell the truth. I think the episodical format is a good idea. No one gets mad having to wait a year for the next season of Game of Thrones. I haven't played BEW since the 2nd episode btw. I'm hoping to binge play it someday.
W.r.t. the goal in the game being more or less forced to having to do with sex, I very much disagree. That's the 'virtual date' paradigm. I think there is plenty of room for innovation. At the very least, the goal of the game can be anything - catch a murderer, survive a shipwreck, whatever - that on the way, brings two or more characters together. One can make sex an option, not a goal. As a matter of fact, that may be the difference in approaches. Instead of asking 'why is it hard to make sex with the character?" I think a good question to ask would be 'what would be a GOOD ending in this game in which there is absolutely no sex?'. Because an answer for that question means that the world makes sense and it's interesting even without the sex component. And then on top of that, one can give the player the possibility to have all the adult pleasure she/he want.
That said, in the games I'm doing with Mortze, there's more going on in the world than the sex lives of the main characters. You got a small introduction to that in DwE, and you'll learn more in the next game. I'm not sure that it'll be enough to satisfy, but I'm enjoying where things are going.
This.
I'm sure I'll enjoy too.