Friday, August 20, 2021

My "Story First" Philosophy

Some recent conversation about Maids & Masters brought up how much (or more accurately, how little) adult content there currently is in the game. This led to me mentioning my philosophy about adult content in games as it relates to how I'm designing my games. I originally laid out many of my thoughts about this in an update post for The Rising Son, another project that is currently on hiatus (but should be resuming development soon - I'm only the writer there, not the sole developer).

For reference, here is that original post.

The Rising Son is a dystopian cyberpunk action thriller with strong dramatic and romantic elements.

So, let's run down that list. Between Cyberpunk 2077 and some of the other projects that have come through [F95], I'm sure everyone is well aware of what cyberpunk is, so we'll skip that part. Anyone who has watched a movie probably knows what Action, Thriller, and Drama are, too, so I won't spend much time there, either.

Dystopian, however, has a bit more room for interpretation. From everything to 1984 to all the subject matter with post-apocalyptic settings that have come out in the last 20 years, dystopias have a lot of different faces to present. The way I'm incorporating it here is a fairly simple prospect, at least on the surface. I want to present the dystopian angle less as 'everything is terrible' and more as 'equal parts progression and regression.' For example, I'm sure a great deal of the people here would be happier if society as a whole applied less stigma to sex and the subcultures that revolve around it. In Toyomi, that has been realized. Rape is still a crime, but where there is consent, there is acceptance. Establishments like The Peach Tree offer Peaches - their special brand of prostitutes - for anyone of age to purchase time with them. What goes on behind closed doors isn't just accepted, it's encouraged. There's the progress, but where's the regression? As is appropriate for the cyberpunk genre, the regression comes from capitalism. Sex sells as well in 2107 as it does in 2021, and companies are all too willing to sell you your Dream Girl in a bottle of sake. This follows through to the entire setting; from the police, to the people, to the shogunate that effectively rules the empire, every step forward is mirrored by a step back.

That takes us to the action thriller part. This is something most people are going to be familiar with. It's the part where swords get drawn, punches get thrown, and sometimes people die. Thriller just means that there's stakes. General United States needs to punch the Frost Warrior or else the fancy helicopter is going to start sniping people who chew gum too loudly. There's suspense, and maybe you're a little bit anxious about the bad thing actually happening. The biggest reason I wanted to call this out is because we really do have some ambitious ideas for how to implement these elements, and not just from a writing angle. Hopefully you won't have to wait too terribly long to see what I mean. [Writer's note: That line did not age well.]

The drama is a fairly mundane point by comparison to the rest. That's why it's near the end of the list of the descriptors. However, it is still important. Drama is building relationships with the characters of the story, learning more about them, falling in love with or growing to hate them. Drama when it comes to The Rising Son is simply familiar.

That brings us to the romantic elements. Though "romance" is really just a thin veil behind which porn tries to hide the fact that it is actually porn. This is the reason we're all [on F95]. And I went and put it on the bottom of the list. The reason for that, is that this is a story first, and porn second. Take the sex away, and the story will still stand on it's own. I've probably lost most of you at this point, but if you're still reading (if you are, you're handsome and/or beautiful) then I want you to know that there is still plenty of sex here. At the time of my writing this, there isn't a single female character in the game that you can't find a way for Joji to sleep with. It is important to note, I feel, that all of my favorite games that I've found here have all had this in common. The best always stand on their own and are compelling and engaging even when it stops being horny. I hope to achieve that for this project as well, and that you'll keep reading regardless of what you may or may not be doing outside of the computer.

That last paragraph is the most relevant to the current topic. And yes, I am calling out all of you out there who read romance novels pretending like they're just dramatic thrillers and you're in it for the interesting characters and the compelling story, not the galloping abs and Gronk doing his thang-thang. I see you.

But this is turning into a giant post, so I'll try to keep it succinct. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a sex-positive person. I think sex is great, and I hate that some people use it to cause others harm. I also love video games, and have a similar opinion of people who try to gate-keep or otherwise use games as an excuse or means to cause others harm. I want to present both in as compelling of a way as possible, hopefully through the construction of well-written narrative, with that last line of my old post being the most important. I want to keep you engaged and entertained regardless of what you may or may not be doing outside of the computer.

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