H-scenarios, feedback / impact.

Kinda figured I should just make this a post.

This is in response to a question about giving H-scenes impact, and how I'm going to deal with H-scenes in Noaika.

In a broad sense, giving H-content impact is similar to giving other gameplay elements impact. That is, everything you do or see should have a tangible effect. It should give you “feedback”. Something that creates the illusion or feeling that what you did not only happened, but mattered.

For example, if the player throws a punch, and the enemy flinches, then that’s short-term feedback. It gives your action impact. Now, if you punch an NPC, and then later that same NPC and a couple friends ambush you for revenge, that’s long-term feedback. It makes the world feel more alive because individual actions were a part of something bigger.

To me, it’s having both short-term and long-term feedback that separates great H-content from okay H-content.

As an example (seems like I use this example a lot), in Hounds of the Blade there’s a fight with some mobsters. If you lose, there’s a series of H-animations.

By itself, it’s pretty decent. However, what makes it better is that if you go to the bar after being defeated by them, there’s a scene where the two of them are acting pretty cocky. You can either beat the crap out of them, or you can act a little submissive. If you choose the latter, another H-scene begins. What makes it good is the fact that it’s a result of your previous actions. It’s long-term feedback. What’s more, at the end of the scene the mobster tells you to come back and have sex again sometime, and if you return, the dialogue is slightly different to reflect the fact that you came back after being submissive the last time. Even though the scene is the pretty much the same, that extra bit of dialogue creates more long-term feedback, and sparks the player’s imagination a little. It gives the whole scenario more impact.

Long-term feedback is more or less what I’m personally trying to accomplish more with Noaika. The idea that many H-animations are a part of a larger scenario, and that very few enemies are limited to a single animation.

In Noaika

As for how I’m dealing with H-content/scenarios, I’m doing it in a couple ways. You can skip this if you want to keep it a surprise for when you play Noaika. (Though I won’t describe specific scenarios anyway)

-The first kind is enemies in-game. Some enemies have more than one animation depending on your state (normal/lewd), as well as what are basically less animated foreplay animations as attacks for when you aren't knocked down.

Some enemies can cause status effects in the player that will affect other enemy’s animations or actions. For example, one type of enemy will…”infect” the player when they H them, which will cause certain other enemies to H them differently. Other enemies will be passive to the player if you have a certain status effect, or take them somewhere if you are captured. “Completing” some of these “arcs” of events have different effects.

-There is a sort of lab/testing chamber where you can interact with enemies you've unlocked (which must be captured). With certain enemies, there are “research” animations specific to the lab that have a mini game aspect, which rewards you with items and skills.

- In the case of enemies with status effects, the research mini-game it will either result in a cure for the effect, or something that makes it beneficial with drawbacks, depending on how you complete the mini-game.

- You can also do another form of research with any enemy, wherein you fight waves of the enemy until you lose (ending in rape), and the longer you survive, the better the reward is.

- Other than enemies, there are some rooms throughout the world that have H-scenes with NPCs. Some of these scenes are prerequisites for certain occurrences, like opening doors, making bosses appear, or causing other events. Chances are they will have dialogue, even in the protagonist doesn't. Some of these scenes are monster-related.

-The robot girls have a couple limited animations related to a status effect.


That’s about it, regarding H animations. Aka, “sounds great! Once it’s actually freaking done, that is.”