Suggested By:
JohnEvansIn Aching Dreams, you're a sword-and-sorcery hero type going off and fighting monsters and such -- but this is no RPG, and increasing your stats is only a tool to an end. The end is using your tool, as it were. It's a hentai-style "date sim," and "winning" means winning the heart (and, you know, body) of one of two girls.
Though there's a minor bit of resource management -- you have only 32 days, some of which you will need to spend working on skills and taking jobs to earn money for needed equipment -- much of the game involves clicking "Next" to read the next bit of text and see the next set of images. Occasionally you have a choice to make. Some of the images, if you're doing well, are explicit, that is, show you merrily rogering one of the game's female characters, in your choice of positions.
Hand-drawn manga-style pictures of naked chicks do not strike me as all that erotic, really, but there they are. The game draws you in, however, because there's a puzzle-solving aspect to achieving your ends, and because the text is well-written and moderately amusing. There are also several different endings and eight possible "achievements" -- some of which can only be accomplished on a second or subsequent playthrough -- and you may find yourself playing through several times to unlock them all.
This repeat playability is nice, but comes at a cost; since all the missions are invariant, you're not likely to want to read the associated text more than once, so on subsequent playthroughs you're basically hammering on the mouse to "next" through stuff you've seen before.
The game did suck me in (no pun intended). Most games that deal with sex are either incredibly dumb or repulsively exploitative; Aching Dreams is neither. Indeed, it's actually kind of fun.
Problem Solving
I find it interesting that these games frame relationships in terms of solving a problem within the woman. I don't want to sound too much like a feminist, but how typically male an approach. Designing a game about relationships is a wicked problem and I suspect there are many good approaches that treat relationships as such, rather than something with a specific solution.
Then again, the pay-off is anime nudity, you can't blame the guy for appealing to his target audience.
Some Saudi's like hentai, how global.
Games about relationships
I read this comment and I thought about it for a while, and the truth is that I'm not entirely sure why I designed the game like that. The obvious answers are "because it's an easy way to have a conflict-reward system" and "because other games have done it like that". Also, if I want the protagonist to be vaguely-defined so the player can project themselves into his shoes, and I want a game about relationships, that means that the women have to have well-developed personalities with problems and conflict.
I don't really see it as "solving a problem", that seems to imply that "women need solutions". In writing the game I saw it more as the player helping the women work through their problems. I think the distinction I'm making is that I'd rather not think of these women as objects, but as, you know, people.
Of course, you've got me thinking that it's possible to look at it from another perspective. Hmmm. I need to think about this some more.
Anyway, I certainly agree that "Designing a game about relationships is a wicked problem"...
Thanks!
Thanks, Greg, I feel that's about the best review we could expect with this game. I'm totally going to steal some quotes for the website. "'...it's actually kind of fun' --Greg Costikyan"
I think all the criticisms you made are valid. (Well, a lot of people do find the artwork erotic, but of course that's highly subjective.)
I will say that the process of creating this game has taught me a lot...about game design, and also about finishing a large project, working with collaborators, etc.. Working on a project from start to finish and actually seeing it completed turns out to be a valuable experience, just like I've heard. So, the next one will be better!
Props for producing
Props for producing something John, really, I think you're on your way to doing a lot of interesting stuff. The first place you might start, if you're really interested in producing games about relationships that have general appeal, is by not making them hentai games. :)
Reading the forums was a kick, these kids are really serious about sussing out all the achievements. Are they motivated by hand-drawn nudity or by the optimizational dopamine drip? Is there a difference?
In my thinking on the manner (and I've been trying to "solve" this "problem" for years) I've decided to focus on tactile/gestural interfaces along continuous axis (to distinguish that from ad-hoc WarioWare style gestures) without language, and to try and utilize multiplayer behavior, since that's the lowest hanging fruit.
More about Aching Dreams
Oddly enough, I approached this as a way of making a hentai game with general appeal, by adding something about relationships. But your idea has merit too. ;)
Why do people get so involved in the game? I suspect the promise of nudity gets them to try it first, and then the achievements really get them interested in playing the game for a long time. Of course, I also think the different "rewards" are mutually reinforcing; having both together is more effective than either would be alone. Well, that's my theory, anyway.
So...your idea for handling relationships in games is using gestural interfaces? Honestly, I'm not sure I follow. Could you elaborate?