WIP/Idea threads: What turns you on/off

[Anna]

Not really. with about an hour of work you can have a 15 minuet Alpha demo. Granted once I get around to it I'll Hell I wrote mine ON a Spiral note book.

My own works haven't met my criteria so I haven't posted them.

All right, but some people only want to release a demo with graphics and such which are decent, because demos set expectations. So, I understand why people wouldn't want to release an alpha demo.

[specialtantei]

Hmm, interesting thread. I'll give my wierd opinions to it.

Off:
- Otomes. Can't stand them anymore. I used to like them, but now I find each one of them boring (there are some interesting Otomes in the WIP thread, but not all of them. Maybe just two or three).
- The art doesn't bend. I don't like it when the GUI, the BG's and Characters don't seem to bend. I don't mean they need to have similar colours and stuff, no. There should be a harmony. It's difficult to define but I know harmony when I see it.
- RomComs. I can stand cliché but that's just too cliché.
- Too many branching paths. Might take months and the game is never finished. I've seen a lot of those, games which I've been waiting for and never came out.
- Badly written and too many typos. Proofreaders exist people. Get them. I'm not native but I can't stand awful English.
-Ideas. As said by someone else before, if you have an idea wait to start developing it and then post a thread in the WIP section. Or just go to the Idea Dump.
-The logo looks better than the game. Yep. I just turn around. Slowly.
-The author isn't sure about how to explain his/her game (That means I've hated myself for some weeks. I can do it now, took me some time though.) If you can't make your grandmother understand what are you working on, that means you yourself have no idea of what your doing.

On:

-Mistery. Well written mistery. It's a difficult genre so I give thumbs up to everyone who's trying to write a good mistery story.
-Horror. Even more difficult than mistery. That's a 15 on a scale from 1 to 10 on my list.
-GxGs. This place needs more Yuri and whenever I see one I go euphoric. They are difficult to write sometimes but Yuris are really good to read if the author knows what he's doing.
-Adult Games. Nope, not those boring hentais with the same plots and big breasted girls, but a game with adult themes, and with some well placed sex scenes, always turns me on (in both ways).
-Crazy characters. I think most stories without someone loony that makes you laugh and be creeped out at the same time are pure win. I always look at those.
-Japanese villages. Not the generic school setting (although Japanese villages can have a school and the story can take place there). I want something with a bit of Japanese culture in it, like gods, magic, youkais, in a secluded place, and that's why Japanese villages are a great place to start.
-Good names. A good name is a good name. Just think about the difference between 'Black Water' and 'The Friggin' Deep Lake behind my House from where Monsters Come'. The second one sounds interesting and funny, but the first one is easier to pronounce and has a misterious vibe to it.

I guess that's more or less it. I don't care about art that much, it just has to bend (Higurashi and Umineko had wonderful art in my opinion).

[MomoiroGirl]

Sixth - Is there a Demo for it?
- Sounds odd but I'm not interested in simply text and a few pictures. I want to see who the project will be framed. I don't care if the background is a pencil sketch on a sheet of notebook paper.

Wow, isn't that a bit harsh as selection criteria? It is a work in progress after all, and demos require some of that work to be done (actually, quite a lot if you don't want it to harm the final release).

@Momoirogirl - well maybe, but it could be people don't do it because like you they think their own country is boring . The unknown is always more fun.

Perhaps Still, the closest thing to culture we got up here is 'smørrebrød' and H.C. Anderson XDD That and a lot of drinking and partying (cause there is nothing else to do)

[dramspringfeald]

Not really. with about an hour of work you can have a 15 minuet Alpha demo. Granted once I get around to it I'll Hell I wrote mine ON a Spiral note book.

My own works haven't met my criteria so I haven't posted them.

All right, but some people only want to release a demo with graphics and such which are decent, because demos set expectations. So, I understand why people wouldn't want to release an alpha demo.

Not too sure of that. An "Alpha Demo" shows us your planning and writing skills as well what to expect in pacing. This also allows us to catch problems early and it helps the game maker (well us 1 man teams) set up the filing system and all that. I mean do want to have to go through and edit all your drawings because they don't fit the hole that is your game? OR would you rather have a handful of pre-made templates you can use for your game? The movie industry calls this Pre-viz where a good portion of the game is built and all that without any of the good graphics.

Such as my game The Echo // FR2 *they are 2 years old and I now have to rebuild the ship do to HD crash.
It's not pretty but it gets the idea across. and lets us give them Ideas on looks and the like.


lol I'm crying a bit because I haven't looked at Echo in almost 2 years.... and most of the game is now null. Y.Y

[bunbun]

Turn ons :
-GXB
-BXB (Only if the art is good enough or I found a perfect OTP in it. ): I play to see their bodies and faces, I don't want boys who look like sticks. I also don't want to see over muscular guys, I'd rather watch some gay porn or BARA if I'm into those types.
Togainu no Chi and Lamento are very good example which made me droll.)
-Attractive art (Attractive doesn't mean it has to look professional. I just want some good looking stuff. *While professional art doesn't mean it'll look attractive D;*)
-Fantasy
-Mystery
-Comedy (Yeah if I find something very interesting, art doesn't matter...example: handsome gakuen)
-Promising WIPs (constant update, prove of working on the game etc...)
-Interesting characters (I usually play a game for its character more than the storyline)


Turn offs :
-BXG
-GXG
-Oversexual theme (loli girls with extreme big boobs, girls with too little clothing etc)
-Hentai
-Modern school life
-Slice of life
-SF

[Deji]

Now reading some of the yay/nay lists, I may add some personal preferences ones
Again, this is just personal preference! Nothing about good/bad practices on WIPs or anything xD;

Nay:
- Overly sexualized females and/or big breasted characters. Bonus Nay points if their clothes magically wrap around their breasts and their crotch like spandex (extra points when it's clearly not spandex).
- One dimensional Characters that fit into tropes for the sake of attracting said trope lovers. Bonus Nay points if they're also obviously visually designed to pander to fans.
- Realistic non-"pretty" art. Bonus Nay points if it has ugly/scary/thug-ish characters.
- Abuse and decadence stories.
- War/military-heavy stories (especially if modern or futuristic). Bonus Nay points if it's also a depressing war story.
- Politics.
- Most Sci-fi, unless it has a nice story that goes beyond the sci-fi element. Good story that just happens to happen in a sci-fi setting >>>>>>> sci-fi that also has a nice story.

Kind of Nay but not really?:
- BxB. Turns to yay if it has pretty art / a good story that's not necessarily romance/dating-centric.
- Horror. Will probably turn into yay if it has pretty art.

Yay:
- Fantasy & Magic. Elves and mages are my weak point. Also dragons <3.
- Mythology.
- Friendship stories.

[azureXtwilight]

Yay for personal preference~

No, thanks!:
- Excessive fanservice, very tight clothes for both males and females or even half-naked males scenes.
- Characters/story sounds boring and generic (To me! There has to be some people who don't find them boring, aheh)
- I can accept any art style, but people that looks like stickmen are nays. Horrible art like elementary students' drawing are a def nays. (sorry!)
- Porn
- High school setting + only romance. I can accept high school setting for mystery, for example.
- You are the only member of your own gender. There's no friend on the same gender. AND/OR there's any but is over-bitchified. Srsly gaiz.
- BxB
- Very long post without art update. I get dizzy, heh 8D
- The author writes like chat speak.

Hurrah!
- Mystery, horror, survival!
- GxB or BxG (Eh, I can play GxG for some extent)
- Has non-romance paths!
- Unique art, like Hierofania for example.
- A demo! Even if it's short.

[Deji]

- You are the only member of your own gender. There's no friend on the same gender. AND/OR there's any but is over-bitchified. Srsly gaiz.

- Conversely, when in a GxG/BxB there are no characters from the opposite gender and everybody wants to get in the MC's pants ):
- When every single character wants to get in MC's pants, period.

[Darkmoonfire]

Turn Ons:
- Well written threads. This includes using proper spelling and grammar and especially not chat speak (I can forgive grammar and spelling errors because no one's perfect and English isn't everyone's first language, but chat speak makes it look like you're not even trying), but also includes things like presenting the information of the game in a easy to read manner and getting points like the premises and tone of the story across.
- Art, especially if it's art I like. Art makes it seem like actual progress is being made. It can also break up a wall of text into easier to read sections.
- GxB, BxG
- Mystery, Fantasy, Comedy (although in the case of comedy you should probably show it in your writing or screenshots rather than with a genre tag in the title so I can see your game has a sense of humor compatible with mine.)
- Lots of updates. I may even follow a thread where I'm not interesting in the actual game because I'm interested in the development.

Turn Offs:
- Pretty much the opposite of the turn ons.
- Horror, Slice of Life
- The author not taking the idea seriously. The game doesn't have to take itself seriously if it's comedy, but that's no excuse for the author to not be serious.
- Swearing

[TrickWithAKnife]

Turn ons:

• Unique ideas, or a fairly original combinations of ideas.
• Good art. Doesn't need to be amazing though, but not bad enough to be distracting.
• A unique art style. Quality is less important if it has its own style.
• Original gameplay features.
• The intraductry topic haveing good speling and grammer.
• Puzzle elements.

Turn offs:

• A dating sim set in a Japanese highschool.
• Japanese character names for no apparent reason.
• Anything Japanese, just because that's what everyone else is doing.
• Panty shots. If you want an H game, make it H. Stop pandering to the perverts with that borderline rubbish.
• Really awful art.
• The game creators having 400 works in progress and 0 completed games.
• "I'm a poor student so I can't afford to pay anyone, but I want someone to draw 500 characters by next Thursday. And they must look exactly like the art in my favourite game."
• If I've already seen you post in the recruitment thread with something like "I have an idea. I just need a programmer, artist, musician, and a couple of writers. I'll give you credit."
• Arguing with people who comment on your game.

Sorry if I just described your game in the turn offs. It's how I feel, and I wasn't thinking about any particular games when I wrote this.

[fioricca]

• "I'm a poor student so I can't afford to pay anyone, but I want someone to draw 500 characters by next Thursday. And they must look exactly like the art in my favourite game."
• If I've already seen you post in the recruitment thread with something like "I have an idea. I just need a programmer, artist, musician, and a couple of writers. I'll give you credit."

I just laughed so hard at this laskdfjsakdjf FREE LABOUR FOR EVERYONE... \o/

Also this thread is making me cry sad sad tears, and now I'm too scared to post my WIP and ask for feedback T__T I feel like everyone is going to hate it

[AsagiMete]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay:
Pretty art; I'm a sucker for bright and shiny!
Length; I'm getting a little tired of eating apple chips when all I want is a big, juicy apple. Don't over do it, but tell a little more story plz...
Not a Japanese High school; Stop it! Please! I beg of you! Stop... ;_;
Adventure; I can haz epic tail? lol

Noooooooooooooooo:
BxB; I just don't like it. Personal preference. I get distracted by it.
Having nothing to show; I need a reason to think your game is going to be made.
Gameplay; If I wanted to play a game, I own a Wii. I want a fun and engaging story, not puzzlemaster 3000.
"I need everybody for the game"; Then you don't really have anything more than an idea. Ideas aren't works in progress.
Japanese high school slice of life; STOP IT! IT'S BORING!!!
When every single character wants to get in MC's pants; I can't haz actual story?

[Desu_Cake]

Goodies:
Good/Decent art, obviously: Manga/Realistic/3d, I don't care as long as it looks good.
An interesting premise: Again obvious.
Something where I can quickly see whether it'll be interesting: I don't know how to word stuff. It's not so much about the amount of information, more about being able to see the important stuff without having to wade through backstory.

Baddies:
Pure romance stories: I really am not a fan of romance. If it's the only thing in a story, I'm gone.
Overly detailed character bios: Why on earth would I care what each of your characters birthday, star-sign, blood-type, favourite colour, favourite animal and most embarrassing secret is? Just give me some basic info on their personality and role in the story.
People being worried about spoilers/ their ideas being stolen: I'd rather read something that spoiled an early plot twist than something where I know nothing about the story.
"Mysterious" characters that aren't mysterious: This is kind of a strange one but I really hate when characters are described as mysterious just because the MC doesn't know who they are. Now if the character is a robot fairy that shoots money, that's mysterious. A guy that shows up randomly and spouts exposition at the MC isn't.

[clua]

haha let's see:

!>
+Art in the first post
+Custom GUI(Makes me think the author is polishing his/her game)
+Awesome character design(In my eyes is: Nice pallete, distinctive characters, interesting choice of clothing...This doesn't mean flashy!)
+The premise of the game is written first and it's just a little paragraph.
+Describes the characters briefly without spoilers alerts.
+MUSIC! I really like music!
+Finding all of my interest labeled on first post(screenshots, demo)

D8!
+Generic plot, generic characters designs.
+No art(Come on guys, I'ts a visual novel game...VISUAL! Try getting character sketches on an art request thread of how your character would look like or something, until you find an artist, because seeing a thread without art it's discouraging)
+Wall of text(Synthesize your ideas!)
+Loli/Shota designs just because it's cute and has nothing to do with the story.(Everyone with their fetish, I don't like it so that's why haha)


I don't care if it's gxb bxg bxb gxg dogxcat whatever!
Now, I'm the type of person who doesn't post a comment even if I like the game.
Most of times I write comments and end up errasing or not sending them :_:, just because
I think what I'm saying is not making the difference or it might be taken wrongly(happened
before haha)

[Blane Doyle]

- You are the only member of your own gender. There's no friend on the same gender. AND/OR there's any but is over-bitchified. Srsly gaiz.

- Conversely, when in a GxG/BxB there are no characters from the opposite gender and everybody wants to get in the MC's pants ):
- When every single character wants to get in MC's pants, period.

I should have had this on my list. Honestly, if the contextual circumstances explain it (IE, two brothers and you alone after a car crash or something) I am alright with their being only one person of the main character's gender.

However, if you're in a school and EVERY character in the game is the opposite gender of the character... meh. It just doesn't seem realistic, even though I know there are girls and boys who only interact with people of the opposite gender on a regular enough basis for it to be written about.

I also agree with every single character being one gender, unless it makes sense in context again (all girl's schools, for example, sometimes don't allow male teachers, so I would buy that).

Getting into the MC's pants is... a bit... yeah, I agree that's a no? I am used to this in translated games, but it is still weird sometimes. Ok, a lot of times.