A while ago I was writing to an H-game developer, giving suggestions on what game mechanics that I would like to see in his upcoming action game. He seemed receptive to my words but whether this would lead to something actually in his game will remain unknown for the near future.
Nevertheless, this act led to something else: since I had described what I would like to see included in his game and could now only wait, why not pass the time by making my own game that revolved around my favored situations and game mechanics?
So I did.
Dark Maze
Genre: Action
Platform: Unity
(Four screenshots, log in to view)
Description
Dark Maze is a proof of concept project that draws heavily from the Deviant Devices mod in Skyrim as well as Dungeons and Prisoners. It is a 3D action game that involves navigating your character through a series of maze-like levels. The twist is that the character can become blindfolded for most or all of a level, so walls and other objects cannot be seen unless very close to your character's body, somewhat simulating the sense of touch in locating things in game.
The player can click and drag to stick out either of the character's feet in order to carefully probe her surroundings. While using basic movement may be sufficient to navigate the level sometimes, for other times this action is the only way to find important objects like a button on the wall, or perhaps to avoid running into traps.
A simple click on the ground or an enemy unit in front of the character will cause her to kick in that direction. The one enemy in the game, a robot hand thing, has the ability to grab either of the character's legs. This prevents movement and using that leg to kick, and opens up the way for other hands to do various H-actions on her. Kicking the grabbing robot hand with the other foot (assuming another hand hasn't also grabbed it) is one way to release the character; spamming the movement keys is another, less effective way.
Along with the standard enemy robot hand that can grab and exhaust the character, some hands can replace the blindfold on her if she manages to take it off. Some of them can also tie up her legs if other hands have both legs grabbed. This alters the character's movement until she can find some way to untie her legs (her arms can never be untied) and has other implications, like making one robot hand able to grab and hold both legs.
Discussion
So, I guess it's pretty obvious what my "favored H-game mechanic" is. Deviant Devices used it the best, which is somewhat amazing given that, of course, Skyrim isn't an H-game. It was also implemented well in the bandit house sequence in Dungeons and Prisoners, which is why I lament for how DnP is stuck in developer hell. Other HRPGs like Evil Goddess, Sneak in Desperada and Asagi also have bondage not just in a game-over scene but also as a combat-effecting status. DiDRPG2 had the character's arms tied up for the entire game as well.
The character mesh that I used come from an Illusion game, exported into a Maya (LT 2016) readable format using Alamar's and enimaroah's SB3Utility. Thus, trying to commercially release this game is out of the question. But even without using an Illusion model I only really intend for this to be not much more than a proof of concept - a tech demo for Unity as well as Final IK, the Unity framework that allows for dynamic placement and grabbing of the character's limbs. I program for a living so having a fun hobby project already rewards me in the doing. If this game inspires other developers to create and incorporate similar material, then it will have achieved all that I could hope it would.
Also I have no artistic skills so this project is also a challenge in how much of a game I can make with the minimal amount of art asset creation.
Current Status and Issues
Mapped out the basic structure of the character animation state diagram - what I currently have is four main states depending on if the character is standing or on the floor, and if her legs are tied. Hopefully this structure will scale when adding more action and reaction animations in the future. "Tickle" is in as you can see in the above screenshot but later there might be an "ice cube", "shocking prod" or "candle wax" attack which can possibly be handled with a single "flinch" animation. That would be efficient...
I'm starting to fear that the gameplay is incredibly difficult with the blindfold on the character, especially once I add more important items (buttons, switches, keys) to the game. Perhaps I should put in audio cues for these items and for enemies that vary in volume relative to distance?
Finally, what gameplay use should the vibrators have? They already can cause stamina/HP loss via max arousal climax but what should trigger them? An enemy or a trap, or perhaps the player for a good reason?
Nevertheless, this act led to something else: since I had described what I would like to see included in his game and could now only wait, why not pass the time by making my own game that revolved around my favored situations and game mechanics?
So I did.
Dark Maze
Genre: Action
Platform: Unity
(Four screenshots, log in to view)
Description
Dark Maze is a proof of concept project that draws heavily from the Deviant Devices mod in Skyrim as well as Dungeons and Prisoners. It is a 3D action game that involves navigating your character through a series of maze-like levels. The twist is that the character can become blindfolded for most or all of a level, so walls and other objects cannot be seen unless very close to your character's body, somewhat simulating the sense of touch in locating things in game.
The player can click and drag to stick out either of the character's feet in order to carefully probe her surroundings. While using basic movement may be sufficient to navigate the level sometimes, for other times this action is the only way to find important objects like a button on the wall, or perhaps to avoid running into traps.
A simple click on the ground or an enemy unit in front of the character will cause her to kick in that direction. The one enemy in the game, a robot hand thing, has the ability to grab either of the character's legs. This prevents movement and using that leg to kick, and opens up the way for other hands to do various H-actions on her. Kicking the grabbing robot hand with the other foot (assuming another hand hasn't also grabbed it) is one way to release the character; spamming the movement keys is another, less effective way.
Along with the standard enemy robot hand that can grab and exhaust the character, some hands can replace the blindfold on her if she manages to take it off. Some of them can also tie up her legs if other hands have both legs grabbed. This alters the character's movement until she can find some way to untie her legs (her arms can never be untied) and has other implications, like making one robot hand able to grab and hold both legs.
Discussion
So, I guess it's pretty obvious what my "favored H-game mechanic" is. Deviant Devices used it the best, which is somewhat amazing given that, of course, Skyrim isn't an H-game. It was also implemented well in the bandit house sequence in Dungeons and Prisoners, which is why I lament for how DnP is stuck in developer hell. Other HRPGs like Evil Goddess, Sneak in Desperada and Asagi also have bondage not just in a game-over scene but also as a combat-effecting status. DiDRPG2 had the character's arms tied up for the entire game as well.
The character mesh that I used come from an Illusion game, exported into a Maya (LT 2016) readable format using Alamar's and enimaroah's SB3Utility. Thus, trying to commercially release this game is out of the question. But even without using an Illusion model I only really intend for this to be not much more than a proof of concept - a tech demo for Unity as well as Final IK, the Unity framework that allows for dynamic placement and grabbing of the character's limbs. I program for a living so having a fun hobby project already rewards me in the doing. If this game inspires other developers to create and incorporate similar material, then it will have achieved all that I could hope it would.
Also I have no artistic skills so this project is also a challenge in how much of a game I can make with the minimal amount of art asset creation.
Current Status and Issues
Mapped out the basic structure of the character animation state diagram - what I currently have is four main states depending on if the character is standing or on the floor, and if her legs are tied. Hopefully this structure will scale when adding more action and reaction animations in the future. "Tickle" is in as you can see in the above screenshot but later there might be an "ice cube", "shocking prod" or "candle wax" attack which can possibly be handled with a single "flinch" animation. That would be efficient...
I'm starting to fear that the gameplay is incredibly difficult with the blindfold on the character, especially once I add more important items (buttons, switches, keys) to the game. Perhaps I should put in audio cues for these items and for enemies that vary in volume relative to distance?
Finally, what gameplay use should the vibrators have? They already can cause stamina/HP loss via max arousal climax but what should trigger them? An enemy or a trap, or perhaps the player for a good reason?
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