If you're thinking about developing or already are, read this.

TheTypist

Active Member
Donor
Game Developer
Sep 7, 2017
670
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Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to click on this... I don't know if this belongs here, but I couldn't think of another place for it.

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is John. I go by The Typist, you know, because I like to type... The reason I'm writing this is because there are times I feel very down during the developing process and I always go searching for motivation that exists, but is quite sparse in this area of creative content.

I'm 21 years of age, my birthday recently passed this January. I have a girlfriend... or well, had a girlfriend for a really long time. 2 and 1/2 years is long for me! Haha.
This is important, bare with me here.

A long ways back, I think I was about 13 or so, I discovered porn games. I was browsing through newgrounds where I used to play that one stickman game where you'd shoot those arrows at each other and my god those were some simple times. No worries, happy family, and a whole lot of free time.

While browsing the site one day, I discovered this random 2d game with ugly character design where you played as this guy who would use a fishing pole to remove womans clothes... That day lead me into the wonderful world of porn games...

Throughout the years I'd live a simple life, I grew up, went to school, had girlfriends, everything was fine. Eventually got my first few jobs and started saving. I always played resident evil games and the sims and thought, "man, it'd be awesome if they were in porn..." and curious me found a lot of what I was looking for. But this also lead me to the discovery of The Sharks Lagoon. And my god I had endless options it seemed. People today reminisce with me and look back at those simpler times where stripping a girl in bed was as hot as it got.

This eventually lead me to the better discovery of F95zone.com, the website that has arguably changed my life more than any other site possibly can. I started with games like Big Brother, Man of the House, learned I had weird kinks about sharing and dating your fake siblings, feelings I had no idea I could feel lol.

Then I wondered "Man, it'd be so cool to make my own game..." so I took on the impossible task. Become a developer myself.

Here's where the fun begins
I took up learning daz studio, started buying assets with what little money I had, learned whatever I could about my new program. Started making my own renders that I wanted to make, they were dogshit bad, but they were renders none the less.

Tested a few character models I thought were GREAT, only to have everyone shit on them lol. That was a bad feeling... but I continued anyways with new ones. Found out I didn't have to pay for everything I needed, got more assets, and immediately created more and more.

It took me 8 MONTHS to be satisfied with my main character, Claire... She was everything I wanted her to be, and more lol. Then it hit me. How do I even make this shit into a game? Let alone a half decent one. I have zero experience in coding what so ever... so what did I do? I manned the fuck up and learned how to code goddammit haha. It took me about 15 days to learn the very basics of RENPY, which made me very happy. It was enough to get by. To this day I still am unsure if i'm doing anything correctly or efficiently, but hey, it's making a game so okay.

Then, I made my first version of Because I Love Her. I played it, liked it, and became brave enough to release it. I figured "Hey, I don't need money, i'm happy with my life. All that matters is that if just one person likes it, I'll be very happy."

And holy shit, a lot of people liked what I made! My clueless self with no experience made a game, and they like it? Cool."
Then they asked for more. Okay, they want more, cool I'll give them more! So I go in and make more and release a patch not much long after. They liked that too, but some folks really, really didn't like that... at all.... and they made it loud and clear.

And thus, my first negative experiences came along, and boy did they get to me. I thought about dropping the game and moving on with my life. But then I started to see my fans shine through... and they pulled me right back up.

Here is what I believe everyone needs to hear.
No matter what the negative folks say, there will almost ALWAYS be someone who likes what you do. And you, as well as I, must remind ourselves that that is what is important to us. They are our friends, and we must be a good friend back and give them more. They like what we're putting out, why let the haters change that for you, it's unfair to the folks who love you and your work, and they will feel betrayed or hurt if you listen to all the hate...

The hate we receive is often voiced much louder than the love we receive. And often times we let that get to us.

In my case, I have dealt with hate, and criticism. I had my personal life fall apart when my dad left my family 2 months ago and broke my own heart, leaving me feeling betrayed and worthless. I invested 800 dollars into a brand new GPU, a few hundred more into ram and PSU and whatever I can to be better at what I do. My girlfriend took notice and always questioned me, eventually finding out why I've been up till 6 am 5 days in a row trying to work out and update. She recently left me for that sole reason, and I was hurt, and honestly still am... Hence the random rant and blog style post.

But what you all need to remember, is there are always gonna be people who look up to you, and appreciate the work you do. They know this is your hobby. They understand it is your first time. They welcome you to the forums, and bring life into you that you didn't know you needed.

I've met supporters whom I actually feel close to. I've made friends here and learned a lot, and while the community may seem toxic, this really is the best group of people I've ever stumbled upon, as they are all humans too. We all have our kinks, and we are here to expand our knowledge of said kinks and grow to learn more about ourselves, and others.

If you are thinking about developing, or are developing and thinking about giving up sometimes, Don't do that.

Someone is always willing to take the time to play your game and enjoy what you have taken precious time out of your life to create. Some may make a career out of it, and that is always great. But do not ever come here hoping to make a quick buck, thinking people just throw there money around.

Respect your audience, appreciate those who like your work, and take your time when you feel you aren't satisfied with how things are going. Reflection is key, but do not fall into that state of "I can't do this anymore, they just don't like it... I suck at this..." Because god, it is hard to get out of that state of mind. Face criticism, love it, feed off of it, and move on. You'll always have a fan, if you forget that, remember me. Because I now know what it's like to be on the other side, and I have so much respect and appreciation for the fact that you took the time to work up the courage to release a game, constructed only from your own imagination. Props to you and your success in the future. I wish you only the best of luck, and keep on keeping on my guys and girls of the porn game community. - Sincerely

John... AKA, TheTypist
 

Winterfire

Forum Fanatic
Respected User
Game Developer
Sep 27, 2018
4,848
7,130
Everything you have said is true, I am actually surprised that some people liked my first game I have released, so much so to leave nice reviews and that made me smile, this is a really nice community indeed.

The only thing I would disagree on (at least personally, I know this cannot be true for everyone) is that "haters" are actually good, sure, they may be offensive but they are doing it for a reason and if you take their criticism you can learn a lot from it... It actually lead me to try and improve my art (I am no artist nor I will ever be but I am way better than I was when I first started).

The only thing that "hurts" is silence, I would take hater comments in a heartbeat rather than no comments at all.
I actually noticed that, for some reason, this is the only community that actively comments on everything, which is amazing.
 

TheTypist

Active Member
Donor
Game Developer
Sep 7, 2017
670
3,983
Everything you have said is true, I am actually surprised that some people liked my first game I have released, so much so to leave nice reviews and that made me smile, this is a really nice community indeed.

The only thing I would disagree on (at least personally, I know this cannot be true for everyone) is that "haters" are actually good, sure, they may be offensive but they are doing it for a reason and if you take their criticism you can learn a lot from it... It actually lead me to try and improve my art (I am no artist nor I will ever be but I am way better than I was when I first started).

The only thing that "hurts" is silence, I would take hater comments in a heartbeat rather than no comments at all.
I actually noticed that, for some reason, this is the only community that actively comments on everything, which is amazing.
This is why I said to "Face criticism, love it, feed off of it, and move on ." Because although it hurts, we all need it in our lives. We just can't let it bring us down.
 
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migoypedro

Newbie
Jan 12, 2019
22
13
Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to click on this... I don't know if this belongs here, but I couldn't think of another place for it.

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is John. I go by The Typist, you know, because I like to type... The reason I'm writing this is because there are times I feel very down during the developing process and I always go searching for motivation that exists, but is quite sparse in this area of creative content.

I'm 21 years of age, my birthday recently passed this January. I have a girlfriend... or well, had a girlfriend for a really long time. 2 and 1/2 years is long for me! Haha.
This is important, bare with me here.

A long ways back, I think I was about 13 or so, I discovered porn games. I was browsing through newgrounds where I used to play that one stickman game where you'd shoot those arrows at each other and my god those were some simple times. No worries, happy family, and a whole lot of free time.

While browsing the site one day, I discovered this random 2d game with ugly character design where you played as this guy who would use a fishing pole to remove womans clothes... That day lead me into the wonderful world of porn games...

Throughout the years I'd live a simple life, I grew up, went to school, had girlfriends, everything was fine. Eventually got my first few jobs and started saving. I always played resident evil games and the sims and thought, "man, it'd be awesome if they were in porn..." and curious me found a lot of what I was looking for. But this also lead me to the discovery of The Sharks Lagoon. And my god I had endless options it seemed. People today reminisce with me and look back at those simpler times where stripping a girl in bed was as hot as it got.

This eventually lead me to the better discovery of F95zone.com, the website that has arguably changed my life more than any other site possibly can. I started with games like Big Brother, Man of the House, learned I had weird kinks about sharing and dating your fake siblings, feelings I had no idea I could feel lol.

Then I wondered "Man, it'd be so cool to make my own game..." so I took on the impossible task. Become a developer myself.

Here's where the fun begins
I took up learning daz studio, started buying assets with what little money I had, learned whatever I could about my new program. Started making my own renders that I wanted to make, they were dogshit bad, but they were renders none the less.

Tested a few character models I thought were GREAT, only to have everyone shit on them lol. That was a bad feeling... but I continued anyways with new ones. Found out I didn't have to pay for everything I needed, got more assets, and immediately created more and more.

It took me 8 MONTHS to be satisfied with my main character, Claire... She was everything I wanted her to be, and more lol. Then it hit me. How do I even make this shit into a game? Let alone a half decent one. I have zero experience in coding what so ever... so what did I do? I manned the fuck up and learned how to code goddammit haha. It took me about 15 days to learn the very basics of RENPY, which made me very happy. It was enough to get by. To this day I still am unsure if i'm doing anything correctly or efficiently, but hey, it's making a game so okay.

Then, I made my first version of Because I Love Her. I played it, liked it, and became brave enough to release it. I figured "Hey, I don't need money, i'm happy with my life. All that matters is that if just one person likes it, I'll be very happy."

And holy shit, a lot of people liked what I made! My clueless self with no experience made a game, and they like it? Cool."
Then they asked for more. Okay, they want more, cool I'll give them more! So I go in and make more and release a patch not much long after. They liked that too, but some folks really, really didn't like that... at all.... and they made it loud and clear.

And thus, my first negative experiences came along, and boy did they get to me. I thought about dropping the game and moving on with my life. But then I started to see my fans shine through... and they pulled me right back up.

Here is what I believe everyone needs to hear.
No matter what the negative folks say, there will almost ALWAYS be someone who likes what you do. And you, as well as I, must remind ourselves that that is what is important to us. They are our friends, and we must be a good friend back and give them more. They like what we're putting out, why let the haters change that for you, it's unfair to the folks who love you and your work, and they will feel betrayed or hurt if you listen to all the hate...

The hate we receive is often voiced much louder than the love we receive. And often times we let that get to us.

In my case, I have dealt with hate, and criticism. I had my personal life fall apart when my dad left my family 2 months ago and broke my own heart, leaving me feeling betrayed and worthless. I invested 800 dollars into a brand new GPU, a few hundred more into ram and PSU and whatever I can to be better at what I do. My girlfriend took notice and always questioned me, eventually finding out why I've been up till 6 am 5 days in a row trying to work out and update. She recently left me for that sole reason, and I was hurt, and honestly still am... Hence the random rant and blog style post.

But what you all need to remember, is there are always gonna be people who look up to you, and appreciate the work you do. They know this is your hobby. They understand it is your first time. They welcome you to the forums, and bring life into you that you didn't know you needed.

I've met supporters whom I actually feel close to. I've made friends here and learned a lot, and while the community may seem toxic, this really is the best group of people I've ever stumbled upon, as they are all humans too. We all have our kinks, and we are here to expand our knowledge of said kinks and grow to learn more about ourselves, and others.

If you are thinking about developing, or are developing and thinking about giving up sometimes, Don't do that.

Someone is always willing to take the time to play your game and enjoy what you have taken precious time out of your life to create. Some may make a career out of it, and that is always great. But do not ever come here hoping to make a quick buck, thinking people just throw there money around.

Respect your audience, appreciate those who like your work, and take your time when you feel you aren't satisfied with how things are going. Reflection is key, but do not fall into that state of "I can't do this anymore, they just don't like it... I suck at this..." Because god, it is hard to get out of that state of mind. Face criticism, love it, feed off of it, and move on. You'll always have a fan, if you forget that, remember me. Because I now know what it's like to be on the other side, and I have so much respect and appreciation for the fact that you took the time to work up the courage to release a game, constructed only from your own imagination. Props to you and your success in the future. I wish you only the best of luck, and keep on keeping on my guys and girls of the porn game community. - Sincerely

John... AKA, TheTypist
Wow! My inspiration level is up to the roof!
 
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Deleted member 444674

Member
Game Developer
Feb 17, 2018
405
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It's damned crazy how similar your story is to mine, haha. (Only difference is girlfriend. Due to my tendency to isolate myself, I haven't had one to follow me on this journey and it sucks yours couldn't stick by you. It happens to the best of us though, but you sound like you're well on your way to healing, so good for you.)

I'm 22 and my birthday had just recently passed this January as well. Started the same way on Newgrounds, though I moved over to Playforceone. My love didn't reach "I have to do this" until I played Dreaming With Elsa and the rest of Mortze and Tlaero's games. Games that I still play today.

Got some money and started spending what I could on Daz assets. I started around May so I'm currently 8 months into Daz. I was a quick learner but didn't start getting confident until about November or December and next thing I knew I was creating a new character every week.

I want to become a developer as well. I'm currently sticking to image collections but I'm in the middle of writing a story I would like to turn into a game in the near future if the stars align for me. I'm currently on & off on Ren'Py. When I use it, and repeat the things I learn, it becomes very easy to use. But then I stopped because I wasn't happy with my art as yet to even try to pursue a game (I was rushing into it at the time.) So I've more or less lost the knowledge I had on it from before. So I'll have to put my mind to work again to regain the knowledge I lost.

I'll soon be checking your game out as well. As someone who has walked a freakishly similar path as you have, hopefully, I could even help support your game and passion at some point.
 

recreation

pure evil!
Respected User
Game Developer
Jun 10, 2018
6,248
22,107
I have seen a lot of people thinking "ya man, Ima make a cool game in no time and everybody will love it!".
Especially younger folks don't seem to understand what it means to develope a game and fall under the (mostly selfmade) pressure. Good to see you made it and are still going on.
I'm coming from the modding scene and before that I did some webdesign and art. I still have yet to release a game in the future but I know there are always people who hate your work and even for whatever reason yourself, but there will also always be the people who love your work, stand behind you and your work and help you.

This is a important life lesson you have to learn, many will fall and some will shine and grow through it like you did and this is not only relevant for making games.

Thanks for this great post @TheTypist
 

Eric X.

Developer of the game "Secrets"
Donor
Game Developer
Dec 25, 2017
88
274
This is an important post @TheTypist and thank you for that.
I also started to make my first game a few months ago, and I was overwhelmed by the love & support of people who play my little project. And of course, haters were also there to... well, hate the game :)
But when a hater makes a criticism about my game, I read it anyway because sometimes, you find a fact that will help you improve your game. So no matter what they think of you or your game, haters are fool enough to help you sometimes :D

Making a game take a lot of time. I spend all my free time making the game, even sometimes family time. But it's worth it! Because you made this game for you, and now you make this game for awesome people ready to follow you in your adventure, it's priceless!

So, when you're feeling down, just think about them, and it'll cheer you up!
 

79flavors

Well-Known Member
Respected User
Jun 14, 2018
1,546
2,160
As a general rule, listening to enough criticism and negativity is harmful to you.

The human brain is hardwired to prioritize negativity over positivity. The fact that the conditions that led to that hard-wiring have diminished over the last 12,000+ years doesn't matter to your brain that still reflects anything that might kill you is more important to think about than the stuff that will make you happy.
The brain makes no distinction that the physiological response to reading that forum post isn't a saber-toothed tiger. It just goes "notice that... it's important". Repeat that enough and your brain will create new pathways to focus on the "not saber-toothed tiger".

Some people can maintain the balance with ease. Some can't.

So as a developer, especially one who frequents areas like forums and sub-reddits, you might want to consider this small piece of advice:

When you read something negative... rate it on your own internal scale. Is the comment fair? Or is it just mindless vitriol? If you rate it high enough... MUTE or BLOCK the commentor and never look back.

Because whilst you can't stop yourself reading negative feedback, you can at least avoid reading (and re-reading) the worst of the repeat offenders. Life's too short to give more than a moment of your time to those half a braincell morons who lack empathy and insight.
 

Winterfire

Forum Fanatic
Respected User
Game Developer
Sep 27, 2018
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Well... If you *really* need to and cannot handle it, sure.

Otherwise I would advise against muting or blocking people if you are a developer.
What I would suggest is to read the comments with a different mindset and try to empathize with the user that wrote that comment.

If you end up muting and blocking all the negative comments but still want to be a developer you'd be better off hiring someone to take care of the "social stuff" in your stead.
 

anne O'nymous

I'm not grumpy, I'm just coded that way.
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Jun 10, 2017
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So as a developer, especially one who frequents areas like forums and sub-reddits, you might want to consider this small piece of advice:

When you read something negative... rate it on your own internal scale. Is the comment fair? Or is it just mindless vitriol? If you rate it high enough... MUTE or BLOCK the commentor and never look back.

I'll go even further than that. As a 47 years old guy who past the (almost) last 20 years writing open source code, my advice is to not even care about criticism that aren't argued. They are personal opinions, and you already know that you can't please everyone. And when the criticisms are argued, only look at the arguments, not at the criticism itself. It's not because someone hate what you did, that he don't also made a valid point sometimes ; like it's not because he made a valid point that he effectively hate, or just dislike, what you did.
 

Deleted member 167032

Alternate Existence
Donor
Game Developer
Aug 16, 2017
2,719
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Below was the first post on a game i laboured at for 8months before releasing. It's not even a horror type game. Then a few ppl like it. So how do one react to that right off the bat?

You are 10000000% correct its the fans that bring you back. I actually wanted to quit just before Remastered version was released. No lies, finish up with Series Two one or two chapters done. My proofreader MisterF91 and now co-writer RogueKnightUK both fans of RTP convinced me not to. So did others like Wurg and Eerie Entity...

For them i am doing this. For patrons im doing this. Patron is weird to me. Here you get people going "here have some money for something i can actually get for free on a pirate site". That is probably the most fandom you can find not discounting people who are fans and cannot pay or even do not want to pay.

What happened to you in real life.. SUX ass no doubt. My wife tolerates my porn game making and we'll see for how long. But yes ive met some really great people here on F95, clever people and some really strange one's.

EDIT: A person who did not deserve it but took it very hard, I will know as i was close to him, is DocPink. He poured his hart into AL and got shanked by so many. It was because of those who believed in him and AL and the fact that he's strong willed enough to want to finish what he started that made him carry on. I admire him for that.

1549023900345.png
 

TearStar

Developer of Lesbian/Futa Games
Game Developer
Mar 12, 2018
511
1,064
In my experience, it's not the negative critics that kills you. It's those comments that is well written and makes you realize that you've F up big time. Happened to me once.
Negative critics, most of the time comes with something of a bad intention (to hurt you).
Constructive criticism makes you point out your failures but offers solution. That comment was categorized in this but how much needed to be done, I just dropped it and decided to rebuild it from the grounds.

But I learned from those negative critics too. And boy, I get that a lot at my work. But sometimes it gives you the push. Downhills or uphills. That's why I never work alone. If something bad comes I always come back to my 'friend' ask for advice. Even if this is only stalling the inevitable you can't make decisions angry/sad.

Just a thought.
 

lexx228

Engaged Member
May 30, 2017
2,042
41,909
John... AKA, TheTypist
dude, I would have your problems. Imagine I Wake up every morning in Russia, my car was taken away by the court, I have nowhere to live (I live where I'm lucky), and Yes I'm more than 22 years old;)
 
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FlipTopBin

Member
Game Developer
Dec 5, 2017
176
222
The self made pressure thing is absolutly true. When you have commercial developers churning out high quality updates every month with hundreds of renders and hours of gameplay the pressure to try and do the same is immense. The sense of failure when you release something with a bug in it is horrible. My advice: If this is your hobby then keep it that way and make sure you have fun. I lost sight of that and had to abandon my first game and take a few months off. I now have a better perspective (hopefully) and won't fall into the trap with the second.

The negative criticism thing is a hard one. "Lazy dev, slow updates, not enough content" These people deserve their own circle of hell. However if they write "Lazy dev, slow updates, not enough content ... and the third render in the second scene of day three has a continuity issue." then you should thank them with all your heart as they are helping you make a better game and cared enough to come back after playing and help you make things better. Even if they have missed something obvious, have had a sense of humour failure or are just plain wrong, in their own way, they are trying to help you. Always reply, always be positive, always thank them for their feedback. Never reply drunk, never be rude. Lessons I have learned ...

It's also true that somebody will always love your game as much as you do. I am still getting positive messages posted on my abandoned game and each one lifts you up that little bit more. I nearly deleted Daz and Renpy and went in search of another hobby but those kind souls who share your sense of humour, your kink or just like your art and then come back to say so have kept me here against the odds.
 

Yonamous

Active Member
Dec 17, 2017
900
1,367
It will be ages before I even start making my game. I get hung up on some of the weirdest crap. My characters house for instance isn't compleatly to my liking. So I start adding some rooms, a basement, messing around to add things here and there. Now I started using Cararra to take apart each of the rooms since the house doesn't really have much modular options and being that it's a massive house, I'll need to do it in sections if I'm to render in a decent speed. And this all started simply because two connecting walls didn't fit well together in one room, off by a few pixels on a base board. But moving the wall would cause a different room down the wall line to be off.

And I haven't even started learning how to do proper lighting yet. The design phase is going to take me ages. Which sucks because I've already got a bit of a bible going on with my story.
 

79flavors

Well-Known Member
Respected User
Jun 14, 2018
1,546
2,160
"Professional" programmers with that mindset are why we get massively buggy releases of every kind of software there is then scream at the >CUSTOMERS<. Look at EA, Bethesda etc. Releasing buggy garbage, incapable of fixing it. Microsoft.. theyre starting to get better but MS coders have been a joke since the days of windows 95 (they were good before then honestly). Or all the scandals in the game dev community... entitled incompetants protected by huge corporate structures and a good ol boy(girl) network. Unless someone is insulting you personally. man up or shut up. If someone find a bug or points out a flaw.... take that and write it down on your to do list. If they seem or are insulting.. honestly the best way to handle it is to say "Thanks for the input.. im going to look into this... but please try it without the insults next time."
Thanks for your input.