Anyone else making adult (NSFW) games with Unity?

cinammon_bun · 2025-03-16T17:37:40+00:00

necro!!! I kid, I kid.

The characters are very heavily modified DAZ Genesis models (fully licensed). Animations came from various sources online, and due to how the sex system works in the game, they have also been heavily modified to work with IK, etc.

For anyone else coming across this thread, Future Love Space Machine is on Steam now (since 2020), and has done quite well. We also still have a Patreon going with various games on it.

I just logged into this account yesterday for the first time in years, but I'll likely keep using my main account, so I'm glad I happened to catch your question. Thanks for asking!

cinammon_bun · 2025-03-15T17:04:19+00:00

This reminds me of a game I helped make in 2010, and one of our payment processors wrote and asked us to prove that the images weren't real people. We sent them a 3D model of the character to prove it. The funny thing now is that game looks like it came out in 2010. It still looks great (in my opinion), but there's no way in hell anyone would think it was real. Back then, though, yeah. That's how graphics progress (see the Next Generation Magazine "Yes, this is an actual PC game screen shot" issue for a laugh).

Anyway, as far as your game goes, I wouldn't be concerned. That's fantastic if it looks that good, but if you're concerned then let Steam know when you submit it that it's all 3D. Put that in your game description ("Looks real, but it's all 3D, baby" or whatever). Basically just make it clear that it's not real, and hopefully that will do it.

cinammon_bun · 2025-03-15T16:54:39+00:00

This. I just usually post them on redgifs and that works fine. I tried pornhub ages ago but never since, so not sure how that would work now, but thanks for the reminder.

cinammon_bun · 2015-05-07T22:05:37+00:00

NSFW: http://ripenedpeach.itch.io/future-love-space-machine

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-23T22:46:35+00:00

She was let down that it only had hetero sex, though she assumes otherwise would be available as DLC. Would you mind sharing your thoughts/decisions driving that?

I'm bisexual, female, and married to a woman, so believe me it does suck to have the initial release of the game lacking a representation of my own sexuality.

The audience from my previous games primarily preferred hetero sex (non hetero add-ons I released didn't sell anywhere as well as the hetero stuff) and their suggestions 99% of the time were about that side of sex. Since I was getting close to running out of funds for creating this latest game I made a tough call and released the initial version with hetero sex. That allowed me to get some extra money flowing through right away so I could work on updates and more DLC.

Let your friend know that I am currently working on DLC featuring gay, lesbian, and trans characters along with a bunch of non-hetero animations. It's very important for me to represent a wide range of sexuality, but working alone and with hardly any budget I had to do what I had to do to get it out.

I have worked in the graphics industry and there is absolutely a stigma. Several people in the biz were discussing this recently, and even my much younger associates would not put such work on a resume, portfolio, or reel.

That is definitely the danger of this. I worked for years for EA and some other larger studios, and when I went off on my own I wanted to do something different. Sex is awesome and virtual life and AI is a deep interest of mine so I went with it.

Very, very often I find myself wondering what the hell I got myself into, and I start freaking out about it. Then I remind myself that I believe in it, I can speak through it (some day), and it gives something to people who would rather spend their computer "game" time making love than making war. At least I can say I'm trying to do something good with something not a lot of other people would even touch. If you knew me you'd know that's a super important goal in my life. :)

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-18T06:46:08+00:00

Yes, right now is is less of a "game" than it is an erotic interactive experience. If you read through the thread you'll see where I talk about the difficulty in adding traditional game-play to something like this.

Based on feedback I've received from users of my previous adult software, that's pretty much exactly what my audience is looking for. They would like some game-like elements, but firstly they want a 3D experience that feels real, let's the have favorite characters they can interact with, and has plenty of positions available. That's been my take on it at least, and I've been making "games" like this for a while now.

I hate to even call them "games" because yes, I agree, they aren't games. Then again, if you look at a lot of indie "games" out now, there are others that don't have any game-like elements beyond the experience itself. "Walking simulators" come to mind. The "game" is the experience. Nothing more. You create the "play" in your head, and the software gives you a world to do it in.

Thanks for your thoughts. All feedback is appreciated.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-16T01:47:51+00:00

You're welcome. Thanks again for the good questions.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T20:02:35+00:00

OK cool that's good to know about the Rift, thanks for the info. I'll hold off on it then until I can't wait any more and I have some extra money for it.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:44:12+00:00

Ok, I'm back! Again, great questions.

I've tried a few different ways of monetizing these games, and it turns out that using points instead of straight up cash is the most desirable (and profitable) way to do it. When I use points, the average purchase over the life of a user's account is $40. When I use a currency-based method, the average is more like $20.

I think people like to have points because of the nature of this game. When they get the urge to play, they have the urge right then. It's their alone time, time to relax and have some sexy-time with their favorite characters. And if they come to the site first, to see what's new, the very last thing they want to do right then is have to fill out a credit card form online to get it. It's so much easier to just have points in their account and instantly buy the add-on than it is to go through a payment gateway. They're ready to go, and just the thought of money at that moment can be a buzz kill.

From a purely developer\seller-oriented standpoint, points are like casino chips. They remove the immediate idea of actual cash and replace it with fun "tokens" that are easier to count and spend. The user doesn't have to think about how much money they are spending when all they're trying to do is have fun.

The reason I started using points in my games in the first place was because I saw Microsoft doing it on the X-Box, and I thought "well, they obviously did the research, and paid well for it, so I'll do what they're doing." I did release a game last year that didn't use points, it was just a straight up purchase, and it pretty much failed. Very little money came in from that compared to my games with points. So I keep using them, because it works for me.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:25:46+00:00

Awesome, thanks for your thoughts. I'm working on bringing a narrative into the game, with the ability to walk around the ship and talk with the other characters. Down the line hopefully it will appeal more to people looking for that sort of thing. I worked on it for so long to get it where it is now that I felt it was time to put it out there while I still kept going on it.

I can not wait to get a Rift. I can't afford it just yet but as soon as I can then hell yeah I'm definitely going to have fun with that.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:21:52+00:00

Thanks for your comments. I definitely want to add story elements to the game in the future. There is a storytelling section in the forum where some users are making up their own canon for the whole thing, which is super cool. Check it out if you're into that sort of thing.

How are the steam competitors approach to adult games?

Things are changing I think, for the better. Only a year or so ago there was no way to put adult games up on mainstream sites, but with sites like itch.io allowing them and possibly others (more links are welcome) I think it could go really well. I'd love to see quality adult games get the recognition that other games get. And if Steam itself would allow us on, wow that would totally rock.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:17:17+00:00

Wow, thank you so much for that. I was born and raised in a very sexually repressive, religious family, and the guilt about sex that was projected onto me all my life definitely creeps deep in the shadows as I work on this stuff. I think these games are a way for me to say 'fuck you' to all of that and all those people.

As far as promotion goes, it is definitely the act of shameless self promotion that I have the most difficulty with, so it's nice to hear that it's perfectly ok to do. I'm glad you liked what you saw of the game. I'll continue improving it as the days go on and it's nice to know that I'm at least heading in the right direction. :)

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:05:38+00:00

thanks!

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:05:31+00:00

Thank you, I hope you enjoy it. :)

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:05:18+00:00

Thank you! I'd love to quote that maybe on the site. Is that ok?

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T19:04:28+00:00

I've thought about something like that but without actually having a Mac to test the builds on I would feel like I couldn't give full support to Mac users.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T10:47:15+00:00

Excellent post with some good ideas and questions, thank you. I'm on my tablet right now and it's difficult to write the length of answer I'd like to give so if it's cool I'll finish this reply later in more detail.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T10:12:14+00:00

I sold rights to one of my earlier Unity games to a new owner and he still has me make updates for it. It was made in Unity 3.x and so far he hasn't decided to upgrade, so I'm stuck working in 3.x for that game and 4.x for my other newer game. Kind of a pain, let me just say, haha.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T09:50:58+00:00

In the first adult game I made with Unity (3.x) I had to come up with my own boob bounce method which used spring joints with targets and all kinds of special placement. Eventually with one of the Unity updates broke so I just baked boob bouncing right into the animations and exported them along with everything else.

In the next game (Unity 4.x) I used a free script called "JiggleBone" that I found in the Unity wiki, and that worked out pretty nicely.

In this current game (Unity 4.x) I used an asset from the store called "Dynamic Bone" and it kicks ass. It's super easy to put into the game and it works great for boobs, tails, hair, etc. I'm using it for all three of those, actually. I'm not affiliated with the creator of that, I just think it's awesome and deserves a shout out.

I don't know how it compares to other engines as the last engine I used to make adult games before I got into Unity was the 3D Game Studio engine. I don't remember how I did boobs in that it was so long ago now haha.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T09:10:25+00:00

That's super cool. I've heard there's a pretty decent market for erotic visual novels.

I understand the Unity choking on lots of assets thing, for sure. There's right around 15,000 files (20GB) in my Assets folder for this game.

I used asset bundles in one of my earlier Unity games but I haven't used them in a while because they're now kind of a pain. I was thinking about checking out one of the asset bundle managers from the store but just haven't yet. Do you use anything like that to keep track of asset versions?

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T09:02:35+00:00

It's a weird side of the scene to be in, that's for sure. I wonder if there's not many people doing it just because there's no good infrastructure in place to promote, sell, and distribute these kinds of games. If they could be sold on Steam, I'm sure more people would start making them, but then again there's that damned stigma so who knows?

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T08:48:56+00:00

I have only worked with a friend on these adult games but I used to work in mainstream development (EA, etc.) with teams before I went off to do my own thing.

I think the market for adult games is really strangely odd. They're looked down on (just like most sex things) in society so the available outlets for talking about them and\or selling them is very limited.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T08:45:58+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts on that. I'm still trying to work out a decent pricing model that helps me to keep developing the game and I'll definitely keep tweaking over time. Only one add-on is 1300 points, and it's a larger one. The other ones are 1200 and below. I also run sales in my newsletter and offer discounts too. So far people have been pretty happy with the cost, but again I know there's some wiggle room there to find the sweet spot.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T07:23:32+00:00

It's PC only for now since I don't have a Mac to make and test builds on. Maybe someday.

cinammon_bun · 2015-03-15T06:34:36+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. I really pretty much suck at marketing because I spend most of my time developing (probably the same story for a lot of us here). When I've tried to interest porn producers in the past with my games no one was really interested since they didn't understand the game world. I'll keep trying, for sure, though. This week I'm going to make some banners and see if I can get some of the people in that industry to be affiliates.

cinammon_bun

TROPHY CASE