Hey, sorry for the late reply!
> either players get to progress, or – see porno content.
Yep. What I'm struggling, design-wise: Connoting lewd scenes to progression (without throw-away* content.)
This is actually the purpose of the cinema tapes. Rewards for just exploring. (Although, I feel this reward method is archaic. It's also weird if you haven't let her get boned. Also somewhat throw-away*.)
*throw-away - lewd scenes shown once, then never brought up again. It always leaves a feeling of wanting more, and leads to project scaling problems.
---
> People obviously do want the porn, and they don’t care much about loops, MDA theory and UX stuff.
Absolutely. At the same time, I want a 2D shooting game with a specific reload mechanic, and I don't see it anywhere, porn or not. So I'm making it, and I'm so happy with how the shooting feels now. (Of course, needs improvement.)
> - I'm in the minority there.
Same.
---
> Otherwise, may be you'd want to try some genre subversion. Like controlling the monsters against the character, à la reverse-horror games do, etc.
Like Carrion? I love this idea. This was one of the first ideas before DiBS, until I realized how much assets I'd need to make. Then I promptly walked back from the idea. Project scale is something I'd want to manage. Still, I'd like to play this game.
---
From games you mentioned (and my personal observations of other games), I've noticed people really like story in their porn.
Actually, no. It's context. And that's something DiBS simply doesn't do at all.
DiBS is a "tourist-sightseeing" game with no dialogue whatsoever, and I feel this is holding the game back. (That, and the fact this is furry with tentacles lol.)
I don't think DiBS needs dialogue, but it does need explicit context. Random logs and journals would do a lot to legitimize the world and the experience. It's something I'd want to do later in development.
I've had this in the back of my head, but it's nice to legitimately write this down.
---
Anyway, thank you. Been insightful. It's also just nice to talk about what can be better for the game (or the next one).
Edit: Typo, different opening, and clarity.