Why make a turn-based game?

“Turn based RPGMaker games and VNs are a dime a dozen, and is usually uninspired, why make another one?” 

On that, I wholeheartedly agree. But, I am not making another RPGMaker game, I am making a party based tactics game. Even though these two genres are both turn-based, the game plays out very differently. Most people would agree that games like XCOM, Final Fantasy Tactics, Divinity Original Sin I and II are vastly different experiences than generic JRPG #15235.

So while there are countless RPGMaker H-games and VNs, there are very few tactics H-games in comparison. I’ll be happy to go into the details on the key differences between the two genres in another post if people are interested in that from a game design point of view.

The big reason to make a turn-based game is that it will allow for far greater flexibility and choice in terms of H-content. Let me illustrate via an example. Let’s say you wanted to make a pure H-focused character that doesn’t get involved with physical combat at all. This cannot be done in HRT, because you need to knock down an opponent before you can use H-move on them. Reversing a H-move isn’t possible.

In contrast, consider a turn-based game. Perhaps you can start off by using a “Seduce” skill that brings both parties into a H-move. Perhaps it starts off by you being in the “disadvantaged” position. But, now, instead of only having the option to escape, now you get to choose what you wanted to do: Escape, at say, 70% chance, Reverse, at say, 30% chance, or Enjoy, which may do something like restoring health. Now it’s very obvious what your choices are and what the tradeoffs are, and you can make the appropriate decision.

But what about something like the escape system in HR. The issue with that is that it is potentially very confusing. “What is that red bar?” “Why does the progress reset when I press a button?” But more importantly, I am personally not a fan of Quick Time Events in general and I rather make an interesting turn based H system, that players can play at a pace they want ;) instead of gluing their eyeballs to a portion of the screen to not miss the QTE prompts.

Isn’t it better to completely finish up a game first before moving onto another? 

That is certainly good advice. And that was my original plan. HRT is in development for ~2 years now and content wise, I believe it is on par or exceeds most other H-games. So H-content wise, I consider it done. That is why there haven't been any new H-content for some patches now.

The truth is, I need a break from HRT. I am especially frustrated at HRT at the moment because of the “bodyMesh” loading problem that some people seem to have. I couldn’t reproduce the bug at all in my end. So imagine trying to brainstorm all the possible things that could cause it, come up with potential fixes, getting people to try the build with those fixes, only to find out it doesn’t solve the problem. Many times. (The solution is to upgrade windows/drivers)

I don’t expect everyone to agree with the decision but at least I hope this gives an understanding of where I am coming from. So I am going to take a break from HRT, focus on something else, and come back with a fresh perspective.