sleeperhit said:
That'd be AWESOME, but you'd need a centralized gameplay concept. Something that you work towards, and once obtained, it helps you attain both more of itself as well as other things: money.

Since RPG's are perfect for MC games, our starting power is weak. Maaaaaybe only enough to stun or incapacitate someone. But that's enough to facilitate the obtaining of money via pickpocketing or what-have-you, maybe to go towards books/manuals or other power-enhancing resources, or to (if we're going evil) kidnap people and level up our skill through the equivalent of level-grinding on their brains, so the people you kidnap can then "consensually" participate in actual grinding!

Buy your new harem outfits, BDSM gear, decorations for if you want to go the religion/worship/cult route, maybe find someone who works at a big corporation and use them as a dummy to get close to the boss and get ALLLLL dat munny, the list goes on. Something like the Nemesis system from the recent Middle-Earth games would be the only thing I can think of other than that which I couldn't see this hypothetical game without.

sleeperhit said:
That'd be AWESOME, but you'd need a centralized gameplay concept. Something that you work towards, and once obtained, it helps you attain both more of itself as well as other things: money.

Since RPG's are perfect for MC games, our starting power is weak. Maaaaaybe only enough to stun or incapacitate someone. But that's enough to facilitate the obtaining of money via pickpocketing or what-have-you, maybe to go towards books/manuals or other power-enhancing resources, or to (if we're going evil) kidnap people and level up our skill through the equivalent of level-grinding on their brains, so the people you kidnap can then "consensually" participate in actual grinding!

Buy your new harem outfits, BDSM gear, decorations for if you want to go the religion/worship/cult route, maybe find someone who works at a big corporation and use them as a dummy to get close to the boss and get ALLLLL dat munny, the list goes on. Something like the Nemesis system from the recent Middle-Earth games would be the only thing I can think of other than that which I couldn't see this hypothetical game without.

Euronet said:
Of course the demo I made was also barebones, with it being unoptimized and pretty large from the free assets. I still have the demo and other writing somewhere, and if anyone’s interested in seeing it I can look and find them.

kegmeg said:
I do really like the concept of having something to work towards. It'd be boring if you could just do everything the game had to offer the instant you boot it up. To add onto the nemesis idea, just general opposition would be really good. Like in the game Take Over, your actions could generate suspicion, but since it's an open world game, maybe only if you are caught or if the action is severe. As for the nemeses themselves, I could see that being anyone who would have a vested interest in taking you down; a detective, news reporter, FBI agent, and of course a rival mind controller.

Euronet said:
Personally on HGG I made a demo of sorts to explain possible mechanics and a plot, made in Unreal Engine and some imported MMD placeholders/free textures. Taking place either in a rather odd college/high school in either Japan (For the fact it’s something you really wouldn’t find odd in hentai land), or New England (Emphasis on odd here, for obvious reasons). You just started another year in this small college town, and you pretty much have nothing to do. Besides your one close friend, the town is pretty plain and all things considered is the kind of thing that many would overlook. Of course, things in life are never easy are they? It would appear that the headmaster/president has been absent of late, and you find perhaps the only clue for his absence.

The game wouldn’t necessarily completely open world, but sort of a thing like natsuiro high school/Persona, with a game world more centered around the school and the town’s points of interests. With the school itself being the open world that you explore,

Probably the main issue with hentai games is the art direction, so in part that means cell shading to give it a certain look like in say persona games or Alteir. Or in general anime style like most people consider them, bright and cute.

Of course the demo I made was also barebones, with it being unoptimized and pretty large from the free assets. I still have the demo and other writing somewhere, and if anyone’s interested in seeing it I can look and find them.

kegmeg said:
What would you all think about a 3d sandbox mind control game? I've played renpy and RPG Maker games that have open world elements, but I've been curious about how a game that has in open world like GTA (though definitely not the same scale) based around mind control would work.

sleeperhit said:
Since RPG's are perfect for MC games, our starting power is weak. Maaaaaybe only enough to stun or incapacitate someone. But that's enough to facilitate the obtaining of money via pickpocketing or what-have-you, maybe to go towards books/manuals or other power-enhancing resources, or to (if we're going evil) kidnap people and level up our skill through the equivalent of level-grinding on their brains, so the people you kidnap can then "consensually" participate in actual grinding!

kegmeg said:
I was moreso thinking about what could happen if you could control the random npcs walijg down the street. But to make the game not feel like a pointless sandbox, some developed characters would go a long way.

Euronet said:
Of course the demo I made was also barebones, with it being unoptimized and pretty large from the free assets. I still have the demo and other writing somewhere, and if anyone’s interested in seeing it I can look and find them.

kegmeg said:
I'm kind of conflicted about stuff like this, since I do like this type of stuff due to the fact that you can take time to make sure that many of the characters actually matter. But I also think in terms of what I'm talking about, that very same principle might limit the scale of things. You could make a larger scale game with important people, but most people in it couldn't really matter on an indvidual level. I was moreso thinking about what could happen if you could control the random npcs walijg down the street. But to make the game not feel like a pointless sandbox, some developed characters would go a long way.

Euronet said:
Since there still seems to be some interest in hypno games, I've got a few more things to propose this time for that little high school hypno game. Although after some consideration I have been leaning now to change the setting (from New England to Japan) for a number of reasons, some of them for the fetishes (swimsuits and school uniforms at the least, to the wider variety of Japanese cosplay.) but also for the overall plotline, the fact I’m hoping to aim for an anime-like look, and that some characters might be easier to implement outright with different cultural norms. And changing your backstory as well to a recent transfer student, possibly even having you be a foreigner. And that’s mostly for the plot, it helps you put yourself in the characters shoes, and explains why they may not know the area well. That, and Japanese attitudes for foreigners can also be a point for why you start using mind control more, or at least help you feel like an outcast. And for the most part, the girls wouldn’t be changed all that much. Besides names of course.

Anyway with that out of the way, I’ve done a bit more fleshing out of the school itself. Mainly that of the schedule and the most basic of clubs. The school schedule isn’t anything that unique, although the schedule doesn’t allow you for many opportunities to hypnotize, not unless you have something that can work in the span of a few minutes. But if I stay to course with it being in New England the academy will have a schedule like this: Classes officially start at 8 in the morning, but the gates will be open at 6:30 am. (While not every girl will arrive in a timely manner, consider this an incentive to arrive at the academy early. Besides seeing some events, it does give you the chance to ensnare a few girls in a fairly empty setting.) With each class lasting an hour and thirty minutes. With two classes in the morning until an hour lunch break at 11 am. (This would be the second major time-block, free for you to see some events around or off campus, or work on a girl or two. Just be mindful that while you have more targets, you also have more eyes on you as well.) Two more classes at the end of the day, with school getting out at 3 pm. And here’s where the main schooldays divergences can happen. Now the academy doesn’t officially want every student in a club, but they certainly seem like it. Barring some exceptions, most of the academy is in one club. Although participation for said club members aren’t that strict. Be there for at least three meetings in a month and you’re golden.

Now for the basic clubs themselves:

Journalism Club: Not actually as troublesome as you may think, the student paper would surely be even more of a mockery if they started running headlines like “student secretly brainwashed swimteam” or “parasites are invading our heads!” No, but they do like getting into situations because of their curiosity. And while curiosity may not kill the cat, it can end up enslaving it. Joining their club let’s you get a hand in the rumor mill and helps mitigate any particularly bad whispers against you. Also, you may or may not consider it like herding sheep if you are trying to keep them safe. Also has a club president who you may want to control for her own good.

Student Coordination Club: Or as I may put in other notes, the sweet but healthy low hanging fruit. In charge of planning and organizing student body events and interclub ones too. Consider them a pseudo-student council of sorts, not the real one though. They’re an excitable bunch, pretty peppy too. And overall that’s most of their members weaknesses, they love new things. They also happen to be not necessarily the brightest of the clubs when it comes to street smarts. Joining them gets you some grade a prime girls to control, or perhaps genuine friendship/romance?

Science Club: While they may have their fair share of nerdy girls, many of them do have the brains to be in this club. And behind those glasses and goggles can be some charmingly nice girls. And joining this club means you’d be right next to them, and their probably quite useful equipment.

Athletics Club: More of a placeholder for future sports clubs rather than a club of its own. This club includes anything from swimming, to gymnastics, to even equestrian riding. Naturally as the clubs begin to get fleshed out this one will be gone completely.

Student Council: Not necessarily joinable, but still a fairly important club considering they are in charge of other club’s budgets and to a smaller degree keeping the school in order.

And also, going through school clubs also has been pushing me to shift the setting to somewhere in Japan. Mainly because it gives me a bit more freedom in terms of what they are/do. And originally instead of a Science Club I was going to have either a Drama Club, or a Literature Club. But in the interest of expanding mind control methods first, Science it was.

Euronet said:

Well for the dialogue system, it arguably has to be looked at from a matter of gameplay first and foremost. For example what would the engine be? Unity, UE4, Ren'Py, Twine, etc… Since the engine is pretty much the core of the game, one's that allow tracking choices to be easier are best. So for an open world game, I'd have to lean more towards Unity or Unreal, because that allowed for more ways to chance schedules and watch them. And of course, they also help decide that whole 2D or 3D system.

What I'd actually start off with is slowly introducing the characters, instead of say with what Yandere Simulator which dumped a bunch of nobodies and builds up from there. So for me it would make sense to say start off with one clique of 3 girls first, and let's call them the rival group. Although depending on your first work with Yuki. In fact, they may actually be quite quite close to home. So let me describe the trio and their habits. Names subject to change and all.

Megan Bradley: A pretty normal tomboy… on the surface that is. Pretty quick to get in your face or enjoy a game of soccer, she's the liveliest person you know. Not terribly short, but has a cute face with lovely blue eyes and light brown hair. And whenever she tries to act girly, the worst she does is add a ribbon to her hair, sometimes not even tying it properly. You and Megan were/are friends, but recently she's been getting just a bit interested in mind control herself. Now she's not evil at all about it, in fact her two slaves are completely consensual in it. She's more of a tutorial part 2, and from a development standpoint she and her friends are where the future interaction systems would be based on.

But there's a small problem with her method of enslavement, her two friends are more vulnerable to anyone with the time and patience for it. And Megan herself also is a bit to kind to resist being hypnotized if she trusts you a lot, more than usual friendship.

Emily Townes: Where Megan is a tomboy that plays soccer for fun, Emily is a girl that plays for keeps on the outside, but surprisingly is a lot nicer when you get to know her/see what she really thinks. In the looks department she's somewhat more petite than Megan, and has an unruly cut of blonde hair, and brown eyes. She spends most of her days playing baseball on the school's team, and also takes pride in her batting average. She the nearest girl towards you, being about down the street from you. Her schedule is fairly normal, wakes up around 6 in the morning, walks to school at the last minute because she's busy enjoying herself. She does well enough in school, but only to stay on the team. Only really noticeable thing about her is that she always carries her equipment in a duffel bag.

The school team plays on every Wednesday, and practice every Monday. On those days she'll make a quick run to the changing rooms, and than practice till around 5 PM. At which point she goes home, and she sleeps at 8PM.

The only days where she shows the signs of mind control are Saturday and Sunday, and visually the only thing that signifies her changes aren't her eyes, but instead her cheerfulness with everyone.

Katherine Jones: The non-sporty one of the group, and most of the time the one that everyone would see as the outlier. Long black hair and green eyes set her apart visually as well, and she also happens to be the most petite of the bunch. Being 18 and not having much of a body does wonders for her self-confidence, and that was where Megan made her moves.

Her schedule is the most boring on most days, again discounting the weekend. She gets up later than Emily, but not that late. She leaves school at the final bell, and is usually home no later than half an hour later. No clubs, no sports, just her and well something that she likes to do.

On weekends when the girls "play", Katherine is pretty similar on the outside. On the other hand, she's also jogging a bit near Megan's house around midday, and she may even end up showing you a quick glimpse of skin. Showing a stomach that's starting to develop.

Of course, that's just an idea for tutorial rivals. And in the case of you being good with Yuki, it's almost the equivalent of being handed a nice appetizer.

Overall, to make it fun to write it has to be done piece by piece. Some girls might not interact with each other at all, and so they can't really judge any changes.

anonlv000 said:
Dwarf fortress & minecraft come to mind; they don't have any developed characters. And of course, in both, it's all about building & gathering resources & exploring.

MC is harder, I guess, since you're gathering NPCs & exploring the town or how to infiltrate a school or company & building/discovering new MC methods (some kind of crafting system may be in order?)

sleeperhit said:
Hey, there's a balance to be struck. Worldbuilding and generic NPC's with a couple funny lines that exhibit personality (see also: Lego Marvel Super Heroes's one NPC that says "Iron Man? Ha! Sounds like a domestic product to me.") aren't mutually exclusive from legitimate story players with oceans more depth.