Nudity in Games

[jigida70]

If the nudity serves a purpose in your story, then I'd say go for it. I'm planning on having a couple of scenes with nude breasts, so I'll put "brief nudity" in the description. I'm also going to have a way to toggle the nudity on or off. If they toggle it off, then the scene will focus on the neck up, so they'll still get the story, but not have to worry about being uncomfortable about it.

I think you also have to put some thought into just why the POV character is seeing the nudity. Is it just a reward for the player who's been lusting over the hot female NPC since the first scene, or is there a narrative reason.

 

[ericv00]

If the nudity serves a purpose in your story, then I'd say go for it. I'm planning on having a couple of scenes with nude breasts, so I'll put "brief nudity" in the description. I'm also going to have a way to toggle the nudity on or off. If they toggle it off, then the scene will focus on the neck up, so they'll still get the story, but not have to worry about being uncomfortable about it.

I think you also have to put some thought into just why the POV character is seeing the nudity. Is it just a reward for the player who's been lusting over the hot female NPC since the first scene, or is there a narrative reason.

Yeah. Though I'm pretty settled into what I intend to do, I'm also still pondering the issue.

In one instance, the character in question belongs to a very particular society where they wear excessively heavy trappings to hide certain markings on their body, the character herself also wears a mask that represents, in a way, humility in their society. They're generally demure, and although empaths, they make a deliberate effort to steer away from strong emotional reactions. They also make a conscious effort to avoid using their powers. But there comes a moment in the story where this character in angered beyond her sensibilities, represented by her removing the mask, a surge of power tearing apart her trappings, and the character being provoked into an attack, the very opposite of the way she wishes to present herself. Throughout the game, the sensibilities of this society are reinforced again and again, so this moment is intended to jar the party (and player) into realizing that something was very wrong under the surface.

It may not be the most important thing, but it is important to me that her battler show her markings, her face, her hair, and for this to be in stark contrast to everyone else in her society. She has completely lost herself in rage, and she will unavoidably see how much of herself was stripped away by the end of the encounter.

Anyway, I initially made several sketches for the battler, some with arm positions and such that obscured parts, but none seemed right for the character until I went straight for the full frontal, angry dance-like pose. And when I completed the asset, it turned out well enough that I'm reluctant to revisit it.

 

[ShiraCheshire]

I think even if you have the best, most artistic, purest intentions, you're still going to run into issues.

Even if you present the nudity in the least sexual way possible, someone is going to be getting 'excited' seeing it- especially if it's a "bursting out of clothes" scenario. Even if you present the nudity in the most natural way possible, someone is going to be made deeply uncomfortable by it. Even if all advertisements for the game feature a gigantic "CONTAINS NON-SEXUAL NUDITY" banner across them at all times, someone who shouldn't be exposed to nudity will end up seeing it.

Funny enough, right now sexual nudity is almost more acceptable in society. If you said "I'm going to make an 18+ game where you see hot naked dudes/chicks and everybody has sex" I think it would be less of an issue. We as a society at least know how to handle that. We have more safeguards in place to lessen the chance of the wrong people seeing things they don't want to/shouldn't see when it's sexual. We have a space in our culture for it, we know how to handle and discuss it. But we don't really have a place like that for non-sexual nudity outside of two specific scenarios- artists learning anatomy and cherubs. And even those almost always obscure the genitals.

All that aside, I think an anatomically correct nude sprite would just end up looking silly in an RPG. No matter how tasteful you tried to be about it, this just isn't really the sort of medium that lends itself well to that idea.

I'd go one of two routes if I was trying to do something like that:
1. Barbie doll anatomy. Communicates "hey she be naked" without showing anything sexual or unsuitable. Is more easily communicated in a small image/sprite.
2. Just give her some clothes. You can still show off a great deal of the body without making a character fully naked, and it's still a big contrast when compared to extremely obscuring clothing. A tasteful sash over the chest and something tied across the waist can cover all the explicit parts while still revealing the rest of the body. You could also cheat by using hair, leaves, flowers, obscuring mist, etc etc to cover some spots.

 

[jigida70]

Yeah. Though I'm pretty settled into what I intend to do, I'm also still pondering the issue.

In one instance, the character in question belongs to a very particular society where they wear excessively heavy trappings to hide certain markings on their body, the character herself also wears a mask that represents, in a way, humility in their society. They're generally demure, and although empaths, they make a deliberate effort to steer away from strong emotional reactions. They also make a conscious effort to avoid using their powers. But there comes a moment in the story where this character in angered beyond her sensibilities, represented by her removing the mask, a surge of power tearing apart her trappings, and the character being provoked into an attack, the very opposite of the way she wishes to present herself. Throughout the game, the sensibilities of this society are reinforced again and again, so this moment is intended to jar the party (and player) into realizing that something was very wrong under the surface.

It may not be the most important thing, but it is important to me that her battler show her markings, her face, her hair, and for this to be in stark contrast to everyone else in her society. She has completely lost herself in rage, and she will unavoidably see how much of herself was stripped away by the end of the encounter.

Anyway, I initially made several sketches for the battler, some with arm positions and such that obscured parts, but none seemed right for the character until I went straight for the full frontal, angry dance-like pose. And when I completed the asset, it turned out well enough that I'm reluctant to revisit it.

Is the nudity in question a playable/small sprite, or a cutscene bust/picture? My major cutscenes are all going to be done in Daz Studio with 3D models, so if I do include nudity, it will be a little more explicit.

 

[ericv00]

Is the nudity in question a playable/small sprite, or a cutscene bust/picture? My major cutscenes are all going to be done in Daz Studio with 3D models, so if I do include nudity, it will be a little more explicit.

Just a couple of sprites and enemy battlers. 2 or 3 out of (hopefully) +200 enemies. The sprites not on screen for more than a few seconds. No busts. Even if there were busts, I don't feel any need to make them show more than head and shoulders.

1. Barbie doll anatomy. Communicates "hey she be naked" without showing anything sexual or unsuitable. Is more easily communicated in a small image/sprite.

Nothing is weirder to me than the use of not-real reproductive structures. Nipple-less breasts, crotch flesh bulge... feels like an alien species to me.

2. Just give her some clothes. You can still show off a great deal of the body without making a character fully naked, and it's still a big contrast when compared to extremely obscuring clothing. A tasteful sash over the chest and something tied across the waist can cover all the explicit parts while still revealing the rest of the body. You could also cheat by using hair, leaves, flowers, obscuring mist, etc etc to cover some spots.

As I mentioned, I have explored things like this. The only one I still ponder about is the hair thing, but the problem there is that it always just looked like she would get tangled up in her hair in any position that covered her chest. And to me, things like this stand out like super edgy spiked armor that would be a greater danger to the wearer than the assailant.

The story is a mature one, as are the characters, so I think the tone of the story will encourage a mature reaction in most by the time nudity appears. I do think the nudity warning will generate more disappointment than anything else, from people who are looking for titillation.

 

[CG-Tespy]

I have mixed feelings about this topic. In terms of morality, I take no issues with nudity being in games. In terms of artistic quality, there is just one thing that really grinds my gears...


It's when there's no good in-universe reason for a character's outfit to be so revealing, as in Mythra's outfit from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It's just sexy because the character designers wanted it to be, which certainly clashes with her characterization and lore.


Mythra's the type to go ape on someone for accidentally ending up in the same bed as her, yet for no reason justified in the story, she still dresses like she belongs in an adult film. That made one of her first scenes in the game rub me the wrong way (XC2 players among you probably know which one I'm thinking of)...


An example of nudity done right in games would be... that of Sildoria from Dungeon Town, an eroge. She dressed like a loose woman, and it contradicts her characterization, but it makes sense in the context of the story: one of her bosses forced her to dress like ogle-bait on the job. She made it very clear that if it were up to her, she'd dress rather modestly.


Tl;dr Nudity is okay when it makes sense in the context of the story or characterization.

 

[Helen1701]

I intend my game to be family friendly, so there won't be any full on nudity. The closest I'm getting to that is people in swimwear on the beach (where women in bikinis and men in shorts is appropriate for the setting). I'm not prudish, but I personally prefer not to see naked sprites. If i wanted explicit material, there are plenty of other places for that.

 

[DrBuni]

I detest fanservice. Nudity and sexual content is the quickest way to make me stop playing a game. Games like Xenoblade 2, for example, are just gross to me. It is a shame so many jRPGs appeal to this kind of low hanging fruit.

Nudity and sexual THEMES can be done right in certain settings, and when it is not there just because the creator is horny / wants to show the world their particular fetishes. The Silent Hill games (the good ones, aka 1 to 4) have tons of sexual themes, and even though they are horror games, they are still more tasteful than what I see in many jRPGs and lets not even get into the visual novel territory.

If you like this stuff, well, you do you, but I am not going to pretend I don't dislike this stuff.

 

[KawaiiKid]

I'm gonna be honest here. 99% of rpg maker games that actually sell are coomer games. It's far and few between where a normal game does well, most of the ones that sell or have big pat-reon backings are all porn.

 

[Allaboutevent]

I'm gonna be honest here. 99% of rpg maker games that actually sell are coomer games. It's far and few between where a normal game does well, most of the ones that sell or have big pat-reon backings are all porn.

100%

It may be a cliche, but it is still true to this day.

Sex sells.

 

[Prescott]

Just like anything else, it needs to serve a purpose. Is it for laughs? Is it for intensity? Does the character being nude make sense for their personality? Senseless nudity just because you wanted there to be nudity is a surefire way to make sure nobody takes your game seriously. Keep it in line with the vision of your game, the world, the story, etc.

I'm not too sure since I don't live in Japan or anything, but this seems to be a particularly "western" problem. The Japanese version of Earthbound (Mother 2) had no problem showing Ness naked in Magicant, for instance, and there are plenty of other ways that I'm sure you know nudity has been censored when games have been localized. Some games don't make it to the west at all because of it.

Because of that, I would say that it is important to know your audience, and to stick to your guns for the sake of your audience. If you are trying to capture as wide a demographic as possible, it might be best to either leave out the nudity entirely. If you're building a game that pays heavy homage to classic JRPGs, manga, anime, etc. and/or strictly trying to attract adults willing to play a game with nudity, then leave it in. You'll probably have some people complain, but a lot of people do respect developers that push those sorts of things to the side to focus on their original vision and garnering the right fanbase for their project.

"Violence and gore? Heck yeah! Can't get enough of it! Nudity? SHIELD YOUR EYES."

 

[Dust]

I feel very similar to @ShiraCheshire about this. On one hand I feel like a pixel sprite would look a bit silly if it's in the usual dimensions of RPG Maker games.

Then on top of that I feel like having an age restriction is bad and in my opinion not really worth it if you're going for a wider audience outside mentioned coomer games. So yeah, it's really up to you depending on what your goal is.

 

[Enigman]

A friend doing playtesting for me took offence to a game that I was working on years ago because of implied sex scenes - screen went dark, bed springs SFX and a gasp at the end. Even though I had told them what to expect I suspect their imagination made it a bit more explicit than if I'd had a couple of sprites bouncing up and down. I was more concerned about a couple of death scenes where I killed off a main character as the deaths were nasty and brutish (even though they were just sprites.)

 

[TheMeowingFox]

Just like anything else, it needs to serve a purpose. Is it for laughs? Is it for intensity? Does the character being nude make sense for their personality? Senseless nudity just because you wanted there to be nudity is a surefire way to make sure nobody takes your game seriously. Keep it in line with the vision of your game, the world, the story, etc.

What about something like "these literal dragon people are wayyy too big for any clothing, so they nekked"

But in all seriousness, I do find it weird that the general term of nudity automatically means sexy to people...when it isn't. Artistic nudity exists.

And when the above misconception is applied to the existence of breasts? Oh boy, that's a rant.

 

[Prescott]

What about something like "these literal dragon people are wayyy too big for any clothing, so they nekked"

But in all seriousness, I do find it weird that the general term of nudity automatically means sexy to people...when it isn't. Artistic nudity exists.

And when the above misconception is applied to the existence of breasts? Oh boy, that's a rant.

I think it depends on your definition of "dragon people." I envision anthropomorphic dragons that are really large. If they abide by social standards, then it isn't unreasonable to say they would have bigger clothing to fit them. If they still live in caves and are separated from the human world, then they probably wouldn't. If we're talking about just dragons, then the only reason I can see them having clothing at all is because they think it is luxurious or something. After all, the only time animals wear clothes is when humans dress them.

The thing with artistic nudity is that it has to be artistic, and that was my point. It has to serve some sort of artistic purpose beyond shock value if you want your game and world to be taken seriously instead of delegated to a shock value experience. If that is actually what you're going for, then so be it. That just brings up again my point of knowing your audience.