Adult

If there's no adult content, it's just Interactive Fiction (cf. r*if newsgroups). In other words, AIF usually involves sex and sexual situations. Usually lots of them.

Interactive

If it's not interactive, it's just Adult Fiction, aka erotica. The computer offers unique possibilities to create erotica where the player is part of the action (or, um, "action"). AIF can be even more exciting than regular erotica.

Fiction

If there's no story, it's "Adult Interactive". Modern game engines allow a person to create games that tell a whole story, with multiple characters and plot development (and more sex!). This allows the player to be drawn further in.

(It's important to note that the authors have nothing against IF, AF, or AI. In fact, writing any of these genres is highly recommended as good practice for writing AIF. A good erotic story or AI might be the basis for an AIF game, and writing IF could help you get over the programming barriers, so you can focus on other aspects of AIF. But this guide is going to try to describe AIF specifically.)

Good AIF, then, should contain good erotica, a good interactive relationship between the player and the game (and the NPC's therein), and should tell a good story. The best existing AIF games (or parts thereof) usually involve combinations of all three.

In the upcoming chapters of the guide, we'll focus on each of the three main elements of AIF, and talk about how to use each one in creating good AIF, with (hopefully) useful examples.

Believability

AIF allows you to create sexual situations that could never happen in real life. People can have sex many times in quick succession with multiple partners without worrying about STD's, hurt feelings, or exhaustion. In these areas, players will probably be willing to suspend their disbelief. Or perhaps you do want to worry about some or all of these issues, only allowing your character to orgasm once per N turns. AIF gives you the opportunity to decide exactly what balance you want between believability and fantasy.

A James Bond AIF would give the character an excuse to screw anything that moves; James is considered to be that good looking and that horny. (BJD is another example that's firmly in the fantasy genre.) That would be fantasy AIF. But many players also enjoy AIF in which there are fewer, but more believable, partners. Realistic AIF opens the possibility for more character and plot development, and perhaps a more compelling story. This is one reason that Emy is considered a classic.

Attention to Detail

Unfortunately, attention to detail takes time and planning. Lack of time seems to be the number one killer of embryonic AIF games. Nonetheless, without detail, your AIF won't be very fun to play. Planning and writing characters, locations, and plot before you start coding the game will help immensely.

About This Guide

• As will be shown later, AIF involves lots of sexual or otherwise erotic situations which aren't actually sex. It could be argued that the more erotic situations you include which aren't "just" sex, the better your AIF will be. So in various places below we'll write "sex" when what we mean is some sexual or erotic situation. Whether that situation involves swing dancing, lap dancing, or tap dancing; clashing personalities (cf. Cheers, Moonlighting, Star Wars), dashing personalities (James Bond), or slashing personalities (B movie cheerleader horror AIF, anyone?); striptease, voyeurism, bondage, playing with food, lingerie, R&B, Kenny G (ick), or fantasy.... well, that part is up to you! (Read on for even more ideas.)
• The guide contains a number of examples from existing AIF games. We try hard not to make them spoilers, however. Any budding AIF author should of course try and play lots of AIF, to see what has come before, to learn about standard motifs and expectations of the genre, and to get ideas. Almost all the game names are abbreviated; check the glossary for elucidation.
• The guide also contains a bunch of quotes from newsgroup postings. Spelling has been fixed rather than littering the document with [sic]'s.
• We're using "he" for players and "she" for NPC's because English doesn't have a good gender neutral pronoun. We're certainly not trying to imply that NPC's should always be female, or that players should always be male (how bland!).
• The glossary explains the acronyms and some other terms, and links within the document are generally to the links section at the end, rather than directly to foreign URLs, to keep this document easily updatable.