It’s no big surprise that I think the ideal career is one of a game director/developer. I love video games and have my whole life, and one of my favorite aspects of video games are their elevated ability to tell a story, to make you feel things. This lofty opening is simply to provide my passion behind the subject, because while I have several ideas of fun games in the chamber of secrets, this update and the next several will be around a project for a NSFW game – a hentai game, if you will.
Back in late 2021, I was actively writing demo scripts for a game I call the “dream project,” and while it has been indefinitely on hold, it is not without reason. I had enrolled into a Computer Science degree program to force myself into a deeper understanding of the principles of software design and development. Along that path, I took some game design courses that expanded my knowledge on how we approach game design and project management. During the degree, probably two or so years ago, I was friends with a friendly guy from Canada that ran his own software development firm. He has all but faded away from my life, but I still recall during one of his random pop-ups a conversation we had had: we discussed my further interest in advanced CompSci topics and then discussed my want to make games. This brought up the interest in doing a hentai or adult game, primarily for a shot at financial success that could be reinvested further.
That is not to say this project does not contain any passion or aims to be a soulless cash-grab: on the contrary even. Currently titled “hmSpirit,” this is a 2D project being prototyped in GameMaker, a software I have been interested in using for some time now. As 2026 started, I decided if I had a resolution of any kind, it would be to kick it in gear with working on projects that put some of my degree to use (I am now graduated as of writing this!) Within just the first few weeks of 2026, I have already learned so much about the engine and got a ever so slight grasp on my approach to making a production-grade project by the end of this.
Introduction to “hmSpirit”
Code named “hmSpirit,” the project is currently to prototype something that will aim to be one of the best adult Farming RPGs. It is essentially a merge of my enjoyment of the doujin hentai game world and farming sims/RPGs. I know that there are a good few of these that exist on the market, but I personally feel none of them go far enough to provide a solid game experience all around. In fact, that is my complaint with most H-games: more often than not, core gameplay loops are neglected for quick thrills.
You may say that is the point, they are literally porn games, and in some cases you may be right, but there are many classic Eroge or H-RPGs that have attempted a balance, and I want to strike on it and then some! While I don’t believe it will end up being on the quality of Stardew Valley, my vision is a core farming RPG that is well-done enough that people wouldn’t even mind if it never was a hentai game as well. But, my personal motto is “I want to make games I want to play,” and I love farming RPGs and H-games, but there isn’t a fun one that merges these for something you could sink say 50-60 hours into on just enjoying the gameplay loop and world alone.
My idea, as much of it I can share, is to focus on one of the features I always love in any RPG when it’s incorporated (especially in Farming ones): relationships. A farming RPG without relationship mechanics is like a car without oil: you just can’t drive far without it (or at all, depending on the car). A big focus on the master Game Design Document (MGDD) is how the balance between Farming and your relationships are. To grossly summarize it: the quality and output of your farming endeavors will effect how your relationship endeavors with the NPCs, and vice versa. And not just in a positive way! Another important design philosophy to me is to design systems in a way that even if they’re limited in technical scope, they can be manipulated by the player to play the game again in many different ways.
In one player’s save, they may choose to play it like they’re playing something like Stardew Valley – farming, becoming friends with everyone, unlocking all the secrets, and maybe do a little tomfoolery with their wife/husband/partner of choice on the side. Another player may choose to go full pervert-eroge gamer mode and focus maybe a little too much on the erotic aspects. I want there to be the freedom of choice there within this symbiotic system, but of course punish swinging too far in either direction (sort of like real life, huh?)
So, on paper a prospective player may look and end up seeing a relatively tame hentai Farming game, but in reality the project scope is rather involved. I hope I keep the steam going so I can update someday on my challenges in developing the inter-workings of these relationship systems, but for now, you can have my lofty visions and the actual updates as of now.
Design Documents
The Master Game Design document is currently at 28 pages and over 5000 words, which is actually on the smaller side, but is by far the largest GDD I have put together so far. It is still ongoing and like most GDDs, it will change as the project takes new identities, but this has been a fun creative outlet I have desperately needed for sometime now. Thinking out the high-level systems, the skills, the scenarios and gameplay loops has been a blast. I have plans to work on this a bit more to a first revision by the end of January.
I am trying my best to not tread into feature-creep too early, and so I personally feel my plans outlined in the GDD are on the slim side, but again, I want to prototype something playable with a solid foundation of design documentation before I ramp into actual production.
Game
This is the latest in-engine footage captured today. This is of course extremely amateurish. I am not too dedicated into programming the prototype yet, but I am trying to achieve the following while designing:
- Get more acquainted with Gamemaker
- Learn the engine low-level systems, functions, how to handle maps and tiles and draw orders, etc.
- Set up basic boilerplate stuff, like collisions, depth, basic interactions, and basic AI (movement)
This is the culmination of probably just 6 or 7 hours of work so far – of course using assets I have purchased from itch.io. I am fine with premade assets for prototyping (you can find the tileset by Emanuelle here) – I have plans to commission or employ the works of artists once it is ready for a pre-production state.
Again, this video doesn’t show anything to brag about, but rather serves as proof to myself I am doing it. I am essentially taking up some hours throughout the week to handle all aspects of game production to trick my brain into getting into a locked-in state for the prototype. Under the hood, I am a little more proud, as I have been trying to wire this so that high-level concepts such as Character logic, input and collision handle in a reusable way and not copy+pasted per object. I may be making a hentai game, but I want it to run efficiently and be as bug-free as possible gosh darn it!
I also have active engine and script documentation going, so if by some chance other people come on, they have the idea right away (and so do I if I ever take a break…) I am going to play around with setting up a basic interaction/trigger to dialogue system soon and then focus on making the rest of the preliminary design documentation: the MGDD, character sheets, crude concept art (I am not a great artist), scenarios, etc.
Current (fuzzy) timeline for the prototype:
Jan:
- Basic dialogue system
- Basic NPC AI movement on paths and prepare for unique NPC schedules
- Finish the MGDD
Feb:
- Start Character Sheets
- Start first “clean” test map in-engine
- Start Character Dialogue mapping
- Any bad concept art for characters
Mar:
- Start prototyping the farming mechanics and in-game clock
- Prototype UI elements (menus and inventory)
- Start Quests outlining
Apr:
- Dedicate to finishing design materials for first prototype
- Finish up any lingering development items prior
June is a busy time at work, so I will likely not get to do much for the project then.
Jul:
- Begin the prototype for the relationship systems
- Begin prototyping cut scenes (to reuse for story and relationships)
I hope you look forward to more updates if you’re a fellow farming rpg and/or H-game enjoyer!