* Although the same could be said of most genres unfortunately.

And yet the AIF scene proves to be a very popular one, despite its drawbacks and shortfalls. More AIF games are written in an average month than non-AIF games, at least as far as the ADRIFT world is concerned, and it's ADRIFT that proves the most popular system for writing AIF games. So far this year, there have probably been three times as many AIF ADRIFT games released as non-AIF games, and this is likely to continue throughout the rest of the year. Why? Is the reason simply that the people who are the target audience for these games are unconcerned about the quality of said games? That provided there is the requisite number of naked body parts engaged in all manner of sex acts, they will play the game and like it, despite its many flaws? Do the people who play AIF games simply not care about anything aside from the sex?

It could be argued that writing an AIF game is easier than writing a non-AIF one. Some people will probably disagree with that. In some ways, it's true. In others, it's not. Writing an AIF game in itself is probably no easier than writing a game in any other genre, but the AIF audience tends to be far easier to please than any other. What other community would put up with a dozen or more games of really poor quality from the same authors and yet still encourage them to write more? Any other community would have torn them apart by game two or three and they'd have either considerably improved after that, quit or been ignored. I know of only one non-AIF author who constantly writes games that are criticised at every turn and given his mental condition, it's doubtful he could improve if he wanted to.

But provided an AIF game has sex, and lots of sex, the AIF people seem content with it. Puzzles, storyline, quality writing, a fully realised environment - they're not necessary so you don't need to include them in an AIF game if you don't want to. People won't be interested in examining the scenery when there's a naked woman in front of them to have their wicked way with. In fact, it's perhaps surprising that all AIF games aren't one room in size. Why waste time and effort on other rooms when you can have all the sex you need in just one room? In that respect, writing an AIF game is a lot easier than writing a non-AIF one. Try releasing your first non-AIF game and miss out descriptions for 90% of the items and will you have a happy audience? Not very likely.

Of course, write an AIF game and don't make the sex particularly 'hot' and you won't find a happy audience either, but then I'd have said writing a hot sex scene is a fairly easy thing to do. You just put in lots of reference to tits, pussy, orgasms and the like. Or you trawl the web for some good adult erotica sites and copy what you find on there. A lot of the sex scenes in the AIF games I've played tend to be pretty 'school-boyish' anyway - "he thrust himself into her cunt and then sprayed cum over her hot sexy tits" (only generally with a few spelling mistakes) - as opposed to genuine erotica. Genuine erotica might be a difficult thing to write, school-boyish porn isn't.

I've had several discussions (polite term for 'flame wars') with numerous people over this kind of thing and, for my part, have honestly never really understood their reasoning. It probably seems perfectly logical to them, but to me I find myself either unwilling or unable to play a game for no other reason than the sex in it. That might seem like a strange thing to say but to me a game has to be more than just a sex romp to hold my attention for long. Maybe I'm more into visual porn than word porn. I'm happier looking at a photo of a naked woman than I am reading a few lines about her in a game.

To some degree, I can understand the viewpoint of the people who believe AIF as pure sex romp is fine. I sometimes go to watch mindless action films at the cinema and it's the mindless action I'm going for, not the deep and meaningful stories, the plot twists and the quality acting (aspects you're lucky to encounter in a mindless action film). Yet at the same time, take away any kind of storyline, plot twist and acting (quality or otherwise) and what do you have left but one mindless action scene after another? Some people might find that perfectly okay, but I've never been able to enjoy a film that has nothing to offer but fight scenes, explosions and lots of people getting shot. Pick the best action film you've ever seen. Now take away the storyline. Is it still as good?

The same applies to AIF. I've played a few dozen games and disliked the majority of them. The few I've liked have been games more along the lines of regular IF with added sex elements thrown in for good measure: a decent storyline, puzzles, believable NPCs (or, if not believable, then at least not the sort who don't just drop everything (pun intended) to shag the player the moment he walks into the room) and an aim that isn't wholly related to the player getting laid at every opportunity. I prefer this type of game. To me, it's more interesting. It's more of a true IF game. It's also a lot rarer to find a game like this in the AIF world, which might explain some of the reasoning behind why I like it so much. Often something is seen as better than it really is because it's so rare. On the other hand, if I want a mindless sex romp, I can find two dozen different ones within the space of five minutes and they'll all be pretty much similar to each other: find a girl, shag her, find another girl, shag her, find… and so on. But an AIF game with a decent storyline? That's a rare beast indeed.

It's no secret to anyone that the AIF world isn't a particularly well respected one. Partly this has to do with the fact that a good number of the games are of poor quality - even a die hard AIF fan would be hard pressed to find positive things to say about certain of the games - but another part is, in my opinion anyway, the fact that most of the games are nothing but sex romps. And most of them are very, very similar. There's an old saying that once you've seen one porn film, you've seen them all. Okay, you get different women in each film and different situations (the plumber has sex with the scantily-clad house maid in the kitchen as opposed to the lounge), but it's essentially the same film over and over again. Same with AIF. Play one sex romp game, you've played them all. Just a personal viewpoint, of course, but I'm sure I'm not the only one to hold it.

Is AIF ever likely to attain more respectability in the IF world as a whole? Maybe not**. It's unlikely that an AIF game, no matter how good, is going to be put on the same kind of pedestal as the likes of Photopia, City of Secrets or any of the games that do especially well in the yearly IFComps. The AIF world has at best a poor reputation and this is enforced every time someone from outside the AIF world comes along, plays an AIF game, and finds themselves being faced with another sex romp. Or, worse, a game about underage sex. That's hardly the sort of subject likely to find a favourable footing.

** Although the same thing was once said of ADRIFT games as a whole, yet the stigma attached to writing games with a non-programming system isn't quite as bad as it used to be. It's still unusual to see an ADRIFT game rated as highly as a TADS or Inform game, but ADRIFT games are certainly given a more favourable reception now than they were several years ago.

But that doesn't mean that AIF games have to have a bad reputation. While no AIF game is likely to receive the same kind of praise as a truly great non-AIF game is, it's still possible for enough people to appreciate it… if it's good enough. And if it isn't just a mindless sex romp.

I think the reason why so many AIF games are mindless sex romps is that the majority of people writing them seem quite content to bring out games that don't stray very far from the expected norm. Play ten AIF games at random and you'll probably find you could use pretty much the same words to describe them all. From a writer's point of view, I could understand the urge to bring out a game similar to all the other ones out there: it's safe. You're guaranteed an audience. You like to think that people will play your game when it's finished and provide you with valuable feedback on it. Write a game along the lines of everything else out there, you'll get people playing it and you'll also get feedback. Write a game different to everything else and you risk alienating people. Worse still, you might end up writing a game that no one likes… a bit of a waste of time and effort. So writing a simple sex romp is probably a better idea overall.

Are games that are nothing but sex romps bad then? You could argue that if you are approaching the games from the viewpoint of not wanting anything else but a sex romp, then they're fine. For myself, I'd far sooner have a game that has a storyline, decent characters, puzzles, plot twists and the sex elements. Imagine your usual run of the mill IF game spiced up with a bit of foreplay and erotica. The only puzzles you usually encounter in a standard AIF game are those related to determining which part of the body you need to grope/lick/kiss/fondle first, or guess the verb horrors along the same lines. By the time I've waded my way through 'kiss breasts', 'lick breasts', 'suck breasts' and got an error message every time (turns out I need to 'bite breasts' - great puzzle!), my enthusiasm for the game is hitting rock bottom. More than a few times, in fact, I've been playing an AIF game, getting along nicely, then been dumped into a sex scene which is pretty impossible to finish due to guess the verb problems… and I've quit. I bet I'm not the only one guilty of doing that.

Writing an AIF game that's just a sex romp might be what the AIF community itself wants, but are you happy and content with that? If so, go ahead and write your sex romps. You'll be guaranteed an audience whether your game is much good or not. If not, if you want wider recognition for your efforts, you might want to consider writing something a little different. You're never likely to see an AIF game hailed as a resounding masterpiece by the rest of the IF world, but you might just show to everyone that AIF has more to offer than blatant sex. Just as mindless action films can be more than mindless action if properly done, so can AIF be more than just sex games. It just needs someone to actually go ahead and write one…