oh, for sure. i haven't heard any serious criticism of the characters in a long time. much of this was probably years ago or so. i really tried to justify the use of each character in the story
i was hoping i wouldn't come off offensive or just disregarding your suggestion. legit the community would eat me alive. every time i introduced a new supporting character like half the people started barking at them. every supporting character in this story legit has to defend why they're allowed in the room just so the community wouldn't destroy them :p
haha. so i read this and my first instinct was to laugh just because of past fan reactions but, in short, if I did something like that, I would probably end up on one of those cold case murder shows and i'd never be found again, lol.
so the background here (and this will have very minimal spoilers), when i first introduced Mikhail, there was some hate. people already wanted him gone because he was a liability. which honestly played into the beginning parts of his arc-- that not everyone is a bad guy. in fact, one of the primary reasons for the scene in Mikhail's dorm room was to address the hate and drive that point home that it's ok to have allies that happen to be the same gender as your preference. because of the slow-burn of this story, people really quested for the ship of zack and braden and anything that would get between that needed taken out of the equation. At this point, even introducing anything extra would probably blow up in my face and ultimately defeat the purpose of writing this (if you play all the way to the end of the original or wait on the revamp ending, this will hopefully make more sense).
another reason there's only one "romance" route is that choosing the guy you wanted was never the point of this. it was more about addressing the dynamics of relationships and friendships and dealing with those obstacles and sexuality in general. If you've read any background on the story: this is my first attempt at writing something and i'm historically awful at multitasking so i made a very early decision with this story that rather than have multiple romance routes with like 5 different guys that may be half-way fleshed out-- i elected to write one story (with 2 different perspective routes in it) and hopefully flesh that one route out more than most people would have expected. so basically do one right rather than half-ass five of them. it also takes coding experience to juggle multiple routes and i had no idea what i was doing. I quite literally googled every line of code until i got the hang of it.
so odds are i wont add any additional routes.i dont wanna mess it up :p
the revamp quality is incredible compared to the older version--especially since you played through the first part of the older version. I'm really proud at the additions and it's really let me relive things all over again with adding in the music and sound effects and *gasp* other students at the college! lmao.
without going into too many details for spoilers, you still had quite a bit left. i feel like every chapter gets progressively longer than the previous one. well, i hope you enjoy it when i finally get this damned thing done :)
Oh gotcha. well hope you enjoy. the newer versions are slightly more compressed so hopefully it won't be as much of a download even though there's more content. thanks for reading :)
sorry if you thought there was a wait. i thought i'd been cranking these updates out super fast considering the amount of work involved. it's been around every 2 months right now which is way faster than the original where i had to outline the story plus write every update from scratch. i try my best but i'm sorry to say it's not going to get any faster or the project will suffer, i'm already on this 7 days a week. hope you enjoy though
Hey, thank you so much. glad it ran you through all the feels. i really wanted something that pulled people in and made the characters feel real. i think you need that for the emotional scenes to work. i know it's a very niche story but thanks so much for giving it a shot. if you haven't checked out the Revamped version, though, I definitely recommend it. It's pretty established now and is waaaaaay better. (also, your screen name cracked me up :p). all the best and stay safe out there <3
oh for sure, the Revamp is insanely better. i do think the original starts to get better around chapter 5 or 6 when i started to just write how i wanted to. the revamp is also way more cinematic with the camera shots-- we only see that at the end of the original. plus, i think the sound and music really adds to the vibe. i'm with you on the "heart" thing, i think the slow burn makes things matter. gives you time to get attached, frustrated, and feel things along with the characters
heya, thanks a lot. glad you're enjoying the story. Just so you know the public version is the same as the Patreon version. I just release early on Patreon for donations then 3 weeks later drop it free on Patreon as well as here. people have been generous with support and I've always wanted the project to be free. I'm honored you think it's one of the best you've read. i know i did something a bit different here and tried to interject a lot more heart into an erotic game and rather than the erotic stuff being the primary purpose of the project-- it's more of a compliment to the content and the story rather than just jumping from one slutty scene to the next. that stuff gets boring to me. in terms of support, take your time. like i said, the game is free for a reason so please take care of yourself and those you love first before you chip in money to my project. that being said, if you do get into a position to toss in monetary support, I'd honestly recommend doing it on Patreon first: over there the support will unlock extra stuff like picture sets and things like that. Over here, there's nothing to unlock. If you're not interested in the extra stuff: either one works. But again: please don't feel pressured. The first part of Chapter 7 will be dropping over here on 12/10 for free so you don't have too long of a wait. thank you so much for reading and just letting me know you're enjoying it. seriously appreciate it. be safe and all the best <3
thank you so much. i'm glad you appreciated the slow burn and sometimes inconsistent take on this. I wanted complicated characters for this story that started out fairly superficial because i feel like that's what people expect in these types of games. irl we learn more about people through conversation, behaviors, or their opinions on things and that's really what's showcased here. i wanted more of a story that unfolded through dialogue than i did something with a ton of action or complicated choices
thank you so much. i don't even know what the final version clocks in at... i was thinking around 15 hours or so. may have to ask the community that one. glad you enjoyed it, though, and thank you so much for playing and letting me know you liked it
Heya, thank you for the well written note and I'm stoked that it impacted you in such a way as to give you a new perspective and renew some love for your bf. Also, congratulations on 14 years. that's a pretty long time and should be respected and i hope it continues to grow for you both.
in terms of your suggestions: yes, i plan on translations eventually but i think it will be difficult just because i apparently write with sooooo much slang. i never really expected non-english speakers to even get through it originally so it's been incredibly rewarding to hear that people are motivated enough by the project to wade through this thing, lol. I do plan on trying to work with people on the discord to get it as accurate as possible but we'll see. languages are complex and inconsistent obviously so who knows how that translation will turn out.
i see what you're saying with dialogue and maybe that's something i could add. there's a few spots in the later parts of the game where i did that. i just very much see all the random stuff that seems less important as still being character development or giving you background that may come into play later. when i sit down and read books, i usually like massive ones with a ton of details. but i also think that conversation is how relationships naturally evolve so i really focused on a lot of dialogue that spans everything from serious to existential to anger to teasing the crap out of each other. I definitely think it's a lot for a non-native English speaker to struggle with 'cause i get really wordy sometimes :p
things like that may come after the revamp project is completely finished where i may be able to go back and just do some touch-up updates and stuff :)
heya, well thank you for reaching out first off. and yes it's absolutely fine to post here. i'm not sure why you were unable to post on patreon. that should have been a free public post where anyone could reply so sorry you had that experience but here is certainly fine :)
but thank you so much for running through stuff and testing it. it seriously does help me out and save me time while i'm working on all the future stuff. all of those new image updates will be including in the next update too. It's coming soon. i promise. little more work than i expected but i'm on it
appreciate you and appreciate the support and follow <3
heya, thanks for checking in and thank you for the multiple reads. i've said this before but when i started working on this thing i never expected it to go global-- sure, it's on the internet and everything is technically global, i guess-- but i never expected it to hold up in so many different places, cultures, lifestyles, etc. And because of that, i never grow tired of hearing the experiences of others. I truly value posts like this and I thank you for sharing it.
I think there's power in hearing from the experience of others: hearing or reading something that you've experienced yourself, and realizing that you're not crazy and you're not alone. With all the division in the world, it's nice to feel connections with others so i'm glad this small part of the story resonated with you. It's also fun to just hear all the parts that resonate with different people because the world is a diverse place.
You spoke about this vulnerability and I think the next update that I'm working on now, returns to that again briefly, but it can be scary. If you've had past experiences that have taught you to protect yourself, it becomes advantageous to defend yourself and be very leery of outsiders. Giving them too much information could hurt you. But the flip side to that is that is the connection that comes from shared vulnerability. when you find people that you can be yourself around-- drop that filter. it can be terrifying but that's what gives it its power: when you're vulnerable with them and they, in turn, do the same to you; and neither of you uses that vulnerability for harm. obviously, you need to be safe and calculated with that and much of that is based on our past experiences.
i think for me: i've made bad decisions in the past. some of those have allowed people to hurt me just as much as my own stupidity has hurt others. at some point, i have to decide which of those experiences needs to become a lesson i learned the hard way and which of those are the painful shackles that are preventing me from moving forward to learn new lessons. It's like any other investment-- there can be profound gains or painful losses-- but i think the currency of meaningful relationships is vulnerability. But that's just how i found acceptance in my own head.
i truly wish you the best and i hope you find acceptance and peace in your own way. stay safe and may all of your future relationships be rewarding. thank you for reading :)
Heya. This project does not contain any femboys, sissy, or crossdressing content. In fact: it's almost the exact opposite. Character interactions and personalities could be described as cis and are probably more "bro" and sarcastic with an existential twist than anything else. While I openly support any of those identities, lifestyles, and any similar content, I tend to be pretty masculine and I've always heard to "write what you know."
There's plenty of LGBTQ+ talent out there with far more insight into those lifestyles than I have and the world would be better served to hear their voices over mine. They would do them more justice than I ever could.
so far the revamp updates are much quicker than the original updates-- mostly because i dont have to do much writing-- it's just editing of existing writing. that being said, i've sorta taken the extra time to practice more things during this passthrough of the revamp-- hence all the animations and stuff. But so far it's been around ~2 months give or take.
and i really appreciate the support-- that doesn't necessarily mean financial-- just support in general. please dont feel obligated-- there's a reason the game is free. just make sure you take care of yourself first. the world has been crazy for awhile now <3
yep. rest assured you're not the only one that it happened to. it came up in discussion on the discord and it happened to a few fans that had already played the original and were actually expecting animations. so apparently it was easy to miss. the hard pauses are only like 1 or 2 seconds so it shouldn't be annoying for quick clicking. it should also be ignored if you use the fast forward feature :)
heya, greetings from the US and thanks for reading. i'm glad you're enjoying the revamped version and since you're finished the story, you already know the revamp is just now getting to the good parts. In terms of a sequel, it's been a common question but no plans right now. i don't multitask well so i only work on one project at a time. right now, i'm finishing the revamp (to conclude this game). as i near the end of the revamp, the workload should reduce a bit and i may start looking towards the future then. without stating spoilers here, i worked hard on the ending for this to check a lot of boxes for people so i'm going to be very careful if i ever choose to continue things. i dont want to just run a story into the ground like a lot of movies do
haha, aww. well thank you very much. the end of chapter 6 is one of the few times we sorta get a break from the tension. there's some resolution here and a lot of questions are answered as well as we truly get a feel for what the story is all about: it's zack's journey to find some kind of peace or acceptance of who he is. glad you're enjoying the story. i really do put a lot of effort into it so it's always amazing when it hits people the right way.
thank you so much. i'm glad you enjoyed it. thank you so much for reading. if you're still interested in the characters, the revamp is a great way to scratch that itch for wanting more.
heya, first off thanks for playing and I'm glad you're enjoying the project. To answer your question, first you need to know that I'm not a coder or game developer in any professional capacity. I went to school for psychology so i'm completely self taught for this based on reading forums and watching videos. I'm still learning in real time-- that's why the quality of the original game changed so much as it progressed. So if there's a way to avoid this issue, I'm not sure how to do it. I'll give you a pretty lengthy but detailed response though-- just know that I probably won't sound like I know what I'm talking about. lol
So "choices" in the game are based on declarations within the code. When the game starts, all known variables and declarations within the game will be loaded. I load all of mine as "false" when you start a New Game. When you make a choice in the game, the variable assigned to that choice then becomes True. Later in the game, if that choice becomes important, the game will remember that the variable is true and your story will follow that "true" path.
The problem and the requirement for starting a New Game after each update is because as the story progressed, I added new variables. So for example, if you played the first Update of Chapter 1, your New Game would not have loaded all the chapter 10 variables yet because that chapter wasn't written yet. The game has to load all variables within the game at the start or it'll crash when that variable becomes required (usually the error message will say something is "not defined.")
One criticism of this is obviously that I could have just loaded all known variables for the entire game when I first started writing the story back in 2017. The problem with that is I wasn't sure where things were going. I'm a fan of the story myself so I didn't want to plan a lot out, I wanted to be surprised along with the reader so the story wrote itself each time. Another problem with that stems from people that are actual coders. Without exception, there's always a segment of readers that break into my code every update (especially in the original version) and looked for spoilers or clues to where the story was going. Hell, I even had a few fans that have never actually played the game-- they download each update and just break into the code script and read that like a novel-- they never even boot the game: just the code. To avoid hackers finding future story spoilers, I just never included any future information-- including those variables that would prevent the game from crashing.
The Fix: So the reason that boot message is there is that during each update, you need to start a New Game. The newest version of the game will load all variables--including the new ones just added into the story when you click New Game. But then immediately following that, you normally will have some choices to answer. Those answers will modify the code to flag things as True and essentially recreate your old save file and choices based on what's required for that update. Then it'll drop you right at the end of the last update with all your old choices.
Hopefully that makes sense. If not, feel free to ask :)
thank you so much. i hope you continue to enjoy it. i progressively just got more comfortable doing my own thing rather than try and do the typical VN stuff so hopefully that works for you. lemme know if you end up liking it (not sure if you're playing the original or the revamp) by the end :)
haha, thanks for sticking around through the original intention. that means a lot. sorry about the tears but i seriously appreciate the investment. and the character you mentioned was a surprise fan favorite to everyone. i think he ended up being as popular or more popular than the MCs
aww, this is amazing. i know i dont know you but i'm so proud of your progress and your ability to find peace and acceptance in who you are. I'm always humbled when people state that this story was involved in any way in their journey or as an impetus for change. that's still one of the best compliments i could ever receive but I think it's always important to kick the majority of that credit back to the reader because you're the one who was willing to listen to yourself and find your own path. thank you so much for reading and thank you for giving the revamp a try. i hope you enjoy it even better than the original-- i've worked really hard to do nothing but improve it. same story. just everything looks, sounds, and feels better. please take care of yourself. i wish you and those important to you nothing but the best. thank you so much <3
