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This isn't soprano31's first rodeo.By the way, I'm curious. What was you thinking when you wrote something like that, and shared it in a public forum? "I want to be bullied today"?
- Jun 15, 2022
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Here you go.
Q&A Session - 2023 - Part 2/2
It's time for the final part of this year's Q&A. In this part, I will answer your questions about game development. Enjoy!
Can we expect future episode development to be as long as ep9 or longer? There has been a trend of development time (and episode size) growing as more and more were released.
You can expect the development of each episode to be as long as it needs to be. How long, I can't say. It varies, but longer development time goes hand in hand with more content, and I'm not looking to make short episodes or quick releases. You get the best indication of how long a development cycle will be from reading my weekly Status updates.
I'm trying to limit myself, but my creativity often doesn't care about those boundaries. And I would hate it if I skipped out on a good idea for content to meet a fictional deadline. I'm not bothered by the long development times; I treasure them. They allow me to do big things. I know how hard I work and that the game will be completed eventually. My main goal is to make Being a DIK as good as possible.
You have created some substantial mini-games in Season 2 and initially for Season 3. Where do you get inspiration to come up with these ideas?
I'd say the inspiration comes from board games, mostly. And when I create a new mini-game, I always break it down into core mechanics during the initial design.
For an upcoming Season 3 mini-game, I asked myself: "What type of game mechanics haven't I used in a mini-game yet?" And the first answer I came up with was "deduction". 48 hours later, the new math mini-game was completed.
I've gotten efficient at creating these mini-games. It's easy for me to go from concept to finished product fast in all areas of its development. Art, front-end, and back-end code for the mini-games come naturally to me. It's the ambition of the mini-game that determines how much time is needed for its development. The new version of Brawler took me about 10 days, from nothing to finished.
Along these lines, I think you mentioned that to test the Mansion Mini Game, you built a stand-alone version to be able to play out scenarios. Any chance of releasing stand-alone mini-games?
That's true. I make stand-alone versions of all the mini-games before implementing them in Being a DIK. Keeping a modular approach is the best way to do it. When stand-alone, the games compile faster, they are easier to test and debug, and nothing from the code of Being a DIK would ruin the mini-game, e.g., variables sharing names and other conflicts. I can also hand my wife a tablet with the mini-game and ask her to test it. Or I can send the mini-game to a friend to test.
I won't release stand-alone versions of the mini-games, though. That would ruin the base-game experience in some areas, especially with the bigger mini-games like the mansion management and party planner.
What scenes are the most difficult to write for you? Comedy bits or the dramatic/sad ones? How so?
Comedy bits are the easy ones for me. I chalk it up to a lifetime of using humor as a self-defense mechanism and being an avid fan of standup comedy. I never struggled with writing jokes. If it makes me laugh, it will make someone else laugh, too - that's how I think when writing them. I bounce off the material of my wife and friends a lot. I have jokes I can't wait to tell lined up for future episodes.
The dramatic and sad bits are among my favorite ones to write. It's a form of therapy for me, processing raw emotions that can be hard to talk about in real life. I've always been in touch with my emotions. Putting myself into the character's shoes and letting it all out is rewarding and can feel comforting - I love it.
The hardest bits to write aren't of a certain type but rather the bits that I know I need but have no inspiration to write. For example, I need this scene and its result, but the words don't come naturally and feel forced. I need to go from point A to B to make this scene work, but the writing feels too pragmatic. That can completely kill my flow, and I must work on something else before returning to it. I often solve that by thinking of it at the start of a new day in the shower; the start of each day is when I get the best ideas.
Hey there. Could you describe your dev process?
This could get long and tedious, so I'll have to describe it briefly.
Episodes feature more and longer animations, which certainly add a lot to the game. They also take up a lot of time and resources. Can you talk a bit about your process when planning and deciding what scenes need what animations and the extent to which time is a factor when considering what to include and what to leave out?
- Planning phase: Write the outline for the episode and box it in. Put all events in place and decide everything the episode will be about while leaving some wiggle room.
- Creation phase: Write story, code, and make animations and art. Everything happens at once, but I always ensure I utilize my render stations to full capacity to optimize time. Re-visit the planning phase a lot when needed.
- Polish phase: Play and polish the game. I test and polish as much as possible, including personal proofreading.
- Testing phase: Test the game with beta testers and a proofreader. Having fresh eyes on the episode helps tremendously. The importance of this phase cannot be underestimated. If you're a developer, don't leave this to your players. Aside from getting a polished update, it will reduce stress upon release.
- Release the episode. Let players enjoy what you create. Feel deflated and drained for a bit. Do community work and fix bugs. Then start all over.
I usually start by determining which girls will get an extra long lewd scene (25+ animations) and which will get a shorter one (10-25 animations). Those are my ballpark numbers these days.
Mapping that out early gives me an indication of the workload. I think differently when it comes to SFW animations (non-lewd animations). I don't plan those ahead of time; it's more of a process when I'm working on a scene.
As a recent example, I thought it would be cool if Jamie pulled out his middle finger of the hat while instantly changing his expression from fake happy to mad. It wouldn't feel as good to have images instead of an animation, so it was an easy choice.
Basically, cool things and motions that would be enhanced by animating them are turned into animations. But it's easy to go overboard with it, so it depends on how long the animation is and whether it adds value.
I enjoyed making the cutscene-like animations for episode 9. If you analyze those long animations, you can see how many different animations there are in one. When I made those animations, I wanted them to tell a story. They set up the scenes perfectly and show you what's happening, making the transition into the different ongoing stories in the episode more natural. I don't know how long it took to render them, but it was well over a month per animation using multiple render stations.
It's a lot of development time the animations eat up, but on the other hand, I'm constantly working manually on the episode, so it's not like the rendering time is wasted. It creates value alongside my manual work and makes me feel less stressed.
The biggest stress I experience during a development cycle is when the render queue is nearly empty. Longer and more animations bring immense value to the game and my well-being during the development cycle. That's why I see animations as a win-win.
Did the several hiccups during this development cycle (identity theft on itch, music issues) delay the release of Episode 9? Or were they insignificant?
My PCs were always rendering, but the hiccups sadly affected my productivity - I'm only human.
This development cycle was nightmarish for many reasons. On top of what you mentioned, I lost a sibling last year, and it was tough working through it - it still is. There will be more speedbumps on the road ahead, I'm sure. It's something that's out of my control, and I have to deal with them as they come. Everyone faces hardships in life; I'm sure most of you have had bad experiences during the last 5 years.
What's important is that my heart is set on completing the game. I will continue working on the game until it's finished, as long as I'm still breathing.
How many reiterations does an episode go through when you are posing animations/writing the story?
I can't even estimate this. When writing, I compile the game 100+ times per day and replay parts repeatedly. So, the writing/coding part has a high degree of reiterations, but the structure I write the first time will usually last throughout. The reiterations are mostly polishing the existing code/dialogue.
When it comes to art, I rarely remake it. Only if an animation is botched will I fix and re-render. I always ensure that it won't fail the second attempt if that's the case by paying extra attention to it.
I remake some static renders when I polish the game near the end of each development cycle. It happens that I'm not satisfied with the light or something else in a scene and choose to reload and alter those renders. I always save my raw files in any shape or form, knowing that I might need them for a reason I don't see when I create them the first time. To this day, I still reuse raw files I made in the first month of development.
Many tiny, seemingly insignificant details (Swyper conversations, telling a student to play or not play chess) have echoes later in the game. Were these events part of your story plan from the beginning or more targets of opportunity? How do you keep these details straight?
When I planted them, I had ideas of how they could come back to affect the story. I'm quite fond of those stumble-upon details the game offers, like how taking a picture with your phone can ruin someone's presentation. It's something I miss in other games, barring genre. I love when choices have consequences.
The seemingly insignificant choices and details make the immersion much better and are always appreciated by the player. Keeping the details straight is easy; I write lots of notes on everything in different documents and spreadsheets, and I make notes like "Ep 10 - Use this choice and variable from Ep 5 to make this happen", etc. Keeping it short, clean, and simple is how I manage it.
As a DM trying to world build I am curious about your process of creating NPC characters. It's very impressive how alive they all feel. I am mostly curious about Derek; he is just the best.
I believe the secret lies in respecting them and making them feel relatable, not just a background prop. I do that by letting them be flawed, having motivations, goals, and problems like those you encounter in real life.
The secret about Derek is likely that he has a foot-in-mouth persona, daring to say things normal people would filter out while still showing he has a heart. Characters pushing boundaries and those who dare to be different are the ones who will stand out the most, e.g., Derek, Quinn, and Tommy.
I don't know how that would translate into your DM work, but I'd say empathy is the note you should play to make an NPC memorable.
If you could ask one thing of your fans/followers, what would it be? As a community, is there anything we can do to help you in the development of your games aside from being patrons?
I see how the community helps each other a lot with installation, patches, and general questions about the game, the development, and different platforms. I am very thankful for that help! It gives me more time to focus on development.
I also see a lot of misinformation and made-up statements, claiming I said something I didn't. It helps when the community debunks that too.
Other than that, staying respectful and patient with me during development is the only thing I could ask for. The majority of you already do this.
Do you have an inspiration for your writing style?
It's hard to describe where it comes from. I've picked up inspiration from many sources, mainly TV shows and movies.
For books, I'd say it's a mix of the emotional writing from the likes of Nicholas Sparks and the page-turner style of Dan Brown.
Keeping sentences short, to the point, and interesting ensures that most will read the dialogue instead of skipping it. You'd think getting players to read a visual novel would be easy, but it isn't. The text needs to be interesting and catch the reader's attention.
How do you ultimately decide upon the framing of each shot? Do you abide by traditional filmic practices, or simply determine framing based upon your own stylistic decision-making?
It's mostly instinct. I've been into photography for many years, so framing the images comes naturally to me. I have improved with time by analyzing my work.
I've also studied some cinematography to improve how you can use the camera and when you should use certain kinds of framing to enhance emotions or details. It's a very interesting field of study, and I wish I had the time to read more about it.
I've ruined movies for myself by working with game development. When I watch a movie today, I focus much more on lighting and framing than the actual movie.
Favorite instrument?
Acoustic guitar, electric guitar and drums, in that order.
Did you expect BaDIK to be this successful and to strike a chord with the audience as well as it does?
I knew that the story would hit close to home with players, but I didn't expect the game to reach this level of popularity with millions of players. It's intimidating to think about, so I don't focus much on it, but I'm well aware of the game's impact on players and the AVN industry. The first time I realized it would become successful was after I released it on Steam. That's when I saw the biggest jump in support, and it's been growing ever since.
I'm immensely grateful for the success, even though I still battle with handling it. Seeing people chat daily about something I created and how a community has come from it is very humbling. I'm sad I can't be a part of the community in the same way as players, but I do love reading reactions and theories. It often surprises me how attentive players can be; they get what I am going for based on a single sentence or picture. I think it's because they understand the characters very well by now and can relate to their problems and stories.
Having other people love what you do and want you to make more of it for a living is a wonderful feeling. It's not something I take for granted, and I work hard for it every day.
What has been the most rewarding experience while developing BaDik and AL?
Oh, boy. There are so many rewarding experiences I can't even pick one. I'll try to do it chronologically, but I will probably miss some along the way.
Completing Acting Lessons was very rewarding. Although my emotions at the time were a bit shaken up due to how some players received the final episodes, completing it verified that I could do this. It made me excited to continue my career as a game developer.
Releasing Acting Lessons on Steam was like a dream come true; at that moment, it felt extra rewarding. I never thought I'd have a game on Steam; it was surreal.
After almost two years of working double to fund the development, it was amazing to quit my full-time job. There was finally a budget to include a salary for the first time. I still remember how I quit my old job and how scary it was to take the leap. Looking back at it today, I wish I could stand beside myself as I resigned. It would make me laugh, seeing how nervous I was, knowing how it would turn out after.
Releasing Being a DIK - Season 1 on Steam was very rewarding too. Seeing it increase in popularity and even achieve that month's top seller was crazy.
Adult video games struggle so hard to be seen due to their taboo nature, but with the Steam release, even mainstream gaming media had to report on it. I saw my game mentioned in PC gamer and Rock Paper Shotgun, which felt very rewarding.
Then I got headhunted byYou must be registered to see the linksto be included in their curated catalog – as they opened up their site for adult games. That felt incredible.
I've been contacted by multiple AAA developers, showing impressive CVs and offering their knowledge to work with me. It's very humbling, but as many of you know by now, I have no desire to add anyone to my projects, regardless of experience – I love doing this alone.
And the final moment that comes to mind is this picture here.
Seeing Being a DIK - Season 2 globally outsell GOTY winners It takes two (2021) and Elden Ring (2022), even if it only was for a few days, made me feel weird and giggly.
All of these moments have felt extremely rewarding and make me feel nostalgic. It has been an incredible journey thus far, and I can't wait to see what else it will bring.
What artists are you listening to while working on the game these days?
The daily dose at the moment consists of:
Alestorm – Seventh rum of a seventh rum (Personal album of the year 2022)
Misfits, José Gonzalez, Frank Sinatra, Queen, Powerwolf, Amon Amarth, Bayside, zebrahead, Sabaton, Atlas Losing Grip, Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep, Between The Buried And Me, and lots more.
How much do you think the platform Patreon, Steam, or GOG have brought to the success of BaDIK? Have any of them hampered BaDIK?
Without Patreon, the game wouldn't be possible in the first place. I'll always be thankful for my roots and how I got to this point.
Steam made the game even more popular, and GOG allowed me to reach another branch of players.
None of the platforms hamper the content I want for Being a DIK.
As a Computer Engineer, I really enjoy video games and programming. I remembered you mentioning you miss programming in C++, so I was curious if you didn't create AVNs what type of video game would you enjoy creating and why?
I miss writing C++, but it's not the language I'd choose for games. I'd be more likely to develop a C++ application than a game.
As for a game, realistically speaking, I don't think I could create a big game using another engine on my own. But if I could work as a part of a bigger game studio, I'd enjoy writing the story for a bigger game. I enjoy adventures, mysteries, and the modern time setting the most.
The first developer studio that comes to mind is something like Quantic Dream. I believe I could write a great game for them to create. Story-wise, Heavy Rain is still one of my favorite games.
But you can't just walk into a studio and say, "Hey! I have a story for your next game". Creating a big game is a huge commitment, and you're gambling money going all in on it. You need to work yourself up that ladder within a company or become recognized at a higher level to be trusted with the entire narrative of a game.
Thanks for your support! I hope you enjoyed the Q&A! The next one will be held roughly a year from now.
Love
Dr PinkCake
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May I ask, what scammer incident?
Just give me a TLDR, it will be enough. I'm just curious.
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RionaSo the last round of the tournament is over. But for now I'm not gonna declare the results yet. I said I had a plan for thetamperingelection fraudjustice for the slapincident, and I'm working on it. In the meanwhile vote for these matches...or don't and I just make Rio the champion
Rematch of the slap
View attachment 2358816
Prez vs Rookie
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Sage
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Don't we all agree though with point 5, 6 and 7?!
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All this talk of how many students The Burker had sex with...
For me, it doesn't matter if it's one or one hundred. The way in which he managed to land his lays says it all. Yeah, it might have been fun for some that posted for a while here that Stephen was a good guy, a homie, a victim of circumstance, a well-meaning simpleton that might have just slipped up a time or three. I'm sure almost all of it was simply to get a rise out of the masses, but some of it couldn't explicitly be dismissed.
Until now. Personally, I'm glad Episode 9 cleared it up. He's a weasely little douche for many reasons, and not just the one below.
If Stephen could attain an affinity:
For me, it doesn't matter if it's one or one hundred. The way in which he managed to land his lays says it all. Yeah, it might have been fun for some that posted for a while here that Stephen was a good guy, a homie, a victim of circumstance, a well-meaning simpleton that might have just slipped up a time or three. I'm sure almost all of it was simply to get a rise out of the masses, but some of it couldn't explicitly be dismissed.
Until now. Personally, I'm glad Episode 9 cleared it up. He's a weasely little douche for many reasons, and not just the one below.
If Stephen could attain an affinity:
- Nov 3, 2019
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I went ahead and learned how to decompile the game files and answered my own question.
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In short, you can't do anything with anyone that constitutes a lewd scene in the gallery and still obtain the +3 Relationship points. Everything short of obtaining a lewd scene should theoretically be safe. One thing to nice is that Jill is not listed there, so dating her to the fullest should theoretically be safe.
*Edit - Originally the episode 2 Quinn Cum-Petition scene did not count, but after the episode 10 release it seems Dr. PinkCake ninja-edited that into counting
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If the latest episode tells me something about Quinn is that she doesn't really like sharing
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Err, not the best inspirations but explain the easy taste of BAD writing
This i agree 100%. Simplicity over refinement is always better for writing
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If the latest episode tells me something about Quinn is that she doesn't really like sharing
Especially when it comes to food...
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QuinnSo the last round of the tournament is over. But for now I'm not gonna declare the results yet. I said I had a plan for thetamperingelection fraudjustice for the slapincident, and I'm working on it. In the meanwhile vote for these matches...or don't and I just make Rio the champion
Rematch of the slap
View attachment 2358816
Prez vs Rookie
View attachment 2358817
Camila
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Because you know in your heart that Sage lost right? She is only a 4 out 5 after all.So the last round of the tournament is over. But for now I'm not gonna declare the results yet. I said I had a plan for thetamperingelection fraudjustice for the slapincident, and I'm working on it. In the meanwhile vote for these matches...or don't and I just make Rio the champion
Rematch of the slap
View attachment 2358816
Prez vs Rookie
View attachment 2358817
However I do support the cute pussycat, how can I resist following pics
Rio and Cam are my votes, they do have the better threesome of the 4 of them. Sage pulls Quinn down, like Maya does for Josy.
And he is probably right because he has theory about everything. Something is going to stick!dalli_x is just an acquired taste
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