Q&A Session - 2025 - Part 1/2
It's time for the annual Q&A! Thanks to everyone who submitted questions—and boy, there were a lot of them this year. You managed to ask over 300 questions.
I have divided this Q&A session into two parts. In the first part, I will answer your questions about Being a DIK, and in the second part—released later this month—I will answer your game development questions.
If I didn't answer your question, it could have been a repeat question from earlier Q&As that you can find here:
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I did my best to answer as many questions as possible, and there could be some updated answers to repeat questions in the mix. I haven't answered questions that required me to spoil the rest of the game.
Enjoy the reading!
If you haven't played up to episode 11 yet, this post has potential spoilers. I'm not spoiling future content. Read my answers at your own risk.
Being A DIK
Episode 12 development has just started. After I complete it, I will bring Season 3 to Steam and GOG as soon as possible. I'll communicate this on Steam, Discord, Patreon, Twitter, and Bluesky.
No. The interlude fulfilled the purpose of letting the player catch up to Zoey's backstory. Episode 13 will follow Episode 12.
As known, Season 4 will be the final season. However, Season 4 will most likely be different than earlier seasons. It's hard to say how many episodes remain, as I haven't decided how I will release the endings yet. I have some ambitious plans for all that, but it's something that will have to grow as the final season is under development. For that reason, I can't say a final count of episodes, like 13, 14, 15... As you probably can tell from episode 11, bigger and bigger questions are getting answers, and fewer new questions are being asked. That's the hallmark of bringing it all home and tying the knot on the stories. It makes me sad to say we're nearing the end of the game, but we are. So, let's savor it together and take it one episode at a time.
I don't agree with that at all. When writing this, I'm the top 29th Patreon creator on the entire platform, all categories – that's the highest I've ever been. And I just reached an all-time high in patron count, too - just 112 patrons shy of 20,000 patrons. I'm not seeing any decline in interest or a loss of faith – I'd say it's the opposite. Even though it's taken 15 months to release one episode, I've felt immense support from my patrons, with very few complaints throughout the development cycle.
I get that it's a long time to wait, but the content you get with each release matches the waiting time. Episode 11 was comparable in size to the entirety of Season 1. In terms of content, it was the biggest release for me and probably in the history of AVN.
The longer development time per episode is the result of the game reaching its end stages, and the story is branching out even more. With every episode, I need to put extra work and consideration into all the branches that I create. And even after I do that, you'll notice that not every character gets the spotlight. That's the beauty and the curse of the branching.
I won't release something I'm not happy with, and I've always been transparent about the development process. The rest of the game will take a long time to develop. Players should expect this; I don't hide that fact.
My workflow is as optimized as it gets by now, but I'm constantly looking for ways to improve the speed of everything I do. Ultimately, there's no getting around the fact that manual work is a bottleneck.
Lol, yeah, it's scary how old we're getting while we're on this journey, but I also think that time flies. As I mentioned in the previous answer, I'm not concerned about people losing interest. Fans come and go all the time. As long as
I don't lose interest in making the game, I'm not worried. I think this experience and journey will be remembered and treasured by many players in the future after the game is completed. At least, that's what I hope. I know that I will certainly reminisce about the years of development and the struggles along the way. I'm sure I'll laugh and remember how long it took to create the game, but in the end, it will have been worth it. The game is only good because it's been allowed to take time.
Thank you. No, I didn't think I would be successful at all in this business when I started. It was the opposite, and I was pleasantly surprised that people wanted to play more of my games. Like you, before I became a game developer, I was disappointed with how easily adult games were abandoned. I didn't have any experience with this line of work either when I started, so I don't think a lack of experience is a good excuse for abandoning games.
Being a DIK took off very fast and made it possible for me to go pro. When I started, I only considered game development a hobby, and working with it for a living was just a dream. It's hard work, and it comes with a price. I've sacrificed a lot to bring you this game, and I work with a lot of stress, but I've enjoyed these last seven years a lot more than anything else I've ever done in life.
Hm... Yeah... Tough one! First, I'd have to define what is rewarding to me.
While it's nice to see some characters gain popularity and a bigger fanbase than I anticipated, that doesn't feel rewarding to me at all. I don't put much weight into what fans like; I'm pretty much indifferent about who the most popular character is.
What's most rewarding to me are the payoffs from executing a good story arc, including the foreshadowing, character growth, plot twists, and resolution. Many characters in the game have all that, which makes them all rewarding to me. Some of the characters' stories are very personal to me, and I find the reward in creating something close to my heart. I feel that I honor the people in my life whom I love.
Another big reward is seeing fans' reactions. What I love the most is making people laugh at the jokes I have written. I think that speaks to my jester nature.
Pacing and foreshadowing are always tricky, and I've said this in an earlier Q&A: if I were to remake the game from scratch today, it would be a lot different. I've never cared about adding more content for fan favorites, so that doesn't factor into my response. But it would have been cool to show some characters in the background earlier in the game, like Professor Hoff. I would have loved to see him in the background on campus in earlier episodes - small things like that.
Like players, I didn't know the characters beforehand, and they evolve during development. There's a big difference between seeing a character described on paper and experiencing their story in the game. They have grown on me in different ways throughout the game development. I like many characters that I don't think the common player even cares about because of what they bring to the overall experience - the feminists, for example. I genuinely miss writing the Gender studies class, and that wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe it's Stockholm's syndrome?
Some characters became solutions to problems, yes—like the frats and the HOTs. I knew I needed characters in the fraternities because it would feel awkward if you only saw a couple of characters from an alleged fraternity or sorority. While they started as background and supporting characters, I wanted to evolve them and give them personalities to flesh out the game even more. I also found ways to intertwine their stories with the main characters.
Zoey doesn't fit into that mold, and for her to have the desired effect, I needed her to show up late in the game. I think Zoey is interesting. Some players absolutely hate her because they see her as a big problem; others love her because of the backstory. For some, her story is too relatable in a bad way, and for some, it's the opposite. I love it when a character makes players split into different camps for different reasons. I enjoy reading those discussions.
No, the character's popularity doesn't matter to me. The only time that comes close is during episode 3 development, where I had a Patreon reward that let players design a threesome – which ended up being Quinn and Riona. It could have been Sarah and/or Melanie in that scene if I recall correctly. I believe I also polled the Pink Rose lewd scene for episode 4. While I can control the terms of the polls so it will make sense, I don't want to poll more lewd scenes that could end up affecting the story. Sometimes, I create lewd scenes on the fly because I want them, though. It could be that I wrote a scene with a girl, and I ended up saying, "fuck it, she's getting a lewd scene now" because I got excited, and it fit at that moment.
A lot of inspiration comes from women I've encountered in my life, but none are carbon copies – I think that would be disrespectful. I use traits that I like or dislike when I design them and think about how they get perceived through their views and actions. I try to shape them so that they feel real without exaggerating. And I often use real conversations I've had as writing material in the game. The girls should also have some surprises. Even "perfect" people behave differently when they are comfortable around someone. And I enjoy having variety in how they act, think, and talk. There should be a girl in there for everyone – I hope. And I also hope that whoever you have as a favorite, you do not like 100% of them. At least, that was the goal when I created them. There's a beauty in imperfection.
Yes and no. Good answer, huh?
Most characters develop themselves because that's how I write the dialogue; I type and follow the flow. I start a scene knowing the topic to write about, and the dialogue that comes out of it is often very spontaneous. Characters will say things that fit their persona without much afterthought. And it happens that new ideas fall out of it - be it other scenes or choices. But I can't point at a character and say, "You're not who you're supposed to be". While they write themselves, somehow, they stay within their defined boundaries. But they can absolutely surprise me with what they say and do. You, as a writer, might understand this, but it could sound like bullshit to non-writers. I think you'd have to try it for yourself to see how it works. Just like a player can be immersed in the role of the main character, I, as a writer, become immersed in all the character's roles when writing them.
Not deliberately, but the characters grow from nothing. When they were created, they started with some traits, motivations, and major stories. As they get written, their personalities evolve by themselves. It's a bizarre process, but when I put myself in the character's shoes and think about how they would act, that's how their personalities evolve.
If you watch TV shows, you might notice how characters in Season 1 are often not quite what they are in later seasons. Their voices, mannerisms, and quirks appear with time as the actors and actresses grow into their roles. I think it's similar to that with the characters in the game.
Hm... No. However, Tania's model is on the verge of being a yes to this question. I made her back in 2018. She was supposed to be Jill's mother, but it didn't really fit well, and she wouldn't have a part in the story early on, so I put Tania's model on the shelf. When I revisited it way later, I laughed at the sheer thought of having that model be related to Jill. And she ended up being the ditzy stripper with loose lips instead. Haha! That's quite a different outcome than I originally intended, to say the least.
This is what Jill's Mom looked like before episode 1 was released. Notice that the hair is the same as Jill's but blonde. The model was reused for Tania later in the game, with a swapped hairstyle so as not to reuse Jill's unique hair.
This might sound weird to you, but I don't think Sage has changed much at all. The MC enters her life during a period where she's having relationship issues, and her mood and mindset are affected by that. By helping her and getting to know her, you learn that there's a deeper side to her than you initially saw. So, I see that as revealing her character, not changing it. It's intentional, and it also makes it easier to show her anger issues whenever needed. She's got attitude, but when treated right, she's a lovable girl at heart. This logic is pretty much true for every character in the game. The background characters, who didn't play a big part early, grew in a more spontaneous kind of way after I figured out how to use them in the stories.
I'm not sure what you mean by this because Zoey hasn't changed at all. Look at episode 3, when she was introduced, and you'll see that it's the same model - although with worse lighting and render quality. These are Zoey's first renders after I had fully completed her model back in 2019.
Her eyelashes are shorter, and I hadn't added the nipple piercings at that time, but that's about it.
During the Interlude, she got tattoos and piercings, but she already had those designed. Her body has two variations: young Zoey and current-day Zoey (three if you count the lack of tattoos in the first half of the Interlude). Most of the time, when players say that a model has been changed, the angle or lighting of the scene is the reason. I get better at making 3D art, but I don't change the models unless there is a glitch or something that looks bad when rendering. Other types of changes to a model would have to have a story reason, like Arieth, who got a tad more belly in episode 11 for obvious reasons, or MC, who changed hairstyle and briefly sported a beard.
Maybe you found a new appreciation for her. Her model is the same as always. Makeup, clothes, hair, lighting, etc., all affect how the models look in the renders, and that's the only difference. Sarah calling MC Papi was a joke, and she likes to push buttons. Most of the characters don't have a pre-defined ethnicity. I look at them as humans and leave it at that unless there's a story reason for something different.
Some characters that appeared later were designed early or planned on paper early; others came in time to improve world-building. I got really tired of using 2D billboard people in the background to get a sense of having crowded parties, but early on, I had to because my hardware wasn't very good.
Take a look at this image from episode 2, for example:
The blue rectangles show the billboard characters, which are flat 2D models that save a lot of resources when rendering. They come in one pose only, and you can modify their angles and positions but nothing else. They were a cheap solution to make the party feel livelier. But you can't use them in scenes with dialogue and have them interact with the MC, which is a big drawback. They are like extras in movies, but they are static kinds of extras.
The yellow rectangles show how I rendered that scene. I had to render it four times and stitch it together in post-processing because my hardware couldn't handle rendering all the characters on screen at the same time. Today, I believe my hardware is good enough to handle the entire scene at once, but not if the billboard characters were replaced with normal models. I'm guessing, but the limit is roughly 14-16 characters at once per scene. A combination of VRAM and RAM decides the limit - I have 24 GB VRAM per GPU and 128 GB RAM per PC.
I have 186 .duf files for character models - one file is one character model -but some are duplicates or young/old versions of the same character. It should be at least 150+ different characters, and I don't save every background character that I have created, either. For instance, the bar scene in episode 6 needed background characters, but they obviously don't play a big part in the story, so I didn't save their models - but I have the scene saved if I ever need to access their model again. I can't accurately estimate how many characters were designed and added for each season, but season 3 has the least, for sure. It would be a fun thing to count at some point.
Lately, I have enjoyed writing Professor Hoff a lot. It's a weird choice, but I like him. He reminds me of people I worked with, and he's so different from the rest of the cast in many ways. It makes him unique and fun to write. I also loved writing the new characters in the Interlude, especially Bret. I have always enjoyed writing for Jade, Quinn, Tybalt, and Arieth, and lately, I've also enjoyed writing for Becky. As you can tell, I enjoy writing for unexpected characters. And no, that wasn't a slam on either Jade or Quinn.
The main character isn't a blank slate, and there are limits to his actions, even though you can name and shape him. The question you're asking is quite common. Some players get immersed and believe they are the MC and get disappointed by the available choices or outcomes. They say, "I wouldn't have done that" or "I would have done this", and that's when it's worth remembering that there are limits to his character and that while it's cool that you are immersed enough to feel like the MC, he has predefined traits and thoughts that may not align with your views.
Back when I made Quinn's model for the game, I stumbled upon the makeup used for her skin, and I wondered what it meant. I didn't want to use makeup with a symbol without knowing its meaning, but I thought it looked really cool. I recognized that symbol from flags, and I researched it to find the meaning behind the symbol and created a story about it. The ermine symbol stands for personal integrity, honor, courage, purity, and nobility. At first, I felt it was a bit ironic to use it for Quinn, but I found a way for it to make sense and give her character more depth. Having hers and Rox's hair colored white to symbolize the ermine fur was the icing on the cake. I've seen players mention the symbol and recognize it as an ermine symbol, but I never saw anyone take it further and explore that thought. That made me more excited about the payoff of the fairytale.
Despite my super-awesome stick art, I'm not that good at drawing, and I have always wanted a fairytale with hand-drawn art for that scene with Quinn and Rox. When it was time to create the scene, over a year ago, I contacted Monniponi after seeing their art and knowing that's the style I wanted. Monniponi was excited to help out. After a month of work, I received scans of watercolored drawings. I started working on animating the drawings to enhance the storytelling and spent quite some time with the sound effects, too. A fun piece of trivia: that fairytale scene is the most expensive scene in the game so far.
You can find more of Monniponi's wonderful art
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.
I'm happy that you enjoyed it! I've said this several times before, but many players don't seem to understand what the term "main girl" actually means - or maybe there are other definitions to it that they are used to. Just like the MC is a Main Character. Sage, Jill, Bella, Josy and Maya are main girls. Their stories are pivotal to the canon story of the game, and that's where the name comes from. The rest of the girls were dubbed side girls to have a clear distinction. Promoting a girl from side girl to main girl doesn't make sense. That said, being a main or side girl doesn't mean the side girls aren't important to the story. It's just that the main girls will be important to the story regardless of your choices.
But! Both main girls and side girls can be love interests, and I think that's the most important part. In short, if you like Zoey or any other girl more than the main girls, go for it; see what happens!
It's definitely a bit of both. It was harder to find music in the early days, and I didn't have the budget to purchase tracks during the better part of Season 1. By now, the game has over 300 songs, but even so, it can get repetitive by reusing songs.
I think some of the songs belong to certain characters, and that's why I reuse certain songs with them. For example, with piano songs, I think of Jill. Most acoustic songs belong to the MC. Edgier songs suit Quinn. The music helps bring out the character and enhance the scene, and I try to use that to my advantage whenever I can.
Hm... There wasn't a tune to it when I created it, but over time, one appeared in my head. It's a mix of two chants. It doesn't match the beat identically, but the second part sounds like the ole ole ole (the name of the game) soccer song.
The walk of shaaaame! The walk of shaaaame! (ole ole ole ole)
Our DIK brother, he's got game! (We are the champs. We are the champs)
There are some mini-games that I scrapped along the way. I'll have a detailed answer about this in another question in part 2 of this Q&A.
It's more than often the other way around, like with the phone, mini-games, and features. I know they will eat up development time, but when I got the ideas for those, I couldn't let them go and implemented them. I can't imagine what the game would be like without the current version of the phone. I always put a lot of thought into major changes like that. Early in development, I scrapped the idea of letting Being a DIK be a prequel to Acting Lessons, and that's the best choice I've made during my career in game development. I don't think this game would be as good if it had been a prequel.
The Interlude is still my favorite. I loved creating it, and it was a break from the usual episode grind. I got to be creative in a different way and introduce new characters while also telling short stories about them. I'm very proud of the writing in it. I know I'm in the minority by having it as my favorite episode, but I love it for several different reasons.
You can't expect me to pick one scene... Can you? If that's the case, I think my favorite scene is yet to be created. I've been waiting a long time to write some of the upcoming scenes, and it's almost time for them. My favorite scene from episode 11 was the fairytale scene with Quinn. It was a payoff that I had been waiting years for. It was satisfying to show why Quinn and Rox were designed that way and how it deepened their characters.
I'm trying to come up with an answer to this one, but I'm drawing a blank. I don't look at any of the scenes in episode 11 as difficult to make in any regard. Maybe it's because the development cycle was rough for personal reasons; the scenes didn't feel difficult to make. It's always tricky to work with many characters during free roam events, both when it comes to art and coding, but I enjoyed it. The difficult part was probably to limit the episode. It seemed to grow in all directions as a result of the branching. It required a lot of focus to make it work.
Haha! I'm not going to answer favorites or least favorites until the game is completed. But I don't think I could answer this one even then. There are qualities with every one of them that I adore and dislike.
Five ice creams with Jill or two anal lewd scenes with Madame Rose.
Yes, I usually set a theme to the episode and add events that fit that theme if possible. It could be like in earlier episodes where the theme was "Hell Week", "DIK evaluation", "Restoring the mansion", "Halloween", "Thanksgiving", "Christmas", etc. I like working this way because it makes it easier to limit and design an episode. I'm happy with the thematic approach, and I think players understand that's how episodes are usually designed by now. I wouldn't say that one of the themes is better or stronger than the other, but I enjoyed creating the Halloween episode a lot. It was fun to keep the story inside a big party while finding clever ways to deal with flashbacks and extra stories throughout that episode.
Because drugs have always been an important topic in the game, and in episode 11, it was a central theme. Several of the characters are either using drugs, involved in the stories surrounding drugs, or affected by them. The game description has always stated that drugs are a part of the game experience, so naturally, there will be stories about drugs. It would have felt weird for me to reduce the important stories being told in episode 11 in this area. There are several heavy scenes in the episode, and I'm very happy with how they came out. It should be clear from the warnings this game comes with that the game covers dark topics. Keep that in mind if you don't wish to see any of it.
After the game is completed, I will revisit the older seasons and decide what to do. I want to remaster them to bring their quality up to the current standard, but it's a lot of work, and I don't want to do that while the game is being developed. I don't think most players would want me to stop what I'm doing now to revisit an older season, either. The QoL improvements you mention are definitely on my to-do list. For one, I find it weird to go back and play Seasons 1 and 2 and forget that the keyboard doesn't work during English class.
I am all, and I am none.
There might be some college-to-college variations to it, but from my experience, there are a lot of people in college who shouldn't be in college to begin with. Usually, they drop out or fail to infinity, but somehow, they pass the requirements to get accepted. In my country, not a lot of students apply for some types of programs. This causes the bar to get accepted to be lowered more than it should – just so that the university gets students to enroll. If you just barely get accepted for a program with a lowered bar, unless you work your ass off, you won't make it. So, maybe Arieth is one of those students. Or maybe she's a genius, and it's yet to be revealed.
You asked the lucky question. Of course, I'll answer this one. The truth is that
[redacted] and
[redacted]. You see,
[redacted] has always
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[redacted] And when
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[redacted]. Long story short,
[redacted] with a banana and
[redacted].
I hope that answers your question. (Sorry, but I can't answer spoilers.)
Haha! How do I answer this one? You guys always try to fish for spoilers with your questions.
If I answer yes, you'll be disappointed now. If I answer no, your expectations will be set even higher, and you might get disappointed later. So, how do I answer this?
As everyone who has played the game knows, it's been one of the biggest questions. And boy, have there been theories about it. And girl, have there been expectations.
Will it live up to the expectations? I think it boils down to whether you'd be happy to have guessed it right or if you expect me to surprise you.
To explain my feelings about it, I'll use David Lynch and Twin Peaks as an example. If you haven't heard of Twin Peaks, it was a widely popular TV show back in the early 90s, written by David Lynch and Mark Frost, that centered around the murder of Laura Palmer. Season 1 was like the 90s Game of Thrones in popularity; it was on everyone's lips when it aired back then. People tuned in and wanted to know, "Who killed Laura Palmer!?" and Lynch didn't want to rush the answer. But fans demanded to know, and higher-ups forced the writers to reveal it prematurely, and the series went to shit after because Lynch didn't get to do it his way. The ratings plummeted, and the show was discontinued. With a few attempts to revive the magic of the show, the magic was gone. It was as if the mystery kept the show alive, and the moment the answer was revealed, the audience was done with the show. That's a fear that I have had in the back of my head with several mysteries of the game, but I hope and believe it's not justified.
Unlike Lynch and Frost, I've gotten to build to this moment in the way that I wanted. And for me, it will live up to what I have planned. But how will the player react to it? I expect a mix of every reaction imaginable. Going back to Twin Peaks, some mysteries die when they get solved, and others may change the way you look at the story. Time will tell how this one will be received. But I know I've done it as much justice as I could, and I'm happy about that.
The plot twists and surprises are always exciting to me. I love watching players' reactions to those and seeing who was fooled and who already guessed it. I also get a kick out of seeing people trying to guess what will happen. I wish you could relate to that feeling of knowing the answers and having everyone try to guess them. It's very amusing. And there have been some really clever theories that make sense, yet it's not at all what will happen. Those are always fun to stumble upon. While wrong, it's interesting to see that a solution to the story or mystery can be ambiguous. It's definitely the form of entertainment that I get from creating this game.
Of course. That's the only logical way that the endings could be shaped, or there would just be one ending to the game. Naturally, some choices are more important than others. And I will try my best to make the endings rewarding and respect the many choices you've made along the way. I can't say how many endings I have planned, but there should be a variety of different endings.
I look at the overall story for the episode and see what fits well with the theme. Early on, I look at the different branches and plan the content as evenly as I can. I also think about who got the spotlight recently and who didn't. If possible, I try to balance it with the next episode. I think it's clear who the most important girls are in the game – story-wise. New girls are there for many different reasons, and I'm not looking to replace other girls by adding new ones. I add them to fulfill a purpose or to flesh out the world I'm creating. I think it will be clear in hindsight what I've been doing, or at least I hope it will be.
You're right about your feelings, but I don't look at it the same way. Undeniably, the parties are an important part of Season 3 as MC is finding his purpose in the frat. Similarly, in Season 1, there was a big focus on Hell Week, and in Season 2, there was a focus on restoring the DIKs' mansion. Most of the main story takes place between the free roam events, and during the free roam events, you learn more details about every character you interact with. It's also branch dependent on which kind of relationships you will maintain and nurture, but I feel there's a big focus on evolving the girls and showing more of their personalities. For the main girls, I always try to include unique events that deepen the bonds between them and the MC. I look at Season 3 as the "relationship season", where you get to know your partner - or potential partner - more and decide if you care enough about them. Naturally, the main stories will have an increasingly larger focus now that we're nearing the end of the game.
No, there won't be an SFW version of the game, and even if there were, I'm pretty sure your friends/coworkers would figure out it's really an adult game. I like creating adult games that have actual stories, and that's why I'm doing this to begin with. I've seen people gifting each other the game as a "joke" to get them interested. Some even started by playing the game together for laughs. I get that it's hard to tell people about it. Sex is often private and taboo for casual conversation.
Thanks for the great suggestions. I loved both of them and have implemented them for v0.12.0. Here's how it will look like when you're playing a normal scene and want to check the song.
The music bar will have a heart button that favorites songs you stumble upon. It will also display the song being played, even when not in a free roam event.
Note that you can favorite the song from the music bar but not skip the track in this kind of scene. Songs not in the music app will be named in the music bar from now on, but you cannot favorite those songs. Note that this only works during scenes when the phone is enabled. There are some scenes where you cannot access the phone to display the music.
Limited 3D models sometimes make you compromise in some areas. I could only find one pair of skis to use, and I didn't want to have to scrap that part of the cabin trip. I always write the scenes before making the art because I don't want to limit my ideas. And sometimes you have to do the best out of what's available. The suspension of disbelief makes it work. It's been the same with the lack of seat belts in cars, which DAZ assets don't come with. The ones I have in episodes 10 and 11, I had to draw in Photoshop.
That is a very interesting question, and there is a story behind it. Back when I started developing the game, I didn't put enough afterthought into the assets I was using. I didn't know how much I'd be using different environments, and planning the entire mansion on day one wasn't even on my radar.
I realized I needed a bigger mansion and more rooms for everyone. Space was a real issue, and I couldn't use the outdoor mansion model for the inside as the interior was too small. It took a lot of planning and brain gymnastics to make it remotely good, but yeah, you can definitely tell it should look different from the outside if you start analyzing it.
It became even more obvious when I made the mansion mini-game and had to map it out on a blueprint. I went, "Fuck, how do I solve this? This window right here doesn't make a lot of sense", etc. In hindsight, I would have loved to pay a lot more attention to these details, but it is what it is now. The mansion would be a lot smaller if it were adjusted to the outside model. And working in cramped spaces isn't easy – I needed spacious rooms in the mansion.
The ladder to the roof was also a fix like this. I knew I needed a way for them to reach an attic – which has been referenced in the game a few times, but it was never shown exactly how they reached the attic or roof. So, I figured that the room with the ladder was the only good room for it. In my head, you use that ladder up to the attic, through a latch and exit through a window (check the outside model for the window), and then you're on the roof. The porch, where Jamie has his flowers, etc., actually uses the outside model for the interior. I added that area with that design to enhance the illusion that the mansion was real. If you check the blueprint for the mansion mini-game, you can also see a couple of corridors near the entrance on the first floor that haven't been shown in-game. In my head, there is also an area outside of Tommy's room connecting to the boiler room and the rest of the basement.
Long story short, I wish I had planned some of the environments in greater detail early on. If I ever make another game after this, environment design would be higher on the list of priorities early on in development.
I see that I missed adding that choice to the guide. That choice doesn't have any effect, and it's not tracked in the game later. I'll likely revisit the old material and improve it after I'm done with the game. Good catch!
There are some scenes here and there that were scrapped for the greater good. And most aren't worth being remembered. I write a lot of ideas in my master document, and some of them end up being unused. I'm not saving those scrapped ideas for something else. If something stinks, flush it down. However, there was one idea that was the opposite of what you asked. I was saving one idea for a future game, but it ended up fitting perfectly, and I included it in Being A DIK. I can't share more about it now, as it's yet to come.
That one was indeed animated. It's the same with Madame Rose's idle choice screen. I would make more of those, but they require at least 60-120 frames to be rendered, as opposed to 3 frames for a simple blinking sequence. I'm already creating a lot of animations, so I have to limit some areas where I could use them.
I don't do lazy writing; I think that my writing is overly ambitious, and I am always deliberate about what I write and how I do it. I think I look at that part in a different way than you do. That phone call showed that Quinn needed MC, and for the first time, she tried to show it, but MC was busy helping Maya. And as a result, after that failed attempt and what followed, she reverted and didn't try again. It motivated why she was absent for large parts of the episode and affected their relationship in the way that I wanted.
On MC’s choice not to answer, you're on to the right answer. Quinn and MC had a nice talk at the BBQ the day earlier. How could he have realized that a phone call late on Thanksgiving was urgent? It wasn't a high priority for him at that moment; people don't answer phone calls when they are preoccupied. You might have prioritized Quinn higher than him because of what you know as a player. It's the same with Riona fans who want to help her but aren't given the choice to do so. Not every choice that the player wants to make will be presented to you for storytelling reasons. It makes the player get a bit frustrated with the MC, and the urge to help their favorite character increases with those storytelling techniques.
I wouldn't have handled it differently, even if I had another year to develop episode 11. The addition to that scene fulfilled the purpose I wanted, and leaving it out would make it worse.
No, I don't work toward deadlines like that, and while it's amusing when dates coincide, it doesn't matter to me. When I release the full season on Steam/GOG, all episodes are released on the same date, and then it matters even less. I'm creating a game that I want to live on for a long time after it's completed. The release date coincidences will soon be forgotten; for example, can you say which month Episodes 1-8 were released without looking it up? Does that matter today? I hope you see my point.
This was a good find. Honestly, I don't use the History button at all and haven't reflected on that until just now. I will decrease the space between entries so that there will be more dialogue in the upcoming update. It should show roughly seven entries now, which keeps it tighter but not cramped. Thanks for the question; it led to a QoL update!
This is how the History tab will look starting v0.12.0.
No, I actually removed those after a couple of episodes after seeing how players played the game. I didn't want the experience to be a min/max hunt for relationship points and felt it was better to keep those things under the hood. Interpreting the girls and their signals is, to me, more fun than outright having it stated that they liked/disliked something you said. You can often tell what they think from their faces and dialogue. I think it better emulates life. And whenever relationship points and choices affect the story, the limits are often lenient enough.
No, the only part that I allowed you to skip is the Interlude. The reason is that the choices you make during the game are often needed for future scenes - even during free roam events, the choices are important. I want players to play the game. If you feel it's time-consuming, don't play it all in one go. Pace yourself and play one playthrough at a time, wait a few months, and revisit the game. Besides, if you want to skip through a free roam event, press the skip button or TAB key and click through it fast.
There's no intended canon route in the game. I feel that would be insulting to any player who prefers another route, and I never considered one branch better than the other. There are simply different ways to experience the game. That said, I think every player will have a route they feel is canon for themselves. I will probably have a route that I prefer slightly more than the other, too. Time will tell which one that is, but I wouldn't impose what I like more on players by calling it canon.
I have some ideas in this area, but I think it's too early to share my thoughts on them. I definitely want to share my thoughts with interested players, and I will try to find the best way to do so. These Q&As cover some of the things I'd like to share, but I want to talk about many scenes more freely after the game is complete. Right now, I have to be mindful of spoilers when I answer questions.
It's bad to say "No, never", but I don't view Being A DIK as an open-ended project that will live on forever. After the ending, I don't plan to continue any of the stories. I will likely remaster older seasons, and maybe I'll create some new animations, scenes, and dialogue with that. I like the thought of making a complete package and being able to say, "This is the beginning" and "This is the end". I think that the memory of this game will be better if it's kept that way.
Thanks for reading the first part of the Q&A! Stay tuned for the second part on game development.
Love
Dr PinkCake
