- Apr 28, 2023
- 101
- 323
Finally got the time to properly read through this comment. Firstly, thanks for playing and leaving such a detailed comment, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
BaD was definitely an inspiration. It was one of the first AVNs I played back towards the end of 2021. I do worry sometimes that some elements of my game are going to lean too heavily on that inspiration, but I'm hoping that people won't just end up seeing this as a knock-off or whatever. At the end of the day a college game is a college game so there's bound to be similarities somewhere. BaD is also more comedy focused than I'm making this game (not that BaD doesn't have serious moments too, of course), so your comment that this is kinda like a toned down version is pretty accurate.
The character and world building was something I prioritized for the first two chapters in particular because as I've said before I wanted the game to feel fairly real. I also wanted the player to realize that the characters have their own lives and goals they're getting on with, and that while the MC is the main character, he's the main character of his own life, not everyone's else's. I felt like that was necessary to create a compelling story. I feel like it's hard to care about a character that feels one-dimensional.
This in part causes the confusion between main and side LIs. As you say, as the game goes on the main LIs will become more prominent, but I did also want to obfuscate this deliberately a bit to make player choices mean more. I would like, at least on a first playthrough, the player to just be making the choices they would make, without thinking about the importance of a character. Just take the information given, make the decision they want to make, and see what happens. For similar reasons, the player only really knows what the MC knows. I'm not cutting away to other character's conversations where the MC is not present. I'm deliberately withholding some information, or giving it through possibly unreliable sources (i.e. other characters), so that the player doesn't know everything.
I like to think that I've done a good job of not making the sex scenes feel to rushed or out of nowhere. Now, the game is set in college, after all, so in future chapters there may be a bit more spontaneity but I am focused on making the relationships feel genuine.
On the trauma/issues bit, like you mentioned before, the game in parts leans towards being a bit more serious than maybe some college-setting games do, and of course the MC himself is clearly working through some stuff. So without spoiling anything I'll say that this is a prevalent theme throughout the game. Not every character will have like a major issue, though, it's worth saying.
Thanks again for the comment, was very interesting to read through, particularly about specific girls. I always enjoy seeing what people think about certain characters so far. And have also just seen your review as I finish this, thank you for that as well
