Q&A - February 2021

Hey  everyone!

Thank you for  all of the questions you sent me. I've tried to answer as many as I can. I've split the Q&A into two parts: College Kings questions and personal questions.

College Kings Questions:

What gave you the idea to start working on this game? How did you decide on the central theme and setting?

I never actually thought about being a game dev until I saw an ad for Episode, a story driven mobile app where your choices decide how the story plays out. I immediately thought “Hey, I could do this myself.” I’ve always been quite entrepreneurial so I taught myself how to build an app in July and started working on the game.

After a couple weeks of writing, I realized that I didn’t really connect with the story as it felt like I wouldn’t want to play the game myself. I wanted actual sex scenes, not just app store friendly hints. So I researched story driven sex games and found games like Milfy City and Being a Dik.

I also love movies like Fight club and Never back down, so the central theme came naturally. And then I just kinda started and worked things out from there.

Do you have an ending in mind for the story? How long do you expect/want College Kings to go on for?

Unlike most other developers that I know, I do not have the story planned out. I have ideas for the future and I know that I want to end the game after the Summer Showdown (the big fighting tournament). I prefer a character driven story approach rather than a goal driven one. That means about what would the character do in this situation rather than where do I want this story to go. This has the big advantage of making the story feel less forced and more realistic, but it also makes it more challenging to keep the story exciting and interesting at all times.

I plan on finishing College Kings late summer or early fall of this year. I want College Kings to come to a satisfying conclusion with lots of endings, but I also have big plans for the next game. I have made tons of mistakes as this is my first game and some of these will keep limiting College Kings, so I’m not looking to drag it out for another 4 years of development. However, you can be assured that I will continue making adult games after CK, and they’ll only get more ambitious.

How many of the characters have real life equivalents and how many of those know about the game?

Almost all main characters, except for MC and Amber are based on people I knew in real life. As I had no prior writing or storytelling experience, I found it easier to base the characters on real people to make them seem more realistic. Some of those are really similar in both looks and personality, while others are just broadly inspired.

Only a few of those people actually know about the game. As I’ve moved countries quite a bit, I’m no longer in contact with most of them. However, all of those that I’m still in contact with do know about the game, as I’m very proud of what I do. Fun fact: Real life Elijah knows about the game and found it hilarious.

What do you think distinguishes College Kings from the other college AVN's on the market? What makes it special in your mind?
In my opinion, there’s three things that make CK stand out.
1) The choices you make have significant and realistic consequences. Therefore, the relationships you build feel a lot closer to real life ones than most other VNs.
2) I’m very proud of the fighting mechanic and I think it’s a lot more fun than any of the “mini games” I’ve seen in other VNs. It took a lot to make it work in renpy and I believe it turned out quite well.
3) The update speed is what I think differentiates us the most. 0.7 had over 1600 renders, which takes 95% of devs between 4-6 months. We did it in one. We spend every single dollar earned on making the game better. Excluding the $3000 pc we bought, 0.7 cost around $5000 to make. This includes things from assets to freelancers.
I’m committed to making this the best Adult visual novel out there, and I hope you’re with me for the ride.

With act 1 done, what will future releases be like for patrons and on Steam?

Patrons will continue to get monthly releases, while steam will get act 2 & 3 when they’re finished as paid Dlcs. Act 1 will stay free on steam once it’s out. So patrons will always get the newest version before anyone else.

If we get the Patreon King Tier and want to create a character, what sort of input do we have?

You will be able to name a new side character that’ll be introduced in the next update. It’s sadly impossible for you to create a full character as there is an entire team involved and it’d just take too much time.

How impactful will the frat we choose be on the rest of the story? Why do you have to join a frat?

I want the frat choice to be highly impactful on the frat life part of the game. Different parties, events and fights. However, besides maybe an extra girl and slightly different interactions, it will not have much impact on your relationships with girls. I don’t want your frat choice to be based on what girls you can get, but rather on which frat you prefer. However you can expect a lot of the story to change depending on which frat you choose, without locking certain girls’ paths away.

What does it take for a suggestion to actually be implemented into the game?

I put every suggestion I like into an idea file, where I also place my ideas. Discord suggestions with higher votes will take priority over ones with lower votes, but some ideas aren’t feasible, no matter how many votes they get. I can’t make the main character customizable, cause that’d mean twice as many renders. Every suggestion has a cost and I have to be very selective to keep the updates coming monthly.

Do you plan introducing new characters that are X? Do you plan on continuing the story of X side character?

I don’t have the story planned out, so I usually base the amount of content a character gets based on how much the community seems to like them. New characters will be introduced if it fits the story, it’s mostly a spontaneous thing than anything else.

Will there be voice acting for the game?

I don’t have the budget to add voice acting to the game. However I’d like my next game to be fully voice acted.

Is this game going to be able to be modded via steam workshop?

Maro’s looking into it, but I can’t make any promises. It depends on how possible the implementation is.

Why are you only giving 2 choices each time? Will there be more than 2 choices in the future?

I think the choice system works quite well as it makes pathing a bit simpler and it also makes the decision more impactful. Having too many choices to pick from can significantly reduce the impact each of those options can have.

When will X translation/ localization appear?

There are volunteers working on different translations, but they won’t be officially implemented until the game is complete.

Will there be foot play and anal sex?

100% to both of those. Sex scenes are our biggest weakness at the moment and I’ve put a big priority on improving their length and options in the future. Once we can hire a dedicated animator that will also greatly improve what’s possible in that area.

Is there a plan to show the rush parties for the sororities or have those passed in the games timeline?

Those have passed, but there’s some really cool stuff planned for the sororities.

Why does Chloe seem to be favored by the story over other girls, even if we personally don’t like her?

I think there’s always the difficulty of having the MC be his own person, as his thoughts might not always be aligned with the players thoughts. However I feel like giving the MC his own personality, his own thoughts and feelings, makes playing him more interesting than having him be a mindless player controlled zombie. The drawback of that is that you might not agree with the way he thinks about certain girls.

Will Kim be dateable as well?

As the story isn’t planned out I’m not sure yet. Unlike most other AVN creators I don’t have a clear plan on who’s a love interest and who isn’t. Girls will act according to their personality and that may or may not offer options in the future. In real life you don’t know who you’re gonna end up with and the same goes for CK.

Personal Questions:

How much do you work? Do you take enough breaks?

I work 7 days a week, around 12-14 hours a day in the beginning of an update and up to 16-18 hours a day when it comes to the last 2 week and we have to crunch to meet the deadline. I do take an off day after every update, but I love working on College Kings, so I usually struggle not doing anything on the game for an entire day.

Are you always motivated to work? If not, what do you do to get motivated?

I’ve been a workaholic my entire life, so I don’t really struggle with motivation. Sometimes it can get hard to keep going, in those times I like to go for a walk and listen to the Hamilton soundtrack to get me back into the zone.

You said you didn't have a background in making games before. Where did you start in terms of programming and how did you find out?

I didn’t know anything about coding, when I tried to make the storytelling app in July 2020, I use an app building website that used building blocks instead of actual code. I just used the renpy tutorial game and the documentation to teach myself. I didn’t find the most elegant solutions as our current coder will tell you, but they did work.
Nowadays OscarSix does almost all of the coding which allows us to do stuff like the new Kiwii app.

What is your favorite aspect of game development?

Coming up with the plot was initially my favorite part of development, but with so many people working on the game now, it has to be discussing the game with the team. Talking to other team members about how we can make the best possible games is an amazing feeling. I love doing it and I’m so happy that it’s a big part of my job.

Did you drop out already?

There’s a lot of bureaucracy attached to it, but I’ve started the process. I’m an all or nothing kinda person and I knew pretty early on that this was gonna be what I want to do full time.

What’s your drink of choice?

I like all kinds of drinks, from beer to whisky. However my go to after an update is Thatchers haze cider.

What’s your favorite music?

Currently I’m just listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on repeat. Otherwise Juice Wrld, Lil Uzi Vert and Witt Lowry.

Do you like anime?

I’ve never watched anime before, so I don’t really know if I’d like it.

I hope you got the answers you were looking for, thank you so much for your continued support! Work on 0.8 has begun, so stay tuned!

- Steve