Survey answers + Game development

I went through the entire survey, 64 people partecipated. Thank you so much for your time. This is going to be a big post. I want to share with you everything I've collected and answer the questions you have left for me. I'm tagging some answers with a spoiler warning then it's up to you if you want to read that specific answer or not.

This survey contains some important info I recommend reading if you're curious about development, story and what's going on with the game so far, plus a little extra at the very end.

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Favorite character ranking (8 is best, 1 is worst)

Number 8
Dylan - 26
Blake - 25
Ryan - 18
Clyde - 14
Russell\Joel - 13
Patrice - 11
Liam - 6

This one tells us a different story from the major consensus. We knew that Ryan\Blake\Dylan were the most liked already but in this little survey their place swapped around. It’s hard to define which one is truly at the top cuz this survey only got 64 answers.

Number 7
Patrice - 16
Blake - 14 
Ryan - 12
Joel - 10
Clyde\Liam\Dylan - 7
Russell - 5

Number 7 is interesting cuz after everyone picks their big fave Patrice becomes a very contested second choice. Seems like Dylan loses his charm unless it’s your favorite.

Number 6
Clyde\Russell\Joel - 11
Ryan\Patrice - 9
Blake - 6
Liam\Dylan - 4

Number 6 is still a high tier placement and seeing a character like Russell being placed here actually surprises me cuz he’s actually avoiding telling you anything about himself unless you go out of your way to start his route. Also nice seeing the MC here, that means it’s a character people enjoy playing as.

Number 5
Ryan - 9
Clyde\Russell\Joel - 8
Patrice - 7
Dylan\Liam - 6
Blake - 5

Ryan seems to be a jack of all trades. He places high in most rankings. We’re all biased. And to the people who criticized him— he can’t be perfect, let the man have flaws too.
We also see Clyde\Russell\Joel dominating the middle tiers.

Number 4
Patrice - 15
Joel - 11
Liam\Dylan - 9
Blake\Clyde\Russell - 8
Ryan - 6

This is the true middle. Nobody actually shines here, Patrice did take a few more votes but everything stayed balanced to give a real judgment.

Number 3
Liam - 10
Russell - 8
Ryan - 5
Dylan\Clyde - 4
Joel - 3
Patrice\Blake - 2

Team Liam rises up. We expected Liam to take over the poll in the lower tiers. Only real gremlins understand.

Number 2
Russell - 7
Clyde\Liam - 6
Dylan - 4
Joel\Patrice - 3
Blake\Ryan - 1

I also predicted a bad placement for Russell ‘cause he refuses to tell you anything and it went just as I expected cuz some readers told me that as well. You’re playing as a character and not everyone will gravitate toward you. This isn’t to defend Russell, just to remind people that you can’t have it your way all the time. (More on that later)

Number 1
Liam - 16
Clyde - 6
Joel - 5
Ryan\Dylan\Russell - 4
Blake - 3
Patrice - 1

LIAM SWEEP LIAM SWEEP LIAM SWEEP.

Additional notes -> Clyde also placed badly but I rarely learned anything about it. Can I have some more insight from my beloved Clyde haters? (I’m kidding but please do tell me)

Favorite character
Blake - 30
Dylan - 23
Ryan - 21
Patrice - 18
Clyde - 11
Joel - 10
Russell - 9
Liam - 3

As you can see the top 3s have swapped around again but yeah this is a similar placement to the original poll on our Discord server, nothing worth noting cuz we have received a 60+ sample.

Least favorite character
Liam - 47
Russell - 10
Dylan - 7
Ryan\Clyde - 6
Joel - 3
Patrice - 2
Blake - 1

AND LIAM DOES IT AGAIN. LIAM SWEEP LIAM SWEEP LIAM SWEEP.
Nothing else to say, more thoughts at the end.

Routes you played
Blake 50
Ryan 48
Dylan 44
Patrice 43
Clyde 35
Russell 28
Liam 26

That’s good data. Many people, me included, tend to go for certain characters, not everyone. I understand, no problem at all here, but I do want to say— when you guys point out that X character isn’t important or we don’t learn much about it— this isn’t explained etc…

Have you played every route? You can’t expect to learn, idk, about Russell in a route that isn’t about him. I’m not forcing you to do that either, it’s more about if you care to learn more go find that knowledge in the proper location.

If you did play everything and still can’t find that specific knowledge it’s either yet to be added or you might have missed it. You’re free to come and ask me directly and I’ll provide an answer. (Also I’m just a single person and I’m bound to forget something. Telling me is also helpful to make sure I will provide you with that answer.)

1 Best design - 2 Best storyline - 3 Best personality (Oh boi, this is gonna be tough to organize.)

Ranking for best design
Clyde 15
Blake 13
Dylan 9
Ryan 8
Patrice 4
Russell 2
Liam 1

This was an interesting result. I totally expected a Clyde sweep here but it surprised me how Blake still managed to hold his ground and steal second place from Dylan who also got a juicy rework.

Ranking for best storyline
Blake 16
Dylan 14
Ryan 13
Clyde 4
Liam 4
Patrice 3
Russell 1

The trio stays on top, no changes here.

Ranking for best personality
Blake 19
Ryan 12
Patrice 10
Dylan 8
Russell 5
Liam 2
Clyde 2
Joel 1

Nothing to say, these placements match the data I have so far.

Q&A (I will drop spoiler warning so be careful while reading)

I skipped duplicate questions\questions I answered somewhere else.

How big are Patrice's pecs? :3 Where did Liam get the mask from?

• They’re big enough to use as pillows for sure.
• Soft spoiler here Patrice's D3 gives you a small answer to that question.

Will there be any bad endings or complicated route changing mechanics? As for the latter, how will you implement a smooth transition for readers who have trouble with VNs with multiple route changing mechanics?

• Yes, there will be multiple endings. Both good and bad.
• You won’t struggle with complicated mechanics. You’ll only encounter three types of choices. Useless choices, affection choices and game changing choices.
• The affection value is very important and decides outcomes in your route. A low value will give you a bad ending and a high value will grant you protection toward the bad choices you make -> your partner saves your ass.

Game changing choices are the ones that make you swap between A\B route (High affection required or the swap will fail) or those choices that lead to the game ending.

You will be given more choices starting with N3. Your affection values will start shifting around, be ready for that.

How many days are planned in total? Why make alternate routes (A/B), and why for all characters?

• *Soft spoiler here* The game lasts 15 Days + Some extras but main story ends on D15
• I wanted to give the reader the ability to interact with the game itself and the power to change the story, lead the characters to a different ending and it gives you replayability. Go try a different route, pick a new option, another path, learning more from a completely different POV, the realization that other things happen around you while you’re with someone else, the world keeps moving without you.
• Why not? I’m sure every reader picked their favorite already and bias is showing, but I don't want that for myself. I carry them all equally and I want to write them all. It’s fun.

Will the theme of Route A or Route B return depending on the decisions that are made? Will you see different endings? . Will the game be available in other languages in the future?

• I kinda answered that. When your partner hits a keypoint in his story you will be given a choice to encourage him or to steer him away from it (One will make you stay in A, the other will give you a smooth transition into B)
• You will absolutely see multiple endings.
• I don’t play on doing that. I will allow anyone to pick up my work and translate it though. I’m staying just for the English version, sorry.

How are updates going to work with 7 different routes?

• I’m updating one character at the time like I always did. The order is based on character popularity. I wouldn’t mind working more, but the game doesn’t have the audience nor the funds it needs to pump out more content.

Will there be more choices And can we see more of our self the mc in game And it would be cool if the characters get different clothes

• Yes, you will get more choices. I’ll try to push one choice each update, but can’t guarantee. I will make sure your affection begins stacking though.
• I will make plans for more MC visibility, but right now our funds are going toward more important things. It’s on our bucket list.
• *Soft spoiler here* Every character will receive a secondary outfit to replace the current one. We already planned this. I already have in mind what they wear. It’s a mid game reward for the reader after hitting their second keypoint in the story. Only your route will change clothes though. They will keep the unlocked outfit. Will you clear all routes to have the entire cast showcasing their updated look? I thought that was a funny concept. I hope it’s doable.

Will we get to hear their backstories? Any side stories?

• You will hear their backstories. Some you have heard by the time I’m typing this. Stay on their route, wait for new updates, keep playing. You will learn everything in time.
• Every character has to go through their own side story to evolve and grow, MC included. That’s what you’ll see after the prologue ends (N3 is when the prologue ends.)

in the future is there a chance for any of them to actually die ?or is it just a full story game?

• I did mention bad endings earlier and yes, some bad endings include death. Good luck.

Will the game have NSFW scenes or is it strictly SFW?

• I understand that people only think of porn when NSFW is mentioned, but that term includes way more than you think. I have added a warning when you boot up the game exactly for this reason. This game can be difficult for certain people and they should know ahead of time to not play unless you can handle what you’re going to see.
• TLDR Yes, you’ll get some PP action. We hope to grow a bigger audience by then ‘cause art is expensive and I’m bleeding money most of the time.

I really like Joel's character because he is just like me for real. I wanted to know if he will develop his powers (equally) in all routes?

• I can’t answer with “equally” but his powers will develop for sure.

when will NSFW (Porn) content be implemented

• *Heavy spoiler* Don’t quote me on this, things can and will change. I’m thinking D7 for certain characters, not all of them. The majority will see it happening on D13.

How branching will the game be?

• The story won’t split further than A and B. These two are our main routes, everything else that MIGHT show up is considered a special ending.

Will this game be fully free in the future? (Please say yes, please)

• The game will be free. I don’t plan on adding paywalls, but if any of you can spare a tip that will go a long way to keep this project and future games alive.

When will the game finish? Can I have a peak at Ryan's belly?

• I can’t say. I’m expecting a 3 to 5 year range.
• We do have that picture. I’ll post it at the end of our Q&A.

Don’t you dare scrolling all the way down now just to look at it! Cheater.

Will we get a Joel text-box sprite? Will there be a stronger focus on horror or romance?

• Believe it or not this was our plan for the future. It’s just— less important right now.
• You’re getting both. Horror and romance work surprisingly well together imo.

who will be the most likely candidate that will kiss as much as it wanted from first sight?

• Patrice, I think? He’s the most confident one in flirting. Have you read his route? You’ll know.

Return me to the server

• I’m addressing this once. I have never banned anyone from our Discord server. You can easily join from the invite link in our game page.

I'm just wondering how often not suitable for work scenes will be in the game

• Usually you get a NSFW CGI at the end of a story or keypoints. Climax (For now)

When will you do a funny lil self insert? ...For reasons

• This came up at the very beginning and we all declined to be part of the game. We don’t want to self insert ourselves, but there will be one character that belongs to a friend of mine and will show up as a side character. I owe it to him for helping me get where I am right now so this is me thanking him.

When will Joel call out Dylan for being a homophobic "straight" guy ugh lmao

• Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. Joel tends to bottle it up until boom everything is out.

Also maybe some interesting background characters? It could be a way to attract new patrons by teasing extra routes including those characters after a main route is complete?

• We want to add more characters and we will. It takes time and money (that we don’t have), but we don’t plan on giving routes to secondary characters. There’s enough on our plate.

WhEn iS tHe NeXt uPdAtE? Lol

• Funny enough you’re the first person to ask this. N3 update was scheduled to release in August, but we quickly came to the realization that it’s impossible to deliver. We don’t want to release single routes, we wanted all 7 dropped at once. It… didn’t work. We’re going to split it in half, but even then you won’t see it for a while.
• We want to drop the sprite rework (which is still in progress 2\7 -> Starting 3rd now) then we want more music (12 new songs + character theme songs = 20, not completed yet) and the writing (Ryan, Blake and Patrice completed, working on Dylan now) the writing is big. Each route brings a 25k+ words with it which means the final word count is around 200k words. Please be patient, I’ll make sure to deliver big and strong. (Just this time. I won’t do this again. I consider this an important event.)

Things you’re looking forward in the game

Everything, especially expansion on the mansion.

• Night 3 will be exactly what you’re looking for.

Joel's influence on the routes

• That will happen for sure

Cheesy Romantic moments and scenes, I love to see cute and wholesome moments, this makes me melt! ^^

• I hope you don’t mind corny things because that’s where my taste is at

Can we have a music gallery please, maybe a character profile if you can

• We will create a spotify\youtube list with our original music in the future, but we’d like not to interact with royalty free music since it’s not ours anyway.
• I’m not even sure if it’s possible coding wise. It sounds like extra unnecessary work for us, sorry.

I would like there to be more illustrations or to show the actions or interactions such as the ring, the book, the moment where they meet or separate.

I would like it to have effects or sounds of walking in the castle that something breaks or when someone is in shock.

• I love this question. I really wish I could do what you’re asking me, but I can’t. I don’t have the skills to make it happen. Art requires money and I don’t have infinite cash so I have to be selective on what I want to add. What I earn pays back like 20% of what I spend on the VN. We’re 8 people currently. Only 4 people are being paid currently and I’m not one of them. I work for free and pay the others. It’s tough. This is why this project is slow and it’s a free passion project of mine.
• Same speech for this question. I’d love to get a sound effect artist, but I lack the skill to do it myself. I’m willing to hire one if they’re willing to do it for free or under discount. Feel free to contact me anywhere you want.

I'm really looking forward to how the MC's relationship with the love interests turn out as well as the mystery pertaining to the castle and supernatural aspect of the world.

• Night 3 will be exactly this.

Animations would be sick 😆 as well as guide

• Animations are hella expensive. Nope. This isn’t happening. I don’t think you’ll need a guide for now.

to see if actually the Castle is connected to the main character and to know more about him

• Joel will learn stuff about himself first, then you’ll see his story arc plus some more castle info sprinkled on top.

A Joel sprite, definitely. First person perspectives are nice but it helps with visualization to see the MC in some way.

• You will get a Joel sprite. You will see his reworked version in one route specifically. Bonus point if you guess which one.

RYAN PITS IT'S OKAY IF HE JUST RAISES HIS ARMS PLEASE

• LMAO. Do I have this sprite? I don’t remember, I’ll have to check.

Insert fetish conten--- jk jk

• I mean… not everyone is vanilla, right? Give it time.

I'm looking forward to some tear jerking moments. Or more moments that make the cast feel "real", like they're suffering "real" issues. Not saying that there aren't any right now, but good fiction introduces some real elements that show the reader that these characters are more than just a manifestation of imagination.

• We hope to give you that feeling with our next update.

Criticism space! Time for some good old author’s pain.

I feel like the intro is quite longer than it needs to be, it opens too much on the character's backstories without going on the gist of the castle itself. I feel it would do well if the story starts as the story starts at the castle, I think that was Night 2 and then each route will slowly open up to the character's backstory and how the castle affects them.

• I was told this already and I apologize for dragging it too much. My main objective was to showcase the world and its characters BEFORE picking your route. I didn’t want readers to pick wrong, go back and change. Lesson learned. Next time we make it shorter and faster.

There's no reason for the cast to trust Liam (of all people) and search for a castle they cannot confirm exists in the middle of the night. That always bugged me. Why not make it so Joel has recurring nightmares about the castle, hallucinations or voices calling him after he accidently put his paws on one of the relics Liam looted?

• They… didn’t search it? They went out to have fun and get to know each other, not to entertain Liam. They didn’t care at all. So much so that Liam makes up an excuse to go alone.

Also Russell is kinda just... there? I feel there were missed opportunities in his characterization and justifying his presence in the group.

• Russell is doing exactly what he’s supposed to be doing. Not every character will open to you, pretty much the same in real life? He’s a private person that doesn’t own you a reason (yet) as to why he’s there to begin with. Don’t expect anything about Russell in routes that aren’t his. Russell’s D3 already gives some hints about what kind of person he is and why he avoids you.

Hmm... Nothing comes to mind except for the few typos and grammatical errors.

• I’m really sorry about that. I have added another editor to my team. Future updates are going to look way better now. The other one is finishing up D3s and fixing those mistakes I have left behind.

idk sumn about Liam doesn't sit right with me. His whole character just shows he is very bratty like a child. I would understand if he is somewhat upset that things do not go his way but overall he is just a brat overall, I hope he does improve and become more mature.

• True, you’re right. He carries anger and bitterness toward the world and mistreats everyone on purpose. You will get to see his development through the story.

Then I got multiple messages that just say LIAM and to that I say— LIAM SWEEP BABY LET’S GO HE ALWAYS WINS. Seriously, he’s supposed to do that. Did he get you? Do you hate him? Perfect.

Honestly the only thing i don't like about the game is the fact that i can't skip to certain days directly after playing all routes multiple times . On another note Russel route is the most boring and uninteresting of them all

• This one made me chuckle because this is a non issue. We coded ways for you to skip through the game when the UI rework dropped. Just open your settings -> Skip unseen text, there you go, you’re free now.
• Yeah, Russell isn’t supposed to be interesting and entertain you. He doesn’t want anything to do with you, that’s the whole point.

Can Ryan be a hair less childish? He's kinda pissy just because his friend is trying to make other friends and maybe get a boyfriend. Grow up. The starry eyed thing also felt a bit too anime.

• These are his flaws, give the bear his space to learn.
• We killed the sparkling eyes in the rework, goodbye anime.

Kind of worried about the game becoming too branching which will lead to longer wait time of updates per character

• I already explained how the branching will go. Don’t worry. I’ll keep going until it’s done. Also… I’m indifferent to waiting times. For faster updates we need a bigger audience.

Can you please increase the text size, i would really appreciate it, thank you <3

• Can you expand on this? Is the text too small on the android version? How much should it be increased? Please message me about it.

Dylan and Liam lol

• Dylan laughing at you from his top 3 pedestal made with all the people he stepped on

The whole "cat incident" feels weird to me. If it were a house cat it doesn't feel like it would be a big enough event as it's being portrayed to be. If it were a fuggin' feral tiger then it seems TOO extreme for anyone to believe it is something a prankster would do.

• *Small spoiler warning* The stray cat accident was the most discussed one because Blake almost lost his eye, but many other harmful pranks were reported. These dangerous accidents are masked as “pranks gone wrong” besides… Blake has every right to consider it a big deal. 
• It was a house cat (size wise), but not a domestic one. It was an aggressive cat that purposefully aimed at one of the students, forcing Blake to shield her.

Nah I like game...hmm maybe needs some CG I guess?

• *cries in money*

I personally find Liam hard to handle. While I can understand that he's got a "devil-may-care" attitude due to losing his sister, his home situation, and the social rejection in school, something about his personality seems inconsistent. He's too mean. Perhaps simply making him more appreciative of Joel's friendship could rectify this?

• I like that you used the word inconsistent. You’re on the right path. Anyway… he does though. You see him cracking a bit with Clyde’s cake.

Half of the cast don't seem to have goals or needs of their own (other than comforting the protagonist), resulting in a lack of tension and leaving me wondering why I should care for those characters.

• *Heavy spoilers* This one I don’t understand. So far the story revolved around Liam and his desire to rescue his sister. Isn’t that a goal? He wants to destroy the castle. Dylan follows him and wants to do the same, that’s a goal. Characters have expressed the desire of agreeing or not, Clyde offered him a deal, Blake doesn’t want to go, the two even argue about it. Tension… goals… needs… I will say Russell is the only one who doesn’t tell you why he’s there, but that’s one character out of 8. If you’re looking for more then Night 3 will provide you with more, but your critique makes me feel like nothing happened which isn’t true.
• Also these things aren’t needed to get attached or like a character, maybe this game just isn’t for you.

The beginning when your being message by some one can you give the option to write your own name for the mc

• Nope.

Music

• I apologize for that. I’m not a skilled musician and I’m just going with my gut ‘cause I don’t really have anyone who can do that for me. We’re adding more original music, but the placement still falls into my hands and we hope you will enjoy the way I’m gonna use it.

More Joel background

• Oh… you’ll get it. His mother will make sure of it.

Not enough save files

• … really? 13 pages aren’t enough? If I hear more people asking about this then sure I’ll add a couple more.

Well,Maybe Dylan's orange shirt will return.

• lmao Draxxe.

I think you made liam too unlikable but that might just be a part of the story and have implications later done the road

• Both. I wanted you to not pick Liam at all. The objective is to maybe change your mind as the story gets deeper, but if you decide not to that works as well.

I'm not really sure but I've noticed that Joel doesn't talk as much? It seems like as the protagonist he'd be more involved, I'm not sure if that is intentional however.

• Joel is an introverted character by nature. You won’t see him taking control of the group in the early game. He shines more with less people around which you’ll see when Night 3 drops.

WE’RE DONEEEEEEE HELL YEAH. That was so tiring. I made sure to answer every unique question and to avoid duplicates. You guys are free to ask for more or continue any answer I’ve given in the comments. I’m open to discuss anything you want.

Also ---> now teasing Ryan thinking sprite