I tend to like longer stories so I like the length of it. I'm not really a fan of a game that you can burn through in an hour or two. There's not enough time to get to know the complexities of the characters. Plus, the purpose of the game is to confront deeply ingrained feelings from the MC; to overcome those in a quick story would defeat the purpose
Str8 is not so much about entertainment or getting a quick fix but rather about telling a complex story with deep characterization. This takes time. It's also the type of story I like most :-)
Hi! Firstly, I love this game. This plot, this story ... they are incredible. Many thanks to the creators. And I would like to offer my help in localization and start translating the game into Russian :)
Hey, thanks a lot for the love. I've been holding off on translations because the game needs reworked; specifically the beginning. I was very new to everything required for the project and I've been learning as I go. So i'm going to finish the first draft of the game and then go back and rework the beginning. After that's complete, I'll probably look at translations--a lot of people have been interested in translations
I absolutely love the story line, honestly one of the best I've ever played through. In some sense I really feel Zack's character speak to me because I'm also spacey and afraid of being out and honestly his high school experience is damn near similar as mine when it comes to my social experience. I started out watching chrizstorm sometime a year ago and going through this game myself, it's really was inspiring. I can't wait for the next updates !! Keep up the good work !!
Thanks a lot. You been around for awhile then if you date back to Chris' earlier videos. Glad you're still hooked. It means a lot that you think it ranks up there among the best you've seen. Thank you :)
OMG I haven't even beat the game and I want them to make a 2nd. I love how the story line is, and the people, and EVERYTHING!!!!!! I hope when you guys are done with this game you make a 2nd like where they are now adults or maybe do the same thing with new people or new people with a new setting! I really wish you best of luck on this game!!!! I'll be praying for the next!!!!!!!! (If there is one lol)
finally taking some time for VNs again, and i noticed that YAY, v.18 is here! (i had v.17 with the “hot” ending…) ~
looking forward to play - but just a question: some games here, when you update them, your saves or pretty much everything you had goes down the drain. how is it with str8, no danger of annihilation if i install the zip?
ah and i just got a warning from chrome, doesn’t wanna download the zip cuz insecure. guess it’s just because it’s an exe, hence false warning (chrome hasn’t done this on me yet, i only use it since last year when FF went 57… and my 56 started displaying wonky sites) - still, how comes?
So yes, using old saves will completely wreck the game and you'll get error messages. There's a warning screen when you boot the game up that says not to use old saves and there's definitely a reason for that. That's the most common bug report I get. Basically, if you get an error messages that has "not defined" in it somewhere, that's the old save error. Basically just click new game and then you'll see an "update" spot there. Answer a couple questions which will reconfig your previous choices then it'll drop you at the end of the last update .
And yeah, that google thing is a false warning. it does that with a lot of indie VNs like this
ok, i’ll try to answer so i’m kinda back “to where i was” with my choices..
and yeah i just got another warning about a zip from a site - not VN - where it didn’t do this like 2-3 weeks ago. must be some “improvement” from a recent chrome update :/ - nothing to do with your files
so… didn’t even manage to play or even install my last update, and yay, there’s a new one! RL tends to come in the way of my gaming these days, lmao. anyways, i guess i can just dump the last update and DL this one here?
yep, you can probably do that although if you start a new game and hit "update", it's gonna drop you at the end of the last update so you'll miss content. You may wanna start chapter 8 from the start then
I like how the characters are unique and not cookie-cutter gay stereotypes. They are pretty relatable. I also really like how you didn't rush to the erotic stuff.
The one issue I have with the game is Max. I don't think he has ever done anything to anger/annoy Zack. The only thing I remember was when he shoved him while entering the swimming locker room. But does that really warrant Zack's outlook of him for the first half of the game? I honestly don't think so.
I'm a broke college student so I really cannot pay for this right now. But really, this game is worth it.
thanks for the....kinda... nice words. Having a hard time figuring out whether you're complimenting the game or criticizing it. I assumed that you played until the end of the current build so I'm not really sure what "outlook" you're talking about with Zack towards Max because there wasn't much of that in the last update. There's been a pretty consistent impression of Max throughout the story based on the way Max carries himself. Sure, he shoved Zack that one time but there's been about a dozen other instances of interactions throughout the story where the audience mostly believed Max to be a dick. Overall, the feedback indicated that most people thought Zack justified. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say otherwise so I guess I was confused what you meant from this update that was so bad and changed your outlook. I probably got the most praise in the game's history for Max's character arc in this update and honestly I'm pretty proud of it because I think it was unpredictable in every way. The people who liked Max before were mostly attracted to his "bad boy" attitude--which very much contradicts Zack who is much more empathetic. You just totally lost me with the "amazing until now" comment because I'm not sure what outlook you're talking about that occurred "now."
But, just to clarify: the game is free and will always be free. You dont have to pay for it. It's run entirely on donations so feel free to download here for free or from the Patreon site for free. Hopefully, you didn't pay for it on accident. The website here just asks for donations but shouldn't bug you too much. There's no obligation.
Max was indeed portrayed as a dick most of the time in the first half and I guess Mikhails introduction of Max as someone who sold secretly made videos of his mother and sisters didn't help much either :-). Although I think that the plotline "Total dick with hidden depths" isn't completely unique, it was well written and his development felt very natural. I thought that his lack of social skills might even be a side effect of him sharing some traits with his autistic brother?
Hello Aaryn! Love your game so much. The characters feel so real to me. Aaand they are gorgeous on top! Kudos to you and your artists.
I was so shocked when Zach lied to Mikhail in the locker room. Story of my life, really. I was about 14 years old when it struck me that I'm gay. My next thought was "No one must know, ever!", sadly. I never hated being gay, though. I mean, how can something that makes me feel so good be a bad thing? But my fear of rejection was too strong. So I avoided the issue or lied outright.
Then there was this boy in my class. I liked him a lot and probably ogled him a bit too obvious :-). One day he confronted me during handicrafts lessons and asked me if I liked him. I said yes, but it came out like "Yes, but not the way you want it". There was someone actually interested in me and I couldn't bring myself to admit openly that I was gay. Not in front of the others. Your game brought all this back and I thought how my life could have changed if I where open with him then.
I was well in my thirties when I finally came out to family and friends. It was a big thing for me then, but most people where like "So what, we suspected it all along!". Funny thing is, I never faced open rejection, it was all in my head. I had my "Years of service" in the gay community, the marching, the partying, working in the gay association. People think usually that I'm fun to have around, but inside still this little voice whispers "No one must know!" and it's so damn hard for me to be open and really close with people.
P.S. If you need any help with translations, spell checking or coding, I'm game :-). I'm German btw. and have some experience with coding projects, published some myself on Nexusmods.com
Wow. I keep coming back here for players' real-life experiences. I'm glad that you finally confront your inner fear and live the life you want. That's my fight too. Btw, I'm not in the development team but you can reach Aaryn - the developer via Twitter for instant reply.
My last reply was somewhat generic and I felt a bit guilty about it :-). I've just read your other posts and how much you had to work through. I'm so happy for you that you have this much psychological insight at your age and good friends to talk to. When I was 21 I had not the faintest inkling of how to handle my feelings and I felt like there was no one I could talk to about it. It took many years for me to work through all this and confront my fears. Times were different then, almost 40 years ago, and information was hard to come by.
I'm so glad to know that you read my story so no need to feel sorry about that 😙 In my darkest days at highschool, I had to deal with my parents, lovers, friends and studying at the same time all by myself, which was way too much for a teenager. Parents checked all my messages without my consent and threatened my boyfriend and me, my boyfriends ditched me 3 times, friends at school verbally harrassed my sexuality (I realize I have that internalized homophobia too) At least, I have been through the worst situation so what could be worse :)))?
I can completely sympathize to your situation when being gay was treated as a sin. In Asia, people are still judgemental about this subject so coming out is always a long story. I even have to make a plan for this :)))) and the worst scenerio might be me being kicked out of my own family 😔
No, thanks for the story. I love people sharing like this. Usually when people complain about the lack of porn in the game, I usually point to messages like this and remind them that I didn't make the game to make them bust--i did it for reasons like this. i wanted people to see a realistic coming of age tale that's really hard for the MC to accept themselves. I wanted to show that sexual journey and ways that someone could overcome internalized homophobia--kinda like what you're talking about. Glad you appreciated it. I def appreciate the story and just hearing that it had an impact on people :)
Just finished Chapter 9. I like the "brotherly love" / more than a friendship Scene with Zach and Mikhail at the pool. You took a page from Aristotle's philia concept? :-). Regarding porn scenes: there's no end of that on the net, really. But a good story that tickles your imagination is hard to come by. And you got a lot of really strong scenes in the game that left my imagination running wild :-). I made a small contribution on your Patreonsite just to be part of this effort.
Thanks a lot for the contribution but even more thanks for the kind words. It means a lot to me. Comments like this are really validating. It's interesting to see how the market has changed from people demanding porn in the game to that now being the minority opinion--which is exactly what i wanted :)
I spent 6 hours straight playing this game yesterday and now I'm at chapter 3. I create this account just to give some comment.
This game hit me so hard on the story plot. So far, I love how all characters are portraited as unique but still relatable types of people when facing sexuality-related issues. I find parts of me in every character here: denial in Braden, confusion in Zach and confidence when solving others' problems in Mikhail. I am so surprised to see how character development is so well-built here unlike the majority of NSFW game filled with pornographic stuff. Can't wait to see how far this story goes. Great job.
Update: I have just finished the lastest chapter. I must say I taste my own tears this time. I love every single bonding moment here, not just the stuff between Zach and Braden. The hidden messages behind every twist are so relatable and meaningful to me as a teacher craving for inspirational stories. I used to be the golden child so I know the burden when being highly expected by my family. I used to be labelled, discriminated and made fun of at highschool. I used to be afraid of myself and hate myself for being who I was. I can all feel that just in a chapter itself. It's not that easy to overcome these but thanks to my priceless friends, I embrace my value and love myself in a more proper way. I am looking forward to observing how far these wholesome dudes will reach. I'm a big fan of you now.
I know exactly how you feel. I grew up with a father who was homophobic due to having been sexually assaulted as a teenager, which made even talking about how I feel nearly impossible and a high school that, charitably wasn't the most socially progressive in the world. All the loneliness Zack feels is exactly how I've felt for much of my life. Reading/going through this story is very cathartic and helpful, fiction or not.
Wow. I feel so sorry for your experience. Is everything alright now?
For the family part, my parents made me think of suicide as they knew about my relationship in highschool. I struggled to discover myself and confront my family at the same time. I had no one to ask for help or talk to. I completely feel you bro.
I think, we don't have the right to choose where we are born but we do have the right to choose the way we live. Maybe it's not an easy path to walk through but we still survive and become who we are today. At least, we can be sympathetic to others and even our own children if one day they come out of the closet. (Trust me I really want to have kids around 👨👧👦 ) Now, being about to graduate from college as a teacher, I am trying my best to help my students having problem discovering their sexuality. We can't change the past but we can make an impact for a better future.
For all the things we have been through, we all deserve a Zach or Braden in our life.
Things are better now. One of the biggest additional problems in the day is, that my first language is English and I live in Quebec, Canada. I grew up during the height of the nationalist era there where the English were absolutely hated on by a large chunk of the province (to the point that I was assaulted more than once). I could only really deal with 1 crisis at a time and that one went on for years. It's better now, and I have a good friend I can talk to about things, but I have an empathy for what others go through with discrimination and overthinking (as I do it all the time). I think that, more than anything is what I empathise most about the Zack character; what he does is something I've been doing for most of my life.
I'm just glad to hear that you are doing ok now. We all have the part of Zach inside where we collect all the thoughts and start digging around. Sometimes we make things even more complicated than they truly are. For me, having someone to talk to is a great way as they are your anchor whenever you are submerged in the train of thought. I'm trying to think simple and listen to my inner feelings more so I can help myself even when there's no one beside. By the way, I'm just 21 but I have to think twice more than others being at the same age. Thanks for sharing your story even you don't know me. That means a lot to me.
This game really is amazing. I very much enjoy how much depth there is to every character, rather than them just being 2D stereotypes.
Also, are we going to see more of Cody? 'Cause man he's so cute and innocent, I love him already (plus he's well fit and my type XP)! I wonder what him and the other wrestling guys get up to in the showers and sauna after a hard training session...
Might we at some point even get the option to move in with him instead of Mikky and Mash?
Seriously well done on both the writing and the character design! I'm already excited for the next update!
On a side note, are there any differences thus far between the pervy and respect route? Cause I havn't found any yet, though I might just be missing something.
So no comment about Cody because I want to avoid any spoilers for people. But I will confirm there's only one "route" in contrast to many other games. This game has more of a purpose to it than it is based on the selection of romantic routes.
I do appreciate the support and I'm glad you like the writing. It continues to be humbling to get compliments like this.
There are subtle differences between the two routes :)
I can't really add anything like that in the game because it would break the story completely from where we are right now. As you probably know, if I write something into the game, it has to have consequences and something that drastic would be fairly detailed. To add something like that into the already established game would most likely end up being one of those "game over" scenarios and I"ve sorta avoided game overs. Juggling multiple choices in hard to keep track of an organize. I'm not very good at that stuff. So that's why I just chose to do 2 stories well rather than half ass like 7 different routes
Aaryn! Love the story. I appreciate all the hard work you put into this. Do you have any social media sites where you post updates on how the writing is going or anything like that?
yep, so the main page we work from is www.patreon.com/aaryn. That's where the updates go first. It also has Discord links on the site if that's something you're interested in.
In terms of social media, both me and my co-writer have twitter accounts if you wanna check us out.
Oh my gosh! I can't believe I finally found your page, I love this game! but as i'm brazilian i don't understand much of english hahaha, if you could do a translation into portuguese i would appreciate it very much! Thanks for showing me this amazing game! Kisses and see you soon!
I can't believe you got that excited to find the page. lol. This is a rough game to try and translate because it's written with a ton of American slang that spans multiple generations. I think we'll translate it eventually but I want to wait until it's done. Translating it right now is just too much work considering the beginning of the game will likely change. I dont want to have to keep updating translations over and over again. Hopefully, you can wait that long. I know a few others have expressed interest in Portuguese as well
You can check on the patreon site for the most up to date stuff. Just released the newest update to those who donate to the project on Patreon, however that update will go free to the public on Aug 22. You'll probably want to download it straight from the patreon site then because this site is one of the last ones I usually update just because it's really confusing to me
I get a crash shortly after they get to coffee shop and start talking to the guy from Braden's wrestling team about where Braden is staying. If you ignore it - it cycles you back to where Braden is introducing Zach. And on in a loop same crash point - same fall back.
I recorded the error message.
(and I want to say before i forget - you writing keep improving; I can feel their anguish - intense work - VERY impressive!!)
``` I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code: File "game/script.rpy", line 36114, in script menu: File "game/script.rpy", line 36115, in <module> "How's the job?" if CodyJob1 == False: NameError: name 'CodyJob1' is not defined
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback: File "game/script.rpy", line 36114, in script menu: File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 1609, in execute choice = renpy.exports.menu(choices, self.set, args, kwargs, item_arguments) File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\exports.py", line 943, in menu condition = renpy.python.py_eval(condition) File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\python.py", line 1961, in py_eval return py_eval_bytecode(code, globals, locals) File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\python.py", line 1954, in py_eval_bytecode return eval(bytecode, globals, locals) File "game/script.rpy", line 36115, in <module> "How's the job?" if CodyJob1 == False: NameError: name 'CodyJob1' is not defined
heya. Thanks for the love on the writing. That game error is because you used an old save game. If you're gonna start that chapter, hit New game and choose the chapter again and you should be good
DOH. Now I feel like an idiot, LOL. You HAVE said that before, I don't know why I missed it. Thanks - that fixed the issue.
And more "love on the writing" -- your development of characters is awesome this chapter. ALL characters. I'm beginning to wonder how much of YOU is being exposed here :) Truly a great work! Now ... about cliff hanger endings ....
i just created an account so i could comment on how well the storyline and game play is.
lowkey sad i kinda want what they have haha... usually i dont bother to read the story but im very much into it. i cant wait for more updates and im only in the middle of it, not wanting to end the chapter.
aw, thanks a lot. Hopefully, you realize the game gets better as i figured out what i was doing. Good news is this is still the free version and we just dropped an update on the Patreon site that adds another 2 hours of gameplay on. That will be free here in 3 weeks too if you dont wanna donate to get it earlier. lemme know what you think as the story goes on more :)
Nope, there's a Mac build. itch.io, only let's me upload one file so I only post the PC build. You can download the MAC version for free over on the Patreon site here https://www.patreon.com/aaryn
Hello Aaryn, Str8 is one of the best animation novels I have come across. I have just joined as an Elite member of your Patron. Can you let me know when the next chapters will come out and where I can download them? I was gutted after chapter 8 finished as I wanted more
aw, hey thanks Paul. The next part should be done before long. I've been working on it. There's also a pretty lengthy write up on the Patreon to give you an idea of what to expect for a timeline as well as content.
Yeah, sorry. I havne't done any translations right now becuase this is still the rough draft of the game. No reason to translate until it's finished. Then I'll prob take a look at translations
I really never comment on anything, but I felt the need to do here-
Normally I download these tipe of games just for the nsfw scenes, but this game managed to catch me very early on with its story and characters. The way it depicts how confused one can be about things like sexuality, a crush on someone you don't want to damage your relationship with, plus the writing, honestly made me really love this game. It's amazing, the best one i've played so far.
The only thing I would like to point out, is that it has no sound, so a little bit of background music or sound would be really cool ^^ I can't wait for the next update, thank you for working on this game <3
Thanks for the love and your appreciation early on. It means a lot considering I think the beginning is by far the weakest part of the game. In terms of sound, it's on the list. The game is still very much in development and you can consider this pre-alpha stage at this point. Sound is one of the last things that we'll probably add and I want it to be meaningful when we do add it
I am in the same boat as Braden rn, I thought I was straight but a guy has really been heating me up and I feel like he is super amazing. This game is honestly a reflection of where I am in life right now and I REALLY enjoy it! I seriously hope more crops up soon :D
Heya, I'm glad that you can relate with Braden's character. I caught some shit on other sites because many of the gay players were automatically assuming that Braden was in denial--which is the point of his character in the first place--that sexuality doesn't always fit all the labels, regardless of how many we keep making. I wanted to give people that felt that way a voice through his character
I think Braden's sexual frustration and unlability was perfect, especially for people like me - games and characters like thisneed to happen so people questioning - like me - can have more inspiration!
Definitely one of the reasons that Braden's character is like that. I've tried to put quite a few minority characteristics within these characters because the media tends to really create a stereotype of sexuality that isn't congruent with how many people are. I wanted to normalize people that don't fit the stereotype and validate that that's ok.
I love how this game is redefining labels and what it means to be an NSFW game - it is a wild wide and one I am looking forward to traveling down :) mad props to your dev team!
So as you progress through the game, hopefully you'll see things get better (including facial expressions). This is my first project and I had no previous experience at all. I'm just learning as I go so you can consider this version a rough draft. My old computer system was too much of a potato to handle extra characters in the original version of the game but later, based on donations, I was able to afford a new system--which is why you see things gradually get beter and the scenes start to fill out a bit more. So yeah, it's a work in progress and this entire version of the game is just practice
it is genuinely the best nsfw game i've ever played.
i loved every bit of it and i really related to Zack and his sexuality issues. thank you so much for this.
also, the characters' development was amazing. the story was just surprisingly very well written and absolutly fantastic.
now i can't wait for the next update!! is there a date? also, since we won't be able to use the saves from the last update, are we going to play through the entire story all over again?
hey thanks for the love. Saying it's the best NSFW game out there is a decent compliment considering that i felt like it was so niche in the beginning. A lot of people just look for straight up porn stuff and this game completely throws that out the window for story-based content and just happens to not have limits related to any content (including the sexual stuff). There's currently not an ETA on the next update. Covid destroyed my current work schedule but I'm still working on it. It'll drop on my Patreon first for the supporters there and then I'll update the link for the free version 3 weeks after that. I'm glad you related to the story, it's close to my heart and very personal to me so I'm glad it reached you. Thanks for the support :)
A few years ago, I fell in love with my straight college roommate. He was a swimmer and he was beautiful - we'd talk for hours, hang around in our underwear, sleep in the same bed, drink ourselves silly, and do nearly everything together. We were practically joined at the hip for a year. I could recognize his smell from hundreds of meters away. I was so fucking in love with him, and I didn't know how to cope.
So I lied to him.
I never said anything... at least not until everything blew up in my face. I think I'm still reeling from it.
I just wanted to tell you that this visual novel means so much to me. Not because it makes me feel like I'm living some alternate-fiction fantasy, but because I am learning that... maybe I should've told the truth. And even if we wouldn't end up like Braden and Zack, maybe I would find my own way to love him.
I love this piece of work, and I love you for making it. Thank you.
i knew from reading your first sentence that I was going to enjoy this reply and it was gonna hit me in the feels. These types of replies always mean the most to me because it sounds like you really experienced it the way I wanted people to. So thank you for that and thank you for checking in with the beautifully written note. It means more than you'll ever know. I don't know how your story would have turned out and whose to say that Braden and Zack's will turn out any different. but you really validate a lot of what I wanted to share with people in this story and I'm glad you got to experience those moments with someone that you cared so deeply for. Thanks man :)
this is my first writing, too. I guess you just have to try and then learn as you go. that's all i'm doing. I got a good community, good early (but critical) feedback, and I'm working with some friends that mean the world to me.
we've talked about UE4 but using renpy was much easier in the beginning for me since i had no coding experience. Full 3d just sounded really intimidating but i won't say that we've ruled it out for the future either
I'm working on it. All the covid stuff increased my regular job workload exponentially but i'm still working on the game after work most days until late. As the game nears the ending, things will get more complex from a writing standpoint because I need to pull everything together. I dont want a bunch of loose ends and I dont want it to feel like Season 6 of Game of Thrones either. So the writing slows down a bit to try and weave everything together. Hell, the middle part of the game and the beginning were quick and easier to write (although we all know the beginning really needs some work now that I've learned a bit more).
No spoilers, though. I accidently blurt enough crap out on the Patreon and the Discord. I will way the next episode wont be as much of an emotional rollercoaster as the last one. We all need to calm down a bit after all that.
my creative side is pretty dramatic and, quite honestly, kinda bleak. I'm glad you see the beauty in it though. I think there's some beautiful moments in this game that i'm beyond proud of. Thank you for your best wishes. I hope this one isn't the end either :)
Hi, love your game and can't wait for the next chapters!!!
Good idea I propose would be to give the players a way to control the erotic scenes... Like arrows to control the animated movements: faster, slower, next scene, etc. This would allow us to take the time we need to see the action ;).
The rest is just amazing and the sexual tension built during all the game is extactic!!! Thanks!!!
yo, thanks for the feedback. I'll see what I can do. I have a lot of great ideas, too--but execution of those ideas is a different story. This is a very very small team of people helping me do this. It's basically me doing this thing with the support of two buddies that help me as they can. It's insane how long it takes to do animation. You literally have to position each movement in each frame. Then you factor in the rendering of those frames and you're probably looking at a month or two for each shot. Without saying spoilers, the ending animation of Chapter 8 took 9 months to do by itself
Thanks and I completely understand. I will definately buy the game when it will be completed. I could also donate now but don't like the monthtly thing... Is there a way for a one shot gift?
So you have a couple choices on the donation thing. You can do it through here and just donate for the download or you can do it through the Patreon. I know you said you're not a fan of the monthly donation but you can actually specify a custom amount on the monthly subscription on the Patreon and just do it for one month and cancel. The advantage of doing that is that you unlock all the custom Patreon stuff over there as long as you donate $10 or more. Long as you cancel before the 1st of the next month, you wouldn't get charged again. Even if you did get charged again, you can just DM me and i'll refund (i'm not in the business of trying to screw people out of cash). If you try and do something and mess it up over there, again, you can just DM me and we'll figure it out--people do that all the time that are new to Patreon.
One other thing is that the finished version of the game will still be FREE. The idea here is to run this entire thing on donations and that's it. No ads, no cost, all free--forever. I make enough off of it now to fund the project so there's no more cost out of pocket for me. However, if funds run low, sometimes I have to make cuts or just wait a bit longer to save up for things. But for the most part, the donations are covering the costs. Regardless, the game will never cost--ive said that from the beginning and I plan to stick with it.
Hey thanks. That was one of the things I wanted to make shine in this game. I wanted conversations and dialogue that mattered, while simultaneously sometimes NOT mattering--because that's how real dialogue is between people. Regardless, it gives us insight into the characters and the joking banter between guys is just fun. I'll also admit that I tried really hard to make the dialogue transcend generational differences--so it's purposely all over the place in an attempt to try and appeal to the widest audience. Not sure if it comes across that way but that was the idea :)
That's awesome. Usually when I play a sex game, I just want to skip straight to the sex scene, but this game got me more interested in the dialogue and the plot than the sex. For me, it's not just a sex game, but also a romantic experience. And I'm a Chinese player, so this game also helped me with my English and how to express my self around STRAIGHT dudes. ❤️❤️❤️
I think the erotic scenes are better when there's genuine build-up for them. While this game teases, there's purpose to the teasing because of the shotcomings and where the characters are in their lives. Rather than finding the adult content sexual, it's almost like you're rooting for them
Geez, this game. I can’t express my words well enough to even manage to DESCRIBE how good of a job you did!! I have never seen anything like this, or this good, and would love to see more and wish people could look at your work as an example ;) I honestly can’t wait for the next update, and feel like I’m waiting for a song or movie to be released!! I really hope this won’t be a one time project, and hope you will make more of these!!!
wow, thanks a lot. I really do want to redefine the genre here. Although the game takes some time to get started, I hope where the story has gone made up for some of the early newbie hiccups--had zero idea what I was doing. I have some other ideas for projects but one thing at a time--I'm not very good at multitasking with things like this. Glad you liked it though and it means a lot that you took the time to express the impact :)
Don’t worry, keep up the good stuff! By the way, the later chapters definitely make up the first chapters! Hope this story progressed is amazing! Hope you are doing great!
Oh my god! Where do I begin? I actually made this itch.io account specifically to comment on this game because I enjoyed it so much. I just love the way you write everything! The little nods to psychology are fun too because I'm currently studying it at college.
Sometimes these medias and games can be quite childish with various themes of sexuality and image but the way you write feels so genuine and real, to the extent where the advice various characters are giving resonates to real life in a strange and profound way.
Usually in these games, there's a character who sticks out like a sore thumb because of how annoying or unlikable they are but this is one of those rare exceptions. All of the characters are really amazing. I love how fleshed out (no pun intended) they all feel.
Just reached the end of the game so far and, I read the patch notes so I knew a cliffhanger was coming, I just certainly didn't expect something so... severe :O.
Please continue what you're doing! You're so talented at it! I hope you stay well during these times.
Yo, thanks for the reaction man and thanks for taking the time to not only make an account but leave a thoughtful reply. It's also cool to see another psych guy (I'm one, too) that can pickup on a lot of the easter eggs and stuff. There's a ton that's genuine here and I'm glad you like it. I agree that a lot of VNs are very childish, something that my game caught some flack in the beginning for being too serious in the issues that it tackled until people warmed up to the emotional ride that it takes you on. I'm glad you dig the characters, too...despite there being so few. I had no idea what i was doing so i kept the cast small and more manageable to help with learning as i go. And sorry i broke your heart with the cliffhanger--longtime fans are used to it by now. Since you just made the account for here, we also have a discord server if you check out the patreon. You can actually hit us up directly there too..faster than feedback on here. You stay safe too-- world is crazy right now
I'm honestly loving this game, it's the story and the character development that gets me to play it for hours! Keep up the great work! I just finished Ch 8, I am really looking forward for what's to come for them. :)))
still in the middle of playing, wanted to give some feedback tho.
first: AWE-SOME! first time i see a 3d VN that doesn't make me cringe. i love VN, i love 3d - and i love yaoi/BL/MM. but up to now i never stumbled on a good 3d VN, ESPECIALLY not a MM one... your renders are great, and there's such a sheer number of them, like wow, new set of scenes all the time for every occasion. kudos on the amazing amount of work behind that. the characters are well done, and Zack is hawt AF. excellent posing/expressions/scenes setup too. i like that you use full renders for your scenes, and not VN style just a BG and sprites. and the animated scenes (2 images? i cheated and checked the folder... now i can have my own private 2-image slideshows lol), hmmmm. yesss. yup, i mean those scenes XD. it's fun too to see their clothes melting into nothing when they strip. language is real, i appreciate, and those two are hilarious, i lmao'd a couple of times real loud ^^ good idea with the topics that can be unlocked for conversation. there's a good balance of earnest stuff, slice of life etc, humor, hawt scenes (even if up to now it was solos, it was sensual and amazingly done. ok, said as a 3d dude lover but still... :D), and the story flows nicely. there's a lot of feeling there, and i can see why people identify with/understand Zack (i would too if i was a guy into dudes, which i sadly am only in my fantasy :/). and to see him slowly falling for Braden, more and more, emotionally and physically, while trying to respect him and not risk/fuck up their friendship - the gay man's balancing act... Z & B not being stereotypes, i like that too, cause there are as many nuances of colors in the rainbow spectrum as there are individuals, and not all shine bright and flamboyant, but every single one is beautiful.
i'm not judging/commenting on where the story goes, where thru and who does what and why, or if drama here/there needs be or not - it's your story, your characters, and up to now, i like it. ^^ (atm i'm watching Zack sitting on a bench asking himself why he's doing psy as a major).
i don't mind the slow burner, it makes the wait worth it, if it comes too early/easy, there's like a disappointing moment just after... and geez please to those who expect easy porn, those sparse but well made solo scenes just at the right moment have riled me up more than some hardcore scenes in other VN. like when you go wtf watching a porny pic... instead of yum ~
the interface is slight, which i appreciate, it doesn't take unnecessary space and frills for nothing, but looks design and fitting all the same. (1 only thing, that you might even have fixed by now because it's a flaw: the speaker's name without background, unlike the text = not good, barely readable and just off design-wise, should be made like the text, like a tab over the text field. also the skip etc texts need a BG, they're barely visible). the idea of giving them objects is awesome too and the objects are nicely rendered - tho there again, white square frame = meh, could be even more awesome with a colored BG + rounded frame, or as transparent png..
finally, did i mention this whole game is awesome? :D
so, looking forward to the rest of "my" game and possible updates! thanks for creating and sharing this adventure with us ^^ - and proving that yes, 3d in VN has a future, and even a present!
more funny than minus: - Zack describes Braden in the beginning as a hairless twink... but B's legs are freaking HAIRY! 0_o - they must be starving on a harsh diet, cause when they go to the cafeteria, no food no drinks! NEVER! XD
EDIT: i saw you mentioned sound and license in another comment... doesn't Incompetech give away music for very cheap or even free?
Yo, first off...thank you for the insanely detailed post and comments. I appreciate the time you took. I'll be honest, the part I think I'm the most excited about (for you) is that you're enjoying the game so far and you're still in the part of the game that I consider the weakest part. This game starts off slow because I had no clue what I was doing. It really starts to only develop around Chapter 3 imo. I really wanna go back and fix the earlier parts but I'm really stoked you enjoyed it anyway. Honestly, I'm more excited at your reaction moving forward. It's just fun to read posts where people get all worked up about the project. Thanks for the thoughts. it really means a lot :)
Bruh. This was supposed to be weak so far. I played it for like five minutes got addicted and played it for several hours every night I was so upset when I realized that I had reached all you had done so far. I am so excited to see where this goes man. I've never read a better more accurate depiction of what runs through someones head. If I had money to spare I would certainly have pain probably 30 dollars just for the game. Please keep up the good work. Oh p.s. the romantic scenes are my very parts so please make sure you keep those up.
heh, the beginning is def the weakest. I didn't really have a writing style or anything. I've gradually gotten more confident and better and accepted that it's better to take things slow rather than rush them. Plus, having another guy that's more experienced with writing and that I trust with my life helps to give me feedback and pointers. That makes a world of difference in the flow of the story and the overall tone.
Dont worry about the financial support though, i'm not a greedy person. Kind words work for me as well. You can always spread the word about the game, too. Honestly, there's about a million ways to be supportive rather than just paying and I appreciate all of them. Game is free for a reason and it's already gotten far more donation support than I ever imagined possible.
And there's plenty of romance. TBH, my fav two scenes in the game are both imo the most romantic. I love those scenes and they're incredibly intense to write. There's gonna be more :)
PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT!
sooo… now that i just finished VIII, i KNOW what you meant about it getting better. everything i said before multiplied by a bunch! the renders have improved a lot, i think just after i wrote the last comment. especially various cool cam angles and a lot of new locations. love it when you totally go off from VN style into a real, free 3d story! the whole going out of the dorms/college is excellent, way to go! actually everywhere they went, i liked. also Braden’s toony slidermania side smile is finally gone, lol (didn’t comment on that one, i knew - or at least hoped - you’d fix it ^^). generally Braden looks sexier, i suck at comparing things but whatever you did worked! Z’s makeover too. the quality of everything just improved. then also yeah, action-wise, some wicked scenes too ^___^ … now we’re talking! guess i had to pick my jaw off the floor too XDD. btw, also loved the 1st kiss anim, it was beautiful! the beach games and drunk B were too much, man, i laughed my ass off so hard there were tears and it almost hurt XDD. and then.. yeah, i laughed less. but the 3 way bonding was great. also the pool lesson was awesome. i noticed you had woven a lot more seriousness into the story, introspection, drama, heartwringing situations. however… nothing could have prepared me for the last last part… 0_o … i’m still reeling. me too, i’m still standing out there, gaping. soo glad they went for this lesson omfg. still, really looking for the next chapter, just to know how they fare…
EDIT: y’know.. what i really like with this story is the feeling of being one of the guys, sitting there listening to them. to their daily hilarious chitchat about everything and nothing, banter, messing with each other… to such extent, i think i’ve never seen that, not even in fanfiction. i wrote sth in that direction once but it was all imagination… to any dude it’s just what you live - for me it’s so detailed i appreciate cause yeah.. fat chance i’ll ever experience it ~
The game has always had a serious purpose and tone to it. I like to think that it's more "adult" in the sense based on it's issues rather than the actual content. I just chose to make a story without any real limitations and I like that. I'm glad you stuck it out through the first part, that i thought was weaker because I think it does get a lot better once I figured out how to write better. Hopefully, i'll continue to improve with the help of the other two guys I have propping me up. I'm also glad you appreciate the banter. I think that's what truly makes it a real slice of life story. The banter, while sometimes funny and comedic, provides insight and background at the same time and has it's own way of providing character development. Plus, i think conersations like that are just part of real life, debating random shit that doesn't matter with friends is something most of us have probably done. But yeah, thanks for the love and I'm glad you like it. We still got some story left to tell, too
Itch.io only let's me put one link up from what I can tell but you can download the MAC version from the Patreon site. Here's the most recent link for ya:
Working on it now. Each chapter seems to take longer because we try and do new things. That last one was probably the best one we've done though. I'm trying to work on upping the graphic quality for this next one
Heh, thanks a lot. It's been a really passionate project..both with the writing and just the emotional experience and relationships I've made through it.
I so can imagine, man. Both your characters and you deserve a hug. The story is very deep and strong, a feature almost non-existent in gay themed games. Thank you again!
I wish I could just hug really tight both Zack and Braden, they're the cutest, and that's thank to you.
Second, I'm quite new to the Visual Novel area, and I'm loving it, but from the novels I've seen, most of them have the "Gallery" section where you can find some of the most important or remarkable moments of the story, do you intend to (can't think of any other verb, I'm really sleepy and english is my second language, so I'll probably misuse the word) put this Gallery stuff on the game?
That's all, I'm loving your novel and can't wait till the next chapter! (they were so cute at the pool and then the dorm was like that???? so much I wanted to see, and now so much goes through my head "what they're going to do now? where they'll stay? WHAT ABOUT THE PICTURE???? was anybody in there? how that happened?", a lot of questions and I just want to see those boys happy together) thanks for your work and hope everything goes well! ^^
Thanks for the love and I feel like Zack and Braden could both use a hug right about now. So in terms of the "gallery" feature, I'm going to give you an honest response to this question. I have no idea how to do it. lol. Basically, each update, I try and learn a little something new with the coding and stuff. I know a lot of people were interested in the gallery feature early on so I just left all the images unlocked in the game directory. What you'l notice on a lot of games is that they archive all the images in the game into one file (usually an .rpa file) and you can't see them. I don't do any archiving with Str8. So if you go into the game folder and look for an images folder, you can browse every pic in the game. That was my early answer to a "gallery." Eventually something like that may be added in game but honestly, there's sooooo many pictures I don't know how how to start the process of picking which ones would go in the gallery. But for now, if you want shots like that you can just look in the images folder and do what you want with them.
In terms of the game moving forward....yeah.... people were pretty surprised i think with the cliffhanger and that shit hurt my soul to even write it. But we move onward and hopefully you'll realize it had a purpose. Hell, I still have questions... good news is the next update won't be as emotionally rough as this one was. That last chapter was freakin' HEAVY.
Thanks for the reply, now I just wanna hug em more ^^
I didn't really know about the image folder, totally checking that later (or right now, probably now), and don't worry about the gallery stuff, it's hard, not only to do the coding (which I respect you so much for (you and Blayke already do so much (I get tired just thinking of all the work, every step, it's a lot))), but to pick just a few pics to put there, so being able to check them all is efficient and save you from a lot of stress.
And you're killing me - YOU'RE KILLING ME - I was so happy and then Braden goes to the locker room - I died a little there - but everything turns out okay, more then okay, THEN the beach, I actually cried - and died a little harder - but again things were fine. And then, the dorms... I'm dead, but okay. Thanks again for the story, I can totally relate to Zack and this makes things really meaningful to me, can't wait for the next chapter (you're cliffhanger totally worked, I'm super hyped ^^)!!!
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Is a nice story, a good idea. But it's excessively long. Finally, it get me bored.
I tend to like longer stories so I like the length of it. I'm not really a fan of a game that you can burn through in an hour or two. There's not enough time to get to know the complexities of the characters. Plus, the purpose of the game is to confront deeply ingrained feelings from the MC; to overcome those in a quick story would defeat the purpose
Str8 is not so much about entertainment or getting a quick fix but rather about telling a complex story with deep characterization. This takes time. It's also the type of story I like most :-)
Hi! Firstly, I love this game. This plot, this story ... they are incredible. Many thanks to the creators. And I would like to offer my help in localization and start translating the game into Russian :)
Hey, thanks a lot for the love. I've been holding off on translations because the game needs reworked; specifically the beginning. I was very new to everything required for the project and I've been learning as I go. So i'm going to finish the first draft of the game and then go back and rework the beginning. After that's complete, I'll probably look at translations--a lot of people have been interested in translations
theres only one route right
yes...ish. There's some multiple choices here and there and there's 2 perspectives on the route that will play out later
I absolutely love the story line, honestly one of the best I've ever played through. In some sense I really feel Zack's character speak to me because I'm also spacey and afraid of being out and honestly his high school experience is damn near similar as mine when it comes to my social experience. I started out watching chrizstorm sometime a year ago and going through this game myself, it's really was inspiring. I can't wait for the next updates !! Keep up the good work !!
Thanks a lot. You been around for awhile then if you date back to Chris' earlier videos. Glad you're still hooked. It means a lot that you think it ranks up there among the best you've seen. Thank you :)
OMG I haven't even beat the game and I want them to make a 2nd. I love how the story line is, and the people, and EVERYTHING!!!!!! I hope when you guys are done with this game you make a 2nd like where they are now adults or maybe do the same thing with new people or new people with a new setting! I really wish you best of luck on this game!!!! I'll be praying for the next!!!!!!!! (If there is one lol)
haha, thanks for the love. glad you're enjoying it. Curious to see what you think when you get done with the current content
But I think you badly need a break after you finish Str8, before you even think on making a 2nd one, Aaryn :-))
this is very true
Indeed lol, I also go to the end of chapter 9. I can't wait to see what happens next though!!
But I was kinda shocked of what happened though ;-;
yeaaah... i think most of the people that have been around for awhile are used to the cliffhangers by now :P
finally taking some time for VNs again, and i noticed that YAY, v.18 is here! (i had v.17 with the “hot” ending…) ~ looking forward to play - but just a question: some games here, when you update them, your saves or pretty much everything you had goes down the drain. how is it with str8, no danger of annihilation if i install the zip?
ah and i just got a warning from chrome, doesn’t wanna download the zip cuz insecure. guess it’s just because it’s an exe, hence false warning (chrome hasn’t done this on me yet, i only use it since last year when FF went 57… and my 56 started displaying wonky sites) - still, how comes?
heya:)
So yes, using old saves will completely wreck the game and you'll get error messages. There's a warning screen when you boot the game up that says not to use old saves and there's definitely a reason for that. That's the most common bug report I get. Basically, if you get an error messages that has "not defined" in it somewhere, that's the old save error. Basically just click new game and then you'll see an "update" spot there. Answer a couple questions which will reconfig your previous choices then it'll drop you at the end of the last update .
And yeah, that google thing is a false warning. it does that with a lot of indie VNs like this
ok, i’ll try to answer so i’m kinda back “to where i was” with my choices..
and yeah i just got another warning about a zip from a site - not VN - where it didn’t do this like 2-3 weeks ago. must be some “improvement” from a recent chrome update :/ - nothing to do with your files
gotta love updates, right /sarcasmoff
hope you enjoy it tho :)
so… didn’t even manage to play or even install my last update, and yay, there’s a new one! RL tends to come in the way of my gaming these days, lmao. anyways, i guess i can just dump the last update and DL this one here?
yep, you can probably do that although if you start a new game and hit "update", it's gonna drop you at the end of the last update so you'll miss content. You may wanna start chapter 8 from the start then
The game was amazing till now.
I like how the characters are unique and not cookie-cutter gay stereotypes. They are pretty relatable. I also really like how you didn't rush to the erotic stuff.
The one issue I have with the game is Max. I don't think he has ever done anything to anger/annoy Zack. The only thing I remember was when he shoved him while entering the swimming locker room. But does that really warrant Zack's outlook of him for the first half of the game? I honestly don't think so.
I'm a broke college student so I really cannot pay for this right now. But really, this game is worth it.
[Vague Spoilers]
thanks for the....kinda... nice words. Having a hard time figuring out whether you're complimenting the game or criticizing it. I assumed that you played until the end of the current build so I'm not really sure what "outlook" you're talking about with Zack towards Max because there wasn't much of that in the last update. There's been a pretty consistent impression of Max throughout the story based on the way Max carries himself. Sure, he shoved Zack that one time but there's been about a dozen other instances of interactions throughout the story where the audience mostly believed Max to be a dick. Overall, the feedback indicated that most people thought Zack justified. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say otherwise so I guess I was confused what you meant from this update that was so bad and changed your outlook. I probably got the most praise in the game's history for Max's character arc in this update and honestly I'm pretty proud of it because I think it was unpredictable in every way. The people who liked Max before were mostly attracted to his "bad boy" attitude--which very much contradicts Zack who is much more empathetic. You just totally lost me with the "amazing until now" comment because I'm not sure what outlook you're talking about that occurred "now."
But, just to clarify: the game is free and will always be free. You dont have to pay for it. It's run entirely on donations so feel free to download here for free or from the Patreon site for free. Hopefully, you didn't pay for it on accident. The website here just asks for donations but shouldn't bug you too much. There's no obligation.
*Heavy Spoilers*
Max was indeed portrayed as a dick most of the time in the first half and I guess Mikhails introduction of Max as someone who sold secretly made videos of his mother and sisters didn't help much either :-). Although I think that the plotline "Total dick with hidden depths" isn't completely unique, it was well written and his development felt very natural. I thought that his lack of social skills might even be a side effect of him sharing some traits with his autistic brother?
Hello Aaryn! Love your game so much. The characters feel so real to me. Aaand they are gorgeous on top! Kudos to you and your artists.
I was so shocked when Zach lied to Mikhail in the locker room. Story of my life, really. I was about 14 years old when it struck me that I'm gay. My next thought was "No one must know, ever!", sadly. I never hated being gay, though. I mean, how can something that makes me feel so good be a bad thing? But my fear of rejection was too strong. So I avoided the issue or lied outright.
Then there was this boy in my class. I liked him a lot and probably ogled him a bit too obvious :-). One day he confronted me during handicrafts lessons and asked me if I liked him. I said yes, but it came out like "Yes, but not the way you want it". There was someone actually interested in me and I couldn't bring myself to admit openly that I was gay. Not in front of the others. Your game brought all this back and I thought how my life could have changed if I where open with him then.
I was well in my thirties when I finally came out to family and friends. It was a big thing for me then, but most people where like "So what, we suspected it all along!". Funny thing is, I never faced open rejection, it was all in my head. I had my "Years of service" in the gay community, the marching, the partying, working in the gay association. People think usually that I'm fun to have around, but inside still this little voice whispers "No one must know!" and it's so damn hard for me to be open and really close with people.
P.S. If you need any help with translations, spell checking or coding, I'm game :-). I'm German btw. and have some experience with coding projects, published some myself on Nexusmods.com
Wow. I keep coming back here for players' real-life experiences. I'm glad that you finally confront your inner fear and live the life you want. That's my fight too. Btw, I'm not in the development team but you can reach Aaryn - the developer via Twitter for instant reply.
Thank you for your reply and all the best wishes for you on your way. We are all in this together, and we don't walk alone!
Thank you so much. The same to you.
My last reply was somewhat generic and I felt a bit guilty about it :-). I've just read your other posts and how much you had to work through. I'm so happy for you that you have this much psychological insight at your age and good friends to talk to. When I was 21 I had not the faintest inkling of how to handle my feelings and I felt like there was no one I could talk to about it. It took many years for me to work through all this and confront my fears. Times were different then, almost 40 years ago, and information was hard to come by.
I'm so glad to know that you read my story so no need to feel sorry about that 😙 In my darkest days at highschool, I had to deal with my parents, lovers, friends and studying at the same time all by myself, which was way too much for a teenager. Parents checked all my messages without my consent and threatened my boyfriend and me, my boyfriends ditched me 3 times, friends at school verbally harrassed my sexuality (I realize I have that internalized homophobia too) At least, I have been through the worst situation so what could be worse :)))?
I can completely sympathize to your situation when being gay was treated as a sin. In Asia, people are still judgemental about this subject so coming out is always a long story. I even have to make a plan for this :)))) and the worst scenerio might be me being kicked out of my own family 😔
No, thanks for the story. I love people sharing like this. Usually when people complain about the lack of porn in the game, I usually point to messages like this and remind them that I didn't make the game to make them bust--i did it for reasons like this. i wanted people to see a realistic coming of age tale that's really hard for the MC to accept themselves. I wanted to show that sexual journey and ways that someone could overcome internalized homophobia--kinda like what you're talking about. Glad you appreciated it. I def appreciate the story and just hearing that it had an impact on people :)
Just finished Chapter 9. I like the "brotherly love" / more than a friendship Scene with Zach and Mikhail at the pool. You took a page from Aristotle's philia concept? :-). Regarding porn scenes: there's no end of that on the net, really. But a good story that tickles your imagination is hard to come by. And you got a lot of really strong scenes in the game that left my imagination running wild :-). I made a small contribution on your Patreonsite just to be part of this effort.
Thank you for taking us along on your journey!
Thanks a lot for the contribution but even more thanks for the kind words. It means a lot to me. Comments like this are really validating. It's interesting to see how the market has changed from people demanding porn in the game to that now being the minority opinion--which is exactly what i wanted :)
I'm glad i could help :-). It never gets old to get constructive feedback on your projects, right?
Can you come over now and hold me tight, please? No? Oh well, I'll have to use my imagination than :-))
I spent 6 hours straight playing this game yesterday and now I'm at chapter 3. I create this account just to give some comment.
This game hit me so hard on the story plot. So far, I love how all characters are portraited as unique but still relatable types of people when facing sexuality-related issues. I find parts of me in every character here: denial in Braden, confusion in Zach and confidence when solving others' problems in Mikhail. I am so surprised to see how character development is so well-built here unlike the majority of NSFW game filled with pornographic stuff. Can't wait to see how far this story goes. Great job.
Update: I have just finished the lastest chapter. I must say I taste my own tears this time. I love every single bonding moment here, not just the stuff between Zach and Braden. The hidden messages behind every twist are so relatable and meaningful to me as a teacher craving for inspirational stories. I used to be the golden child so I know the burden when being highly expected by my family. I used to be labelled, discriminated and made fun of at highschool. I used to be afraid of myself and hate myself for being who I was. I can all feel that just in a chapter itself. It's not that easy to overcome these but thanks to my priceless friends, I embrace my value and love myself in a more proper way. I am looking forward to observing how far these wholesome dudes will reach. I'm a big fan of you now.
I know exactly how you feel. I grew up with a father who was homophobic due to having been sexually assaulted as a teenager, which made even talking about how I feel nearly impossible and a high school that, charitably wasn't the most socially progressive in the world. All the loneliness Zack feels is exactly how I've felt for much of my life. Reading/going through this story is very cathartic and helpful, fiction or not.
Wow. I feel so sorry for your experience. Is everything alright now?
For the family part, my parents made me think of suicide as they knew about my relationship in highschool. I struggled to discover myself and confront my family at the same time. I had no one to ask for help or talk to. I completely feel you bro.
I think, we don't have the right to choose where we are born but we do have the right to choose the way we live. Maybe it's not an easy path to walk through but we still survive and become who we are today. At least, we can be sympathetic to others and even our own children if one day they come out of the closet. (Trust me I really want to have kids around 👨👧👦 ) Now, being about to graduate from college as a teacher, I am trying my best to help my students having problem discovering their sexuality. We can't change the past but we can make an impact for a better future.
For all the things we have been through, we all deserve a Zach or Braden in our life.
Things are better now. One of the biggest additional problems in the day is, that my first language is English and I live in Quebec, Canada. I grew up during the height of the nationalist era there where the English were absolutely hated on by a large chunk of the province (to the point that I was assaulted more than once). I could only really deal with 1 crisis at a time and that one went on for years. It's better now, and I have a good friend I can talk to about things, but I have an empathy for what others go through with discrimination and overthinking (as I do it all the time). I think that, more than anything is what I empathise most about the Zack character; what he does is something I've been doing for most of my life.
I'm just glad to hear that you are doing ok now. We all have the part of Zach inside where we collect all the thoughts and start digging around. Sometimes we make things even more complicated than they truly are. For me, having someone to talk to is a great way as they are your anchor whenever you are submerged in the train of thought. I'm trying to think simple and listen to my inner feelings more so I can help myself even when there's no one beside. By the way, I'm just 21 but I have to think twice more than others being at the same age. Thanks for sharing your story even you don't know me. That means a lot to me.
Thanks for listening and responding. It's been nice to chat about these things.
This game really is amazing. I very much enjoy how much depth there is to every character, rather than them just being 2D stereotypes.
Also, are we going to see more of Cody? 'Cause man he's so cute and innocent, I love him already (plus he's well fit and my type XP)! I wonder what him and the other wrestling guys get up to in the showers and sauna after a hard training session...
Might we at some point even get the option to move in with him instead of Mikky and Mash?
Seriously well done on both the writing and the character design! I'm already excited for the next update!
On a side note, are there any differences thus far between the pervy and respect route? Cause I havn't found any yet, though I might just be missing something.
So no comment about Cody because I want to avoid any spoilers for people. But I will confirm there's only one "route" in contrast to many other games. This game has more of a purpose to it than it is based on the selection of romantic routes.
I do appreciate the support and I'm glad you like the writing. It continues to be humbling to get compliments like this.
There are subtle differences between the two routes :)
I love this game😍 Compliments for you.
Request: can you make a secret "scene" between max and zack like a cheating thing cuz max abs dude..
thanks for the support :)
I can't really add anything like that in the game because it would break the story completely from where we are right now. As you probably know, if I write something into the game, it has to have consequences and something that drastic would be fairly detailed. To add something like that into the already established game would most likely end up being one of those "game over" scenarios and I"ve sorta avoided game overs. Juggling multiple choices in hard to keep track of an organize. I'm not very good at that stuff. So that's why I just chose to do 2 stories well rather than half ass like 7 different routes
Okay. I appreciate your answer.
Aaryn! Love the story. I appreciate all the hard work you put into this. Do you have any social media sites where you post updates on how the writing is going or anything like that?
yep, so the main page we work from is www.patreon.com/aaryn. That's where the updates go first. It also has Discord links on the site if that's something you're interested in.
In terms of social media, both me and my co-writer have twitter accounts if you wanna check us out.
https://twitter.com/Aaryn_Str8
https://twitter.com/YBlayke
Oh my gosh! I can't believe I finally found your page, I love this game! but as i'm brazilian i don't understand much of english hahaha, if you could do a translation into portuguese i would appreciate it very much! Thanks for showing me this amazing game! Kisses and see you soon!
Heya:)
I can't believe you got that excited to find the page. lol. This is a rough game to try and translate because it's written with a ton of American slang that spans multiple generations. I think we'll translate it eventually but I want to wait until it's done. Translating it right now is just too much work considering the beginning of the game will likely change. I dont want to have to keep updating translations over and over again. Hopefully, you can wait that long. I know a few others have expressed interest in Portuguese as well
oh my god finally!! the newest version!
yuuuup :) hope you enjoy. i liked it a lot
when will the next update come out?
I really love this game!
You can check on the patreon site for the most up to date stuff. Just released the newest update to those who donate to the project on Patreon, however that update will go free to the public on Aug 22. You'll probably want to download it straight from the patreon site then because this site is one of the last ones I usually update just because it's really confusing to me
I get a crash shortly after they get to coffee shop and start talking to the guy from Braden's wrestling team about where Braden is staying. If you ignore it - it cycles you back to where Braden is introducing Zach. And on in a loop same crash point - same fall back.
I recorded the error message.
(and I want to say before i forget - you writing keep improving; I can feel their anguish - intense work - VERY impressive!!)
```
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 36114, in script
menu:
File "game/script.rpy", line 36115, in <module>
"How's the job?" if CodyJob1 == False:
NameError: name 'CodyJob1' is not defined
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "game/script.rpy", line 36114, in script
menu:
File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 1609, in execute
choice = renpy.exports.menu(choices, self.set, args, kwargs, item_arguments)
File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\exports.py", line 943, in menu
condition = renpy.python.py_eval(condition)
File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\python.py", line 1961, in py_eval
return py_eval_bytecode(code, globals, locals)
File "C:\Users\kruegerm\Downloads\mk\Str8-v0.18-pc\renpy\python.py", line 1954, in py_eval_bytecode
return eval(bytecode, globals, locals)
File "game/script.rpy", line 36115, in <module>
"How's the job?" if CodyJob1 == False:
NameError: name 'CodyJob1' is not defined
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
Ren'Py 7.2.2.491
Str8 v0.18
Thu Aug 06 18:31:55 2020
```
heya. Thanks for the love on the writing. That game error is because you used an old save game. If you're gonna start that chapter, hit New game and choose the chapter again and you should be good
DOH. Now I feel like an idiot, LOL. You HAVE said that before, I don't know why I missed it. Thanks - that fixed the issue.
And more "love on the writing" -- your development of characters is awesome this chapter. ALL characters. I'm beginning to wonder how much of YOU is being exposed here :) Truly a great work!
Now ... about cliff hanger endings ....
don't hate me :p
i just created an account so i could comment on how well the storyline and game play is.
lowkey sad i kinda want what they have haha... usually i dont bother to read the story but im very much into it. i cant wait for more updates and im only in the middle of it, not wanting to end the chapter.
aw, thanks a lot. Hopefully, you realize the game gets better as i figured out what i was doing. Good news is this is still the free version and we just dropped an update on the Patreon site that adds another 2 hours of gameplay on. That will be free here in 3 weeks too if you dont wanna donate to get it earlier. lemme know what you think as the story goes on more :)
is it PC only i have a mac?
Nope, there's a Mac build. itch.io, only let's me upload one file so I only post the PC build. You can download the MAC version for free over on the Patreon site here https://www.patreon.com/aaryn
Hello Aaryn, Str8 is one of the best animation novels I have come across. I have just joined as an Elite member of your Patron. Can you let me know when the next chapters will come out and where I can download them? I was gutted after chapter 8 finished as I wanted more
aw, hey thanks Paul. The next part should be done before long. I've been working on it. There's also a pretty lengthy write up on the Patreon to give you an idea of what to expect for a timeline as well as content.
And dont hate me for that ending :p
Hello, I wish you had the game in Portuguese :(
Yeah, sorry. I havne't done any translations right now becuase this is still the rough draft of the game. No reason to translate until it's finished. Then I'll prob take a look at translations
I really never comment on anything, but I felt the need to do here-
Normally I download these tipe of games just for the nsfw scenes, but this game managed to catch me very early on with its story and characters.
The way it depicts how confused one can be about things like sexuality, a crush on someone you don't want to damage your relationship with, plus the writing, honestly made me really love this game. It's amazing, the best one i've played so far.
The only thing I would like to point out, is that it has no sound, so a little bit of background music or sound would be really cool ^^
I can't wait for the next update, thank you for working on this game <3
Thanks for the love and your appreciation early on. It means a lot considering I think the beginning is by far the weakest part of the game. In terms of sound, it's on the list. The game is still very much in development and you can consider this pre-alpha stage at this point. Sound is one of the last things that we'll probably add and I want it to be meaningful when we do add it
Hey! I absolutely love this game.
I am in the same boat as Braden rn, I thought I was straight but a guy has really been heating me up and I feel like he is super amazing. This game is honestly a reflection of where I am in life right now and I REALLY enjoy it! I seriously hope more crops up soon :D
Heya, I'm glad that you can relate with Braden's character. I caught some shit on other sites because many of the gay players were automatically assuming that Braden was in denial--which is the point of his character in the first place--that sexuality doesn't always fit all the labels, regardless of how many we keep making. I wanted to give people that felt that way a voice through his character
Oh really? That is horrible :/
I think Braden's sexual frustration and unlability was perfect, especially for people like me - games and characters like thisneed to happen so people questioning - like me - can have more inspiration!
Definitely one of the reasons that Braden's character is like that. I've tried to put quite a few minority characteristics within these characters because the media tends to really create a stereotype of sexuality that isn't congruent with how many people are. I wanted to normalize people that don't fit the stereotype and validate that that's ok.
Well you have done a great job so far!
I love how this game is redefining labels and what it means to be an NSFW game - it is a wild wide and one I am looking forward to traveling down :) mad props to your dev team!
Thanks a lot. Hopefully, it continues to improve
oh, also, i think there are some punctuation issues, but nothing too much.
and, if you're accepting some constructive criticism, i think you guys could work a bit on the characters' facial expressions.
also, if there were more characters, like extras in the outside areas and in classes, it'd be great!
still, what an excellent game!
So as you progress through the game, hopefully you'll see things get better (including facial expressions). This is my first project and I had no previous experience at all. I'm just learning as I go so you can consider this version a rough draft. My old computer system was too much of a potato to handle extra characters in the original version of the game but later, based on donations, I was able to afford a new system--which is why you see things gradually get beter and the scenes start to fill out a bit more. So yeah, it's a work in progress and this entire version of the game is just practice
wow....
this game really caught me off guard.
it is genuinely the best nsfw game i've ever played.
i loved every bit of it and i really related to Zack and his sexuality issues. thank you so much for this.
also, the characters' development was amazing. the story was just surprisingly very well written and absolutly fantastic.
now i can't wait for the next update!! is there a date? also, since we won't be able to use the saves from the last update, are we going to play through the entire story all over again?
ps: the body hair looked great! nice details
Yo,
hey thanks for the love. Saying it's the best NSFW game out there is a decent compliment considering that i felt like it was so niche in the beginning. A lot of people just look for straight up porn stuff and this game completely throws that out the window for story-based content and just happens to not have limits related to any content (including the sexual stuff). There's currently not an ETA on the next update. Covid destroyed my current work schedule but I'm still working on it. It'll drop on my Patreon first for the supporters there and then I'll update the link for the free version 3 weeks after that. I'm glad you related to the story, it's close to my heart and very personal to me so I'm glad it reached you. Thanks for the support :)
A few years ago, I fell in love with my straight college roommate. He was a swimmer and he was beautiful - we'd talk for hours, hang around in our underwear, sleep in the same bed, drink ourselves silly, and do nearly everything together. We were practically joined at the hip for a year. I could recognize his smell from hundreds of meters away. I was so fucking in love with him, and I didn't know how to cope.
So I lied to him.
I never said anything... at least not until everything blew up in my face. I think I'm still reeling from it.
I just wanted to tell you that this visual novel means so much to me. Not because it makes me feel like I'm living some alternate-fiction fantasy, but because I am learning that... maybe I should've told the truth. And even if we wouldn't end up like Braden and Zack, maybe I would find my own way to love him.
I love this piece of work, and I love you for making it. Thank you.
i knew from reading your first sentence that I was going to enjoy this reply and it was gonna hit me in the feels. These types of replies always mean the most to me because it sounds like you really experienced it the way I wanted people to. So thank you for that and thank you for checking in with the beautifully written note. It means more than you'll ever know. I don't know how your story would have turned out and whose to say that Braden and Zack's will turn out any different. but you really validate a lot of what I wanted to share with people in this story and I'm glad you got to experience those moments with someone that you cared so deeply for. Thanks man :)
this is my first writing, too. I guess you just have to try and then learn as you go. that's all i'm doing. I got a good community, good early (but critical) feedback, and I'm working with some friends that mean the world to me.
we've talked about UE4 but using renpy was much easier in the beginning for me since i had no coding experience. Full 3d just sounded really intimidating but i won't say that we've ruled it out for the future either
When will the next update come out? Can you give us any spoilers?
I'm working on it. All the covid stuff increased my regular job workload exponentially but i'm still working on the game after work most days until late. As the game nears the ending, things will get more complex from a writing standpoint because I need to pull everything together. I dont want a bunch of loose ends and I dont want it to feel like Season 6 of Game of Thrones either. So the writing slows down a bit to try and weave everything together. Hell, the middle part of the game and the beginning were quick and easier to write (although we all know the beginning really needs some work now that I've learned a bit more).
No spoilers, though. I accidently blurt enough crap out on the Patreon and the Discord. I will way the next episode wont be as much of an emotional rollercoaster as the last one. We all need to calm down a bit after all that.
Amazing game cant wait for more
thanks a lot :)
This game is really sad but beautiful and I hope you not only finish it but go on to create many games like this
my creative side is pretty dramatic and, quite honestly, kinda bleak. I'm glad you see the beauty in it though. I think there's some beautiful moments in this game that i'm beyond proud of. Thank you for your best wishes. I hope this one isn't the end either :)
Hi, love your game and can't wait for the next chapters!!!
Good idea I propose would be to give the players a way to control the erotic scenes... Like arrows to control the animated movements: faster, slower, next scene, etc. This would allow us to take the time we need to see the action ;).
The rest is just amazing and the sexual tension built during all the game is extactic!!! Thanks!!!
yo, thanks for the feedback. I'll see what I can do. I have a lot of great ideas, too--but execution of those ideas is a different story. This is a very very small team of people helping me do this. It's basically me doing this thing with the support of two buddies that help me as they can. It's insane how long it takes to do animation. You literally have to position each movement in each frame. Then you factor in the rendering of those frames and you're probably looking at a month or two for each shot. Without saying spoilers, the ending animation of Chapter 8 took 9 months to do by itself
Thanks and I completely understand. I will definately buy the game when it will be completed. I could also donate now but don't like the monthtly thing... Is there a way for a one shot gift?
So you have a couple choices on the donation thing. You can do it through here and just donate for the download or you can do it through the Patreon. I know you said you're not a fan of the monthly donation but you can actually specify a custom amount on the monthly subscription on the Patreon and just do it for one month and cancel. The advantage of doing that is that you unlock all the custom Patreon stuff over there as long as you donate $10 or more. Long as you cancel before the 1st of the next month, you wouldn't get charged again. Even if you did get charged again, you can just DM me and i'll refund (i'm not in the business of trying to screw people out of cash). If you try and do something and mess it up over there, again, you can just DM me and we'll figure it out--people do that all the time that are new to Patreon.
One other thing is that the finished version of the game will still be FREE. The idea here is to run this entire thing on donations and that's it. No ads, no cost, all free--forever. I make enough off of it now to fund the project so there's no more cost out of pocket for me. However, if funds run low, sometimes I have to make cuts or just wait a bit longer to save up for things. But for the most part, the donations are covering the costs. Regardless, the game will never cost--ive said that from the beginning and I plan to stick with it.
Thanks, much appreciated!
this game has the most realistic and relatable conversation in all adult games i 've played, and the chemistry is also great.......
Hey thanks. That was one of the things I wanted to make shine in this game. I wanted conversations and dialogue that mattered, while simultaneously sometimes NOT mattering--because that's how real dialogue is between people. Regardless, it gives us insight into the characters and the joking banter between guys is just fun. I'll also admit that I tried really hard to make the dialogue transcend generational differences--so it's purposely all over the place in an attempt to try and appeal to the widest audience. Not sure if it comes across that way but that was the idea :)
That's awesome. Usually when I play a sex game, I just want to skip straight to the sex scene, but this game got me more interested in the dialogue and the plot than the sex. For me, it's not just a sex game, but also a romantic experience. And I'm a Chinese player, so this game also helped me with my English and how to express my self around STRAIGHT dudes. ❤️❤️❤️
I think the erotic scenes are better when there's genuine build-up for them. While this game teases, there's purpose to the teasing because of the shotcomings and where the characters are in their lives. Rather than finding the adult content sexual, it's almost like you're rooting for them
Geez, this game. I can’t express my words well enough to even manage to DESCRIBE how good of a job you did!! I have never seen anything like this, or this good, and would love to see more and wish people could look at your work as an example ;) I honestly can’t wait for the next update, and feel like I’m waiting for a song or movie to be released!! I really hope this won’t be a one time project, and hope you will make more of these!!!
wow, thanks a lot. I really do want to redefine the genre here. Although the game takes some time to get started, I hope where the story has gone made up for some of the early newbie hiccups--had zero idea what I was doing. I have some other ideas for projects but one thing at a time--I'm not very good at multitasking with things like this. Glad you liked it though and it means a lot that you took the time to express the impact :)
Don’t worry, keep up the good stuff! By the way, the later chapters definitely make up the first chapters! Hope this story progressed is amazing! Hope you are doing great!
Thanks a lot. I'd never written anything before. Feel like I'm getting the hang of it and I got a good coach
Oh my god! Where do I begin? I actually made this itch.io account specifically to comment on this game because I enjoyed it so much. I just love the way you write everything! The little nods to psychology are fun too because I'm currently studying it at college.
Sometimes these medias and games can be quite childish with various themes of sexuality and image but the way you write feels so genuine and real, to the extent where the advice various characters are giving resonates to real life in a strange and profound way.
Usually in these games, there's a character who sticks out like a sore thumb because of how annoying or unlikable they are but this is one of those rare exceptions. All of the characters are really amazing. I love how fleshed out (no pun intended) they all feel.
Just reached the end of the game so far and, I read the patch notes so I knew a cliffhanger was coming, I just certainly didn't expect something so... severe :O.
Please continue what you're doing! You're so talented at it! I hope you stay well during these times.
Yo, thanks for the reaction man and thanks for taking the time to not only make an account but leave a thoughtful reply. It's also cool to see another psych guy (I'm one, too) that can pickup on a lot of the easter eggs and stuff. There's a ton that's genuine here and I'm glad you like it. I agree that a lot of VNs are very childish, something that my game caught some flack in the beginning for being too serious in the issues that it tackled until people warmed up to the emotional ride that it takes you on. I'm glad you dig the characters, too...despite there being so few. I had no idea what i was doing so i kept the cast small and more manageable to help with learning as i go. And sorry i broke your heart with the cliffhanger--longtime fans are used to it by now. Since you just made the account for here, we also have a discord server if you check out the patreon. You can actually hit us up directly there too..faster than feedback on here. You stay safe too-- world is crazy right now
I'm honestly loving this game, it's the story and the character development that gets me to play it for hours! Keep up the great work! I just finished Ch 8, I am really looking forward for what's to come for them. :)))
yo, thanks a lot for the luv. Glad you liked it. There's still some story left. Just slow progress right now but it's still in the works
still in the middle of playing, wanted to give some feedback tho.
first: AWE-SOME! first time i see a 3d VN that doesn't make me cringe. i love VN, i love 3d - and i love yaoi/BL/MM. but up to now i never stumbled on a good 3d VN, ESPECIALLY not a MM one...
your renders are great, and there's such a sheer number of them, like wow, new set of scenes all the time for every occasion. kudos on the amazing amount of work behind that. the characters are well done, and Zack is hawt AF. excellent posing/expressions/scenes setup too. i like that you use full renders for your scenes, and not VN style just a BG and sprites. and the animated scenes (2 images? i cheated and checked the folder... now i can have my own private 2-image slideshows lol), hmmmm. yesss. yup, i mean those scenes XD. it's fun too to see their clothes melting into nothing when they strip.
language is real, i appreciate, and those two are hilarious, i lmao'd a couple of times real loud ^^
good idea with the topics that can be unlocked for conversation.
there's a good balance of earnest stuff, slice of life etc, humor, hawt scenes (even if up to now it was solos, it was sensual and amazingly done. ok, said as a 3d dude lover but still... :D), and the story flows nicely. there's a lot of feeling there, and i can see why people identify with/understand Zack (i would too if i was a guy into dudes, which i sadly am only in my fantasy :/). and to see him slowly falling for Braden, more and more, emotionally and physically, while trying to respect him and not risk/fuck up their friendship - the gay man's balancing act...
Z & B not being stereotypes, i like that too, cause there are as many nuances of colors in the rainbow spectrum as there are individuals, and not all shine bright and flamboyant, but every single one is beautiful.
i'm not judging/commenting on where the story goes, where thru and who does what and why, or if drama here/there needs be or not - it's your story, your characters, and up to now, i like it. ^^ (atm i'm watching Zack sitting on a bench asking himself why he's doing psy as a major).
i don't mind the slow burner, it makes the wait worth it, if it comes too early/easy, there's like a disappointing moment just after... and geez please to those who expect easy porn, those sparse but well made solo scenes just at the right moment have riled me up more than some hardcore scenes in other VN. like when you go wtf watching a porny pic... instead of yum ~
the interface is slight, which i appreciate, it doesn't take unnecessary space and frills for nothing, but looks design and fitting all the same. (1 only thing, that you might even have fixed by now because it's a flaw: the speaker's name without background, unlike the text = not good, barely readable and just off design-wise, should be made like the text, like a tab over the text field. also the skip etc texts need a BG, they're barely visible).
the idea of giving them objects is awesome too and the objects are nicely rendered - tho there again, white square frame = meh, could be even more awesome with a colored BG + rounded frame, or as transparent png..
finally, did i mention this whole game is awesome? :D
so, looking forward to the rest of "my" game and possible updates!
thanks for creating and sharing this adventure with us ^^ - and proving that yes, 3d in VN has a future, and even a present!
more funny than minus:
- Zack describes Braden in the beginning as a hairless twink... but B's legs are freaking HAIRY! 0_o
- they must be starving on a harsh diet, cause when they go to the cafeteria, no food no drinks! NEVER! XD
EDIT: i saw you mentioned sound and license in another comment... doesn't Incompetech give away music for very cheap or even free?
Yo, first off...thank you for the insanely detailed post and comments. I appreciate the time you took. I'll be honest, the part I think I'm the most excited about (for you) is that you're enjoying the game so far and you're still in the part of the game that I consider the weakest part. This game starts off slow because I had no clue what I was doing. It really starts to only develop around Chapter 3 imo. I really wanna go back and fix the earlier parts but I'm really stoked you enjoyed it anyway. Honestly, I'm more excited at your reaction moving forward. It's just fun to read posts where people get all worked up about the project. Thanks for the thoughts. it really means a lot :)
Bruh. This was supposed to be weak so far. I played it for like five minutes got addicted and played it for several hours every night I was so upset when I realized that I had reached all you had done so far. I am so excited to see where this goes man. I've never read a better more accurate depiction of what runs through someones head. If I had money to spare I would certainly have pain probably 30 dollars just for the game. Please keep up the good work. Oh p.s. the romantic scenes are my very parts so please make sure you keep those up.
heh, the beginning is def the weakest. I didn't really have a writing style or anything. I've gradually gotten more confident and better and accepted that it's better to take things slow rather than rush them. Plus, having another guy that's more experienced with writing and that I trust with my life helps to give me feedback and pointers. That makes a world of difference in the flow of the story and the overall tone.
Dont worry about the financial support though, i'm not a greedy person. Kind words work for me as well. You can always spread the word about the game, too. Honestly, there's about a million ways to be supportive rather than just paying and I appreciate all of them. Game is free for a reason and it's already gotten far more donation support than I ever imagined possible.
And there's plenty of romance. TBH, my fav two scenes in the game are both imo the most romantic. I love those scenes and they're incredibly intense to write. There's gonna be more :)
PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT! sooo… now that i just finished VIII, i KNOW what you meant about it getting better. everything i said before multiplied by a bunch! the renders have improved a lot, i think just after i wrote the last comment. especially various cool cam angles and a lot of new locations. love it when you totally go off from VN style into a real, free 3d story! the whole going out of the dorms/college is excellent, way to go! actually everywhere they went, i liked. also Braden’s toony slidermania side smile is finally gone, lol (didn’t comment on that one, i knew - or at least hoped - you’d fix it ^^). generally Braden looks sexier, i suck at comparing things but whatever you did worked! Z’s makeover too. the quality of everything just improved. then also yeah, action-wise, some wicked scenes too ^___^ … now we’re talking! guess i had to pick my jaw off the floor too XDD. btw, also loved the 1st kiss anim, it was beautiful! the beach games and drunk B were too much, man, i laughed my ass off so hard there were tears and it almost hurt XDD. and then.. yeah, i laughed less. but the 3 way bonding was great. also the pool lesson was awesome. i noticed you had woven a lot more seriousness into the story, introspection, drama, heartwringing situations. however… nothing could have prepared me for the last last part… 0_o … i’m still reeling. me too, i’m still standing out there, gaping. soo glad they went for this lesson omfg. still, really looking for the next chapter, just to know how they fare…
EDIT: y’know.. what i really like with this story is the feeling of being one of the guys, sitting there listening to them. to their daily hilarious chitchat about everything and nothing, banter, messing with each other… to such extent, i think i’ve never seen that, not even in fanfiction. i wrote sth in that direction once but it was all imagination… to any dude it’s just what you live - for me it’s so detailed i appreciate cause yeah.. fat chance i’ll ever experience it ~
The game has always had a serious purpose and tone to it. I like to think that it's more "adult" in the sense based on it's issues rather than the actual content. I just chose to make a story without any real limitations and I like that. I'm glad you stuck it out through the first part, that i thought was weaker because I think it does get a lot better once I figured out how to write better. Hopefully, i'll continue to improve with the help of the other two guys I have propping me up. I'm also glad you appreciate the banter. I think that's what truly makes it a real slice of life story. The banter, while sometimes funny and comedic, provides insight and background at the same time and has it's own way of providing character development. Plus, i think conersations like that are just part of real life, debating random shit that doesn't matter with friends is something most of us have probably done. But yeah, thanks for the love and I'm glad you like it. We still got some story left to tell, too
So... when do we got the chapter IX?
Working on it. You can stay up-to-date from the Patreon page or our Discord server. It's just slow progress to do it right
Hey Could You Please Make It For Macbooks Too
I Really Want To Play This
Itch.io only let's me put one link up from what I can tell but you can download the MAC version from the Patreon site. Here's the most recent link for ya:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/33425607
I love your work!! <3 Keep doing amazing things!! When are you gonna upload the next part? I cant wait!!
Working on it now. Each chapter seems to take longer because we try and do new things. That last one was probably the best one we've done though. I'm trying to work on upping the graphic quality for this next one
This game is so amazing, my head is spinning. Thank you! You put a lot of passion, love, thought into it.... Thanks a million times! <3
Heh, thanks a lot. It's been a really passionate project..both with the writing and just the emotional experience and relationships I've made through it.
I so can imagine, man. Both your characters and you deserve a hug. The story is very deep and strong, a feature almost non-existent in gay themed games. Thank you again!
Hey, first of all, I love your work
I wish I could just hug really tight both Zack and Braden, they're the cutest, and that's thank to you.
Second, I'm quite new to the Visual Novel area, and I'm loving it, but from the novels I've seen, most of them have the "Gallery" section where you can find some of the most important or remarkable moments of the story, do you intend to (can't think of any other verb, I'm really sleepy and english is my second language, so I'll probably misuse the word) put this Gallery stuff on the game?
That's all, I'm loving your novel and can't wait till the next chapter! (they were so cute at the pool and then the dorm was like that???? so much I wanted to see, and now so much goes through my head "what they're going to do now? where they'll stay? WHAT ABOUT THE PICTURE???? was anybody in there? how that happened?", a lot of questions and I just want to see those boys happy together) thanks for your work and hope everything goes well! ^^
Yo,
Thanks for the love and I feel like Zack and Braden could both use a hug right about now. So in terms of the "gallery" feature, I'm going to give you an honest response to this question. I have no idea how to do it. lol. Basically, each update, I try and learn a little something new with the coding and stuff. I know a lot of people were interested in the gallery feature early on so I just left all the images unlocked in the game directory. What you'l notice on a lot of games is that they archive all the images in the game into one file (usually an .rpa file) and you can't see them. I don't do any archiving with Str8. So if you go into the game folder and look for an images folder, you can browse every pic in the game. That was my early answer to a "gallery." Eventually something like that may be added in game but honestly, there's sooooo many pictures I don't know how how to start the process of picking which ones would go in the gallery. But for now, if you want shots like that you can just look in the images folder and do what you want with them.
In terms of the game moving forward....yeah.... people were pretty surprised i think with the cliffhanger and that shit hurt my soul to even write it. But we move onward and hopefully you'll realize it had a purpose. Hell, I still have questions... good news is the next update won't be as emotionally rough as this one was. That last chapter was freakin' HEAVY.
Thanks for the reply, now I just wanna hug em more ^^
I didn't really know about the image folder, totally checking that later (or right now, probably now), and don't worry about the gallery stuff, it's hard, not only to do the coding (which I respect you so much for (you and Blayke already do so much (I get tired just thinking of all the work, every step, it's a lot))), but to pick just a few pics to put there, so being able to check them all is efficient and save you from a lot of stress.
And you're killing me - YOU'RE KILLING ME - I was so happy and then Braden goes to the locker room - I died a little there - but everything turns out okay, more then okay, THEN the beach, I actually cried - and died a little harder - but again things were fine. And then, the dorms... I'm dead, but okay. Thanks again for the story, I can totally relate to Zack and this makes things really meaningful to me, can't wait for the next chapter (you're cliffhanger totally worked, I'm super hyped ^^)!!!