itch.io

It shouldn't really. Like i said most of it is automated already. I had to build the story system anyway and just made it more compatible to ren'py. It was some initial investment and a bit awkward with merging it with the first tech demo. Though, I'm pretty confident I can drop them at the same time in the future. They are going to be simplified 2d versions after all with less customization but will give access to the whole story for every player. I'll might do tiny improvements from time to time in order to get the most out of the 2d medium but again just things that can be automated. Focus will remain on the main game. The 3d ports are a different story but also not actively in development either, rather as a result to performance improvement to the windows build that will (hopefully) make it possible to play on mobile as well.

Bit unsure about specific dates and versions but there is new stuff coming out all throughout december.

The clothing is randomized with some guidance according to the main desire you choose a the start as well as the characters clothing preferences. As it stands now your roomie might only briefly acknowledge clothing status when you match them yourself. There's more options for your characters personality in the works which will also add differing responses to your roommates appearance.

New tech demo is already out on patreon moving to the bronze tier on friday and coming to itch a week after. It's not going further into the story yet but introduces full customisable character creator as I've switched to using a 3D engine for the game. For now it's windows only with android and mac support being in the works. As a bridge until then I'll likely release a renpy port with the old tech which is going to be the same story but less customisation. New story and characters are also about to be release on patreon with an itch release usually following 4 weeks after. There are still lots of things to improve in the 3d version but I'm expecting more regular updates to mechanics and story now, which is primarily why I've made this switch. Hope you'll get to enjoy the new version and would love to hear your feedback.

For now itch has relisted completely free NSFW games. So I've disabled the option to leave tips on here making the games discoverable again. Financial support will only be available on Patreon for now. Mid- to long-term I'm still worried about getting into a similar situation again with being de-listed, so I'm planning to release SFW versions alongside to keep being visible throughout. NSFW versions still remain the focus and will still be released on itch for free, although the platform where you can get them may change in the future. I'd encourage anyone to follow my socials to get update news in case there might be another censorship issue.

Last deadline was next week, but since I'm going to be a bit busy then I've pushed it back a week. So August 8th on Patreon. I'm a bit unsure about an itch release with the current delisting issue. I'll see how it develops until then and will give an update post as well.

... around 2-4 weeks.

Thanks for checking in and you're right, it’s been a while since the last public update. Not sure how much you’ve seen about the test project FratUniversity and the switch to 3D which has been to adress the popular request of adding reader’s choices to Arena of Thebes as well as the growing character count being harder to handle with rendered sprites. Short version: There’s going to be a fully 3D game port of the FratUniversity demo in the coming weeks. (I’ll add a more in depth public update with that)

The heavy lifting for the 3D systems is done now, which I hope will also speed up future story development and will carry over to Arena of Thebes. With the adding of choices as well as being able to create your own character whose pov you’ll follow more closely, the next Area of Thebes update will likely look more like a soft reboot rather than a next chapter 7. But there’s a lot more mechanics and stuff you’ll get to see and I hope you’ll enjoy. I have to ask for a little more patience until then. In the meantime there are a few references to Thebes in FratU as they are set in the same universe and I plan to crossover in some events long-term.

The demo is as far as it goes for now. The continuation is currently in development. New versions are released to early access to patrons but will be released for free over time. Thanks for your interest in the game. I have to ask for a little more patience while I work on finishing the next update. But new stuff is coming soon. Hope to see you around!

Glad you liked it! I think your spot on with the perspective in addition to the shoulder being a bit to far forward. I think in general I’ve opted for a high FOV to fit multiple poses into a specific camera shot, resulting in a lot of perspective distortion in some shots. Might have to look into more distinct perspectives to handle those extreme cases. Coincidentally that screenshot also seems to have a misplaced speech bubble :/ I guess I’ll iron all those bugs eventually... One more down, thanks for catching that.

I totally get that. It's something I've noticed too and am actively working to improve. Since the characters are generated through a custom character creator that renders both 2D sprites and models for a 3D version, there’s definitely a tendency for them to lean into a similar base look. I’m trying to strike a balance between keeping a cohesive aesthetic and making sure each character stands out visually.

That said, the latest version of the creator already includes more variation, especially around eye shape and lips, and I’m continuing to expand the customization options to help push their individual designs further. The goal is definitely to make Bryce, Noah, and Conner feel distinct, not just in personality but also in their visuals.

Thanks. Which part of the graphics do you feel need work? (UI, character sprites, etc.) All of these are subject to change, just checking which part you mean.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Seems like the renpy documentation has wrongly labeled sound channels. Uploaded a hotfix just now. You should be able to adjust volume via the "voice" slider now. Though you are not missing anything muted for now either. There aren't any other sound effects in this demo, yet.

Thank you! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the customization and visuals. I’ve been developing tools to make it more manageable, so I’m hopeful it’ll stay feasible while keeping the flexibility.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I totally get the concern about complexity. It’s something I’m always mindful of, both in terms of development time and making sure everything stays manageable. That said, I’m still hopeful about pulling this off!

One thing that’s actually helping is my switch to a 3D version of the game. It might sound counterintuitive, but developing tools to speed up my workflow has made customization a lot more feasible directly translating from Blender to the game engine. In the Ren'Py version, pre-rendered 2D sprites actually slowed things down since some steps had to basically be done twice. With the 3D version, that’s no longer an issue, and it opens up even more possibilities for customization.

Android performance is one potential hurdle, but since AoT’s tech demo runs okay-ish on a seven-year-old device, with some focused optimization efforts I’m optimistic it’ll be doable. I don’t want to drop Android support because of the large player base, but if I ever had to stick with the Ren'Py version as a worst-case scenario, customization might just be slightly reduced. (Probably more fixed outfit options instead of fully modular clothing)

As for the branching, later storylines will indeed converge more than the demo intros, with some key character-specific moments alongside common events, instead of fully separate paths. So while there’s a lot to do, I’m super excited to keep testing things out and refining it all. (Hopefully not too far in the future) Thanks again for the encouragement. It really means a lot! Hope to see you around for the journey. 😊

Thanks for the feedback! I see your point about them feeling like the same type. Just a couple of things that might help ease your concerns:

The concept behind the frats is to represent different stereotypes of male groups. Once you get the chance to join a frat in the game, you'll see a variety, from nerdy guys to beefy jocks, based on your preferences. While the game includes traditional frats, it also explores a broader range of male stereotypes in a fraternity setting both visually and in their storylines.

The six characters revealed so far were consciously designed as first-years, visually distinct from older frat brothers and legacy members. I can see how that might not be to everyone’s liking, though. To address that, another aspect I’ve been working on is a 3D game version. This version will include a character creator, allowing you to design your own player model to your liking. I’ve been previewing it in this public Patreon post for my first project Arena of Thebes https://www.patreon.com/posts/tech-demo-arena-124938345

Given the great reception to FratUniversity I’m now tempted to try out a 3D version for it sooner than previously planned.

I hope this will cater to as many preferred visuals as possible and give players the freedom to shape their own playthroughs to their liking.

Thanks! It's going to be mostly dependent on your chosen interest with some being more fixed into one position and others more flexible where you can choose both.

Thanks a lot. Doing my best to get a new update out as soon as possible.

Thanks, it has been a result of comments on Arena of Thebes which has been my first ever project giving me lots of stuff to learn and improve on. So I'm glad its getting your positive feedback. Both projects should be able to benefit from the new mechanics and dev pipeline with crossover events tying them together. You can definitely expect more content directly and indirectly connected to FratUniversity. 

Thanks for the feedback. This has been primarily been to test the limits on how much variety is possible. To that end I've developed several solutions to make it possible. Through scripts in blender to automatically switch out clothes and characters and stacking individual images in renpy with tight naming conventions the amount of images actually scales closer to linearly rather than exponential. That being said there were still edge cases where manual editing was needed, which is why I'd probably prefer the additional switch to a 3D engine for full variations on desktop and slightly less variation on renpy builds for mobile in future versions.

Yes. At some point it will be released for free as well. I'm not yet sure when exactly and at what state as patrons have pointed out some improvements I should make. Most likely when I drop the first 3D demo of Arena of Thebes so hopefully at the end of the month as well. But regardless of when and how - there will be a free version of FratUniversity to play.

There's not a specific date for chapter 7, yet but it will take a bit longer still. There's going to be another test project set in the same universe with some Arena references released still this year. Hope this soften the wait for the next chapter a bit.

Uncensored chapters will be released over time. For immediate early access you'll have to check out the Patreon page.

Thanks for the huge compliment! I aim to have a variety of different styles but am also experimenting with having the option to choose hair amount so you might even get to see hairy variations of previously clean shaven guys in the future.

Hey, glad you liked it! From the image count this chapter sits at average, but I can see how one could get through it a lot quicker with less dialog between parings of two. Chapter 7 will be a lot bigger as the group unites with lot of new assets and perhaps some new mechanics which will be tested in a demo set in the same universe and coming out real soon. Stay tuned :)

There's not one singular main character, so will you have pretty much all perspectives.

Understandable, I'll keep it in mind when making the next adjustments. Have you checked out the X/Twitter media tab or the discord server? While most of it censored, you can find  even more teasers of bonus content there until then.

Hey, thanks for asking I guess I should add some more clarification with some more teasers in the future. There has been some deviations in the almost 2 years of bonus content but the majority of pictures includes 2 guys. The bronze and silver shoots are clothed and unclothed variations of guys mainly posing with each other. The gold hookups feature more explicit acts such as the pool set you've were asking about. As of now that specific set is only available in the gold tier but as the library of sets has been growing there might be some future discounted packs of previously released sets.

Thank you for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it so far. The next chapter will be released on the 30th of August on Patreon. A month later it will come to itch where chapter 3 will also be uncensored.

Arena of Thebes is a kinetic novel, which means it doesn't offer choices that impact the story. The focus is on delivering a rich, atmospheric narrative with detailed CG artworks and immersive sounds. There aren't any player choices at this time, the experience is designed to be filmic and engaging and an experimental form of visual novel. After much reader feedback such as yours, it is however in the midst of extensive updates which will introduce choices while retaining its previous design decisions. Stay tuned for upcoming releases that are right around the corner.

Glad you liked it and are looking forward to the resolution of that cliffhanger and continuation of the story. Doing my best to get new stuff out there as fast as possible.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. First I've heard of it, though. I've downloaded it again myself and compared it to the zip I uploaded and there are no changes made so this is most likely a false positive from your antivirus detection. After some quick research it looks like this issue has been popping up with the newest renpy version which I also updated to. I'll take a further look to see if I can prevent it from falsely popping up again. Or I might need to switch back to an older renpy version.

Thank you for your kind feedback! Are you talking of Mateo? In that case you might look forward to a certain scene in chapter 5 coming to itch next week. ;) I appreciate your support and can't wait to bring out more chapters.

Hm, that's weird. Should be everything included in the zip folder to run. Does it say what's missing specifically? Perhaps there is some required windows file missing or not up to date.

The chapters are getting uncensored over time. If you want to check them out early you can check out the patreon page. All chapters will get uncensored for free eventually as well, it will just take a bit longer.

Hey, thanks for the feedback. Glad you got to enjoy it. Not to spoil too much but maybe to put your mind at ease a bit... while there is some inspiration taken from other battle royale type media, the story is going to focus on group dynamics as well as individual pairings. Naturally there's going to arise some conflicts which might lead to violence in isolated instances which  I tried to tease early on so it won't come completely out of left field later on. But the group dynamics will remain and develop throughout.

Thanks for the kind feedback! Glad you liked it so far and the atmosphere was effectful. And don't worry there is lots more to come ;)