Welcome to a special compilation of questions and answers from our recent community Q&A session in Discord #ask-dev-anything! We sat down to talk about game development, character design, creative inspirations, and what lies ahead for future projects.
Dive in to read the full conversation and catch up on all the behind-the-scenes insights!
Q: What kind of themes or fetishes actually inspire you when creating adult games?
A: Well, that depends on my mood—my tastes change a lot. But I suppose there is one main fetish: a woman getting so turned on that she starts doing wild things. Whether that means exhibitionism, using large or unusual objects, bondage, or all of the above is a matter of detail. You could call it corruption, though I mean going from vanilla to fetish queen rather than from virgin to slut. The fetishes in Beauty and the Thug, including the ones I haven’t implemented yet, are all things that genuinely interest me.
Q: How would you describe Riley in your own words? What makes her different from other protagonists?
A: Let me start with what I don’t like in a female protagonist. I don’t like a complete idiot who gets talked into sex by the first stranger she meets, or someone who lets difficult circumstances break her and then obediently does whatever she’s told. I dislike characters who always pick the worst possible option in a crisis, or whose immediate answer to helping someone in trouble is always to give him a blowjob.
That should give you a pretty good idea of Riley, because she’s the exact opposite. At the beginning of the story, she’s in a very difficult situation caring for her brother. She’s struggling, but she doesn’t let herself fall apart. Instead, she becomes his emotional support, stays cheerful around him, keeps herself in shape despite everything, does her job professionally, and keeps looking for a way out. Plus, she has a lovely cameltoe.
Q: Is there a line you won’t cross with your characters, or do you just do whatever is possible?
A: I think drugs would be the line for me. I’d be very reluctant to give one of my female characters a cigarette, and I’d only do it if I really had to. My protagonist would never take recreational drugs, even if they gave her spectacular sexual hallucinations. There is a substance from Dr. Chen that Melissa uses on Riley in the game, but it’s explicitly established that it has no side effects apart from arousal and powerful healing properties. In that form, I’m comfortable with it.
Q: Do you have a “signature move” or a distinct style that defines your games?
A: Yes, I like that little tip of the tongue showing when a character is excited, though I do try not to overuse any one pose or facial expression. If I have a signature, perhaps it’s the absence of that cliché pose where a character stands with one arm behind her head—something I’ve seen in so many games where it makes absolutely no sense, and it drives me up the wall.
Actually, the way I pose seated characters might count as one. A lot of developers choose angles that hide the fact that the heroine’s backside is clipping through the chair. I like showing how a woman’s butt actually compresses against a hard surface when she sits down. Of course, getting that right takes extra time and effort. And yes—future games will definitely feature girls with cameltoes! I plan to keep improving them.
Q: What are your thoughts on game engines and future development plans?
A: I considered switching to Unity, but I’ve put that idea aside for now. My long-term plan is another Ren’Py game. Its main feature would be high-quality combat that runs even on a potato PC. I used to think I couldn’t make it on my own and would need a development team, but after seeing what ChatGPT Astra could do, I think I may have found my team.
I’m slowly developing the story. I have the beginning, the endings, a big chunk of the lore, and so on. The plan is an SFW base game with NSFW DLC. The compiled document is already 616 pages long, and there’s still plenty of work to do. There’ll be two main characters, a man and a woman—and no, they’re not brother and sister!
Q: Which ending or route did you like the most?
A: This may not win me any popularity contests, but it’s Jack’s route, where Riley has a baby and becomes friends with Lisa and Amy.
(On male romance paths in general): I think that’s something I need to work on. My male love interests tend to come out a little too sweet. Even Hunter cleaned up his act rather quickly. I’ll have to give that some thought.
Q: How important were easter eggs like Lisa’s appearance in the game?
A: It mattered a lot to me. One way or another, Lisa and Amy made it onto Steam after all—yay! And it wasn’t a last-minute improvisation, either; that Easter egg was in the script from the very beginning.
Q: How important is player feedback to you when dealing with bugs, criticism, or praise?
A: I think a lot of people underestimate how much feedback means to a developer. When people tell you they loved the game and ask for more, that’s a huge motivator.
Of course, the reviews aren’t always flattering. One of the first pieces of advice new developers get from the community is to grow a thick skin and ignore the negativity. I don’t entirely agree with that last part. Sometimes a useful bug report or a good idea comes wrapped in a very rude message. The packaging doesn’t make the contents any less useful.
Q: What was the most complicated animation or scene to create, and how long does animation take you now?
A: Probably my very first animation ever—the bedroom animations for Lisa in the beginning. They were the hardest, and also terrible!
Back then, a single animation took me days. Now, I need anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on the number of participants and complexity, though my current animations are way more advanced. For one of those old simple animations today, I’d probably only need about 20 minutes.
Q: Any plans for DLC or new content?
A: Yes, I’ve been thinking about DLC. At the moment, though, I’m thinking of expanding the fetish content rather than the story.
One possibility I’m considering is a futa DLC, with Sunny and Melissa as futa characters. Personally, I’d like to work on other projects instead of getting pulled into this for several months, so I’m trying to find another developer to handle it. I’d give them the source files, and they’d add the dicks. Still, despite offering a 50/50 split of all the DLC’s Steam revenue, I haven’t found a taker yet. We’ll see after I focus on Beauty and the Thug first.
Q: Outside of your own work, which games or characters do you admire?
A: Back in the day, it was the heroine from Dating My Daughter by Mr. Dots—an absolute classic, even if it’s showing its age now—and Melody from his second game. As for newer games, I can’t name anyone because I simply don’t have time to play them.
One of my favorite games was also Acting Lessons. It probably has the best plot and drama level I’ve ever seen in adult games.
Q: How are you managing your sleep schedule now that development is moving forward?
A: I never thought I could get used to it, but somehow I’ve adapted to sleeping just 4–5 hours a night, as long as I can catch up on Sundays. Right now, I’m trying to get all my scripts into shape for a smoother workflow in DAZ Studio 6 while making improvements. It’s still taking quite a lot of time, so I’m back to sleeping just 5 hours a night again!