Hey everybody! First of all, the Free version of Update 19 has been released.
Secondly, I called this annual post the State of the Game for the past 5 years, but I'm changing it to State of the RJ, because lately I've actually been working on more than just one Game. I'll go into that later in this post. This is going to be a long one, but within, I'm going to talk about my plans for the next year or so. I'm going to announce the game(s) I'm planning for after Come Home. Then I'm going to answer a bunch of questions that people have asked me in a Q&A.
Hope it gives you some insights, or just a little entertainment!
If you’re curious to read the first, second, or fourth year state of the game, or the first Q&A that I did, they are available here.
Come Home
Let's talk a bit first about what is planned for Come Home. At this point, we're getting very close to the end of the game and I'm looking at how I want to wrap everything up.
Update 20
Top of my priority list right now is Update 20. This update will be finishing up the story, adding all the multiple endings, and wrapping up the game.
The update will likely be pretty short, as it's really just a little lead-up to the endings, then the ending itself. If you're the type to want to see all the endings, you'll get a little more gameplay out of the Update, but if you only care about one or two of the endings, it's probably not going to take you long to finish.
Right now, it's looking like Update 20 will be released around December/January. These are very preliminary dates though, so please don't hold me to it. I'll announce an official date when I get closer to it.
Come Home - Complete Edition
After Update 20, I'm going to do one (probably) final update for Come Home. This update will be for the Premium Edition only and will add more sex scenes, dates, anything else I feel like I want in the game, but didn't get a chance to do before the endgame. I'll also be cleaning the game up as much as I can.
After this, I'll change the name of the Premium Edition to the Complete Edition. It will only be a name change, not a completely different version that I'm trying to sell you or anything. If you have the Premium Edition, you will have the Complete Edition.
At this point, Come Home will leave early access on Steam and have a full 1.0 release. Then Come Home will be finished and I'll be moving on. I'm expecting this to happen next Summer.
Happy Trails
I'm excited to finally share a little bit about my next game after Come Home! The game is called Happy Trails. In it, you play as a character who decides to through-hike the Appalachian Trail. On the way, he/she meets many people and develops relationships, while enduring all the highlights and hardships of the trail itself.
The game features 2D art animated in Live2D. Gameplay is going to be similar to games like Oregon Trail - you will be traveling along the trail and encountering random elements while managing your character's fatigue, happiness, health, and inventory.
The art is made by Chocoleth, who I met after doing a lot of interviews with artists. I really clicked with her and I loved her art style. Background art is going to be watercolor and will be supplied by Chocoleth along with other artists as well.
People who talk to me on Discord or on Patreon know that I love hiking and I love nature and this game is sort of a love letter to that. I wanted to make something with a little more gameplay involved than a visual novel and I wanted to explore some new things and learn more about a different type of game development.
I recognize that this game is very different from Come Home and a lot of fans of Come Home might not enjoy a game like this. That's okay, if you feel like this isn't going to be your type of game. I hope you'll at least give it a try. It'll still have my mix of emotional and comedic writing, but I understand if it's not your thing, due to art style or gameplay style. There will be some Come Home characters who make an appearance in the game though. And Gertrude will be returning as a love interest.
I'll be revealing more about this game in the future. Right now it's still in early production - I have the skeleton of the code down, I've written pieces of it, and we have done some of the early artwork. It's still a long way away from release. Come Home is still my focus, so this is something I've been working on in my off-time mostly.
Soul Purpose
That's right. I have two games to announce here.
Since Happy Trails is a 2D art game done by another artist, that takes a lot of things off my plate. I just have to focus on coding and writing for it. Because 2D art tends to take a little longer to produce than something like Daz, I expect production on Happy Trails to be a little slower. So I decided to go ahead and get into production on a second game as well.
Soul Purpose is a traditional Ren'py visual novel, with some point-and-click adventure game elements. It's non-sandbox, has a small cast of characters, and is very story focused. The story follows a man who meets a girl at a bar and discovers that she's something special. Together they get pulled into a science-fiction action story that could put the entire world in peril.
With Soul Purpose I'm going for a sort of gritty sci-fi vibe. Think the first Terminator movie. It's planned to be a pretty tight story, told in around five updates.
The plan at the moment is to do the art in Daz, much like Come Home, though I'm hoping to increase the quality a bit. I think people will agree that my art in Daz has improved throughout the development of Come Home. With Soul Purpose I'm hoping to continue to improve, along with using newer, higher quality, models. I'll also be increasing the resolution of all the images to 4k to try to increase the visual quality.
I say that is the plan, because I'm not 100% at the moment. Daz has been doing some things that I don't really like. Their software currently doesn't work with the RTX 5000 series of graphics cards and it seems like they are trying to put newer versions of the software behind a monthly subscription paywall. I don't plan on paying a subscription for Daz, so I have been looking at moving away from it and may move entirely over to Blender for Soul Purpose. I'll devote more time into this when I'm finished with Come Home and make a decision then.
For Soul Purpose, I have already written the complete story, front to back. I'll have to code it in and add some things, expand some of the branching paths and such. But mostly I'll be focused on the art and sound on this one.
I'm hoping to release the first chapter of Soul Purpose late next year. I expect it will release before the first release of Happy Trails, due to it being a much simpler production.
Most of the time, I would be like, just focus on one game at a time, but I feel like producing these two simultaneously will not be too much of a stretch for me. On one, I don't have to worry about the art too much. On the other, I don't have to worry about the writing too much (because I've already written it). So between the two of them, it's like I'm working on a single game. Also, I just like to work.
Other Future Games
I have so many other ideas for future games, but those two are the ones that I am most passionate about and decided to invest in.
There are a lot of people wanting more with the Come Home characters. I have some ideas about how I would like to do that, but none are on the agenda at the moment.
I also would like to eventually return to the Come Home gameplay style. I could see myself making a Come Home 2 at some point with another 20 characters, a new MC, and a new background mystery. For now though, I want to work on some other ideas and stretch my muscles in different ways.
Timeline
So here's the timeline for what I'm planning right now:
Dec 2025/Jan 2026 - Come Home Update 20.
Summer 2026 - Come Home Complete Edition
Winter 2026 - Soul Purpose Chapter 1
2027 - Happy Trails First Release & further chapters of Soul Purpose
Conclusion
It's scary to finish up one game and move on to the next. I know that the fan-base is going to change a bit. I hope many of the Come Home fans will stick with me for what follows, but both of these games are very different from Come Home. Happy Trails is also a pretty big investment, because it requires paying an artist. Making games is my only source of income, so it's very important to me that these games are successful.
But while I'm scared, I'm also very excited to create something new and tell a new story and introduce you all to these new characters that have been in my mind for a while. It's going to be very fun and I think that people are really going to enjoy it. I haven't seen any game out there that's like what I have in mind for Happy Trails. And Soul Purpose I feel like is just a good story that I want to tell, done in a visual style that I hope will be fun.
Thanks as always for all the support you all give me. I hope that you continue to enjoy the games that I make. Love you all. <3
Q&A
Now let's do a Q&A. I took these questions from Steam/Patreon/Discord/Itch, wherever I found them and I've answered the questions that I felt like answering.
Come Home Questions
Do you see additions to the group in the near future?
I assume this is about adding more characters to the game. Come Home will not be getting any more characters. 20 is enough.
Where does the inspiration for your characters come from?
Inspiration comes from everywhere. Mostly personal experiences. Sometimes there's just a story in my head that I want to tell and I create a character as a way to tell that story.
Are the relationship dynamics in the game based on people you know? And how much of it is a reflection of what you'd like to see?
Some of the relationships in the game are based on people I know or knew, or based on myself. Most of the game is a reflection of what I'd like to see. I think most of the characters in the game look at the relationships in a mature way that is not necessarily realistic. Most of the time feelings get in the way of emotional maturity.
Which characters in Come Home would you Marry, Fuck, or kill?
Ooh, this is a really mean question. Marry Brandi, because I feel like she would be fun to travel the world with and explore new things and I think that she would be a very caring wife. Fuck Izzy, because she's so fucking hot and I know that group stuff with her would be a blast. Kill… Kendra… she's my favorite character, but unfortunately, she's going to die anyway. Harsh, I know. You made me do it.
Do you have a favorite and least favorite ending for Come Home?
You're not going to trick me into talking about the endings. Yes, I do.
Will there be maybe a spinoff to Come Home?
I have some ideas in mind. I think it's pretty likely that I'll do a spinoff of some sort at some point.
Is there a possibility of a Come Home Dungeon Crawler?
Probably not.
After finishing up with the game, would there be one of the women's stories you'd like to spin-off as a separate adventure, visual novel game?
I have some ideas. Not as a visual novel probably, but I'd like to make some other small games based on some of the characters. Kendra, Brandi, and Adrian are the ones that jump out to me the most as maybe needing a spinoff game.
Was there any thought during the update 19 process of cross world item sharing to help with home world situations?
I did have some thoughts about maybe the MC bringing back a bunch of valuables to help set up for the ending. I had ideas about him bringing characters back with him as well. In the end, I felt like bringing back valuables wasn't necessary and bringing back characters was very complex coding-wise. Neither were necessary for the story, so I didn't move forward with them.
Which one of the in-game jokes makes you laugh most when you think about it?
Right now, probably the MC's tiny penis with the Kendra fairy. Visual gags like that get me.
Was there any other characters you wanted to introduce that ended up getting cut?
Yeah, originally Come Home was going to be broken into two semesters and I had some characters in the second semester that I was going to introduce. There was a math teacher, an art teacher, a computer science teacher, and a goth girl, I remember for sure. The goth girl kind of got folded into Adrian and a little bit of Tammy .Maybe one day, I'll tell those other stories in another game though.
Will the endgame have where-are-they-now scenes? like, there being consequences for not choosing certain characters and how they coped?
I don't want to talk too much about the end-game, as I don't want to spoil things, but I think I'll answer this one a bit anyways. I don't want people to feel bad for the characters that they're not choosing, so no, I don't have plans to show what happens to the characters that you don't choose.
ANY chance Gertrude can be convinced to change her mind about the MC????
No, Gertrude's story is basically complete at this point. She will not end up with this MC right now. She will be a character in Happy Trails though, and we can see how things go with her there.
How many of these characters are based on people you know/knew/loved/love? No need to tell me which ones.
Six.
Are you planning to translate the game into other languages? Do you need help with it?
Yes, after the Complete Edition is released, I'll be looking more into translations. I'll put out a call at that point, if you're interested in helping.
What was your motivation or inspiration for creating Come Home?
Motivation was money. I saw an opportunity to make a living by writing, which is all I ever wanted. I didn't want to have to get a real job again and I didn't want to ever have to work for a boss again. Inspiration was mostly porn and other porn games - Summertime Saga and Harem Hotel being the big ones.
I'm curious what are your most frequently asked questions?
Pregnancy? Translations? Can I date Suzy without Tammy?
During Brandi's unplanned lewd stream, the animation stops with one of the chatters named Penn tipping 20 dollars. Was that a coincidence? If not I would be incredibly honored to have my name in your game. (This one was from Penn on Steam)
It probably wasn't a coincidence. For Brandi's stream, especially for things like the tips, I often go into Discord or Patreon or Steam and look for users who I like or who say nice things and use their names there. I don't remember specifically, but I probably saw yours somewhere and used it.
Who is your favorite character in the game? and what was the inspiration behind that character?
My favorite character is Kendra, though Izzy comes very close. My dad had neurofibromatosis and that was a big inspiration on Kendra's character. Kendra is how I like to imagine I would be if I had a disease like that. Realistically, I know that it's harder than what I portray in the game though.
Is there a character that you wish you could have done more with?
Juliana. I feel like I didn't give her enough of a story. I wanted her story to be about a socially awkward introvert learning to experience things outside of books. I feel like I mostly did that, but there's not really much to it. I probably should have given her something else.
Do you plan on adding any audio or voice lines to this update?
I talked about this more in-depth in my Update 19 Post-Mortem, but right now I'm unsure if I'll be adding more audio or voice lines to the rest of the game. If I do, it will come in the Complete Edition or afterwards. I don't expect there to be new voice lines in Update 20.
Any plans to write erotic novellas still after the game has finished of these characters?
No plans right now, but it's possible. They'd probably be shorter than novellas. It doesn't make a TON of sense for me to write novellas that require playing through the game to understand the story. It's something I'll think about. I'd rather focus on making games though.
What character in come home is the closest to a foil of yourself?
A foil of myself? So sort of the opposite of me? I mean, they're all kinda me, so this is hard. I could go the easy route and say Bai. He's easily the least like me. That feels like cheating though. Probably Whitney. Whitney is more logical and emotionless than I am capable of being. She's a genius, but in many ways, she doesn't have the heart behind it. I'm kinda of the opposite. I have a ton of heart and motivation, and while I don't think I'm a dummy, I know I'm not a genius either.
Is there a scene/story part you regret making or regret making in the way you did?
Not really. I could always change things if I wanted, so if I had any major regrets, I would change them. I mentioned Juliana, and that's probably my biggest regret, is not giving her more to do.
Where is an unexpected place/chat/forum/channel/group/board/etc... you have seen your game being discussed or referenced?
This hasn't really happened yet. I haven't seen my game being discussed outside of the normal places. That Polygon/404Media interview I did was pretty wild though! Having my game mentioned in the same conversation as stuff like Cyberpunk is crazy.
Have you ever posed as a reference for an animation?
Yes, I have. Sometimes I'll have my wife take pictures of me, or I'll take pictures of her, to get some pose that I'm thinking of. That doesn't happen to often though. What does happen a lot is me making faces while fiddling with expression dials. I find myself frequently imitating the face of the character that I'm trying to make while I'm moving sliders around. My wife makes fun of me for it.
Has there ever been in a point in development, where you thought you'd like to overhaul a character (look wise, personality, story, kinks) but didn't do it because it would've taken too much time?
Well, I have done this a couple of times during the game - with Kendra's hair, Lisa's and Jamie's skin, and a couple of characters I redid their appearance entirely early on (Jez, Adrian). I think the biggest thing that I would have liked to change, but didn't is Jamie's hair. I kinda hate her hair. As far as personality, story, kinks - no, I haven't really wanted to change anything there.
Which fan favorite of your characters surprised you the most?
Hm, I don't know. Out of the 20, I don't think there's any that I'm surprised fans loved. I love all of them and there's a few that I'm surprised that fans don't love more (Izzy!). Out of the side characters - the love for the Brandichat characters was a little surprising for me. Connie got a lot of love too that I didn't quite expect. The Connie scene and the Troutsmell scene were not planned, but were added as fan service because people liked those characters.
What's one kink you'd have liked to add to the game, but thought the audience would "hate" that and thus didn't do it...and vice versa, what kink did you implement because many people like it but it's not your cup of tea?
I don't think I have an answer to the first one. If there's a kink I wanted to add, I did. I'm not a super kinky person overall, really. I like a little light play in various things. As for the second part, I also don't think I did add any kinks that I wasn't into. In all honesty, I feel like I've made the game I wanted to make, from beginning to end and I've always stuck to what I want more than what fans want.
Future Game Questions
It occurred to me that with the popularity of Brandi Chat, that there might be the equivalent in your next game. Is this being considered/planned?
I enjoy Brandi Chat a lot and I love that everybody else enjoys it too. Yeah, I can see myself having something like it in future games. Specifically Happy Trails. I don't think Soul Purpose will have anything like it.
What are the biggest lessons—technical or creative—that you plan on carrying into your next project? Are there things you're excited to do differently now that you have this experience under your belt?
I've learned SO much with making Come Home. On a technical level, I feel like I've gotten way better with coding and with UI elements that I can make much more interesting games now. I've also gotten better at planning and I feel like I won't hit near as many pitfalls with future games. I'm going to keep pushing myself though and trying new things, so there's always going to be mistakes, but I know so much more now than I did five years ago.
I'm excited to experiment more with the UI and with the way stories are told. I'm also excited to try out a different release strategy. Come Home was free with Premium Edition bonuses, which I think worked really well for it. Both my future games will be different though, probably. I won't be doing the thing that some other games are doing where they'll sell you part of a game, or seasons, or chapters or whatever. If you buy a game from me, you're going to get a full game. But I'll be doing something different than I did with Come Home. I'll let you know once I get the details nailed down.
Will your next Adult Visual Novel Game project involve a lot more Transgendered Characters when it comes to the Lewd Sex scenes and non lewd scenes?
I'm always going to be about diversity and inclusion. There will be a transgender character in Happy Trails. There won't be in Soul Purpose. I don't have any plans to make a game about transgendered characters specifically.
Which 3 Come Home character's stories that aren't similar to your personal experience resonate with you the most?
Izzy - I don't really have any of the experiences that Izzy has, but I tried my best to write them in a way that is sympathetic and relatable. Izzy is probably my favorite character in the game, all around. Lisa - I don't have experience being a mother or being abandoned, like she has, but I feel like I did pretty okay with her story and I really like it overall. I have a hard time with this third one, because thinking through the characters, all the ones remaining that really resonate with me have large portions of their character based on personal experience.
While some of his personality is based off our decisions and preferences, I still feel like the MC is very much his own character. Where did you come up with the ideas for the MCs backstory?
Most of the MC's personality was invented during the production of the game. Really I just wanted him to be there as an insert for the player. He was intended to be a little bland and average so that a majority of people could see themselves in his shoes. He developed more as I started writing the stories around him though. I wanted him to be a good person, overall. I didn't like other games I see where they give you the option of becoming an asshole, so I just stopped giving those options. My MC is not an asshole. I wanted him to be a little childish at first, but develop into a more confident, accepting character as the story went on. I think I just made him into being the sort of guy that I would like to date. The sort of guy that 20 characters of various backgrounds and personalities would all fall in love with.
I ask this knowing that update 20 may surprise us, but was it a deliberate choice to include women in the game who would be emotionally unavailable for more than just a sexual relationship, or was it something that came about organically as you wrote the story (examples would be Gertrude, Eden, and Mrs. Mills).
It was deliberate, yeah. I wanted some characters who just weren't interested in being in a long-term relationship with the MC. Eden was never going to leave Pete - they love each other so much, I could never see them separating. Eden is almost not really a main love interest in the game. She's kind of there to explore different sexual ideas with, but she has no interest in a romantic relationship with the MC.
Mrs. Mills also was never going to be with the MC long term. I really like how her story turned out, honestly. The last couple scenes with her hit me in the right spots and I feel like I did pretty good with them. She's a cynical older woman and she doesn't want to change. The MC has been good for her, but he hasn't really changed her. Sometimes that's okay, I think. I want to have some characters who don't shape their lives around the MC and I wanted to explore the idea of temporary relationships. Just because they're not forever doesn't mean they're not good or worthwhile.
It's the same with Gertrude. Their relationship isn't going to last forever, but it was good for both of them while it lasted. Flings are good. They make you a more well-rounded person, fulfill some desires that you might have, and give you a lot of memories to think back on. Gertrude, I felt like, had a lot of things to deal with and I just couldn't see her leaving her husband and immediately getting into a long-term thing with the MC. I could have wrote it, but it wouldn't have felt right. I'm looking forward to exploring her further in Happy Trails though.
How long does it take to complete a screen, on average?
It really depends. If I have to set up a location or costumes or add several characters, they can take hours. If I just have to change an expression, it can take minutes. On average… I'd say like 20 minutes or so, but it varies wildly.
Any plans for explicitly consensual BDSM content (beyond a little spanky-spanky) in a future project?
No plans currently, but who knows what kind of stuff I'll explore. I'm not hugely into the kink though, and I tend to stick with writing what I know.
Given infinite time, what are some other game genres you'd like to create in?
I have ideas for a metroid-vania, a survival horror, a tower defense, a dungeon crawler, an idle game, a detective mystery game, and a racing game. Honestly, I'd love to explore everything. I love most genres and will probably
Game Development Questions
The whole payment processor mess and Steam/Itch banning NSFW games
I had a lot of questions about how I feel about this. The short answer is that I feel like payment processors should not have the ability to censor art. If it's legal to make and it's legal to buy, a payment processor should not be able to say that you cannot spend your money to buy it.
I've been making this game for five years now. I've seen several scares like this over those years. It's always a worry that one day I'm going to wake up and find out that I've been kicked off Patreon for some reason or that my game has been taken down from Steam. That's a constant worry, I think, for most developers who this is their main source of income.
Right now, Steam and Itch have given no indication that they are planning on banning ALL NSFW games though and I don't believe they are going to do so. I don't think they should have banned the ones they banned. I don't like censorship of this kind in any way. But, Come Home does not break any of the rules that they have instated, and I don't plan on making any games that would break those rules.
I'm glad that this particular scare has attracted so much attention from outside the porn game realm. I've never seen so many people talking about this issue and it's nice to see that people are upset about it. However, I also feel like there's a lot of harmful misinformation being spread by both news articles and people who have minimal understanding about what is happening.
Some people are saying that ALL NSFW games are being banned, which is simply not true and is a harmful thing to say. If people think that all NSFW games are being banned, they're less likely to buy those games. Like, who is going to spend money to buy a game on Steam if they think the game is going to be removed in a week? So, we need to be clear about the facts - Steam and Itch are banning games that contain specific things - incest, non-consensual sex, underage-appearing characters, and vomit/scat.
Do I think that those things should be banned? No. Could Steam decide to ban all NSFW games in the future? Absolutely. I think that people need to continue to push back against this, because it's definitely a threat to free speech and creativity.
But I don't think things are as dire as some people have made them out to be.
What perception of the player base changed the most from before you began your project until now?
Hm, I don't know if my perception has changed all that much. I will say that the player base has changed over time, based on the platform. Patreon tends to attract an older, more mature audience. Steam tends to attract a younger, more outspoken audience. I feel like the game (woke as fuck) attracts a player base that tends to be like-minded and just generally good people. I like my players.
I want to learn Daz3D, can you lead me to mind-blowing resources that will turbo-charge my learning experience?
Honestly, the best way to learn is just to get in there and start playing with it and keep making stuff. However, I really like Rauko's Youtube channel and have learned a lot there. There's some other good resources on Youtube as well, but Rauko has been the best for me:
View game page
What got you into making a game? Was there formal training, or did you just figure it out on your own?
I started off as a writer and I learned some game development as a hobby. I started in Unity, then moved to Ren'Py. I've always been kind of interested in coding, but it was really just a hobby at first. No formal training. Watched a lot of YouTube videos and learned by doing. Come Home was all a learning experience. Everything is a learning experience.
What first steps are involved from transitioning from a novella creator to a video-game creator? The transition seems to be a daunting challenge.
I think the first thing to do is to determine how you're going to make the art, or if you are going to make the art. That was the hardest part of the transition for me. Coding with Ren'Py, or things like Twine, is very simple and easy if you're just doing a basic branching story.
Is there specific software that you can suggest? Software that doesn't require a writer to know any coding? Perhaps a text-only video game. No images.
Yeah, Twine is perfect for this. There's not really any coding to it, just basic formatting stuff.
Questions about RJ
What's your favorite color?
Green.
How have you been lately?
Really good! Thanks for asking!
Who is your favorite comic book character?
Spider-man.
If Grimtown was a pokemon, which one do you see him as? which pokemon are you?
Grimtown is a Chansey. He's just this big friendly guy who is always trying to help people. I'm a Jigglypuff - constantly performing and getting mad at people.
What is your preferred taco build/toppings?
Street tacos - double corn tortilla, fajita steak, onions, cilantro, queso fresco, green salsa, lime.
Who is your favorite Star Trek Captain?
I'm not a big Trekkie. I've only watched the original series and some next generation. And the new Star Trek trilogy. And like two episodes of Discovery.
Anyways, Shatner.
Why are you so cool?
Practice!
How has your day been?
Busy!
We have seen your incredible talent in writing and art are there any other talents we don't know about?
I'm actually really good at video games. I used to speedrun games and set a couple of world records at the time. I think I'm a pretty good cook as well. Any other talents will have to remain a secret.
What are some of your favorite games or movies?
Games - Bioshock, Megaman 2, Super Metroid, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Resident Evil (the whole damn series), Dark Souls, The Binding of Isaac, Breath of the Wild.
Movies - Alien, Blade Runner, Terminator, Princess Bride, Blue Velvet, The Thing, Suspiria.
What is a story that you've always wanted to tell?
I don't really save stories. If I have a story to tell, I tell it. I have some stories in my head that I haven't had the opportunity to tell yet, but they're coming.
Have you played House Party? If so, do you find it something more, less, or just different than VNs?
I have, some! It's just something different. It focuses on different things than a VN typically will. It's more about the feeling of being in a party and getting to know people and investigating. It's more of an adventure game than a visual novel. Just different priorities for different games.
Favorite word?
Chihuahua
Who are three characters from TV/movies/books that have made strong impressions on you, and what were the impressions?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Probably my favorite TV show ever, solely because of the characters. Buffy herself I think has made a huge impact on my mind and the way that I tell stories. I love the character. I love the swap of the tropes - girl who originally appears as a cheerleader, bubble-headed, damsel in destress is actually a badass superhero. I love the heavy themes being placed on the shoulders of a person who is not mature enough to handle them yet. And I love watching the characters grow over a long time. I've always wanted to be able to do that - tell a story over a long period of time where we can see characters grow and change. I could talk about Buffy for days.
I don't think I'll go into them as much, but I'll throw out Ripley from Alien, for just being a badass, smart, confident chick. And pretty much all the characters from Harry Potter. I hate what Rowling has become and I don't support her or the Harry Potter franchise anymore, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't have an impact on me. They were a huge part of my life growing up and they probably inform a lot of my writing.
Does Mango ever tease you (in a positive way) about your game?
Not really! She's always been supportive of me and my game. And she's played most of it and loves it as well.
Do you get your inspiration for characters/scenes/stories mostly from real life or TV shows/movies or even other (adult or non adult) games or your own fantasy?
I feel like I get inspiration from everywhere. All of those things. Most of my characters are inspired by various things compiled together. I don't think any of them are directly inspired by any one thing or even mostly one thing. I've definitely been inspired by porn, comics, movies, games for all my stuff, but a lot of it came from personal experiences as well.
Is there a scene or story in other visual novels that had a profound impact on you? If yes, which 3 had the biggest?
I'll be honest, I don't play visual novels all that much and don't remember 3 things in others that had an influence on me. But I will throw out a mention of Eve's story in Summertime Saga. Summertime Saga was the game that convinced me to make a game myself and Eve's story was a big part of that and a huge influence on Adrian.
Silly Questions
Does pineapple belong on pizza?
For me, it does! Hawaiian is my second favorite type of pizza, behind sausage/peppers/onions.
How do you convince a loved one to watch a movie you love, but they do not want to watch with you?
I wouldn't. If you make somebody watch something that you love, but they don't want to watch it, they probably won't like it and you'll just be disappointed. I'll never forget the time I talked my wife into watching Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog for the first time and she was in a bad mood. I thought it would cheer her up, but like five minutes into it she turns to me and says "Is this supposed to be funny?" We turned it off and did something else. Came back and watched it a few years later and she loved it. Can't force things or you're not going to like the results.
Have you ever coughed, farted and peed yourself all at the same time?
No.
What do you think of Brennan Lee Mulligan as the new DM for Critical Role Campaign 4?
I think it'll be great. Critical Role has been going for 10 years and things have to change at some point. It's the end of an era and it's not going to feel like the same game anymore, but that's okay. I just want all of them to be happy and successful, honestly.
Alright, that's it! Hope you were at least mildly entertained! Lots of things to look forward to and I will be keeping myself very busy. Thanks to everybody who supports me! Love ya!
This is from a document that I wrote in 2000.
