First set of AMA answers

Here are the answers to the first set of AMA questions. The questions so far have been great! Let's hope the answers do them justice.

Q: I First discovered your games back in 2018 and of those early projects I enjoyed Getting to Know Christine the most. However I always felt Coming to Grips with Christine really fell short as a follow up. Felt like the attitude and energy toward the project completely changed and it took almost everything that GtKC fun, wild and exciting out of it. Instead giving us a much more bleak and negative outlook in many ways. My question is about the reasoning behind this? I almost felt like you had had a dislike for the Christine arc and just wanted to end it or write it off. Taking the wild and free nature or how their relationship started and grounding it.

A: When I released GtKC, many people liked it. But there was a pretty consistent group of people who said things like, "I would have left her immediately after the shower test." I figured that if I ever went back to Christine, I'd have to address that. So I wrote the story such that you could be all in on Christine, or you could be openly dissatisfied with her, or somewhere in between.

If you were on the Christine path, though, she was still pretty wild and free. Blowing Adrian while he's driving, and a bus full of nuns goes by. Not being mad that he watched her mother have sex in the basement. Having sex on video while Adrian and Sandy do it for real on the other end. Etc. Granted, it wasn't a foursome on the beach, but still. Christine may have settled down a bit, but people are likely to do that as they get older.

I didn't have a dislike for the Christine arc. If I did, I wouldn't have done the sequel in the first place. But CtGwC does have the problem that all sequels do. The original story is the most important thing that happens in the character's lives. (If it's not, then the original told the wrong story.) So, almost by definition, the sequel has to be less of a story. CtGwC couldn't have been a story about the excitement of meeting someone new and getting them to have sex with you, because that was GtKC. And it couldn't just be a series of dates where they do something wild and crazy, because there wouldn't be any story there.

Q: what is the hardest language to code video games in?

A: It really depends on the kind of game you're making. Some of the common game languages are C++, Javascript, Python, and C#. The game engine Renpy uses Python and makes it extremely easy to write Visual Novels. But VNs don't have much coding needed in them. On the other hand, when you try to do something more complex, like Puzzle Date, Renpy doesn't handle it very well. And you just couldn't do a AAA action shooter in Python. It's much more possible to do that kind of game in C++ in Unreal, even though C++ itself is much harder.

Q: How do you think the adult story telling genre has evolved over the years for you as a content creator?

A: I consider ArianeB's "Virtual Date with Ariane" to be the first game in the genre I participate in. At the start, we were all making variations on the Ariane theme. At that time, all of the games were, "Meet a girl and convince her to have sex with you." The main evolution that I've seen over the years is that I'm allowed to tell more story in the games. I don't have to keep telling the "Meet a girl..." story. I can tell the one about two adults who tried and failed to have a relationship and want to try again. Or the one about the guy in a stable relationship who is struggling with PTSD. Or a murder mystery on a deep sea station. Etc.

Q: Are there any plans to ever make the 2nd Pandora game? I've been hoping to see that one for a long time.

A: Pandora is a Mortze solo project, so I can't speak to his plans. But I will say that, when my breakdown caused him to need to make his own game, he chose to do SWM instead of Pandora. And, when I came back and we discussed what to do after LCfK, I asked about Pandora, and I asked about SWM ep2. He chose to do Toro 7 instead of either of them. And when it was time for him to do solo work again, he chose to do SWM ep2 instead of Pandora. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for Pandora 2. I suspect that that ship has sailed, so to speak.

Q: Who are your favorite gaming love interests (from adult games or other genres — feel free to name anyone you’d like)?

A: Right off the bat, I'd say Liara from the Mass Effect series and Shadowheart from BG3. You said anyone, so I guess I can include my own games too (after all, I'm my own favorite audience member for my games). Miranda because she's inspired by someone dear to me. Beth because I like to write about broken women who are badasses, and she's both of those to a high degree. And Gwen, because she steals every scene she's in.

Q: Also, are there any creative “bucket list” challenges you’d like to try to accomplish? (As a personal example, I’d like to try to write a threesome scene someday.)

A: With respect to erotic scenes, I certainly had those in the past. The Keeley beach fantasy in LCfK (where Claryce is snorkeling and sees them doing it in the water) was probably the one I wanted to capture the most (and you can see multiple early attempts in previous games). But, we've probably done 200 sex scenes at this point, and I think I've scratched all of those itches.

If we broaden the question to things outside of sex scenes, then what interests me most is different storytelling methods. Most games are "Second person, script" style. Pure dialog with name tags. And, if there's any narration, it's directed at you ("You go to the store"). And the POV never changes. That's so restricting. Stories have been told for millennia, and there are so many other ways to do it. Novel style, where you can effortlessly mix narration and dialog. Multiple point of view characters. Framed narratives. First person film noir style. Etc.

I know that the majority of players out there want to self-insert into the story and imagine that these hot women are having sex with them, and I know that I limit my audience by not catering to that. I'm very thankful that there are those of you who enjoy my games despite them not matching the "standard."

And I'm still trying to find that perfect gameplay mechanism that has the right balance between story and player agency (because the two are diametrically opposed). That's my Holy Grail/White Whale/Albatross around my neck.

Q: I ended DwE with Jason and Elsa in a strong relationship, yet the later games have them strained. Are you bored with the older games, or do you have a plan? Because I'm seeing a disturbing trend here.

A: I'm not bored with the older games, but I can't have every game end in "And then they lived happily ever after." The world is messier than that. People who meet, go out on a few dates, and have sex don't always get married and live 40+ happy years together. Sometimes they grow apart. Sometimes one grows more than the other and they don't fit anymore. In Elsa's part, couple this with the fact that she went from being a recluse to one of the most powerful people around in the span of a few days. That's got to put a strain on you.

But, I do have a plan. And, you (the player) are going to get to decide their fate. That's a few games away but maybe coming sooner than you might expect.

Q: Is making AVNs still a viable financial option for you or do you feel like you have to get out of it sooner or later?

A: Let's be frank. Writing has never been a viable financial solution for me. Even back when I was writing non-erotic science fiction novels, there wasn't much money in it. For every J K Rowling there are thousands of professional writers who need a day job to pay the bills. I eventually sat down, compared what I was making writing to what my day job was bringing in, and realized the writing just wasn't worth the hassle.

The second time I took up writing, I went in with eyes open. I used an alias that no one knew (Tlaero) and planned up front that it would be a hobby that I don't make any money on. Aside from having us patron a few people I like, I don't take any of what we make on Patreon or Steam (or anywhere else). I give it all to Mortze.

The real question is whether this is a viable financial solution for him. His cost of living is much lower than mine, and he says that he's okay. But I still worry about him. (I think I worry about his finances more than he does.)

And, yeah, if this became non-viable for him and he had to stop, I'd probably stop too. I consider Mortze to be irreplaceable.

I think that answers all the questions we've gotten so far. Keep them coming, or ask follow ups to these ones if I didn't answer them well enough. I'll keep answering as the questions come in.

Tlaero