#dev asks

We're still working on the game, bit by bit! Sometimes development can be pretty slow, since this is just a little hobby project and takes lesser importance over real-life obligations (i.e. work, school, etc.) -- but the game hasn't been cancelled, and we have no intention of doing so!

Oh buddy don't get me started let me give you a list

It's nothing innovative. Just a lot of extra work >.>

It's also difficult to kind of explain what makes it different because VNs have a multitude of point systems to begin with. I can explain what my system does though.

Just like most point systems, most choices will affect affection in some way. The difference is that as the game progresses within each choice the scenes will begin to vary dramatically depending on affection level.

Heimos is actually an example of something closer to a 'static' system since he's the first iteration. In the later scenes of his game, the same conversations will happen with only mild line rewrites to address that he's garnered extra affection - unless it's the opposite. If you're on a bad or neutral run, you'll notice he's a lot colder and the MC is a lot more paranoid.

To me, a 'static system' is one where the points go up, but the dialogue only changes a little bit. The intended story marches on with very little variation in reactions to choices - even if they're weird. For example, imagine that you've been +1-ing a character for the entire game but randomly decide to make a very hurtful choice. In some games, this is just an automatic bad end. In others, there's a reaction to the choice, but that reaction is the same regardless of the affection level (with maybe a line or two different).

VV really showcase what I mean. The tone and sometimes the content of later conversations can vary dramatically depending on the choice made and what their respective levels are.

To use my previous example, if you've been raising Violo's affection significantly, he thinks that you're a good person who does the right thing. That's why, in a particular scene where if you're a good person you'll at least cooperate with him to save someone's life (in his mind), if you try to reject that idea, he is infuriated and gets violent for the first time in a while. He expects this at low. He's a bit miffed at neutral. He's heartbroken at Affectionate (but not as violent because his fondness has progressed to romantic interest), but at Attentive, he lashes out even more viciously than he does for the lower affection levels.

That's what I mean by 'dynamic'. The characters react to each choice depending on their affection levels instead of just what the choice is.

It's fun to see it played out (and to see people who like to replay games enjoying the new content), but after writing it myself twice now, I can see why this method is unpopular. It's tedious as hell. I get trapped in choice reactions for fucking 5 to 8k words (if not more at times), and you have to make sure that the code all works and that each choice loops well into the next post choice bit of narration despite the scenes possibly being very different.

you know when i did a sharp pivot from aftg to dunmeshi content i was worried people would be like hey what the fuck is this but thankfully i’ve found my people! first of all thank you for sharing this fic i WILL be reading this asap. i would’ve never imagined senshi-andrew parallels but oh yeah! im fucking w it! for baking specifically, i think andrew would like that a lot more than he’d like cooking. baking is a science, and you need specificity or something WILL go wrong, and i think he would find a lot of comfort in that. i do find andrew would initially hate it but grow to be interested in following a consistent pattern to get a result, sort of similar to jean helping cat with meal prep. (also i totally agree with you on similar body types. death to lean skinny andrew!)

but oh wow. your kabru/neil comparison is so interesting and i totally see where ur coming from there. i think it’s also particularly interesting because i do find kabru to be an unreliable narrator who often downplays his own violence. i was so surprised when kabru immediately went to chimera falin and hit the human’s weak points, but then i was like, oh, duh. it’s people in particular that interest him far more than monsters have for laios (and also why i would love to talk about their foils in a separate post sometime!). in making a comparison, neil doesn’t care about riko because he also does not care for the monsters in his life! he is intimately obsessed with the connections he has with the foxes, but he is a violence in him that kicks in like a survival instinct. i think it’s 100% similar to kabru and his own instincts and violence.