Biweekly update #29 (Patreon)

Game Progress
- Coded in Dimitri's side story "Gaming Sessions"
- Small visual update where sprites now fade in/out without showing the layers underneath
- Added dynamic tinting (and added optimization for it)
- You can now rename Ralph (your brother)
- You can now change whether you're a virgin or not in the main menu
- Added more details and shoes for the fashion system

Art Progress
- Finished Caine's last 3 CGs
- Finished Caine's older sprite
- Finished James' sprite
- Some sprites got a visual update (new genitals on the guys)
- Some backgrounds were updated
- Finished drawing a couple of backgrounds needed for James' route

Script Progress
- Finished editing James' first 4 chapters

Biweekly updates are back! I am working hard on James' route and all of the assets it needs. Dear lord does he need a lot. In fact, he also needs an entire new soundtrack! Thankfully Patreon funds covers this nicely.

And the first side story for Dimitri is finally in the game! The one with MC and Dimitri playing games won in the poll, so that's the first side story that's available. You'll be able to enjoy it next month, along with James' first chapter.

I'd love to create a CG for the side story, but honestly, I'm so pressed for time working on main routes, I have to make compromises. Maybe in the future I can revisit them and add the CGs!

Sex in Plus (long rant ahead)
Some of the comments left behind on the sexual portions of the game can be... disheartening, to say the least. I try my best to make sex fun, safe, consensual, and with some realism thrown in. There's of course a fantasy element in that the guy will try and pleasure you when in reality this might not be the case. There will also never be any rape scenarios. Either way, writing routes for the guys is easy. People selecting a route know what they're getting into. A domestic kind of guy that cooks for you? You know what you're getting.

But for a lot of people, when it comes to the actual sex, suddenly it's not what they expected. It's not even the disappointment that Dimitri is more submissive during sex than they would have liked (yes, Dimitri is submissive, but can also be a switch at times). It's when I tried adding some more dominance to the Caine's portion (after all the feedback about Dimitri's lackluster reception), that some comments mentioned it felt like non-con.

The dominant/submissive chart for the guys

It is not my intention at all to write any sort of non-con. There's some forceful stuff happening throughout the story (people being grabbed, stopped, trapped, kidnapped, forceful kisses etc.). But I will never ever write about MC getting sexually harassed or abused by the LI. Or when it DOES come up (like in Caine's route with him kissing you) it is addressed and obviously made aware of; this is not okay. When it comes to sex, it's always consensual, or at the very least, a misunderstanding used as a plot point.

To see comments left behind that Caine's dominance in bed felt like non-con, or that MC tickling Neil felt like sexual harassment does leave me weary to write more smut. At what point does it start being non-con? At what point can MC tease the guys until people are sickened by it? Can Caine switch positions during sex without asking for permission? How many players would like this and how many wouldn't?

Neil's scene where you measure him and take longer than normal to torment him a little can be seen as triggering and as sexual harassment to some players.

I do take feedback seriously. But at a certain point it's almost impossible to please certain requests. Players were disappointed by a not so dominant Dimitri, so Caine was made to be more dominant. Which wasn't all that well received either.

All of these characters will have a different kind of sex. Some are more dominant than others, while there can be some that are submissive. Some will make you beg, some will beg themselves. Not every sex scene will appeal to you, and I definitely shouldn't try to make it appeal to everyone as that failed the first time.

But reading that kind of feedback is really discouraging. I'm constantly thinking about things like "Is this dominant enough?" or "Can I make him do this without the player's permission?" or "Will players complain he's too awkward?" while writing because of those comments.

 It feels like there's a lot of different expectations from the player's side when it comes to sex. Everyone's got their own opinion about sex, or their own hang-ups and triggers, not to mention actual kinks. So when it doesn't align with what they like, that's where the problem starts.

I think it's best if I just throw up a big ass trigger warning on the screen when you start a new route. Detailing how dominant he is or not. Whether anything happens that the player didn't explicitly consent to, etc. etc. This way, players know what to expect and won't be disappointed.

Yep, I need sex cards for the guys.