Meila - Hex Devlog #5 (Patreon)

The relationship between the player character, Iris, and her “roommate,” Meila, isn’t just core to the story of Hex, but also to its erotic content and its gameplay systems. As the game goes on, Iris and Meila will form a stronger relationship, influence each other, and maybe even grow fond of each other. The relationship between these two will be complex and multifaceted. While the specific ways in which their relationship can deepen will be dependent on your choice, the relationship will always be deepening in some way.

I want to be clear that the differences in their relationship between different playthroughs or different players will be pretty subtle. It’s not necessarily my goal to give players total and complete freedom in this area of the game, but instead to make sure that Meila is a good foil and compliment to Iris as you play. I want her to feel reactive based on how you play, but not like she becomes a totally different person based on how Iris treats her. At the beginning of the game she’s trying to make the most of a bad situation, and even if Iris is excessively kind and accommodating toward her, that only goes so far. That said, I do think you’ll find that the relationship between our two leads is quite dynamic.

In this devlog, I want to take some time to talk about how Meila works from a design and narrative perspective. Some of what I’ll discuss here is already in the game, some of it is planned for the future, but please keep in mind that all of it is subject to change.

Meila’s Feelings

Several values track how Meila feels about Iris and about her current situation, and these values change based on a variety of factors. Perhaps the most obvious value that will influence your gameplay is Meila’s level of “corruption.” I don’t necessarily like the term “corruption,” but it is the typical term used in most games like this. You can think of it as Meila’s interest in sex and sexuality.

While Meila isn’t a virgin, at the beginning of the game she is fairly chaste and prudish, especially in comparison to Iris. Meila will find Iris’s behavior distasteful, and will work to actively reign in Iris’s more extreme proclivities. This functionally serves as a way to more slowly dole out content. At the beginning of the game, Meila will generally stop Iris from engaging in risky or very obvious exhibitionism, and chide Iris for these actions even when she can’t outright stop her. This is a bit of a balancing act; I don’t want Meila to feel too much like a killjoy, but I do think the context helps make her sympathetic enough that it doesn’t feel like she’s just cock-blocking you.

Over time, Meila will grow more “corrupt.” At first this will manifest as her being less resistant or indifferent to Iris’s more extreme behavior. Eventually, she will come to enjoy and be interested in all sorts of lewd things! While it may happen faster or slower based on how you play, Meila will always steadily grow more and more comfortable with and interested in sex as the game goes on.

Meila also has several other emotions that grow and change over time. Her frustration at her predicament will be increased if the player refuses to listen to her, or if she’s otherwise made to feel helpless and like she doesn’t have any control or agency. If her frustration increases, she’ll be more prone to getting angry or sulking, though once she has an outburst, she’ll feel better, and this emotion will be reduced. As the game goes on and she gets more used to things, her frustration will build more slowly and decay faster over time, making her emotional state more stable.

Meila also has a value dictating her level of interest in Iris. If you make it a habit of having Iris flirt with her, Meila will begin to reciprocate these feelings, and may even start to fall in love. This is obviously a complicated situation being that the two share a body, but Iris will be able to have something like a romantic or sexual relationship with Meila if you pursue her, but more on this later.

Finally, Meila also has something like an overall approval (or disapproval) of Iris that factors into all of these other things. Being generally a decent person, helping people who need it, and performing morally good actions will generally increase Meila’s approval.

Meila and Romance

As mentioned, Iris and Meila can fall in love, sort of. Since Meila is a spirit, she doesn’t have a physical form and can’t have sex with Iris, but Meila can feel (though not as strongly) the pain and pleasure Iris feels, so the two can have something sort of like sexual contact when Iris masturbates. When masturbating in certain locations, the player can choose to do so while flirting with Meila or focusing on her pleasure.

In addition to Meila, there will be other romantic partners available in the game. Unlike Succubus Stories the romance systems in Hex will be much more open and varied, and allow the player to have multiple deeper romantic connections instead of just one, at least for some romantic partners. Meila will be involved in all of these romances to some extent (not that she has a choice, given she’s stuck with Iris). One potential romantic partner is a former lover of Meila’s as well, and this romance will end up being just as complex as it seems.

Meila will also form her own attachments to some extent if the player encourages her, though she can only really communicate and interact through Iris in most situations, further complicating things for her.

I have a lot of ideas about how to handle these romances, and I think they will feel really unique and interesting. Romances are a ways off, though, and will not be in the game at all for quite some time, so this is not something I’m currently working on beyond the planning phase.

Meila as a Guide

Meila was a powerful magic user, and her knowledge of both magic and the world are indispensable to Iris. Meila will serve as a guide and even as something like a teacher to Iris throughout the game, helping her learn new types of magic, learn about various locations and groups, and more. She’ll serve the rule of spouting exposition when needed, and also help Iris (and the player) figure out what to do next.

Not all of these interactions are necessarily going to be purely expository, though. Iris will comment on all sorts of things throughout the game, and will frequently chime in when traveling with her commentary. Like the random events in Succubus Stories that could play out in certain situations, Meila will pop up frequently to have a chat. She’ll fill in some backstory, comment on recent events, ask questions, or express her approval or disapproval. Normal events like those that occurred in Succubus Stories will still happen, too. This is also a balancing act; I don’t want Meila to annoy the player when they’re just trying to do some stuff, but I think it’s important for her to pop up and chat regularly. I’ve tried very hard to get the frequency and length of these interactions just right to make sure they always feel like a treat and never like a bother, but time will tell if I’ve gotten it right.

Meila as a Character

Meila serves an important role in the game’s overall narrative, and much of the game’s story (at least at first) revolves around figuring out why and how her soul has managed to linger. The situation Iris and Meila find themselves in isn’t great for either of them at the beginning of the game, and while both want to take the body for themselves, neither one can really do anything about it unless they understand how the situation came to be in the first place.

On top of this central mystery, Meila had friends, a lover, and a family–all of these people believe that Meila is completely gone and want Iris dead, seeing her as a monster desecrating their loved one’s remains. And now that her body has been possessed, the inquisitors–a militant group that hunts and kills witches–also wants to find and kill Iris. Meila obviously doesn’t want Iris to fight her loved ones, but can they convince these people Meila is still around?

Meila is the source of a lot of the game’s drama in one way or another.

Meila is also a foil to the player character. I think they have a bit of a buddy cop dynamic. They’re opposites but they ultimately work well together, and come to understand each other. Their initial standoffishness gives way to a true friendship (or even a romance), and that’s a pretty timeless concept to build a story off of, it just falls into place.

Meila and Eroticism

Finally, I also think Meila enhances the game’s eroticism. As a constant companion to Iris, Meila is present for everything. Whether she wants to be or not, she’s present for every shlicking session, every blowjob, every impromptu orgy, every public urination, every shameless flashing spree, everything. I think this gives the entire game a sense of exhibitionism and voyeurism that (I hope) elevates and enhances every single erotic scene.

Meila’s budding and begrudging interest in sex also gives the game a more traditional corruption arc without the slow, blue-balled beginnings I think those games are infamous for, and without needing the usual “undertones” I think those games tend to have.

I guess there’s a chance that the idea of Meila looking over your shoulder while you suck a dong isn’t something everyone finds hot, but I think it works. Hopefully no one finds it to be a total turnoff, at least.

(Pictured: Meila being a total turnoff.)

The Meanings of the Names

Did you know Meila is Greek for black or dark? And Iris is the Greek word for rainbow. These names' meaning don't have all that much significance; I actually chose the name Meila because I liked the way it sounded. Iris was one of many potential names I was considering for the player character's default name and I only recently settled on it. I didn't realize they had this relationship until later, but I think it kind of works thematically. In a way, at least. Paige was actually being used as a stand-in in some of the pervious screenshots I shared.

Anyway, that's it. That's all I have to say about Meila for now. Thanks a lot for reading this post! I'll have more to share soon!