Ask!

[ProfAllister]

So, in the dev blog, you state that there will be sex in the game, and that it will be more than "missionary position with the lights off."

As we all know now, this was the case. However, the sex is rather conservative overall, and the more kinky things tend to be awkward and uncomfortable.

Was this intentional? Had the writers considered being more adventurous? Or did you decide it would be better to not live on in lemon-flavored ignominy?

Since just about all of the girls were relatively inexperienced, and Hisao sure as hell didn't know what he was doing, it made more sense to have a lot of the sex reflect the sort of fumbling trial and error that colors a lot of early sexual activity.

Sorry we didn't include any scat play or blood play or people in diapers or whatever you thought was missing, but past a certain point in development making sure we hit a lot of kinks was no longer a priority.

Ouch. Ask about kinky sex in a cripple porn game and people assume you're a pervert...

I'm thankful things were kept tame - makes it slightly easier to discuss in polite company. Certainly better than "Lilly's arc was beautiful. Well, except for that bit with the bullet ants and circular saw..." I was just hoping we could get some insight into what really propelled the change from "let's check all the boxes" to "let's write a story that just happens to include sex."

It seems that Nomiya and Jigoro get a lot of hate. Did this surprise you? Were there any characters you specifically disliked?

[Shockproof Jamo]

Sorry we didn't include any scat play or blood play or people in diapers or whatever you thought was missing, but past a certain point in development making sure we hit a lot of kinks was no longer a priority.

Hahaha. This reminded me... Did the much anticipated (by some) "Epic Rin footjob" ever exist in any draft of the script? As I recall, that was the one fetish that people wanted to see the most.

[Aura]

It seems that Nomiya and Jigoro get a lot of hate. Did this surprise you? Were there any characters you specifically disliked?

Not at all. Nomiya's mannerisms and character are meant to make people uncomfortable and Jigoro is straight up antagonistic. Hideaki is hated by a majority of the dev team, but I'm sure everyone has their own pet characters to dislike too.

[Aura]

Sorry we didn't include any scat play or blood play or people in diapers or whatever you thought was missing, but past a certain point in development making sure we hit a lot of kinks was no longer a priority.

Hahaha. :lol: This reminded me... Did the much anticipated (by some) "Epic Rin footjob" ever exist in any draft of the script? As I recall, that was the one fetish that people wanted to see the most.

No. One time I wrote a pretty ludicrous one for entertainment, but it was never going to be in the game (despite me getting egged on to put it in by people who thought it was hilarious).

[Aura]

How do you feel about the game, the community surrounding the game, and the feels that the game has brought upon many an unsuspecting reader?

I've written entire essays on these three subjects on many occasions, so you might want to dig around the blog and such.

KS is okay. I (and I think most of 4LS) identify more with the project, the 5 year long process of making the game than the end product, and it manifests as a sort of a blasé attitude towards the game itself. That's not to say we are unhappy with it, despite its shortcomings. KS is clumsy and amateurish and inconsistent and whatnot, but also it's very much what we wanted it to be like. It was definitely worth making.

The KS fanbase... we are pretty awkward about it. The existence of a KS fan community in the first place is pretty incredible, not to say anything about how big it is. Anyway, a majority of 4LS doesn't really want to do the community interaction thing, and the ones that do, like me, seem to be somewhat out of touch with the fan phenomenon. I want to be appreciative of the attention and not dismiss it as rabid/brainless fanaticism but it's not always easy to stay comfortable with the huge amount and wide range of stuff the fan community does. Heck, it's hard to be comfortable with the thought of how monstrous the KS fan community is in the first place. An interesting KS community that I was recently introduced to is the KS General threads on 4chan. Someone calculated that since the game was released there has been close to half a million posts on those threads, and the community is not like anything I've seen elsewhere before. The threads are active 24/7, with people from different timezones saying good night as they go to sleep simultaneously to others calling good morning from 8 hours ahead of them. It feels like a very strongly identifying community, much more so than our forums, for instance, and I think it's pretty amazing how KS spawned something like that. Then there's of course all the fan fiction, art, fan games and so on. All of it is nice.

The response to KS, the "feels" and such, I don't know what to make of it. Obviously we knew that people would claim waifus and get attached to the characters, but the overwhelming intensity of the experience to so many people is inexplicable. Unlike for instance Jun Maeda's VNs, KS doesn't try to manipulate the reader's emotions to get that kind of reaction, so we were surprised at the strong reactions. The really amazing thing though is that KS has inspired a lot of people to improve their lives. I can see the "feels" coming from the romantic pathos that's all over the game, but there is absolutely nothing in KS that should inspire one get their shit together, start working out, get better grades or what have you. It was really unexpected. As I said I don't really know what to think about all this, but drawing a reaction from the reader is one of the core goals of a writer, so I am satisfied.

[Out-All Knight]

To the artists, During the time your drawing the expressions of each characters, how were you able to make them natural and applicable to their characters? I could see some small but significant details to each expressions (I think) that made me smile a bit.

Also, Did you use a mirror to make those expressions for the characters?

[Helbereth]

To the artists, During the time your drawing the expressions of each characters, how were you able to make them natural and applicable to their characters? I could see some small but significant details to each expressions (I think) that made me smile a bit.

Also, Did you use a mirror to make those expressions for the characters?

In relation to this: were any of the characters based on people you actually know? If not with the specific conditions, but with similar looks. Or are they all conjured from the depths of your imagination/from an unknown deep mental source you're not sure you chose to access?

I often find myself drawing people I know into the characters I've created and I wonder if something similar happened here.

[stanman237]

As you just mentioned from the above post, your goal was not manipulate "feels" like Jun Maeda, which he does a pretty good job. This question might had been asked already but, when you were writing the VN what was your intended reaction to it if it wasn't for the "feels"? It follows the a similar approach to Jun Maeda minus the magic/fantasy elements

[raemz]

To the artists, During the time your drawing the expressions of each characters, how were you able to make them natural and applicable to their characters? I could see some small but significant details to each expressions (I think) that made me smile a bit.

Also, Did you use a mirror to make those expressions for the characters?

It's a bit difficult to answer "how you were able to do make them look natural" because that natural emotion just comes to us and we just drew whatever expression that seemed to fit the character's personality or for specific lines. There's not much else to it.

Well as for the mirror, no. Using a mirror as reference is not a good idea for that natural look people have on themselves whenever they're happy, sad, whatever. If I grinned in front of a mirror I'd probably just be making a fool of myself.

[Welath]

What signs do they use for each others names? (sign language)

Dont real know how they do namns in jap only know how we do it with our friends. (first latter of the name over some fyical characteristic of that person.)

Aaaand if you have no ide that no need to answer.

Have a good day.

[Pseudogenesis]

Did each of you find yourselves drifting towards one character in particular during development, as so many of us had? (This is obviously directed more at the writers than anyone else, really) Is it strange or natural to like some of your characters more than others, or do you simply love them all equally in what they were meant to convey?

[Aura]

To the artists, During the time your drawing the expressions of each characters, how were you able to make them natural and applicable to their characters? I could see some small but significant details to each expressions (I think) that made me smile a bit.

Also, Did you use a mirror to make those expressions for the characters? :lol:

In relation to this: were any of the characters based on people you actually know? If not with the specific conditions, but with similar looks. Or are they all conjured from the depths of your imagination/from an unknown deep mental source you're not sure you chose to access?

I often find myself drawing people I know into the characters I've created and I wonder if something similar happened here.

As far as I am aware, no. There are some details here and there though. Mutou has a bit of david tennant feel in him, Nomiya's glasses are tinted because my middle school art teacher also had tinted glasses (though yellow) and such, but no character is really based on anyone else.

[Aura]

As you just mentioned from the above post, your goal was not manipulate "feels" like Jun Maeda, which he does a pretty good job. This question might had been asked already but, when you were writing the VN what was your intended reaction to it if it wasn't for the "feels"? It follows the a similar approach to Jun Maeda minus the magic/fantasy elements

When I use the word "manipulation" it's with absolute, utter disdain. I don't like how the nakige (literally "crying game") genre trades story integrity for cheap shots at the reader's tear ducts. I'm sure any writer wants a reader to laugh when they read something meant to be funny, or feel sad for something sad, but when your only goal is to wring tears out of your reader, it's going too far. As for me, I didn't think of any specific reaction I wanted to evoke in my readers, as Rin's path was a cerebral thing for me more than an emotional one. Any reaction is fine and valid in my book, whereas if you don't cry after reading a nakige game, the game has failed its ultimate goal.

[Aura]

What signs do they use for each others names? (sign language)

Dont real know how they do namns in jap only know how we do it with our friends. (first latter of the name over some fyical characteristic of that person.)

Aaaand if you have no ide that no need to answer.

Have a good day.

We never decided.

[Aura]

Did each of you find yourselves drifting towards one character in particular during development, as so many of us had? (This is obviously directed more at the writers than anyone else, really) Is it strange or natural to like some of your characters more than others, or do you simply love them all equally in what they were meant to convey?

Some did, some didn't. Suriko and crud in particular had great attachment towards certain characters.