Katawa Shoujo Game FAQ

[Suriko]

Looking for the forum rules instead? Click here.

Note bottom of page for November 2022 update.

Q: Will there be a fandisc, sequel, or prequel to Katawa Shoujo?
A: No. There will be no other work in any way related to Katawa Shoujo.

Q: I read about some outlandish stuff on your blog. Is it true that...
A: Check that it wasn't posted on April Fools day.

Q: Are there sex/H-scenes in the game?
A: Yes. There is a toggleable option in the configuration menu of the game to skip sex scenes. We will not be releasing an all-ages version.

Q: Is the game censored like many other visual novels?
A: No.

Q: Does the save data from a version of KS work with a different version of KS?
A: The save data from a version of KS is not guaranteed to work with any other version of KS. 4LS does not take responsibility for any problems resulting from attempting to port save files from one version to another. In particular, the save data from the Act 1 demo will definitely not work with KS full version, and vice versa.

Q: How do I get 100% completion?
A: There are a walkthrough and flowcharts stickied in the "support" section of the forums.

Q: There aren't any voices. Are you interested in hiring some voice actors?
A: No. We decided on this early in development for a number of reasons, including (but not limited to): sheer amount of dialogue, the need for VAs for every character, and bloating of the already somewhat large number of developers. Please don't apply to be a voice actor, because we won't accept any. Modifying the game to include voices without official permission is also against our license.

Q: I saw this game for sale. Are you selling this now?
A: No. Four Leaf Studios is not charging for Katawa Shoujo, and never will. If you see anyone selling Katawa Shoujo, charging for "official" merchandise, or using game assets in their for-sale items, please report them. If you want to sell your fanworks, contact 4LS for licensing. Generally, as long as it's on a small scale, not for profit and doesn't use content we made, we'll be okay with it.

Q: I want to donate to Four Leaf Studios. How can I do this?
A: We will not be accepting donations for a variety of reasons. Instead, please donate to a charity of your choice; they need it a lot more than we do.

Q: Can I buy physical copies of those awesome artbooks? Can I buy some other KS merch from you?
A: Probably not. The physical copies are designed to be exclusive and rare, and we will sell them only in the events they are released in (almost invariably in Japan). We don't intend to make any merchandise.

Q: Are you going to release [sprites, CG, music, backgrounds, etc] separately once the project is finished?
A: An OST (Original Sound Track) can be downloaded from the official site. Other than that, no. You're welcome to grab anything you can from our main site though, and to screenshot away.

Q: Are you all Anonymous posters from 4chan?
A: No. Several of us browse 4chan occasionally, and we might post even more occasionally, but that's it.

Q: Are you going to create more games once you're done with Katawa Shoujo?
A: The exact same group of people who created KS will not be producing another game. As for single developers, or groups of developers from within 4LS; maybe yes, maybe no. We'll see.

Q: I want to contact a staff member from Four Leaf Studios. What is the best way to do this?
A: Depends on what you want to ask. Most of us can be found in the Katawa Shoujo IRC channel, #katawa-shoujo on irc.irchighway.net. There's nearly always at least one of us there, and this will provide direct communication. Otherwise, please use forum PMs. Please excuse us if we don't respond immediately; we all have work and other responsibilities, and timezones interfere as well.

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About the license:

Katawa Shoujo is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You can find the full version of the license in the manual, or you can follow this link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

BY-NC-ND means "Attributed, Non-Commercial and No Derivative works". In other words:

1. You are free to distribute Katawa Shoujo as it is, as long you attribute it to be the work of Four Leaf Studios.

2. You may not use Katawa Shoujo for any commercial purposes, including making money out of distributing the game or any fanworks.

3. You may not alter the game, nor make your own derivative work that builds on it. Specifically, we have a dislike for reverse engineering the game to extract the music, art or scripts, which is in breach of this license. See below. Updated Nov 2022.

A word on fanworks:

Updated November 2022

So, welcome to ten years of Katawa Shoujo.

Given the time it's been since release, and the fractured nature of the development team, we're updating our guidelines around fanworks and derivative content.

We implicitly waive the license on the part of using the IP for fanworks. Want to make a technical remaster? A mod? Yeah, sure. Go for it. We do have two conditions on this:
1. Do not charge any money.
2. Retain the credits.
Pretty simple.

Note that individual developers may not wish for their specific work to be reuploaded/altered/etc. That's still within their rights to deal with on an individual level. This update just covers the game as a whole.

Old terms which no longer apply:
We generally implicitly waive the license on the part of using the IP for fanworks such as art and fanfiction, but this is not to be understood as a carte blanche for using it for your own devices. Here are some guidelines:

1. Do make fanworks! You don't have to ask for permission to write a piece of fanfiction or draw a picture. If you suspect your fanwork might be breaching the license or otherwise cross us, just contact us and ask how we feel about it.

2. Do not involve money, or at the very least do not profit off your fanworks.

3. Do not rip and use any assets directly from KS. That means text, images, music etc. that we've made. Make your fanwork from the ground up.

4. Do not claim your work is anything except a fanwork. You may not make sequels, adaptations or claim that 4LS endorses your fanwork.

5. We generally frown on fan visual novels due to how easily they are misunderstood as sequels or spinoffs.

We have worked long and hard to create this game, and are giving it to you free of charge. We're also providing a place for you to come and talk about the game. We would appreciate it if in return you could abide by these simple things that we ask of you.

[Silentcook]

Our stance on fanworks just changed! See the above post for clarification.

[Moekki]

STEAM RELEASE FAQ

-Will the Steam version of Katawa Shoujo have achievements, cards, and other profile features?
The Steam version of KS will have achievements available on release. Profile features and Steam community content (wallpapers, badges, etc) requires satisfying Steam requirements which we haven't yet met. If that changes, we'll see about doing these too.

-Will the Steam version of Katawa Shoujo have additional content or be otherwise updated to modern standards, e.g. updated resolution, modern Ren'Py, etc?
No. While many devs were consulted regarding the Steam release, 4LS does not exist as an entity anymore and so as a group we cannot oversee any official updates to the game from this point forward. The Steam release will however be monitored for any bugs or issues that may arise.

-What is the current stance on mods or re-engineered versions of the game?
This official Steam release is the only Steam version of KS. Please do not create new Steam pages for content based on KS.

It's fine to distribute and promote mods that affect the official Steam release. Ported, re-engineered, or otherwise modified versions of KS are also okay to distribute outside of Steam, such as on Itch, but must be marked unofficial to avoid confusion.

-What is the current stance on Katawa Shoujo fanworks?
Fan merch such as artbooks, doujin, charms, etc, are fully supported and great to see. KS is itself a doujin work based on RAITA's, after all. It's okay to charge for fan merch you make, as long as they aren't made at a commercial level or presented as official. Selling online or via artist alleys is OK.

Individual KS developers ultimately decide what happens with their specific assets (CGs, writing, music assets, etc). It's up to them how they feel in regards to their work being used or modified by others.

-Is the Steam release of Katawa Shoujo altered in anyway?
The 18+ scenes have been removed. There will be a patch hosted on itch.io to restore this content upon release.

-Are there any terms around streaming Katawa Shoujo?
There are no copyright concerns or restrictions around streaming KS.

-Why was the 18+ content removed?
It is extremely unlikely KS in it's unedited form would have been allowed on the platform.

-Why now?
For longevity and to try and accommodate the fandom better.