Katawa Shoujo Forums

Zarys wrote:Ok thank you for the answer, just that as I read this article cpl_crud: https://cplcrud.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/regrets/

I suposse it varies opinions, always interesting to see the opinions of each author when it's possible.

Holy shit, someone reads my blog.

The post here is more about the fact that because we included sex, it is a little harder to bring up the topic in normal conversation.

Since that post I have mentioned KS to other board members and colleagues. No one has disowned me as yet, so my fears and regrets were unfounded - as they usually are.

This is an important life lesson...

I've always felt it to be a great gift to the 'fandom' here that the devs (at this time, the most recent being cpl_crud) drop in and entertain our questions and ideas and stuff. While Aura is the main respondent, I am always happy to see engagement, even if it is brusque or contrary. It makes me even happier to be part of this community. But one question I'd like to ask now is (if you wish to answer it): how have you devs changed in life direction and status since you finished KS? We've just had a brief outline of cpl_crud's life changes (from his blog and his latest replies).

brythain wrote:I've always felt it to be a great gift to the 'fandom' here that the devs (at this time, the most recent being cpl_crud) drop in and entertain our questions and ideas and stuff. While Aura is the main respondent, I am always happy to see engagement, even if it is brusque or contrary. It makes me even happier to be part of this community. But one question I'd like to ask now is (if you wish to answer it): how have you devs changed in life direction and status since you finished KS? We've just had a brief outline of cpl_crud's life changes (from his blog and his latest replies).

I got a Master's degree, lived in New York for a while, spent several awful months unemployed and desperate, and ended up writing for a tech company in its marketing department in Chicago. I also started a podcast...thing with my brother and will probably wind up starting another soon, because why not.

So I went from being a poor student to having an actual income and job that only sometimes makes me want to burn down the office, which is a good change.

TheHivemind wrote:job that only sometimes makes me want to burn down the office

Oh, sure. Flaunt your luck harder, won't you?

Am I to assume that the lack of an answer

means that the question has no good answer or one we don't want to reveal. Move on.

?

Pretty sure it's not the second one, and I'm not sure why it's the first one. If it was a mistake, you could just say so.

The answer is we don't care.

TheHivemind wrote:The answer is we don't care.

Seconded.

Also for some reason this dictionary has "Second Life" in it.

how out of date

Is there an estimate on how many times the game has been downloaded?

Most likely of the order of hundreds of thousands.

Which dev is responsible for "crawls in my balls"?

Probably A22, possibly me.

For Aura:

First off, I wanted to say that I just recently finished Rin's route and it's contending with Lilly's and Hanako's as my favorite path in the game. I know people thank you all the time for writing it, but Rin seriously is an incredible character--thank you for the years of dedication poured into crafting such a fascinating character and moving story.

My question is about the cigarette smoking scene in the atelier. I believe you said earlier on in this thread that a lot of the situations in the story are pure fabrication--such as the street walking scene that takes place afterward--and not based on any personal experience of yours. But the smoking scene seemed so true-to-life that I'm now wondering: do you or did you used to smoke? If not, did you light up a few for the sake of doing research for that scene? It's probably a silly question, and I apologize if you're tired of getting questions relating Katawa Shoujo to your real life.

I'm not a smoker, or ever have been. Maybe once a year or not even that often I smoke in a social context, but the scene doesn't draw from personal experience.

While we're on the topic of personal experience and writing about it: Everything anyone writes will always draw on personal experience. Imagination is just remixing and extrapolating on experience. What I mean when I say Rin or her story don't relate to my experience is that the events themselves or the characters don't have direct parallels in my life. But of course I know what it's like to smoke a cigarette, or be intimately with someone you have a crush on or whatever. These general experiences (that by themselves are very unremarkable) are what are on the background of a creative process. Sometimes of course something so juicy can happen to you in real life that it transfers to fiction as is. That's why I do write notes about random thoughts I have, good sentences from books I read, or stuff I hear during my everyday life, and sometimes some of that becomes building blocks for my writing.

Thanks for the quick response! I figured you had smoked once or twice or were at least a casual smoker, since in the scene Hisao talks about how unhealthy it is, yet your description of what those first four or five cigarettes are like is very true to life. I didn't mean to ask whether or not you had a similar experience of blowing smoke up at the ceiling with a girlfriend or anything.

Speaking of writing, are you writing anything at the moment that you'd be willing to talk about? It seems you answer a lot of questions about 4LS on the Aura Mart blog, but never say much about what you're up to. Just wondering if you have anything like cpl_crud's "Generic Writing Archive" where people can other read other stuff written by you. Or maybe you haven't written much since KS, in which case...er, ignore this question. Thanks!

Even though I've read 4LS will not produce any more content under said company name or as the same team, do any of the seperated writers have other projects in the same vein (done or ongoing)? Do any of the writers even wish to proceed making another product like Katawa Shoujo even for money?

EDIT: (Mainly asking since a ton of the creators seem to resent ever having done this project, even though it has touched many people's hearts across the globe.)