Hey everybody. Welcome to the August Patreon Q&A session. I hope everybody’s been doing really well this month. I have a new laptop! I had to finally replace the old one I had, and it seems like it picks up on background noise even better than the old one, but it picks up on my actual voice even worse. But we’ll do our best and there will be a transcript if this is hard to listen to.
Let’s get into the questions.
How do you find your artists?
Well, usually I just post on our social media that we have a position available. We also have a website that I put job listings on, but that might not be an option for people who don’t have as large of a social media reach as we do. There are places like DeviantArt or Art Station or Reddit or Discords, and some forums where you can search for artists yourself if you can’t just sort of put the notice up and have artists come to you.
Which Our Life 2 character would last the longest on a deserted island?
And I think that would be someone from the Murray family because they’re very smart and they really like camping. So I feel like they’d be able to figure something out better than anyone else, but I don’t know which one for sure.
Is there a plan to add more not safe for work scenes in the future?
Right now, not really because all of the other DLCs took so long to make that by the time they’re all done I think we’re probably just going to have to move on to the next Our Life game. Maybe if next year people are still interested in another Cove scene, it might be possible, but it definitely could not be started in 2022. I’m sorry for that.
Will Our Life 2 have voice acting?
Yes, it will have the same kind of stock voice lines and then the main two will do the voiced name thing again.
Are fan games allowed, like original characters in the same Four Step format?
Yes. Fan games are allowed either using our characters or making your own characters, but in basically like Our Life style world, as long as it’s for no profit, that is totally fine. And the question does mention that it’d be for no profit. So yeah, it’s all good.
How much will the jealousy system impact Our Life 2? Will it show up mostly as flavor texts or majorly change certain scenes?
A combination of both, maybe. And I mean, it probably be some kind of combination of both. It won’t just be a single line is different and then we move on like nothing happened. But it’s not going to be completely changing full Moments or anything like that. So, something in between shorter instances here and more substantial ones there. But it will at least be noticeable.
Who are your personal favorite characters in each of your released games?
And usually, basically always it’s the main characters. I make the characters I like most be the ones that the game is about. And I don’t mean just the playable main character, I mean like the leads, the romantic interests, and then also the main character if they have a personality of their own. I’m just usually not won over by side characters. No offense, I do like them, but I usually can’t beat the main squads in my games. As for which one of the mains is my favorite, it generally just changes depending on my mood at the time. So, there isn’t one definite favorite from any of the games.
And the next is slightly worded, weirdly, since I have no clue how to make it sound not weird. But does the team have an idea as a direction they will go when it comes to choosing Qui’s voice in later stages?
And I guess so if, I mean, it depends on what you mean for direction. They will sound very masculine because even though they don’t identify as male, they don’t do anything to try and physically transition. So, if you’re wondering if they’ll sound more gender neutral, they probably won’t try to. We might end up with a more obviously masculine sounding voice when they’re an adult. But if you meant something else. Feel free to ask again.
Can you talk about the music, like anything about it? I love Our Life music beyond words to describe it.
Well, thank you so much! I’m glad you like it. I thought it was really cool too. Unfortunately, no, I cannot. I did not make the music. Brad Robotics is the composer. And really all I did was say, “How about a song that sounds happy?” And “here are a few references of songs that I think sound happy”. And then the composer did all of the actual work, so there was nothing I can really say in regards to the creation because I had very little part in it.
If I can ask, in Derek’s DLC besides the Babysitting and Responsibilities, are we able to hang out with his little bros in Step Four one on one.
And the answer is a little bit, slightly. Usually, it’s sort of like that scene in the Babysitting where Derek is around, but you’re talking specifically to one brother or both. But there’s never really a scene where Derek is totally just not there and you have an extended period of time away from Derek with the brothers. And honestly, I kind of wish there was because I really liked the brothers, but it was Derek’s DLC and I did make sure that he was the person you were there to see.
Can I ask game wise, when would Cove be comfortable enough to go all the way with the MC? Does that happen at a certain time or is that something we head canon ourselves?
And I would say, yeah, you can head canon yourself definitely, but it would mostly depend on when you got started. It really doesn’t matter what age he was, he would need an extended period of time to work up to it. So, let’s say you started romancing and Step Three, then maybe before the start of Step Four, you could have gone all the way. Or maybe you only start really romancing and Step Four, and so it would take until sometime after Step Four when the game has stopped for them to get that far. But whenever you decide that your MC is ready to get more intimate, then it sort of starts Cove on that path as well. So for the most part, it is up to the player.
When you are thinking of main characters and designing them, do you plan ahead what their personality will be as they change ages and steps? For example, Qui and Tamarack, Step 1 to 2: Do you go for clothing design first, or do you think this is how they would probably be acting around this age?
I would say that personality does come first, but I have an overall sense of style and what they would likely wear basically from the start. I don’t know the specific clothing or color scheme, but even from Step One, I already know by Step Four they’re definitely not going to wear something like that and they probably will wear something like this.
And then I do go from Step to Step, making the actual personality. So first it starts with personality and then they basically have a general style for their whole existence. And then it’s back to making specific personalities. Then when it’s actually time to work on a certain Step, I make the completely designed outfit, so it’s back and forth.
What do you imagine Derek’s dating life was like during the formative years between Stage Two and Four? Was he sexually active during that time?
I would say probably. Unless he had a reason to think that maybe the MC and him could happen if he was still just thinking that he liked them, but he was just a backup to the MC, then he probably would have had at least attempts at other relationships because he is a social guy. He wouldn’t completely isolate himself because he wasn’t with the MC. But he’s also so busy and focused on other goals that he wouldn’t get into a super committed relationship either.
Jorge is almost the same age as the M.S., Tama and Qui, is there any chance that he could show up as a cameo in Our Life 2?
And the answer is he’s not right now, but I am actually thinking about maybe having one more. Currently, only Baxter and Pran are confirmed, but I have been thinking, I don’t know, maybe there could be one more who only appears much later in the game. That might be fun and maybe it could be Jorge. I don’t know for sure, but it’s at least some level of possible.
What would you say are Qui and Tamarack’s biggest contrast with Cove?
Well, the funny answer would be that they don’t care that much about the beach and the ocean. That’s hugely different from Cove. He wouldn’t believe, it’s like they don’t even care that the sea exists! But I guess in terms of personality, they definitely don’t have the same kind of hang ups that Cove does, sis sort of fears and hesitations and insecurities. They have their own, but they’re definitely different from Cove’s.
Will Qui have any appearance options that lean Masc?
The answer is yes. Some of Qui’s outfits are pretty masculine, though player choice doesn’t really get to influence that. You can choose the hair length, but that’s really the only way you could sort of influence whether they look more masculine or feminine. Their style can’t really be changed to that degree when it comes to like their clothing or overall presentation. And some of the things they wear are definitely feminine leaning. And that can’t be changed either.
My question is regarding the Suarez family. Since they are a Hispanic family, would you ever consider incorporating Spanish phrases?
And the answer is maybe there could be a small amount. Unfortunately, I had to write a majority of the DLC myself and I can’t speak Spanish and I don’t want to get it wrong or use it in an incorrect context. So, I’ve avoided having them be very knowledgeable on a subject that I cannot accurately portray, but maybe I could figure out a few simpler ones that even I can get right. Unfortunately, it won’t be able to be a noticeable part of the script because I’m lacking in that regard. I’m sorry.
Do you think Cove would have done any extracurriculars in high school, sports club or anything like that?
And I would say likely not. He was already volunteering with Orca and I doubt he would have given up more time to school-based extracurriculars when he has his own hobbies to pursue, within this volunteer work he’s very passionate about. I suppose it’s not impossible, especially if he really leaned into being sporty or really leaned into being studious. But I don’t have a specific extracurricular in mind that I imagine he took.
Does Derek get over his feelings for the MC in Step Four Derrick DLC, or does he still secretly love them?
And that would definitely depend on how things went with the MC. Obviously, if they lost contact or if the emcee is happily dating someone else, he’s not still going to be holding on to that. But if they’ve kept in contact as best they could and they’re both still single and the MC is still showing him some attention, then he probably wouldn’t be completely over it. There’s still hope there.
I actually had a question about one of your older games, namely XOXO Droplets. Has there ever been any sort of concept art of the boys’ parents? Mostly asking in regards to Jeremy, Pran, or Shiloh. Would you be open to people making fan interpretations of parental figures for the characters if no canon concept is present?
And the answer is most of the parents have never been drawn. I think Shiloh and Pran’s parents were the only two that were ever drawn. Shiloh’s mom, and then Pran’s mom and dad. Oh, wait! Obviously, Everett’s mom did appear briefly in XOXO Blood Droplets. That’s obviously sort of a different situation, but that is what she would look like in the normal universe too. And people are welcome to draw the parents however they like based on information in the game or just what they think would be cool. It’s totally fine either way.
Next is what led you to making Derek and Baxter romanceable in Our Life 1?
And it was just because I was not convinced that one love interest could carry a game. So I knew from the start that there was going to be side love interest. I came up with two guys that I thought would be interesting side romances, where they were made from the start to be romanceable and to have sort of stories that would work with the concept of them only being there for part of your life. So there was the boy you completely grew up with, and then these other two boys who you had these other dynamics with who weren’t there for your whole life, but were there for only parts of it.
I know you’re busy with Our Life 1 and 2. I was wondering if you would ever have an opportunity afterwards to create the XOXO Blood Droplets DLC.
Probably not me. I might be able to find someone else who can write it, but at this point, it’s very unlikely that I will be able to stop working on the Our Life games to spend a month or two or three writing for another project, considering how late Our Life games already are. But hopefully we will be able to find some way to release some or most of the remaining stories for that.
I’d like to ask what had they’re crushing on us in the first place? If it’s up to us to decide, that’s great. If he only did meet us a couple of months before the summer of Step Two. Maybe you had a head canon own or a brief idea.
And it definitely depends on M.C. to a degree, though. Part of the reason is because there was no sort of pretenses between the two. They didn’t know each other from school, and it wasn’t the same situation with Cove, where he was meeting the son of his dad’s new business partner. It was just this totally brand-new person, a fresh start, and Derek could sort of get along with this person without some of the baggage he already had at school about being short and not being on the team. And he was able to just sort of connect with them more easily, and then that led to liking them more easily. But obviously the personality traits that he responds well to would depend on which personality traits you gave to your MC.
Since this has been lingering on my brain for a little while, if you had to make yet another slice of life-esque kind of game like Our Life 1 and 2, would it branch similar to your previous works or a completely separate entity of its own?
And if it had to be slice of life in a modern-day real world with no sci fi or fantasy supernatural elements, then it probably would just be another branch of Our Life. I imagine it wouldn’t start in childhood and go to adulthood. Maybe it would just be two time periods, like a teenager then to adult or a child that then skips all the way to adult. But I don’t think I’d have another entirely new slice of life concept that wasn’t at all Our Life like if it had to be modern day slice of life.
Is there a possible way to see the full, full script of Our Life 1 and possibly Our Life 2 once it’s finished? Trying to log the outcomes, and I want to make sure I’m not overshadowing anything.
Currently, no, there isn’t a way to see the complete full script, only the log of what you’ve personally gone through in that playthrough. And I don’t know if we’d ever release the entire raw script. It’s not impossible, but it hasn’t happened and isn’t in the plans right now. Maybe someday.
Do Qui or Tamarack have any kind of accent when they speak? I know we won’t get VA’s for a long while, but I’m just trying to get an idea of what they may sound like.
They were both born in the US and English is their main language, so I don’t think they would have a noticeable accent from another location. They’ll just have sort of a typical American accent.
Why does Cove like his scar so much?
Because he thinks it’s very cool! He’s just that sort of person who thinks toughness is appealing and scars look tough. So now he’s cool because he’s got a really big scar that is impressive.
Will Our Life 2 come out in 2023, 2024, or later?
Hopefully it will come out in 2024, at least some of it. There might be DLCs that have to come out even later. We’ll see.
What’s the story behind Cliff’s jokes in Step Two Mall DLC about being left behind that implies that Kyra has left him behind before?
And I was just imagining generally that when they were two young teens who liked to party and do like crazy stunts, probably breaking into some places. I imagine there were times when she decided to just leave him behind because he was causing too much trouble or taking too many risks, or she just wasn’t feeling it and decided to get out of there and he couldn’t take the hint and got left behind.
I want to know more about the MC’s parents. They are really interesting. So just some random facts about them. Or maybe what is Cliff’s brother like, since Cove mentions him, implying they have interacted, but Cliff doesn’t seem to mention his family.
Well, I’m not very good at giving random facts. I can never think of anything when it can be anything. I can usually only answer more specific question. For Cliff’s brother, he doesn’t have a brother that is Kyra’s brother. That is Cove’s magical uncle.
Hey, love your games. (Thank you!) Discovered Our Life last month, I’ve been playing all the others too. I think allowing the level of character customization that you did was the right call. You really nailed a killer formula. What was behind the decision to implement such impressive player involvement? I notice your other VNs have predesigned player characters. What inspired you to switch to a customizable player?
Well, thank you. I’m really glad that you enjoyed that. What’s funny is I used to be really against MC customization. I thought it watered everything down and that the best way to make a story was for the main character to be the most interesting, well-defined character of the whole game. They should be the most entertaining or the most intriguing. So that’s what I tried to do with my main characters when I started making games. And then when I started on Our Life, I knew that the premise was the player living their own life in this neat little summer town. And I didn’t really think about how that meant they were a customizable MC. I was just thinking like, “Oh, this is a game where the player is the one playing it as if they were actually in it”. And then whenever anything came up where I was like, “I don’t know if players would want to do it this way or that way. Well, I’ll just make it a choice. You know, it’s a visual novel. There can be choices!” And then on and on until they were just more and more customization. Then I eventually realized this is what MC customization is about. It’s not trying to make a story without a real main character, it’s trying to bring the player into the world as much as possible so they get to experience the world the way they want to. That is very obvious, but for some reason that never really clicked with me until I started trying to make a game where I wanted the player to feel like they were really a part of the world and not just reading someone else’s story. So that’s how we ended up with the game that we did! And I really like it, and obviously now I’m quite a fan of customization because I like that ability to feel like you are the one who’s there and you get to do what you want. I imagine we’ll keep doing that with future games as well.
So I think you’ve said before that you weren’t going to translate the game to any other language besides English because you didn’t know enough of any other language to implement your own translation but how would you feel about fan-translations?
As long as they are not for profit, people can definitely make fan translations. That would be really cool. Although one of the biggest problems is the game is so large, it would be an incredibly large feat to try and translate the whole thing. But if someone wants to attempt that, they definitely can, just as long as they don’t sell the translation.
Is there a chance we can see Tamarack and Qui in their swimsuit despite the season not being a fit like they go to an indoor pool or take a trip to the beach, which could be a potential Sunset Bird cameo.
And the answer is no. I do like my swimming scenes, but I have had enough of those and will not be writing any in Our Life 2. And unfortunately, they also won’t be going to Sunset Bird. That would be neat, but it’d be a lot of assets and time, and I would rather focus on creating this new world and new scenes rather than already going back to an older location.
I would love to know how you react to the MC being pregnant/them finding out that you’re able to adopt. I’m sad we’re not going to get to continue this story. It was so beautiful.
Thank you! I’m happy you thought it was beautiful. I’m not sure I can explain it very well, just talking about it. Obviously, he would cry and be very happy and be very nervous. But I don’t think I can come up with anything better than that. I’m very sorry. It would definitely be a very emotional moment for him.
What is each of the love interest favorite season and why? Mostly asking about Our Life, but I’m sort of curious about XOXO as well.
I don’t know if the XOXO Droplet guys even have favorite seasons. They’re very cynical and too cool to have favorites in most cases. Except for Shiloh, who would say they’re all great! So for the Our Life ones, Cove is summer, Derek’s probably summer, Baxter’s probably fall or spring, Qui’s probably fall definitely, and Tamarack’s is also probably fall. They’re all very predictable, except for Baxter, who’s potentially a wild card.
For Our Life 2 I was curious about if for sleepwear (for if we have a sleepover or such) if we could have an option for our MCs with curly-hair to wear a bonnet or durag.
I will try to do that. Sometimes I just lose track of what’s there and what’s not. But I will try to have more sort of that kind of extra detail in this game that wasn’t in the first game.
Any plans to maybe someday soon have any official merchandise for Our Life/Cove? I can understand you can’t do clothes because that can cost so much, but how about small things like stickers, pins, postcards, etc.? I know you did the Cove plush a few months back, but do you plan to do anything else? Also, how do you feel about artists doing fanart of the game and selling them on sites like Etsy?
For the merchandise, I do want to, but I can never seem to find the time to. I am going to keep trying, but I can’t say when it will happen. And as for artists selling fanart of the game on sites like Etsy, that is a tough one because it’s no longer a noncommercial just for fun kind of fan work and as sort of the brand becomes more well known, it’s less advisable to tell people, “Yeah, you can use our brand in your own company to make money”, for legal reasons. So I don’t think I can say do that, but obviously I’m not here to harass fans over anything like that. So that’s as much as I can say about it, unfortunately.
About Our Life 1, I was wondering if the wedding DLC will be updated to add Xavier’s sprites since they’re gorgeous.
And I’m thinking probably not, because it would be a little weird if only Xavier had a sprite and then none of the other people did. I imagine a lot of people are going to get the wedding DLC without getting other boys DLCs so they wouldn’t understand the context that Xavier is from those other stories, they’d just be like, “What is this random baker? How come the caterer doesn’t have a sprite?” So probably they will not be added to the wedding DLC.
And I was also wondering if in the near future there will be more bonus Moments for Our Life 1 and 2.
I answered the Our Life 1 question a little bit before, and for Our Life 2 I don’t know if they ever will have that kind of bonus Moment. We’d have to wait until at least 2024 to even really consider it because that’s when we’d be working on the later, older Steps for those characters. I guess we’ll see how it goes.
What are Derek and Baxter’s middle names if they have them?
They do not currently have them. I’m thinking about it, but can’t give a definitive answer right now.
Does Vianca have feelings for Tamarack or does she only see her as a friend throughout the Steps?
And she does only see Tamara as a friend. She’s very affectionate and complimentary and does genuinely think Tamara is beautiful, but she doesn’t want to be in a relationship with Tamarack.
Does Mr. Bauman have nicknames for those he’s close with, like sometimes calling his wife Thea? Or is Tamarack the only person he nicknamed?
And I would say he does have nicknames for those he is close with, not just Tamarack. Though I haven’t specifically decided on other nicknames just yet.
Would the MC have a chance to give Tamarack and Qui a piggyback ride?
I have no idea. Sorry!
Would we have a chance to see a young Ernst and Dorothea through pictures or other methods?
Probably not most likely, but maybe. It’s possible they could get a guest art piece where they’re younger, but I’m not sure if it’ll come up in the game itself because if we saw them younger, it would only be fair to do that for the other parents, and I’m not sure if we can have excuses for all of them to get younger versions shown, but who knows? Maybe it’ll happen one way or another.
I know Jamie Last/MC speculates about this in the game, but did Shiloh purposely pull Lizzie down into the water in Step One? If so, was it because she had called him a dumbo for getting soaked?
And that is up for interpretation. But my interpretation is that, yes, it was absolutely intentional. And to get back at her for calling him a dumbo. Who’s the dumbo now?
Did you have something in mind regarding what Miranda mouthed/wished for after blowing out her candles during her birthday party?
I think I might have back when I wrote it, but I can’t remember for sure. If you had to pick now, I would say she would probably be wishing that all her birthdays would be this good forever. But maybe I had something else in mind years ago when that scene was first written.
With the hair dye feature, if you dyed your hair in one Step and want to go back to its original color in the next, will the game acknowledge you went back to your natural color or you stopped dyeing your hair?
Yes, it will! We did implement a way for the game to know what color is your natural color and what’s dyed, and if you stop dyeing it, the game will be able to reference that.
Do you predict the jealousy meter will you put into any of the beta versions of Our Life, or will it be a feature implemented later on in the game’s development?
The jealousy meter will be treated as any other part of the script. It doesn’t appear until Step Two, but once we are in Step Two, it’ll be written along with everything else so we won’t cut it out and added in later.
Sorry in advance if any of these are repeats or if there’s a limit. But here we go. In Our Life 2, will there be some separate moments for Tamarack and Qui ones where one character is the main focus, either in the main story or them getting individual DLC Moments?
I can’t say for certain. I feel like there maybe will be one Moment that’s just for one character per Step. But they’re pretty long, and in the grand scheme of things, there’s not that many per Step. So, I probably won’t reduce how many situations you can be in with the characters by making some Moments exclusive to one character over the other. It would probably have to be at most one, like I said. But maybe none. They might always be in every Moment, at least in one way or another.
Can you tell us about your plans for the jealousy mechanic? Especially “Jealous Over”. Super interested on how being into/fond of the MC enough to act jealous would play out.
Unfortunately, I don’t have much of an answer for that one right now. Step Two is too far away in development.
A bit of a silly one. I don’t know if it counts, but there’s so much thought put into the Our Life series that I’d like to ask: What’s the most fun thing been working on these two games and what’s the most challenging?
I’d say the most fun is being able to write characters at different points in their life, you know, getting to experience them as kids and as teenagers and as adults and being able to have them remember things from those previous time periods. That’s just a very unique and fun experience. And the most challenging is probably trying to have enough customization for the MC, trying to think of the ways people would want to reply, the ways that would make sense for them to be able to reply, considering how they can act before and having no alterations in the scenes, being able to decide when you do stuff but also when you can’t because otherwise it would go on forever with endless possibilities. That’s always a tough balance to strike and line to draw.
Is there a chance we can give the Our Life 2 MC a hair quirk besides being two toned?
And unfortunately, probably not because there’s so many hair layers. I don’t know how we could give all of them some kind of unique edit. So being two toned is the one quirk that you can go for, but that’s at least something and it’s different than the leads have. So it’s pretty unique.
And that will be everything for this Q&A! Hopefully, I didn’t miss any questions. I might have had to skip some because they didn’t have any answer based on the current development of the games. And thank you again for sending all of these in. That was really cool and I hope you enjoyed it too. We’ll be back again next month.