yep, so for the original version, the beginning of the game kinda sucks and i'm sorry about that. it was based on the grinding type games that were popular when this began back in 2017. If you look in the game file, there's a .txt file called walkthrough.txt that will tell you the order of things to pick for the first few chapters. That repetition slows down considerably in chapter 4 and then goes away completely after that.
If you ever play the revamp, the repetition sequences from the beginning are completely removed and the entire story is more linear.
I absolutely loved this game! Every part of it - the visuals, the storytelling, the story itself, the characters. It all felt so vivid, so real. Nothing felt forced or out of place or dramatized to no end. It really was a great experience. Zack is honestly adorable. I loved his humor and I really felt like he was so relatable, both in queer and plain human terms (although I am a girl, not a boy, so certain things were wildly different for obvious reasons, lol). Also, I actually scanned the code on the purple poster and I have to say it was really a nice detail to add! I'll be waiting for more content from you, Aaryn. Keep doing whatever you're doing, it's working! :)
Yay! I love getting girl fans of the game! It's been awhile since I've heard from one and I just got excited again :p
Glad you liked the story and felt like everything clicked. While i do like drama, I wanted all the drama to matter or to really illustrate something that could pop up in a relationship and really explore how to talk about that or sort through it. Also, glad you cause the scanning code on the Pool poster in the revamp version. It was a fun detail that Jordyn added and it's a fun easter egg for those that find it and take the extra step to see if it actually works or not. there's a lot of easter eggs in the story that people still haven't found :)
Thank you for stopping by and thanks for playing. I'm super happy you enjoyed it and stay tuned. the next one update is coming up before too long
Yeah, drama is fine as long as it makes sense and it is not sensationalized. A story where absolutely nothing ever happens would be boring, after all. But I love how you handled it - these guys just straight (or not :D) up TALK when things go wrong and I really appreciate that. No mindless, useless dragging of it all for the sake of it. Just people actually communicating. Absolutely loved that.
Not gonna lie, at first I only wanted to play this because it was not heterosexual stuff, lol - I am bi and quite tired of the general narrative focusing on straight relationships/stories. But then I got hooked on the characters and the storytelling. It's so refreshing to see such a honest, raw take on certain aspects of life. The NSFW content is good (Zack is DAMN FINE!) but the fact you actually made these characters feel real and like people rather than just mindless figures doing hot things, makes it 10000x times better.
As for the two versions: not gonna lie, the original looks great. Yes, the revamped is even better, but I would have been happy even with just the first one. It's gorgeous. However, I do prefer the narrative of the revamped version of a mile. It reads more easily and gives more glimpses of what actually goes on in the characters' minds.
the communication was a big thing to me, especially because i'm using an online environment to distribute this. the online environment just seems to foster snap judgements and angry people attacking others. people seem so quick to either attack or defend and sometimes there's important context that's left out. we assume things about other people that probably aren't true and that makes the world look like an ugly place.
I wanted to show some fucked up situations between two people that are really good together but sometimes things get messy. I wanted to explore that and show a way to actually communicate and work together. to put some time into trying to hear the other person out, even if you dont agree with them. sure, the solutions from the game wont apply to everyone but i wanted to show one way where two people actually sit down and collaborate on life. i just felt like i was starved for that in media today. you never see someone take the simple role of "you fucking like the guy so hear him out!" anymore.
These guys aren't perfect, in fact their a hot mess sometimes and they're trying to figure themselves out and we get to watch in real-time while that happens--even if it's slow. and hopefully some of the questions they ponder are applicable to the reader-- they were to me. i did a ton of soul searching in this story and sorta went on that same journey with the characters.
the original game is what it is. it's its own journey. you can see the progress from the beginning of it to the end. i think super fans enjoy that because they get to see the improvements in the world as the characters improve. that makes the entire thing almost metaphorical and that's fun. i think, to me, the revamp is an open love story to the characters and the fans. it's my attempt to say that you stuck with me through the rough patches while i learned how to do this and you were open to my soul-searching storytelling, so here, i'll redo it all and show you what i can do now with that energy behind me. i've been lucky enough to have an amazing community of fans behind this thing and i'm finally at a point where i can show you what i saw in my heart the first time i wrote this :)
You 100% delivered all of this and MORE. You gave depth to all of the characters, which alone is an incredible feat, and told a beautiful story that's really vivid.
And while I promise to stop writing essays in these comments at once, lol, I feel compelled to say I especially loved the ending - like the inner turmoil, the arguments, the feelings, the issues, that too felt incredibly real. No promises of forever and unicorns riding off into the sunset in a perfect world, no flawless people doing things flawlessly and never having an issue, but realistic guys trying their best. Doing what they can with what they have. Being friends and lovers, taking care of each other, trying to be good for each other. And I don't mean just Zack and Braden - Mikhail and Ash too.
Ultimately, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this story! I will absolutely donate what I can next month because none of this deserves to be free and because if I can give something in return I am only happy to, tbh. And I will wait for any new content that might or might not happen to grace your page in the future for sure :)
heh, glad you approved. Yeah, i'm not a big fan of perfection. i like flaws and the individuality of the human experience. i wanted characters that were human and fucked up and stumbled and falling into storybook cliches is not an appropriate way to handle characters like that. too much storybook and i think they lose their relatability. all of the characters are frustrating at some point but then i also believe all of us can be frustrating to others when we're not able to see things clearly and i wanted to capture that. i think you summarized it good: characters just trying to do their best. that's smoothing that gives me comfort and it's easy to relate to.
So: on the donation aspect-- hopefully you see this. lemme run through a couple quick things to help you with that decision. 1) please don't rush to donate or feel compelled to. only do so if you're in a safe position. take care of yourself and those you love first-- seriously. 2) the official platforms are Patreon and Itch.io. the problem with sending a donation here on Itchio is that you dont get anything for it. If you donate on Patreon, you can unlock extra stuff (if you're interested in that). The problem with patreon is that when you donate, it sets up autobill so if you're just looking to make a one time contribution, itch.io is probably easier but if you wanna do a subscription thing then Patreon is the way to go. A third option for a one time donation (and my recommendation) is do Patreon so you unlock stuff, then cancel right after, you'll be good for 30 days and it gives you time to see what you're interested in (if anything) over there. There's videos and extras and behind the scenes stuff as well as picture sets that get a bit steamy and fun. If you do the patreon route and forget to cancel, just DM me. I can always refund (but only 3 months back-- after that, Patreon locks it and i'd likely just donate to a charity on your behalf). I want an honest setup here so if you have questions and stuff, please ask. but just remember the game is free for a reason. you can always recommend the game to others, post about it in places or share it. that helps me just as much :)
I've been obsessing over this game for the past week and I just finished it today. I must say that this is quite literally one of my favorite games EVER. I was expecting it to be more like a game you'd wank to, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's so much more profound than that. The end kind of disappointed me though, and not because I didn't like it, but because I desperately wanted to see more of the story. I also felt like it ended on a cliffhanger, like what happens next, is it just happy ever after? Regardless, thank you for creating this masterpiece.
heya, sorry i'm slow responding. holidays were busy. glad you liked the story and i'm pleased it surprised you. i think it's fun doing something in this genre that surprises people with the depth. Also, i'll take your comment about the ending as a compliment that you wanted more. i worked hard on that ending to get it to be a lot of things. it's supposed to kinda echo (without saying spoilers cause lot of people scroll down here and read this before they even start playing so we dont wanna ruin things). thank you for your kind words and glad you liked it <3
heyy! no worries, i get that you're preoccupied. hope you had a nice time over the holidays! i also think that depth is more important than a couple of meaningless nsfw scenes. i have to admit that it took me by surprise and once i knew it, i was going through all the emotions. since you're working on the revamp, i was wondering if you have thought about continuing the story further? i assume you want to stick to the original script, but i think many people (including me) would like to see what happens next. (though it would kind of kill the point of the ending in the original, so i get why you wouldn't want to do it) you've probably been asked this like a thousand times already, so i apologize in advance, lol. also, any news on when we can expect the next update to release?
holidays were good but busy af so i'm glad to have them checked off the list. hope yours were good as well. I think the NSFW scenes hit harder when you actually care or there's a better introduction or even consequences for it. emotions can change things and i think just rushing into NSFW scenes in games was fine to create the genre but it's boring now because everyone does that. You can only order so many pizzas or do so much yoga.
in terms of the revamp, yes, it will stick to the original script. everything should happen mostly the same way with some minor changes but big events will not change nor will the ending. I have gotten asked about doing a sequel a few hundred times now but that's ok, i appreciate the interest :p
right now, i dont have one in the works but i'm open to it. however, my requirement is that a continuation would have to be better than this by a lot. i'm not willing to risk pushing the story forward unless it's going to greatly make an impact. i told the story i needed to. i think a lot of sequels feel rushed or are just done for financial reasons and i'm not willing to just push something out for those reasons. people have trusted me with these characters for several years now and i dont take that trust lightly. i'm careful with them so it would really have to mean something. it's all about the story to me, everything else falls in somewhere behind that.
I understand that you feel satisfied with the story you've told and characters you've built, and now that I've taken time to think about it all, I think I also am. The ending felt disappointing to me initially, but only because I was left wanting more and now that I've reflected on it once again, I finally understand what you meant when you said that it's supposed to "echo", leaving the rest to the imagination of the player. Having a sequel would be nice, but the story is perfect as it is right now. Some things are just best left untouched. I'm glad that you've got your head in the right place and you're not doing a sequel for monetary purposes. You seem like a really neat and wise guy :).
Keep up the great work, I'm thrilled about the upcoming update and I want you to know that you've earned yourself an unconditional supporter. <3
haha, i could always be wiser :p but thank you. you're very kind and made me smile. But yeah, I really am careful with these characters. You can't build an audience and really want people to put in an effort to get to know your characters then just sacrifice them for cash or cheap tricks to try and make money. naaaah, fuck that. these guys mean to much to me and to others. I take my role serious. and thank you for taking my project seriously. i really put and continue to put a lot into it. it's growing every day. thanks for being part of that :)
Edit: bah, also.... damn, my bad. i knew i read someone had left a comment asking about the next update on here and i couldn't find it. it was you and i saw it right after i responded here. so next update for the revamp will hopefully drop in the next few days on my Patreon page. I'm working my ass off to try and get it out during December so like pray or something, lol. But 3 weeks after the Patreon release, then it posts here and Patreon for FREE. so figure in like 3 weeks into January or so for FREE version (hopefully)
Not gonna lie, I downloaded this for something to wank to and holy shit, I was not prepared for how utterly drawn in I'd get by the story. I can't even begin to explain how moved, touched, and seen this made me feel. I just finished and my emotions are... so complicated.
It's an emotional rollercoaster, but I very much appreciated the handling of heavy and emotionally charged subjects - invariably honest, but only sometimes brutally so. It doesn't feel like punches were pulled, but it feels like there's an intrinsic kindness and gentleness to the storytelling itself, and to the reader through it. It never preaches, it tells a story of deep dynamic characters finding their way through they own lives, but in a way that's just... so fucking identifiable it's almost creepy. Not all of their lessons are for me, but a few of them definitely were, and I'm immensely grateful I found this.
And now, since this comment is one of the most honest things I've said online in a while and I'm starting to overthink it (okay, I started to overthink it... probably literally over half an hour ago), it's time to just post it 😊
yo, thanks a lot for checking in and letting me know what you thought. i'm glad you appreciated the depth as well as how some of the heavy issues in the game were discussed and handled. I've stated before but I'll also reiterate that these situations and the opinions and perspectives are central to these characters so they're in no way a sample of the "right" way to do things; but they are an example of "a way" that worked in these situations for these guys. So please take what you feel applies and leave the rest. I'm glad it didn't come off as preaching, tho, that was definitely a goal to try and walk that balance.
and dont worry about the overthinking. i literally wrote like a 15 hours story on overthinking; suffice to say I'm well-versed in the art :p I'm glad you posted tho and reading your experience means a lot to me so thank you for sharing and thank you for reading. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the revamp, i promise it's way better from the very start. all the best to you and those you care about <3
I did not realise there was a part of me that needed to see guys fumble with, well, stuff. And I'm not even through the game yet. What kind of white magic fuckery is this?
Where do I begin!? This is by far the best visual novel I've read. Usually, the content of the story has me intrigued, but Straight!? had me emotionally invested. I simply wanted more to the story, which I loved. I finished reading the original version, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. The author(s) has/have done an amazing job.
***SPOILER!!!!!!***
The only thing I wish was different is the epilogue. I wish it was part of the final chapter, and a new epilogue was written to focus more on what happened during the summer; their return to school, how did the changes to the swim team go, did they stay in touch with Ash, do they all still hang out (would love them to see Ash several times), and for heavens sake do they finally get lube! [you know which scene I'm talking about ;)]. Just food for thought as you revamp. I honestly haven't found a story that I was more consumed by than this. The authors deserve all the praise they get.
yo, glad you enjoyed it and the emotions hit. it was a blast to write and emotionally had me all over the place as well so you're not alone. While there's no sequel planned right now, hopefully the desire to want more means that things hit like they should so thank you for that. You should check out the revamp if you liked the original. it's lightyears better
Loved it! I'm usually not an emotional person, but this story just hit different; a good kind of different. I'm definitely going to subscribe and start reading the revamp. If at all possible, I would love to have more added to the epilogue. I think the story and message behind everything is magnificent, but I totally had several questions when it ended. I'm looking forward to seeing all the changes! You guys are awesome.
Also, thank you for staying connected, listening, and engaging in comments. Many authors don't, and it makes our loyalty and passion for the story grow when you do. I greatly appreciate it.
yeah, your'e supposed to have some questions really or fill those blanks in yourself. however you wanna piece it together. Also, thanks for the kind words about me being connected. i think it's important for the creator to take an active role with the community. i have no idea why more devs don't-- other than just being arrogant-- which i have no use for. I'm just a regular dude trying to figure this thing out and people have been very kind in supporting the project or leaving nice comments and stuff over the years and i'm grateful for that. least i can do is answer them back and say thank you <3
Think of "Straight!?" like a romance novel. Probably the most romantic story I've come across in a video game... unlike most interactive story games in this genre, Straight!? puts telling a good story first, and sprinkles nsfw scenes slowly, just where it makes sense. The goal isn't unlocking art, it's, well, pretty much the same pleasure as reading!
5/5, excited to read to the end! (I played Ch 1-3 of the Revamp edition).
hey, ooooh nice. you're just playing the revamp huh? no original version? I appreciate your kind words. i really do put a lot of thought into it and it seems like you're really appreciating the adult content the way it's intended-- to move things forward to have serious discussions about the content. i seriously appreciate your kind words and i hope you continue to enjoy it. I just dropped the first half of Chapter 4 today
this totally works and thanks for making the mild change; hopefully, my request didn't come off too harsh. i really appreciate that you enjoyed the story and checked in. thanks for reading <3
This game is honestly incredible. I play quite a few of the gay visual novel games as I got into it a couple of weeks ago and to be frank, this so far has been my favourite.
This game shares a lot of qualities with the other games like it's really good art design (although this game is on the higher end of that too) as well it's fun options available.
The best part of it that stands out against the other games though is it's incredible story that is wholesome, adorable, and healthy. And when I mean it's healthy, I mean it's a genuinely healthy story where it's not just some toxic relationship but everyone thinks is cute because of the media. It focuses a lot on the characters self development and all the characters and the plot points are points that resonate with myself really hard.
The things this game does and how it normalises things that we feel are often disgusting or ashamed of is really incredible and makes at least me, feel a lot better.
Thanks for the incredible game, I can't wait to see what's in store.
yo, glad you enjoyed it and vibed with a wholesome story in the adult genre. I really did want to normalize a lot of things or at least normalize the conversation about them between people that care about each other. if you haven't already, check out the revamp. i promise it's better :)
I started with playing the revamp but found myself needing to play more so I played the old game. It was great. I’m just waiting for each chapter for the revamp to come out and enjoy it now.
Hello, I'm a horny player who got trapped into following the story til the end with butterflies in the stomach during half of it.
I found the game on an explicit website and prefered to download it from the actual source. In a hurry to unhornynize myself, I completely missed the revamp part and played the classic version, which wasn't too much of a problem.
As you might already have guessed, I'm one of those who came for the NSFW and stayed for the feels. And what feels they were!
I've never really read any romance before. I have troubles feeling strong emotions and that's why I'm seeing a therapist. I only realised it was more than a porn game after I had the choice between two different routes.
I got attached to Braden at that point so I chose accordingly and never regretted it.
Spoiler Warnings from here
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS : I'm gonna start with a lenghty and useless first sentence to protect wandering eyes from getting spoiled. Here we go. The sex scene that one would expect in a NSFW game kinda never came (even though I enjoyed the final explicit scenes and am one of those who consider it to be "unvirgining") but the thing was so well led that I didn't mind at all. When I started, I definitely wanted them to do the deed, but the writing succesfully led me to only want them to end up together and happy. The attempt at sex at the end made me actually chuckle. How cute, how relatable, how I wish I had that experience as a first time! END OF SPOILERS.
The NSFW question now set aside, I'm going to talk about the rest.
As I said before, I don't think I've ever read actual romance before.
Thanks to this work, I now know I'm not made for this : the thing made my stomach churn with emotion, and I felt compelled to finish it so I could move on with my life.
I feel like I felt too much emotions for my own good. Maybe not for my own good, but that definitely felt overwhelming.
Probably because I identified to the main character like crazy (I had a massive crush on a straight guy and never built the courage to confess -as I was and still am a 100% sure that I would have gotten rejected-), I was violently touched by the story : I fell in love with the character you wrote and couldn't stop thinking about him while I wasn't playing. When I was talking about it to people, my stomach churned again. That's a thing I should talk about to my therapist!
Anyways, I'm not sure this would have happened with any other romance. I think *you* did an amazing job and that you have an ability to create relatable characters. Sure some scenes were idealised and would have probably never happened in real life (that's why we write romances I guess), but the characters themselves reacted accordingly.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS : Ash was legit funny, Mikhael is a friend that could fix anyone's life and I won't even talk about Braden because my stomach will start to churn again (it literally is right now). Zack was at a perfect point between being its own character and extremely relatable. END OF SPOILERS
Now I will be able to close this game and delete it. In a few days I will think that I was stupid to have felt such intense emotions about a romance visual novel, but this doesn't change anything to the fact that you've done a wonderful job at touching people right in their heart. You're an amazing artist, man
Thank you sincerely for the long, well-written response and thank you for reading and taking the project as a serious attempt. No worries on the horny reader approach, you're among thousands, lol. I actually take that as a compliment: that you downloaded for the horny reasons and stayed for the story.
That being said, I have no idea how this story stacks up with other "romances." Honestly, I dont even know if it's a romance-- i've never read one either. But it felt like what I'd want a romance to be. I've actually never seen a gay themed movie or read any gay-themed literature or novels-- I purposely avoided them while writing this because I didn't want them to influence this story.
Sorry about the upset stomach throughout this thing. If it makes you feel better, you're not alone there; I had the same stomach pains the entire time that I was writing it. It was cathartic but brutally honest and difficult sometimes for me to accept or share. I'm glad to hear you're in therapy. While I don't know your situation, I was going through my masters program in clinical psych when I wrote the majority of this so I'm familiar with therapy and have worked in the field. That being said, please don't take this story as "truth" or some type of "correct" way of doing things. It's simply a template on communication and honesty and self-acceptance that worked for these particular characters. Not everyone has the same journey so remember to listen to yourself, but if any of these interactions spoke to you or helped you, please take them and use them to your heart's desire. I tackled a lot of heavy issues in this story and it was even more fun to do all of that under an "adult" tag. Hell, the Discord was full of churning emotions-- especially for the ending. I'm glad it spoke to you and I'm glad you checked in to share your thoughts and your experiences. Good luck to you. Thank you for reading, thank you for leaving an emotional response, and thank you for your being a part of this for me <3
I was sure you were doing something linked to psychology, I felt like there was no way you had no knowledge in this field for you to be able to write with such accuracy. It's a good thing you used your skills to write such a story.
I was however surprised to learn that you've never read or seen any fictive gay romance either before : that makes your work even more authentic than I thought, because you wrote straight out of your heart, without using stuff from potential past litterary experiences (something that most writers efficiently and rightly do).
Thanks for your concern and advice. I already had this kind of approach to be honest. Even if I can't expect everything to work like with Zack and Braden (if only: I would have a perfect guide!), their story made me realise that, even as an out of closet bi dude, I should still let go of the labels and just consider myself as myself and nothing else.
I learned that trying to find a label as if it would have helped me find my identity is not a solution. My identity is unique, just like anyone else's, and for this reason I can't a 100% appeal to any label that has been created by anyone else than myself (that's more or less what Mikhail once said to Zack, if I remember well!).
I feel like that's quite an interesting thing that happened in the LGBTQ+ community. For a community that originally had to form itself because it couldn't be labeled efficiently by society, I think that it's now doing an awfully good job at creating a multiplicity of labels for people to fit in (top, bottom, vers, twink, twonk, fem, masc, bear ...). I know this is a complicated issue and labels help with representation and inclusivity, but in my case, I'm way too much overthinking stuff to be able to use those efficiently (and I'm not the only one apparently, as it's also the case with Zack and Braden and I'm not sure those two came out of nowhere). That's partly why I don't really feel a part of this community despite not being straight, even if I fully respect it.
This is the main lesson that I got from your story: if you can do without labels, definitely do without them. This might be a bit too succint of a summary, but this comment is already pretty long, lol. I know there were a lot more, but that's the one that appealed to me the most (along with the communication stuff, but that I kinda already got it from past experiences :) I'm sure this lesson will remain after the week I'll have used to digest all these intense emotions I felt (and to come to terms with the fact that my chances of ever meeting a perfect copy of Braden are more than slim haha), and I feel like I've got to thank you for this. Take care
On the most recent update, I like the original versions of the massage and nighttime better. The new massage positioning isn't realistic like the original and the the nighttime doesn't look like someone trying to sneak one in with all that hip action. Lucky the bed doesn't squeak, I guess.
Change for the sake of change isn't necessarily a good thing.
heya, thanks for checking in with the feedback. I'll actually take this a step further and say that change for the sake of change is never a good idea.the focus of the revamp is not to rewrite or really change the story even if i feel like there are mistakes in it (there are). it's mostly a visual overhaul, polish on the writing, and removing the loop at the beginning. these two changes on the other hand were very purposeful and i feel like they're drastic improvements from the original.
the original massage scene is very rigid with terrible camera angles. I was using stock poses that are very robotic to the point that it didn't seem like there was much life in the the characters at all. For the reavamp, the same poses were used as a base, i just did more fine tuning to make the characters actually touch this time and they have facial expressions; but both characters are basically in the same position they were in before and the writing didn't change that much. I just have more camera angles and more pictures but nothing was removed that I recall. in fact, I'm honestly so surprised by your take on this that I'm actually confused on what part you thought wasn't realistic compared to the original. this version felt way more realistic to me because there's just more life in it. I can barely look at the original images, they're terrible, lol.
The nighttime scene had some changes that i was concerned about and i talked about this on the patreon in a lot of detail because i actually did expect some backlash but people ended up being super receptive to the change. The original nighttime scene is very revealing-- which in my opinion-- later negates the purpose of Zack trying to peek in the first place. Why peek if he's already got a full side view? the other concern was that i purposely deleted the chair in the original game just so i could get the revealing shot of braden. as I was building these scenes, I ran into the same problem again, the friggen chair was in the way and i got frustrated and had to move it. but then i thought more about that and that didn't make sense either. there was emotion and frustration with that chair for me as a creator and there was story there. the more i thought about it, the more it made sense to have a much more restricted view of the scene to frustrate zack and to actually capture the layout of the room rather than making objects in the room literally invisible just so we could see more. here zack could finally have a clear shot but something so minor as a chair being in the way is almost infuriating. that totally fits with the beginning progression of the story and it just felt stupid that i ever took it out to begin with.
the "hip action" you noted was an addition that's very much in canon with how braden is in the later parts of the game-- something that zack doesn't really know about yet-- but it's certainly not untrue for his character and it's fun to see that without actually knowing the context yet. braden has a wild side and this is literally a sneak peek early on. In terms of the beds squeaking that wasn't something i ever thought about because they jump in and out of the beds constantly throughout the story so if they were squeaky, I felt like that would have been mentioned at some point during the narrative; jokes would have been made-- stuff like that. Plus, they're wooden framed beds and I've never heard one of those squeak-- just the springy ones but maybe that's just me.
While I did expect that backlash about the nighttime change, it never came. the community was pretty happy about this change and you're actually the first voice that i've seen that didn't think it fit the story. we've talked about it pretty openly on the discord and most people had the same take: they regret not getting to see more of braden like the original but admit that this version does make more sense for the sake of the story-- which has always been the main focus-- aaaaaand it doesn't include invisible chairs.
Sad and surprised that you liked the original better but I definitely don't do change for the sake of change. everything has to make sense to me and honestly-- the more change I do, the more work it is and I would like to do less work since it's a revamp. I dont want to be working on the same game for the rest of my life. I actually put a lot of thought into changes because i'm super protective of these characters. but if you have more feedback on the unnatural massage I'd love to hear it 'cause you kinda lost me there.
I absolutely loved this. I fell in love with the characters and story and actually related to the story quite a bit 😅. Been telling anyone willing to try about it glad to share.
heya. yo, glad you liked the story and I seriously appreciate you sharing the story with others. Up until the revamp, i've sorta depended solely on word-of-mouth and didn't really advertise any of this stuff. But even then, i can't believe how big it got and i'm really grateful for that. so it means a lot when people are willing to recommend it to others. plus, it's free, so you really can't lose :)
thanks for reading and glad you can relate. if you haven't checked out the revamp, i promise it's worth it if you liked the original
Ich möchte mich von ganzem Herzen für deine Mühe und deine Offenheit hier bedanken! Diese Geschichte hat mich mehr als nur berührt, eher konnte ich mich dadurch weiterentwickeln und Fehler in meiner Vergangenheit erkennen. Z.B. habe ich nach der Szene, in der Zack Brayden im Schlaf angefaßt hat, meinem besten Freund eine Mail mit einem Geständniss geschrieben.....er hat mir verziehn und ist immer noch mein bester Freund :D Eher noch mehr, als zuvor :))) Und das, obwohl er wirklich nichts mit Männern anfangen kann :D :D Vielen Dank dafür und natürlich für alles Andere :)
Wenn ich ein Tränenglas hätte, wäre es sicher sehr voll.....mit Freude, Verständniss, Mitgefühl, Trauer, Wut, Angst......aber vor allem mit Liebe :)))) Und das nur, weil ich auf dein tolles Spiel/Story gestoßen bin :D
Gerade habe ich das neueste Update deiner Version 2 durchgespielt und ich bin zutiefst beeindruckt! Trotzdem werde ich nie das Original von Euch vergessen und ewig in guter Erinnerung behalten!
Ihr Alle, die an diesem Projekt mitgearbeitet haben, seid meine Helden!!! :D
Heya, thanks for writing. I used Google translate for your message but I'm honestly afraid to use it to translate back because I don't want to butcher your language if the translation is off.
There's a lot of heavy situations in this game and it was fun to flip things that normally appear in adult games and actually give them heart, purpose, and consequences based on characters that a lot of people fell in love with. i'm glad the story helped you deal with things in your past and you were able to communicate and find peace in that. that's really a large reason of why i wrote and shared this in the first place so thank you for your energy and I'm also glad you're enjoying the revamp so far. revamp is only going to get better :)
heya. ok, normally that's a pretty easy question but this next update has a lot of work for the entirety of chapter 4. I've been working on it but I want to split the chapter in half for updates; otherwise, it'll take too long and it gets easy to burn out. Problem is, I'm not sure where to split it so i've just been progressing through the chapter and seeing where things take me. I usually like to do cliffhanger endings but that may not happen this time around just because of the workload for this chapter. Right now though, I'm strongly considering finishing the scene I'm working on now (which is a lot of work left) and then just releasing up to that point.
That being said, just to clarify: this is referencing the revamp. the original is finished and won't be updated any further. The revamp will eventually just replace the original as the full version of the game
haha. thank you sooo much <3 glad you liked it. If you haven't played the original, i promise things only get better. and if you have played the original, then i'll promise that things will only get better from what you saw in that :)
ah, well thank you. glad the revamp is an improvement. I'm also really surprised and impressed by the interest in a Portuguese version. there's been a lot of discussion about translations on the discord. i'm gonna work on that but it'll be awhile
This is such a fantastic game with a terrific storyline! It has some explicit content, but at its heart, it's a touching story about self-discovery, self-acceptance, and love—platonic love, romantic love, and love of self. The plot is thoughtfully crafted with care and attention to detail (it has some really unexpected and exciting twists and turns) and has central themes I wish a younger me could have been exposed to. The characters are complex and flawed and ohh so human. I cannot say enough good things about this game, except that its story should be made into a novel and/or a tv series, and have a much larger audience.
My one and only suggestion would be to reconsider the title, as "Straight!?" is a bit on the nose and doesn't live up to the eloquence and nuance of the storytelling. I think a more appropriate title could reference the Buckeye tree, which is a key setting and theme in the story and a powerful visual metaphor for the main characters' relationship. Something like "Beneath the Buckeye" perhaps.
heya. thanks for the kind words and thank you for taking the project seriously. You seem to have picked up on the gravity of a lot of the things that I wanted to share and make various points about within the story. a lot of people have wanted to see a movie or TV series on this thing and I think it would be fun, too; despite me probably being a very difficult person to work with in terms of casting, music, or even writing changes. lol
Now, on to your title suggestion...
[Spoilers Below]
The story title has been pretty well set from the start and was pretty purposeful and there's a lot of nods to various aspects of the story. I felt like a lot of LGBT media that I was exposed to had traditionally much more feminine or flamboyant examples as a lifestyle and that wasn't something that I could ever relate to personally. While I had some pretty severe closet tendencies, there were other traits and interests that were things I actually enjoyed that were not a projection of my own suppressed instincts. I didn't like the implication that for me to truly accept my sexuality, I was supposed to act like traditional depictions that I had seen in the media. I wanted to depict a lifestyle where the characters could have less stereotypical traits related to their sexuality and outwardly learn to express those in a healthy way and normalize that as a lifestyle option that was just as valid as any other lifestyle that truly captures who we are as individuals.
Hence, the use of the word "straight" in the title with question marks and exclamations. There's another point in the story that alludes to the title in which both Zack and Braden are referenced as literally being like the question mark and the exclamation point themselves. Another nod to the title is that the original game cover shows Braden instead Zack. This calls into question a large part of the story is just diving into where Braden falls on the spectrum. I think assuming that Braden is just a closet case is a very toxic way to view his character and the writing addresses that a few different times. Braden's sexuality, like a lot of people's preference, is way more complex than just being Straight or Gay and it's sorta left up to the reader ( I have my own head canon).
[End of Spoilers]
The word "straight" is also in red throughout the story. I did a public post on my Patreon page regarding why I did this that you can find here.
However, all that being said: I do appreciate your reference to the buckeye tree. it was a fun addition and was a personal way for me to sorta conceptualize how polarizing concepts can both be true within nature. Unfortunately, that scene, like much of this story was never planned and was written one chapter at a time. And while I always knew the ending of the story, I never knew anything that happened before it. I just knew where it stopped. Literally made that buckeye shit up right at the end of the story, lol :p
Although I disagree that people acting however masculine/butch or feminine/flamboyant as they want has anything to do with straightness, I respect that that's your perspective. I am pansexual/queer, and I identified with Braden throughout the story, especially toward the end, regarding his confusion and inability to put himself in a category.
[SPOILER] It became canon in the story that Braden is at the very least a one on the Kinsey Scale, which to me means that he is queer and decidedly not straight (a zero on the Kinsey Scale), but that's my reading of his character which is influenced by my experience. [END SPOILER]
Regardless of all that, I want to commend you again on writing and producing such a thoughtful story—I think it is a testament to the intricacy and impact of it that different people can experience it in various ways and still enjoy it so much. I am excited to play through the revised version and support the project by purchasing the game. Bravo!
to clarify, I actually agree with you. my perspective is that traditional gender norms don't equal sexuality-- -- which is sorta what led me to writing the story the way that I did. i wanted to play with some stereotypes a bit. I just wanted to mostly avoid labels and characters just being whatever they happened to be. i'm trying to normalize diversity here and say it's ok liking what you like and that you don't have to conform to pre-established labels or interests. just be you. I definitely agree that your take using the Kinsey Scale could be applicable here although my head canon is a bit different. i think that's fun and i think that's what makes braden's arc interesting. There's a lot of interpretations to it.
but thank you for your kind words. i'm glad you enjoyed the story and the depth of it was something that you could relate to. definitely check out the revamp though. it really does change the whole feel of the game from the start
I think a titular change would actually be a disservice to the plot, because the way it's written, it immediately draws the audience into questioning the word. I feel as though it was titled, specifically, with the "!?" to draw the audience's attention and actually get them to think about how the word is being used. For instance, even in the original release, the first time Brayden uses the word, it's more implied to mean "chill with it", as in his roommate's sexuality, but the reality is that, from that moment, the audience was tricked into thinking we're watching a straight guy question his sexuality, while in reality, we're witnessing a questioning guy on his way to come to terms with his sexuality. Both Brayden and Zach are in very similar situations, with neither of them really understanding that, and being so wrapped up in their own problems that they didn't realizw the person they cared about most was going through a similar issue. That's how I perceived the story and how it relates to the tile, at least.
heya, thanks for chiming in on this. that's actually my head canon in writing it as well. Obviously, people are allowed their own interpretation and whichever one makes you the happiest with the story is the one you should go with. Also, i chuckled in reading your post because you explained it way better than i did and I wrote the damn thing, lmao.
Hey Aaryn, amazing game mate, I have played through both threads of the first release and am now working my way through the revamps, just amazing story line, best gay game I have ever played.
I went to download the android version, the revamp download just showed a splash screen not associated with the game and the original version wanted to access every app on my phone which seemed a bit strange. do you have a link to a correct download for android? or am I being paranoid. Cheers Dave
Heya Dave. Glad you're enjoying the story and especially the revamps. It's a ton of extra work with a lot of new additions but I'm glad it's still feeling fresh. I like it waaaaay better than the original :)
In terms of the android port, you don't sound paranoid and I don't blame you for the question. I don't make the android port myself. A guy named DarkAssassin does it for me and because he takes the time to make ports of my game, I'm completely cool if he puts his own logo on that specific version of the game.
That being said, I'm going to recommend you only download the game from here on Itch.io or from my Patreon links because those are official. If someone else makes a port and sneaks some bullshit into it, I can't really stop them on other websites.
Someone else on the Discord was worried about the permissions that it asks for as well so I reached out to him to clarify several months ago. I'll try to explain this but please understand it's me paraphrasing (probably poorly, lol). Because the game is saved on the device and contains images, pictures, and/or sound effects, it requires your permissions to actually access it its own files and pictures. It shouldn't be accessing any of your personal data, personal pictures, or things of that nature. It should only be accessing it's own images but still needs permission because its data is on the device. Lemme know if that makes sense or if you need more clarification.
Hi there. First off this is an awesome story. I have finished the original version and am currently doing the revamp version which is great so far.
I do have one question though. In the original version, after the swim team meeting you had two possible directions to go, and I was wondering if you are going to do the same in the revamp version?
yo, heya. thanks a lot for checking in. glad you enjoyed the original story and the completely different take on things in the revamp.
now on to your question: short answer is yes, things should be the same. You can think of the original version of the game as my rough draft of the story that i just chose to publish in real-time to get feedback. there are some flaws with it and some annoyances (such as the repeating nature of the beginning) and those will chance, however the main story is going to stay the same. I'm not planning on removing much of anything that was shown in the original game. Almost all of the original conversations, choices, and events in the first draft will remain in the revamp. This is not a new game, I'm just polishing what i made the first time and updating it based on what i learned about how to make a game while working on the first draft :)
aww, thank you. i really appreciate it. game is free and runs on donations only so don't worry about it. if you really wanna help support it in other ways, you can recommend it to others or leave favorable reviews here. It really helps my visibility. glad you liked it <3
glad you're enjoying the revamp and it still feels fresh with all the new stuff in it. No plans for a sequel right now but we'll see. I want to focus on one project at a time. I'm terrible at multi-tasking and i dont want to diminish one project by trying to add more work that's unrelated to the first one, if that makes sense. Appreciate your good vibes <3
I just finished the game and I must say, out of many homosexual games out there, it's the first that actually kept me hooked.
I loved the story and the way it was written and it felt realistic enough in some places that I wonder for a minute of it was based on a true story.
I know the creator is working on redoing and refining the game in the new version, but I really hope to get an announcement on a continuous story, even if it skips the summer holidays straight into the second semester :p
A note for the creator if you read it;
I am long since excepted my sexuality, and this story threw me back to highschool and without trying too much gave me a lot of perspective on things that I already forgot have happened. It is really nice to see a work of art at this form, that has NSFW content without making it the main focus, and being balanced with a well written story, character development, and inner thoughts. Keep doing what you do, and I hope you will find more support on the internet, it is good and important work, and I am sure it helps a lot of people who are yet to accept themselves and their sexuality.
I can only hope for a similar storytelling with a gender discussion in the future, and of course, a continuum to this story.
heya, thanks for checking in. i'm the creator and i try to read everyone's messages although sometimes i'm a bit slower to respond. i'm really excited that the story kept your attention. i knew it was niche and that the default on these games was normally just segways from one sex event to the next and that's kinda boring to me. i'm glad you saw the value in the use of the sexual stuff here and the purpose behind it.
in terms of a continuation, i dont have anything planned right now. mostly because i'm still learning and i want to finish this story. the revamp is leagues better than the original and i'm still learning new things that i'm trying there. after that? we'll see. i never planned much of this story in advanced and apparently that's how i work so not having a plan is my norm. i guess i kinda like to keep the story out. however, i was very careful with the ending on this to tie a lot of things up but also leave certain things open for the reader's own imagination and that just seemed fun to me. a continuation would undo most of that work so it would have to really be worth it to me. i've stated on the discord that for a sequel, i would have to have a story that blows this one out of the water. otherwise, it's not worth potentially fucking it up :p
Omg I poured my heart out and my post is gone, I put so much into that too??? Is there some rules I mussed? Length limits?
Well to keep it short i also wanted to say thank you for this game, and it brought many elements to itself which I know is what you wanted. My heart has been pounding in new ways thanks to this and it sure is one big successful first project. And a big thanks for trying so hard and for putting in the part where Zack talks about preassure from being the one who the family bloodline depends on, i dont ever hear anyone talk about it so it hit the feels more. I didnt think this is what I would be dragged into when i wanted ro relieve myself and thought Braden was cute haha
Even though Zack at multiple occations said nothing lasts forever it couldn't prepare me to say bye to this game. And it stings knowing you can watch it however many times but things will change, nothing new will happen. So I will just cherish it all knowing that this is what the game is and i cant let myself get tired of it, so I will try to not watch it over and over haha. Thanks Aaryn, I hope your future plans and project goes wonder, and that is not a selfish way of me saying I want more good games, i just wish you the best.
yo, i'm really sorry it deleted your original comment. I'm honestly not sure what happened. i'm not aware of any character limit and i've written some pretty long replies on here as well. I got a message yesterday that there was a new post, too but when i came over here i didn't see anything so hopefully itch.io isn't being crazy and deleting shit.
but, i'm sincerely sorry that i wasn't able to read you pouring your heart out. reading posts like that mean a lot to me. please know that i'm even more appreciative that you tried a second time after it deleted your first post. thank you for playing and i'm glad you enjoyed some of those rare discussions within the story. i'd never seen those anywhere either but it was something that spoke to me so i wanted to share it. thank you for your best wishes and be sure to check out the revamp if you haven't already. it's a chance for you to relive it all completely new. i guarantee it's better from the start and it's only going to get better. I appreciate you and your energy. thank you for reading <3
also, i normally purge the deleted posts on here to keep the page clean but i'll leave that last one up longer just in case you're miraculously able to get it back.
Nah it's fine, I still got most of it into my shorter comment haha, I will make sure to see the revamp, and watch it all from a new perspective now that I've seen it already. Also thanks for being such an active creator, I didn't think there would be anything much to this game and that not many would talk about it eityer, yet i see people from just a few days ago thanking you for the same things I do and you keep responding. Just feels good nowing you're there
oh for sure, it's still active. lot of people that were hanging on for every episode of the original version are doing the revamp in larger segments. We also have a discord where a lot of discussion has taken place before and we're pretty chill. I do like interacting with the community and i care a lot about it. I really wanted to write a story that had heart to it and it seems kinda stupid to not interact with people after doing that. i think it helps show that i was serious about the project and continue to be. plus, it's pretty cool to hear the effect that it's had on people. warm fuzzies :) but yeah, hope you enjoy the revamp. the first half of chapter 3 just dropped on the patreon so it'll be out over here end of this month for free. i'm already working on v0.07 now.
I finished the story at this moment and... you changed my life. All 4 of them are a part of me. All those insecurities, philosophies, remorse. It's been many years since I accepted my feelings. But you concluded my 13 years long battle with myself in the end of which I told my family. Because you are not truly honest to yourself until you can confide in others. This is the moment that unbinds your soul. Thank you for finding my inner peace.
i'm not even sure how to respond to this. just know that i appreciate it and i appreciate the impact the story had on you. that's one of the primary reasons that i shared it in the first place so thank you for being a part of that. i wish your journey towards further peace to be even more fulfilling. i like to think that all the shitty times help me appreciate the good times even more. thank you for reading and i wish you nothing but the very best <3
heya. very much still in active development. i work at least 6 days a week on it. The original version (v0.021.4) is not being developed anymore and has the full story. The revamp is going back through and polishing and reworking everything, especially the beginning based on what i learned over the last few years. it's the current focus and the part being updated right now. it will follow the same path as the original game, it's just gonna look and feel 1000 times better.
heya. glad you liked the project. so straight!? is kinda in it's own category in terms of games/stories within this genre, which is kinda what led me to making it in the first place. i will prop up my buddy Blayke who helped coach me a lot with the writing stuff and helped me create what i saw in my head. he has his own thing now, his first project being New Hope. it's very different than Straight!? but it also depends on what attracted you to this story in the first place. He's still writing adult stories but less porny stuff and more story kinda like this one. was there something about this story that attracted you? nothing else that i know of has all the same elements as this story all smashed together but there's a few others out there depending on what you like.
yeah, check out Blayke's New Hope then. Again, different kind of story but he values the character development as well rather than just making cliched situations where people get naked for no reason.
Sooooo I finally had a chance to finish reading this amazing story. Legit have been in my own head so much lately and I can truly relate to Zack on so many levels. Without spoiling the story or making a super long post like I normally do....I can officially say this was the best story I ever read in my life. I don't read much but if stories had this much passion and realism in them then I would gladly become a bookworm. It didn't feel like some put together tale with a lesson or some happily ever after tale. It felt real and gave people a chance to explore themselves as they went on a journey with the characters. I applaud all who worked on this production and I will definitely be sharing this with my friends. I will also look into sharing this with my patients considering I am a therapist. I believe it could be a fun way to have them see that we all have days where we feel lost, confused and have no idea what to do. We simply float in the sea of life and hope we don't drown. If I've grabbed anything from this story then it would be the fact that we all have to learn how to love ourselves and not focus so much on having others love us. Trust I've learned this lesson but sometimes we need a reminder when trying to build healthy relationships. Once again, great job to all who worked on this project and I would gladly buy the animated version of this story for myself and others if it came to it.
yo, heya thanks for checking in. I'm always interested to hear a therapist reaction to the story. It was sorta meant to be a self-help story if you wanted it to be so I appreciate that you took it that way and some therapeutic value in it despite the adult nature of the content. If you happen to check back in, what theoretical orientation do you practice? I'm an existential guy, which isn't a secret, i'm sure based on the way the story leans. Definitely always appreciate another practitioner chiming in and taking this thing seriously. thank you so much and be sure to check out the revamp if you haven't already. it's a completely new experience
I tend to focus mostly on CBT and Reality Therapy. I believe it's often our perception of life that shapes how we live it. Reality therapy teaches us to tend to our needs and be honest with ourselves. Please feel free to reach out bc I enjoy talking about these things. I may not be the most proficient in terminology but it's the person that you must learn. Not just the diagnosis.
As for the revamp, you trying to get me hooked all over again. 😄Guess I will be downloading it after work.
haha, oh for sure. i think dx is bullshit anyway as evidenced by the process they use to come up with the definition of a dx in the first place and the fact that they change them periodically regardless. "Diagnosis is for insurance companies" and that's as far as I go with it. People are far too complex for labels... which is one of the primary themes in this story.
But yeah, check out the revamp, it's easily hundreds of times better right off the start <3
Thx, I downloaded last night but haven't started yet. I'm a gamer at heart so it takes most of my time if I'm not working. As for diagnosis, I completely agree that insurance can be a pain. I love my job but documentation for insurance can be so draining. I admit patients can sometimes be emotionally draining to but that's bc I get so emotionally invested. Even in your story I found myself feeling their pain and confusion. Sometimes we bond with the things we relate to the most. Regardless, thx for responding and sharing such a great story. I will definitely try to stay in touch.
So the revamp is a massive overhaul on the original story; it's not a sequel. When I started this project, I knew nothing so since 2017, I've learned a lot and that's evident in the writing and visuals by the time you get to the end of the original version. The revamp is an attempt to bring the quality at the end of the story back to the beginning of the story. The story overall will remain the same but there are new scenes, expanded scenes, a revamped visual prologue, new writing that is much better quality than the original, eliminated the repeating sequences at the beginning, and a massive visual upgrade including hundreds (soon to be thousands) of new images that replace all visuals from the early game (the top 3 screenshots posted here are from the revamp). The other major addition to the revamp is sound and music. The original story didn't have sound or music because it's expensive and I couldn't afford it back then. Based on donations, now I'm able to fund a fully licensed soundtrack for the story in addition to background sound effects. I'll also mention that I've been more recently adding more animations into the story as i learn how to do that. I'm getting faster at it so that means we're likely going to see a lot more of them as the revamp progresses. So far, the revamp is a completely new experience if you enjoyed the original.
heya. Not sure where you're stuck at so I'll start at the beginning. The game is zipped (compressed) to make it smaller to download. you'll have to unzip it using windows or a 3rd party program like 7zip or Winrar. If you're in Windows, you can just left click on it and go up to the top of the screen where it says "extract all," tell it where you wanna save it, then let it do it's thing. Once it's unzipped. just open the new folder and find the file that says Str8. Double click that and you're good to go.
if you're playing the original version of the game (v0.021.4) just know that the beginning is very rough and was my first attempt at creating something. to progress the game, you have to pick various choices in different orders to move things forward. so if things start to repeat, try and pick something different. that only lasts through the first 3 chapters or so then i took it out. If you're playing the revamp, you wont have any problems.
it's a pretty slow process but i'm still on the first one. the main focus right now is finishing the revamp. i anticipate the development of that will slowly increase as i progress but i want to always finish what i started. if you haven't checked out the revamp, it's waaaaay better than the original already and we haven't even gotten to the good parts of the story yet. i'm also terrible at multitasking and this was a passion project that meant a lot to me so i want to do it right. that means focusing primarily on it and not tainting it with a secondary project. i just can't juggle two at once. after that, we'll see where we are :)
Hello Aaryn. Straight!? is my favorite game since the last days and weeks but I extra signed up for this page to ask you why you did to have to put this beautiful Braden ugly glasses on! You made Braden ugly asf with this move and I'd probably wish you'd undo this. Think of something else, man! I'm probably gonna continue with the story, maybe I'll take a break until it's fixed. I'll see. It disturbs me a lot that he has glasses now and became ugly. Turn it back and update the game, there's nothing else to say!
hi Veryhappy. i'm glad you've been enjoying the game but i'm more disturbed that you may be missing the entire point of it if you're this far into the story and still having reactions like this. i'll answer your question but you're probably not gonna like the response.
braden can see now. that was the update and fix for him so the glasses will stay because he needs them. like many aspects of this game, circumstances occur within the story to allow the characters to address their insecurities. many of those insecurities are things that readers may relate to, have struggled with, or are currently struggling with (i.e accepting your sexuality, zack's anxiety, braden looking younger than he is, physical qualities, dishonesty, communication in relationships, sexual history or lack thereof, mental health stigmas, and many other situations you haven't reached yet in the story). when you're young and people are judgmental, it can be really uncomfortable when you're forced into a simple situation like having to wear glasses against your will. in the story, braden is obviously insecure about this and honestly hates them. some people may make fun of you, bully you, or even think that you're ugly and that's a cruel thing for people to do because it's beyond your control. this game has a lot of mature content in it and i wanted to include things like this in the story because i wanted to show how to be supportive of one another and not base everything on appearances. zack doesn't initially like the glasses either and for a second he's ashamed of himself for having that reaction but it only takes him a second to realize it's the same person behind them. and to me, that's the lesson that matters. when you like someone, you like them. your relationship shouldn't be conditional of them looking pretty for you or not and the story addresses this in depth. life companions aren't there solely for your visual stimulation. they're there to walk with you through the hardships of life and not bail on you if you have to wear glasses. your appearance, just like braden's, isn't a constant and will change with life or age; it's a poor foundation to build any house on.
so the truth is that i included the glasses in the story as an impetus to specifically address reactions like this
Hi Aaryn, thank you for your reply. I get your point now. Hold tight, because this is going to be a hopefully interesting debate. I AM Braden to be honest. My real name is Ben and I'm from Germany. I had to wear glasses from age 9 as far as I remember until age 26. I also had my insecurities about being bisexual. Age 26, I searched the internet for alternatives to glasses because I didn't want to wear glasses anymore. Contact lenses? Oh please, I got insecurities about touching my eyes too. Eye surgery? Not in my life. Then I found a text telling me I can train my eyes. When your legs are broken you don't get permanent walking aids like when you can't see. The same should be with eyes too. Sure I got your point and I'm happy you try to get others become self confident about wearing glasses. My life got better since I took my glasses off and did the eye training. There are lots of people I guess who don't wear glasses, because they find themselves ugly with them. I saved my cousin's son from having to wear glasses as a young kid. Now he's a teenager and still doesn't have to wear glasses. That's about why it's not necessary to get used to glasses because most people can fix this too, knowledge about this is just not being spread over the world because glasses seller don't want people to know you can improve your eyes because they make money with them. I feel great since not having to wear them anymore, I live a great life since 2014 because I feel much better since then. If Braden doesn't have to use it all the time, fine. I just didn't want to have ruined the beautiful look of the eye candy. And I get you. If there's nothing that I could do about my partner having to wear glasses I would accept it. But before I let that happen I'd try everything to get possibly get the issues fixed. That also might not be the answer you wished, I just wanted to state my opinion. I keep playing the game now because the novel is very interesting and I kind of was getting used to Braden wearing glasses now, it's just I like to enjoy his beauty whenever he doesn't wear glasses and maybe one day he does eye training to fix his eyes completely, too. One more time for you: NICE WORK!
heya. thanks for understanding. you seem to really have very strong feelings about glasses in general. i have glasses as well but i finally got the courage to try contacts so i primarily use those. i never had a problem with bullies bothering me about glasses because i'm generally pretty good at turning a bully's audience against them but many people suffered from this. glasses are pretty common throughout the world so it was an easy example to use to make the point that i really wanted to make here that i articulated above. while i've never heard of training your eyes, i probably would have had a hard time setting up a plot point like braden's eyesight and then introducing a lesser known alternative practice to cure it. odds are, people would have gotten caught up in whether they felt the approach would work or not rather than paying attention to the story plot. the "training" part probably would have taken time as well and given that the impetus for the doctor appointment was an actual tragedy, the quick fix of glasses just seems more appropriate here to keep the story moving. it's weird, though, it took me a bit to get used to braden's glasses but now that i've gone back to the revamp and started over before he got them, i actually think he looks weird without them. i'll also mention there was a huge following that actually loved the glasses and prefer him that way to the early part of the game. regardless, it's his arc and not our decision to make. i lost control of these characters a long time ago. thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy the rest of the story if you decide to keep reading
yeah, getting to choose outfits would probably help with emersion in the game world and kinda personalize things a bit more. unfortunately, the actual execution of that can spin out of control very quickly because i'd have to render every single picture in the game with every possible combination of outfits. For example: if we only limited the choices to shirt and pants slots and offered 5 choices of each, I would have to render 25 different combinations of a picture of zack sitting on his bed with his mouth open talking. now if he smiles while talking, i'd have to render 25 more images with him smiling. that would also add 50 lines of new code to every single line of code in the game. The finished original version had over 50k lines so i'd be looking at 2.5 million lines of code just to do that version and the revamp is already going to be longer. right now in the revamped version of the game, the dorm setting has 335 images during the daytime. that could easily balloon to somehwere around 1,600 images in that scene alone just to add a few shirts and pants and we're only 5 updates in. i like the idea and i think it would be fun but the logistics when you're one person rendering all these things can get messy. i came to the conclusion that mario and link have worn the same clothes for decades and those are AAA studios so i had to sorta admit the clothing to be a losing battle. it would be fun tho :)
WOW!!, where to begin. An honest review. (some spoilers)
Straight!? has several descriptions but I think the most accurate one is "emotional rollercoaster" and even that one is an understatement!
The story pulls you into a world that anyone of any age can relate to. It allows you to play on the naughty side but gives you the option to rewind and make different choices. Either way, by the end of the story you'll find the choices you make will affect the main characters in a profound way just as they would in real life.
It is so well written and intricately detailed that you find yourself connecting and feeling all the emotions as if they were your own. You make choices that guide Zach while completely understanding his thought process and struggles. You'll see him and Braden slowly realize their fears, insecurities and the inner torture it causes them and how it affects them to their very core. They explore unknown feelings and question themselves along the way as they begin to fall in love without knowing or realizing it and it slowly tears them apart. Much like real life it is a messy cluster of happiness, sorrow, self hatred, self understanding, self realization and finally self acceptance.
This story goes far beyond the standard "Gay guy falls for questioning straight guy" storyline. You'll get to see what its like from both Zach and Braden's story and how they internally navigate and rationalize this messy thing called life.
The story also involves abuse and forgiveness on a level that will shock you with disbelief. I won't describe it because its a major spoiler but it will have you understanding what you think is a small harmless action can drive someone to make cold and calculated decisions. It shows you that the most innocent person only allows you to see what they want you to see. The hidden manipulation for a "controlled experiment" is truly impressive. The hidden guilt and betrayal they both feel afterward show how they cope with their feelings and how it prevented self healing and growing stronger together. They ultimately understand and forgive each other.
Along the way you'll meet other characters that you can't help but truly appreciate and come to love. Especially Max (aka Ash), he starts off very annoying but his character gives you a very deceiving impression of who he is. The old phrase "never judge a book by its cover" can strongly be applied here. He will keep you laughing and is probably the weirdest and funniest person in the story. He's great at masterminding situations, finding loop holes and truly cares about the people he loves. He's far from the impulsive idiot he projects himself to be. Nothing can stop him when he has a plan in motion. Everyone should have a friend like him.
In addition to learning about the 2 main characters in great detail you also delve into the supporting characters and learn all about them and their troubles. You'll learn how they feel and cope and ultimately deal with life.
Over the course of the story there's plenty of hot explicit scenes to help guide and entertaining situations to have fun with. Not only do you feel all the feels but you also learn a lot about how peoples minds work, what leads people into making decisions and also how those decisions can shape and mold them into the person they are. It also shows what happens to someone without any support or someone to confide in. You can't help but to fall in love with the characters and be completely invested in their well being and seeing what's in store for them.
Some scenes are heart wrenching to watch and will have you crying. There's so much drama with twist and turns and revelations that I couldn't keep up with it. I found myself enthralled and on the edge of my seat that everything around me disappears and my only focus is hoping Zach and Braden can find a happy ending. Just when you think it's over for them and you're left crying, you get a glimpse of hope.
I'll stop here to avoid a spoiler
I highly recommend this story but be warned you will hurt, cry, be shocked and be overwhelmed with a wide range of emotions. It's a complex yet relatable story and superbly written. It might seem to drag on at some points but you must keep reading, everything you read will teach you so much about yourself and other people you might not understand and how offering a little support can change someone's life.
Thank you to the creator/s and all involved for this story. You've essentially created a blue print to teach people how to understand a variety of things and provide support for others while allowing people who identify with Zach and Braden to understand and themselves and lessen the guilt and torment they feel.
This is truly an impressive and entertaining story!!
yo! Hey, seriously appreciate the long post and well-thought reaction to the story. I wish i could respond with equal length but i think you covered most everything, lol. however, thank you for taking the project seriously. it means a lot when people get excited and focus on the same stuff that was important to me when writing it. so thanks for gettin it :)
I finished reading it the story is good but after the character development I don't know. And I laughed when they don't know how to do it so nothing happened between the 2 MCs until the end of the chapter. No sex between them at all. But I love the sex scene between Mikhail and Max/Ash :)
havent made a comment in along time...... love the revamp. cant wait for the next update... soon going to start from the the start again.... the more i read this storie the more i can see how it fits me, not as a teenage like zack and branden but as an older man. and i can see how this fits for alot of guys. and i can see how this will help alot of them in there real life..... the work you have and are putting into this is on real. this is by far the best i have seen so far.. looking forword to the next update..... keep up the great work....
heya. i appreciate you taking the time to go back through the revamp and stop by to say hi again. I'm also glad that it holds up across generational perspectives. I really tried to write something that was applicable to the age of the characters but nostalgic and had a depth that could apply to any age really. hopefully the upgrades in the revamp make people take my motivation for this even more serious cause we're just getting started :)
I just have to say this. This game is one of the best experiences I've EVER had. Like for real now. Straight changed me in ways I can't explain. Even with just having played the ending and literally bursting out into tears, the game and the story just made me realise that I don't have to force myself into situations I don't want to, particularly relationships. I got the game just thinking it would be another one of those Sex based games, but as I got further into the game, I realised it was nothing at all like that! This game is wonderful in its own way. I really have to say it, and it's helped me figure things out and figure myself out. And some parts of the stories really left me... weird sometimes. I can clearly remember playing the update of the game and getting to the end of that update. Their Dorm burned down, and.. I don't want to sound weird here.. I felt.. sad? Devastated and angry all at the same time. For days. Straight really impacted me for who I am and what or who I love. I can't say it enough. This. Game. Is. The. Best. It's better than any other experience I've played, better than any game I've played, and yet it's so unique in every way. and it binds players into it. Somehow finding a connection with the characters. It's like a book, a very VERY well written book! Or at least that's my interpretation of it. I connected with Zack the most I was just always so fed up with myself. I hated the way I was and couldn't really figure myself out. I didn't even know why. Playing Straight and seeing that I wasn't the only one that felt this way, I started getting better. I have not figured everything out yet, and I'm certainly not at my best. But Straight and this SO incredibly well written story really impacted me and the way I think.. I'm happy I played Straight and I'm so happy I even found it in the first place. This "review" may sound so weird to some people, but I'm genuine. I really meant all of that, and I'm ok with people not understanding it. So, Thank you! Thank you, Aaryn, and everyone who worked on Straight! I loved it so SO much, and I'm so glad someone took the time and effort to even come up with such a different approach to a game. It was so different from anything I've experienced before. Again, Thank you so so much for making this game and pushing through to the end with it. Thank you for helping me figure myself out and slowly making me find my inner peace.
Thank you!
(God, just re-reading this makes it sound so weird, I promise it shouldn't. I just wanted to express myself! :) )
Heya, I know I spoke with you on the Discord and stuff and we talked about this there but I just also wanted to follow-up over here and say thank you for the detailed reaction. I'm always humbled when people have a reaction like this and it means a lot to me when people take the time to write a thoughtful response. Also, please keep in mind that this project and it's "perspective" isn't the truth so find what works for you and define the world in your own way. I just wanted to show one perspective here on how one stubborn person could actually start that journey and try to sort through the mess of contradictions that we see every day. I appreciated your reaction and loved talking with you and reading this again. Hope you enjoy the revamp <3
I've just finished the draft after downloading it about a week ago I think. For someone in their 40's and can still see bit of myself in the main character at that age this was a great story to read. I've never fit the stereotype and taken years to work out labels and/or if they where needed for me. The maturity to the writing/storytelling show the experience of the characters and I guess the revamp will help that come through more.
Spoiler alert!
For someone that has a very supportive family, but still had hard time coming out and the recovery from my perants shock. I would have love seeing Zack still getting on the train and standing up to his folks as that is a personal development I feel he would need even if his folks don't care etc, but then have Braden saving him, but then there was a mention that Zack wouldnt call for help
heya, glad you enjoyed the gravity of the story and that you were able to find parts that resonated with you. i think one of the fun things about the ending is that it's open. what you're suggesting could easily happen for sure in your own head canon. I tried to do a lot with this story but eventually i had to draw a line and not include everything. the parental side is a different beast entirely and this story was much more focused on self-acceptance rather than trying to find the approval of others. who knows, we may see it again some day tho if the time is right :)
we'll see. i dont have plans for it now but i'm open to returning to this world again. it just needs to be worth it. i'm not trying to milk a story out and run it into the ground unless there's really another purpose to it. so far my requirement has been that a sequel would have to be "better" than the first one for me to ever touch it
I wrote a review for this game, not knowing how itch.io works and that the review wouldn't be public 😅
So I'm posting here to say, for the benefit of anyone who sees this, that Straigh!? is a wonderful (and sexy ;) ) visual novel, with tremendous depth - 5/5. I can't recommend it enough.
Cheers and thanks, Aaryn, for all the hard work and commitment that's gone into this! (and if you happen to see my review and feel like posting it below this comment, I wouldn't mind, but nbd)
thanks for the kind words. so in terms of reviews, this is a little embarrassing but I'll publicly say it anyway because anyone who's followed this project for any length of time can attest that i do not shy away from embarrassing myself. So this project began in 2017 (the original demo was published in October 2017 but i started several months before that-- I wanna say like july or so but i can't remember). Anyway, I published it over here not too long after that as the means to get more feedback and reach a wider audience. However, about 2 months ago is when i actually figured out how to read the game reviews for this thing. They're buried in my user profile and i have no idea if they're public or not but there's hundreds of them in there. hundreds of notes people have left in there that i've never been able to read. Now I probably could have figured out how to read the reviews sooner but most of my time is spent in the project itself, rather than marketing or website construction. I usually spend the most time writer and doing graphics and the rest of my time is usually spent interacting with the community. So while i could have done better at trying to figure out the website over here, I promise I was busy doing other things that were probably more important. But, I did finally figure out how to read all the reviews so i spent the better part of a day going back through and reading them all. That being said, I have no idea if they're public or not and i have no idea what they're so hard to find. I've always thought the UI over here was overcomplicated. But thank you for your kind words and thank you for taking the time to rate the game and leave a thoughtful response. i really do appreciate it <3
Haha, well I'm not surprised, honestly, with how itch is laid out. No worries at all, you have more important things to be doing than digging through the wonky UI on this website. I just wanted to say publicly how much I appreciate this project, and I've done so here.
I've been following Straight since maybe 2019 or 2020, I'm not too sure. But when I started, you still had the loop in the early game of going to class and having to choose the right path to progress things. The story has developed a lot since then, it's really grown up! I just started in on the revamp for the first time, and I'm loving the added depth and attention to detail, it's great. Anyway, thanks again, your passion for this project really shines through.
well thank you. i honestly have to also thank the community for allowing me to write a story that actually could grow up. adult games seem to be pretty shallow in their story and I really needed a community that was open to having a story within the genre rather than just mindless adult content. sure, it's niche, but it does help to have people that appreciate the depth there and like the slow burn. i really am passionate about this damn thing and honestly i'm happy i can still be passionate about the revamp even after working on it for this long. the community has a good energy that's helped keep me going more than once :)
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is there a guide?
yep, so for the original version, the beginning of the game kinda sucks and i'm sorry about that. it was based on the grinding type games that were popular when this began back in 2017. If you look in the game file, there's a .txt file called walkthrough.txt that will tell you the order of things to pick for the first few chapters. That repetition slows down considerably in chapter 4 and then goes away completely after that.
If you ever play the revamp, the repetition sequences from the beginning are completely removed and the entire story is more linear.
I absolutely loved this game! Every part of it - the visuals, the storytelling, the story itself, the characters. It all felt so vivid, so real. Nothing felt forced or out of place or dramatized to no end. It really was a great experience.
Zack is honestly adorable. I loved his humor and I really felt like he was so relatable, both in queer and plain human terms (although I am a girl, not a boy, so certain things were wildly different for obvious reasons, lol).
Also, I actually scanned the code on the purple poster and I have to say it was really a nice detail to add!
I'll be waiting for more content from you, Aaryn. Keep doing whatever you're doing, it's working! :)
Yay! I love getting girl fans of the game! It's been awhile since I've heard from one and I just got excited again :p
Glad you liked the story and felt like everything clicked. While i do like drama, I wanted all the drama to matter or to really illustrate something that could pop up in a relationship and really explore how to talk about that or sort through it. Also, glad you cause the scanning code on the Pool poster in the revamp version. It was a fun detail that Jordyn added and it's a fun easter egg for those that find it and take the extra step to see if it actually works or not. there's a lot of easter eggs in the story that people still haven't found :)
Thank you for stopping by and thanks for playing. I'm super happy you enjoyed it and stay tuned. the next one update is coming up before too long
Yeah, drama is fine as long as it makes sense and it is not sensationalized. A story where absolutely nothing ever happens would be boring, after all. But I love how you handled it - these guys just straight (or not :D) up TALK when things go wrong and I really appreciate that. No mindless, useless dragging of it all for the sake of it. Just people actually communicating. Absolutely loved that.
Not gonna lie, at first I only wanted to play this because it was not heterosexual stuff, lol - I am bi and quite tired of the general narrative focusing on straight relationships/stories. But then I got hooked on the characters and the storytelling. It's so refreshing to see such a honest, raw take on certain aspects of life. The NSFW content is good (Zack is DAMN FINE!) but the fact you actually made these characters feel real and like people rather than just mindless figures doing hot things, makes it 10000x times better.
As for the two versions: not gonna lie, the original looks great. Yes, the revamped is even better, but I would have been happy even with just the first one. It's gorgeous. However, I do prefer the narrative of the revamped version of a mile. It reads more easily and gives more glimpses of what actually goes on in the characters' minds.
And now I'm on the hunt for more easter eggs, lol
the communication was a big thing to me, especially because i'm using an online environment to distribute this. the online environment just seems to foster snap judgements and angry people attacking others. people seem so quick to either attack or defend and sometimes there's important context that's left out. we assume things about other people that probably aren't true and that makes the world look like an ugly place.
I wanted to show some fucked up situations between two people that are really good together but sometimes things get messy. I wanted to explore that and show a way to actually communicate and work together. to put some time into trying to hear the other person out, even if you dont agree with them. sure, the solutions from the game wont apply to everyone but i wanted to show one way where two people actually sit down and collaborate on life. i just felt like i was starved for that in media today. you never see someone take the simple role of "you fucking like the guy so hear him out!" anymore.
These guys aren't perfect, in fact their a hot mess sometimes and they're trying to figure themselves out and we get to watch in real-time while that happens--even if it's slow. and hopefully some of the questions they ponder are applicable to the reader-- they were to me. i did a ton of soul searching in this story and sorta went on that same journey with the characters.
the original game is what it is. it's its own journey. you can see the progress from the beginning of it to the end. i think super fans enjoy that because they get to see the improvements in the world as the characters improve. that makes the entire thing almost metaphorical and that's fun. i think, to me, the revamp is an open love story to the characters and the fans. it's my attempt to say that you stuck with me through the rough patches while i learned how to do this and you were open to my soul-searching storytelling, so here, i'll redo it all and show you what i can do now with that energy behind me. i've been lucky enough to have an amazing community of fans behind this thing and i'm finally at a point where i can show you what i saw in my heart the first time i wrote this :)
You 100% delivered all of this and MORE. You gave depth to all of the characters, which alone is an incredible feat, and told a beautiful story that's really vivid.
And while I promise to stop writing essays in these comments at once, lol, I feel compelled to say I especially loved the ending - like the inner turmoil, the arguments, the feelings, the issues, that too felt incredibly real. No promises of forever and unicorns riding off into the sunset in a perfect world, no flawless people doing things flawlessly and never having an issue, but realistic guys trying their best. Doing what they can with what they have. Being friends and lovers, taking care of each other, trying to be good for each other. And I don't mean just Zack and Braden - Mikhail and Ash too.
Ultimately, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this story! I will absolutely donate what I can next month because none of this deserves to be free and because if I can give something in return I am only happy to, tbh. And I will wait for any new content that might or might not happen to grace your page in the future for sure :)
heh, glad you approved. Yeah, i'm not a big fan of perfection. i like flaws and the individuality of the human experience. i wanted characters that were human and fucked up and stumbled and falling into storybook cliches is not an appropriate way to handle characters like that. too much storybook and i think they lose their relatability. all of the characters are frustrating at some point but then i also believe all of us can be frustrating to others when we're not able to see things clearly and i wanted to capture that. i think you summarized it good: characters just trying to do their best. that's smoothing that gives me comfort and it's easy to relate to.
So: on the donation aspect-- hopefully you see this. lemme run through a couple quick things to help you with that decision. 1) please don't rush to donate or feel compelled to. only do so if you're in a safe position. take care of yourself and those you love first-- seriously. 2) the official platforms are Patreon and Itch.io. the problem with sending a donation here on Itchio is that you dont get anything for it. If you donate on Patreon, you can unlock extra stuff (if you're interested in that). The problem with patreon is that when you donate, it sets up autobill so if you're just looking to make a one time contribution, itch.io is probably easier but if you wanna do a subscription thing then Patreon is the way to go. A third option for a one time donation (and my recommendation) is do Patreon so you unlock stuff, then cancel right after, you'll be good for 30 days and it gives you time to see what you're interested in (if anything) over there. There's videos and extras and behind the scenes stuff as well as picture sets that get a bit steamy and fun. If you do the patreon route and forget to cancel, just DM me. I can always refund (but only 3 months back-- after that, Patreon locks it and i'd likely just donate to a charity on your behalf). I want an honest setup here so if you have questions and stuff, please ask. but just remember the game is free for a reason. you can always recommend the game to others, post about it in places or share it. that helps me just as much :)
I've been obsessing over this game for the past week and I just finished it today. I must say that this is quite literally one of my favorite games EVER. I was expecting it to be more like a game you'd wank to, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's so much more profound than that. The end kind of disappointed me though, and not because I didn't like it, but because I desperately wanted to see more of the story. I also felt like it ended on a cliffhanger, like what happens next, is it just happy ever after? Regardless, thank you for creating this masterpiece.
heya, sorry i'm slow responding. holidays were busy. glad you liked the story and i'm pleased it surprised you. i think it's fun doing something in this genre that surprises people with the depth. Also, i'll take your comment about the ending as a compliment that you wanted more. i worked hard on that ending to get it to be a lot of things. it's supposed to kinda echo (without saying spoilers cause lot of people scroll down here and read this before they even start playing so we dont wanna ruin things). thank you for your kind words and glad you liked it <3
heyy! no worries, i get that you're preoccupied. hope you had a nice time over the holidays! i also think that depth is more important than a couple of meaningless nsfw scenes. i have to admit that it took me by surprise and once i knew it, i was going through all the emotions. since you're working on the revamp, i was wondering if you have thought about continuing the story further? i assume you want to stick to the original script, but i think many people (including me) would like to see what happens next. (though it would kind of kill the point of the ending in the original, so i get why you wouldn't want to do it) you've probably been asked this like a thousand times already, so i apologize in advance, lol. also, any news on when we can expect the next update to release?
holidays were good but busy af so i'm glad to have them checked off the list. hope yours were good as well. I think the NSFW scenes hit harder when you actually care or there's a better introduction or even consequences for it. emotions can change things and i think just rushing into NSFW scenes in games was fine to create the genre but it's boring now because everyone does that. You can only order so many pizzas or do so much yoga.
in terms of the revamp, yes, it will stick to the original script. everything should happen mostly the same way with some minor changes but big events will not change nor will the ending. I have gotten asked about doing a sequel a few hundred times now but that's ok, i appreciate the interest :p
right now, i dont have one in the works but i'm open to it. however, my requirement is that a continuation would have to be better than this by a lot. i'm not willing to risk pushing the story forward unless it's going to greatly make an impact. i told the story i needed to. i think a lot of sequels feel rushed or are just done for financial reasons and i'm not willing to just push something out for those reasons. people have trusted me with these characters for several years now and i dont take that trust lightly. i'm careful with them so it would really have to mean something. it's all about the story to me, everything else falls in somewhere behind that.
I understand that you feel satisfied with the story you've told and characters you've built, and now that I've taken time to think about it all, I think I also am. The ending felt disappointing to me initially, but only because I was left wanting more and now that I've reflected on it once again, I finally understand what you meant when you said that it's supposed to "echo", leaving the rest to the imagination of the player. Having a sequel would be nice, but the story is perfect as it is right now. Some things are just best left untouched. I'm glad that you've got your head in the right place and you're not doing a sequel for monetary purposes. You seem like a really neat and wise guy :).
Keep up the great work, I'm thrilled about the upcoming update and I want you to know that you've earned yourself an unconditional supporter. <3
haha, i could always be wiser :p but thank you. you're very kind and made me smile. But yeah, I really am careful with these characters. You can't build an audience and really want people to put in an effort to get to know your characters then just sacrifice them for cash or cheap tricks to try and make money. naaaah, fuck that. these guys mean to much to me and to others. I take my role serious. and thank you for taking my project seriously. i really put and continue to put a lot into it. it's growing every day. thanks for being part of that :)
Edit: bah, also.... damn, my bad. i knew i read someone had left a comment asking about the next update on here and i couldn't find it. it was you and i saw it right after i responded here. so next update for the revamp will hopefully drop in the next few days on my Patreon page. I'm working my ass off to try and get it out during December so like pray or something, lol. But 3 weeks after the Patreon release, then it posts here and Patreon for FREE. so figure in like 3 weeks into January or so for FREE version (hopefully)
Not gonna lie, I downloaded this for something to wank to and holy shit, I was not prepared for how utterly drawn in I'd get by the story. I can't even begin to explain how moved, touched, and seen this made me feel. I just finished and my emotions are... so complicated.
It's an emotional rollercoaster, but I very much appreciated the handling of heavy and emotionally charged subjects - invariably honest, but only sometimes brutally so. It doesn't feel like punches were pulled, but it feels like there's an intrinsic kindness and gentleness to the storytelling itself, and to the reader through it. It never preaches, it tells a story of deep dynamic characters finding their way through they own lives, but in a way that's just... so fucking identifiable it's almost creepy. Not all of their lessons are for me, but a few of them definitely were, and I'm immensely grateful I found this.
And now, since this comment is one of the most honest things I've said online in a while and I'm starting to overthink it (okay, I started to overthink it... probably literally over half an hour ago), it's time to just post it 😊
yo, thanks a lot for checking in and letting me know what you thought. i'm glad you appreciated the depth as well as how some of the heavy issues in the game were discussed and handled. I've stated before but I'll also reiterate that these situations and the opinions and perspectives are central to these characters so they're in no way a sample of the "right" way to do things; but they are an example of "a way" that worked in these situations for these guys. So please take what you feel applies and leave the rest. I'm glad it didn't come off as preaching, tho, that was definitely a goal to try and walk that balance.
and dont worry about the overthinking. i literally wrote like a 15 hours story on overthinking; suffice to say I'm well-versed in the art :p I'm glad you posted tho and reading your experience means a lot to me so thank you for sharing and thank you for reading. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the revamp, i promise it's way better from the very start. all the best to you and those you care about <3
I did not realise there was a part of me that needed to see guys fumble with, well, stuff. And I'm not even through the game yet. What kind of white magic fuckery is this?
lol, glad to make your subconscious dreams come true :p
Where do I begin!? This is by far the best visual novel I've read. Usually, the content of the story has me intrigued, but Straight!? had me emotionally invested. I simply wanted more to the story, which I loved. I finished reading the original version, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. The author(s) has/have done an amazing job.
***SPOILER!!!!!!***
The only thing I wish was different is the epilogue. I wish it was part of the final chapter, and a new epilogue was written to focus more on what happened during the summer; their return to school, how did the changes to the swim team go, did they stay in touch with Ash, do they all still hang out (would love them to see Ash several times), and for heavens sake do they finally get lube! [you know which scene I'm talking about ;)]. Just food for thought as you revamp. I honestly haven't found a story that I was more consumed by than this. The authors deserve all the praise they get.
yo, glad you enjoyed it and the emotions hit. it was a blast to write and emotionally had me all over the place as well so you're not alone. While there's no sequel planned right now, hopefully the desire to want more means that things hit like they should so thank you for that. You should check out the revamp if you liked the original. it's lightyears better
Loved it! I'm usually not an emotional person, but this story just hit different; a good kind of different. I'm definitely going to subscribe and start reading the revamp. If at all possible, I would love to have more added to the epilogue. I think the story and message behind everything is magnificent, but I totally had several questions when it ended. I'm looking forward to seeing all the changes! You guys are awesome.
Also, thank you for staying connected, listening, and engaging in comments. Many authors don't, and it makes our loyalty and passion for the story grow when you do. I greatly appreciate it.
yeah, your'e supposed to have some questions really or fill those blanks in yourself. however you wanna piece it together. Also, thanks for the kind words about me being connected. i think it's important for the creator to take an active role with the community. i have no idea why more devs don't-- other than just being arrogant-- which i have no use for. I'm just a regular dude trying to figure this thing out and people have been very kind in supporting the project or leaving nice comments and stuff over the years and i'm grateful for that. least i can do is answer them back and say thank you <3
We appreciate it! You have created an amazing story, and love everything about it. <3
thank you very much. i seriously appreciate it
[Review, no spoilers]
Think of "Straight!?" like a romance novel. Probably the most romantic story I've come across in a video game... unlike most interactive story games in this genre, Straight!? puts telling a good story first, and sprinkles nsfw scenes slowly, just where it makes sense. The goal isn't unlocking art, it's, well, pretty much the same pleasure as reading!
5/5, excited to read to the end! (I played Ch 1-3 of the Revamp edition).
hey, ooooh nice. you're just playing the revamp huh? no original version? I appreciate your kind words. i really do put a lot of thought into it and it seems like you're really appreciating the adult content the way it's intended-- to move things forward to have serious discussions about the content. i seriously appreciate your kind words and i hope you continue to enjoy it. I just dropped the first half of Chapter 4 today
Thank you so much for this wonderful game (story...), i loved it. I actually had tears at the end...
heya, thanks a lot. glad you enjoyed it :)
you may wanna reword your post a bit tho so you dont spoil all my tension building for others :)
Sorry, i didn't think of that, but I just changed it now.
this totally works and thanks for making the mild change; hopefully, my request didn't come off too harsh. i really appreciate that you enjoyed the story and checked in. thanks for reading <3
Thanks again for your work. Greetings from Germany
thank you for reading. greetings from the US <3
This game is honestly incredible. I play quite a few of the gay visual novel games as I got into it a couple of weeks ago and to be frank, this so far has been my favourite.
This game shares a lot of qualities with the other games like it's really good art design (although this game is on the higher end of that too) as well it's fun options available.
The best part of it that stands out against the other games though is it's incredible story that is wholesome, adorable, and healthy. And when I mean it's healthy, I mean it's a genuinely healthy story where it's not just some toxic relationship but everyone thinks is cute because of the media. It focuses a lot on the characters self development and all the characters and the plot points are points that resonate with myself really hard.
The things this game does and how it normalises things that we feel are often disgusting or ashamed of is really incredible and makes at least me, feel a lot better.
Thanks for the incredible game, I can't wait to see what's in store.
yo, glad you enjoyed it and vibed with a wholesome story in the adult genre. I really did want to normalize a lot of things or at least normalize the conversation about them between people that care about each other. if you haven't already, check out the revamp. i promise it's better :)
yeah it was a great game.
I started with playing the revamp but found myself needing to play more so I played the old game. It was great. I’m just waiting for each chapter for the revamp to come out and enjoy it now.
i'm working on v0.09 now. adding some new shiny stuff that honestly impressed me today so stay tuned :)
Hello,
I'm a horny player who got trapped into following the story til the end with butterflies in the stomach during half of it.
I found the game on an explicit website and prefered to download it from the actual source. In a hurry to unhornynize myself, I completely missed the revamp part and played the classic version, which wasn't too much of a problem.
As you might already have guessed, I'm one of those who came for the NSFW and stayed for the feels. And what feels they were!
I've never really read any romance before. I have troubles feeling strong emotions and that's why I'm seeing a therapist. I only realised it was more than a porn game after I had the choice between two different routes.
I got attached to Braden at that point so I chose accordingly and never regretted it.
Spoiler Warnings from here
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS :
I'm gonna start with a lenghty and useless first sentence to protect wandering eyes from getting spoiled. Here we go. The sex scene that one would expect in a NSFW game kinda never came (even though I enjoyed the final explicit scenes and am one of those who consider it to be "unvirgining") but the thing was so well led that I didn't mind at all. When I started, I definitely wanted them to do the deed, but the writing succesfully led me to only want them to end up together and happy. The attempt at sex at the end made me actually chuckle. How cute, how relatable, how I wish I had that experience as a first time!
END OF SPOILERS.
The NSFW question now set aside, I'm going to talk about the rest.
As I said before, I don't think I've ever read actual romance before.
Thanks to this work, I now know I'm not made for this :
the thing made my stomach churn with emotion, and I felt compelled to finish it so I could move on with my life.
I feel like I felt too much emotions for my own good. Maybe not for my own good, but that definitely felt overwhelming.
Probably because I identified to the main character like crazy (I had a massive crush on a straight guy and never built the courage to confess -as I was and still am a 100% sure that I would have gotten rejected-), I was violently touched by the story : I fell in love with the character you wrote and couldn't stop thinking about him while I wasn't playing. When I was talking about it to people, my stomach churned again. That's a thing I should talk about to my therapist!
Anyways, I'm not sure this would have happened with any other romance. I think *you* did an amazing job and that you have an ability to create relatable characters. Sure some scenes were idealised and would have probably never happened in real life (that's why we write romances I guess), but the characters themselves reacted accordingly.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS :
Ash was legit funny, Mikhael is a friend that could fix anyone's life and I won't even talk about Braden because my stomach will start to churn again (it literally is right now). Zack was at a perfect point between being its own character and extremely relatable.
END OF SPOILERS
Now I will be able to close this game and delete it. In a few days I will think that I was stupid to have felt such intense emotions about a romance visual novel, but this doesn't change anything to the fact that you've done a wonderful job at touching people right in their heart. You're an amazing artist, man
Heya,
Thank you sincerely for the long, well-written response and thank you for reading and taking the project as a serious attempt. No worries on the horny reader approach, you're among thousands, lol. I actually take that as a compliment: that you downloaded for the horny reasons and stayed for the story.
That being said, I have no idea how this story stacks up with other "romances." Honestly, I dont even know if it's a romance-- i've never read one either. But it felt like what I'd want a romance to be. I've actually never seen a gay themed movie or read any gay-themed literature or novels-- I purposely avoided them while writing this because I didn't want them to influence this story.
Sorry about the upset stomach throughout this thing. If it makes you feel better, you're not alone there; I had the same stomach pains the entire time that I was writing it. It was cathartic but brutally honest and difficult sometimes for me to accept or share. I'm glad to hear you're in therapy. While I don't know your situation, I was going through my masters program in clinical psych when I wrote the majority of this so I'm familiar with therapy and have worked in the field. That being said, please don't take this story as "truth" or some type of "correct" way of doing things. It's simply a template on communication and honesty and self-acceptance that worked for these particular characters. Not everyone has the same journey so remember to listen to yourself, but if any of these interactions spoke to you or helped you, please take them and use them to your heart's desire. I tackled a lot of heavy issues in this story and it was even more fun to do all of that under an "adult" tag. Hell, the Discord was full of churning emotions-- especially for the ending. I'm glad it spoke to you and I'm glad you checked in to share your thoughts and your experiences. Good luck to you. Thank you for reading, thank you for leaving an emotional response, and thank you for your being a part of this for me <3
I was sure you were doing something linked to psychology, I felt like there was no way you had no knowledge in this field for you to be able to write with such accuracy. It's a good thing you used your skills to write such a story.
I was however surprised to learn that you've never read or seen any fictive gay romance either before : that makes your work even more authentic than I thought, because you wrote straight out of your heart, without using stuff from potential past litterary experiences (something that most writers efficiently and rightly do).
Thanks for your concern and advice. I already had this kind of approach to be honest. Even if I can't expect everything to work like with Zack and Braden (if only: I would have a perfect guide!), their story made me realise that, even as an out of closet bi dude, I should still let go of the labels and just consider myself as myself and nothing else.
I learned that trying to find a label as if it would have helped me find my identity is not a solution. My identity is unique, just like anyone else's, and for this reason I can't a 100% appeal to any label that has been created by anyone else than myself (that's more or less what Mikhail once said to Zack, if I remember well!).
I feel like that's quite an interesting thing that happened in the LGBTQ+ community. For a community that originally had to form itself because it couldn't be labeled efficiently by society, I think that it's now doing an awfully good job at creating a multiplicity of labels for people to fit in (top, bottom, vers, twink, twonk, fem, masc, bear ...). I know this is a complicated issue and labels help with representation and inclusivity, but in my case, I'm way too much overthinking stuff to be able to use those efficiently (and I'm not the only one apparently, as it's also the case with Zack and Braden and I'm not sure those two came out of nowhere).
That's partly why I don't really feel a part of this community despite not being straight, even if I fully respect it.
This is the main lesson that I got from your story: if you can do without labels, definitely do without them. This might be a bit too succint of a summary, but this comment is already pretty long, lol. I know there were a lot more, but that's the one that appealed to me the most (along with the communication stuff, but that I kinda already got it from past experiences :)
I'm sure this lesson will remain after the week I'll have used to digest all these intense emotions I felt (and to come to terms with the fact that my chances of ever meeting a perfect copy of Braden are more than slim haha), and I feel like I've got to thank you for this. Take care
On the most recent update, I like the original versions of the massage and nighttime better. The new massage positioning isn't realistic like the original and the the nighttime doesn't look like someone trying to sneak one in with all that hip action. Lucky the bed doesn't squeak, I guess.
Change for the sake of change isn't necessarily a good thing.
heya, thanks for checking in with the feedback. I'll actually take this a step further and say that change for the sake of change is never a good idea.the focus of the revamp is not to rewrite or really change the story even if i feel like there are mistakes in it (there are). it's mostly a visual overhaul, polish on the writing, and removing the loop at the beginning. these two changes on the other hand were very purposeful and i feel like they're drastic improvements from the original.
the original massage scene is very rigid with terrible camera angles. I was using stock poses that are very robotic to the point that it didn't seem like there was much life in the the characters at all. For the reavamp, the same poses were used as a base, i just did more fine tuning to make the characters actually touch this time and they have facial expressions; but both characters are basically in the same position they were in before and the writing didn't change that much. I just have more camera angles and more pictures but nothing was removed that I recall. in fact, I'm honestly so surprised by your take on this that I'm actually confused on what part you thought wasn't realistic compared to the original. this version felt way more realistic to me because there's just more life in it. I can barely look at the original images, they're terrible, lol.
The nighttime scene had some changes that i was concerned about and i talked about this on the patreon in a lot of detail because i actually did expect some backlash but people ended up being super receptive to the change. The original nighttime scene is very revealing-- which in my opinion-- later negates the purpose of Zack trying to peek in the first place. Why peek if he's already got a full side view? the other concern was that i purposely deleted the chair in the original game just so i could get the revealing shot of braden. as I was building these scenes, I ran into the same problem again, the friggen chair was in the way and i got frustrated and had to move it. but then i thought more about that and that didn't make sense either. there was emotion and frustration with that chair for me as a creator and there was story there. the more i thought about it, the more it made sense to have a much more restricted view of the scene to frustrate zack and to actually capture the layout of the room rather than making objects in the room literally invisible just so we could see more. here zack could finally have a clear shot but something so minor as a chair being in the way is almost infuriating. that totally fits with the beginning progression of the story and it just felt stupid that i ever took it out to begin with.
the "hip action" you noted was an addition that's very much in canon with how braden is in the later parts of the game-- something that zack doesn't really know about yet-- but it's certainly not untrue for his character and it's fun to see that without actually knowing the context yet. braden has a wild side and this is literally a sneak peek early on. In terms of the beds squeaking that wasn't something i ever thought about because they jump in and out of the beds constantly throughout the story so if they were squeaky, I felt like that would have been mentioned at some point during the narrative; jokes would have been made-- stuff like that. Plus, they're wooden framed beds and I've never heard one of those squeak-- just the springy ones but maybe that's just me.
While I did expect that backlash about the nighttime change, it never came. the community was pretty happy about this change and you're actually the first voice that i've seen that didn't think it fit the story. we've talked about it pretty openly on the discord and most people had the same take: they regret not getting to see more of braden like the original but admit that this version does make more sense for the sake of the story-- which has always been the main focus-- aaaaaand it doesn't include invisible chairs.
Sad and surprised that you liked the original better but I definitely don't do change for the sake of change. everything has to make sense to me and honestly-- the more change I do, the more work it is and I would like to do less work since it's a revamp. I dont want to be working on the same game for the rest of my life. I actually put a lot of thought into changes because i'm super protective of these characters. but if you have more feedback on the unnatural massage I'd love to hear it 'cause you kinda lost me there.
I absolutely loved this. I fell in love with the characters and story and actually related to the story quite a bit 😅. Been telling anyone willing to try about it glad to share.
heya. yo, glad you liked the story and I seriously appreciate you sharing the story with others. Up until the revamp, i've sorta depended solely on word-of-mouth and didn't really advertise any of this stuff. But even then, i can't believe how big it got and i'm really grateful for that. so it means a lot when people are willing to recommend it to others. plus, it's free, so you really can't lose :)
thanks for reading and glad you can relate. if you haven't checked out the revamp, i promise it's worth it if you liked the original
Hey Aaryn!
Ich möchte mich von ganzem Herzen für deine Mühe und deine Offenheit hier bedanken! Diese Geschichte hat mich mehr als nur berührt, eher konnte ich mich dadurch weiterentwickeln und Fehler in meiner Vergangenheit erkennen. Z.B. habe ich nach der Szene, in der Zack Brayden im Schlaf angefaßt hat, meinem besten Freund eine Mail mit einem Geständniss geschrieben.....er hat mir verziehn und ist immer noch mein bester Freund :D Eher noch mehr, als zuvor :))) Und das, obwohl er wirklich nichts mit Männern anfangen kann :D :D Vielen Dank dafür und natürlich für alles Andere :)
Wenn ich ein Tränenglas hätte, wäre es sicher sehr voll.....mit Freude, Verständniss, Mitgefühl, Trauer, Wut, Angst......aber vor allem mit Liebe :)))) Und das nur, weil ich auf dein tolles Spiel/Story gestoßen bin :D
Gerade habe ich das neueste Update deiner Version 2 durchgespielt und ich bin zutiefst beeindruckt! Trotzdem werde ich nie das Original von Euch vergessen und ewig in guter Erinnerung behalten!
Ihr Alle, die an diesem Projekt mitgearbeitet haben, seid meine Helden!!! :D
Mit ganz lieben Grüßen!
Heya, thanks for writing. I used Google translate for your message but I'm honestly afraid to use it to translate back because I don't want to butcher your language if the translation is off.
There's a lot of heavy situations in this game and it was fun to flip things that normally appear in adult games and actually give them heart, purpose, and consequences based on characters that a lot of people fell in love with. i'm glad the story helped you deal with things in your past and you were able to communicate and find peace in that. that's really a large reason of why i wrote and shared this in the first place so thank you for your energy and I'm also glad you're enjoying the revamp so far. revamp is only going to get better :)
When is the next update
heya. ok, normally that's a pretty easy question but this next update has a lot of work for the entirety of chapter 4. I've been working on it but I want to split the chapter in half for updates; otherwise, it'll take too long and it gets easy to burn out. Problem is, I'm not sure where to split it so i've just been progressing through the chapter and seeing where things take me. I usually like to do cliffhanger endings but that may not happen this time around just because of the workload for this chapter. Right now though, I'm strongly considering finishing the scene I'm working on now (which is a lot of work left) and then just releasing up to that point.
That being said, just to clarify: this is referencing the revamp. the original is finished and won't be updated any further. The revamp will eventually just replace the original as the full version of the game
This new update was really shocking, I can't wait for a new update, you ate that!!! 😉
haha. thank you sooo much <3 glad you liked it. If you haven't played the original, i promise things only get better. and if you have played the original, then i'll promise that things will only get better from what you saw in that :)
I played the original, you really nailed it, but I'm from Brazil and I had to play a Portuguese version :)
ah, well thank you. glad the revamp is an improvement. I'm also really surprised and impressed by the interest in a Portuguese version. there's been a lot of discussion about translations on the discord. i'm gonna work on that but it'll be awhile
This is such a fantastic game with a terrific storyline! It has some explicit content, but at its heart, it's a touching story about self-discovery, self-acceptance, and love—platonic love, romantic love, and love of self. The plot is thoughtfully crafted with care and attention to detail (it has some really unexpected and exciting twists and turns) and has central themes I wish a younger me could have been exposed to. The characters are complex and flawed and ohh so human. I cannot say enough good things about this game, except that its story should be made into a novel and/or a tv series, and have a much larger audience.
My one and only suggestion would be to reconsider the title, as "Straight!?" is a bit on the nose and doesn't live up to the eloquence and nuance of the storytelling. I think a more appropriate title could reference the Buckeye tree, which is a key setting and theme in the story and a powerful visual metaphor for the main characters' relationship. Something like "Beneath the Buckeye" perhaps.
heya. thanks for the kind words and thank you for taking the project seriously. You seem to have picked up on the gravity of a lot of the things that I wanted to share and make various points about within the story. a lot of people have wanted to see a movie or TV series on this thing and I think it would be fun, too; despite me probably being a very difficult person to work with in terms of casting, music, or even writing changes. lol
Now, on to your title suggestion...
[Spoilers Below]
The story title has been pretty well set from the start and was pretty purposeful and there's a lot of nods to various aspects of the story. I felt like a lot of LGBT media that I was exposed to had traditionally much more feminine or flamboyant examples as a lifestyle and that wasn't something that I could ever relate to personally. While I had some pretty severe closet tendencies, there were other traits and interests that were things I actually enjoyed that were not a projection of my own suppressed instincts. I didn't like the implication that for me to truly accept my sexuality, I was supposed to act like traditional depictions that I had seen in the media. I wanted to depict a lifestyle where the characters could have less stereotypical traits related to their sexuality and outwardly learn to express those in a healthy way and normalize that as a lifestyle option that was just as valid as any other lifestyle that truly captures who we are as individuals.
Hence, the use of the word "straight" in the title with question marks and exclamations. There's another point in the story that alludes to the title in which both Zack and Braden are referenced as literally being like the question mark and the exclamation point themselves. Another nod to the title is that the original game cover shows Braden instead Zack. This calls into question a large part of the story is just diving into where Braden falls on the spectrum. I think assuming that Braden is just a closet case is a very toxic way to view his character and the writing addresses that a few different times. Braden's sexuality, like a lot of people's preference, is way more complex than just being Straight or Gay and it's sorta left up to the reader ( I have my own head canon).
[End of Spoilers]
The word "straight" is also in red throughout the story. I did a public post on my Patreon page regarding why I did this that you can find here.
However, all that being said: I do appreciate your reference to the buckeye tree. it was a fun addition and was a personal way for me to sorta conceptualize how polarizing concepts can both be true within nature. Unfortunately, that scene, like much of this story was never planned and was written one chapter at a time. And while I always knew the ending of the story, I never knew anything that happened before it. I just knew where it stopped. Literally made that buckeye shit up right at the end of the story, lol :p
Although I disagree that people acting however masculine/butch or feminine/flamboyant as they want has anything to do with straightness, I respect that that's your perspective. I am pansexual/queer, and I identified with Braden throughout the story, especially toward the end, regarding his confusion and inability to put himself in a category.
[SPOILER] It became canon in the story that Braden is at the very least a one on the Kinsey Scale, which to me means that he is queer and decidedly not straight (a zero on the Kinsey Scale), but that's my reading of his character which is influenced by my experience. [END SPOILER]
Regardless of all that, I want to commend you again on writing and producing such a thoughtful story—I think it is a testament to the intricacy and impact of it that different people can experience it in various ways and still enjoy it so much. I am excited to play through the revised version and support the project by purchasing the game. Bravo!
to clarify, I actually agree with you. my perspective is that traditional gender norms don't equal sexuality-- -- which is sorta what led me to writing the story the way that I did. i wanted to play with some stereotypes a bit. I just wanted to mostly avoid labels and characters just being whatever they happened to be. i'm trying to normalize diversity here and say it's ok liking what you like and that you don't have to conform to pre-established labels or interests. just be you. I definitely agree that your take using the Kinsey Scale could be applicable here although my head canon is a bit different. i think that's fun and i think that's what makes braden's arc interesting. There's a lot of interpretations to it.
but thank you for your kind words. i'm glad you enjoyed the story and the depth of it was something that you could relate to. definitely check out the revamp though. it really does change the whole feel of the game from the start
I think a titular change would actually be a disservice to the plot, because the way it's written, it immediately draws the audience into questioning the word. I feel as though it was titled, specifically, with the "!?" to draw the audience's attention and actually get them to think about how the word is being used. For instance, even in the original release, the first time Brayden uses the word, it's more implied to mean "chill with it", as in his roommate's sexuality, but the reality is that, from that moment, the audience was tricked into thinking we're watching a straight guy question his sexuality, while in reality, we're witnessing a questioning guy on his way to come to terms with his sexuality. Both Brayden and Zach are in very similar situations, with neither of them really understanding that, and being so wrapped up in their own problems that they didn't realizw the person they cared about most was going through a similar issue. That's how I perceived the story and how it relates to the tile, at least.
heya, thanks for chiming in on this. that's actually my head canon in writing it as well. Obviously, people are allowed their own interpretation and whichever one makes you the happiest with the story is the one you should go with. Also, i chuckled in reading your post because you explained it way better than i did and I wrote the damn thing, lmao.
So thanks for the assist :p
Hey Aaryn, amazing game mate, I have played through both threads of the first release and am now working my way through the revamps, just amazing story line, best gay game I have ever played.
I went to download the android version, the revamp download just showed a splash screen not associated with the game and the original version wanted to access every app on my phone which seemed a bit strange. do you have a link to a correct download for android? or am I being paranoid. Cheers Dave
Heya Dave. Glad you're enjoying the story and especially the revamps. It's a ton of extra work with a lot of new additions but I'm glad it's still feeling fresh. I like it waaaaay better than the original :)
In terms of the android port, you don't sound paranoid and I don't blame you for the question. I don't make the android port myself. A guy named DarkAssassin does it for me and because he takes the time to make ports of my game, I'm completely cool if he puts his own logo on that specific version of the game.
That being said, I'm going to recommend you only download the game from here on Itch.io or from my Patreon links because those are official. If someone else makes a port and sneaks some bullshit into it, I can't really stop them on other websites.
Someone else on the Discord was worried about the permissions that it asks for as well so I reached out to him to clarify several months ago. I'll try to explain this but please understand it's me paraphrasing (probably poorly, lol). Because the game is saved on the device and contains images, pictures, and/or sound effects, it requires your permissions to actually access it its own files and pictures. It shouldn't be accessing any of your personal data, personal pictures, or things of that nature. It should only be accessing it's own images but still needs permission because its data is on the device. Lemme know if that makes sense or if you need more clarification.
Hi there. First off this is an awesome story. I have finished the original version and am currently doing the revamp version which is great so far.
I do have one question though. In the original version, after the swim team meeting you had two possible directions to go, and I was wondering if you are going to do the same in the revamp version?
yo, heya. thanks a lot for checking in. glad you enjoyed the original story and the completely different take on things in the revamp.
now on to your question: short answer is yes, things should be the same. You can think of the original version of the game as my rough draft of the story that i just chose to publish in real-time to get feedback. there are some flaws with it and some annoyances (such as the repeating nature of the beginning) and those will chance, however the main story is going to stay the same. I'm not planning on removing much of anything that was shown in the original game. Almost all of the original conversations, choices, and events in the first draft will remain in the revamp. This is not a new game, I'm just polishing what i made the first time and updating it based on what i learned about how to make a game while working on the first draft :)
im in love with this story and the romance. you did just amazing if i had the money to throw at you i would 100%
aww, thank you. i really appreciate it. game is free and runs on donations only so don't worry about it. if you really wanna help support it in other ways, you can recommend it to others or leave favorable reviews here. It really helps my visibility. glad you liked it <3
Hi There
Straight!? revamp is excellent and just waiting on the new updates of the game is there also going to be Staight!? summer on as well
Thanks Cheers
glad you're enjoying the revamp and it still feels fresh with all the new stuff in it. No plans for a sequel right now but we'll see. I want to focus on one project at a time. I'm terrible at multi-tasking and i dont want to diminish one project by trying to add more work that's unrelated to the first one, if that makes sense. Appreciate your good vibes <3
I just finished the game and I must say, out of many homosexual games out there, it's the first that actually kept me hooked.
I loved the story and the way it was written and it felt realistic enough in some places that I wonder for a minute of it was based on a true story.
I know the creator is working on redoing and refining the game in the new version, but I really hope to get an announcement on a continuous story, even if it skips the summer holidays straight into the second semester :p
A note for the creator if you read it;
I am long since excepted my sexuality, and this story threw me back to highschool and without trying too much gave me a lot of perspective on things that I already forgot have happened. It is really nice to see a work of art at this form, that has NSFW content without making it the main focus, and being balanced with a well written story, character development, and inner thoughts. Keep doing what you do, and I hope you will find more support on the internet, it is good and important work, and I am sure it helps a lot of people who are yet to accept themselves and their sexuality.
I can only hope for a similar storytelling with a gender discussion in the future, and of course, a continuum to this story.
heya, thanks for checking in. i'm the creator and i try to read everyone's messages although sometimes i'm a bit slower to respond. i'm really excited that the story kept your attention. i knew it was niche and that the default on these games was normally just segways from one sex event to the next and that's kinda boring to me. i'm glad you saw the value in the use of the sexual stuff here and the purpose behind it.
in terms of a continuation, i dont have anything planned right now. mostly because i'm still learning and i want to finish this story. the revamp is leagues better than the original and i'm still learning new things that i'm trying there. after that? we'll see. i never planned much of this story in advanced and apparently that's how i work so not having a plan is my norm. i guess i kinda like to keep the story out. however, i was very careful with the ending on this to tie a lot of things up but also leave certain things open for the reader's own imagination and that just seemed fun to me. a continuation would undo most of that work so it would have to really be worth it to me. i've stated on the discord that for a sequel, i would have to have a story that blows this one out of the water. otherwise, it's not worth potentially fucking it up :p
Omg I poured my heart out and my post is gone, I put so much into that too??? Is there some rules I mussed? Length limits?
Well to keep it short i also wanted to say thank you for this game, and it brought many elements to itself which I know is what you wanted. My heart has been pounding in new ways thanks to this and it sure is one big successful first project. And a big thanks for trying so hard and for putting in the part where Zack talks about preassure from being the one who the family bloodline depends on, i dont ever hear anyone talk about it so it hit the feels more. I didnt think this is what I would be dragged into when i wanted ro relieve myself and thought Braden was cute haha
Even though Zack at multiple occations said nothing lasts forever it couldn't prepare me to say bye to this game. And it stings knowing you can watch it however many times but things will change, nothing new will happen. So I will just cherish it all knowing that this is what the game is and i cant let myself get tired of it, so I will try to not watch it over and over haha. Thanks Aaryn, I hope your future plans and project goes wonder, and that is not a selfish way of me saying I want more good games, i just wish you the best.
yo, i'm really sorry it deleted your original comment. I'm honestly not sure what happened. i'm not aware of any character limit and i've written some pretty long replies on here as well. I got a message yesterday that there was a new post, too but when i came over here i didn't see anything so hopefully itch.io isn't being crazy and deleting shit.
but, i'm sincerely sorry that i wasn't able to read you pouring your heart out. reading posts like that mean a lot to me. please know that i'm even more appreciative that you tried a second time after it deleted your first post. thank you for playing and i'm glad you enjoyed some of those rare discussions within the story. i'd never seen those anywhere either but it was something that spoke to me so i wanted to share it. thank you for your best wishes and be sure to check out the revamp if you haven't already. it's a chance for you to relive it all completely new. i guarantee it's better from the start and it's only going to get better. I appreciate you and your energy. thank you for reading <3
also, i normally purge the deleted posts on here to keep the page clean but i'll leave that last one up longer just in case you're miraculously able to get it back.
Nah it's fine, I still got most of it into my shorter comment haha, I will make sure to see the revamp, and watch it all from a new perspective now that I've seen it already. Also thanks for being such an active creator, I didn't think there would be anything much to this game and that not many would talk about it eityer, yet i see people from just a few days ago thanking you for the same things I do and you keep responding. Just feels good nowing you're there
oh for sure, it's still active. lot of people that were hanging on for every episode of the original version are doing the revamp in larger segments. We also have a discord where a lot of discussion has taken place before and we're pretty chill. I do like interacting with the community and i care a lot about it. I really wanted to write a story that had heart to it and it seems kinda stupid to not interact with people after doing that. i think it helps show that i was serious about the project and continue to be. plus, it's pretty cool to hear the effect that it's had on people. warm fuzzies :) but yeah, hope you enjoy the revamp. the first half of chapter 3 just dropped on the patreon so it'll be out over here end of this month for free. i'm already working on v0.07 now.
I finished the story at this moment and... you changed my life. All 4 of them are a part of me. All those insecurities, philosophies, remorse. It's been many years since I accepted my feelings. But you concluded my 13 years long battle with myself in the end of which I told my family. Because you are not truly honest to yourself until you can confide in others. This is the moment that unbinds your soul. Thank you for finding my inner peace.
i'm not even sure how to respond to this. just know that i appreciate it and i appreciate the impact the story had on you. that's one of the primary reasons that i shared it in the first place so thank you for being a part of that. i wish your journey towards further peace to be even more fulfilling. i like to think that all the shitty times help me appreciate the good times even more. thank you for reading and i wish you nothing but the very best <3
Is this finished or still on going??🤤
heya. very much still in active development. i work at least 6 days a week on it. The original version (v0.021.4) is not being developed anymore and has the full story. The revamp is going back through and polishing and reworking everything, especially the beginning based on what i learned over the last few years. it's the current focus and the part being updated right now. it will follow the same path as the original game, it's just gonna look and feel 1000 times better.
Anyone know of any more games like this? This one was really amazing and i find myself wanting more
heya. glad you liked the project. so straight!? is kinda in it's own category in terms of games/stories within this genre, which is kinda what led me to making it in the first place. i will prop up my buddy Blayke who helped coach me a lot with the writing stuff and helped me create what i saw in my head. he has his own thing now, his first project being New Hope. it's very different than Straight!? but it also depends on what attracted you to this story in the first place. He's still writing adult stories but less porny stuff and more story kinda like this one. was there something about this story that attracted you? nothing else that i know of has all the same elements as this story all smashed together but there's a few others out there depending on what you like.
I really loved the way all the characters interacted and the way the sexual elements were meaningful and not over done.
Did you find new game like this? Would you mind sharing with us?
yeah, check out Blayke's New Hope then. Again, different kind of story but he values the character development as well rather than just making cliched situations where people get naked for no reason.
Thanks for the help, and also for making the game it was a great experience
Zack is just like me fr. I'm crying 😭
aww. there's a lot of me in him too. all that writing had to come from some place. you're not alone <3
Sooooo I finally had a chance to finish reading this amazing story. Legit have been in my own head so much lately and I can truly relate to Zack on so many levels. Without spoiling the story or making a super long post like I normally do....I can officially say this was the best story I ever read in my life. I don't read much but if stories had this much passion and realism in them then I would gladly become a bookworm. It didn't feel like some put together tale with a lesson or some happily ever after tale. It felt real and gave people a chance to explore themselves as they went on a journey with the characters. I applaud all who worked on this production and I will definitely be sharing this with my friends. I will also look into sharing this with my patients considering I am a therapist. I believe it could be a fun way to have them see that we all have days where we feel lost, confused and have no idea what to do. We simply float in the sea of life and hope we don't drown. If I've grabbed anything from this story then it would be the fact that we all have to learn how to love ourselves and not focus so much on having others love us. Trust I've learned this lesson but sometimes we need a reminder when trying to build healthy relationships. Once again, great job to all who worked on this project and I would gladly buy the animated version of this story for myself and others if it came to it.
yo, heya thanks for checking in. I'm always interested to hear a therapist reaction to the story. It was sorta meant to be a self-help story if you wanted it to be so I appreciate that you took it that way and some therapeutic value in it despite the adult nature of the content. If you happen to check back in, what theoretical orientation do you practice? I'm an existential guy, which isn't a secret, i'm sure based on the way the story leans. Definitely always appreciate another practitioner chiming in and taking this thing seriously. thank you so much and be sure to check out the revamp if you haven't already. it's a completely new experience
I tend to focus mostly on CBT and Reality Therapy. I believe it's often our perception of life that shapes how we live it. Reality therapy teaches us to tend to our needs and be honest with ourselves. Please feel free to reach out bc I enjoy talking about these things. I may not be the most proficient in terminology but it's the person that you must learn. Not just the diagnosis.
As for the revamp, you trying to get me hooked all over again. 😄Guess I will be downloading it after work.
haha, oh for sure. i think dx is bullshit anyway as evidenced by the process they use to come up with the definition of a dx in the first place and the fact that they change them periodically regardless. "Diagnosis is for insurance companies" and that's as far as I go with it. People are far too complex for labels... which is one of the primary themes in this story.
But yeah, check out the revamp, it's easily hundreds of times better right off the start <3
Thx, I downloaded last night but haven't started yet. I'm a gamer at heart so it takes most of my time if I'm not working. As for diagnosis, I completely agree that insurance can be a pain. I love my job but documentation for insurance can be so draining. I admit patients can sometimes be emotionally draining to but that's bc I get so emotionally invested. Even in your story I found myself feeling their pain and confusion. Sometimes we bond with the things we relate to the most. Regardless, thx for responding and sharing such a great story. I will definitely try to stay in touch.
good deal. hope you enjoy. the revamp has sound so make sure your speakers or headphones are on.
best wishes with your practice as well
What is the difference between original version and REVAMP?
heya:)
So the revamp is a massive overhaul on the original story; it's not a sequel. When I started this project, I knew nothing so since 2017, I've learned a lot and that's evident in the writing and visuals by the time you get to the end of the original version. The revamp is an attempt to bring the quality at the end of the story back to the beginning of the story. The story overall will remain the same but there are new scenes, expanded scenes, a revamped visual prologue, new writing that is much better quality than the original, eliminated the repeating sequences at the beginning, and a massive visual upgrade including hundreds (soon to be thousands) of new images that replace all visuals from the early game (the top 3 screenshots posted here are from the revamp). The other major addition to the revamp is sound and music. The original story didn't have sound or music because it's expensive and I couldn't afford it back then. Based on donations, now I'm able to fund a fully licensed soundtrack for the story in addition to background sound effects. I'll also mention that I've been more recently adding more animations into the story as i learn how to do that. I'm getting faster at it so that means we're likely going to see a lot more of them as the revamp progresses. So far, the revamp is a completely new experience if you enjoyed the original.
how to I play the game I’m very confused I downloaded it but it had a bunch of files
heya. Not sure where you're stuck at so I'll start at the beginning. The game is zipped (compressed) to make it smaller to download. you'll have to unzip it using windows or a 3rd party program like 7zip or Winrar. If you're in Windows, you can just left click on it and go up to the top of the screen where it says "extract all," tell it where you wanna save it, then let it do it's thing. Once it's unzipped. just open the new folder and find the file that says Str8. Double click that and you're good to go.
if you're playing the original version of the game (v0.021.4) just know that the beginning is very rough and was my first attempt at creating something. to progress the game, you have to pick various choices in different orders to move things forward. so if things start to repeat, try and pick something different. that only lasts through the first 3 chapters or so then i took it out. If you're playing the revamp, you wont have any problems.
hope that helps
I’ll try when I get home thank you!
yep, no problem. hope it works for ya :)
when will you make a new game
it's a pretty slow process but i'm still on the first one. the main focus right now is finishing the revamp. i anticipate the development of that will slowly increase as i progress but i want to always finish what i started. if you haven't checked out the revamp, it's waaaaay better than the original already and we haven't even gotten to the good parts of the story yet. i'm also terrible at multitasking and this was a passion project that meant a lot to me so i want to do it right. that means focusing primarily on it and not tainting it with a secondary project. i just can't juggle two at once. after that, we'll see where we are :)
Hello Aaryn. Straight!? is my favorite game since the last days and weeks but I extra signed up for this page to ask you why you did to have to put this beautiful Braden ugly glasses on! You made Braden ugly asf with this move and I'd probably wish you'd undo this. Think of something else, man! I'm probably gonna continue with the story, maybe I'll take a break until it's fixed. I'll see. It disturbs me a lot that he has glasses now and became ugly. Turn it back and update the game, there's nothing else to say!
hi Veryhappy. i'm glad you've been enjoying the game but i'm more disturbed that you may be missing the entire point of it if you're this far into the story and still having reactions like this. i'll answer your question but you're probably not gonna like the response.
braden can see now. that was the update and fix for him so the glasses will stay because he needs them. like many aspects of this game, circumstances occur within the story to allow the characters to address their insecurities. many of those insecurities are things that readers may relate to, have struggled with, or are currently struggling with (i.e accepting your sexuality, zack's anxiety, braden looking younger than he is, physical qualities, dishonesty, communication in relationships, sexual history or lack thereof, mental health stigmas, and many other situations you haven't reached yet in the story). when you're young and people are judgmental, it can be really uncomfortable when you're forced into a simple situation like having to wear glasses against your will. in the story, braden is obviously insecure about this and honestly hates them. some people may make fun of you, bully you, or even think that you're ugly and that's a cruel thing for people to do because it's beyond your control. this game has a lot of mature content in it and i wanted to include things like this in the story because i wanted to show how to be supportive of one another and not base everything on appearances. zack doesn't initially like the glasses either and for a second he's ashamed of himself for having that reaction but it only takes him a second to realize it's the same person behind them. and to me, that's the lesson that matters. when you like someone, you like them. your relationship shouldn't be conditional of them looking pretty for you or not and the story addresses this in depth. life companions aren't there solely for your visual stimulation. they're there to walk with you through the hardships of life and not bail on you if you have to wear glasses. your appearance, just like braden's, isn't a constant and will change with life or age; it's a poor foundation to build any house on.
so the truth is that i included the glasses in the story as an impetus to specifically address reactions like this
Hi Aaryn, thank you for your reply. I get your point now. Hold tight, because this is going to be a hopefully interesting debate. I AM Braden to be honest. My real name is Ben and I'm from Germany. I had to wear glasses from age 9 as far as I remember until age 26. I also had my insecurities about being bisexual. Age 26, I searched the internet for alternatives to glasses because I didn't want to wear glasses anymore. Contact lenses? Oh please, I got insecurities about touching my eyes too. Eye surgery? Not in my life. Then I found a text telling me I can train my eyes. When your legs are broken you don't get permanent walking aids like when you can't see. The same should be with eyes too. Sure I got your point and I'm happy you try to get others become self confident about wearing glasses. My life got better since I took my glasses off and did the eye training. There are lots of people I guess who don't wear glasses, because they find themselves ugly with them. I saved my cousin's son from having to wear glasses as a young kid. Now he's a teenager and still doesn't have to wear glasses. That's about why it's not necessary to get used to glasses because most people can fix this too, knowledge about this is just not being spread over the world because glasses seller don't want people to know you can improve your eyes because they make money with them. I feel great since not having to wear them anymore, I live a great life since 2014 because I feel much better since then. If Braden doesn't have to use it all the time, fine. I just didn't want to have ruined the beautiful look of the eye candy. And I get you. If there's nothing that I could do about my partner having to wear glasses I would accept it. But before I let that happen I'd try everything to get possibly get the issues fixed. That also might not be the answer you wished, I just wanted to state my opinion. I keep playing the game now because the novel is very interesting and I kind of was getting used to Braden wearing glasses now, it's just I like to enjoy his beauty whenever he doesn't wear glasses and maybe one day he does eye training to fix his eyes completely, too. One more time for you: NICE WORK!
heya. thanks for understanding. you seem to really have very strong feelings about glasses in general. i have glasses as well but i finally got the courage to try contacts so i primarily use those. i never had a problem with bullies bothering me about glasses because i'm generally pretty good at turning a bully's audience against them but many people suffered from this. glasses are pretty common throughout the world so it was an easy example to use to make the point that i really wanted to make here that i articulated above. while i've never heard of training your eyes, i probably would have had a hard time setting up a plot point like braden's eyesight and then introducing a lesser known alternative practice to cure it. odds are, people would have gotten caught up in whether they felt the approach would work or not rather than paying attention to the story plot. the "training" part probably would have taken time as well and given that the impetus for the doctor appointment was an actual tragedy, the quick fix of glasses just seems more appropriate here to keep the story moving. it's weird, though, it took me a bit to get used to braden's glasses but now that i've gone back to the revamp and started over before he got them, i actually think he looks weird without them. i'll also mention there was a huge following that actually loved the glasses and prefer him that way to the early part of the game. regardless, it's his arc and not our decision to make. i lost control of these characters a long time ago. thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy the rest of the story if you decide to keep reading
You should make a opinion for what clothes we want to buy
heya :)
yeah, getting to choose outfits would probably help with emersion in the game world and kinda personalize things a bit more. unfortunately, the actual execution of that can spin out of control very quickly because i'd have to render every single picture in the game with every possible combination of outfits. For example: if we only limited the choices to shirt and pants slots and offered 5 choices of each, I would have to render 25 different combinations of a picture of zack sitting on his bed with his mouth open talking. now if he smiles while talking, i'd have to render 25 more images with him smiling. that would also add 50 lines of new code to every single line of code in the game. The finished original version had over 50k lines so i'd be looking at 2.5 million lines of code just to do that version and the revamp is already going to be longer. right now in the revamped version of the game, the dorm setting has 335 images during the daytime. that could easily balloon to somehwere around 1,600 images in that scene alone just to add a few shirts and pants and we're only 5 updates in. i like the idea and i think it would be fun but the logistics when you're one person rendering all these things can get messy. i came to the conclusion that mario and link have worn the same clothes for decades and those are AAA studios so i had to sorta admit the clothing to be a losing battle. it would be fun tho :)
WOW!!, where to begin. An honest review. (some spoilers)
Straight!? has several descriptions but I think the most accurate one is "emotional rollercoaster" and even that one is an understatement!
The story pulls you into a world that anyone of any age can relate to. It allows you to play on the naughty side but gives you the option to rewind and make different choices. Either way, by the end of the story you'll find the choices you make will affect the main characters in a profound way just as they would in real life.
It is so well written and intricately detailed that you find yourself connecting and feeling all the emotions as if they were your own. You make choices that guide Zach while completely understanding his thought process and struggles. You'll see him and Braden slowly realize their fears, insecurities and the inner torture it causes them and how it affects them to their very core. They explore unknown feelings and question themselves along the way as they begin to fall in love without knowing or realizing it and it slowly tears them apart. Much like real life it is a messy cluster of happiness, sorrow, self hatred, self understanding, self realization and finally self acceptance.
This story goes far beyond the standard "Gay guy falls for questioning straight guy" storyline. You'll get to see what its like from both Zach and Braden's story and how they internally navigate and rationalize this messy thing called life.
The story also involves abuse and forgiveness on a level that will shock you with disbelief. I won't describe it because its a major spoiler but it will have you understanding what you think is a small harmless action can drive someone to make cold and calculated decisions. It shows you that the most innocent person only allows you to see what they want you to see. The hidden manipulation for a "controlled experiment" is truly impressive. The hidden guilt and betrayal they both feel afterward show how they cope with their feelings and how it prevented self healing and growing stronger together. They ultimately understand and forgive each other.
Along the way you'll meet other characters that you can't help but truly appreciate and come to love. Especially Max (aka Ash), he starts off very annoying but his character gives you a very deceiving impression of who he is. The old phrase "never judge a book by its cover" can strongly be applied here. He will keep you laughing and is probably the weirdest and funniest person in the story. He's great at masterminding situations, finding loop holes and truly cares about the people he loves. He's far from the impulsive idiot he projects himself to be. Nothing can stop him when he has a plan in motion. Everyone should have a friend like him.
In addition to learning about the 2 main characters in great detail you also delve into the supporting characters and learn all about them and their troubles. You'll learn how they feel and cope and ultimately deal with life.
Over the course of the story there's plenty of hot explicit scenes to help guide and entertaining situations to have fun with. Not only do you feel all the feels but you also learn a lot about how peoples minds work, what leads people into making decisions and also how those decisions can shape and mold them into the person they are. It also shows what happens to someone without any support or someone to confide in. You can't help but to fall in love with the characters and be completely invested in their well being and seeing what's in store for them.
Some scenes are heart wrenching to watch and will have you crying. There's so much drama with twist and turns and revelations that I couldn't keep up with it. I found myself enthralled and on the edge of my seat that everything around me disappears and my only focus is hoping Zach and Braden can find a happy ending. Just when you think it's over for them and you're left crying, you get a glimpse of hope.
I'll stop here to avoid a spoiler
I highly recommend this story but be warned you will hurt, cry, be shocked and be overwhelmed with a wide range of emotions. It's a complex yet relatable story and superbly written. It might seem to drag on at some points but you must keep reading, everything you read will teach you so much about yourself and other people you might not understand and how offering a little support can change someone's life.
Thank you to the creator/s and all involved for this story. You've essentially created a blue print to teach people how to understand a variety of things and provide support for others while allowing people who identify with Zach and Braden to understand and themselves and lessen the guilt and torment they feel.
This is truly an impressive and entertaining story!!
yo! Hey, seriously appreciate the long post and well-thought reaction to the story. I wish i could respond with equal length but i think you covered most everything, lol. however, thank you for taking the project seriously. it means a lot when people get excited and focus on the same stuff that was important to me when writing it. so thanks for gettin it :)
SPOILER ALERT!!!
I finished reading it the story is good but after the character development I don't know. And I laughed when they don't know how to do it so nothing happened between the 2 MCs until the end of the chapter. No sex between them at all. But I love the sex scene between Mikhail and Max/Ash :)
you may wanna add some spoiler warnings here so you dont ruin the parts of the story for someone else
The original is fine. But the revamp is sooo much better! Thank you!
haha. yay! glad you like it! thank you <3
havent made a comment in along time...... love the revamp. cant wait for the next update... soon going to start from the the start again.... the more i read this storie the more i can see how it fits me, not as a teenage like zack and branden but as an older man. and i can see how this fits for alot of guys. and i can see how this will help alot of them in there real life..... the work you have and are putting into this is on real. this is by far the best i have seen so far.. looking forword to the next update..... keep up the great work....
heya. i appreciate you taking the time to go back through the revamp and stop by to say hi again. I'm also glad that it holds up across generational perspectives. I really tried to write something that was applicable to the age of the characters but nostalgic and had a depth that could apply to any age really. hopefully the upgrades in the revamp make people take my motivation for this even more serious cause we're just getting started :)
I love this game! I love the sex scene<3
glad you enjoyed it :)
I didn't see a sex scene I had the latest update
the story talks a lot about how sex can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people
Found it already. I started reading the revamp before the original that's why I got confused 😂
aaah, gotcha. that makes sense. it's a slooooow burn :)
I just have to say this. This game is one of the best experiences I've EVER had. Like for real now. Straight changed me in ways I can't explain. Even with just having played the ending and literally bursting out into tears, the game and the story just made me realise that I don't have to force myself into situations I don't want to, particularly relationships. I got the game just thinking it would be another one of those Sex based games, but as I got further into the game, I realised it was nothing at all like that! This game is wonderful in its own way. I really have to say it, and it's helped me figure things out and figure myself out. And some parts of the stories really left me... weird sometimes. I can clearly remember playing the update of the game and getting to the end of that update. Their Dorm burned down, and.. I don't want to sound weird here.. I felt.. sad? Devastated and angry all at the same time. For days. Straight really impacted me for who I am and what or who I love. I can't say it enough. This. Game. Is. The. Best. It's better than any other experience I've played, better than any game I've played, and yet it's so unique in every way. and it binds players into it. Somehow finding a connection with the characters. It's like a book, a very VERY well written book! Or at least that's my interpretation of it. I connected with Zack the most I was just always so fed up with myself. I hated the way I was and couldn't really figure myself out. I didn't even know why. Playing Straight and seeing that I wasn't the only one that felt this way, I started getting better. I have not figured everything out yet, and I'm certainly not at my best. But Straight and this SO incredibly well written story really impacted me and the way I think.. I'm happy I played Straight and I'm so happy I even found it in the first place. This "review" may sound so weird to some people, but I'm genuine. I really meant all of that, and I'm ok with people not understanding it. So, Thank you! Thank you, Aaryn, and everyone who worked on Straight! I loved it so SO much, and I'm so glad someone took the time and effort to even come up with such a different approach to a game. It was so different from anything I've experienced before. Again, Thank you so so much for making this game and pushing through to the end with it. Thank you for helping me figure myself out and slowly making me find my inner peace.
Thank you!
(God, just re-reading this makes it sound so weird, I promise it shouldn't. I just wanted to express myself! :) )
Heya, I know I spoke with you on the Discord and stuff and we talked about this there but I just also wanted to follow-up over here and say thank you for the detailed reaction. I'm always humbled when people have a reaction like this and it means a lot to me when people take the time to write a thoughtful response. Also, please keep in mind that this project and it's "perspective" isn't the truth so find what works for you and define the world in your own way. I just wanted to show one perspective here on how one stubborn person could actually start that journey and try to sort through the mess of contradictions that we see every day. I appreciated your reaction and loved talking with you and reading this again. Hope you enjoy the revamp <3
I've just finished the draft after downloading it about a week ago I think. For someone in their 40's and can still see bit of myself in the main character at that age this was a great story to read. I've never fit the stereotype and taken years to work out labels and/or if they where needed for me. The maturity to the writing/storytelling show the experience of the characters and I guess the revamp will help that come through more.
Spoiler alert!
For someone that has a very supportive family, but still had hard time coming out and the recovery from my perants shock. I would have love seeing Zack still getting on the train and standing up to his folks as that is a personal development I feel he would need even if his folks don't care etc, but then have Braden saving him, but then there was a mention that Zack wouldnt call for help
heya, glad you enjoyed the gravity of the story and that you were able to find parts that resonated with you. i think one of the fun things about the ending is that it's open. what you're suggesting could easily happen for sure in your own head canon. I tried to do a lot with this story but eventually i had to draw a line and not include everything. the parental side is a different beast entirely and this story was much more focused on self-acceptance rather than trying to find the approval of others. who knows, we may see it again some day tho if the time is right :)
Oh I so could see you guys doing Zach's second year at college for sure.
we'll see. i dont have plans for it now but i'm open to returning to this world again. it just needs to be worth it. i'm not trying to milk a story out and run it into the ground unless there's really another purpose to it. so far my requirement has been that a sequel would have to be "better" than the first one for me to ever touch it
Muito Divertido.
Você teria uma versão traduzida para Português Brasil ?
I'm going to look at translations in the near future. i was waiting on the revamp for a translation
I wrote a review for this game, not knowing how itch.io works and that the review wouldn't be public 😅
So I'm posting here to say, for the benefit of anyone who sees this, that Straigh!? is a wonderful (and sexy ;) ) visual novel, with tremendous depth - 5/5. I can't recommend it enough.
Cheers and thanks, Aaryn, for all the hard work and commitment that's gone into this! (and if you happen to see my review and feel like posting it below this comment, I wouldn't mind, but nbd)
Heya Bean,
thanks for the kind words. so in terms of reviews, this is a little embarrassing but I'll publicly say it anyway because anyone who's followed this project for any length of time can attest that i do not shy away from embarrassing myself. So this project began in 2017 (the original demo was published in October 2017 but i started several months before that-- I wanna say like july or so but i can't remember). Anyway, I published it over here not too long after that as the means to get more feedback and reach a wider audience. However, about 2 months ago is when i actually figured out how to read the game reviews for this thing. They're buried in my user profile and i have no idea if they're public or not but there's hundreds of them in there. hundreds of notes people have left in there that i've never been able to read. Now I probably could have figured out how to read the reviews sooner but most of my time is spent in the project itself, rather than marketing or website construction. I usually spend the most time writer and doing graphics and the rest of my time is usually spent interacting with the community. So while i could have done better at trying to figure out the website over here, I promise I was busy doing other things that were probably more important. But, I did finally figure out how to read all the reviews so i spent the better part of a day going back through and reading them all. That being said, I have no idea if they're public or not and i have no idea what they're so hard to find. I've always thought the UI over here was overcomplicated. But thank you for your kind words and thank you for taking the time to rate the game and leave a thoughtful response. i really do appreciate it <3
Haha, well I'm not surprised, honestly, with how itch is laid out. No worries at all, you have more important things to be doing than digging through the wonky UI on this website. I just wanted to say publicly how much I appreciate this project, and I've done so here.
I've been following Straight since maybe 2019 or 2020, I'm not too sure. But when I started, you still had the loop in the early game of going to class and having to choose the right path to progress things. The story has developed a lot since then, it's really grown up! I just started in on the revamp for the first time, and I'm loving the added depth and attention to detail, it's great. Anyway, thanks again, your passion for this project really shines through.
well thank you. i honestly have to also thank the community for allowing me to write a story that actually could grow up. adult games seem to be pretty shallow in their story and I really needed a community that was open to having a story within the genre rather than just mindless adult content. sure, it's niche, but it does help to have people that appreciate the depth there and like the slow burn. i really am passionate about this damn thing and honestly i'm happy i can still be passionate about the revamp even after working on it for this long. the community has a good energy that's helped keep me going more than once :)