heya:) no worries. So yes: I actually just released the newest update on Patreon and SubscribeStar yesterday so 3 weeks it’ll drop here free. That’ll be March 21.
It’s been awhile on an update but this next part needed a ton of work. Lots of new environments and I took some extra time to really spice it up. So far the early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive including from those that played the original. This one just hits way better now. I worked my ass off on this one and I really do think the extra time was worth it.
So just a bit longer but it is finished and released.
aww, well thank you so much for playing and thanks for being interested in the project. the update i just dropped yesterday is part 2 of 3 for chapter 7 in the revamp. these chapters progressively get longer
Wow, im fairly new to these types of games so i was expecting the typical smutty vibes these games give and got an amazing story with characters i fell in love with. How you made me love Ash by the middle was amazing. Oh and the Ernie sitch?! Bravo. Not sure if youre planning a sequel after the revamp but i really hope you are. Thanks for the amazing story😭
i started this game wanting some steamy gay smut but i came across a masterpiece. i hope the creator will see this comment as a motivation to keep going. this shi really got me in my feels i love the characters so much 🥹❤️‼️‼️
heya. thank you so much for checking in. i always like these messages on here where someone was expecting some smut game then gets caught up in the story. really glad you're enjoying it. and don't worry, i'm not going anywhere. full steam ahead <3
haha, well welcome back and thanks for thinking of me again and stopping by to let me know you enjoyed it. Not sure if you played the revamp at all but if you haven't and ever feel like running back through it again, i promise it's a massive upgrade. thanks so much for reading <3
these discord links are weird. I'll paste it here and see if copying it will work. some people occasionally get an invalid message but others join without a problem. it's been the same link for a few years now. try pasting it.
Just made some adjustments to the server. it's still the same link but if you wanna try again, i'm curious if it'll work. i get someone every once in awhile that can't join for some reason but it seems to work for everyone else
i love the big story, couple of times i was near crying to full on balling down, the love story between Zack and Braden was cute and it shows many challenging things they faced and try to fix any issues involving with themselves and their friends. keep working hard Aaryn i cant wait for the next update to come out
hey thank you so much for playing and for taking the time to let you know it got you in the feels :) don't worry, i'm not going anywhere. i'm finishing up the tail end of the next update now so hopefully we'll see the next 1/3 of chapter 7 in the revamp very soon. thanks again. really appreciate it <3
i cant wait, keep up a good work, would like to see what happens with Max (or known as Ash) in military and what happened with Makhail, love your work, i enjoy the story as it is something i can relate to minus the boyfriend part haha
heya, thanks a lot. you may wanna post a spoiler warning in your reply though so you don't ruin things. lot of people check the comments down here before even downloading
Heya, so the short answer is I'm hoping this month but depending it could be early next month.
longer more detailed answer: so without mentioning spoilers, this next update has 4 new locations we haven't seen in the revamp. After looking at those sets from the original game, they needed work. In the grand scheme of the revamp, updates have been much quicker than the original game because i didn't have to do any writing-- just polish what was there or reorganize it. the last few updates have had almost zero writing stuff but polish. but most of the locations we see in the game are gradually visited as the updates go-- allowing me to slowly work on them over time. this update is the exception because it drops 4 new places into one update. there was a ton of work there. i've rebuilt some of them, completely relit them, and done some texture updates. that turned out to be a lot. Then, compared to the original, the number of CGs was easily tripled. Right now I have over 600 in this update along when most updates have had around 300ish. It's just a really graphic intense update. that being said, I'm on the last scene now and I wanna get it out there. I still have coding, music, testing, then editing and stuff.
if you're curious and you want to see some of the work, I've posted stuff on my bsky account. more teasers than usual to try and compensate for the extra time so people know that I'm actually working on this thing.
oh my God... this game is seriously a slap in the face in both wishes and reality. I have played multiple games on this format, yet, this one has been severely my fav so far. This game makes you transport literally to feel what Zach is feeling and how raw it is on how he describe his feeling on the process of self acceptance. All that I would like is for either a sequel or at least some side characters stories, especially Braden's P.O.V. and how it lead to that conclusion in the end. I know I'm way out of line asking for these things but truly, this game is really top notch and will let you desire for more. <3 loved every minute of it. Lot's of thanks for this game.
heya, thanks so much for playing and letting me know you enjoyed it. actually my original idea when i finished was to unlock a braden route then drop you back at the beginning to play it all through from his perspective but i ended up scrapping that. i felt like zack's headspace was more my style of writing and i wasn't sure how I'd juggle braden narrating and try to keep my overly dramatic writing style under control (braden struggles with school stuff so i couldn't really see him writing lengthy dramatic sentences and i honestly enjoy that nonsense). the other aspect of braden-- and i wont go into detail here because of spoilers-- but braden's arc and how he feels was very different to a lot of people and i thought that was awesome. people were able to mold braden to fit both him and their own vision of his feelings and the more i thought about it, me writing his route would take that from them so i scrapped it. braden's character imo was way more powerful with the mystery and ambiguous narrative that i thought i could ever write him.
but yeah, thank so much for playing and just taking time to leave a comment and stuff here. i really appreciate the interest and i'm just happy you enjoyed it :)
Hi Aaryn, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for Straight!? because, for me, it was much more than just a graphic novel. Zack and Braden’s story deeply resonated with me—not just because of the beauty of their connection, but also because of how you portrayed ambiguity, insecurities, and the complexity of emotions.Their journey felt authentic, sincere, almost dangerously real. Reading it led me to a deep introspection, making me reflect on expectations, on signals we perceive or misinterpret, and on what it truly means to want someone who isn’t ready to give you a clear answer.The ending left me hanging, but perhaps that’s its strength—life doesn’t always offer clear resolutions. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if Zack should have applied a kind of “strategic evaporation” (as I’ve started calling it in my post-reading reflections) to protect himself from being trapped in limbo.If you ever consider a sequel, I would absolutely love to see it. Especially to explore Braden’s side of the story—how things might have evolved if the final chapter hadn’t included the author’s intervention and had instead left Zack alone at the station, with no message to guide him. Would there still be a way for a reconnection? Could their story continue from that moment?Honestly, all the characters you created are so well-drawn that they would each deserve their own spin-off. There’s so much potential in this world you’ve built, and I’d love to see where you could take it next.
heya, thanks for reading. i wont comment too much about the ending here because i dont want to spoil things for people. i know a lot of people check the comments down here before they even start to play but there's definitely a lot of though put into the ending and the entire story. I know a lot of people have asked for a sequel and we'll see. i take things like that seriously because i sorta view myself as a gatekeeper for the characters and i dont want to run the story into the ground. i am definitely not opposed to spin-offs though. a lot of the side characters are just fun and i'm open to continuing or doing side projects with them if the moment is right. thanks so much for reading and posting. i really appreciate the energy and thanks for taking my little project seriously <3
thank you so much for your reply! I apologize if my comment might have revealed too much or spoiled parts of the story. I was completely immersed in the beauty of the narrative, and maybe I got carried away by my excitement!
I just wanted to say again how much I appreciated Straight?!. It’s clear that every detail was crafted with great care, and the fact that you see yourself as the guardian of these characters shows how much you value their authenticity.
I completely understand your cautious approach to a possible sequel, and it’s actually reassuring to know that if there ever is one, it will be created with the same thoughtfulness and respect for the original story. The idea of spin-offs focusing on side characters is also very intriguing! There are so many interesting figures in the Straight?! universe, and it would be fun to see them explored in new stories.
But come on, really, think about it! You’ve left us completely in love with this story and these characters. We are obsessed with this world, and a sequel would be a dream come true! <3
Thank you again for sharing this project and for taking the time to reply! It has been such an emotional and meaningful journey. <3
haha, yeaaaaaah... i know a lot of people want that sequel or even the spin-off-- especially for one character in particular. i do think if i do something like that i'll be excited to announce it and i'm hoping that people would get amped up knowing that i plan on doing them justice. but we'll see. i do take this thing serious and there's still a billion things i need to learn about all this stuff. the revamp is very much growing with the visuals and I'm really trying to challenge myself there to do new and creative things-- many of which could be applicable to other projects but we'll see. i'm terrible at making plans. i sorta just sit down and roll with this stuff, i guess. i like the world and the characters and i dont want to be spoiled either so i really just try not to look too far down the road :)
seriously appreciate your excitement and energy, though. means the world to me to see people enjoy this thing. it was a friggen acciden that i even did it to start with
I'm somewhat struggling with words here, but my god this story?! I downloaded yesterday and have done nothing but play through, have just finished and i'm in tears. This is NOT what I expected, I just wanted some cute gay smut not to be emotionally ripped apart and put back together.
Soo many themes in this relate to my own experiences, and to have them presented in such a well thought out, beautiful way is beyond anything I could have imagined. This was very therapeutic, story telling at its finest. This is what Art is about. Aaryn you are a genius, thank you for this.
wow, thank you so much. you're very kind and i really appreciate you taking the time to post about your experience. i'm grateful you found value in it and saw it as therapeutic. i tried hard to weave that into the story and have something that felt realistic and genuine. sorry about all the feels-- apparently, i like emotional stories and i didn't know. but genius? haha... nah, i'm just some internet dude tinkering around.
I know you're busy with the revamp and I just want to say I am so thankful and also proud of this work. It helped me discover things about myself that I never knew. But, IFF it is in your best interest, a part 2 sequel to this game would be amazing!!! I am obsessed with everything about this game and can not think of anything that can come close. Relationships are actually built, it doesn't feel like some rushed through dating sim, it is SO immersive. Thank you for all that you do .
aww. thanks so much. this is very kind and sweet. i'm honored you'd think that it's one of the best and i'm really grateful that you enjoyed the slow burn approach. i know it's not for everyone but i agree with you and think that it helps pull me into the world more and just generally creates more investment. we'll see on the sequel. i know a lot of people want more but i want to be careful with that. there's a lot of people that have trusted me with these characters and i want to take that role seriously
oh anytime. thank you for playing and just taking time out of your day to post your thoughts. it really does mean a lot to me. i wish you the best as well. take care of yourself-- things are friggen crazy
hey aryn when you’re done with the revamp of straight with they a sequel to the game I really hope there will be. I love this game so much. And will we finally see Zack and Brayden have sex lol in the revamp please I’m begging you 🤣🤣🤣
hey thanks a lot and your screen name made me laugh. no plans for a sequel right now but i'm open to it if i think i can do better than the first time. i just reawlly wanna be careful with these characters and not run the story into the ground but we'll see
I'm also playing mostly gay avns. In FMC games there is too many forced girl-girl stuff, and males there are often assholes, they are really unlikeable
First off, huge congratulations on such a beautiful game! The story is so captivating, it pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading non-stop. And the quality of the 3D renders/sprites is amazing. I checked out both the draft and the revamp, and honestly, even the draft has incredible quality.
I started with the revamp, but I couldn’t wait, so I switched to the draft because I just had to keep following the story. The character development, how everyone deals with their own challenges, and just the whole vibe of the game really blew me away.
This game went way beyond what I expected. I totally agree that stories like this benefit from having explicit/NSFW elements, it really helps express the story and character development better. A lot of the time, these things get left out, but they actually make the story feel deeper, not just for shock value, but because they make it more real. It’s like you’re reading something that could’ve actually happened to someone, with all the messy, raw details included. Honestly, I think more stories should do this. I’m pretty sure I’ll be revisiting this one again soon.
One thing I’d love to suggest is adding more languages to the story, besides English. I get that it’s not realistic to translate the whole script into every language overnight lol, that’d be a massive task, but having options would make it easier for non-native English speakers to enjoy the story fully. Like for me, I’m a Spanish speaker, and while I was able to follow the story in English, I know I’d enjoy it even more in my own language. Just throwing the idea out there! I saw something about this on Discord a while ago, and if you ever consider it, I’d be happy to volunteer to help :)
To wrap it up, congratulations again on such an amazing game/story. When I get the chance, I’ll definitely be supporting this project financially!
This game is truly amazing. I loved it. I played the Revamp version, reached the "To be continued", and, of course, I couldn’t wait. I’m already in the process of downloading the full story version. But I didn’t want to miss the chance to share a few words and express how much this game, specifically chapters 5, 6, and 7, impacted me. I found it profoundly moving. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started playing, as I had read some comments before downloading it, but it far exceeded my expectations. From what I understand, the Revamp version includes improvements that go beyond graphics. While I can’t compare those changes since I didn’t experience the original story, I can absolutely speak to the version I played. Without beating around the bush, what I experienced was incredibly original especially in how the characters were developed. The work that went into the story and dialogue is simply incredible. My heartfelt congratulations to everyone who contributed, even in the smallest way, to making this game a reality. I’m truly grateful because this game, especially chapter 6, has earned its place on my list of games that made me reflect and cry.
It’s a unique experience, one I hadn’t felt with many other games. Without the intention of making direct comparisons, but rather to recommend this game to other players, I’d say: If you felt something special while playing games like Life is Strange (any of them), Outer Wilds, Red Dead Redemption, A Plague Tale, or The Walking Dead, and you’re chasing that feeling or looking to experience it again, I strongly recommend giving this game a try.
Even though it’s free, it almost doesn’t feel fair to experience something so deeply moving without paying for it. So, if you have the chance, I strongly encourage you to support the creator by paying for the game.
heya, thanks so much for playing and leaving your thoughts. I hope, if you do finish up the story in the older version, that it still holds up. there's definitely a difference in quality that's almost laughable at this point. but, i will say i was getting better by the end of the original story so you're definitely seeing the better half of the original at this point.
chapter 6 was popular in the original and it was definitely a turning point in the story where the story sorta "grew up" in the adult genre rather than just focusing on naughty stuff all the time.
i wanted the game to be free because i wasn't sure how things would turn out. while I guess paying for my "time" is a thing, I had no idea what i was doing so my time didn't really feel like it had much value since I was learning in real time. but i also think there's a lot of greed out there and i wanted to create something that was just based on donation and that was it. i think it makes people take you a bit more serious. plus, there was some important reflection stuff in this and I've gotten thousands of letters over the years from people that were moved by it. there's no reason to have payment be an obstacle to others enjoying that if it will bring them happiness.
and you make some pretty bold comparisons to other games there so i'll definitely say thank you for that. despite the original being much lesser quality, i'm still proud of the journey of it. i hope you enjoy the second half. you got a lot of story left. let me know what you think
Hi!!! I just finished playing the game, and my review remains the same. I believe the game is profoundly moving, without a doubt. The only "bad" thing, though not for me, for you, or for the game, but for every other visual novel out there, is that the bar is now incredibly high for everyone else. This is truly an amazing experience.
Thank you once again for creating this masterpiece 💕
P.S. I played through both routes to see what would happen. I also enjoyed the twist, but my canon ending will always be the Respect route. Additionally, I really admire your decision to make the game accessible to everyone.
bah, somehow i overlooked this follow-up response and I sincerely apologize. thank you so much for coming back after you finished it and i'm glad you enjoyed it-- and both routes and the twists. you made me laugh at feeling bad for other visual novels. I have no doubt others will do as well if not better. there's talented people out there with amazing stories to tell. this was my first attempt so I'm incredibly honored you felt so moved by it and hold it in such high regards. thank you again so much for playing and for just taking time to give such generous feedback. really appreciate this more than you know <3
J’ai d’abord commencé avec le remake, puis ais joué à la version 0.21.
L’histoire est magnifique. Les personnages ont une profondeur que peu de jeux peuvent avoir. Le personnage principal est en remise en question constante, ce qui lui donne un côté humain qui permet de s’identifier à lui. L’histoire est bien ficelée, et on en redemande.
Le côté NSFW quand à lui est bien dosé. Ce n’est pas NSFW juste pour l’être. Non. On assiste vraiment à l’évolution des personnages, à la découverte de tous les sujets pouvant passer dans leurs têtes à ce moment là.
On assiste là à l’histoire d’adolescents qui se découvrent ensemble, et c’est ce qui rend ce jeu magnifique.
Thank you so much for leaving feedback and I'm really glad you enjoyed the project. I really wanted to do something new here and put a different spin on the genre. I think the NSFW stuff means so much more when there's a build-up or an investment in the characters. Also, you're not alone in jumping over to the v021 to finish the story after starting the Remake. Plenty more work to be done on it. Thanks so much for playing <3
I downloaded this game for some quick fap material but was immediately enthralled by the story, I won't lie there's a part in the game where I was on the brink of tears which is something I never expected from a game with smut.
I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for the perfect mix of smut and story-building
looking forward to playing again once the revamped version is complete as well as any future content you guys create. I see a great future for all of you if this is what you can create with a limited budget I can only imagine what you'll achieve with the right kind of support.
hey, thanks so much for playing and glad you enjoyed the story. the original was definitely a work-in-progress but the Revamp is looking pretty. hope you enjoy it when i finally get it done. Also, sorry i almost made you cry with my smutty game :p <3
heya:) thanks so much for stopping by and trying out the project. I'm glad you're enjoying it. So over on the Patreon page I've dropped 2 sets of teasers for the next update. v15 is a ton of image work and i've already broken the Revamp record for images and I still have 3 scenes left to do. Basically there's new environments that needed reworked before i even started doing the images. that being said, there's minimal writing work to do so it's mostly just pics. No ETA right now but i promise I'm working on it. gonna be at least another month I'm guessing. If you wanna see some of the teasers, you can check out my Bluesky account. there's some free ones as well as a small snapshot of the newest teasers I dropped.
So right now, the revamp only goes up to a portion of chapter 7. The entire story is 10 chapters and the chapters pretty much get longer as the story goes. So right now, I'd say the revamp is probably somewhere around halfway through. so that includes all versions of the revamp, PC, MAC, and android.
the original is still all 10 chapters on all platforms. if you didn't want to wait, a lot of people have been starting the revamp and playing until it stops then jumping over to pick up the end of the story on the original but there is a massive quality drop. massive.
otherwise, it's still gonna be awhile. i'm going as fast as i can but i also want quality stuff to the best of my current ability
haha. so i read this and my first instinct was to laugh just because of past fan reactions but, in short, if I did something like that, I would probably end up on one of those cold case murder shows and i'd never be found again, lol.
so the background here (and this will have very minimal spoilers), when i first introduced Mikhail, there was some hate. people already wanted him gone because he was a liability. which honestly played into the beginning parts of his arc-- that not everyone is a bad guy. in fact, one of the primary reasons for the scene in Mikhail's dorm room was to address the hate and drive that point home that it's ok to have allies that happen to be the same gender as your preference. because of the slow-burn of this story, people really quested for the ship of zack and braden and anything that would get between that needed taken out of the equation. At this point, even introducing anything extra would probably blow up in my face and ultimately defeat the purpose of writing this (if you play all the way to the end of the original or wait on the revamp ending, this will hopefully make more sense).
another reason there's only one "romance" route is that choosing the guy you wanted was never the point of this. it was more about addressing the dynamics of relationships and friendships and dealing with those obstacles and sexuality in general. If you've read any background on the story: this is my first attempt at writing something and i'm historically awful at multitasking so i made a very early decision with this story that rather than have multiple romance routes with like 5 different guys that may be half-way fleshed out-- i elected to write one story (with 2 different perspective routes in it) and hopefully flesh that one route out more than most people would have expected. so basically do one right rather than half-ass five of them. it also takes coding experience to juggle multiple routes and i had no idea what i was doing. I quite literally googled every line of code until i got the hang of it.
so odds are i wont add any additional routes.i dont wanna mess it up :p
i was hoping i wouldn't come off offensive or just disregarding your suggestion. legit the community would eat me alive. every time i introduced a new supporting character like half the people started barking at them. every supporting character in this story legit has to defend why they're allowed in the room just so the community wouldn't destroy them :p
If it makes you feel any better, every character is not perfect and may not be everyone's type, so they start arguing either way. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference. Every creator goes through this every day, if not most, but there are people who like them, too.
oh, for sure. i haven't heard any serious criticism of the characters in a long time. much of this was probably years ago or so. i really tried to justify the use of each character in the story
I can wait to finally play the whole game revamped. I played the legacy version up until the form fire chapter but stopped when I learned about the revamped.
the revamp quality is incredible compared to the older version--especially since you played through the first part of the older version. I'm really proud at the additions and it's really let me relive things all over again with adding in the music and sound effects and *gasp* other students at the college! lmao.
without going into too many details for spoilers, you still had quite a bit left. i feel like every chapter gets progressively longer than the previous one. well, i hope you enjoy it when i finally get this damned thing done :)
sorry if you thought there was a wait. i thought i'd been cranking these updates out super fast considering the amount of work involved. it's been around every 2 months right now which is way faster than the original where i had to outline the story plus write every update from scratch. i try my best but i'm sorry to say it's not going to get any faster or the project will suffer, i'm already on this 7 days a week. hope you enjoy though
Oh gotcha. well hope you enjoy. the newer versions are slightly more compressed so hopefully it won't be as much of a download even though there's more content. thanks for reading :)
One of the best Adult games i have played. Great graphics even in the Rough Draft and the story literally had me feeling the emotions as well! i laughed, got shocked, angry, cried, got turned on and so on. Definitely an amazing piece of work!
Hey, thank you so much. glad it ran you through all the feels. i really wanted something that pulled people in and made the characters feel real. i think you need that for the emotional scenes to work. i know it's a very niche story but thanks so much for giving it a shot. if you haven't checked out the Revamped version, though, I definitely recommend it. It's pretty established now and is waaaaaay better. (also, your screen name cracked me up :p). all the best and stay safe out there <3
I only use the public version of Str8 Revamp and can tell: This is one of the most BEST erotic visual novel i ever read!
I love the story, the characters and was nearly cry in the last scene in the public version, where Zack and Braden talks openly. This never happened in another erotic visual novel to me.
Maybe in future i will be able to give a one-time support in patreon. This deserves it.
heya, thanks a lot. glad you're enjoying the story. Just so you know the public version is the same as the Patreon version. I just release early on Patreon for donations then 3 weeks later drop it free on Patreon as well as here. people have been generous with support and I've always wanted the project to be free. I'm honored you think it's one of the best you've read. i know i did something a bit different here and tried to interject a lot more heart into an erotic game and rather than the erotic stuff being the primary purpose of the project-- it's more of a compliment to the content and the story rather than just jumping from one slutty scene to the next. that stuff gets boring to me. in terms of support, take your time. like i said, the game is free for a reason so please take care of yourself and those you love first before you chip in money to my project. that being said, if you do get into a position to toss in monetary support, I'd honestly recommend doing it on Patreon first: over there the support will unlock extra stuff like picture sets and things like that. Over here, there's nothing to unlock. If you're not interested in the extra stuff: either one works. But again: please don't feel pressured. The first part of Chapter 7 will be dropping over here on 12/10 for free so you don't have too long of a wait. thank you so much for reading and just letting me know you're enjoying it. seriously appreciate it. be safe and all the best <3
I am very patient and can wait for the revamp version to be updated one day at same story stage to the original one. Since i was started with the revamp one, the older version is too difference how to read the story for me. I was take a look inside it, but nah... to tell the truth, revamp is much more better.
And i am not interrested into bonus pictures, i would only support you with an one-time donation. Where this will be, i will choose it then. Already followed you on Patreon as "Free Member".
My most favourite char in your story is Mikhail, because he fits 100% my taste into the guys. Heh.
And your "add more heart into an erotic game" is exactly, what made this visual novel one of the best in my eyes. Because there IS a story. I love to see male x male sex scenes, but if its only be a mindless story behind it, its bored me to the hell. Many of those visual novels i would never touch again and already throw away from my folder on the PC.
Your game is always inside the folder, since revamp part I. After read it this weekend again (didnt read the part II before), i was wanted to leave a comment, for this lovely work.
oh for sure, the Revamp is insanely better. i do think the original starts to get better around chapter 5 or 6 when i started to just write how i wanted to. the revamp is also way more cinematic with the camera shots-- we only see that at the end of the original. plus, i think the sound and music really adds to the vibe. i'm with you on the "heart" thing, i think the slow burn makes things matter. gives you time to get attached, frustrated, and feel things along with the characters
thank you so much. i don't even know what the final version clocks in at... i was thinking around 15 hours or so. may have to ask the community that one. glad you enjoyed it, though, and thank you so much for playing and letting me know you liked it
Only a few games have such depth and are at such a high level in terms of plot. In the game, you meet biochatters who look like real ones, not the created creations written on paper in some high-budget games. Here, the plot slowly develops, and with it the characters. The main character sometimes acts in an illogical and sometimes inconsistent way, which only works to the advantage of the story. When it comes to feelings, people can behave irresponsibly or chaotic. If you need the help of a translator to translate the text from English to Polish. Or help with the plot, to give some suggestions, I will be happy to help, although I think you are much better at creating stories and characters. PS. I haven't quite finished the game, but I don't mind the length of this title, I think that's a plus. PS.2. Thank you for taking the time to write back and respond, working on projects can take a lot of time.
thank you so much. i'm glad you appreciated the slow burn and sometimes inconsistent take on this. I wanted complicated characters for this story that started out fairly superficial because i feel like that's what people expect in these types of games. irl we learn more about people through conversation, behaviors, or their opinions on things and that's really what's showcased here. i wanted more of a story that unfolded through dialogue than i did something with a ton of action or complicated choices
I downloaded this game Saturday morning (the revamp, then the rough version), at first for the NSFW part, but... wow ! I just kept playing for the whole day, barely finding time to eat, and I finished it on Sunday night.
Like both characters, I've asked myself a lot of questions when I was younger. I'm now a 40 year-old man, I've been with my boyfriend for 14 years, and this game made my realize how lucky I am today, and how much I love him.
This game left me with the same feeling I've had finishing great books or great TV series : I just don't want the characters to leave, and I feel I need to know more about them. Looking back on the first pictures of Braden moving in, I already feel nostalgic !Straight!? was truely a very personnal experience, and I think leaving this comment is for me a way of finding closure after finishing it.
If I had improvements to suggests, I would say :
1. not being a native English speaker, some dialogues were long and tiring to read. Maybe, in some scenes were all the dialogue isn't necessary to the plot, you could offer the "Nothing else" option a little more often, in order for us to skip not so relevant parts.
2. another solution would be to have translations, but I've read in other comments it's a option that has been considered
3. I love the fact that not everything is perfectly smooth, and for instance I love Braden's design, with a very realistic body. In the last NSFW scene, the fact that everything doesn't go as planned, and the "checking on your phone" part was really funny. However I was frustrated at the end of the game not seeing this scene going well : I think it could really be a climax of their relationship (how distressing it is the first time you ARE ready but still fear how it's going to happen) and I felt something was missing to fully end their story. Unlike other comments, I don't want to see a sequel because I like to think the characters are going to live their lives on their own, in this imaginary world we all build differently in our head, but I feel a last NSFW scene would "help" me in knowing they are on the right track and that they will enjoy themselves.
That being said, it is one of the most moving game I have ever played (reminded me of "That dragon cancer" or "Firewatch" in some sense) and, I'll just wait for the full revamp version to play the game again. Really, you did (and are still doing !) a great job, keep it like that !
Heya, thank you for the well written note and I'm stoked that it impacted you in such a way as to give you a new perspective and renew some love for your bf. Also, congratulations on 14 years. that's a pretty long time and should be respected and i hope it continues to grow for you both.
in terms of your suggestions: yes, i plan on translations eventually but i think it will be difficult just because i apparently write with sooooo much slang. i never really expected non-english speakers to even get through it originally so it's been incredibly rewarding to hear that people are motivated enough by the project to wade through this thing, lol. I do plan on trying to work with people on the discord to get it as accurate as possible but we'll see. languages are complex and inconsistent obviously so who knows how that translation will turn out.
i see what you're saying with dialogue and maybe that's something i could add. there's a few spots in the later parts of the game where i did that. i just very much see all the random stuff that seems less important as still being character development or giving you background that may come into play later. when i sit down and read books, i usually like massive ones with a ton of details. but i also think that conversation is how relationships naturally evolve so i really focused on a lot of dialogue that spans everything from serious to existential to anger to teasing the crap out of each other. I definitely think it's a lot for a non-native English speaker to struggle with 'cause i get really wordy sometimes :p
things like that may come after the revamp project is completely finished where i may be able to go back and just do some touch-up updates and stuff :)
Hi Aaryn, it's the first time I'm writing to you. I read your "Water Fix Image Pack" on the patreon page. I 've made it. I use a PC and downloaded the zip file and overwritten the pool images. And then I've tested the 0.13 version from the beginning..cause i really love your job. Just to inform you that everything went fine. I've tried all the different paths and choices and never get an error or missing alert from the renpy IDE. I tried to write on patreon without success, so I hope I'm not breaking any rule writing you here. Thanx for showing me exactly how i see the love between two people. thank you veeery much. I appreciate your work. Can't wait for your next updates.
heya, well thank you for reaching out first off. and yes it's absolutely fine to post here. i'm not sure why you were unable to post on patreon. that should have been a free public post where anyone could reply so sorry you had that experience but here is certainly fine :)
but thank you so much for running through stuff and testing it. it seriously does help me out and save me time while i'm working on all the future stuff. all of those new image updates will be including in the next update too. It's coming soon. i promise. little more work than i expected but i'm on it
appreciate you and appreciate the support and follow <3
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Hiya, I'm sorry if I sound mean, please correct me if I do, but will there be a new release to the public anytime soon?
heya:) no worries. So yes: I actually just released the newest update on Patreon and SubscribeStar yesterday so 3 weeks it’ll drop here free. That’ll be March 21.
It’s been awhile on an update but this next part needed a ton of work. Lots of new environments and I took some extra time to really spice it up. So far the early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive including from those that played the original. This one just hits way better now. I worked my ass off on this one and I really do think the extra time was worth it.
So just a bit longer but it is finished and released.
Thank you for the reply! That's so exciting! Thank you for releasing this game for free.
When I played it, I thought it was gonna be the same as the other games, but in the end I sobbed like a baby which I had never done before.
So again, thank you so much!
aww, well thank you so much for playing and thanks for being interested in the project. the update i just dropped yesterday is part 2 of 3 for chapter 7 in the revamp. these chapters progressively get longer
Wow, im fairly new to these types of games so i was expecting the typical smutty vibes these games give and got an amazing story with characters i fell in love with. How you made me love Ash by the middle was amazing. Oh and the Ernie sitch?! Bravo. Not sure if youre planning a sequel after the revamp but i really hope you are. Thanks for the amazing story😭
i started this game wanting some steamy gay smut but i came across a masterpiece. i hope the creator will see this comment as a motivation to keep going. this shi really got me in my feels i love the characters so much 🥹❤️‼️‼️
heya. thank you so much for checking in. i always like these messages on here where someone was expecting some smut game then gets caught up in the story. really glad you're enjoying it. and don't worry, i'm not going anywhere. full steam ahead <3
I completed this game in like October, but I just wanted to come back and say this game is so mfing good 😭
haha, well welcome back and thanks for thinking of me again and stopping by to let me know you enjoyed it. Not sure if you played the revamp at all but if you haven't and ever feel like running back through it again, i promise it's a massive upgrade. thanks so much for reading <3
btw your discord server invite is invalid, is it possible to update it so i can join in :)
these discord links are weird. I'll paste it here and see if copying it will work. some people occasionally get an invalid message but others join without a problem. it's been the same link for a few years now. try pasting it.
https://discord.com/invite/qAG3qek
there should be an option to make it not expire
. if not idek, discord been driving me nuts lately
Just made some adjustments to the server. it's still the same link but if you wanna try again, i'm curious if it'll work. i get someone every once in awhile that can't join for some reason but it seems to work for everyone else
I finally got it working, discord was being silly buggers.
i love the big story, couple of times i was near crying to full on balling down, the love story between Zack and Braden was cute and it shows many challenging things they faced and try to fix any issues involving with themselves and their friends. keep working hard Aaryn i cant wait for the next update to come out
hey thank you so much for playing and for taking the time to let you know it got you in the feels :) don't worry, i'm not going anywhere. i'm finishing up the tail end of the next update now so hopefully we'll see the next 1/3 of chapter 7 in the revamp very soon. thanks again. really appreciate it <3
{SPOILER WARNING}
i cant wait, keep up a good work, would like to see what happens with Max (or known as Ash) in military and what happened with Makhail, love your work, i enjoy the story as it is something i can relate to minus the boyfriend part haha
heya, thanks a lot. you may wanna post a spoiler warning in your reply though so you don't ruin things. lot of people check the comments down here before even downloading
my mistake i thought i did, i must of been excited about it haha
its been a long time...when will update?
Heya, so the short answer is I'm hoping this month but depending it could be early next month.
longer more detailed answer: so without mentioning spoilers, this next update has 4 new locations we haven't seen in the revamp. After looking at those sets from the original game, they needed work. In the grand scheme of the revamp, updates have been much quicker than the original game because i didn't have to do any writing-- just polish what was there or reorganize it. the last few updates have had almost zero writing stuff but polish. but most of the locations we see in the game are gradually visited as the updates go-- allowing me to slowly work on them over time. this update is the exception because it drops 4 new places into one update. there was a ton of work there. i've rebuilt some of them, completely relit them, and done some texture updates. that turned out to be a lot. Then, compared to the original, the number of CGs was easily tripled. Right now I have over 600 in this update along when most updates have had around 300ish. It's just a really graphic intense update. that being said, I'm on the last scene now and I wanna get it out there. I still have coding, music, testing, then editing and stuff.
if you're curious and you want to see some of the work, I've posted stuff on my bsky account. more teasers than usual to try and compensate for the extra time so people know that I'm actually working on this thing.
[Teasers are kinda spoilery though so heads up]
https://bsky.app/profile/aarynstr8.bsky.social
thanks！good luck！
oh my God... this game is seriously a slap in the face in both wishes and reality. I have played multiple games on this format, yet, this one has been severely my fav so far. This game makes you transport literally to feel what Zach is feeling and how raw it is on how he describe his feeling on the process of self acceptance. All that I would like is for either a sequel or at least some side characters stories, especially Braden's P.O.V. and how it lead to that conclusion in the end. I know I'm way out of line asking for these things but truly, this game is really top notch and will let you desire for more. <3 loved every minute of it. Lot's of thanks for this game.
heya, thanks so much for playing and letting me know you enjoyed it. actually my original idea when i finished was to unlock a braden route then drop you back at the beginning to play it all through from his perspective but i ended up scrapping that. i felt like zack's headspace was more my style of writing and i wasn't sure how I'd juggle braden narrating and try to keep my overly dramatic writing style under control (braden struggles with school stuff so i couldn't really see him writing lengthy dramatic sentences and i honestly enjoy that nonsense). the other aspect of braden-- and i wont go into detail here because of spoilers-- but braden's arc and how he feels was very different to a lot of people and i thought that was awesome. people were able to mold braden to fit both him and their own vision of his feelings and the more i thought about it, me writing his route would take that from them so i scrapped it. braden's character imo was way more powerful with the mystery and ambiguous narrative that i thought i could ever write him.
but yeah, thank so much for playing and just taking time to leave a comment and stuff here. i really appreciate the interest and i'm just happy you enjoyed it :)
I'm dying for this game. thanks for making my world beautiful.
awww, well thank you so much for reading. i get a lot of my energy from the community so hopefully we make that world beautiful together :)
Hi Aaryn, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for Straight!? because, for me, it was much more than just a graphic novel. Zack and Braden’s story deeply resonated with me—not just because of the beauty of their connection, but also because of how you portrayed ambiguity, insecurities, and the complexity of emotions.Their journey felt authentic, sincere, almost dangerously real. Reading it led me to a deep introspection, making me reflect on expectations, on signals we perceive or misinterpret, and on what it truly means to want someone who isn’t ready to give you a clear answer.The ending left me hanging, but perhaps that’s its strength—life doesn’t always offer clear resolutions. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if Zack should have applied a kind of “strategic evaporation” (as I’ve started calling it in my post-reading reflections) to protect himself from being trapped in limbo.If you ever consider a sequel, I would absolutely love to see it. Especially to explore Braden’s side of the story—how things might have evolved if the final chapter hadn’t included the author’s intervention and had instead left Zack alone at the station, with no message to guide him. Would there still be a way for a reconnection? Could their story continue from that moment?Honestly, all the characters you created are so well-drawn that they would each deserve their own spin-off. There’s so much potential in this world you’ve built, and I’d love to see where you could take it next.
Thanks again for sharing this story.
Best,
ubez
heya, thanks for reading. i wont comment too much about the ending here because i dont want to spoil things for people. i know a lot of people check the comments down here before they even start to play but there's definitely a lot of though put into the ending and the entire story. I know a lot of people have asked for a sequel and we'll see. i take things like that seriously because i sorta view myself as a gatekeeper for the characters and i dont want to run the story into the ground. i am definitely not opposed to spin-offs though. a lot of the side characters are just fun and i'm open to continuing or doing side projects with them if the moment is right. thanks so much for reading and posting. i really appreciate the energy and thanks for taking my little project seriously <3
Hey Arin,
thank you so much for your reply! I apologize if my comment might have revealed too much or spoiled parts of the story. I was completely immersed in the beauty of the narrative, and maybe I got carried away by my excitement!
I just wanted to say again how much I appreciated Straight?!. It’s clear that every detail was crafted with great care, and the fact that you see yourself as the guardian of these characters shows how much you value their authenticity.
I completely understand your cautious approach to a possible sequel, and it’s actually reassuring to know that if there ever is one, it will be created with the same thoughtfulness and respect for the original story. The idea of spin-offs focusing on side characters is also very intriguing! There are so many interesting figures in the Straight?! universe, and it would be fun to see them explored in new stories.
But come on, really, think about it! You’ve left us completely in love with this story and these characters. We are obsessed with this world, and a sequel would be a dream come true! <3
Thank you again for sharing this project and for taking the time to reply! It has been such an emotional and meaningful journey. <3
haha, yeaaaaaah... i know a lot of people want that sequel or even the spin-off-- especially for one character in particular. i do think if i do something like that i'll be excited to announce it and i'm hoping that people would get amped up knowing that i plan on doing them justice. but we'll see. i do take this thing serious and there's still a billion things i need to learn about all this stuff. the revamp is very much growing with the visuals and I'm really trying to challenge myself there to do new and creative things-- many of which could be applicable to other projects but we'll see. i'm terrible at making plans. i sorta just sit down and roll with this stuff, i guess. i like the world and the characters and i dont want to be spoiled either so i really just try not to look too far down the road :)
seriously appreciate your excitement and energy, though. means the world to me to see people enjoy this thing. it was a friggen acciden that i even did it to start with
I'm somewhat struggling with words here, but my god this story?! I downloaded yesterday and have done nothing but play through, have just finished and i'm in tears. This is NOT what I expected, I just wanted some cute gay smut not to be emotionally ripped apart and put back together.
Soo many themes in this relate to my own experiences, and to have them presented in such a well thought out, beautiful way is beyond anything I could have imagined. This was very therapeutic, story telling at its finest. This is what Art is about. Aaryn you are a genius, thank you for this.
wow, thank you so much. you're very kind and i really appreciate you taking the time to post about your experience. i'm grateful you found value in it and saw it as therapeutic. i tried hard to weave that into the story and have something that felt realistic and genuine. sorry about all the feels-- apparently, i like emotional stories and i didn't know. but genius? haha... nah, i'm just some internet dude tinkering around.
I know you're busy with the revamp and I just want to say I am so thankful and also proud of this work. It helped me discover things about myself that I never knew. But, IFF it is in your best interest, a part 2 sequel to this game would be amazing!!! I am obsessed with everything about this game and can not think of anything that can come close. Relationships are actually built, it doesn't feel like some rushed through dating sim, it is SO immersive. Thank you for all that you do .
From the slow burn to the plot twist, I can confidently say that this is one of the best visual novels I've ever read.
aww. thanks so much. this is very kind and sweet. i'm honored you'd think that it's one of the best and i'm really grateful that you enjoyed the slow burn approach. i know it's not for everyone but i agree with you and think that it helps pull me into the world more and just generally creates more investment. we'll see on the sequel. i know a lot of people want more but i want to be careful with that. there's a lot of people that have trusted me with these characters and i want to take that role seriously
Of course!! Thank you for taking your time to write this out !! I wish nothing but the best for you
oh anytime. thank you for playing and just taking time out of your day to post your thoughts. it really does mean a lot to me. i wish you the best as well. take care of yourself-- things are friggen crazy
hey aryn when you’re done with the revamp of straight with they a sequel to the game I really hope there will be. I love this game so much. And will we finally see Zack and Brayden have sex lol in the revamp please I’m begging you 🤣🤣🤣
hey thanks a lot and your screen name made me laugh. no plans for a sequel right now but i'm open to it if i think i can do better than the first time. i just reawlly wanna be careful with these characters and not run the story into the ground but we'll see
One of the best visual novels you will ever play! It has a story that will tug at your heart strings.
aww. thank you so much. i sincerely appreciate this. thanks for taking the time to recommend it and thanks for reading <3
ahh... Zack is so fucking hot.. <3 why is he so handsome?
agree with you girl :) He is a real hunk! mmm..
I need to thanks my roommate for recommending me this game xd she playing only gay avns
I'm also playing mostly gay avns. In FMC games there is too many forced girl-girl stuff, and males there are often assholes, they are really unlikeable
I like this game and Zack is great!
#TeamZack! Maybe dev could clone him? 😍
yall, zack fans coming in hot lately. i like the zack luv <3
hey, y'all team zack peeps were cute so i made you something as a warm-up today
I loved every second of this game.
First off, huge congratulations on such a beautiful game! The story is so captivating, it pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading non-stop. And the quality of the 3D renders/sprites is amazing. I checked out both the draft and the revamp, and honestly, even the draft has incredible quality.
I started with the revamp, but I couldn’t wait, so I switched to the draft because I just had to keep following the story. The character development, how everyone deals with their own challenges, and just the whole vibe of the game really blew me away.
This game went way beyond what I expected. I totally agree that stories like this benefit from having explicit/NSFW elements, it really helps express the story and character development better. A lot of the time, these things get left out, but they actually make the story feel deeper, not just for shock value, but because they make it more real. It’s like you’re reading something that could’ve actually happened to someone, with all the messy, raw details included. Honestly, I think more stories should do this. I’m pretty sure I’ll be revisiting this one again soon.
One thing I’d love to suggest is adding more languages to the story, besides English. I get that it’s not realistic to translate the whole script into every language overnight lol, that’d be a massive task, but having options would make it easier for non-native English speakers to enjoy the story fully. Like for me, I’m a Spanish speaker, and while I was able to follow the story in English, I know I’d enjoy it even more in my own language. Just throwing the idea out there! I saw something about this on Discord a while ago, and if you ever consider it, I’d be happy to volunteer to help :)
To wrap it up, congratulations again on such an amazing game/story. When I get the chance, I’ll definitely be supporting this project financially!
This game is truly amazing. I loved it. I played the Revamp version, reached the "To be continued", and, of course, I couldn’t wait. I’m already in the process of downloading the full story version. But I didn’t want to miss the chance to share a few words and express how much this game, specifically chapters 5, 6, and 7, impacted me.
I found it profoundly moving. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started playing, as I had read some comments before downloading it, but it far exceeded my expectations. From what I understand, the Revamp version includes improvements that go beyond graphics. While I can’t compare those changes since I didn’t experience the original story, I can absolutely speak to the version I played. Without beating around the bush, what I experienced was incredibly original especially in how the characters were developed. The work that went into the story and dialogue is simply incredible. My heartfelt congratulations to everyone who contributed, even in the smallest way, to making this game a reality. I’m truly grateful because this game, especially chapter 6, has earned its place on my list of games that made me reflect and cry.
It’s a unique experience, one I hadn’t felt with many other games. Without the intention of making direct comparisons, but rather to recommend this game to other players, I’d say: If you felt something special while playing games like Life is Strange (any of them), Outer Wilds, Red Dead Redemption, A Plague Tale, or The Walking Dead, and you’re chasing that feeling or looking to experience it again, I strongly recommend giving this game a try.
Even though it’s free, it almost doesn’t feel fair to experience something so deeply moving without paying for it. So, if you have the chance, I strongly encourage you to support the creator by paying for the game.
Thanks again. 💕
heya, thanks so much for playing and leaving your thoughts. I hope, if you do finish up the story in the older version, that it still holds up. there's definitely a difference in quality that's almost laughable at this point. but, i will say i was getting better by the end of the original story so you're definitely seeing the better half of the original at this point.
chapter 6 was popular in the original and it was definitely a turning point in the story where the story sorta "grew up" in the adult genre rather than just focusing on naughty stuff all the time.
i wanted the game to be free because i wasn't sure how things would turn out. while I guess paying for my "time" is a thing, I had no idea what i was doing so my time didn't really feel like it had much value since I was learning in real time. but i also think there's a lot of greed out there and i wanted to create something that was just based on donation and that was it. i think it makes people take you a bit more serious. plus, there was some important reflection stuff in this and I've gotten thousands of letters over the years from people that were moved by it. there's no reason to have payment be an obstacle to others enjoying that if it will bring them happiness.
and you make some pretty bold comparisons to other games there so i'll definitely say thank you for that. despite the original being much lesser quality, i'm still proud of the journey of it. i hope you enjoy the second half. you got a lot of story left. let me know what you think
Hi!!! I just finished playing the game, and my review remains the same. I believe the game is profoundly moving, without a doubt.
The only "bad" thing, though not for me, for you, or for the game, but for every other visual novel out there, is that the bar is now incredibly high for everyone else. This is truly an amazing experience.
Thank you once again for creating this masterpiece 💕
P.S. I played through both routes to see what would happen. I also enjoyed the twist, but my canon ending will always be the Respect route. Additionally, I really admire your decision to make the game accessible to everyone.
bah, somehow i overlooked this follow-up response and I sincerely apologize. thank you so much for coming back after you finished it and i'm glad you enjoyed it-- and both routes and the twists. you made me laugh at feeling bad for other visual novels. I have no doubt others will do as well if not better. there's talented people out there with amazing stories to tell. this was my first attempt so I'm incredibly honored you felt so moved by it and hold it in such high regards. thank you again so much for playing and for just taking time to give such generous feedback. really appreciate this more than you know <3
C’est un jeu magnifique.
J’ai d’abord commencé avec le remake, puis ais joué à la version 0.21.
L’histoire est magnifique. Les personnages ont une profondeur que peu de jeux peuvent avoir. Le personnage principal est en remise en question constante, ce qui lui donne un côté humain qui permet de s’identifier à lui. L’histoire est bien ficelée, et on en redemande.
Le côté NSFW quand à lui est bien dosé. Ce n’est pas NSFW juste pour l’être. Non. On assiste vraiment à l’évolution des personnages, à la découverte de tous les sujets pouvant passer dans leurs têtes à ce moment là.
On assiste là à l’histoire d’adolescents qui se découvrent ensemble, et c’est ce qui rend ce jeu magnifique.
Vivement la suite du remake
Thank you so much for leaving feedback and I'm really glad you enjoyed the project. I really wanted to do something new here and put a different spin on the genre. I think the NSFW stuff means so much more when there's a build-up or an investment in the characters. Also, you're not alone in jumping over to the v021 to finish the story after starting the Remake. Plenty more work to be done on it. Thanks so much for playing <3
I loved this game.
I downloaded this game for some quick fap material but was immediately enthralled by the story, I won't lie there's a part in the game where I was on the brink of tears which is something I never expected from a game with smut.
I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for the perfect mix of smut and story-building
looking forward to playing again once the revamped version is complete as well as any future content you guys create. I see a great future for all of you if this is what you can create with a limited budget I can only imagine what you'll achieve with the right kind of support.
- Sargon
hey, thanks so much for playing and glad you enjoyed the story. the original was definitely a work-in-progress but the Revamp is looking pretty. hope you enjoy it when i finally get it done. Also, sorry i almost made you cry with my smutty game :p <3
Hi, I really like your work, do you already have a date for when an update will be released?
heya:) thanks so much for stopping by and trying out the project. I'm glad you're enjoying it. So over on the Patreon page I've dropped 2 sets of teasers for the next update. v15 is a ton of image work and i've already broken the Revamp record for images and I still have 3 scenes left to do. Basically there's new environments that needed reworked before i even started doing the images. that being said, there's minimal writing work to do so it's mostly just pics. No ETA right now but i promise I'm working on it. gonna be at least another month I'm guessing. If you wanna see some of the teasers, you can check out my Bluesky account. there's some free ones as well as a small snapshot of the newest teasers I dropped.
https://bsky.app/profile/aarynstr8.bsky.social
Is the game complete for Android? like, the revamped version? I don't mind paying, I just want to know if it's out there.
heya :)
So right now, the revamp only goes up to a portion of chapter 7. The entire story is 10 chapters and the chapters pretty much get longer as the story goes. So right now, I'd say the revamp is probably somewhere around halfway through. so that includes all versions of the revamp, PC, MAC, and android.
the original is still all 10 chapters on all platforms. if you didn't want to wait, a lot of people have been starting the revamp and playing until it stops then jumping over to pick up the end of the story on the original but there is a massive quality drop. massive.
otherwise, it's still gonna be awhile. i'm going as fast as i can but i also want quality stuff to the best of my current ability
I don't know if you're into this, but is there any possibility of adding daddies you can romance, maybe some teachers?
haha. so i read this and my first instinct was to laugh just because of past fan reactions but, in short, if I did something like that, I would probably end up on one of those cold case murder shows and i'd never be found again, lol.
so the background here (and this will have very minimal spoilers), when i first introduced Mikhail, there was some hate. people already wanted him gone because he was a liability. which honestly played into the beginning parts of his arc-- that not everyone is a bad guy. in fact, one of the primary reasons for the scene in Mikhail's dorm room was to address the hate and drive that point home that it's ok to have allies that happen to be the same gender as your preference. because of the slow-burn of this story, people really quested for the ship of zack and braden and anything that would get between that needed taken out of the equation. At this point, even introducing anything extra would probably blow up in my face and ultimately defeat the purpose of writing this (if you play all the way to the end of the original or wait on the revamp ending, this will hopefully make more sense).
another reason there's only one "romance" route is that choosing the guy you wanted was never the point of this. it was more about addressing the dynamics of relationships and friendships and dealing with those obstacles and sexuality in general. If you've read any background on the story: this is my first attempt at writing something and i'm historically awful at multitasking so i made a very early decision with this story that rather than have multiple romance routes with like 5 different guys that may be half-way fleshed out-- i elected to write one story (with 2 different perspective routes in it) and hopefully flesh that one route out more than most people would have expected. so basically do one right rather than half-ass five of them. it also takes coding experience to juggle multiple routes and i had no idea what i was doing. I quite literally googled every line of code until i got the hang of it.
so odds are i wont add any additional routes.i dont wanna mess it up :p
I completely understand
i was hoping i wouldn't come off offensive or just disregarding your suggestion. legit the community would eat me alive. every time i introduced a new supporting character like half the people started barking at them. every supporting character in this story legit has to defend why they're allowed in the room just so the community wouldn't destroy them :p
If it makes you feel any better, every character is not perfect and may not be everyone's type, so they start arguing either way. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference. Every creator goes through this every day, if not most, but there are people who like them, too.
oh, for sure. i haven't heard any serious criticism of the characters in a long time. much of this was probably years ago or so. i really tried to justify the use of each character in the story
I can wait to finally play the whole game revamped. I played the legacy version up until the form fire chapter but stopped when I learned about the revamped.
the revamp quality is incredible compared to the older version--especially since you played through the first part of the older version. I'm really proud at the additions and it's really let me relive things all over again with adding in the music and sound effects and *gasp* other students at the college! lmao.
without going into too many details for spoilers, you still had quite a bit left. i feel like every chapter gets progressively longer than the previous one. well, i hope you enjoy it when i finally get this damned thing done :)
❤️❤️❤️
finally it updated
sorry if you thought there was a wait. i thought i'd been cranking these updates out super fast considering the amount of work involved. it's been around every 2 months right now which is way faster than the original where i had to outline the story plus write every update from scratch. i try my best but i'm sorry to say it's not going to get any faster or the project will suffer, i'm already on this 7 days a week. hope you enjoy though
nah its fine its just that it updated the minute after i installed it so i got pissed when i saw lmao
Oh gotcha. well hope you enjoy. the newer versions are slightly more compressed so hopefully it won't be as much of a download even though there's more content. thanks for reading :)
One of the best Adult games i have played. Great graphics even in the Rough Draft and the story literally had me feeling the emotions as well! i laughed, got shocked, angry, cried, got turned on and so on. Definitely an amazing piece of work!
Hey, thank you so much. glad it ran you through all the feels. i really wanted something that pulled people in and made the characters feel real. i think you need that for the emotional scenes to work. i know it's a very niche story but thanks so much for giving it a shot. if you haven't checked out the Revamped version, though, I definitely recommend it. It's pretty established now and is waaaaaay better. (also, your screen name cracked me up :p). all the best and stay safe out there <3
I thimnk amazing persson. xd
Heya. thank you so much. i'm glad you like the project and are enjoying it. thanks for playing <3
I only use the public version of Str8 Revamp and can tell:
This is one of the most BEST erotic visual novel i ever read!
I love the story, the characters and was nearly cry in the last scene in the public version, where Zack and Braden talks openly. This never happened in another erotic visual novel to me.
Maybe in future i will be able to give a one-time support in patreon. This deserves it.
heya, thanks a lot. glad you're enjoying the story. Just so you know the public version is the same as the Patreon version. I just release early on Patreon for donations then 3 weeks later drop it free on Patreon as well as here. people have been generous with support and I've always wanted the project to be free. I'm honored you think it's one of the best you've read. i know i did something a bit different here and tried to interject a lot more heart into an erotic game and rather than the erotic stuff being the primary purpose of the project-- it's more of a compliment to the content and the story rather than just jumping from one slutty scene to the next. that stuff gets boring to me. in terms of support, take your time. like i said, the game is free for a reason so please take care of yourself and those you love first before you chip in money to my project. that being said, if you do get into a position to toss in monetary support, I'd honestly recommend doing it on Patreon first: over there the support will unlock extra stuff like picture sets and things like that. Over here, there's nothing to unlock. If you're not interested in the extra stuff: either one works. But again: please don't feel pressured. The first part of Chapter 7 will be dropping over here on 12/10 for free so you don't have too long of a wait. thank you so much for reading and just letting me know you're enjoying it. seriously appreciate it. be safe and all the best <3
I am very patient and can wait for the revamp version to be updated one day at same story stage to the original one. Since i was started with the revamp one, the older version is too difference how to read the story for me. I was take a look inside it, but nah... to tell the truth, revamp is much more better.
And i am not interrested into bonus pictures, i would only support you with an one-time donation. Where this will be, i will choose it then. Already followed you on Patreon as "Free Member".
My most favourite char in your story is Mikhail, because he fits 100% my taste into the guys. Heh.
And your "add more heart into an erotic game" is exactly, what made this visual novel one of the best in my eyes. Because there IS a story. I love to see male x male sex scenes, but if its only be a mindless story behind it, its bored me to the hell. Many of those visual novels i would never touch again and already throw away from my folder on the PC.
Your game is always inside the folder, since revamp part I.
After read it this weekend again (didnt read the part II before), i was wanted to leave a comment, for this lovely work.
oh for sure, the Revamp is insanely better. i do think the original starts to get better around chapter 5 or 6 when i started to just write how i wanted to. the revamp is also way more cinematic with the camera shots-- we only see that at the end of the original. plus, i think the sound and music really adds to the vibe. i'm with you on the "heart" thing, i think the slow burn makes things matter. gives you time to get attached, frustrated, and feel things along with the characters
Good long game. thx
thank you so much. i don't even know what the final version clocks in at... i was thinking around 15 hours or so. may have to ask the community that one. glad you enjoyed it, though, and thank you so much for playing and letting me know you liked it
Only a few games have such depth and are at such a high level in terms of plot. In the game, you meet biochatters who look like real ones, not the created creations written on paper in some high-budget games. Here, the plot slowly develops, and with it the characters. The main character sometimes acts in an illogical and sometimes inconsistent way, which only works to the advantage of the story. When it comes to feelings, people can behave irresponsibly or chaotic. If you need the help of a translator to translate the text from English to Polish. Or help with the plot, to give some suggestions, I will be happy to help, although I think you are much better at creating stories and characters. PS. I haven't quite finished the game, but I don't mind the length of this title, I think that's a plus. PS.2. Thank you for taking the time to write back and respond, working on projects can take a lot of time.
thank you so much. i'm glad you appreciated the slow burn and sometimes inconsistent take on this. I wanted complicated characters for this story that started out fairly superficial because i feel like that's what people expect in these types of games. irl we learn more about people through conversation, behaviors, or their opinions on things and that's really what's showcased here. i wanted more of a story that unfolded through dialogue than i did something with a ton of action or complicated choices
And it turned out better than good for you.
🙏
I started this because there was a cute twink, but I actually got invested. It really caught me off guard.
glad it hooked ya. i really appreciate you giving it a chance :)
I downloaded this game Saturday morning (the revamp, then the rough version), at first for the NSFW part, but... wow ! I just kept playing for the whole day, barely finding time to eat, and I finished it on Sunday night.
Like both characters, I've asked myself a lot of questions when I was younger. I'm now a 40 year-old man, I've been with my boyfriend for 14 years, and this game made my realize how lucky I am today, and how much I love him.
This game left me with the same feeling I've had finishing great books or great TV series : I just don't want the characters to leave, and I feel I need to know more about them. Looking back on the first pictures of Braden moving in, I already feel nostalgic !Straight!? was truely a very personnal experience, and I think leaving this comment is for me a way of finding closure after finishing it.
If I had improvements to suggests, I would say :
1. not being a native English speaker, some dialogues were long and tiring to read. Maybe, in some scenes were all the dialogue isn't necessary to the plot, you could offer the "Nothing else" option a little more often, in order for us to skip not so relevant parts.
2. another solution would be to have translations, but I've read in other comments it's a option that has been considered
3. I love the fact that not everything is perfectly smooth, and for instance I love Braden's design, with a very realistic body. In the last NSFW scene, the fact that everything doesn't go as planned, and the "checking on your phone" part was really funny. However I was frustrated at the end of the game not seeing this scene going well : I think it could really be a climax of their relationship (how distressing it is the first time you ARE ready but still fear how it's going to happen) and I felt something was missing to fully end their story. Unlike other comments, I don't want to see a sequel because I like to think the characters are going to live their lives on their own, in this imaginary world we all build differently in our head, but I feel a last NSFW scene would "help" me in knowing they are on the right track and that they will enjoy themselves.
That being said, it is one of the most moving game I have ever played (reminded me of "That dragon cancer" or "Firewatch" in some sense) and, I'll just wait for the full revamp version to play the game again. Really, you did (and are still doing !) a great job, keep it like that !
Heya, thank you for the well written note and I'm stoked that it impacted you in such a way as to give you a new perspective and renew some love for your bf. Also, congratulations on 14 years. that's a pretty long time and should be respected and i hope it continues to grow for you both.
in terms of your suggestions: yes, i plan on translations eventually but i think it will be difficult just because i apparently write with sooooo much slang. i never really expected non-english speakers to even get through it originally so it's been incredibly rewarding to hear that people are motivated enough by the project to wade through this thing, lol. I do plan on trying to work with people on the discord to get it as accurate as possible but we'll see. languages are complex and inconsistent obviously so who knows how that translation will turn out.
i see what you're saying with dialogue and maybe that's something i could add. there's a few spots in the later parts of the game where i did that. i just very much see all the random stuff that seems less important as still being character development or giving you background that may come into play later. when i sit down and read books, i usually like massive ones with a ton of details. but i also think that conversation is how relationships naturally evolve so i really focused on a lot of dialogue that spans everything from serious to existential to anger to teasing the crap out of each other. I definitely think it's a lot for a non-native English speaker to struggle with 'cause i get really wordy sometimes :p
things like that may come after the revamp project is completely finished where i may be able to go back and just do some touch-up updates and stuff :)
Hi Aaryn, it's the first time I'm writing to you. I read your "Water Fix Image Pack" on the patreon page. I 've made it. I use a PC and downloaded the zip file and overwritten the pool images. And then I've tested the 0.13 version from the beginning..cause i really love your job. Just to inform you that everything went fine. I've tried all the different paths and choices and never get an error or missing alert from the renpy IDE. I tried to write on patreon without success, so I hope I'm not breaking any rule writing you here. Thanx for showing me exactly how i see the love between two people. thank you veeery much. I appreciate your work. Can't wait for your next updates.
heya, well thank you for reaching out first off. and yes it's absolutely fine to post here. i'm not sure why you were unable to post on patreon. that should have been a free public post where anyone could reply so sorry you had that experience but here is certainly fine :)
but thank you so much for running through stuff and testing it. it seriously does help me out and save me time while i'm working on all the future stuff. all of those new image updates will be including in the next update too. It's coming soon. i promise. little more work than i expected but i'm on it
appreciate you and appreciate the support and follow <3