Building Sutton #4 Characters

Truth be told, I wish I'd put more work into the characters of Sutton. I'm pretty used to writing by pants on CHYOA. Writing on CHYOA is very akin to public performance. Floating Ideas got into this with his videos on 50 Shades of Grey. This does lead to some inconsistencies at times, but I felt I did the best I could, especially considering I didn't keep many notes. That certainly has really come back to bite me on the bum as I write this....

Anyway, here's a breakdown of what I was thinking about when it came to each character.

Dan

Dan is the first character you meet. I wanted there to be a vanilla love interest for both straight and lesbian players. Dan fits the straight half of that equation. He's not the typical love interest, which was very intentional. I didn't want every male LI to be some sort of horse-hung gigachad. He's at times shy and nervous.

I think one of the bigger issues that comes up with Dan is that you are in a way locked out of doing anything 'illegal'. This does make things a lot more linear. I've already discussed how I feel days themselves could've been better optimized, and I think that's doubly true with Dan. In fact, that's why the date during day 6 allows you to end the day immediately.

Mary

Mary is the other 'vanilla' love interest. She offers player a lesbian option and is also a potential boss. I wanted her to be a bit of a 'mother' character towards the player, being the first to offer you a 'morally acceptable' job, a place to stay, and comfort when she can.

There were going to be more fail conditions for her, but truth be told, I let those lapse as I had a whole game to focus on, plus I figured that wasn't all that fun.

Her being bisexual was simply an excuse to add a converging path/threesome scene/another thing to point at and say the game has multiple paths.

Chance

Sutton's local drug dealer, and another potential love interest. Considering SiS has a rather light tone, I wanted him to be a bit of a hippy rather than a tough guy or a gangster. This also made it a bit more believable that he would be into some of the kinkier things that he and the player does.

Chance does also offer up your first 'quest' with the old man. Initially, I had some intent of having more of these 'courier' jobs, but that's another thing that got lost in making the game.

The Bikers/Cheryl/Charlotte were all characters I made up on the spot. I basically figured the biker orgy was a fun idea.

Annabell

The preacher's daughter fits my typical cliche of 'young virgin' that are prevalent my writing (Adela in Taming the Dom and Sila in Roxy's New Roommate as examples). My main idea behind Annabell was to have someone the player could corrupt. How much so depended on the player's actions.

Mechanics wise, Annabell has the most depth. She's the only character with two distinct playstyles. I did this as I wanted players to feel like their choices had an impact on the world around them. This did lead to some complaints as some felt the choice wasn't clearly defined, something I tried to rectify in the latest version.

Her father was a character who I felt got a bit messy. I think early on I portrayed her family as rather dysfunctional, and that was intentional, but I think some people took it to be outright abusive. If I'm being honest, it's something I should've fleshed out a little more, but at this point, it is what it is.

I didn't really delve too much into the Christianity side of things. Truth be told it's not what I believe, but I'm also not a big fan on shitting on people and being some holier than thou atheist.

Russ

Russ is the final love interest in the game. He's the oldest in the game too, so I wanted to try and make him appealing in a different way. He's not some sort of rich sugar daddy. Instead, he's a rugged, supportive man. I felt this made him a rather realistic love interest despite the age difference.

The Abigail subplot was something I came up with during development. I felt it was bit of a twist on adult games, where instead you're trying to hook up, you're trying to get two people together. As for the other ending with Russ is left a bit ambiguous. I didn't feel it was the sort of relationship that would go the distance, but I figured players could decide what happens for themselves.

Dennis

Dennis is the owner of the Pink Lounge Gentleman's Club. I wanted him to come across as trying to be more sophisticated than he really is. After all, he's running a strip club in bum fuck nowhere. This probably makes him one of the wealthier men in Sutton, even if he is simply the king of sleaze.

I was considering making Dennis gay at some point, but I never really get into detail with his sexuality. I was also considering having him sleep with the player for money, but Hans filled that void, so I decided against it.

Hans

Hans Pumpren is a minor NPC who offers player some money earning options. He's admittedly a character who's traits I didn't really keep straight. Early in the game I describe him as rather strung up, but he doesn't really act unhinged. Part of that is I didn't want him to break Patreon rules, but I think I also find that sort of thing a bit icky if I'm honest.

The Trio

Originally, the Jock of the Trio was going to be a potential love interest, but I decided against it. Instead, I made them minor characters who the player interacts with. I liked the idea of giving players an alternative option to sell drugs and other items such as beer (which can be acquired freely fairly often).