Philosophy | The Others

Philosophy | The Others

Several years ago before I gave developing a shot, I played a VN that was the story about the MC's relationship with one main love interest. Everything revolved around your romance and getting to that happily ever after in the end. In the story, there was this other girl. When I was playing through it, I remember thinking that I liked the other girl more than the main love interest. Even though the romance in the story revolved heavily around the main love interest, it was that other girl I was interested in. To my pleasant surprise, the other girl became an optional romance. Because of that, I enjoyed the experience entirely even though she wasn't the primary focus for the romance or the story. More choices is always a good thing, right?

When I decided to make my own VN, I wanted to take the idea of another girl being an option even though she might not be the 'main' love interest. It's something I thought about when I started plotting everything out since the beginning.

In AMFA, there is no 'main' love interest. The story might seem to lean heavily toward one girl or another but I always keep in mind that every girl is optional, even the main girls. When I try to imagine myself ending up with one girl, I can never make a final decision because when I look at what I have planned, the entirety of every girl's story is something special. That includes all of the other girls.

When I talk about the other girls I'm talking about Marisa, Jordan, Sophia, Lorelei, Grace, and Detective Irene Seo. Not all of them play as heavy a role in the story as the other girls but they do play their parts. And some of them have simple and ordinary stories. It's a fictional story, so I could get away with giving them a complex story filled with traumas and hardships and something dramatic. But I think even an ordinary person living in Sol City is unique enough without the added drama. The circumstances of how you meet each of these different characters is special. And that's what separates each girl from the next. They might not play a large part in the overall story but they'll have their role. That's reason enough to get into a relationship with them. While I have nearly everything planned for the ladies, if there was an overwhelming response from you all about how much you like a girl, I'd take that into consideration when creating more content.

I know people talk about all of the choices in this game and how they don't seem to affect the direction of the story. I've always said before—and I'm sure most would agree—that the most important choice you can make in a romance VN is the picking the girls you want to be with. I've always conscious of giving you the choice to be in a romance. All of these options will open up at the end rather than now because I don't want to lock you into too many choices when there's so much more story to tell.

My goal has always been to tell your story, since you're the MC. Out of the five main LIs, I assumed that you would find at least one that you would want to pursue. But if you happened to be smitten with another girl you met, then you'll get your opportunity with her. I know what it's like to find another girl appealing.

And if absolutely none of the girls are appealing to you—which I assume is unlikely because you wouldn't be here—maybe you'll get another option in the future... Or maybe not.

What do you think of the girls? Have you decided on who you do or don't like? Do you still need more time to get to know them better? I know some girls are more popular than others but I'm always curious to see who you like personally. Let me know who you hope to be with when you reach the end.

Episode 10 Progress

Progress has been steady for the next episode. I've gotten a lot of renders done and all of the major story points have been plotted out. I'm working as much as I can. It's a big story episode, so I'm excited to get it done. Seeing everything slowly starting to take shape is nice. I think I might have said that before. Part of the reason I think I don't want to give such early progress updates is because there isn't much to report on. I don't know how fast or slow I'm working. I can just say that I've gotten a lot done since the release of Episode 9.

Thanks to those of you who were with me this month. I'll be back with the first official progress update the first week of March along with some previews.

I appreciate the support and patience from you all. If you have any requests, comments, questions, or suggestions, send me a message. Take care and I'll talk to you soon.