Kinky: What’s up my boys and girls of Doujins.com. Your boy Kinky is back with another interview, and if your kink is hypnosis then this interview will be a real treat for you. Without further ado, bow down to your Western Adult Games Overlord (you have no choice since you’re hypnotized), Cypress Zeta! Welcome, my Lord Zeta, I hope this isn’t out of line but, how are you doing today?
Zeta: Busy busy busy! Everything is really taking off over at Outbreak Games and I'm behind it all, so I'm never short on things to do! I'm running an indie game studio, and that's quite the task! It's more than worth it though - this job can be a ton of fun!
Kinky: That’s good to hear! So, many already know about your first big project, Overwhored, so I won’t stay on it for too long but I am curious about one thing. In Overwhored the sex scenes where all dialogue and no descriptions, which I actually enjoyed since I enjoy hearing what the girls think about the situation and can imagine what’s going on myself. What made you decided to write the sex scenes this way?
Zeta: It was a narrative experiment. It helped keep scenes short and to the point, which was important when you had a huge harem of girls to go through. I don't think I ever managed to really realize the potential of it and ultimately it proved to be a bit awkward. By the end I did it mostly for the sake of consistency but I don't think I'll do narrationless sex again.
Kinky: Now in your latest finished game Snow Daze, the main character Jason, is more descriptive about the sex. What made you change to this style of writing from the style that Overwhored had?
Zeta: It's closer to my natural writing style. Jason's work is narrated in the second person, which isn't much different than writing in the third person. I'm a traditional writer and to be honest, I prefer working this way.
Kinky: When you first started this, did you ever imagine that you could have made a living on making adult games?
Zeta: When I first started this I was doing it as a hobby. I had written many adult stories and simply never released them over the years for my own enjoyment, making games wasn't any different. I honestly thought of this as something terribly shameful that everyone would hate me for when I started. I almost didn't share the first demo of Overwhored and I ended up releasing it anonymously on hypnochan. To my amazement people liked it. I decided to go at it seriously only once it became successful and at no time prior to that, but that was years later. When I started monetizing adult games was impossible and paypal froze my account for accepting donations at one point. My family turned out to be fine with my career change and everything went better than expected. To the fans thinking of making games themselves: keep working hard and smart and you can make it!
Kinky: Since Snow Daze was your second major project, it was obvious that we would see improvement in your skills and new ideas. What made you adventure out to use Ren’Py and which do you like better, Ren’Py or RPGMaker?
Zeta: They're totally different tools for totally different types of games. I've never been frustrated with the limitations of Renpy like I had often been with RPGMaker VX and later VX Ace though. I'd say Renpy. I just used one and then the other because I was trying to make different kinds of games and needed different kinds of tools. Now I'm using Unity because I'm making a different kind of game and need different tools, again. I'm not forgetting what I've learned, either - after Overwhored 2 I intend to start making more VN's and SRPG's and establish some ongoing series.
Kinky: Snow Daze is one out of many Ren’Py games to have voices, and I believe the only game to be FULLY VOICED! What made you go all out on the voices?
Zeta: The Japanese have been doing it for years and nobody was doing what they were doing. I'd done some stage and acting in the past and knew how to cast people for a role and tell good acting from bad, so I simply looked for talented VA's and went for it. I think I mostly just wanted to prove to myself I could do the same sort of things they could. Though I probably am doing it on a lot less money than most of their studios, we could still succeed.
Kinky: How was the process of adding the voice to Snow Daze? Was it a challenging one?
Zeta: Very. There are no want ads for adult VA's. Instead I looked for online VA's that did NSFW stuff on their own time as a sideline. It was a long search and one of them was found by complete accident when browsing an unrelated site. It would be easier today, with communities where people can offer adult game work services actually existing now. I worked with Hentaiwriter to build one. Now hiring someone new is significantly easier. Build
Kinky: Snow Daze’s story is finished, but your still adding things while Overwhored 2 is in the works. After, Overwhored 2 is done, do you believe you’ll be coming back to Snow Daze?
Zeta: I'm adding some more pictures to Snow Daze and finishing it up now. After Overwhored 2 I'll make a sequel to Snow Daze - Tropical Daze, about Jason's Step-Aunt and his Cous-er, step half-sis- er, step-half-cousin-sisters. It's cat magic, don't worry too much about it.
Kinky: Okay now let’s get to the real meat of this interview. Your third big project, Overwhored 2! How excited where you to finally announce that you’ve been working on this?
Zeta: It's been planned for years now, so it's very neat to start!
Kinky: Overwhored 2 is using 3D models instead of 2D sprites and is also uses the Unity engine instead of Ren’Py or RPGMaker. You seem to always try to top your previous works in some way. What made you decide on these changes?
Zeta: I have people with the right skills and enough money to pay them, so I can do this now. I loved old JRPG's and SRPG's a great deal growing up, and there were great ones in both 2d and 3d. The Japanese industry has shown you can merge real gameplay and plot with a porn game and succeed, so why not combine the things I like? Nobody else is going to do it. The more money I get, the more I will do. It's as simple as that.
Kinky: Will the sex scenes also be in 3D?
Zeta: 3d and we're working on Virtual Reality. So you'll be able to play the sex scenes on the desktop - or in person. Currently we're working on a VR minigame "Hypnolab" to test animations in. It got pushed back a bit with the crunchtime that came with the end of Snow Daze, but you can expect to see it working soon. Unity has a lot of good tools that make VR games more accessible to develop than you'd think.
Kinky: You stated that this will be a Strategy RPG instead of Overwhored JRPG style gameplay. As a fan of Fire Emblem this is a welcome change. What made you pick this style?
Zeta: JRPG Math is a bit complicated and the fights aren't super exciting. While I've seen a number of good variants (like Xenogears combat) I prefer SRPG style gameplay. I couldn't do it when I started, but I can now so hey, why not do what I like? There's also going to be a lot of characters and traditional JRPG's tend to focus on a smaller, tighter cast of characters. Plus I can easily adapt mechanical systems that work well in SRPG gameplay.
Kinky: Snow Daze was voiced fully, so people most likely expect the same from Overwhored 2, but with a much larger cast of characters that could be quite difficult and costly. Do you tend to fully voice Overwhored 2, maybe voice only certain scenes like main story scenes and H Scenes, or will there be no voices?
Zeta: Right now there are no plans to do voices, but I may change my mind since a lot of people are asking for it. I'm reluctant because I know everyone has their own idea of what those voices should sound like in their mind. Also sometimes I feel embarrassed about the lines I had the VA's say in Snow Daze, the dialogue in Overwhored was just straight up silly. Trying to find a full group of professional VA's willing to say utterly perverse weird rhyming mantras would be a bit of work, let's say. Not to mention - there will be a lot of characters. At best you might get limited voice acting in the future.
Kinky: I enjoy the hypothesis kink but I also like it when the girls fight back a little. (I guess that’s just my kink :P) In Overwhored they fought back but it wasn’t long until they became entranced and began throwing out the generic porn lines. (Sorry if this is coming out as me basing the game) I was wondering would there be any changes when approaching the H Scenes?
Zeta: The difference between Snow Daze and Overwhored is that one is long and in-depth and the other is meant to be something with a lot of girls and short scenes. I'll write the scenes differently but still keep them relatively simple and short, writing wise. It also shows the difference between hypnosis and mind control - one is a gradual change, one is like flicking a switch for instant massive change. Different but equal ways of expressing the same fetish.
Kinky: Most girls in Overwhored only got one scene. Will that be a change for Overwhored 2?
Zeta: We're working on the specific plans but right now we're looking at having animations that can be applied to every girl. That's part of the benefits of 3d for a game with a lot of girls. Lots of variety for every character rather than just a single pic.
Kinky: I enjoyed Snow Daze but I have a complaint. There was only one anal scene and it was short! Anal was teased and then I got teased! Can I please get my decent length anal scene in Overwhored 2 :(?
Zeta: You'll get tons of anal in Overwhored 2. Possibly more in Snow Daze. We're working on some final stuff to add for the final version of the game.
Kinky: One of my biggest kink are traps. I was wondering did you ever consider adding a trap to the game. It would work with the whole hypnosis theme, since a boy, if straight, would be completely unwilling to have sex unless hypnotized.
Zeta: Nope! I get the kink and I see why it'd appeal to someone but I'm straight and I don't wanna write it. If someone else does, however, I'm sure it'd be a perfectly lucrative market and it's a totally open field.
Kinky: Well damn, one of my dreams has now been crushed. Now this question is just me being greedy and wanting to know when I can get my hands on my Christmas present early. Do you know when you’ll be releasing the first play test of Overwhored 2?
Zeta: Probably somewhere around June. We'll be releasing a relewded version of Kiss Therapy with sexier pics and Hypnolab between now and then, though, and we'll finish Snow Daze before then too!
Kinky: Thank you, my Lord Zeta, for being so kind to your humble servant in answering my questions. Is there places where we all can follow you and support your glorious endeavors?
Zeta:
My patreon is the best place!
Those that value live discussion however can visit my discord!
Thanks for taking the time to interview me! Now if you don't mind, I have some brainwashed employees to whip into working faster. I've got to find my cat-o-nine tails. See ya!
So what do you guys think? Have you played Overwhored or Snow Daze? Are you into hypnosis? So I protest about getting traps into Overwhored 2? Tell us in the comments below.
