Community Update - AMA Recap

Greetings everyone!

Last weekend's AMA was a total blast! We ended up going for an hour and a half and the participation, questions and discussions were great. I think everyone had a lot of fun, and I'm definitely looking forward to doing this again in the future. To everyone who participated, thank you so much for making the event a success! To everyone who wasn't able to attend, here's a recap of what you missed.

Feedback Survey

General Stats

• The feedback survey has over 1000 hits so far
• 90% of players play the Company on desktops. Good to know for formatting considerations
• 90% of players are playing on Chrome or Firefox, which is good to know for compatibility considerations. 8 of you are still using Internet Explorer. Come on, guys!
• 60% of players play the game downloaded locally instead of online. On that note, APK and EXE releases are being considered for the future to make that easier for people

Player Stats

• 33% prefer to play as male, 33% prefer to play as female or trans, and 33% like to mix it up
• Additionally, 33% prefer to play submissively, 33% prefer to play dominantly, and 33% like to mix it up
• Sissies are more popular than bimbos
• 75% of players enjoy the transformation element of the game, while another 13% tolerate it

Character Stats

• Top three favorite characters are Dakota (28%), Ava (19%), and Tasha (14%)
• Top three least favorite characters are Dom John (30%), Julia (24%), and Chris (19%)
• Top three characters players most want new content for are Tasha, the store clerks, then a tie between Ava and Sophie

Story Stats

• Chapter 2 is the most popular chapter while Chapter 1 is the least
• Player's favorite elements of the storytelling are the lewd parts, followed by the optional conversations nearly tied with the main story line
• Player's least favorite element of the storytelling is far and away the "Meanwhile at The Company..." cutaway events. But those are so fun, guys!

Gameplay Stats

• Players prefer being at home more than being at work. Go figure!
• Using serums and the interactive intimate scenes are player's favorite mechanics
• Crafting serums and navigating the game are player's least favorite mechanics
• Players would most like to see improvements in the wardrobe system

Community Stats

• Patreon is most peoples' go-to source for information. That's great, because that's where I try to consolidate everything!
• Followed by that are various "unofficial" forums, then Discord. I highly encourage everyone to join our Discord! Link on the front page
• Player feedback indicates we're doing a pretty good job in terms of providing useful information and timely communication, and we're gonna continue working to improve!
• Players think The Company is a pretty darn good game, and that makes me so, so happy. I love you all!

Questions and Answers

* Questions will be left unedited, with my [addendum] added as needed. Duplicate questions have been edited out, but can still be viewed in the #ama-answers channel in the official Discord.

Q. Dominant Dakota Route When?
A. 6.4, and yes, you'll be able to use the Strange Strapon on Dakota at that point as well!

Q. When will you release 6.1 or will there be 6.0.4 [regarding public releases]
A. Intermediary releases (6.0.X) tend to be buggy and incomplete, which is okay for backers as I'm able to better control that kind of communication that, yes, what you're getting is not a finished build. For public releases, that can't really be the case. Once 6.1 is finished, it will see a public release.

Q. Are there any cheats in the game? What are they?
A. Yes! They're all listed on the Patreon main page as well as the Discord FAQ channel.

Q. will there be a new [Ava] route? like the one without stranger
A. Yep! You'll see that added in 6.4.

Q. Will you develop the cheat option?
A. In terms of giving the players more granular control over starting parameters. I completely understand why people want this, but I don't feel that giving players access to all the knobs and dials is the right way to do it. It's something being considered, but nothing to announce at this point.

Q. Tic Tacs or Altoids?
A. Altoids unless they're orange Tic Tacs.

Q. When will the cousin be added? Is she still planned for chapter 4?
A. Yes, and Chapter 4 is on the 2020 road map.

Q. Any other characters that are going to be introduced outside of The Company/work?
A. Unlikely, as we're already reaching something of a critical mass of characters. Plus, with artwork being in development, it adds additional workload there, as well.

Q. Do the workers at the store going to have a role or part in the game?
A. Their content will be expanded in 6.5, though they will still remain side characters.

Q. Can we get some spoilers on how some of the other characters split serum paths are going to turn out?
A. Sure, one good example will be John. Right now you can either end up with dominant asshole John, or mega-bimbo Chanel... John. Once he gets his path update you'll have some more control, for example, Friend John, Sissy John, etc. Chanel will also have some additional options, including possibly restoring some of her former "functionality"

Q. id perfer to actualy download the game but even when i download the images i never seem to get them to work is there a fix cumming or specifically a place to put them to get them to work better.
A. It's not broken, but you do have to make sure you're putting everything in the location and, if you're on Android, using a supported file explorer such as ES Explorer or Solid Explorer. We'll be updating our documentation on this in the near future.

Q. Teaser of new exotic items idea at the sex shop?
A. Nothing to announce yet :3

Q. When Will the guide be updated
A. As soon as I can find the time to updated... shooting for January 2035.

Q. Would it be possible to have relationship with dakoda or ava without serums?
A. Yes and no. Those characters will be receiving personal character arcs that don't revolve around the use of serums, however pursuing an actual relationship with those character without the use of serums would come off as too unnatural.

Q. Is Westane the best girl?
A. It goes Rikka, Kawakami Sensei, then Westane.

Q. Switch port when?
A. When Reggie returns our calls.

Q. What inspired you to start making this game?
A. I stumbled across a game called Escort Dreams which kind of introduced me to the genre. After checking out a bunch of different Twine games I ended up addicted to FreeCities, which opened my eyes to what the engine could be capable of. In the end, it was Perverted Education that finally prompted me to make The Company, though. That game was so "almost" perfect for me that it was frustrating! I decided that if "my" perfect game wasn't out there, I'd have to go make it, and now here we are!

Q. More than one strange strapon, for Dakota and Ava at the same time?
A. Yes, but nothing to announce in terms of "how"

Q. Is there a plan to implement more fetishes into the game
A. There are very few fetishes that I'm outright turned off by, however I tend to avoid writing for fetishes that I don't personally understand. Foot fetish, for example, is extremely common and tends to get requested, but I just don't "get it", and if I don't get it I couldn't do it justice in terms of writing content for it.

Q. Are there any ideas for reducing the constant up and down scrolling?
A. Yes, but nothing to announce in terms of "how"

Q. Would you consider open-sourcing the project or part of the code?
A. Anyone is free to load the game into Twine to poke and prod and see how it works. Full open sourcing for things like mod support isn't really something I can entertain at the moment, mostly due to engine limitations.

Q. will you ever do a spin off of the company?
A. Nope, at least nothing to be taken seriously. Now a sequel on the other hand...

Q. Dominant Ava route?
A. She can already be quite dominant, however that will be getting expanded in 6.4.

Q. Anything for diana/sophie in the future versions?
A. Sophie's content gets built on a chapter to chapter basis due to the linear nature of it. That said, her existing content will continue to get cleaned up and expanded on over time. Diana will be getting some new content in 6.3.

Q. with Dakota getting the option for the strapon will it be possible to get a dp option if/when both Ava and Dakota have been changed? or just an option to dp while 1 of them has the strange strapon and your chr is male/trans
A. Group content is 100% coming in 6.4.

Q. I've sensed some strong sexual tension between you and Haseo, are you guys having an illicit whirlwind relationship? Will your future elopement cause any delays to the update schedule?
A. "Future elopement" implies he's actually going to COMMIT to this. I ain't gonna wait around for you forever! You gotta put a ring on this shit, boy!

Q. i know as of now you working on making and keeping game great but are there plans to make game playable after it ends not just the msc-x serums but just be able to continue player even after you unlocked everything.
A. Some kind of "Free Play" mode is planned, but nothing will be implemented until the main story has been completed.

Q. Furry cos play?
A. Yup, already in game.

Q. Vampire character when?
A. As soon as vampires are cool again, so...

Q. Do you prefer to work as a one man company or would you want to build a team to help you cover things like fetishes you can't do justice or just speed up, or add to the development of the game?
A. It's hard! Creative control is where problems arise because not everyone thinks the same. It's fine to be part of a team when everyone has explicit roles, however multiple writers can cause issues when it comes to maintaining your vision for the game. There are certainly benefits to bringing on additional writers, but I'd really need to find the perfect people to make it work. It's something I'd need to think long and hard about, and nothing's being considered at this time.

Q. you dont understand pet play lol dude doakta dog serum was good but seriously disturbing it was great just disturbing
A. Good! You did a bad thing and you should FEEL bad! Also, that route had nothing to do with pet play.

Q. (refering to my question of open source) Maybe make the GitHub Repository open so people can contribute to the game?
A. I prefer to keep in-development code and content a little close to the chest, but, let's go with "maybe"

Q. What do you think is the squirmiest thing you have written?
A. John.  I can't stand people like John in real life, so personifying that kind of person to write his dialogue makes me feel icky. If we're talking about actual content in the game, though, probably the tour of The Company's R&D facility with Dr. Klein in Chapter 3.

Q. would you consider help if it was free, like with the actual coding  and implementing aspect (to free you up for writing)?
A. See above.

Q. would\have  you ever consider using other platforms i.e rags or tads or renpy?
A. Sure have! Ultimately, in spite of its limitations, Twine offers some huge benefits. One is simply that I'm very comfortable working in it, but the other is the ease of compatibility. Being able to load up the game quickly and easily on anything with a modern browser is a big deal! Hell, you can even load the game up on an Xbox!

Q. how happy are you with the game today?
A. Pretty happy! I never thought I'd be in a position where doing something like a community AMA would actually be possible. As a writer and coder, I'll always see room for improvement in the game, but when I look back and see how far things have come, the community that's built around the game. It's staggering!

Q. what advice would you give someone if someone wanted to start there own game if they never done it before?
A. First, play a TON of game. Play games until you not only have a clear idea of what you are and aren't into, but also where there's a painful lack of what you want to see more of, either in terms of quantity, quality, or both.

Fact is, your dream game doesn't exist. If it did, you'd be out playing it RIGHT NOW!

That's the game you should be making. Not to break into the industry, not to turn a profit, but simply because that game doesn't exist yet! Figure out what that game looks like, and how best you can tackle making it. For me it was text and HTML, I'm not a great programmer, but I'm comfortable in the environment.

So my advice for Step 1 is to just jump in and start writing.

Once you've found you rhythm, Step 2 is to STOP. Seriously, this is where most people, myself included, really screw up.

This is where you want to stop, and really "design" your game. Sign up at hacknplan.com and start writing your game design documents, start planning out your story, fleshing out your characters. Otherwise, you'll be coming BACK to do this two years later... Like me! Once you finish that, it's just a matter of following your plan and sticking to your vision!

Q. Can we talk about Chris a little? Will he get another update by the time the shopkeeper update cones around...particularly where he reacts to changes in your appearance?
A. The Comment engine will be applied globally to all characters, Chris included, which will result in him commenting on changes to your character. He'll be getting expanded content either in 6.5, or when 7.0 development starts.

Q. are they plans to add to the achievement systems for an example a achieve for plaything the game without cheats or impregnate everyone and are the plan to have like achievement prices like a shirt prise or something.
A. Those are great ideas for achievements, however I don't plan on expanding out that system until after the main story concludes. That's when it would most make sense, I think.

Q. You've let us know you have a hard time writing John. Who do you enjoy writing for the most?
A. Penny! I kind of imagine Penny as the female version of myself personality wise, so writing for her is fun and easy.

Q. wait you can pull it up on xbox how?
A. Yep! The internet browser on the Xbox can navigate over here and you can just click the Play Online link. I don't, like, recommend it, but it does work.

Q. You've said that to be a film maker you need to read a lot of movies. How does one read a movie?
A. WATCH ALL THE BOOKS! This is a thing that happened, you had to have been there...

Q. You get one 'The Company' character to be your waifu. Who you picking?
A. Tasha.

Q. how did you pick the characters in the game?
A. I considered the "character's" personalities and chose people who's "look" best matched that.

Q. Kagney Linn Karter when?
A. Yes.

Q. last question for me lol you design the game but you ever find yourself playing it to
A. Not as much as I should or would like to, unfortunately. It's hard to sit down and play through your own game after spending all day in its development environment. Even more so once the game actually starts getting pretty long!

Q. When will see more Sarina?
A. Chapter 4, if not sooner.

Q. no not the actors, how did you pick the characters?
A. Hard to answer... I just mapped out the story I needed to tell and wrote down what kind of characters I'd need to tell it. Threw in a few I wanted to write in personally, and just did what made sense to me.

Q. Any possibility of livestreaming writing, coding, etc?
A. I mean, if there's a demand for it. The thought of livestreaming writing and coding seems kinda boring to me, though. Is this something people want?

Q. will lauren content be coming in chapeter 4 two or before chapter 4
A. Minor content expansion in 6.3, more substantial stuff in Chapter 4.

Q. will tori make a comeback?
A. I wouldn't rule it out.

Q. Spoilers on what TFM-1 will do to other characters plox?
A. Spoilers? Eeehhhhh... Hey, Penny sure does make a good lab rat, doesn't she?

Q. do you have any plans to make other games?
A. Not until The Company is done, and that other game will likely be the sequel.

Q. Do you like other games than danganronpa?
A. I love lots of games! I'm a retro game and console collector and like and play just about everything. JRPG's and 2D platformers are probably my favorite genres, with Chrono Trigger and Megaman X being two of my favorite games ever.

Q. If a woodchuck can eat through five pounds wood on average per day and it's Wednesday tomorrow does that mean the woodchuck's name is Steve?
A. Yes! But only on Friday's!

Q. Diana dressed as Wonder Woman when?
A. I mean, it can't "not" happen, right?

Q. who's your favorite in danganronpa?
A. Chihiro.

Q. spoilers on who u have in mind for expanding the cat collar and strange strapon content for other then ava and dakota?
A. Ava and Dakota only. Other characters will get different toys.

Q. What games don't you like?
A. I don't like games that are difficult just for the sake of "being" difficult. Think, like, most Mario Maker levels. Or games that are just poorly designed... again like most Mario Maker levels... That's not to say I don't like hard games, though! Last year I beat both of the NES Contra games, as well as Cuphead and Megaman 11!

Q. will there be a way to have Penny assist you in the lab while you're sub?
A. As long as you dosed Penny to not submit to John, she will continue to assist you.

Q. Will we get options to make Ava and Dakota lez out (Scissoring when)?
A. Yuppers! 6.4 planned content.

Q. Are you looking forward to 2077?
A. I have a hard time with open world games nowadays, I just get lost and frustrated and bored. Elder Scrolls games, RDR2, Fallout, FarCry... I only beat Witch 3 by ignoring all the optional content after a certain point. That said, I'm freaking STOKED for Cyberpunk 2077!!!

Q. also, will the kitty ever make a live appearance?
A. Maybe? I mean she's never not on my desk...

Q. when  you add cat colar and strapon content are u planning on added sex store respawn times?
A. Nope

Q. any potential bdsm content in future?
A. Yes. That is planned content for Diana and Sophie, mainly.

Q. Are you big spoon or is Haseo?
A. I am Big Spoon.

Q. sorry cant help it my head keeps filling with questions are you planning on adding stuff to the pregnancy system like for example after certain amount of time the character you impregnate gets a baby belly image.
A. The span of the game is short enough that, no, this isn't likely.

Q. Do you think Cyberpunk 2077 will come out before 2077?
A. Yes

Q. So, I have this weird thing. I have a sword kink. Swords in the game? Is that possible?
A. I, um... Sure? Maybe?

Q. Any plans for hypnosis-type content?
A. I think games that follow this particular trope either use magical science potions or hypnosis (Read: Cat Magic). I think using both would just be kind of redundant.

Q. Will you [expand the options in the interactive intimacy scenes]?
A. Yes! The system is dated and clunky and will be getting a once over sooner rather than later.

Q. are you planing on adding like an ultimate good end ultimate bad end?
A. Yes, there will be a best and worst ending to the game, though even those will have variations based on how you played.

Q. Will there be more chances for the PC to get dosed?
A. It's a tricky thing, allowing the PC to get dosed, as you risk compromising major story points. It'll pop up in limited capacities, but not anything like how you currently dose NPCs.

Q. You've said that you write Penny as female you. Do you plan on adding an optional Westane image pack for this character?
A. Yes! 6.6 will replace all images with me. Just remember, you asked for this.

Q. Excited for game of thrones?
A. I enjoy everything about Game of Thrones... Except for actually watching it. Got halfway through Season 2 and just couldn't keep going...

Q. i havent finished it but i know as sub you can actually wear cat collar are you planning on adding a domination path where the colar  [m]akes you submissive to everyone or specific people
A. You can't take it off now but later you will be able to remove it. Thematically it will get improved. Additionally, 6.5 will be changing how you'll unlock access to the exotic items. They won't be readily available from the start anymore.

Q. Pepsi or coke
A. Pepsi.

Q. Will there be more new characters than who we already know about (including the cousin character)/is there an upper limit on new characters being added to the game?
A. There are still another character or two who have yet to be revealed, however yes, we're about at our limit on adding additional characters.

Q. From what I understand, you can only dose Dakota during the weekends. Are there any plans to provide more options over the week?
A. This will be getting looked at in 6.4, however my feeling is that the problem isn't that you have too few chances to dose Dakota and Ava, but rather that you have too many chances to dose everyone else.

Q. Will we be able to have threesomes with Dakota and her friends from school?
A. No details, but you shouldn't be surprised to see that in 6.4.

Q. any sexy times available for the shop keepers? i see an idea for changing up the scene with lauren at the store for maybe involving the store clerk
A. Coming in 6.5.

Q. How much furry content in the endgame?
A. Depends on your definition of furry. Expect many animal ears and tails, though!

Q. Do you plan on opening a $100 dollar tier with a reward of a video of Westane sitting naked in an armchair reading bedtime stories while smoking a corn cob pipe?
A. I mean, NOW I do!

Q. Will there be a friend John route like have threesomes together without being humiliated or something like that?
A. Yep, that'll be coming with John's update!

Q. why not add a kind of cos play kinda section some peoplre can turn into maid some nurse some cat dog bunny  that way everyone has a kinda cos play story
A. You'll see more of that kind of thing as artwork gets developed.

Q. If you had 2 minutes to think of a question for this AMA, what would the question be?
A. Who's the CEO of The Company? Too bad no one asked...

Q. Will the player also get catlike features if they wear the cat collar, or will it just have those effects on ava?
A. One side effect of the Cat Collar on Ava is that over time she'll develop some kitty-like features. This hasn't been represented in game yet but the artwork does exist. As for the player... We'll see!

Q. will the sequel have its own story/opening or able to port over finished saves from The Company to be reflected in the next game?
A. We'll have to see when the time comes, and whether or not the engine is capable of doing it in an elegant manner. The one thing I'll say about the sequel is that it will be taking place many years after the first game.

Q. Does Westane have any plan on replacing all sex scenes with himself and Haseo doing lewds?
A. Our lawyers are talking about it as we speak!