Last time, on Livestream!

Here's the interview we went through at this weekend's Livestream. We handled a lot of interesting questions, and I'd like to thank all the creative folks behind them ^.^

Interview Transcript

Same as last time! This is your chance to ask whatever you want of Lith, and later, Lithier. This will be posted to the website for posterity, but feel free to make it something silly if you like. Background, opinions, advice, inside info, clarification, anything you've been wanting to know, now's the time to ask!

KamerGuy: Allright, what is Lith's greatest fear/phobia?
Lith: Oh o.o; Well... I do kind of... not like spiders... at all ._. I don't think it's exactly a phobia, so much as... really, really not liking the lil crawly things or their nasty webs ever touching me? @_@ Er, not to say that I have anything against, you know, spider people! I've known some very nice invertebrates ^.^;; But um, for an actual phobia... I think mine would probably have to be more public speaking. Assuming we're not getting down into deep down, psychological mucky muck, I mean o3o; But aye, speaking in front of large groups is pretty much... beyond me. I do best interacting with, well, just one other person ^.^; More is fine, but the more people there are, the more anxious I get, until I just... nnnnu ._. Um. Yeah...

link45oo: Hmmm.... What's Lith's favorite place to partake in certain "activities" with a partner?
Lith: Favorite place...? o.o Well, beds are comfy, of course, but over time, I've found the couch seems to be the most... versatile ^//^; You get most of the benefits of a bed, plus a lot more interesting spaces for... positioning. I guess I'm kind of... vanilla like that? Um, as far as places... I don't have a preference for "your place or mine" as long as it's somewhere I feel safe, I guess ^.^;;

Alleron: Say Lith...it seems like you have a tendency to attract a certain variety of tall, lusty, domineering herm; why do you suppose that is?  (perhaps a new cologne is in order XD)
Lith: I have to admit, this has been a, um, recurring question in my life o.o; My sex ed class seemed to be pretty liberal, all things considered, but they led me to believe that people, you know, between genders, are pretty rare altogether. Something like less than 1% of the population... But it seems like almost every time a woman ends up lifting their skirt around me, well, there's something extra there... *ahem* I don't really use cologne, but if I did, I'd certainly be pretty suspicious of it by now. I've been wondering for a long time if I'm just, ah, "lucky" like that, or if hermaphrodites actually make up a much larger portion of the population than I was led to believe ^.^;; As for tall, lusty, and domineering... Well, maybe the ones that AREN'T like that are the real rare minority? o.o;; I could see that kind of physical state being somewhat... empowering... ~//~;

KamerGuy: What does Lith dream of?
Lith: I don't remember most of my dreams... when I do, it tends to be when I played way too much of a game, or watched too much of a show, and that stuff kind of recycles through my head ^.^;; I mean, sometimes... well, a lot of the time, I have some... inappropriate dreams, but as far as I can tell, most of those can be chalked up to when I'm sharing a bed... and when the line between dream and, um, night grinding kind of... blurs ._.;;

link45oo: Heya Lith, do you speak any other languages - human or animal? Are there any languages out there that you want to learn and why?
Lith: Eh hehe, I know it's going to sound nerdy, but I picked up a bit of Japanese in college ^.^; Some foreign language was required, and well... I watch plenty enough anime to have made that decision easily enough. I'm not terribly good at it, especially understanding people, but I get a little thrill every time I realize I didn't need the subtitles that one time when I watch shows now, so that's something ^.^;; I'm afraid I don't have any gifts with animal communication, learned or otherwise. It's a very interesting field, but it's not really my thing o.o;

link45oo: Does Lith like being asked questions?
Lith: Well o.o I do like explaining things, as strange as that may sound... I even considered becoming a teacher for a while, but I don't think I'd do too well with all the other components of the job. But doing my best to sate people's curiosity is... rewarding for me, in a way, so yes, you could say I do :3 Admittedly, a lot of the questions I seem to get are... a little less appropriate than I might like, but I guess with the life I've ended up leading, and the connection you all have to me, it's nothing to be too surprised about ^.^;; So I'll always do my best!

Alleron: You're not the most...physically imposing fellow out there, Lith; does that bother you?  Do you feel like people tend to take advantage of you as a result?
Lith: Well, the thing about being physically imposing is-- you're imposing. In a lot of situations, I'm happy enough to go unnoticed-- or at the least, to be inoffensive. Larger people are expected to be more confrontational and stand up for things and people and all that... So to that extent, I'm kind of glad to be on the smaller side ^.^; But yes, it's true that there are a lot of downsides. It can be harder to get noticed when I want to be, and... yes, I'm more susceptible to people that are less... polite with their opinions and desires. If I was bigger, I probably wouldn't have as many problems with people like... um, Petre, say. But, I mean, even when things don't go how I want, I can usually get by one way or another. Sometimes, things happen, and you can't help it.... Well. I'm kind of just rambling now. People have taken advantage of my size, but it's never... really went too badly in the end ^.^;; It's true I have to be a bit careful where I go at night, but I tend to prefer staying inside anyway, so it works out :3 I guess that's what I'm going for-- there is balance in all things in life. Where there's an advantage, there's a disadvantage, and vice versa. You just have to be careful to play up your advantages ^.^; And carry a rape whistle.

Spoon: Lith, do you ever shed? And have you had any other problems with your fur like others being allergic to you?
Lith: Oof ._. Every spring, I get pretty... messy. I have to shower twice a day to try and keep up with it, and do twice as much laundry, too. I've known a couple other cats --not a lot, just one or two, I think-- that just didn't care, and let their fur get everywhere. Whenever they got up, there'd be a mess of fur in the seat, and more occasionally coming out of their sleeves or whatnot. I always found that really... distasteful @_@;; So I'm pretty studious with keeping my fur cleared up as much as I can. I've never met anyone with a cat allergy-- I think that's only humans that have them. I know a fair number of humans, but I think even among them... it's pretty rare? I guess I'd better check up on that if I plan on visiting humans much at some point...

link45oo: Just wondering, but has there been anything, anything at all, that you've wanted to tell someone - but never did/get the chance too?
Lith: I find it difficult to believe much anybody could say no to that question o.o;; We all have our little secrets or wishes, little things that for one reason or another we want to say or ask, but can't, or are afraid to... I could probably spend an hour or more going back over all the people I've been mean to because I was in a bad mood or a hurry or whatnot, and I never apologized... I mean, if I'd come back and apologized later, in a lot of cases, it would just be awkward and sound stupid anyway, and even apologizing at the time might not have done it... So I don't know if that counts more as wishing I'd said something, or wishing I'd never been a jerk in the first place ._. And that's just part of it. I don't know how many people I've felt... close to... over the years, but I don't really... I... *ahem* Well, I don't talk about... love, I guess. It's kind of a... scary concept to really deal with to me, after everything. So I... just enjoy the time I've got, and when life takes me elsewhere, that's it. I can wish, but that doesn't mean it would have been better if I had said something. There's my parents-- but who really communicates properly with their parents? And, there's a lot of times I should have stuck up for myself, but I just... stayed silent. Things went smoother, but I guess that was a lot of missed chances to maybe make things a little better than they are, for me, or for others. But, like I said earlier, this is kind of... the sort of thing someone else would be better suited to. So. To answer your question: Yes. So very many things, stretching back as far as I can remember. Maybe I hold onto these things too much. But... they say that, you know, you have to know your history, or you're doomed to repeat it. So maybe, someday, I'll say something I shouldn't. And see if that just makes for a fresh, new kind of regret. *smiles softly*

RealBadBadger: I've got a question for our feline host--Lith, have you ever had an encounter with someone who was unusually large or small? (in general, that is)
Lith: Ah, well, yes. You meet a lot of strange folks of college, and... also, apparently, later, after word of mouth spreads around. To my recollection, the smallest (adult) person I ever met was... three feet tall? I think he was some kind of moth... And I have met some, uh, very large people over the years ^.^; They seem to be another type that seek out, um, my type, I guess? I think there was a wolf that was over ten feet tall... I assume there was something supernatural behind his size, especially since he had three heads. I didn't think it would be polite to ask, though. I've heard about larger and smaller, of course, but I haven't, eh, "met" any ^.^;;

RealBadBadger: well, all right then! Lith, how WOULD you feel if you met someone on the very small end of the scale?
Lith: Like... micro? o.o I'd be pretty curious, I think. When you're talking about a person that's under a foot tall, the physics and anatomy of it all starts changing drastically, I imagine-- I'd probably have a lot of questions about relative strength, traveling over distances, interactions with normal-sized people, and goodness knows what else, assuming they seemed patient enough to handle them. As far as, um, "meeting" someone like that, I'm... not sure? o.o I suppose it would certainly be a reversal on the power issues we've been talking about... I guess... if the mood were right, and both parties inclined... I'd be very curious about a deal of other things? ^//^;;
From here, we moved on to questions for Lithier.

RealBadBadger: Senor Lithier, will there be/are there plans to change the colors of the interface?
Lithier: When I was first setting the game up, I had a lot of doubts about the color scheme and all around look, and I was originally planning on adding an option to switch between a couple different templates so you could have the look you wanted-- but people seemed to be pretty happy with the appearance as it was, and I wasn't sure how to code in the changes properly, so I pushed that aside. I'm not sure what need there would be for a set of options color-wise now, but I'd be happy to take feedback on it, and it probably wouldn't be too much trouble to make it happen. I'm not a coding guru, of course ^.^; But probably.

Alleron: While the context sensitive cues in the code help add to the player's immersion, aren't you concerned that (as the game grows in complexity), they'll become tedious to add?
Lithier: That has been one of my core concerns with the game from early on, actually-- the majority of my experience as a writer is in dealing with linear, classic style stories, in which the text is the same for every reader, there's no interaction, and any given scene only needs to be written one way, one time. Jumping into this game has been a huge strain in some ways, and while it's probably helped flex a few underused muscles for me as a writer, it's also cramped me up in a lot of ways. Almost every sex scene in this game is written at least twice, often with certain portions written three times over within that, or some extension thereof-- especially when I include decision branches in a scene. The balance between immersion --reflecting the player's choices and history in the text-- and the elegance and simplicity of the game overall is probably the core of the design process, and it's where the most important decisions need to be made. I've already made this game much simpler, in terms of trees and variables, than Fenoxo's CoC, which was a large inspiration for this game, as I've often mentioned. And early in the design process, I even stripped away some more of that functionality to try and make things easier for me, to the frustration of my players at the time. What I basically have to do is decide how much I want to put into any one scene and balance my energy for that scene against the multitude of variants that can be written for it. My ideal would probably be to write a game that essentially read like one of those old "choose your own adventure" books-- each page was the same every time, it was just a matter of navigating between them. But that would obviously be much less engaging for the players... So I'm left trying to find the middle ground. This is also why I'm hesitant to add things like vagina/nodick support for the avatar-- that would make for a huge increase in the bulk of each scene, theoretically almost doubling the writing mass of the story. But as things stand, I intend to make the vagina/nodick tree, well, smaller-- so that it's still an option, but it's not really considered the "full game" for purposes of unlocking all the scenes and achievements of the main tree for the game as it stands now. This might be upsetting to people that really want to play a proper vagina/nodick game, but I'm afraid that's how it's going to have to be, both for the sake of my sanity, and because it's appropriate to the design goal of the game-- when you get down to it, Lith is a cockslut at heart. The game is about sex, and if you don't have a dick, you're not going to get to the heart of Lith's identity as a sexual being. So. Yes, I'm always concerned about tedious additions to the code-- especially knowing that so many people will, for example, always choose the biggest dick, and never appreciate the text written in for smaller sizes, or any number of things like that. I've considered adding ways to transform yourself down the line just for that purpose-- to let people get a little more out of the game and see what they've been missing without having to play the whole game as a boring old "normdick." Or what have you. But... I'm keeping that one in my back pocket for now. As things stand, I'm just doing what I can, but it's a possibility I'll start making scenes later in the game less "deep" just so that I can push for having more content in general-- something that, once the base depth has been established for basic gameplay, I think the players may appreciate more.

OldOnes: I guess my quesion is, will there be a possible happy ending? I've read the stories (awesome, by the way), and I hate how he is almost constantly used and abused (and is even used to it).
Lithier: Right now, the three "endings" in the game are the collars-- they basically represent the end of the current game content. But my overall vision of the game as a progression is that they are more of the midpoint-- and each one leads to an ending, happy or unhappy depending on your interpretation, depending on how successful you are in the scenes that are to come. Basically, my current vision for "ending" this game is that, after nurturing a certain kind of behavior in Lith through thick and thin, he eventually becomes a new, "improved" person, with your help. Definition of "improved" can vary, of course... Some could make some pretty compelling arguments for being used as a reliable source of happiness. It's something of a recurring theme with Lith, if you like reading his stories :3

Th3Ch053n0n3: Ok, then, Why can you only get one collar and why is the black one so easy and the white one so hard?
Th3Ch053n0n3: Also, what blue collar devilry is this?
Lithier: To my knowledge, unless I wrote something wrong, there is no white collar-- there are black, blue, and pink. As for why one is easier to get than the others, there are a few factors. For one, while dominating another person sexually can be very physically trying, the decisions involved are largely... relatively simple. Especially in Lith's case, when he's so used to being interacted with in a similar fashion, you can get away with a lot-- and you're basically in the perfect setup for this to happen. Let's be honest-- sitting alone in a void with nothing but a couch, just the two of you, is much more conducive to a physical relationship than a platonic one. Physical isolation has this effect on people in pairs, as I understand it. The nature of the "pocket dimension" that has been provided to you is literally intended to facilitate sexual exploitation-- that is the purpose of this Lith you have taken possession of. Engaging with him as a social being is not the "intended purpose" of this interface as it's designed by the mysterious people who have provided him to you, and the environment and your own avatar reflects that. So it's hard to get very far with Lith socially-- because you are a sex doll sitting in a void on a couch with him. If you were a full-fledged person that went to crappy restaurants with him, studied with him, watched movies with him and played video games, etc., it would probably be very easy to develop a friendship. It would be much more casual, there would be more prompts to stimulate conversation, there would be lulls in your time together, you might not see each other for days and then you can catch up on everything and chat-- but none of that is the case. You are not in a place for making friends, and your avatar --while carefully designed to replicate a living being with remarkable precision-- is calibrated to be a sexual adonis and little besides. For all these reasons, it very much makes sense in game to have difficulty developing a friendship properly. On the "out of character" level, it's difficult because engaging with someone as a friend is simply more difficult decision-wise than fucking him over and over until his ass is shaped like your dick. More of this difficulty translates to you, the player, than it does for when you're just dominating sexually, because I haven't included much in the way of mechanics to make it challenging to the player to fuck the cat. I could, but I think that could take away from the tie-in between in-game difficulty and out-of-game, player difficulty. That being said, I've specifically made collaring a challenging process for MVOL as it stands right now because I wanted to engage something I noticed in my players early on-- a desire to explore every crack and crevice in the game, and to have something to represent their achievements when they've been especially patient, insightful, and thorough. Achievements are extreme of this-- some of them, at least. But collars are intended to be something you manage once you've mastered just about everything else in the game. With all this said, I do intend to make collars the stepping stone to later game content, so before that happens, I expect I'll be adding content to make it easier to get said collars before continuing in a later version. These versions will stand as my Nintendo-hard era, I suppose :P I hope that you find them engaging, and I hope that you do your best to accomplish what you can-- I intend to have the game save your old achievements, so you can archive your full history with the game down the road! That said, you may want to make a backup of your old files, just to make sure flash doesn't eat them due to inactivity between updates. Would certainly help, if you want to have a full, blazing achievement list of glory down the line :3 Not that that's for everyone, of course-- I always meant this to be more a goal for the overachievers among my players...

Th3Ch053n0n3: One sentence should be sufficient to answer this question. What things can you get for Lith? I've found the couch, book, and taking off your clothes.
Lithier: I try not to get too much into actually spelling out the contents of the game to leave as much as possible up to discovery, but it sounds like you've discovered everything the item menu is capable of at the moment besides producing a collar :3

KamerGuy: Are these livestreams going to become a regular occurence?
Lithier: I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this one right now, so I couldn't say. I don't intend to stream MVOL next weekend, but depending on how crazy I feel and if anybody seems to be interested, I might try streaming some regular writing to see how that goes. That was my first actualy Livestream event either, and I was very appreciative of the two people that were kind enough to stick around, but I'd like to have a larger audience if I try something like that again! For vanity purposes, of course. All that said, I think there's a decent chance this could become something like an every other week event if people stay interested. It sounds like there are a lot of people on other continents that can't stay up this late, though, so I may try to move the time forward or change the date!

Th3Ch053n0n3: Oh, wait, One More...... What else are you going to add to the item menu?
Lithier: Well, in case you didn't know, Lith literally has a stat for, ah, his desire for the phallus. So, if and when I add vagina/nodick support to the game, he'll have to get his satisfaction somewhere...

Streaming happened!

Oh my goodness it ended again! Did you make it? I hope so!

Let the Livestream begin! Come watch!

livestream.com/lithier

Livestreaming: Last Time and Next Time!

In case you missed the stream, here's a transcript of the interview I promised as a halftime feature! It ended up going rather long, even though folks had some trouble coming up with things to ask ^.^; And if you did miss the last one, maybe you can catch the next one! That's right, I'm hosting another Livestream on Friday the 26th at 8 PM EST. Go here if you need to make sure of when that is!

Interview Transcript

This is your chance to ask whatever you like of Lith and Lithier. Think carefully, this is being recorded for posterity! First are questions for just Lith, the cat that is the star of MVOL. The writer/coder, Lithier, will take questions later!

furrboi: how bout sme geneal questions
furrboi: how old is he? how tall?
furrboi: how big is his dick?
Lith: Oh my o.o; Well, I'm 22 right now. I've pretty much stopped growing... never quite hit five feet ^.^; Except maybe if I'm walking on my toes a bit o3o; Um. As for the other one... well... I-it's a bit above average, I guess ^//^; Or so I'm told, anyway. Um. Last I checked, it was about... seven. *ahem*

Kamer: Does Lith like music and if so, what kind?
Lith: Oh, sure! ^.^ I didn't for a long time, really, but I randomly got a cd player for a present when I was... sixteen, I think? So I've been playing a lot of catchup @.@; My favorite music... One of the first songs I ever liked was by... I think he was called DJ Rob. It was this combination of a gentle piano track and some heavy, metalic sounds, kind of techno, I guess. I've kind of always loved that sort of thing, maybe because of that song-- anything that combines modern music with old instruments, especially techno type stuff plus classic stringed instruments. I only like techno that, um, doesn't sound like techno, though. All that stuff where every song uses the same five sounds... bored me about two months in ._. Nine Inch Nails is good! Apocalyptica can be nice. Probably some others I can't think of right this second, but I don't want to turn this into a big ol list ^.^;

Ominous: Hmmm... alright, a very important question. What incarnation of the Doctor do you prefer, Lith?
Lith: Oh, definitely ten :3 He was always so much fun, but he still had a serious side to him. I was always rooting for him. Nine was... I don't know, maybe I just didn't like his haircut ^.^;; But he always seemed odd and maybe a little overly serious-- while eleven, by contrast, was jus too goofy @.@; And um, goofy looking, too ^.^; I still miss ten. But eleven's not bad, he kind of grows on you :3 I guess I should go back and look at the other eight sometime, though... o.o;;

Siinister: What size of lady does he like the most :P
Lith: Size? o.o Oh! Well... Hrm... I do like women with, um, assets ^.^; I don't mind if they're larger all around, though if it's hard to, um, work with them, it can be... problematic ^.^; Unless they're the one... working, I guess o//o; But I mean, I guess you could say I'm just... flexible ^.^;

Ominous: Favourite food?
Lith: *ahem* Some people might speculate for you on that, but I'm happy to say that I enjoy a balanced diet whenever I can. I probably don't get all the veggies n such I should, but that's another question. As far as favorites...? I guess my favorite food would have to be... a good taco :3 Not taco bell tacos or any of that-- but if you find a really good mexican restaurant that can whip you up some proper crispy tacos with beef or chicken, loaded up with fresh cheese n veggies? A crunchy bite of heaven o3o

Kamer: Does Lith like alcohol?
Lith: I tried to avoid it for a long time ^.^; I knew people that were drinking when they were 15, but I saw them do some pretty stupid stuff, and I didn't want to be that person. But... college happened. And some things kind of went out the window ^.^;; So for a while, yes, I really enjoyed drinking with friends and having fun, but one night, it went a little too far... x_x I never liked the taste of the stuff, but now, if I get a whiff of it, it kind of turns me off-- I get a gut reaction off it. I still drink sometimes, but it tends to be stuff that's more sugar than alcohol ^.^;

furrboi: what kind of alcohol?
Lith: Well, I tried to hunt down some drinks that work for me over the whole process. Bailey's and cream isn't bad, but it doesn't hide the taste very well. I used to enjoy Coke and... I think it was cherry brandy? But I had too many of those that night... Now, it's mostly screwdrivers, I guess ^.^; Orange juice seems to work wonders.

Ominous: What was your first celebrity crush?
Lith: Celebrity...? o.o I don't tend to follow celebrities much, so they don't have very good odds, but let's see... I guess that... right about when I started getting, you know, interested in women, I saw a lot of stuff with Pamela Anderson ^.^; She was... a very striking, full woman, and out of all the famous women of the time, I think she was the one that occupied my thoughts the most... Which still wasn't a terrible lot @.@; I'm... not sure if this answers the question? ^.^;;

blazingpelt: does he have any fetishes?
Lith: Um o.o I don't suppose you mean like... voodoo? I mean, not that I do, but-- I dunno, it'd be... *ahem* Never mind ^.^; Um. I guess that depends on what you'd count as a fetish... *fidget* I like a certain... body type that I thought was pretty rare, b-but it seems to be turning out to be a lot more common than I thought, so... Hrmm... W-well, I've always kind of liked looking at... tentacle stuff ^//^; Especially when, every once in a while, one would actually, like, eat up the guy's... guyhood. Like it had a... girlhood inside it. I dunno why, but that looks neat ^.^;; And, I guess I've had a little guilty pleasure reading stuff about incest... N-not that I would ever... anything like that ._. But stories and stuff like that can be... pretty fun... ~//~;

Siinister: Is having a tail useful?
Lith: Oh, definitely! :3 I dunno how tailless folk keep their balance without them. Plus you can sometimes kinda close a door with it, or nudge things. Once or twice, I even managed to turn my computer on with my tail, but it kinda hurts to poke things too much. I was pretty proud of that. If you think it's hard to keep a straight face, though, it's even harder to keep a straight tail @_@ I tried playing a lil poker in high school, n I had to sit on my tail to even have a chance! Also, clothing is stupid ._. For tails, I mean. Either you're chafing the base, or you have to get pants with a hole in the back, which is a whole nother problem waiting to happen, besides how it's either too big a hole and shows off your butt, or too tight and just keeps chafing anyway. ...Actually, I guess that's pretty much the whole problem there. But yeah o.o Useful, but sometimes annoying!


We closed up questions for Lith here for tonight. From here on are questions for Lithier!

Ominous: What are your big, pie-in-the-sky plans for MVOL?
Lithier: My big goal for this game was, in the beginning, to basically be just a simulator. I would try and get as in-depth as possible with Lith, so that you could really explore him as a person. I'm always thinking on other ways to approach him, but the problem is there's a lot of... overlap, and too much repetition kills the creative process for me. So I've been gradually modifying my goal, partly with my own interests, partly with the suggestions and requests I've been getting from the players. Right now, my big idea for this game is basically to have a game where you progress with Lith according to the rough path you choose to develop him into the kind of person you want him to be-- a fully self-supported and confident member of society, healthy in mind and body; a broken, subservient shell of a being bent on your pleasure, or something in between. This process will take us on a few supernatural trips to places disjointed from the void where you reside with Lith currently, as travel is an important part of personal change. I don't intend for this to be a long game, nor necessarily anything close to CoC in scale-- I want this to be a game that's about Lith and who and what he is, and what he could become. Anything radical beyond that belongs in a different game. I also want this to be a showcase of the best writing I can muster, which is a tall order on this scale, but this is probably part of why I've been having such trouble with it. I'm hoping to get through it with everyone's support, though. And if I can complete this project, or maybe before, I have hopes to start something that's a little more flexible and all over the place like people seem to be wanting. I'll admit I could certainly use some variety of content myself. But MVOL as it stands right now is a decent incarnation of my original intention-- so as far as that goes, I already consider it something of a success.

Kamer: Pepsi or Coke?
Lithier: When I was younger, I was all about Pepsi. It probably helps that new coke tasted terrible. Somewhere along the line, I started going bi, and suddenly-- Vanilla Coke happened. This drink trumps all others, in my opinion. So if we're talking flavored variants, definitely coke. If we're talking original cola, I'm split. If we're talking diet, I prefer Pepsi-- diet coke is trash.

Anon12: A while back you had a poll for features to be added to the game (fetish related); what are the chances of the non-winning kinks making their way into future releases?
Lithier: That poll, as with most of my polls on the MVOL blog, aren't direct controls to what I do-- I take an electoral college approach to it :P I take your votes on the subject, and keep them in mind as I choose where to go, but the final decision comes down to my gut, and where I think I, myself am the most interested-- I've always had the best results writing about things I'm interested in myself, which often includes anything I haven't explored much before. And one of my most common comments in situations like that is something like "I usually don't care for ____ at all, but you made it sound so hot!" Which is think is much more valuable than "I sure do like ____ already, and the way you wrote it wasn't too bad!" I think there's a lot of value in subjecting people to things they generally avoid in a setting where they can learn more about it-- especially how to enjoy it. If they never look at that thing again after, that's fine-- maybe they at least understand the appeal of it a little better now. In this way, I like to believe I'm improving the world a little, tiny bit at a time while indulging my own interests and pleasing you all. So, to answer your question in the most elaborate way, as I am wont to do, being a low-voted item doesn't hurt your chances much. To be fair, I never intended for MVOL to be a big fetish game like CoC, but a more focused game centered on Lith. This does make me suspect a more flexible secondary game could go over pretty well, though...

furrboi: do you plan on turning the 'place' into something?
Lithier: The infinite void that the game takes place in is, in a way, a reflection of Lith's origin as a character. In my experience, two horny people don't need much more than a couch, and a floor to put it on, to have a great deal of fun, and I think that that kind of setting helps focus this game in the way that I'm going for. I do intend to explore the void a little bit, but it's more of a private place, a nexus of thoughts and desires than any kind of canvas awaiting a brush. I've heard a theory I'm going to turn it into a dorm room, and while I find that an interesting thought, it's really not where I'm going with the game right now. Of course, my intentions have changed before, so I couldn't say for completely certain it won't turn into something eventually ^.^;

ShadowWriter: I have been a fan of you for quite a while and someone has probably asked this but, what might be expected should Lith's dominant side ever coem out?
Lithier: Thanks for sticking around! I don't think anyone's asked that in particular-- but lots of folks do seem to be curious. Lith is, to me, a switch-- but he is, to other people, most commonly seen as a sub. He looks like a sub, he acts like a sub, and he sucks cock like a sub. But in the right situation, he'll be happy to turn the tables on you. The funny thing about Lith's dominant side is that he tends to draw a little from what he's seen of others dominating him-- so it can change from time to time, really. But generally, he can become either a sensuous, silently confident lover like we see in Learning Lessons Pt. 5, or occasionally, he can become... aggressive. Of course, this usually requires a partner that's small or weak enough for him to actually take this role, as it can be hard for the little guy to properly dominate someone that can throw him off by shrugging a little too hard. It isn't easy being tiny and adorable!

Th3Ch053n0n3: I just joined the chat, and I'm sorry if you already answered this, but is the next update of MVOL going to include female bits/both?
Lithier: Vagina/nodick is on the way, a lot of it is written into the code, but it involves a whole lote of re-writes and adding more transitions to the code in general. My goal for v0.06 is to have the main challenge trees completed, and I'm going to be focusing on getting that done. Working on vagina/nodick has been a good secondary project to work on when I need some variety, but it's not a priority, so it basically comes down to how much I keep jumping back to it as I work on this. At this point, I'd say it's looking like a one in four chance that it'll make it into v0.06. The odds are against you, but it's certainly not impossible. Sorry to keep you waiting!

Th3Ch053n0n3: And also, are you going to continue To Own a Wolf? I really liked that story
Lithier: To Own a Wolf is definitely one of my most popular series ^.^ I have more planned for it, but as ever, it depends on the readers from here. My personal muse demands of me to always be pushing in new directions, and I love creating new stories altogether, with new characters and settings. So when I have my own choice in it, I'm always pushing something new out. It's up to my dear readers to push me in the direction they want me by commissioning continuations of their favorite works. I'll admit the system hasn't been working so well on that count so far-- my custom sketch commissions have proven much more popular. I'm open to suggestions on that count, but I have to clarify that it is a goal for me to turn my writing into a profitable practice-- one in which sinking all these hours of stress and concentration into a project actually rewards me in a material way. So unless it's profitable to go back to my old stories and expand them, I'm afraid I'll be sticking primarily to the sketch commissions, which always seem to fill up faster than I can write them. I hope we can find a way to make everyone happy talking this over in the days to come ^.^

Th3Ch053n0n3: And another thing, is MVOL written in C++? I know some and would be willing to help.
Lithier: MVOL is written in ActionScript 3.0 to work on Adobe Flash. This is the same language used by Fenoxo over on CoC, and without his work to steal from, I'd never have been able to get started! ^.^;; But in my experience, object-based programming languages share an awful lot, so any proper coding experience may well be helpful, though AS jockies would be the most likely to know what obvious, commonly used tools I've been struggling without this entire time like a luddite. Thankfully, MVOL isn't too coding intensive once you've got the basics of logic down, but I'm always happy to find a new way to streamline things! You can't imagine how relieved I was when I found the switch function... waaaay past when I should have started using it -_-

Th3Ch053n0n3: Do you have an email on your SF page?
Lithier: You know, I probably don't! It's mostly pasted all over my blog: lithiers@gmail.com. Wanna help? Private suggestions or discussion? That's the place. Thanks, folks!


That concluded the interview! If you've still got questions, come join me on Friday for another peek at the code and another interview with the main character and the creator!

Livestreaming done!

 The Livestream is over, thanks so much to everyone that came!

If you're reading this, the Livestream is going on right now. You can come watch at:

www.livestream.com/lithier

Everyone's invited!

Livestream, Friday at 8 EST!

You voted, and it looks like Friday will be the best night after all! I don't know if I should expect forty viewers, but it's nice to see that a fair number of people are interested. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, see the next post down for a full explanation. I'll see you then!

Let's Livestream!

I haven't been very happy with this gap in my production-- when I'd just gotten the blog going properly and everything! There have been a lot of reasons behind my hiatus, some very good reasons, some not so great, but life is settling down (knock on wood) and I'm hoping to get back on the horse.

So, to simultaneously celebrate and enforce my return to MVOL, I'm going to host a Livestream event! For the first time, you'll be able to see the code behind the game you've played-- the code-savvy among you may pick up a few things about how the game is made, and the rest of you will have the chance to see what I'm writing up for v0.06 before anyone else! Plus, if and when I want to take a break from coding, I'll be offering up interviews: ask anything you want of Lith, or of me, Lithier, and we'll do our best to answer. Get to know the silly feline better than ever, and the full transcript of questions and answers will be posted to the blog after for posterity-- so start thinking on good questions!

But when is it happening? That's the tricky question-- one I want to ask you. It will start at eight in the evening EST, or 5 in the afternoon pacific time, and I expect to go three hours, perhaps longer. I know that Friday and Saturday are popular days, but there's also a lot of competition-- so, what night do YOU want to see this Livestream go down? The vote is up through Sunday! Anywhere from this coming Monday the 15th to Sunday the 21st. If this event is successful, I may make it a semi-regular addition to the site!

Show your support for the game. Get your burning questions answered. Get a peek backstage at the game's creation. Force me to write more MVOL! Livestream ho!