OR: Several of the more unique parts of Japanese culture, such as Enjo-Kosai (a/k/a ‘compensated dating’) and various methods of bullying (like leaving flowers on a student’s desk as though they were deceased), are included in the game. How do you decide what aspects of Japan to include or not include in the game and how do you balance that against still making the game accessible to players who might not have heard of these things before? Do you prefer to lean one way or another?
YD: I’m strongly leaning towards the idea of delivering an “authentic Japanese high school experience”. I don’t feel a very powerful desire to make the game accessible to anyone who isn’t familiar with Japanese culture. The only times when Yandere Simulator won’t reflect accurate Japanese high school life are the times when it would be inconvenient for fun game design or a fun gameplay experience.
In short, Yandere-chan is always insane, 100% of the time.
OR: In order to be able to focus 100% of your time on developing the game, you set up a Patreon account. It has been incredibly successful, and you have (as of 1/31/15) 912 patrons. How does it feel to have such support? Do you feel any pressure to continually update both the game and your creator posts on Patreon as a result?
YD: It feels wonderful to know that so many people are willing to support Yandere Simulator’s development! It’s simultaneously a blessing and a curse, because although it’s fantastic to be compensated for my efforts, I also feel as though I have to do everything in my power to make sure that I never disappoint anyone who is contributing to the game financially. Every time I sit down to play a video game or watch an anime, I think to myself, “What if the Patrons could see me now? They’d be so disappointed in me!” and I immediately get back to work.
OR: Why did you choose to initially go with Patreon instead of Kickstarter or IndieGoGo?
YD: A lot of people are very skeptical towards Kickstarter fund-raising campaigns because of certain people who failed to deliver on their promises on the past. I’ve decided not to launch a campaign via Kickstarter or Indiegogo until Yandere Simulator has reached a very respectable point in its development, so that nobody lumps me in with the scam artists and the disappointments.
OR: On multiple occasions, you reached out to the fan community at large to help you make decisions about topics such as changing the game’s title to LoveSick or to vote on how they would like to see you speed up game development to get the game finished quicker. How seriously do you take these poll results? What led you to decide to allow the community be involved in such large decisions as the final game title?
YD: Sometimes, the purpose of a poll is to determine whether or not the game’s fanbase would be opposed to an idea. The purpose of the “Should I add a small town?” poll was to find out if the fans would get upset at me if I added a small town. The purpose of the “Should I re-name the game?” poll was to find out if the fans would reject the idea of changing the game’s name. The purpose of the “How should I speed up the game’s development” poll was to find out what kind of decisions would anger the fans.
Now, I know that people are open to the idea of a small town. Now, I know that people are open to the idea of changing the game’s name. Now, I know that people are open to the idea of a Kickstarter campaign. These polls tell me very valuable things about public opinion, but don’t necessarily dictate my next immediate course of action.
I didn’t instantly begin work on a small town, instantly re-name the game, or instantly launch a Kickstarter campaign upon viewing the poll results. The purpose of those polls was to find out what my options were, and what courses of action were not open to me.
OR: In addition to your Patreon, you maintain a YouTube account. In one YouTube video, Yandere Simulator: Past, Present, and Future, you list out a rough timeline of how long it will take to add various features to the game. One of the most mysterious features listed, and one will take the longest to include in the game, is “SNAP” mode. What exactly is “SNAP” mode?
YD: This is an answer that I would prefer to “show” rather than “tell”. I would like to reveal SNAP mode with a video rather than with text. I’m actually worried about how people will respond to SNAP mode, because what I’m planning is drastically different than what most people theorize it will be. That’s the only hint I’m willing to provide!
OR: One of the most unique aspects of this game is Yandere-chan’s sanity meter. How does her sanity play a role in this game? Is there a way to bring her back ‘from the brink’ if she starts to lose her grip far too much on reality?
YD: In short, Yandere-chan is always insane, 100% of the time. Her sanity does not rise or fall. Instead, what rises and falls is her current level of composure; her current ability to hide her true nature. As Yandere-chan performs acts of cruelty, her composure will slip, and her true face will begin to show. While she is visibly insane, other characters will be frightened by her, and her killing animations will take much longer to play out. Depending on the player’s current goals, these two things can drastically change the moment-to-moment gameplay.
