General Q&A

Raven_the_Husky

When will be the next Stream or Bonus Story? :3 (Im way to hyped for Echo... Love it so mutch <3)

Howly

You'd better make your decisions wisely, then ;)

Raven_the_Husky

cut out the "or not" and i can die with peace ;*D

Howly

Well, you'd better follow with his route and find out ;) But I think they've still got a shot at a happily ever after...or not, and your English is great!

Howly

That description is actually a bit dated. I believe Bane copy and pasted my pitch to him from almost a year back and a lot has changed since then. I will say that there may not be a singular even that triggers the higher stakes. Instead it will likely vary across the different routes and no, it wasn't Flynn's outburst.

Raven_the_Husky

~~~SPOILER~~~ Is it possible, that Chase and Leo gonna be a couple again? They are sooo cute together and i was so happy when they are doing stuff together ^^ Best part yet is in Leo's Room :*D Ah and sry for my poor English :x im a German :3

Mark Samuels

Last question from me: the front page for this project mentions, and I quote, "Finally, an event is triggered that turns these fears into something much more tangible and dangerous. Chase is now forced into a situation in which he must help his friends either face, or escape their demons. Either way, Echo is not keen on letting them go..." Is this 'event' Flynn's outburst? Or have we yet to reach this point, whatever it may be?

Howly

You will explore many parts of Echo so it might happen!

Howly

Well, comments or suggestions are always welcome. We take then all into account.

Mark Samuels

Will we ever physically go into Echo's mine?

Mark Samuels

Is there anything in particular that you'd like to say to us? Anything you want to ask?

Ryo

Thank you for the reply! That answers my question perfectly.

Howly

That's a hard one. It will last longer than the vacation that they have planned, for sure. As for actual hours of gameplay, I suppose it will last as long as is needed for a good, solid story to be told.

Howly

I feel that a Wiki is more of a fan-driven thing so it's really up to you guys if you want to start one, or not. I would love for it to exist, though! As for a forum...I'll talk to more tech-savvy members of the team to possibly propose that in the future.

Howly

The CG will be removed after we begin implementing Stranj's drawings. Not completely sure if that specific one will be replaced, though.

Ryo

How long do you plan on having the game be? It seems to me like it will be a bit longer than the initial stay of Chase and Jenna's vacation.

Mark Samuels

Would you consider starting a Wiki or perhaps forum-type page for us to get on and use for discussing theories (assuming there's enough interest)?

Since you're going to incorporate the new sprites in the next update, are you going to remove the CG of Chase and Leo from the first demos? Will it be replaced by a new CG?

Howly

Next update, hopefully in less than a week! Along with edits and a rough, new UI.

Howly

We will do a post soon where we'll ask all of our patrons to give us ideas for what they'd like in future milestone goals. That could definitely be one of them!

Howly

Indeed, sometimes VNs feel a bit restrictive with their tropes, and it's a bit stressful to deviate from them because you don't know how the audience will react. We have thought about a neutral "canon" route but, for now, we're focusing on the various character routes. Keep in mind that not all the routes and their various conclusions will end in romance.

Howly

That's a good idea! We might look into putting extra content like that into the VN.

Howly

I would LOVE to do another one, maybe one that's a bit more lighthearted. That's looking a long way off at the moment, but I've had a few ideas.

Howly

You'll get quite a few more! At least a dozen, and then maybe more if you guys are still interested. We're trying to put out at least one every two months, if not one a month. As for the perspective, that depends. You'll likely get a few from the perspectives of all the main characters. The next one is from Flynn's view.

Howly

Stardustpup was our first sprite artist and we gave broad character descriptions to him all at once. He's the one that really designed the characters along with their clothes. As you might have seen, his designs have persisted to the current sprites. I believe he drew Leo first, followed by Carl, Flynn, TJ, then Jenna. As for characters that were cut, I did have an idea for a very sassy/flamboyant fox boy. This became Jenna after we decided we wanted a female dynamic in the game as well. If you dig through Blackgate's Patreon posts for the original Echo pitch, Carl was originally going to be a chubby coyote, but then we realized over half the characters were canine.

Howly

It depends on the scene. There will likely be a chance to choose at least once for all of the characters.

MeekoWolf

One last question: when can we expect the new sprites to be implemented?

Mark Samuels

Would you ever consider during a limited run of physical merch, like shirts, posters, or even 3D-printed figurines (if we're being really wistful)?

So when I first played I thought it was a no-romance choose you're own story thing. So after Flynn's freak out I wasn't thinking with my dick and decided to follow him because I thought I might be able to talk him down and get back into the group - to be the guy that fixes everything, you know? (I mean and then the molestation and I was like "oh whoa this has romance paths huh"). Basically what I'm trying to ask is, after this is mostly done, is there going to be a completely neutral path where Chase doesn't go with one person and instead tries to fix everything and keep the whole group together as friends? I like being the "fixer" of the group... (Dont get me wrong, though, I'm verrry glad that this has romance paths, too).

Will you be creating mini-biographies for the characters? I'd be interested in learning how old they are, along with some information about their background.

MeekoWolf

Another question: Do you guys have any plans for future projects after you've finished this one?

Mark Samuels

Wow, okay, I've got a bunch. Dunno how many I'll ask, but here goes. For starters, do you know how many more short stories we'll get? When will we get them? Whose perspective will they be from?

Seth

In what order were the characters designed/finalized, and were any characters cut?

ObscureBotany

How will the sex scenes play? Are we going to have the option to be top/bottom like the scene with flynn? (that would be lovely by the way), or is it going to be just one option?

Howly

Probably within the next...three updates? We'll see, just know that they're coming! Stranj will be drawing those scenes.

When do you think we'll get some nude scenes?

Howly

THAT is a spoiler and will be revealed in due time, but honestly, why ISN'T he afraid of spiders? They're fucking terrifying! (Actually, if I'm being honest, that's a trait that I pulled from myself. I am ridiculously afraid of the things and if I see one it ruins my day. That memory Chase has of almost driving through his parent's garage door? Yeah, true story from my life.)

Howly

Thank you, and I'd say all of those things! Positive because we've got things on track, finally. Stressed because it's a lot of work on top of school, actual work, etc., and happy because of all the attention the VN has received so far.

Howly

We wanted to keep the cast focused to keep things more intimate, but also add enough variety to keep it interesting. Five seemed a good number to accomplish that. As for personality traits, I suppose we went with the common archetypes you usually see in a cast like this. We're hoping to play those against expectations in the future, though.

Howly

I would say that's a bit of a spoiler, though it will be revealed!

Howly

I would say his head is going to be closer to that of say, a raptor, similar to what you saw in Leone and Dragondrawer's sprites.

Howly

We're leaning towards doing both, though we're not sure which will update first.

MeekoWolf

Have you decided whether you're going to do both Carl's and Leo's route at the same time or not?

Mechwarrior

Have you guys decided what you're going to do with Flynn's new sprite? Will he be keeping the monitor head or are you going for a more anthro look with a flat face?

Chris04

What species is Sydney? I don't think that's been said in the game.

Milkweed Monster

How did you decide on the amount of characters and species of said characters? Or the personality traits of said characters?

Plumm Bum

How are you guys feeling about the whole project? Positive? Stressed out to bits? Happy? :D (i know I'd be feeling pretty good about it, it's great so far! ;) )

afoxbutt

Why is chase so irrationally scared of spiders? :p