It was a good start and the characters are well made. Perhaps the graphic needs some tweaks but very good for an initial release. I'll be happy to contribute here once there are more contents. Congrats!
The demo is as far as it goes for now. The continuation is currently in development. New versions are released to early access to patrons but will be released for free over time. Thanks for your interest in the game. I have to ask for a little more patience while I work on finishing the next update. But new stuff is coming soon. Hope to see you around!
My only real complaint is the design of the hair. I know it's, arguably, one of the hardest things to model, but the hairstyles chosen lend themselves to looking super stiff and unnatural.
Everything else about the demo is really exciting. I love being able to choose the clothing, pick our main character, pick our roommate, etc. Really excited to see where this leads.
Thanks. Which part of the graphics do you feel need work? (UI, character sprites, etc.) All of these are subject to change, just checking which part you mean.
For me it's not a much of a problem but I do think that Bryce, Noah, and Conner have a "same face" problem. I do see very subtle differences and I don't want them to lose their own esthetic. Its just something I noticed.
I totally get that. It's something I've noticed too and am actively working to improve. Since the characters are generated through a custom character creator that renders both 2D sprites and models for a 3D version, there’s definitely a tendency for them to lean into a similar base look. I’m trying to strike a balance between keeping a cohesive aesthetic and making sure each character stands out visually.
That said, the latest version of the creator already includes more variation, especially around eye shape and lips, and I’m continuing to expand the customization options to help push their individual designs further. The goal is definitely to make Bryce, Noah, and Conner feel distinct, not just in personality but also in their visuals.
Interesting. I actually thought the visuals were amazing. That lighting was really something, their hair and seeing the "peach fuzz" on their skin was impressive.
There was one visual aspect I did find a bit odd. I don't know if it's an issue with the perspective of the scene, or the mesh/model or if it's just me, but some of the characters looked a bit weird in some scenes. Like here, Louis' proportions look a bit out of place. His right shoulder looks like it might be "popping out" a bit too far. But again, it could just be me or the perspective of the scene. I think I also noticed similar things on a couple more moments.
Glad you liked it! I think your spot on with the perspective in addition to the shoulder being a bit to far forward. I think in general I’ve opted for a high FOV to fit multiple poses into a specific camera shot, resulting in a lot of perspective distortion in some shots. Might have to look into more distinct perspectives to handle those extreme cases. Coincidentally that screenshot also seems to have a misplaced speech bubble :/ I guess I’ll iron all those bugs eventually... One more down, thanks for catching that.
I tried to play this but after just a few seconds I absolutely couldn't stand it.
max volume racking clacking for every single character of text. Music slider doesn't control it, Sounds slider doesn't control it, and voice doesn't control it either. Only way to get rid of it is to mute everything..
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Seems like the renpy documentation has wrongly labeled sound channels. Uploaded a hotfix just now. You should be able to adjust volume via the "voice" slider now. Though you are not missing anything muted for now either. There aren't any other sound effects in this demo, yet.
An option to entirely remove that irritable racking sound for every text character that appears would be extremely helpful if you plan on adding voices later. I doubt I am the only person that would find it highly distracting.
I love how you get to choose how dressed you are and how you look. And the visuals are really nice. I hope the customisablilty isn't to hard to work with, cause i love it.
Thank you! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the customization and visuals. I’ve been developing tools to make it more manageable, so I’m hopeful it’ll stay feasible while keeping the flexibility.
This is looking really cool so far. However, as someone else commented, I'm also a little bit worried the large amount of variability could become too much to develop.
But hey, I'm rooting for you! If you can pull this off, that would be amazing!
Also, I liked seeing choices in this project, unlike AoT (don't get me wrong, I still love that game too). I'm not saying you need to go crazy with the choices down the line and end up making like three different games. But even some choices that just change some flavor text can already give the player a feeling of agency.
Anyway, I'm exited to see where you go with this. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. :)
Thanks so much for the feedback! I totally get the concern about complexity. It’s something I’m always mindful of, both in terms of development time and making sure everything stays manageable. That said, I’m still hopeful about pulling this off!
One thing that’s actually helping is my switch to a 3D version of the game. It might sound counterintuitive, but developing tools to speed up my workflow has made customization a lot more feasible directly translating from Blender to the game engine. In the Ren'Py version, pre-rendered 2D sprites actually slowed things down since some steps had to basically be done twice. With the 3D version, that’s no longer an issue, and it opens up even more possibilities for customization.
Android performance is one potential hurdle, but since AoT’s tech demo runs okay-ish on a seven-year-old device, with some focused optimization efforts I’m optimistic it’ll be doable. I don’t want to drop Android support because of the large player base, but if I ever had to stick with the Ren'Py version as a worst-case scenario, customization might just be slightly reduced. (Probably more fixed outfit options instead of fully modular clothing)
As for the branching, later storylines will indeed converge more than the demo intros, with some key character-specific moments alongside common events, instead of fully separate paths. So while there’s a lot to do, I’m super excited to keep testing things out and refining it all. (Hopefully not too far in the future) Thanks again for the encouragement. It really means a lot! Hope to see you around for the journey. 😊
Interesting so far, and great looking characters. Am slightly concerned with them all being twinks (not exactly the bodytime frats conjures to mind, lol), but will keep an eye on the project.
Thanks for the feedback! I see your point about them feeling like the same type. Just a couple of things that might help ease your concerns:
The concept behind the frats is to represent different stereotypes of male groups. Once you get the chance to join a frat in the game, you'll see a variety, from nerdy guys to beefy jocks, based on your preferences. While the game includes traditional frats, it also explores a broader range of male stereotypes in a fraternity setting both visually and in their storylines.
The six characters revealed so far were consciously designed as first-years, visually distinct from older frat brothers and legacy members. I can see how that might not be to everyone’s liking, though. To address that, another aspect I’ve been working on is a 3D game version. This version will include a character creator, allowing you to design your own player model to your liking. I’ve been previewing it in this public Patreon post for my first project Arena of Thebes https://www.patreon.com/posts/tech-demo-arena-124938345
Given the great reception to FratUniversity I’m now tempted to try out a 3D version for it sooner than previously planned.
I hope this will cater to as many preferred visuals as possible and give players the freedom to shape their own playthroughs to their liking.
Thanks! It's going to be mostly dependent on your chosen interest with some being more fixed into one position and others more flexible where you can choose both.
I'm loving this new project you work on, it's more to my taste than the other one (which is good, I won't lie). I hope to see more of this game soon since it has so much potential!
Thanks, it has been a result of comments on Arena of Thebes which has been my first ever project giving me lots of stuff to learn and improve on. So I'm glad its getting your positive feedback. Both projects should be able to benefit from the new mechanics and dev pipeline with crossover events tying them together. You can definitely expect more content directly and indirectly connected to FratUniversity.
Nicely made and rendered. But how are you going to keep it with so many variations? The amount of images will grow exponentially when you allow so much variativity.
Thanks for the feedback. This has been primarily been to test the limits on how much variety is possible. To that end I've developed several solutions to make it possible. Through scripts in blender to automatically switch out clothes and characters and stacking individual images in renpy with tight naming conventions the amount of images actually scales closer to linearly rather than exponential. That being said there were still edge cases where manual editing was needed, which is why I'd probably prefer the additional switch to a 3D engine for full variations on desktop and slightly less variation on renpy builds for mobile in future versions.
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It was a good start and the characters are well made. Perhaps the graphic needs some tweaks but very good for an initial release. I'll be happy to contribute here once there are more contents. Congrats!
Hey so amazing how l gey full switch game apk without demo l wonder l must buy pay game l hope you reply me we love your work stay game never give up
The demo is as far as it goes for now. The continuation is currently in development. New versions are released to early access to patrons but will be released for free over time. Thanks for your interest in the game. I have to ask for a little more patience while I work on finishing the next update. But new stuff is coming soon. Hope to see you around!
Ok no problem
My only real complaint is the design of the hair. I know it's, arguably, one of the hardest things to model, but the hairstyles chosen lend themselves to looking super stiff and unnatural.
Everything else about the demo is really exciting. I love being able to choose the clothing, pick our main character, pick our roommate, etc. Really excited to see where this leads.
The story is amazing, though the graphics NEED work.
Thanks. Which part of the graphics do you feel need work? (UI, character sprites, etc.) All of these are subject to change, just checking which part you mean.
For me it's not a much of a problem but I do think that Bryce, Noah, and Conner have a "same face" problem. I do see very subtle differences and I don't want them to lose their own esthetic. Its just something I noticed.
I totally get that. It's something I've noticed too and am actively working to improve. Since the characters are generated through a custom character creator that renders both 2D sprites and models for a 3D version, there’s definitely a tendency for them to lean into a similar base look. I’m trying to strike a balance between keeping a cohesive aesthetic and making sure each character stands out visually.
That said, the latest version of the creator already includes more variation, especially around eye shape and lips, and I’m continuing to expand the customization options to help push their individual designs further. The goal is definitely to make Bryce, Noah, and Conner feel distinct, not just in personality but also in their visuals.
Thank you for pointing that out, it was grainy on my end even though have a gaming laptop.
Interesting. I actually thought the visuals were amazing. That lighting was really something, their hair and seeing the "peach fuzz" on their skin was impressive.
There was one visual aspect I did find a bit odd. I don't know if it's an issue with the perspective of the scene, or the mesh/model or if it's just me, but some of the characters looked a bit weird in some scenes. Like here, Louis' proportions look a bit out of place. His right shoulder looks like it might be "popping out" a bit too far. But again, it could just be me or the perspective of the scene. I think I also noticed similar things on a couple more moments.
Glad you liked it! I think your spot on with the perspective in addition to the shoulder being a bit to far forward. I think in general I’ve opted for a high FOV to fit multiple poses into a specific camera shot, resulting in a lot of perspective distortion in some shots. Might have to look into more distinct perspectives to handle those extreme cases. Coincidentally that screenshot also seems to have a misplaced speech bubble :/ I guess I’ll iron all those bugs eventually... One more down, thanks for catching that.
Really good introduction! Definitely excited for the next part of the story :)
I tried to play this but after just a few seconds I absolutely couldn't stand it.
max volume racking clacking for every single character of text. Music slider doesn't control it, Sounds slider doesn't control it, and voice doesn't control it either. Only way to get rid of it is to mute everything..
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Seems like the renpy documentation has wrongly labeled sound channels. Uploaded a hotfix just now. You should be able to adjust volume via the "voice" slider now. Though you are not missing anything muted for now either. There aren't any other sound effects in this demo, yet.
An option to entirely remove that irritable racking sound for every text character that appears would be extremely helpful if you plan on adding voices later. I doubt I am the only person that would find it highly distracting.
I love how you get to choose how dressed you are and how you look. And the visuals are really nice. I hope the customisablilty isn't to hard to work with, cause i love it.
Thank you! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the customization and visuals. I’ve been developing tools to make it more manageable, so I’m hopeful it’ll stay feasible while keeping the flexibility.
This is looking really cool so far. However, as someone else commented, I'm also a little bit worried the large amount of variability could become too much to develop.
But hey, I'm rooting for you! If you can pull this off, that would be amazing!
Also, I liked seeing choices in this project, unlike AoT (don't get me wrong, I still love that game too). I'm not saying you need to go crazy with the choices down the line and end up making like three different games. But even some choices that just change some flavor text can already give the player a feeling of agency.
Anyway, I'm exited to see where you go with this. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. :)
Thanks so much for the feedback! I totally get the concern about complexity. It’s something I’m always mindful of, both in terms of development time and making sure everything stays manageable. That said, I’m still hopeful about pulling this off!
One thing that’s actually helping is my switch to a 3D version of the game. It might sound counterintuitive, but developing tools to speed up my workflow has made customization a lot more feasible directly translating from Blender to the game engine. In the Ren'Py version, pre-rendered 2D sprites actually slowed things down since some steps had to basically be done twice. With the 3D version, that’s no longer an issue, and it opens up even more possibilities for customization.
Android performance is one potential hurdle, but since AoT’s tech demo runs okay-ish on a seven-year-old device, with some focused optimization efforts I’m optimistic it’ll be doable. I don’t want to drop Android support because of the large player base, but if I ever had to stick with the Ren'Py version as a worst-case scenario, customization might just be slightly reduced. (Probably more fixed outfit options instead of fully modular clothing)
As for the branching, later storylines will indeed converge more than the demo intros, with some key character-specific moments alongside common events, instead of fully separate paths. So while there’s a lot to do, I’m super excited to keep testing things out and refining it all. (Hopefully not too far in the future) Thanks again for the encouragement. It really means a lot! Hope to see you around for the journey. 😊
Interesting so far, and great looking characters. Am slightly concerned with them all being twinks (not exactly the bodytime frats conjures to mind, lol), but will keep an eye on the project.
Thanks for the feedback! I see your point about them feeling like the same type. Just a couple of things that might help ease your concerns:
The concept behind the frats is to represent different stereotypes of male groups. Once you get the chance to join a frat in the game, you'll see a variety, from nerdy guys to beefy jocks, based on your preferences. While the game includes traditional frats, it also explores a broader range of male stereotypes in a fraternity setting both visually and in their storylines.
The six characters revealed so far were consciously designed as first-years, visually distinct from older frat brothers and legacy members. I can see how that might not be to everyone’s liking, though. To address that, another aspect I’ve been working on is a 3D game version. This version will include a character creator, allowing you to design your own player model to your liking. I’ve been previewing it in this public Patreon post for my first project Arena of Thebes https://www.patreon.com/posts/tech-demo-arena-124938345
Given the great reception to FratUniversity I’m now tempted to try out a 3D version for it sooner than previously planned.
I hope this will cater to as many preferred visuals as possible and give players the freedom to shape their own playthroughs to their liking.
Looks great nice work on the game, can we choose to top or bottom ? or isn’t does depend on what love interest we choose ?
Thanks! It's going to be mostly dependent on your chosen interest with some being more fixed into one position and others more flexible where you can choose both.
ok thx u for replying and ur hard work on the game
I'm loving this new project you work on, it's more to my taste than the other one (which is good, I won't lie). I hope to see more of this game soon since it has so much potential!
Thanks a lot. Doing my best to get a new update out as soon as possible.
I personally like this new project (FratUniversity) better than your other projects. I hope you will continue to work on this project more.
Thanks, it has been a result of comments on Arena of Thebes which has been my first ever project giving me lots of stuff to learn and improve on. So I'm glad its getting your positive feedback. Both projects should be able to benefit from the new mechanics and dev pipeline with crossover events tying them together. You can definitely expect more content directly and indirectly connected to FratUniversity.
Nicely made and rendered. But how are you going to keep it with so many variations? The amount of images will grow exponentially when you allow so much variativity.
Thanks for the feedback. This has been primarily been to test the limits on how much variety is possible. To that end I've developed several solutions to make it possible. Through scripts in blender to automatically switch out clothes and characters and stacking individual images in renpy with tight naming conventions the amount of images actually scales closer to linearly rather than exponential. That being said there were still edge cases where manual editing was needed, which is why I'd probably prefer the additional switch to a 3D engine for full variations on desktop and slightly less variation on renpy builds for mobile in future versions.