SPICY DEVELOPER INTERVIEW: GLADIUS WRITING

Sunwave Hotel is in our opinion a very underrated adult game, it has superb art, really great writing and a decent amount of content in both gameplay and adult part. This is why we picked it as our latest adult game of the month. Now we were interested to learn more about the game so we had a talk with Gladius Writing the lead dev of the game about the game, the development the struggles and the future of Sunwave Hotel.

1. Can you tell us more about the story of Sunwave Hotel? How did you come up with it?

So I was working on a fantasy game, that had the two characters, Xun and Kuhno. But it wasn't going anywhere and I started thinking about a sci-fi game. Then, the pandemic kind of rolled in, and I figured, well I bet everyone right now could use more like 'tropical vacation' games. I know I think about just being on a beach somewhere when I get a little overwhelmed, and the idea kind of grew from there.

2. Tell us more about the planet and the tropical islands. How come so many different aliens live there?

So the planet is kind of, unnamed, but so far we have Lowoswah Island and Onakinii Island. Lowoswah is meant to be more of an idealyic, chill island. It's primary focus is kind of a place where retired folks go, which I think made for a strange introduction place, especially for a couple of intergalactic crooks. Onakinii is more cyberpunk focused, with a megacorp, a smuggling cartel and a mystic alliance vying for control.

There are a lot of different aliens because some species (mostly the aquatic ones) evolved on the planet, and others came to the planet because it's this beacon of liberty and independence in the greater universe. I think I push for variety because some sci-fi movies and shows just use Humans and that feels so boring after a while. More alien babes! Always more.

3. How long has Sunwave Hotel been in development? How did it all start?

Ooof. I am bad with keeping track, but I would say proper develpoment started around 2020.

4. Are you a solo dev, or do you have help creating the game?

I am the project director and writer but I have a coder and various artists who help me bring the game to life. I don't have what you'd say is a regular publisher, but I have joined with Tiny-Hat studios to improve the game's promotion. The biggest assistance I get in creating the game is the support of my awesome Patrons.

5. Where are you from (can be a broad answer)? What did you do before developing adult games?

I am from California in the United States. I did my schooling for something completely different than writing adult games, but I was actually writing adult fiction from pretty early in my college days. While writing, I worked retail and never want to go back there again haha.

6. What led you onto the path of creating adult games?

So I was doing adult fan fiction, more as a hobby. It was kind of this curious thing that I had fun doing. I had a few clients commission me, and then Kaliyo of Roundscape reached out to me. It was just small work, and then the main writer dropped off and I took on more work. I finished off the main story of Roundscape, and ended up being a co-creator on Arenus. 

7. Would you like to tell us about the influences various books/games have had on the development?

Oooh. There is definitely some Star Wars and Monkey Island in the mix. The second island was meant to be kind of like, Fallout New Vegas factions meets Cyberpunk2077Lite, mixed with a tropical setting. I couldn't point to a specific book, but the ideas and themes of shows like Breaking Bad appeal to me, in that sense of like, that line where a person fully embraces a criminal dark side. Are they stuck on that path once they do? Or can they be redeemed.

8. What does the process of creating new characters look like? Can you show us an example of how you do your art? Do you maybe have any early sketches??

Haha. Seeing this question, my brain just kind of went blrrgh. I often tell my friends that the stuff I love most of all is creating characters, and the stuff I hate most of all is creating characters.

We are lucky, I can send a bunch of Kuhno's early concepts. I should say these are all done by talented artists. I'm only good for rough sketches 😊

You can see some of the early stuff, and my little rough instructions.

Somewhere along the lines I need to use her colors from image 4. I always liked that set.

9. Is Kuhno actually good with the sword?

Haha. I think we should leave that as a little mystery. It definitely seems important to her.

10. As this is an adult game, what, in your opinion, is the hottest scene in the game? (you can send a picture of it, we won't mind 😉).

That is a hard one. It is hard to pick a favourite, but definitely one of the hottest is the second Corsoni scene. There are a lot of elements, just in the like, scene itself, but also with Corsoni herself because her personality is one of the ones I'm always like, okay are we getting this right? So when I saw the images for that scene, I was like yes! Bullseye!

11. Are there any particular fetishes that you're excited to introduce in the game?

I think more toy related stuff would be fun. I see a lot of art with like anal plugs, and vaginal vibrators, being left in while someone is out in public, and someone else has a remote. I think those both have a lot of potential.

12. Sunwave hotel has animations, how long does it take to make an animated scene? Any tips you would share on how to approach creating animations?

Well they would usually take about a month. Unfortunately, my animator has dropped off as far as I can see. My hope is that as the game grows, I'll have the funding to finish animations for the rest of the scenes. Each scene is layered in a way to make them animated, so there is still hope.

16 How long does it take for you to produce an update? Do you follow any steps, or do you have more of a go-with-the-flow kind of approach?

So for just the writing side, I can usually get the material for a solid update done in 1-1.5 weeks of work. So figure, 60-80 hours? It's kind of hard to box it up, I don't usually keep track. I have become better about following a step by step approach that starts with a list of what I need to do, then outlining, then drafting, then editing.

17. Can you talk more about the upcoming content? What can we expect in the future?

So right now the main focus is on finishing the faction storylines for Island 3. By the time the game is done, players can pick between three factions, and of course, they can end up switching between them, even backstabbing and betraying some as they make the switch.

Then we will have a big story moment to cap the action in Island 2 as we transition to Island 3. I won't spoil it here. The plan is all set up for Island 3, it will just need to be fleshed out. So we will have a lot more story and action, and of course, we'll have the big choices that will lead players to get one ending or another. I think we're set at the moment to have at least 3 potential endings, and smaller like... just character developments, I'd guess you'd call them.

Also, the game will be making it's way onto Steam Early Access in 2023. It's pretty awesome that if I wanted to I could hit a switch put my game that I made onto the biggest gaming platform out there. If anyone is interested, they should find it on Steam and add it to their Wishlist.

18. Which aspect of Sunwave Hotel improved the most since when you started the development? If you were to go back in time, would you do anything differently? Do you identify with any of the characters portrayed in the game?

I think my biggest issue is I tend to overwrite. So I think that keeping stuff a little more short and sweet has been my biggest improvement. The quality of the UI and other like... menu related stuff has improved a lot thanks to our coder.

If I could go back, I'd probably just go with Renpy because I think that would make things a lot easier. I would also lock the cast to ten characters max. I love making new characters, and each will play a part in the game, but sometimes, having 38 characters makes me feel like I'm in early Simpsons territory O_o. So yeah, less is more, and my next game, I will at least start off with a smaller vision in mind.

I identify with several of the characters, but I'll keep which ones to myself.

19. How much do you pay attention to the feedback from the fans? Do player expectations play a huge role in your planning for the next update?

I am always on the lookout for feedback from my fans because even though the scale of this project is small compared to say Call of Duty or Cyberpunk 2077, I still want to make it as good as I can. I love getting people involved in the scene planning, but many are more silent and supportive partners. They have voted before on what characters get new scenes, and they have helped form the side quest that will be going on in Island 3.

20. Sunwave Hotel seems a very underrated game for some reason. What are some of the struggles you have been facing while developing the game?

I think I can go over the two big ones. The first is kind of... not burnout or feeling rundown, but just kind of... apathy and boredom. Working on the same thing for 2 years, I think it can just take a lot out of you, which isn't to say it's not good, it can just feel like, you're stuck in a rut. Anyone who tells you that indiegamedev is easy doesn't know what they're talking about haha.

So yeah, just keeping the energy, hoping that you're not crazy for doing what you do, I think that is one of the hardest things.

The second biggest issue I think is just the visibility of erotic games. We kind of struggle to emerge to the general audience for obvious reasons, and then I think SH is overlooked because a lot of people right now are looking more into 3d games, or games that use a existing universe/series. All respect to both of those types of games, but I think it can be much easier to gain attention if you fall in those two categories.

21. How has your experience been in the adult gaming industry so far? What are the top advantages and disadvantages you’ve come across so far?

It's a really strange beast. I've been a part of it for 6 years now. I think one of the coolest things is just seeing how it evolves, because we have a lot of factors going against us, like payment processor issues and the like. But it's really a wild ride, and so cool meeting like-minded people and building your reputation. I think that's the biggest advantage. I think it would be hard for me to standout as a writer among AAA games, let alone to just get my foot in the door, but in the adult gaming industry, that is not the case, and I'm very fortunate for that.

22. Do you play adult games often? If so, which ones are your favourites currently? Any recommendations?

Less than I used to. I think recently the one I played the most was Being a DIK. It's pretty solid and I find myself always wanting to play more of it. Plus, it has a lot of different decisions and girls, so I've literally ended up reloading an old save because I wanted to go in and make a alternate version where I handled things different. I think it's one of the top tier games in the industry.

23. What is/are your advice(s) for the new developers? Any tips on what should be the first thing when starting?

Plan. Plan! PLAN! Do you see the pattern? I think one of the biggest issues I've seen is feature creep, where there isn't really a solid vision for the game and that can just doom a production faster than a lot of other things. It can suck, because I think many people struggle against wanting to write out, okay this is how the game ends, but I think it's a very important step to have a outline that works as a guide.

Communication is also really important. And that's a two way street with you and the people you work with. I've been very fortunate to enjoy that with the people involved in Sunwave Hotel's Production.

24. What game would you like to see as our game of the month?

I'm not the best person for an answer to that question, but I'll give a shout-out to Cyber Owl Games, the creators of Cyber Rift, another cool sci-fi adventure in development.

25. Have anything to say to the members of Spicygaming? Now is your chance 😊

Thank you so much for this honour and this opportunity. It truly means a lot to me and I really hope that you guys enjoy the game and continue to grow. The adult game industry needs it's own IGN and news websites and I've been rooting for SpicyGaming since it came on my radar!

Keep fighting the naughty fight!

Cheers to everyone who stopped by <3

SUNWAVE HOTEL HAS A FREE TO PLAY VERSION!
Try it and if you like it, buy or support it!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEVELOPERS IN OTHER INTERVIEWS WE DID