Making AI and Organic Feel Different
“I changed modes, but only the pictures are different. I can’t really feel what changed in the content.”
We received feedback that the difference between AI and Organic was hard to feel. The earlier version already had small differences in the things Jua used. In Organic she drank a mysterious green drink, while AI gave her BlueBull. But that alone was not enough reason to check the other mode too.
We Had AI Write the AI Mode Text
We tried exactly what the name suggests: we had AI write the text for AI mode. The writer and another person decided where it should go and what the scene needed to do, then we asked AI to write one side within those boundaries. We thought that having a different writer and editor would naturally give the two versions a different flavor.
The result was not what we expected.
The problem was not that AI could not write. The method of writing one version separately and attaching it did not fit EULA. We wanted the same Jua, going through the same event, to be edited differently. Once the writing process split, even the reasons Jua accepted a situation and the way she responded to other characters started to change.
It was a pretty serious problem when the character started to feel different.
Trying to Add More Differences
So we went back through the player feedback and the existing script. We settled on putting a rival on the other side whenever one mode used a parody. It was not just a name swap; we changed the recognizable lines and behavior too. It was easy to understand and easy to write, so we could apply it right away.
The parody rivals were still one-off jokes, though. We could not force them into every scene, and they were not enough to carry the mode difference across the whole game.
Later in the process, we also split the speakers and content of the short lines that cut into a scene. The same moment might get Koi’s concern or Giraffe’s clear judgment on the Organic side, and Ai’s joke or heckle on the AI side. Sometimes we only changed the speaker; sometimes we added a short line to one side. We did not need to write a whole new scene to change the point of view. The person speaking could do it.
Bringing Back What Had Been Cut
Parodies and one-off lines still did not feel like enough. We had no other answer, so we spent quite a while thinking about it. That was when the idea of uncut scenes came up.
Changing the event or Jua’s personality would make it a different story. Changing a few lines would not give anyone a reason to see the other side. We also considered giving the AI-side Jua more language about efficiency and metrics, but that would make the two versions feel like different people.
Instead of forcing in more new lines, we decided to look again at what we had written and removed. Going through the Git commits one by one, we found that there usually was not a neat deleted draft waiting for us. Lines had been shortened or whole pieces had disappeared while scenes were being revised.
The reasons varied: internal feedback, player feedback, or the writer removing something while checking the final draft.
That did not mean everything removed was boring. Some pieces were too long or wandered away from the main story, but showed more of Jua’s behavior or the strange flavor of a scene. We decided to selectively restore those parts in Organic.
We started with Chapter 0. We picked scenes that had been cut to keep the main story moving, but still showed more of the characters or the mood, and brought those back first.
We did not restore every cut scene. It had to be funny or reveal more about the characters and their relationships, then return naturally to the main story when it ended. Material that conflicted with the story, such as setting errors or repeated explanations, stayed out.
This was not only a matter of adding lines, either. We also had to block mode switching while an uncut scene was playing, return to the shared dialogue afterward, and keep the presentation state from going out of sync when a save was loaded.
Editing the Same Jua Differently
In the end, AI became the clean edited cut, while Organic became the cut that selectively restores funny scenes removed during editing. The same Jua, events, and causal chain remain in place, but changing modes now gives you a real reason to look at the other version.
At first we thought the difference would come from writing a lot of different lines. By the end, we learned that the number of changed lines was not the important part. We needed to keep the same story while giving players a reason to see the other side.
Now, when you change modes, I hope it feels less like “the pictures are different” and more like “so this scene was on the other side.”
We had to rack our brains quite a bit, but we did the best we could with what we had. I hope the change feels worthwhile to everyone who was looking forward to a real difference between the modes, and that the game stays with you for a while.
We wanted to keep the symbolism of having AI write half of it right to the end (we were the ones who regretted losing it most of all...). But games have to be fun... Even though it hurt—really, really hurt—to let it go, we decided not to hold on to it. To everyone who was looking forward to that part, we are truly sorry.
In the next devlog, we'll share the remaining stories from the development process.