Freshmen: Physical Education
The New You Update - Free Public Release Now Available!
It's finally here—the New You Update is now free for everyone to play!
What's in the update
A new Connor, polished new & updated art, and a super hot new game feature! You can expect:
- Over 300 revised CGs—now even hotter than before!
- All new expressions for Connor and several other characters
- The introduction of the new Grind'm hookup scenario feature
- An interactive hookup with Jordi, a character first seen in the Club Update
New Connor
If you've been following the game the past 9 months, you may know I decided to create a new version of Connor to better match the quality of the other characters and to help me with posing issues the first Connor had. After some great input from Patreon patrons, the new model was finalized and is now fully integrated into the game.
Over 300 CGs have been updated, many with improved lighting, posing, and composition—with some of the earlier CGs entirely recreated to integrate what I learned making this game over the past few years.
Alongside new sprites for Connor, some other characters have had minor model updates and have new sprites as well. And using a new, refined post-processing procedure, most of the art has been polished to create a consistent look across the game.
The story itself is the same, but the new art makes it a fresh experience to play through. You'll get an idea of how the game will proceed from here visually—plus you can see New Connor in action via a fun, interactive new game feature.
New Feature - Grind'm
As you played the game, you potentially met many hot supporting characters. Via the new Grind'm feature, you can now unlock fantasy hookup scenarios accessible from the main menu where you can see Connor and one of those supporting cast members in unbridled, explicit action.
The first featured guy is excitable dormmate Jordi, as voted by Graduate Patreon patrons earlier this year. In this scenario, a much more experienced Connor will meet up with Jordi at the gym for a a hot hookup that plays out how you decide. You can choose to focus on topping, bottoming, or sticking to oral only—or change things up midway through.
This scenario adds 68 new CGs to the game showing the two boys getting a really good workout in. You won't be able to see all the CGs in one playthrough, but that just means fresh new CGs are waiting for you if you play again with different choices!
Accessing the new content
Any CGs you've already unlocked will be updated in the gallery, so you can jump straight to browsing the new art. But if you want to experience the game fresh and see the new CGs as you play, look below for tips on clearing the gallery so you can find the images more organically.
For Grind'm, click on the new Grind'm option on the main menu. You'll be taken to a new screen with a "downlow" profile for Jordi that hints at how to find him in the game. Once you meet Jordi in the game, you'll get a pop-up telling you the hookup has been unlocked. Return to the Grind'm menu and click on Jordi's full profile. Check out his profile pics, and then click Message to begin the scenario!
Even if you've already met Jordi in your existing game, you will need to meet him again to unlock his hookup. If you have a save at the start of the club sequence, you can load it up and speed through to the point you meet him. If you don't have a save, follow these steps for the quickest path:
- After Will's class, choose to talk to anyone EXCEPT Alex or Isaiah
- When the option appears, choose to go to the club
- Once inside, choose "See who's hanging out at the bar"
- Once Jordi reveals his name, you'll get the "unlocked" pop-up!
Starting fresh
If you want to start with an empty gallery to unlock the new CGs organically, you can clear the persistent data for the game to reset the locked status for all images. This is relatively simple to do, but be aware that you may lose your saves if you don't delete the correct files. Please note: Only the steps for Windows are ones I've taken myself. The step for finding the first folder on Linux or Mac have come from this website.
- Locate the first folder that contains your saved data:
- Windows: Use File Explorer to navigate to Users/[your username]/AppData/Roaming/RenPy/FreshmenPhysicalEducation
- Linux: Locate ~.renpy/FreshmenPhysicalEducation
- Mac: Locate ~/Library/RenPy/FreshmenPhysicalEducation
- In the FreshmenPhysicalEducation folder, locate the file named "persistent" and delete it
- Locate the area of your computer where the game itself is placed, then navigate to FreshmenPhysicalEducation-0.2.1-pc\game\saves.
- In the saves folder, locate the file named "persistent" and delete it
Important notes:
- On PC and potentially Linux, you must delete the "persistent" file in both places or the persistent data will, well, persist. Mac may only need to delete the first listed file.
- Deleting persistent data also removes the data that tells the game what dialogue you've seen. You won't be able to fast-forward using the Skip option until you see the dialogue anew. You don't need to read it—it'll just take a lot of clicking to skip ahead.
- If you don't see a folder named AppData, that means it's currently hidden. In Users/[your username/ click on the View tab at the top of the window. Make sure "Hidden items" is checked in the Show/hide section. The AppData folder should now be visible.
- It is not necessary to delete any files but the two named "persistent," but if you want to start over with absolutely everything reset, first delete the FreshmenPhysicalEducation folder found in the first step. Then in the games folder where the game itself is contained, delete the saves folder. Only do this if you want to remove all your existing saves!
FAQ
Can I continue the story after Matt's apartment, the frat party, or the club?
Not yet! This is not a story update but rather an interstitial update that adds 300+ revised CGs and the new Grind'm feature.
When will I be able to continue the story?
The next game update, the Morning After Update, was worked on in tandem with the New You Update, but there's much more work needed before it's ready to release. I'll post updates here on Itch as I reach development milestones for the update so everyone can know what progress has been made.
Why has Connor been changed?
The original Connor model was the first character I made for the game before I really knew what I was doing. Ultimately this led to a few problems: Connor wasn't matching the quality of characters added later, and there were many issues with posing him so he looked good. New Connor was designed with feedback from Patreon patrons to match the feel of original Connor while also being a hotter version of himself that's worthy to headline a game.
Why was Grind'm added to the game?
Story updates involve a lot of complexity and can take awhile to create. To tide us over until the story from the main game continues, smaller updates will add fantasy hookups to unlock and play—something sexy to get us salivating for more!
Why is Jordi the first featured guy?
The guys featured in the Grind'm hookups are chosen by Graduate Patreon patrons via three rounds of voting. The majority of the male supporting characters are options and may get a hookup in the future. The next Grind'm guy was voted to be Trevor, NC17's twin brother, and you'll be able to play that scenario in the update following the Morning After Update.
Does a Grind'm hookup affect the story?
Nope! These are purely fantasy scenarios where a future, sexually experienced Connor can hit up guys in or around 21CA to have some hot fun. You can certainly imagine these are "canon" scenarios that take place after the story of the game, though!
What are Grind'm hookups like to play?
If you've had a sexual encounter with Griffin while playing the game, the flow of a full hookup is similar. There is a story introduction, foreplay, and then you'll get the option to top, bottom, or keep on suckin'. A little later you'll get a choice to continue topping, bottoming, or sucking dick, or you can switch to another option. There are 20 different climax CGs to find via the variable paths that represent a variety of different ways to see Jordi blow a load!
How long is the Grind'm hookup?
A playthrough will take around a half an hour depending on how quickly you read the dialogue/inner monologue, if you read it at all. In my opinion, the perfect length of time to relax and have some special alone time 😉
Troubleshooting
You may encounter an error screen saying a variable isn't defined (or something similar). This is due to the way the program the game is made in loads saves, which can sometimes cause things to break. Although nothing story-wise was changed in this update, I did make some minor changes to the backend that unfortunately may cause this.
The only way I know to resolve the issue is to begin a new game and then use the skip feature to get back to the point where you left off. As someone who has had to skip through the game from the beginning many, many, many times, I can say it really only takes a minute or so, so it won't be too much of a hassle. Though of course be aware that if you deleted persistent data as mentioned above, you won't be able to skip!
Other errors
If you encounter other errors, images not loading correctly, story paths not linking correctly, or anything else wonky, I would appreciate if you let me know! This isn't an update that needed extensive testing, but you never know...
I hope you enjoy!
Overhauling the majority of graphics for the game turned out to be a much bigger undertaking than I expected—not surprising since I'm so picky! But I think the results were worth the extended time to make this, and I hope you enjoy seeing New Connor experience the game's events for the first time.
Grind'm was very fun to create, and I think if you're looking for a sexy diversion from the main story, it'll be right up your alley. This also serves as a preview for how future hookups in the main game will play out, since the options will be similar!
Keep scrolling for screenshots showing what's in this update!
Version 0.2.1 is a major overhaul of the art, both CGs and sprites, to bring New Connor into the fold. Original Connor as featured in the releases up through 0.2.0 is officially retired - I'm very grateful for his service up 'til now!
The new model was designed over several months with the aim to capture Original Connor's vibe while making him more visually worthy of being a leading man.
Image updates include improvements to framing, posing, lighting, and post-processing to refine the majority of the CGs in the game, in particular the earliest CGs like the Connor introduction.
Connor isn't the only guy with image updates. Riley is an example of an intro CG updated to match the quality of the later CGs, using all the knowledge I've gained over the past few years.
This update also adds a brand new feature: Grind'm. As you meet new supporting characters in the game, you'll sometimes unlock a fantasy hookup scenario that can be accessed from the main menu.
The hookup includes 68 CGs to uncover via a scenario that's all about the sex. This fantasy version of Connor is much more experienced and goes all the way, with you choosing if he bottoms, tops, sticks to oral, or does a mix.
Graduate Patreon patrons get to choose which guys get a Grind'm hookup, and their first choice was your excitable dormmate Jordi from the Club Update. He's ready and waiting to take on any position you want him to...
Comments
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I am soooo glad to have found this!! Been looking everywhere for a Visual Novel (and a gay one) that is of this quality -- I WILL be supporting you very soon to say 'thank you very much'. I'm just getting started and can't wait to move on with your story.
Thank you so much - I'm glad you found it, too 🙂
Do you have others or know of others like this?
Kind of depends what you're most looking for. The most similar VN to this one is probably Coming Out on Top, which inspired my game. Straight?! is a more introspective game set in college, and it has a lot of fans. On my Itch page there is a "Related Games" link on the top right that'll get Itch to show you more that are similar!
Wait, the things Griffin told you WEREN'T meant to be taken as sneak peeks for future plot twists?
Some of what Griffin says is accurate, some is something he misinterpreted. I don't think anything he said was an out and out lie, but he does like to stir up trouble sometimes, so...
... I'll remember to take that into account in the future.
Hi. Did the stuff I commented to your comment not warrant a reaction, or did you not know how to react to them, or did they just not show up in your notifications? Just so that I'd know what message to take from it. Also, yes, after this one I'm gonna go away until I have a real question to ask.
I rely on email notifications since I don't come to Itch regularly, so I do miss comments if one of their emails doesn't reach me. I usually find them eventually, like the comment below this one and your follow-ups.
Beyond that, if I don't reply right away, it's usually because I saw the message at a time when I wasn't able to craft a response and chose to come back to it later. Some questions/comments are quicker to reply to than others.
For your follow-ups - While I appreciate the idea, I won't be coding Wes as possibly trans via something like chest tattoos because he has a penis but does not have a backstory that would allow him to have had bottom surgery before coming to 21CA. He's from a rural, conservative small town, which informed his reserved personality due to him feeling scared that even just showing a little bit of emotion would give away he's gay. There's no realistic way he could leave that situation, get and recover from bottom surgery, and then go to college in the span of a month. While this is a game that plays a little loose with realism, I still want to keep things grounded.
If I was never going to show Wes naked it wouldn't be an issue, but I have and I will, and as noted in my prior response, I don't want to mislead anyone. It seems very queerbait-y to even vaguely hint at him being trans while knowing he will never be presented as such. I hope that reasoning makes sense.
As for Griffin's comments about Riley, his interpretations of what people say aren't necessarily always accurate...
Hey, it's ok! You're making your own game for your own reasons, you're totally free to do what you want. This whole thing did start with the arm tattoos associating me back to the tattoos that FTMs get to cover bottom surgery scars, but I do agree that without a specific backstory this doesn't really make sense how he was able to get it while going to collage without familial support. And I totally get the feeling that it would kinda be queerbait-y, so you absolutely don't need to do things like that if this is how you think it's gonna end up, I was just making a suggestion that you have every right not to take.
And... Wait, the things Griffin told you WEREN'T meant to be taken as sneak peeks for future plot twists?
Im just wondering if theres any way to actually get Connor having sex, and if you have an idea of when 'tomorrow' will come. (Cannot remember what the next part is called but ykwim)
Do you mean have sex as in full penetration? You can in the Grind'm scenario and you will be able to the next time you have sex in the story. If you just mean sexual situations in general, there are several in the game with Marco, Leo, Griffin, Alex, and Mafia & NC17 as options.
I don't currently know when the next story update will come out, but I'll post on here when I do know.
Okay, so- question. About wes, the pink haired guy from the club- is he supposed to be a trans guy? Because, like, he looks that way, and a lot of trans guys who've had bottom surgery have really tattoos on their arms, so I wondered if you did that on purpose
No, he's not trans. I've already depicted him as a cis man in Patreon galleries and he will likely have a Grind'm hookup showing the same, otherwise I wouldn't state it so definitively and leave it to the reader to decide.
Oh. Alrighty then. Thanks for being nice about it!
Edit: okay I just thought of something- not telling you what to do or anything, make your game however you want to and don't feel bad for not changing anything you don't want to, but if you do want to make it up to interpretation, you can just add a bunch of tattoos on his chest so that by Patreon Canon he just got a bunch more of these but by reader's interpretation there's nothing to prove it's not there to hide surgery scars
Also, on a completely unrelated note: the information about Riley that you can find out by asking Griffin about him is absolute genius storytelling. It literally reframes everything about him. I'm literally playing the "do you have any dark secrets" part now
Hi, I loved the update. I played multiple times with multiple choices. Excellent experience so far. Eagerly waiting for next update. Any expected date of releasing the new version??
The next version will go into early access in a month or two, most likely, but I don't have a set date yet. I'll make a post on here when I have a more concrete timeline.
Loved the new update! Jordi's so hot! Is there any plans to add the Grind'm CGs to the gallery? I'm committed to getting all the CGs and would like some visual proof of that in the gallery haha.
I'm glad you loved it 🙂 I wasn't originally going to add a gallery for Grind'm, but I changed my mind last minute, a little too late to get it in this update. I put in the CG counter at the end of the hookup for now, but an actual gallery will be added in a future update. It'll be accessible from Jordi's profile rather than the main gallery.
WOW