VN Ren'Py Dual Family [v1.22.1ce] [Gumdrop Games]

[fotogaik]

He actually lost about ten patrons after it dropped yesterday, but seems to have gained back the amount he had before. Crazy world

I recall Patreon changed the way they report the number of patrons starting this month. They will report the accumulated number of pledges made month to date instead of actual number of subscribers at a given moment. This reflects actual support more accurately.

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From the point of view of somebody who believed gumdrop:

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I find it hard to believe that he intended it to be a scam all the time. Adult games on Patreon were a huge unknown at the time. Now, some devs are raking in huge piles of money, others barely scrape through, but four years ago, it simply wasn't certain that spending all the time, effort, and likely money, on developing the game would ever pay off. And later Patreon changed the rules concerning incest, causing a huge distraction among developers who were suspended. Gumdrop's account was suspended twice and he lost at least two months pledges during that time (you don't auto-renew when a suspension is lifted).
Suspensions aside, Gumdrop set a very unhealthy precedent.
He was the first adult VN creator that went on a hiatus but kept his patrons. All other developers lose patrons when they show no proof of work. Gumdrop was immune to that.

Yeah, those renders of nostrils were really worth of all the $ people put in to it on Steam and then on Patreon.

Sarcasm aside, he does have a point.

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By the way, just looking at the contents of DFX.zip archive:

He didn't even have this pile of crap complete when making the announcement. He literally slapped it together on the morning on 19th. (Mac version was compiled half a day earlier.)

 

[yihman1]

There are some good articles I found on lewdpixels about this situation.

You must be registered to see the links

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[Zellio]

Maybe he came in with good intentions but somebody doesn't just spend 3 years lying, manipulating, and taking peoples money without feeling guilt unless they are a sociopathic manipulator. He's obviously done this before. Take it from me, I manipulate and lie to people pretty well but I'm not enough of a sociopath to steal money for 3 years...

 

[fotogaik]

It's hard to say whether he felt guilty or not. If he did, he certainly should have paused pledges. Maybe to assuage his guilt, he was releasing those "pinup packs" (however worthless they were) pretending they stand in for what people were actually paying?

We'll know soon enough. On February 26th, with two days until end of the month, so people actually have time to cancel, he will either:
a) do nothing
b) do another troll release
c) release something seriously related to DF

If he does nothing, as most of us expect, he'll just lose most, maybe all, of his patrons.
If he does another troll release just to rub it in, ditto.
If he does an actual DF release? No point pondering, since it's not going to happen.

 

[yihman1]

It's hard to say whether he felt guilty or not. If he did, he certainly should have paused pledges. Maybe to assuage his guilt, he was releasing those "pinup packs" (however worthless they were) pretending they stand in for what people were actually paying?

We'll know soon enough. On February 26th, with two days until end of the month, so people actually have time to cancel, he will either:
a) do nothing
b) do another troll release
c) release something seriously related to DF

If he does nothing, as most of us expect, he'll just lose most, maybe all, of his patrons.
If he does another troll release just to rub it in, ditto.
If he does an actual DF release? No point pondering, since it's not going to happen.

The thing is this would not be the first self imposed deadline he has missed:


January 25th, 2019 – Self imposed deadline missed.

September 10th, 2019 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Christmas, 2019 – Self imposed deadline missed.

24th May, 2020 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Summer, 2020 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Christmas, 2020 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Why would the 7th self imposed deadline missed be different from the first 6?

During that time frame he has kept the majority (About 60%) of his peek patreon support.

If a guy walks in on his wife fucking another guy for a 7th time... I mean is it really that last straw that is going to make him break up with her? I know it's not the same thing, but you get what I mean. I'll try another one.

If a kid brings home his report card for the 7th time in a row with an "F" and the first 6 times he didn't get grounded do you think his parents are going to ground him now all of the sudden? Another example for fun...

There is a pitcher in the major leagues. He beans a batter right in the head on his first pitch. The umpire shakes his head, and the batter takes his base... Next up another hit by pitch... Continue this way until 6 batters have been hit by pitch. Do you have confidence that umpire is going to throw the pitcher out of the game on hit by pitch #7?

I'm sure some will drop, but the majority will stay. He even says verbatim: "The story of Dual Family isn’t one I’m very enthusiastic to tell. "

Call that quote from him a clue... Some people are just willingly blind letting hope blind them, or gluttons for punishment that enjoy being a paypig. I'm sure a few people may finally see the light, but I don't think that it's just going to implode over night down to nothing. If it hasn't gotten through to them yet, then it's likely it won't get through to them the next time.

 

[fotogaik]

The thing is this would not be the first self imposed deadline he has missed:

I know. I actually haven't followed this through 2019, only jumped back in in 2020, which is why I ignored those previous deadlines, treated them as implied rather than explicitly imposed.

Why would the 7th self imposed deadline missed be different from the first 6?

Because he actually delivered on the 19th. Not quite what people expected, but nonetheless delivered... something.

Up until the 19th, he could have continued to string people along. Just another deadline missed, but people got used to it, no? They still had hope it would be a serious release. It's no longer an option.

I'm sure some will drop, but the majority will stay. He even says he has verbatim: "The story of Dual Family isn’t one I’m very enthusiastic to tell. "

I don't take anything he says at face value anymore. "DFX" is just as sincere as gumdropgames.net/new/ post was. Or admitting to laziness or hiring people or anything.

Note that he claims to have handed out "lifetime" and "year long" memberships. Whether he did or not is immaterial. He could have handed them out, he could have lied. They're valueless either way.

I doubt he'll release anything serious on the 26th. It's more likely to win the lottery, but I listed it as the third of three separate options: releases nothing, releases another DFX, releases something serious.

It doesn't matter whether he closes his patreon page or continues to accept payments.

I entertained a possibility that he outsourced the development and his developer trolled him by first posting a real finished game and then uploading it to MEGA in his name, claiming it's the finished version and Gumdrop took a vacation.
It would be a possibility if it wasn't for what he did to his patreon page (delete all old posts, change his avatar to a smiley face, and so on).

 

[Deleted member 1150609]

The thing is this would not be the first self imposed deadline he has missed:


January 25th, 2019 – Self imposed deadline missed.

September 10th, 2019 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Christmas, 2019 – Self imposed deadline missed.

24th May, 2020 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Summer, 2020 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Christmas, 2020 – Self imposed deadline missed.

Why would the 7th self imposed deadline missed be different from the first 6?

During that time frame he has kept the majority (About 60%) of his peek patreon support.

If a guy walks in on his wife fucking another guy for a 7th time... I mean is it really that last straw that is going to make him break up with her? I know it's not the same thing, but you get what I mean. I'll try another one.

If a kid brings home his report card for the 7th time in a row with an "F" and the first 6 times he didn't get grounded do you think his parents are going to ground him now all of the sudden? Another example for fun...

There is a pitcher in the major leagues. He beans a batter right in the head on his first pitch. The umpire shakes his head, and the batter takes his base... Next up another hit by pitch... Continue this way until 6 batters have been hit by pitch. Do you have confidence that umpire is going to throw the pitcher out of the game on hit by pitch #7?

I'm sure some will drop, but the majority will stay. He even says verbatim: "The story of Dual Family isn’t one I’m very enthusiastic to tell. "

Call that quote from him a clue... Some people are just willingly blind letting hope blind them, or gluttons for punishment that enjoy being a paypig. I'm sure a few people may finally see the light, but I don't think that it's just going to implode over night down to nothing. If it hasn't gotten through to them yet, then it's likely it won't get through to them the next time.

You perfectly describe the absurdity of so many people even here who are still like "let's wait and see guys...". This is just another brand of denial where you cling to the words of a known liar and scammer as opposed to the overwhelming evidence. They can't accept this is a scam and that it has been one for more than 2 years, because they are too emotionally invested:

https://f95zone.to/threads/dual-family-v0-98-ce-gumdrop-games.1870/page-467#post-2398851

 

[eball360]

• Legacy Dual Family will be patched to its final bug-free version Mar 26th. The legacy version will always be accessible on GumdropGames.net and will contain the original segments of the story.

 

[gunguy1109]

I went over Gumdrop's December update again, and a few lines stood out to me:

• Two months ago, I decided that I want to make a good game. That’s what I’ve been dedicating the totality of my time to since then.
• currently, the story of Dual Family isn’t one I’m very enthusiastic to tell.
• Even if the emotional thread that’s held everything together to this point has been functional, I can’t help but recognize how inaccurate it is to my intent, how much better it could be. For you, to enjoy a genuinely good story. For me, to create a story worth telling, worth continuing and someday, worth finishing.
• The passion for continuing Dual Family wasn’t there and hasn’t been for a long time, not until very recently.
• And the truth is it hasn’t really been my passion at all, even since its inception three years ago. The things I’m passionate about, that I love are music, characters and a good story.
• Music, animation, characters that come with it. I want everything to be true to my intention, not a rushed homework assignment. Not missing marks over and over again because it’s not the story I want to be telling.
• Yet, the development cycle must continue. Release before it’s ready, cut a corner or two. Pull a bedroom, kitchen, entire house off the online store shelf and render because it saves time in the development cycle. Add a nude scene, a titty solely because of it’s compensatory and growth value.
  In fact, throw a sex scene together with Karen, the aunt at the beach and also at the apartment, not because there will be an in-depth follow up or interesting repercussions for something like that, but because such content is a checklist item necessary for a successful release. Not a single chapter so far has escaped this.
• We concluded 8-10 weeks is enough time to build a fully-fledged release with all the content we want, while still existing within a reasonably sized time window.
• This was the only way to accomplish what we all want: for Dual Family to be a good game, and for it to be completed.
• Whether you decide to support or not going forward, all I ask is that you patiently wait for me to create the story I want to make. Not a compromise, not a product, not a rushed preparation. Dual Family will finally be a game I love and hopefully, if you give ‘er a shot, a game you love too.
• The happiest thought in the world to me is to love and be loved by someone. Dual Family is a story about falling out, then falling in love again. I can’t wait to show you that, very much. :]

I think that Gumdrop, at some point (who knows if this was during when the game was actually being developed or in the year-long hiatuses) no longer actually cared at all for Dual Family. Obviously, people in this thread know this since he hasn't been bothering to make the game for years now but seeming as he did develop a good bit of it before stopping, it's fairly plausible to say that he once actually gave a shit but now simply doesn't, with his December update possibly indicating he doesn't even really care for the adult content in the game.

This is an interpretation fairly generous to gumdrop, but this may be his strange way of trying to create something he actually loves (my previous post talking about the stuff he put into the game that he clearly found funny like the skeleton dance and spooky message if you click on a certain decision supports this) from something he fell out of love with. Additionally, going through the game again, the narrator seems to express the totality of--despite anything positive and negative within or around it--L'esperienza: The experience. Perhaps Gumdrop wanted to end this whole debacle by providing something not only enjoyable to himself but something truly unique. "DFX" is a short and strange thing but you can't really argue that anything substantially close to it exists, either in and of itself or with its history.

The change on Patreon reflects this too, in a way. L'esperienza is featured as one of the benefits of his beta access membership level and he even went as far as to change the name of what he was developing. This was almost certainly primarily to protect himself from Patreon's policy (so his patrons can't say they aren't getting what they're paying for, and they're not paying for Dual Family anymore if you look at it), but it's still accurate. He's developing something new, designed to instill people with a distinctive experience.

I don't know if he'll actually release anything on Friday (the fact that he put the second release only one week after the next is weird since he's never done it before. Not sure what it indicates)but even if he doesn't, he's still delivered an unforgettable experience with DFX, as disappointing and as weird as it was.

Or I'm just reading too much into it and his scam has simply transformed into a troll with zero deeper meaning ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's obviously meant to be a troll either way but I'm just fascinated with this whole situation, especially given how small the scale is since this is just a porn game

 

[gunguy1109]

I recall Patreon changed the way they report the number of patrons starting this month. They will report the accumulated number of pledges made month to date instead of actual number of subscribers at a given moment. This reflects actual support more accurately.

--

From the point of view of somebody who believed gumdrop:

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

--

I find it hard to believe that he intended it to be a scam all the time. Adult games on Patreon were a huge unknown at the time. Now, some devs are raking in huge piles of money, others barely scrape through, but four years ago, it simply wasn't certain that spending all the time, effort, and likely money, on developing the game would ever pay off. And later Patreon changed the rules concerning incest, causing a huge distraction among developers who were suspended. Gumdrop's account was suspended twice and he lost at least two months pledges during that time (you don't auto-renew when a suspension is lifted).
Suspensions aside, Gumdrop set a very unhealthy precedent.
He was the first adult VN creator that went on a hiatus but kept his patrons. All other developers lose patrons when they show no proof of work. Gumdrop was immune to that.



Sarcasm aside, he does have a point.

--

By the way, just looking at the contents of DFX.zip archive:
View attachment 1046363
He didn't even have this pile of crap complete when making the announcement. He literally slapped it together on the morning on 19th. (Mac version was compiled half a day earlier.)

Wow, didn't even think to check for that. However, I think it's worth noting that this has probably been in the works--maybe only conceptually--for a long time (at least since his December update, obviously). Him having to provide the voice lines to the narrator to read, translate into Italian, and then voice would have clearly taken a bit. Good find eitherway

 

[Deimacos]

Well, saying it was a scam since the very beginning is hyperbole of course, I'm sure the whole thing did start with the intention of making what it was set out to be, and those first parts were worth for what they were to many, otherwise, this wouldn't have gained as much attention as it did.
Still, the game was released in February of 2017 with the last proper update a year later in 2018, 1 year of development followed by 3 of nothing while receiving funds for it, so even if it wasn't one in the beginning it ended bein one in practice.

Why would the 7th self imposed deadline missed be different from the first 6?

Because it's pretty much the last nail in the coffin, if he fails on that, his patreons will be forced to face reality (I hope at least but after three years is hard to say with those people), if he delivers, well, color me impressed I guess.

 

[akselx]

To put it in the most simple way possible, Gumdrop has transitioned from a scam artist to an artsy scam artist

That's a legit character arc.

 

[peterppp]

By the way, just looking at the contents of DFX.zip archive:
View attachment 1046363
He didn't even have this pile of crap complete when making the announcement. He literally slapped it together on the morning on 19th. (Mac version was compiled half a day earlier.)

That timestamp just tells you when those files were last updated, nothing more. A final fix or update.

 

[cxx]

Because it's pretty much the last nail in the coffin, if he fails on that, his patreons will be forced to face reality (I hope at least but after three years is hard to say with those people), if he delivers, well, color me impressed I guess.

doubt he loses any/many patrons if he again "fails" to deliver update.

 

[peterppp]

Funny thing is that I enjoy listening to some of his music. The music to the 11 min video with the low res skeleton face is pretty good. Reminds me of playing Monkey Island with LeChucks skeletons dancing around. And it finishes with his(?) voice, eerily giving a message to his supporters. Better than any horror movie, because this is real.

Clearly a lot of time was spent putting this release together. I think doing music and stuff like this is his hobby and some of what he spent his time on while watching the money pouring in from his supporters. Then he put some of his stuff together for a release with clues and hidden messages that all say that this is a scam.

 

[fotogaik]

That timestamp just tells you when those files were last updated, nothing more. A final fix or update.

Partially true. The timestamps reveal when the game was compiled before uploading because RenPy creates a directory ready for release which you can then compress and upload. Otherwise they would be identical for PC and Mac versions.

So those were not final fixes, that was the final compilation before making an archive.

Semantics aside, you'd think that if he planned for this "release," he'd have it ready a week or two ago and would have uploaded it a few days before making the link available. No point risking missing the deadline.

Just throwing it out there, if he did hire a team, it could still be an elaborate troll from one of the people he hired, but I don't think it's likely (either/both of these, hiring a team or the work of a troll).

 

[Deleted member 207916]

My honest opinion about this game was generally good at the moment when it was 1st time released. This game is the reason why i created F95 account.I believe that he had genuine and honest thoughts and ideas about this game. Release was every month or so back in the time so no one complained. The game was advertised as real life, choice based game which many people's, including in this site, liked. However, as more people started to pledge and money started pouring in gread and deception started to take a hit. His own team abandoned him after they saw what kind of a person Kyle is. It was during that time that game started to become worse for the last 2-3 releases. And then we know how it all continiued. He falsly advertised the release of part X for couple of times, several missed self imposed dead lines, then remake when no one actually wanted this but instead people simply wanted part X all the way to DFX. He simply lost his tracks and he even indirectly admited that in secret message from DFX. Will he release anything on Feb 26? Idk, maybe. The risk Kyle have right now is to release nothing in which case his supporters might cancel their support. If he release something and it's not good the result could be the same.

 

[peterppp]

Partially true. The timestamps reveal when the game was compiled before uploading because RenPy creates a directory ready for release which you can then compress and upload. Otherwise they would be identical for PC and Mac versions.

So those were not final fixes, that was the final compilation before making an archive.

Semantics aside, you'd think that if he planned for this "release," he'd have it ready a week or two ago and would have uploaded it a few days before making the link available. No point risking missing the deadline.

Wait a minute. You do know we are talking about Gumdrop? Risking missing the deadline? Oh no, his reputation would be ruined.

A final compilation means final fixes, otherwise it wouldn't be a final compilation. You don't compile a thing like this for the first time the morning you release it. I don't see where you are going with this. Making this release took a lot of time. There is nothing strange about the final compilation being done just before release. And no point in uploading it days in advance. You think this is how people releasing updates do it? Think again.

 

[skullker]

Who needs Netflix when you have this thread.

 

[dikdik48]

sorry but since english not my native language,

can i get conclusion about discuss up my comment.

The update is when?
or it will be abandoned forever?
please answer seriously.... i love this game, i mean "we"