Interest in Role Reversal (or femdom "lite")?

[Mikethe3DGuy]

I'm usually disappointed by femdom games. The stories seem contrived, driven by women you don't find in the real world, that are more like cartoon villains than anything else. Sometimes I can get into that, but often it leaves me unsatisfied. I'd prefer women with more common drives, for power, money and control. They look at men as tools to satisfy those urges and reach their personal goals. They might get off on bending men to their will, and even demeaning them sometimes, but it's not their reason for existence.

I'm trying to gauge the interest for this kind of game. I'm working on one right now. It's my first game, and initial release target is August. So yes: I'm trying to drum up interest as well. I'm not really much of a gamer myself, but trying to understand it as much as possible. I'm more of a story and 3D artist kind of guy. Typical Daz artists create single, static images, but without a story those bore me. I think I'm a pretty good writer - this game began as my first shot at novel writing. But as I wrote it felt like it would be better as a visual novel, and since I've been doing Daz for many years it was an easy transition for me. One of my challenges is providing opportunities for the player to make decisions that will affect the outcome. I have to be careful not to over-extend myself my first time out, but it's clear that "kinetic novel" is the kiss of death.

There are elements of femdom as they can fit within the story to try and bridge the gap between "compelling adult story" and "femdom wankfest", but making it a male-domination vending machine is not the goal.

Development of this (The Alpha Gender) has been happening over on Patreon for a while. I was starting to get frustrated at the slow pace of rendering, so I just ordered an RTX 3090 GPU to speed things up. Entirely too many scenes that had to be rendered via CPU.

Interested in any feedback or discussion that ensues.

 

[randomguy]

The stories seem contrived, driven by women you don't find in the real world, that are more like cartoon villains than anything else.

I feel like this applies to the vast majority of games on this platform. This especially hurts games that are set in an "every-day" scenario. The main factors for whether I enjoy a game, besides if it's to my tastes/fetishes are the characters and the world.

If it's a regular everyday world, i.e. no supernatural forces to drive any sort of plot then for me the characters need to be very grounded and realistic. I find these types of games on f95zone to be the weakest in the writing department, as characters are often either bland or completely nonsensical and there's no middle ground. If it's an everyday world scenario the characters need to be relatable, someone you can imagine yourself knowing IRL.

I prefer alternate world type games like desert stalker for that exact reason, I can much more easily imagine the people in that scenario acting the way they do because of the world their in, but for that to work the world needs to be a little fleshed out and ofcourse compelling.

I got sidetracked a bit but I guess what I'm saying is if you make the game good I'll check it out lol, best of luck!

 

[Deleted member 229118]

My personal haterd for femdom aside.

I think your game could draw a decent amount of players.
Mostly because people are tired of the same old game in a new skin.

If i read it right your idea is to create a femdom game without the useall:
Lets degrade the man.
And more of a:
I am your boss and you can get a raise being my fuck toy kinda story.
Focusing more on the power difference between the two then just putting him into bdsm gear and walking him around like a dog.

It would be a refreshing change.
Mind you i woudnt play it.
Only femdom i allow is when its a woman dominating an other woman for her men or as part of the bitchbreaking ritual where she learns her place.
Still.
Sounds like above avarage writting.
As you said few games are written believeable.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

I feel like this applies to the vast majority of games on this platform. This especially hurts games that are set in an "every-day" scenario. The main factors for whether I enjoy a game, besides if it's to my tastes/fetishes are the characters and the world.

If it's a regular everyday world, i.e. no supernatural forces to drive any sort of plot then for me the characters need to be very grounded and realistic. I find these types of games on f95zone to be the weakest in the writing department, as characters are often either bland or completely nonsensical and there's no middle ground. If it's an everyday world scenario the characters need to be relatable, someone you can imagine yourself knowing IRL.

I prefer alternate world type games like desert stalker for that exact reason, I can much more easily imagine the people in that scenario acting the way they do because of the world their in, but for that to work the world needs to be a little fleshed out and ofcourse compelling.

I got sidetracked a bit but I guess what I'm saying is if you make the game good I'll check it out lol, best of luck!

Thanks.

The world of The Alpha Gender is this world (takes place in Los Angeles) in 2030, after (or during, really) a worldwide epigenetic change that has occurred in women only. They are stronger and smarter now (actually several enhancements and changes), to the point that men's ability to compete is minimal. Women are fitter and stronger, but otherwise look the same. So this is the primary plot-driver. The MC has to deal with new dangers resulting from this, to his personal safety, his relationship, his career... and his pride.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

My personal haterd for femdom aside.

I think your game could draw a decent amount of players.
Mostly because people are tired of the same old game in a new skin.

If i read it right your idea is to create a femdom game without the useall:
Lets degrade the man.
And more of a:
I am your boss and you can get a raise being my fuck toy kinda story.
Focusing more on the power difference between the two then just putting him into bdsm gear and walking him around like a dog.

It would be a refreshing change.
Mind you i woudnt play it.
Only femdom i allow is when its a woman dominating an other woman for her men or as part of the bitchbreaking ritual where she learns her place.
Still.
Sounds like above avarage writting.
As you said few games are written believeable.

Thanks for the honest reply. Yeah that's pretty close, though the story itself offers a lot more complexity and nuance.

 

[Meaning Less]

Well porn is designed to make you cum. Which is why they don't always strive for realism otherwise almost every mc would end up alone or in jail with rape/incest charges.

But sure, there probably is a sweetspot somewhere around. The thing with domination in general is that for it to be real you would need either someone very horny or a very good reason for the one being dominated to go along with it. Humans are weak, and you can literally bite someone's dick off as easy as chewing salami.

Which is why the best domination in my opinion is when the victim has good reason to go along with it, but also enjoy it, otherwise it could easily turn into a gory situation.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

Well porn is designed to make you cum. Which is why they don't always strive for realism otherwise almost every mc would end up alone or in jail with rape/incest charges.

But sure, there probably is a sweetspot somewhere around. The thing with domination in general is that for it to be real you would need either someone very horny or a very good reason for the one being dominated to go along with it. Humans are weak, and you can literally bite someone's dick off as easy as chewing salami.

Which is why the best domination in my opinion is when the victim has good reason to go along with it, but also enjoy it, otherwise it could easily turn into a gory situation.

True, though if all you want is to cum, a game that takes hours to play through would be a pretty inefficient way to do it. So, to your second point: yeah I'm trying to hit a sweetspot. I guess I'm trying to hit MINE, and hoping others have one in a spot that's close to that.

In this case, the MC's reasons to go along with being controlled are:

a) Maintain the best possible quality of life, since his previous life choices which were pretty damn good, are now more limited.
b) Personal safety. Early on he learns that some women after the Change aren't playing around.
c) Finding love, or the closest he can come to it.
d) He has a chance to get out of a career that, while lucrative, was very stressful and not really something he chose with his own happiness in mind.

Some choices are unavoidable, as the ground is shifting under his feet.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

True, though if all you want is to cum, a game that takes hours to play through would be a pretty inefficient way to do it. So, to your second point: yeah I'm trying to hit a sweetspot. I guess I'm trying to hit MINE, and hoping others have one in a spot that's close to that.

In this case, the MC's reasons to go along with being controlled are:

a) Maintain the best possible quality of life, since his previous life choices which were pretty damn good, are now more limited.
b) Personal safety. Early on he learns that some women after the Change aren't playing around.
c) Finding love, or the closest he can come to it.
d) He has a chance to get out of a career that, while lucrative, was very stressful and not really something he chose with his own happiness in mind.

Some choices are unavoidable, as the ground is shifting under his feet.

I am going to be mean here.
It sounds like what your doing is just reverse the role of men and woman in modern(Is it really still so in modern?) sociaty.
Where woman got all the power via natural strenght advantage's and the best the men can hope for is a strong woman to protect and care for him.

Not saying that is a bad thing.
And i am sure some people are into that kinda thing.

 

[Meaning Less]

True, though if all you want is to cum, a game that takes hours to play through would be a pretty inefficient way to do it.

Well, what if you want to edge for hours before cumming? sounds pretty effective to me otherwise I would have to keep changing between multiple short games.

Again I enjoy femdom, and like your concept, I just wouldn't call it realism either. For instance in a society ruled by women where men are used to being slaves wouldn't they just not care that much about femdom? They probably would be adapted to take it like if it was just another monday, they would feel less pleasure from it in general. In fact in a society like that probably maledom would be the fantasy in the minds of plenty of men and women since all men are pussies already.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

I am going to be mean here.
It sounds like what your doing is just reverse the role of men and woman in modern(Is it really still so in modern?) sociaty.
Where woman got all the power via natural strenght advantage's and the best the men can hope for is a strong woman to protect and care for him.

Not saying that is a bad thing.
And i am sure some people are into that kinda thing.

I'm not trying to solve the world's ills with a visual novel. And the creation of this role-reversing society is not the be-all and end-all of the story. It's the background and setup for the story that involves specific characters and the goals those characters have. Oh yeah: and it's about sex.

Your comment didn't seem mean to me.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

Well, what if you want to edge for hours before cumming? sounds pretty effective to me otherwise I would have to keep changing between multiple short games.

Again I enjoy femdom, and like your concept, I just wouldn't call it realism either. For instance in a society ruled by women where men are used to being slaves wouldn't they just not care that much about femdom? They probably would be adapted to take it like if it was just another monday, they would feel less pleasure from it in general. In fact in a society like that probably maledom would be the fantasy in the minds of plenty of men and women since all men are pussies already.

Yeah, you're exactly right. It's not just about cumming. It's also about creating an environment in your head that can fuel fantasies persisting beyond that moment. And sure: edging.

I don't claim to be creating a realistic world, just hopefully one that makes it easier to suspend disbelief for people who are more sensitive to that, or less tolerant of breaking the rules of reality in fiction, or whatever.

And you're right again that if this were the norm, or had been the norm for years, it would be a lot more stale to them. But this is pretty close to the starting point, where women are still getting acclimated to all the changes they're experiencing, and men are either glumly and cautiously accepting it, or violently protesting on the streets against it. About what? Job loss, political changes, conspiracy theories as to how this happened, or "who" is responsible, etc. It's also of course not about the sexual feelings of the MC or other male characters, it's about the sexual feelings of the player. But good point.

 

[That One Bandit Girl NPC]

Well, actual dom-sub relationships are much deeper than the ones depicted in most games and require you to know your dom as a person.
So thank you for choosing this path, but I feel like being a good writer isn't enough to make it work. At the very least, you may need a basic understanding of psychology. People's desires are more complex than "I just want to have power."

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

Well, actual dom-sub relationships are much deeper than the ones depicted in most games and require you to know your dom as a person.
So thank you for choosing this path, but I feel like being a good writer isn't enough to make it work. At the very least, you may need a basic understanding of psychology. People's desires are more complex than "I just want to have power."

I'm pretty familiar with committed dom-sub relationships, and yes adult games are not a good source for accurate depictions of them. Do you expect me to have written an essay on this topic in an adult gaming thread or something? Please don't read these posts and think you have plumbed the depths of my understanding. I know that people's desires are complex, thanks for the primer.

Edit: I want to apologize for my snippy response. You were a bit dismissive, but I went too far in responding defensively.

 

[That One Bandit Girl NPC]

Do you expect me to have written an essay on this topic in an adult gaming thread or something?

I didn't mean to offend you, just saying there is a reason why there are so few femdom games with realistic characters. I wish there were more of them too.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

I didn't mean to offend you, just saying there is a reason why there are so few femdom games with realistic characters. I wish there were more of them too.

Yup, I went off half-cocked. Sorry! Yeah, I'm just tired of the cartoony characters. Doing my best to avoid that.

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

I'm working on one right now. It's my first game, and initial release target is August. So yes: I'm trying to drum up interest as well. I'm not really much of a gamer myself, but trying to understand it as much as possible. I'm more of a story and 3D artist kind of guy. Typical Daz artists create single, static images, but without a story those bore me. I think I'm a pretty good writer - this game began as my first shot at novel writing. But as I wrote it felt like it would be better as a visual novel, and since I've been doing Daz for many years it was an easy transition for me. One of my challenges is providing opportunities for the player to make decisions that will affect the outcome.

Hey it's great that you're developing your own game! Just watch out for branching narrative, it can easily get out of control if you don't limit the amount of reactivity you're giving the player. Not only that, but most people won't see a lot of it, and they'll get pissed that your game is 'short', despite there being tons of content under the hood which they simply didn't see due to their choices... So, keep that in mind when designing your content!

One more tip: you should link your Patreon account to your sig here on F95.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

Hey it's great that you're developing your own game! Just watch out for branching narrative, it can easily get out of control if you don't limit the amount of reactivity you're giving the player. Not only that, but most people won't see a lot of it, and they'll get pissed that your game is 'short', despite there being tons of content under the hood which they simply didn't see due to their choices... So, keep that in mind when designing your content!

One more tip: you should link your Patreon account to your sig here on F95.

Thanks! Yeah I'm just worried I'm not offering enough choice, honestly. The amount of work this is taking just for a single play-through of the basic storyline with NO branches is mind-numbing to me on its own. But I knew I had to provide choice. I've really got just 4 decision-branches in the whole story at this point. None of them make significant changes to the storyline that persist to the true ending. Most result in taking a detour off the "main road" that end ultimately in a dead-end with no chance to return to that main road. They're designed to be fun for the player, but they'll realize they're on a path that's the consequence of a bad decision. I felt I had to do it that way to avoid creating multiple story arcs that would exponentially increase my workload. Is that a mistake? In rendering and scripting I've just passed the first (and least consequential) decision-branch so I could still alter this if necessary.

And THANKS for the tip about adding my Patreon link. I wasn't sure if that was kosher.

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

Yeah I'm just worried I'm not offering enough choice, honestly.

Don't go down that rabbit hole! It leads to bad places!

And THANKS for the tip about adding my Patreon link. I wasn't sure if that was kosher.

Not just Patreon, but also Subscribestar if you have it. Most devs add both!

 

[justpassingbyreally]

Choices that by themselves don't do much more than change a sentence or two or act as a see/skip scene option but add a +1 to a hidden counter that eventually decides which late-game route branch or ending you get are a good middle ground between linearity and unique story branches everywhere.

 

[Mikethe3DGuy]

Choices that by themselves don't do much more than change a sentence or two or act as a see/skip scene option but add a +1 to a hidden counter that eventually decides which late-game route branch or ending you get are a good middle ground between linearity and unique story branches everywhere.

Yeah that's an idea. I can create some alterations in the behaviors of characters to the MC that are triggered by an accumulation of player choices. That would appear more dynamic to the player. Thanks for that suggestion! Probably not hard to see that I'm new to this!