VN Ren'Py Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.1 Part I] [Grym Gudinna Games]

[MilesEdgeworth]

yea juliettes sick ass is gonna be the first sister dead on my watch

 

[DirectXD1943]

The update here is the latest update.

Tess had a "digital disaster" (as opposed to a natural disaster) which resulted in her losing most of her asset library, which was largely recovered by her assistants, but rebuilding/reorganizing said library put her at least a month back in her intended dev cycle. The next update will probably come this month or next.

I'm kinda shocked there was no back-up system for the project, but maybe that's just cause I thought the quality of the game itself would kinda indicate that forethought and detail expanded out. Although ofc things can just happen unexpectedly, and the best laid plans can come undone.

Honestly I just hope the update is worth the wait, cause I've definitely played some VN's where you have to wait ages for a sprinkling of content. Oh, and also we hopefully get to see the protagonist genuinely get mad about literally everyone lying to him (and get payback), although I imagine that will be like a year from now (if it happens at all).

 

[YuNobi1]

I'm kinda shocked there was no back-up system for the project, but maybe that's just cause I thought the quality of the game itself would kinda indicate that forethought and detail expanded out. Although ofc things can just happen unexpectedly, and the best laid plans can come undone.

Honestly I just hope the update is worth the wait, cause I've definitely played some VN's where you have to wait ages for a sprinkling of content. Oh, and also we hopefully get to see the protagonist genuinely get mad about literally everyone lying to him (and get payback), although I imagine that will be like a year from now (if it happens at all).

I work in IT, and the struggle with backups is always pricetag: how much is worth the cost, especially if it's a subscription. Considering Tess has at least two other real jobs (i.e. contracted salaries, and income sources she can put on a resume) with one of them being her own business, guess which projects will be prioritized in her backup subscription and which will be "worth the risk" to leave unbacked up, especially if one of those projects is a sponsored hobby. She could quit the game right now, and actually increase her income due to more time dedicated to her actual employment, so be nice. From what I understand, the game project itself was "backed up", and recovered, while the lost asset library she specifically mentioned included things like expressions, like a specific way that a character smiled, had to be identified as lost, and then reacquired.

As for content, remember that she's making at least 3x, if not 4x, as much content as you see on an individual playthrough due to the diverging paths (D/S, G/E, 4 Sponsors, secondary girl relationships, K-rank, etc.), so just because it may not seem like much in an individual update, remember that you're seeing only about a third of the update. Of course said third tends to be rather beefy anyway.

 

[YuNobi1]

yea juliettes sick ass is gonna be the first sister dead on my watch

For me it's Alessandra. All the girls have killed, so none of them are innocent, but Alessandra is the first to break the Fredo rule: "You never go against the family" by actively wanting to kill one of her sisters, making her the most dangerous, as she clearly has no issue killing Olivia (one of those sisters) or Kane (not even family). Juliette will be next to die, and it will have to happen quickly, as she and her sisters will barricade themselves when Alessandra dies, but Juliette's defenses will be the most "formidable".

 

[Stan5851]

I work in IT, and the struggle with backups is always pricetag: how much is worth the cost, especially if it's a subscription. Considering Tess has at least two other real jobs (i.e. contracted salaries, and income sources she can put on a resume) with one of them being her own business, guess which projects will be prioritized in her backup subscription and which will be "worth the risk" to leave unbacked up, especially if one of those projects is a sponsored hobby. She could quit the game right now, and actually increase her income due to more time dedicated to her actual employment, so be nice. From what I understand, the game project itself was "backed up", and recovered, while the lost asset library she specifically mentioned included things like expressions, like a specific way that a character smiled, had to be identified as lost, and then reacquired.

As for content, remember that she's making at least 3x, if not 4x, as much content as you see on an individual playthrough due to the diverging paths (D/S, G/E, 4 Sponsors, secondary girl relationships, K-rank, etc.), so just because it may not seem like much in an individual update, remember that you're seeing only about a third of the update. Of course said third tends to be rather beefy anyway.

In general, the whole situation is described correctly, but I disagree with one point regarding the way the data is backed up. Besides subscribing to the "fancy cloud backup", nobody has canceled the good old physical backup. All you need for this is installed software like Acronis True Image (or similar) and, let's say, 1 capacious portable external HDD, the price of which, if compared, say, with the price of a modern graphics card like 4090 RTX, used for rendering, is simply negligible. Although the already mentioned Acronis already has its own cloud for many years, but there, probably, also a regular subscription is needed, so it is more profitable (in my opinion), download a cracked version of Acronis and use it locally.

In any case, I believe that the conclusions from this situation have already been drawn, since the "price of the hobby" is expressed not in the absence of financial losses (thanks to the constancy of the game's patrons), but in the time spent, which in Tess's case is a much more valuable resource.

 

[Stan5851]

For me it's Alessandra. All the girls have killed, so none of them are innocent, but Alessandra is the first to break the Fredo rule: "You never go against the family" by actively wanting to kill one of her sisters, making her the most dangerous, as she clearly has no issue killing Olivia (one of those sisters) or Kane (not even family).

Alessandra is dangerous and needs to be stopped, but so far I haven't seen any hint that she wants to kill her "new sister" Olivia or even Kane, who are in no small part the focus of the entire Gambit.

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[MilesEdgeworth]

Alessandra is dangerous and needs to be stopped, but so far I haven't seen any hint that she wants to kill her "new sister" Olivia or even Kane, who are in no small part the focus of the entire Gambit.

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Alessandras making moves on olivia too, shes just more subtle with it as shes working to turn Kane on Olivia.

Another point in the Juliette's a threat to Olivia card is that Juliette becomes scared of Olivia if Olivia chooses to kill her old boss

 

[Stan5851]

Another point in the Juliette's a threat to Olivia card is that Juliette becomes scared of Olivia if Olivia chooses to kill her old boss

Can you clarify which old boss we are talking about?

 

[YuNobi1]

Alessandra is dangerous and needs to be stopped, but so far I haven't seen any hint that she wants to kill her "new sister" Olivia or even Kane, who are in no small part the focus of the entire Gambit.

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Oof, does this game ever need a Wiki, so forgive me if I mess something up. Let's step back a bit, and bear in mind that I only play as a Dom Kane, so I don't know the story elements from a sub perspective. Alexander Karlsson believed the "perfect human" (for lack of a better term) would be the result of his and Callista's genes, but Callista wasn't up for the match and left with his daughter by Elena, Olivia, and gave birth to Kane by another man. With the loss of Callista, Alexander focused on further building his empire, and hoping for a male heir to carry on his legacy, but he sired only daughters whom he eventually involved in the company, but he never felt that any of them was "right" to be declared heir. Eventually, he learns of Callista's whereabouts, as well as Olivia and Kane, with the possibility that Callista or Alexander made contact before his death concerning the Gambit, as Callista seems to be too heavily in the know about what is going on. For some reason (again, Dom) Alexander seems to have formatted the Gambit in such a way as to see if Kane truly is the male heir Alexander could confidently bequeath the keys to the empire, and then the "top sister" would become his "queen," thus fulfilling Alexander's dream of combining his genes (via his daughter) with Callista's (via Kane). However, if Kane proved to be ill-fitting for the position, the top job would defer to the top sister, and the dream would be lost, but the company would live on. Callista of course would have a vested interest in seeing her son ascend to the "throne," and thus is doing what she can to make that a reality.

Alexander called all the shots, so no one, not even his own daughters, dared to go against his will, but now that he is dead, and with the Gambit at play, the sisters, save for Veronica, are now all vying for the top spot, which means beating out their sisters. There is also a sense of self-preservation, as even if they let their sister have the prize, there's a possibility the winner will just kill them to eliminate any potential challenges or competition down the road. All the players (board members, Elena, Katsumi and her sister, the other female guards, DeKocks, etc.) know that no one can gain an edge over the competition unless they are allied with Veronica, so she is not regarded as a threat, but rather an asset that some want to gain (Dominique), while others do not feel the necessary concessions are worth the reward (Juliette) thus "toleration" rather than "alliance" is the goal. Then finally the juggernaut of the Gambit is revealed to the board: Callista has been hiding Olivia, a long-lost sister, and Kane, whom Alexander wants to test for the top position. Now the three sisters who thought they just had each other to contend with, with the rest all trying to gain advantage from the fresh power moves and fluctuations, have to figure out who and what these two unknowns are, why Alexander is giving them special treatment, and whether they will be an enemy or ally to their respective causes. With the surprise Olivia, the "top spot" seems less certain, but if Kane fulfills what they well know to be their father's wishes, then it shouldn't be too hard to convince Kane to make one of them "queen," as they constantly have males salivating over them, they just have to (again) beat out the competition of their sisters, and none of them are above using their underlings as "bait" and "persuasion". However, now Olivia is an even bigger threat as soon as it's revealed that she and Kane are NOT blood siblings, as the two of them have grown up together Olivia is therefore relationally and emotionally closer to Kane than any of the other sisters, thus she has a major lead in swaying her "brother's" heart, whether to herself, or someone else.

In the game, Dominique goes to Juliette to share her concerns that Olivia, or more precisely whoever is controlling/influencing Olivia, is such a threat to their respective wants that their mutual self-preservation necessitates that the sisters who are most opposite form an uneasy alliance to combat this threat. Who then is the threat? Katsumi was just promoted to a rank of involvement, so she wouldn't be an influential threat, and her sister has no interest in promotion. Elena would be a viable threat, considering her influence, board position, and being Olivia's mother, however, the player (through Olivia) sets Elena's attitude and behavior, thus either ensuring the threat or eliminating it. This leaves Alessandra, who indeed oversaw retrieving Olivia and showing her the ropes of her new position, thus enabling her "groundfloor" access to influencing Olivia before any of the other sisters have the chance to even see the girl. On the spectrum of willingness to kill, Alessandra and Juliette are tied; what differentiates them is Juliette will do it just out of fun and enjoyment, so she won't instigate a "boring" kill, whereas Alessandra is more like a bull, mowing down anyone who gets in her way. As none of the sisters know who or what Olivia is, and they know that she is somehow related to winning the Gambit, Alessandra and the others won't strike at Olivia until either a) she becomes a threat to their success, b) her usefulness in the Gambit becomes discovered and non-beneficial to a particular sister or c) the sister believes Olivia is aligning too much with the competition and thus it's time to sabotage the whole Gambit or at least the leader's position. For all of the sisters who are willing to kill their competition, killing a non-allied Olivia is indeed the logical first step as she is the only one who isn't suspecting an assassination, whereas Alessandra, Dominique, and Juliette are all watching each other out of the corners of their eye, while Veronica sits comfortably, focused on her science, and knowing she's too important and unambitious for anyone to try to target her.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

Can you clarify which old boss we are talking about?

The one who got his hair dyed pink by juliette.

 

[Stan5851]

Oof, does this game ever need a Wiki

I also play only the dom route(s).As I think, everything written is better put under a spoiler, because it is, in fact, a brief retelling of the plot of the game (quite a bit of it). As for

For all of the sisters who are willing to kill their competition, killing a non-allied Olivia is indeed the logical first step

I disagree. It may be a logical first step for Juliette, but Alessandra acts in a much more subtle way (at least for now). In any case, if you played the dom route,

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[Stan5851]

The one who got his hair dyed pink by juliette.

In all my dom playthroughs, I always let that "boss" loose (even when playing evil dom route). Well, now what you said makes sense to me. I agree, this kind of Olivia Juliette would definitely be feared with all the possible consequences of that.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

In all my dom playthroughs, I always let that "boss" loose (even when playing evil dom route). Well, now what you said makes sense to me. I agree, this kind of Olivia Juliette would definitely be feared with all the possible consequences of that.

I always turn him into furniture because that gets the most points, but yea between the ability to kill off that dude and the ability to kill off the homeless workers, Olivia can be turned into quite the sadistic killing machine

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

On the spectrum of willingness to kill, Alessandra and Juliette are tied; what differentiates them is Juliette will do it just out of fun and enjoyment, so she won't instigate a "boring" kill, whereas Alessandra is more like a bull, mowing down anyone who gets in her way.

Juliettes ahead of everybody else when it comes to murder, if anything, Alessandra prefers to keep people alive cuz she lives for the torture. I doubt she's trying to kill Olivia, otherwise, she wouldn't be planting anti-Olivia seeds in Kanes head

 

[YuNobi1]

I doubt she's trying to kill Olivia, otherwise, she wouldn't be planting anti-Olivia seeds in Kanes head

Wouldn't that be WHY she's trying to build animosity between Kane and Olivia? Hell hath no fury like a loyal Dom Kane going after whoever killed his "sister", likely the most dangerous piece in the game (especially if I'm playing). Therefore, making sure that a rising-in-power-brother is at least apathetic, if not grateful, for the death of his childhood sister, would be the necessary course of action in covering one's bases before instigating a critical strike.

 

[Don Sucio]

Wouldn't that be WHY she's trying to build animosity between Kane and Olivia? Hell hath no fury like a loyal Dom Kane going after whoever killed his "sister", likely the most dangerous piece in the game (especially if I'm playing). Therefore, making sure that a rising-in-power-brother is at least apathetic, if not grateful, for the death of his childhood sister, would be the necessary course of action in covering one's bases before instigating a critical strike.

This would be the most logic and inteligent thing to do, first try to convert Kane into your side and after go for Olivia, or try to kill Kane and then only have to fight againts an alone Olivia. All that if we do not take into account the possible alliances for each sister and Kane.

This war has to be fucking chaotic and bloody, so much fury and accumulated resentment.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

Wouldn't that be WHY she's trying to build animosity between Kane and Olivia? Hell hath no fury like a loyal Dom Kane going after whoever killed his "sister", likely the most dangerous piece in the game (especially if I'm playing). Therefore, making sure that a rising-in-power-brother is at least apathetic, if not grateful, for the death of his childhood sister, would be the necessary course of action in covering one's bases before instigating a critical strike.

If she was that worried about Kane and as kill hungry as implied, she'd just kill kane before he got that power. She's playing the long game of trying to isolate kane and use him. No idea for what yet as Im not totally convinced she wants power

 

[YuNobi1]

If she was that worried about Kane and as kill hungry as implied, she'd just kill kane before he got that power. She's playing the long game of trying to isolate kane and use him. No idea for what yet as Im not totally convinced she wants power

It's hard to decipher what Tess actually has planned behind the scenes, and what is just happenstance for the sake of gameplay. Reasonably, there seems to be something that's driving the sisters to believe Kane winning the Gambit is better for each of their personal ambitions than him failing and defaulting the situation to a battle arena. Again, this may be just simplicity for player experience, or Tess actually has a condition in the Gambit rules to shield Kane, though not protect him. Tess has never revealed the full rules of the Gambit so we don't know what bounds the sisters' actions to specific behaviors. There may be a clause or something in there stating anyone who kills Kane, or sabotages his ascension, or unreasonablely stunts his progress, will be immediately disqualified, and possibly [we are talking about sadists] exiled from the company/to the desert, or worse: be made the lowest rank in their own hierarchy, thus a plaything to everyone they ever tortured. I don't know, their behavior towards Kane feels weird in comparison to their unfettered behaviors and personal ambitions, which suggests a strong motivator to change their tune when dealing with him.

 

[sanja1970]

can anyone post save file of end 0.7

 

[shitass1001]

can anyone post save file of end 0.7

Just play the game man, there are too many split paths, choices, and differences for you to explore. if you really want someone elses playthrough, then you have a lot of things to specify, like what path you want, good and evil, and many more variables.