VN Ren'Py Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.31 TestB] [Grym Gudinna Games]

[f96zonetrooper]

IMO it's much more important than whatever whipping scene which as far as I know doesn't change any variables, and has less to do with Dominique and more to do with Kane.

I mentioned the Mercy scene mostly because it's a funny scene and it is so easy to miss if you don't talk to Dominique in E5 but instead eg to Veronica to get the lab visit in E6.
Mercy's butt looks bad afterwards but it's mentioned that Veronica can remove all consequences similar to how she removes Kane's K4 branding on the sub path.

The final choice in this scene allows Kane to finish inside Dominique's ass. There are very few anal scenes in the game.

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[Ricthequick]

Exactly, she's if anything more productive than before while becoming busier. This thread can be overly whiny at times.

I'm not so sure that an increased productivity is necessarily a good indicator of how likely a project might reach its conclusion.

I was subscribed to her Patreon for quite a while (had to cancel all NSFW Patreon related subscriptions due to work), and had the opportunity to interact with her in a couple of occasions, so you won't see me being negative about her work ethic or dedication to the project.

But I have worked over the years for/with/managing creatives, and the main issue for good and dedicated ones is what sometimes gets labelled as feature creep (it surely applies to games), which in turn, even when actually addressed, leads to inability to hit milestones and eventually complete the project.

That happens even when the end point (and major milestones) is set in stone and planned, but by adding side content (extra characters, extra events, extra POVs/paths, etc...) it becomes exponentially more complicated to tidy up.

One way to "solve" the issue is by stopping to introduce new POVs/variable/side content, and at the same time start closing some of the already existing ones.

The problem here is that with content that's monetized like this (subscirption/donation and episodic progression of development), as soon as you close one (or more) of the paths, you exponentially increase the risk of reducing your revenue, while your costs, under a "feature creep" scenario, are always on an upward trend.

Is this the situation KG is in? I surely hope not, and I can't be sure since I don't work with her, but if my job was to make sure the projects reached its end I'd have already started putting pressure to close some 'loose ends", luckily for all of us that's not my job.

 

[harsha_26]

I don't know if there are many or any comparable "completed" KG-like games? I think it is kind of unique ...
(Note : I know the "Femdom Finder" threads ...)

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KG (E1-E8.2) so far has ca 22k renders and ca 96k lines of script.
see https://f95zone.to/threads/karlssons-gambit-v0-8-2b-final-grym-gudinna-games.50840/post-15939334 for details.
It will be somewhere around 25k-30k renders once Episode 8 is finished. That's impressive.

I already said you would counter me with this "thousands of renders", but I already given my point of view to that. No one criticizing her because of her number of renders. If anything, we all appreciate. Problem is not that.

 

[harsha_26]

I mean, it's the kind of thing only an all-round player like you would notice .

Someone who only plays the Dom path, like Stan or Maviarab, will see the scene where Dominique brags about her secret, unaware that almost the entire board knows about it, because they won't see Elena's part.

Someone who plays sub, like Silver, will see Elena's part, but won't understand its full meaning because he won't see the scene in which Dominique brags and reveals her secret to Dom Kane.

By the way, Kane's face in the scene with Dominique screams "rescue me" and "I'm being held captive" .
Just look at his sad, unhappy face, he doesn't want to be there!

Yeah lol. DomKane really needs to apt facial expressions. He is still giving the "innocent shy boy" looks no matter what the scene is.

 

[harsha_26]

About Dominique :


In short :
There are 2 dialog passages that show that Kane can and Veronica does push Dominique to change ...
1. In E5 Kane has the option to tell Dominique to be more "selfish" (evil) (which opens the evil Dominique path where later Kane can whip Mercy).
2. In E6 Veronica tells Dominique that she does not consider supporting her while she hides her evil side. So Dominique has to change if she wants Veronica's support to take over the Karlsson Group.


1. In E5 on dom path in the bathscene you can choose between Veronica, Dominique and Juliette to talk.

Dominique (domkane55) :
... the reality is that this company sometimes must make tough decisions that require sacrifices. With resources, and even lives. It is not easy..."
d "...if you have some semblance of morality."
... I have always strived to use this company to change the world for the better...but still...even I wonder sometimes...if I'm walking the right path in life. "
d "Sometimes...I wonder if I should just be a little more ruthless and selfish. Maybe just enjoy my good fortune in life...and not care about others so much."
d "What do you think? If you were in my shoes right now?"

Choice :
"(In her position, I think she shouldn't worry so much about others. What's wrong with being more selfish and even ruthless for your own benefit first?)" if True:
$ dominiquestestpass = True
p "Well to be honest Dominique, I think you should consider yourself before others more. You can't save everyone, and it's a ruthless world out there."
p "In your shoes, I'd probably make sure I was enjoying myself first."
d "Interesting answer [pname]. I am a little surprised to hear you say that, but of course I will...take it under consideration."
d "I'm even more curious how you'll handle our time together tomorrow."


It's possible that Dominique's morality talk is just a test for Kane to see his moral PoV ... but it is also possible that Kane with this answer pushes Dominique to be more selfish and to embrace her evil side ... at least in the game this answer and a minimum of 5 evil is the key for Kane to join Dominique when she enjoys torturing Amara ...


2. In E6 e6botany2 Veronica and Dominique talk :

d "Why are you supporting [pname3] to take over The Karlsson Group?"
v "Are you sure that I am? And that I can't change my mind?"
d "The evidence points to this conclusion. I'll never understand why you won't support me."
d "I'd even support you second to myself if you desired the role, because I do consider the big picture. If not me, much better you than anyone else."
d "But somehow you can't see me moving us forward into the future? Especially with what is happening now? Why?"
v "My feelings today are not indicative of the future in perpetuity...only the present. [pname3] represents an unknown hope and she is strong, focused, and intelligent. Similar to both of us in many ways."
v "And as for you, most people believe you simply lack the ruthlessness to do what is necessary at times in a harsh world."
v "But I don't worry about that at all. It's in there. And I think we both agree that what some may call evil or ruthless...can also simply be...making tough choices that require sacrifice."
d "So then what are you worried about with me?"

v "You're not being true to yourself yet. You're still conflicted in your own mind, and a divided mind cannot rule. Juliette is a sociopath, but she knows that and embraces it."
v "Alessandra knows who she is too, and lives life on her own terms. You're trying to straddle the lines of who you think you are supposed to be versus who you truly are."
v "When I see the real Dominique Karlsson appear before me, then I am open to changing my mind. Because that woman is worth considering."

v "But for now, I believe what I believe. Don't feel too bad Dominique...I suffer with a similar conflict internally. Both good and evil pulling on my soul every day."
v "I've got to run now. I believe I can help this project more than I realized...and Dominique....consider if it's really [pname3] I'm so concerned about...or someone else."


Besides Kane's answer and support in E5 and E6, Veronica's talk may have pushed Dominique even more to drop the mask and act out her evil side to have a chance of Veronica's support.


My guess is that Dominique will change even more :
From moral good person to cruel sadist (whipping Amara) to remorseful switch, asking dom mc to punish her for her wrong doings (and probably release her with the magic of his magnificent dick. (cliche))

Wow, these many details and analysis, you should be in KG's discord server and discuss it with directly Tess instead. She should appreciate this work.

 

[harsha_26]

My guess is that Dominique will change even more :
From moral good person to cruel sadist (whipping Amara) to remorseful switch, asking dom mc to punish her for her wrong doings (and probably release her with the magic of his magnificent dick. (cliche))

It's not just a guess anymore. Tess already confirmed Dominique will be the only one Kalrsson's sister who gets a little punishment (and many be jules too but other sisters are completely free from any punishment from Dom Kane Directly) from Dom Kane and encourages Kane to "I'm a bad girl Kane, please whip me like you done to mercy". Sad for me, because I expected things for Alessandra too.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

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You have to take into account that between 2020 and 2025
- the render rate increased from ca 2k to 5k renders per year and
- the render count per update increased from 450 (E1) to 5k (E8.1->E8.2).



View attachment 5345030

Exactly, she's if anything more productive than before while becoming busier. This thread can be overly whiny at times.

Wasnt a complaint about her output, just saying at her current rate it's taking her 6 years to finish one chapter. If you think that somehow her work-rate is going to increase after getting married and taking on other projects... I have a bridge to sell you.

 

[f96zonetrooper]

About the planned Steam Release :

I checked Tess' patreon page and she currently has 657 patrons with around 4k $ per month.
657 is a small number, a niche group with special interests, compared to the more than 10k supporters some other devs have.

The content focus so far especially on the sub path seems niche to me, too :
(tags: female domination, footjob, humiliation, sexual harassment, slave, spanking, teasing, urination )
mc in chastity, SPH, CBT, torture, killing of slaves, scenes with several naked male slaves worshipping the main LI, ...

Vanilla players may have some fun on the dom path (as long as they stay away from SS).
How will mainstream steam players react if they are confronted ingame with (niche) kinks they don't expect and don't like?
Some adult games feature content filters.
In KG the players have to make conscious choices to avoid certain types of scenes, mostly death scenes, piss content, femdom content with other male characters ... but conscious choices like avoiding piss scenes every few minutes may impact player experience as well ... and a lot of content like eg having Seth, Jake and Zach interact with the girls are not avoidable ...

How successfull are similar (niche) games on steam?

I remember some older niche japanese games by Sei Shoujo with similar themes, but Japan with its special porn culture is not even mentioned as a target market.

 

[Raynare69]

How successfull are similar (niche) games on steam?

At least from what I see, most AVNs are hit or miss based on review numbers. It's hard to tell how many actual sales are going through though. Some have only single or double digit reviews, many have hundreds, some have thousands. A lot of the more popular vanilla ones seem to have around 1000-2000 reviews, with the obvious biggest hitter badik having 6-7k reviews.

I could have sworn a year or two ago back when I was still subscribed to Drifty (Leap of Faith) he had posted a 100k sales celebration post or something on Patreon. I forgot when it was, but that game has 1700 reviews, and it's hard to say, but maybe you could guess in this case 1% of players leave a review on their adult games, if going off of LoF and assuming it hit 150-200k sales or something by now.

Putting AVNs aside, the adult games with more gameplays seem to have, on average, more reviews and probably more sales.

What game on steam would even be comparable for an idea of how well KG would sell on steam anyway?

 

[Stan5851]

Yeah lol. DomKane really needs to apt facial expressions. He is still giving the "innocent shy boy" looks no matter what the scene is.

I already suggested doing this, slightly changing Kane's appearance,

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but Tess stopped communicating, apparently afraid that this guy would come to her house and explain in no uncertain terms what he thinks about her "femdom" and ideas of "female superiority".

 

[Stan5851]

Tess already confirmed Dominique will be the only one Kalrsson's sister who gets a little punishment (and many be jules too but other sisters are completely free from any punishment from Dom Kane Directly) from Dom Kane and encourages Kane to "I'm a bad girl Kane, please whip me like you done to mercy". Sad for me, because I expected things for Alessandra too.

Then let her play this game herself. What's the point of choosing Dom route if the Dom MC can't punish those primarily responsible for everything that's happening? Yeah, that's a rhetorical question. So before she abandons this game herself (as you wrote), non-vanilla Dom players will do it before her and simply leave.

 

[harsha_26]

Then let her play this game herself. What's the point of choosing Dom route if the Dom MC can't punish those primarily responsible for everything that's happening? Yeah, that's a rhetorical question. So before she abandons this game herself (as you wrote), non-vanilla Dom players will do it before her and simply leave.

I don't know whether she abandons or not, that's just my guess. Even if she abandons, that won't be soon I think. At present, she is very hopeful for this game to run succesfully. Who knows what happens in future.

 

[harsha_26]

I already suggested doing this, slightly changing Kane's appearance,

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but Tess stopped communicating, apparently afraid that this guy would come to her house and explain in no uncertain terms what he thinks about her "femdom" and ideas of "female superiority".

He is rather initimidating. Kane still is a young boy. Mostly under 25. But, what i suggested her is to put him facial hair and give him some angry and masculine expressions, but she said, it is difficult for her to change as it is based on older renders style and she has to revamp everything. She said, for Cole, she used latest renders (that's why he looks so manly and handsome).

I wont be surprised if Dominique masturbates to him every night.

 

[Stan5851]

He is rather initimidating. Kane still is a young boy. Mostly under 25. But, what i suggested her is to put him facial hair and give him some angry and masculine expressions, but she said, it is difficult for her to change as it is based on older renders style and she has to revamp everything. She said, for Cole, she used latest renders (that's why he looks so manly and handsome).

I wont be surprised if Dominique masturbates to him every night.

Yeah, I’ve read about it. Still, something needs to be done about it, DomKane really looks like a shy boy. A long time ago, Tess wrote that she was planning to do different hairstyles for DomKane and subKane to more clearly emphasize their differences. But as far as I understand, this idea was failed...

As for that ultra-brutal guy under the spoiler, of course it's a joke, because it's none other than the famous “Gigachad” meme. The Giga Chad is the ultimate Chad. He and his opinions are those of the sigma male, which is higher than the alpha in the hierarchy of male lore.

 

[Sick Bubblegum]

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[kinkyshin]

Damn dude, I had to check what exactly it was that I did to piss you off so badly and it turns out that it was something so unbelievably trivial.

For anyone wondering, here is what happened:

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[Sick Bubblegum]

Damn dude, I had to check what exactly it was that I did to piss you off so badly and it turns out that it was something so unbelievably trivial.

For anyone wondering, here is what happened:

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I'm just a little irritated how you minimize your insults of people's views on subject matter, while going all in on your view of how others perceived lore or plot points which they had no knowledge of.
I think you might be one of those people who let the hamster in your head dictate to you that if people can't get caught up they have no right or reason to be asking or arguing.
Then you post an itemized list of correspondence, misinterpret, or lie about my responses, and insist I'm enraged or pissed off.
It took you, and Stan a while to realize I had changed my stance on the disease argument, then responded to me like I never even wrote it.
I never said Stan didn't post evidence of a "bomb".
I asked you to "be specific, or I'm leaving this conversation"
You posting a gif of your favorite movie character, Harry Potter, on a train, waving bye.
Pretty childish response, dude.
I was never, confused, enraged, or pissed off. I'll just block you so I don't have to read your f****** garbage.
It was really refreshing bringing up past correspondence that had nothing to do with my last post.
Sorry for insulting your choice of snacks.

Get that straight. Pip pip toodle oo

 

[kinkyshin]

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[Ricthequick]

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Oh the "bomb" screenshot was mine! Did it end up starting a feud?
That wasn't the intention, but also...

Did I miss it completely?
(sorry today I have waaaay too much spare time in-between projects )

 

[kinkyshin]

Oh the "bomb" screenshot was mine! Did it end up starting a feud?
That wasn't the intention, but also...

Did I miss it completely?
(sorry today I have waaaay too much spare time in-between projects )

Nah, it sparked some great discussion when you initially posted it.

A few weeks later the conversation resurfaced and I made a single harmless post that somehow immediately led to this guy developing some sort of bizarre grudge against me. I'm just as surprised by this as you likely are.