First of all, thank you for taking the time to share this. I really appreciate it!
Hmm, you're partly right on that point. When the story was first written, it was a linear story. There were no sub/dom/lust/exp paths, and the MC was certainly a sub in most relationships. When the game got created, I definitely didn't want to create a Kinetic Novel (meaning no choices), so I introduced the paths. When the game started, I was mostly focusing on figuring out the 3D Art and figuring out Renpy, since I was inexperienced on both. Now that I feel more confident with the 3D aspect and with coding in Renpy, I'm trying to improve the paths and story aspect. That's why in a recent update I've shared with my supporters (Patreon and Subscribestar), I'm focusing on the character's backstories. To make sure the characters make sense, and the MC included in this
And think about it, when you're 22yo you still have no idea about yourself (at least I didn't at 22, and most 22yo guys I've met over the years in my life didn't know either). If you're a much older player, role-playing into a 22yo guy, then okay; you might know. But you can't expect from the MC, a 22yo guy, to be a giga-chad. Where is he getting that confidence from? Was he in a football club (or another masculine sport)? Did he have strong raw models? With our MC, he hasn't even finished school yet. What's is he going to be bragging about? "I've got a cool bicycle to go to college", "I have a bachelor's degree, and I'm doing a masters", "I haven't got in any serious relationships and I'm a virgin". He has a lot of potential, don't get me wrong (even more than what's already been given in the story so far), but he needs time to unfold that. That's why I think this story will work, because it's a coming of age. It tells the story of how he became a dom (or the story of how he became a sub, or indulged in lust, or became experienced). Going in as a player and experiencing how the MC grows up and starts to express his dom side (or sub, or lust, or exp side) is what is going to make this game different that any other game here
I think the issue here is the expectations. Most people come here with open expectations and enjoy the ride (whatever the path they pick). It's only a minority of people that see femdom in the title and still have the expectation of having a 22yo MC that fucks everything and all girls worship him because he has a dick. I know there's a ton of games that take this approach (and I like playing these games too), and that is what creates this expectation. But I'm not trying to make this kind of game. I'm trying to make a game that's more closer to reality. You want pussy? You've gotta earn it. You want the girl to fall in love with you? You've gotta find the way to get to her. You want to be a dom guy? You've got to build yourself up to be one. That's the vision, that's what I want to make, and if there are some people expecting something different and are disappointed, then that's okay with me
On the femdom vs maledom, it's a fact that the content so far is leaning towards the femdom. And that's understandable; It's a femdom centric story. The MC will in time start to become more bold (assuming you keep picking dominance points), and through certain story elements he will have the chance to express his dominant side. I can understand that the maledom fans would expect something entirely different, but I've shared multiple times, that if they're expecting a giga-chad, this is not a game for them. For the rest that are more open in a different experience, you'll see what there's in store for next chapters. And as I've already shared, the MC will have the chance to flip the tables. I know that you have no idea since the content isn't out there yet and people are skeptical, but they can wait in the sidelines until I'm done with it, and then they can express their opinion if I did it right
Hmm, I'm not sure about the "railroading". I may need to make the choices more clear to the player, but in most scenes I first put an "[End Scene]" option to make sure that the player can skip at start. If the player continues after that, to me (as a game dev) it means that the player agreed to be in the scene. If they move on with the scene and realize it's not their thing, then go back and skip it. I've put options like that in most scenes. And I've tried to improve on that by putting the "End Scene" and "Skip Scene" on the stats that would make sense. Meaning to skip a dom scene, the skip will be on the Obedience stat. To skip a sub scene, the skip will be on the Dominance stat.
And as you can understand, I have a clear vision on the story. This means I won't be dissuaded on going forward with it, just because people don't like elements of it. If people didn't care at all, that would be a problem. But it seems that a lot of people like this approach, so Imma keep doing it