Female Character?

[sbones1004]

But this time it is possible to play as woman? I mean your last game was male only and, well as woman I dont like to play as man.

[Beverly]

I found this topic while searching Google if it would be possible to play as a female character.

I have been watching a let's play series on YouTube and seems like a good game, a nice, pleasant game with a fair story-line and quite immersive.

This is the problem (for me), the game is immersive for many and in the context of the YouTuber that I am watching, it is portrayed as being such.

I feel that I would not be able to enjoy the same level of immersion with this game because of the lack of a female game avatar/character.

Personally (and this is just my own opinion) I do not need an entirely different story or progression within the game. I would appreciate a female character with suitable voice-acting. I guess the only other change would be names and pronouns (I am aware of the amount of work required to do that) in dialogues/etc.

I understand the thoughts of others here. There's only x% of female lumberjacks (lumberjills) but this logic can be questioned (there's only x number of astronauts so why make space games? Games being experiences that people can engage in that they don't usually do or can do).

I would prefer my character to reflect me to enable greater personal immersion. I am not a lumberjill but would like to play as one. I am not an astronaut but I like playing space games, I am not a house flipper but I like playing a game as one.

However, something to also consider... 2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Women's Timber Corps in Great Britain (this is just an aside and not suggesting that it is a logical reason to force my own opinion).

"During the first and second world wars, over 240,000 land girls and lumber Jills provided food and timber for the war efforts, on behalf of our nation, we extend our thanks and appreciation for the commitment and endeavour shown by these young women."

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Women%27s_Land_Army_and_Women%27s_Timber_Corps_Memorial.jpg

I understand the need to allocate game development time and resources wisely, however with the statistically significant (48-51% depending on research) of female gamers. It may be an idea to at least consider it for future games or even ask the wider potential customer-base if this is something that is important to them. Maybe the answer could justify the extra time and resources to provide a more immersive experience to an otherwise missed percentage of the gaming community.

Even of there is an option just to change the avatar only (with text saying "This will only change the avatar and not any other aspect of the game") ideally also add alternative text/voice interactions would give me further incentive to purchase and play this game (I understand that some of the story-line has specific aspects but I do not require these to be changed).

Without this most basic option, the only incentive I have is to experience this game via YouTube.

Maybe a good idea for a future game is "The Woman's Land Army Dynasty"? LOL

Just my own thoughts here but some others may share them...

[Tazmo]

The question is, is it cost beneficial to use the resources to modify the game to incorporate a female character? Are there enough female gamers wanting to purchase and play a lumberjack/Jill type game to offset the additional costs? Will be interesting to see where this goes.

[Merck]

I believe if it wasn't for marriage, it wouldn't be any issue to have either gender. But the marriage has a whole lot of coding involved in who is eligible, & such. Adding the alternatives, is what I believe to have been the big issue in FD.

But, I think as the developers develop their skills, & find out what all can be done (& still work smoothly), then they will likely expand the horizons.

But I consider it all like a book... I personally am often not at all like the characters in the books, but I can still imagine what I would do or how I would react to different situations.

The developers are giving us a sandbox, which we can pretty much create or do what we want within that world.

[NormireX]

You are missing out on sales. I don't know about Lumberjack Dynasty but I know my niece would probably like Farmer Dynasty if it had a female character.

You could use a pre existing female model for the character and existing male models to replace the single ladies.

Would still take time I know. Could throw out the relationship stuff altogether and have choice of male or female at the begining.

I know it won't happen but something to consider if you make sequels or for future games.

[EVE]

Interessante Diskussion, ich würde auch gerne mit einer weiblichen Person spielen, die Story müsste auch nicht anders sein, nur der Mann, den man heiratet, müsste dann halt in der Küche stehen und das "leckere Essen aus den Lagerbeständen" zubereiten. Fänd ich cool!

[Merck]

The voice-over's for all the "new" wives would have to be change, else all these men, would sound more female. And if changing the females, what would happen to the current ratio of male & female NPC's? Everyone in the game would have to be "flipped". This alone would lead to a very large amount of modification of the game code in my opinion.

Throwing out the relationship stuff..., would remove the "...dynasty" part of the game, & thus changing a core part of the game.

That all said, some additional choices at the beginning of the game, such as skipping the tutorial, or game difficulty levels, might increase game re-play.

I wonder if these discussions are taking place in Lara Croft, the tomb raider series. Are there players asking that she be changed to a male character...?

[NormireX]

Originally posted by Merck:

The voice-over's for all the "new" wives would have to be change, else all these men, would sound more female. And if changing the females, what would happen to the current ratio of male & female NPC's? Everyone in the game would have to be "flipped". This alone would lead to a very large amount of modification of the game code in my opinion.

Throwing out the relationship stuff..., would remove the "...dynasty" part of the game, & thus changing a core part of the game.

That all said, some additional choices at the beginning of the game, such as skipping the tutorial, or game difficulty levels, might increase game re-play.

I wonder if these discussions are taking place in Lara Croft, the tomb raider series. Are there players asking that she be changed to a male character...?

Ok I get your point, how bout making a game where you choose. No offense but no one really cares about the baked in story of the lead in these type of games usually, npc interactions are good but don't have to be male/female focused. A game like this lends itself to the player taking the role and not taking the role of a character like in Tomb Raider which you can't seem to shut up about.heh As for Dynasty part you are right but if you would make the games with player choice in mind from the beginning you could make more sales. Yeah dev time might be extended a few months but it shouldn't take forever to do some switcharoos and get some generic relationship dialogue recorded.


Still enjoy what you have created, though you gotta fix the traffic, it is not realistic at all. No one comes to a stop when a tractor pulls up to the road and cars should be passing me not stuck behind me.

Like I said I know things won't change with the current games but maybe in the sequels (hoping there will be some) this male/female choice could be a consideration.

[River Otter]

Originally posted by Merck:

I wonder if these discussions are taking place in Lara Croft, the tomb raider series. Are there players asking that she be changed to a male character...?

Lara Croft is one of the quintessential female characters in a major video game story. There was already a male version. Indiana Jones.

Nobody is asking for a "change", just an option. A consideration. A decade ago, it wasn't that huge of deal. Most gamers were male. That has drastically changed. Games that arent telling a specific story should be looking to add diversity of choice.

It's not a demand by anyone, it's a request, that could create a larger fanbase and gain loyalty to a developer.

[NormireX]

Originally posted by probablyfishing:

Originally posted by Merck:

I wonder if these discussions are taking place in Lara Croft, the tomb raider series. Are there players asking that she be changed to a male character...?

Lara Croft is one of the quintessential female characters in a major video game story. There was already a male version. Indiana Jones.

Nobody is asking for a "change", just an option. A consideration. A decade ago, it wasn't that huge of deal. Most gamers were male. That has drastically changed. Games that arent telling a specific story should be looking to add diversity of choice.

It's not a demand by anyone, it's a request, that could create a larger fanbase and gain loyalty to a developer.

Here! Here!

[Beverly]

In some games there is an option just to remove the "hairy arms" and that works for those games because there's no scripted interactions or voice acting. That would not work so well with a game that has a great deal of content similar to this game.

There was mention that the game was a "sandbox" but that would suggest a game without a pre-scripted story-line... Though maybe an idea for future games is to include a "sandbox" mode where the story-line is turned off and the player can just enjoy building, gardening, etc. Interactions with NPCs could just be text-based in sandbox mode. Some AAA games do make use of some text-only quest givers even where there is a great deal of voiced characters. Just an idea there.

Though I still think that a game based on the land army during WW2 would be a great idea. Small village, farms, a small airfield nearby. It wasn't just all women. There was also men doing their bit "civvy side" also doing similar roles (usually because they were medically discharged or otherwise exempt)... Anyway, I digress.

I used to play ARK and NMS a great deal as well as other similar games but looking for a more relaxed game to "get lost" in. A nice slow paced experience outside of my usual daytime psychology and counselling "adventures", especially at the moment.

Thanks to everyone that shared their views.

[Accused Parrot]

Well please take my next comment with a little humour as it is meant.

Make it possible to have a female lesbian lumberjack.

[Slowpokie]

Anyone who thinks updating this game to include the option to play as a female would be as simple as changing the avatar, getting a female voice actor, and having pronouns changed in dialogue depending on if you picked male or female doesn't understand that there is more to the game than just your character. As the developer mentioned in the first post, there is love interests. So not only would all of the above have to be changed, but adding in male love interest would need to be done as well. Once all of that is done, you'll then have people crying that you can't have a same sex relationship.

If you want to claim that you can't immerse yourself into the game because there isn't a female character, then you lack imagination. No girl/woman cried that Pac-Man was male and they couldn't be female. The reason for Ms. Pac-Man was legal issues between the developing companies. No one cried that there was no female Mario. No one complained that there was only a male Pokemon trainer.

In the past 50 years of gaming, it's only in the past decade that people have started crying that they want to pick their gender for single player games like this. If it is a requirement for you to be able to pick the gender of your character, perhaps video games aren't for you?

[NormireX]

Originally posted by Slowpokie:

Anyone who thinks updating this game to include the option to play as a female would be as simple as changing the avatar, getting a female voice actor, and having pronouns changed in dialogue depending on if you picked male or female doesn't understand that there is more to the game than just your character. As the developer mentioned in the first post, there is love interests. So not only would all of the above have to be changed, but adding in male love interest would need to be done as well. Once all of that is done, you'll then have people crying that you can't have a same sex relationship.

If you want to claim that you can't immerse yourself into the game because there isn't a female character, then you lack imagination. No girl/woman cried that Pac-Man was male and they couldn't be female. The reason for Ms. Pac-Man was legal issues between the developing companies. No one cried that there was no female Mario. No one complained that there was only a male Pokemon trainer.

In the past 50 years of gaming, it's only in the past decade that people have started crying that they want to pick their gender for single player games like this. If it is a requirement for you to be able to pick the gender of your character, perhaps video games aren't for you?

And you lack the understanding of why in this kind of game girls would want to play as a girl character. It's the genre not the game itself. Pac Man, Tomb Raider, etc all are bad examples to compare things to as those are different types of games. Also they did come out with Mrs Pac Man which I honestly prefer as it is a better game. The thing with Tomb Raider and such games is they tell a very linear story about 1 person and you are not playing a sim, yeah there might be an open world but you are limited as to what you can do. Farmers Dynasty is a more open game without a real driving narrative those other games have. The Dynasty games lend themselves more to you viewing the character as yourself rather than a character you are playing where as in Tomb Raider it is the opposite. I don't even remember if the main character in Farmers Dynasty has a name, and the back story is extremely cookie cutter and not specific, it's a story that would fit male or female. Point is more choice for players the better in these type of games.

I think the real solution is ok fine play out the male heir first but then when he does get married and have kids the player could choose to play as either the male or female offspring.

I know it will probably never happen, but again it is something the devs could consider for a sequel or something as they would make more sales adding a female character option. If a female character was an option I wouldn't hesitate picking the game up for my niece as I think she would like several of the aspects of the game, but I don't think she will be as interested if she can't play as a girl. A co-op game like this for up to 4 players would be really cool, but I doubt that ever happens either.

Again I really enjoy Farmers Dynasty just sad some will miss out since a relatable character is not available for them. Here's to hoping a new game does come with character choices.

[EVE]

Ich verstehe, dass ihr das Spiel natürlich nicht umprogrammiert, aber, wie andere auch, fände ich die Option für zukünftige Spiel zumindest mal einer Überlegung wert. Und den Hinweis auf eine gewünschte Möglichkeit gleich als "weinen" zu bezeichnen, damit stellt ihr euch echt ein Armutszeugnis aus. Nichtsdestotrotz werde ich dieses Spiel weiter spielen und hoffe auf etwas mehr Entspanntheit bei allen Beteiligten.

[Tivra]

I like games that give character choice, but not having a choice is not a reason not to buy or like for me.

I would prefer one gender and more game content. Than less content and two genders. The developers aren't been sexist/exclusive like they said in their comment above. They'd love to give us more content (in this case bother genders/different possible love interests.)

For a game with a lot of voice acting it would be a lot of work and expense. Just think how many times your character speaks and to how many people. I know other games do it, but I don't know of any personally that are both simulation and quest/story-based. So that would be double the work again.

And as others have said (sadly in my opinion) in real life (and remember this game is supposed to be simulating real life) logging and farming as jobs are still largely male-dominated. (btw. I live in a farming community and my parents are retired stud farmers.)

Perhaps the next game the devs work on will be centred around a mainly female career. I wonder if there will be the same amount of fuss if there is no male character for that?

You also need to consider what is popular. Farming, for example, is a very popular theme for simulation games. So it is more likely that you will see more of them or that are a variation of farming.