The Counter Gambit News

1. [p]Fixed an issue where unread text was being skipped during fast-forward even if "Skip Read Text Only" was selected.[/p]
2. [p]Increased fast-forward speed.[/p]
3. [p]Added auto-save functionality.[/p]
4. [p]Added a PV playback button to the Main Menu.[/p]

[hr][/hr][p]We have received everyone's feedback regarding the story and H-scenes. Since Visual Novels are different from other genres and may not have as many replayable users, we will not be updating the story to ensure that the experience for our early supporters remains consistent with later players. As for the H-scenes, we appreciate your valuable feedback. In our next H-focused project, we will be more deliberate with the design of scenes and positions to better showcase each character's charm. There will be another update for the H-flow in this game next week. Stay tuned![/p]

[p]Thank you for your patience! The Counter Gambit is now officially live. First and foremost, we offer our sincerest apologies to everyone who has been following this project. Due to unexpected circumstances during the adult DLC review process, the release date was delayed several times. We have learned a valuable lesson from this experience. For future titles, we will ensure that the game has fully passed Steam's review before announcing a fixed date to avoid any further delays. Based on the feedback from our debut title, we have made numerous improvements in this game compared to The Cheated Man's Revenge:[/p][p][/p][p]UI Improvements:[/p]

1. [p]Added a dialogue log feature.
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2. [p]Scroll down with the mouse wheel to advance the story, and scroll up to access the history log.
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3. [p]Added a dedicated CG gallery section.
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[p][/p][p]Gameplay Experience:[/p]

1. [p]We created at least 4 sets of outfits for the main characters, solving the issue of inconsistent visuals and descriptions.
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2. [p]Main characters now have multiple sets of facial expressions, moving away from the "expressionless" look of our previous title.
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[p][/p][p]Interactive Scenes:[/p]

1. [p]We attempted to create a more complete flow for content, rather than simple animation loops like in the previous game.
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2. [p]Action sound effects are now properly synchronized with the movements.
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3. [p]The biggest improvement is the addition of multi-character H-scene, addressing a long-requested feature for our harem-themed works. [/p]

[p][/p][p]Honest Disclosure Regarding AI Voice Acting:[/p][p]Due to budget constraints, we experimented with AI voice acting for this title. While we carefully selected the most natural-sounding tracks from a vast number of generated results, we admit that AI still lacks emotional nuance in many scenes. If you do not enjoy the AI voices, you can disable them at any time in the settings. If this game performs well and our future budget allows, we will certainly hire professional voice actors.[/p][p][/p][p]Additionally, due to time pressure, we were unable to implement Live2D hair effects. To ensure the detail and complete flow of every adult scene, we made certain trade-offs regarding quantity. However, as the saying goes, progress happens in an upward spiral. We have gained experience and improved our workflow with this title. In future works, you can expect higher-quality dynamic effects and a steady increase in the number of interactive scenes.[/p][p][/p][p]I have always believed that the relationship between developers and players is more like that of students and teachers rather than just buyers and sellers. The Counter Gambit is my latest exam, and your reviews are the grades. If you are still unsatisfied with the quality, I sincerely hope you can maintain your confidence in us. We do not want to be a studio that churns out low-quality AI-generated trash. Our vision is to: create industry-leading harem-themed works. Although our current capabilities are limited, I believe that by continuously listening to your suggestions and accumulating experience with each title (the next project will focus on gameplay and scene presentation), our goals will eventually be achieved. We look forward to your reviews and suggestions—we are truly listening![/p][p][/p][p]PS: In the first half of this year, we will release another harem-themed NTL title that many of you may enjoy even more—it’s roughly about taking revenge by completely conquering the wife and mother of an arrogant boss... The new work will no longer be a pure visual novel; it will include gameplay elements and focus more on adult scene presentation, with longer sequences and more varied movements and expressions. We hope the next title will bring you more immersive and expressive content. If you have played any games with animated H-scenes that truly impressed you, please let us know in the comments! We will carefully study the strengths of outstanding predecessors and incorporate them into our new project.[/p]

[p]Currently, the adult content DLC for the game is still undergoing the review process. To ensure that everyone receives the most complete and ideal experience upon launch, we have decided to officially begin sales of the base game only after the DLC has passed review.[/p][p]Due to the unpredictable nature of Steam's review timeline, we cannot provide a specific release date at this moment. However, please rest assured that we will release the game as soon as the review is complete.[/p][p]We sincerely apologize for the unexpected delay and the inconvenience caused. Thank you for your understanding and patient support![/p][p](It’s a real shame... we made the H-scenes much more realistic this time, but now we can't show them to you as early as we’d hoped...)[/p]