@jason_king Make sure you read the basic rules of coding. Really, my only piece of advice is mess around with the coding, and look at other people’s game coding. Link Here
As for Hosted Games and payment, while I’m not 100% sure you have to pay now (though I doubt it) it’s more likely that people just need the money. It takes a lot of time to code everything and write everything out, then all the bug testing and beta testing and fixing. Then getting someone to do cover art. That all takes tons of time and money.
As for your game involving women, if you don’t want to involve them, then don’t. Do what feels best. But if you truly want to, look into women of the past. You’d be surprised to learn just how many women fought in wars (even as generals!) Even when not in war, however, women had a huge part in politics. Their lives were arguably more interesting than male lives.