Ren'Py Family, Friends and Strangers [v2025.06] [JohnAndRich]

[dudeipoop]

Sigh.

So, this is 99% a kinetic novel. There is one, count them, one choice in the whole f'ing project.

This means that if all you want to do is to fap to the animations in the gallery, you can start the game, lean on the "skip" key for a while, make one choice, lean on the "skip" key again, and have "played" through most of the game in about another 5 minutes, tops. Go back to the choice, take the other choice, repeat.

Granted, as the developer, it's more than a bit disappointing that you don't appear to want to look at any of the text of the story, but that's your solution without decompiling the project.

why are you so angry lol? he just asked a simple question, get off your high horse fella

 

[tharsheblows]

why are you so angry lol? he just asked a simple question, get off your high horse fella

I'd suggest you go back to the first page of posts and read every single one up to yours in order to understand how naive your comment sounds. Rich is one of the most responsive and considerate developers on this site and has answered so many thoughtless and inconsiderate posts like this from guys who just pop on and whine about everything under the sun, simply because they want this person to fuck that person, or bigger nipples, or, or not enough choices...

After you've read every single post, (as he has) I'd suggest you come back and rephrase your own comment, because it sure sounds like someone is on a high horse, but I guarantee you, it's not Rich.

 

[fbass]

why are you so angry lol? he just asked a simple question, get off your high horse fella

I don't think he's angry, he's just pointing out the stupidity of that post.

 

[Rich]

I posted this on SubscribeStar yesterday, but I'll repeat it here.

Thanks to Everybody...

...for their patience. I'm pleased to say that the bulk of my IRL issues are now in the rear-view, and that I'm now able to pick up from where I left off. The immediate project is to finish off "Part 2" of STDH's "Under The Weather." Part 2 will be one of the longest STDH episodes I've done. I'm also experimenting with a slightly different style for a portion of it. I'll be interested in feedback on it.

I want to thank all the people here who offered encouragement, sympathy, etc., etc. It just goes to show that we are a community here - a community of which I'm proud to be a member.

 

[tharsheblows]

I posted this on SubscribeStar yesterday, but I'll repeat it here.



I want to thank all the people here who offered encouragement, sympathy, etc., etc. It just goes to show that we are a community here - a community of which I'm proud to be a member.

Glad to hear things are on the mend for you and yours. I'm also grateful for your incredibly thick skin and your ability to keep your cool in the middle of difficult times and difficult people.

 

[Rich]

I'm also grateful for your incredibly thick skin and your ability to keep your cool in the middle of difficult times and difficult people.

I haven't always been as tolerant as I should be, but thanks.

 

[tharsheblows]

I haven't always been as tolerant as I should be, but thanks.

I disagree. It's not uncommon for the naively self-indulgent to over-reach here and it requires some push back to stand your ground and let them know they have.
You take pride in your work, as you should.
Noting that you don't like having to push back to defend it, or that you get frustrated when newbs expect you to spoon-feed them, shows humility. Others here could learn a lot from that if they weren't just looking to nut all the time.

 

[harrylarry678]

Hey Rich! Hope you are doing well... when will the next update be?

 

[dudeipoop]

Hey Rich! Hope you are doing well... when will the next update be?

dont ask that mate he'll have a insane crash out and call you a sub5 human who deserves every cancer known to man

 

[tharsheblows]

dont ask that mate he'll have a insane crash out and call you a sub5 human who deserves every cancer known to man

Knock it off.

 

[Rich]

Hey Rich! Hope you are doing well... when will the next update be?

Normally, I just point people at the FAQ, but after such a long break, it's a valid question.

I lost - literally - months of time over the summer and early fall dealing with family issues, for which I apologize. I finally got most of that squared away in early November, and put my nose to the grindstone again. There will actually be an STDH release before the next FF&S release - I'm working on the second part of the "Under The Weather" story line there. Then I'll be back to the next chapter here.

As usual, I can't give you exact release dates, but I'm nearing the end of the rendering process for the next STDH release.

 

[tharsheblows]

Normally, I just point people at the FAQ, but after such a long break, it's a valid question.

I lost - literally - months of time over the summer and early fall dealing with family issues, for which I apologize. I finally got most of that squared away in early November, and put my nose to the grindstone again. There will actually be an STDH release before the next FF&S release - I'm working on the second part of the "Under The Weather" story line there. Then I'll be back to the next chapter here.

As usual, I can't give you exact release dates, but I'm nearing the end of the rendering process for the next STDH release.

Never apologize for tending to family.
Never.

 

[Maxus_mudo]

So, a few thoughts:

1. The MC was a douche when he acted out on Betty. Parker's girlfriend's name is "Becky," not "Betty." If you're going to criticize the plot, you might take the time to get the characters' names correct.
2. And he failed to have sex with his sister. Have you perhaps noticed that there hasn't been any incest in this project at all? If a dev has this much content and has been working on the project for this long and hasn't put any in, you can pretty much bet that he isn't going to. What you're looking for is over in Scenes That Didn't Happen.
3. And he failed to do sloppy seconds on the mum. So, he's "a douche for acting out on Becky," but he should also have banged her mother? While Becky's waiting for him by the pool?
4. And he failed to have Hanni first. Sounds like what you're looking for is a "MC bangs every one of the women" game. If so, you're in the wrong place. If you haven't figured that out after going through the entire project, well...
5. Honestly hoping someone takes a baseball bat to him. To do what? To turn him into a completely nasty shirt that bangs every woman in sight? Or to cure him of those tendencies so that he's not a douche to his girlfriend and the other women around him?

As the dev has said to many people, "if this isn't your cup of tea, the door is over there, thank you for visiting."

1. I and anyone else can criticise the game without having to get the names of the characters right. Making an adhom just to avoid acknowledging a valid criticism is a tad pathetic.

2. While there hasn't been any actual incest, there have been plenty of nods in that direction - Chapter 6 in particular. As for scenes that didn't happen - what a trite phrase that is, there's a picture of Parker balls deep in his sister, and later in Chapter 11a with him and his mum. Throughout the whole story there is a lowkey incestuous vibe going on.

3. Well isn't that just an inability to see things as they are. He's a douche for the way he acts irrespective of whether he banged her mum. That's just a standalone given. It's not like it would have been the first time, as that was in Chapter 11a.

4. Except he kind of does want to bang everything in sight, his failure to do so is on him. His complete moral degeneracy is on display throughout the whole game but especially so in Chapter 15 ... so honestly I'm at a loss as to what you're trying to imply with this petty "MC bangs every one of the women" jibe. He does want to and his failure to do so is not because it's not that kind of game it's because he's played out of character. I suspect the Dev actually thinks the guy isn't a morally degenerate scumbag, but an actual fkn hero.

5. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. On the one hand in the context of a porn game, and his character, he should have been banging every girl in sight. In the context of the guy as a human being he would definitely need removing from the gene pool.

It's more than ironic to criticise someone for making a trivial naming mistake when it's quite clear you paid so little attention to the actual game yourself.

 

[tharsheblows]

1. I and anyone else can criticise the game without having to get the names of the characters right. Making an adhom just to avoid acknowledging a valid criticism is a tad pathetic.

2. While there hasn't been any actual incest, there have been plenty of nods in that direction - Chapter 6 in particular. As for scenes that didn't happen - what a trite phrase that is, there's a picture of Parker balls deep in his sister, and later in Chapter 11a with him and his mum. Throughout the whole story there is a lowkey incestuous vibe going on.

3. Well isn't that just an inability to see things as they are. He's a douche for the way he acts irrespective of whether he banged her mum. That's just a standalone given. It's not like it would have been the first time, as that was in Chapter 11a.

4. Except he kind of does want to bang everything in sight, his failure to do so is on him. His complete moral degeneracy is on display throughout the whole game but especially so in Chapter 15 ... so honestly I'm at a loss as to what you're trying to imply with this petty "MC bangs every one of the women" jibe. He does want to and his failure to do so is not because it's not that kind of game it's because he's played out of character. I suspect the Dev actually thinks the guy isn't a morally degenerate scumbag, but an actual fkn hero.

5. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. On the one hand in the context of a porn game, and his character, he should have been banging every girl in sight. In the context of the guy as a human being he would definitely need removing from the gene pool.

It's more than ironic to criticise someone for making a trivial naming mistake when it's quite clear you paid so little attention to the actual game yourself.

Pssst! Next time use

Spoiler

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[Rich]

1. I and anyone else can criticise the game without having to get the names of the characters right. Making an adhom just to avoid acknowledging a valid criticism is a tad pathetic.

Yes, but not taking the time to get the names right WILL resulting people paying less attention to your comments, since it suggests (doesn't MEAN, just SUGGESTS) that you haven't analyzed the game seriously. If you'd been assigned to write a book review or critique of Moby Dick and referred to the protagonist as "Isaiah" instead of "Ishmael," I suspect that your professor would react in a similar way, no?

2. While there hasn't been any actual incest, there have been plenty of nods in that direction - Chapter 6 in particular. As for scenes that didn't happen - what a trite phrase that is, there's a picture of Parker balls deep in his sister, and later in Chapter 11a with him and his mum. Throughout the whole story there is a lowkey incestuous vibe going on.

The original focus of the game was to be the cops and their interactions with the various women in the game. I admit that I have drifted away from that to a certain extent, but that's in no small part due to the fact that the original writer bailed out of the game after Chapter 4, leaving me writing it solo. And I'm far from the world's greatest writer.

As for STDH, I made a conscious choice NOT to go down the incest route with the main game. There are just SO many games that follow that trope. I wanted to be "somewhat different." However, I got requests over and over and over again in this thread (and from the people that actually support the game financially, who carry greater weight) to see "X do Y with Z." So, I created STDH so that I had a place to do those scenes to please them. So, anything you see in STDH is NOT canon - it's "what might I have tossed in if I wanted to be like every other male protagonist game out there."

And I'm not sure why you describe the phrase "Scenes That Didn't Happen" as "trite." Maybe it isn't horribly original, but it's descriptive. By your standards, the titles of most porn projects must be "trite." How many of them are variations of phrases involving "Mother," "MILF," "Sister" or "Family?"

3. Well isn't that just an inability to see things as they are. He's a douche for the way he acts irrespective of whether he banged her mum. That's just a standalone given. It's not like it would have been the first time, as that was in Chapter 11a.

Yes, Parker is a bit of a douche. And he's also periodically clueless. Of course, an awful lot of us were guilty of both (in differing parts) when we were Parker's age. But if you want seriously believable characters and actions, porn projects are NOT the place you should be looking.

4. Except he kind of does want to bang everything in sight, his failure to do so is on him. His complete moral degeneracy is on display throughout the whole game but especially so in Chapter 15 ... so honestly I'm at a loss as to what you're trying to imply with this petty "MC bangs every one of the women" jibe. He does want to and his failure to do so is not because it's not that kind of game it's because he's played out of character. I suspect the Dev actually thinks the guy isn't a morally degenerate scumbag, but an actual fkn hero.

Quite the contrary. Parker frequently thinks with his dick. At his age, given some of the opportunities presented in the game, would you not have taken advantage of them? Yes, in one of the story routes he ends up being the hero, but I guarantee he's not in the other. The whole reason there ARE two routes is that I was torn between having him follow the arc that the original writer laid out vs the "happily ever after" route.

5. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. On the one hand in the context of a porn game, and his character, he should have been banging every girl in sight. In the context of the guy as a human being he would definitely need removing from the gene pool.

I was tempted to say "So, the only valid porn game with a teen-age male protagonist is one in which he bangs every girl in sight? IMHO, you have a very limited view of how porn games "should" be designed." But, of course, you did include the qualifier "with his character." You may, if you wish, put this contradiction down to my overall lack of talent as a writer.

It's worth pointing out (again, since I've said this multiple times) that there are some autobiographical elements to certain of the characters, and some of those elements didn't weave into the entire story arc as well as they might have. Again, all on me as the writer of most of this.

It's more than ironic to criticise someone for making a trivial naming mistake when it's quite clear you paid so little attention to the actual game yourself.

With respect, accusing L.Lumpy of paying "little attention to the actual game itself" is COMPLETELY off-base, as he and I are acquaintances outside of F95, and have had regular, sometimes-lengthy discussions about the project's past, present and future. Which, frankly, makes his understanding of the individual characters, their motivations and their foibles substantially deeper than yours.

So, I'll close with my standard comment. Thanks for stopping by. If you find the project just too awful to bear, you're welcome to find something you like better. Or produce something that doesn't exhibit the same issues that you're raising.

Rich

 

[thedevilbank]

any updates yet

 

[CobraPL]

any updates yet

CC quietly updated ENG to 1.44, aside of that the dev gone MIA.

 

[WaltS]

[…] aside of that the dev gone MIA.

Erm, did you check the post two above yours? That IS the dev Rich posting…

 

[tharsheblows]

Yes, but not taking the time to get the names right WILL resulting people paying less attention to your comments, since it suggests (doesn't MEAN, just SUGGESTS) that you haven't analyzed the game seriously. If you'd been assigned to write a book review or critique of Moby Dick and referred to the protagonist as "Isaiah" instead of "Ishmael," I suspect that your professor would react in a similar way, no?



The original focus of the game was to be the cops and their interactions with the various women in the game. I admit that I have drifted away from that to a certain extent, but that's in no small part due to the fact that the original writer bailed out of the game after Chapter 4, leaving me writing it solo. And I'm far from the world's greatest writer.

As for STDH, I made a conscious choice NOT to go down the incest route with the main game. There are just SO many games that follow that trope. I wanted to be "somewhat different." However, I got requests over and over and over again in this thread (and from the people that actually support the game financially, who carry greater weight) to see "X do Y with Z." So, I created STDH so that I had a place to do those scenes to please them. So, anything you see in STDH is NOT canon - it's "what might I have tossed in if I wanted to be like every other male protagonist game out there."

And I'm not sure why you describe the phrase "Scenes That Didn't Happen" as "trite." Maybe it isn't horribly original, but it's descriptive. By your standards, the titles of most porn projects must be "trite." How many of them are variations of phrases involving "Mother," "MILF," "Sister" or "Family?"



Yes, Parker is a bit of a douche. And he's also periodically clueless. Of course, an awful lot of us were guilty of both (in differing parts) when we were Parker's age. But if you want seriously believable characters and actions, porn projects are NOT the place you should be looking.



Quite the contrary. Parker frequently thinks with his dick. At his age, given some of the opportunities presented in the game, would you not have taken advantage of them? Yes, in one of the story routes he ends up being the hero, but I guarantee he's not in the other. The whole reason there ARE two routes is that I was torn between having him follow the arc that the original writer laid out vs the "happily ever after" route.



I was tempted to say "So, the only valid porn game with a teen-age male protagonist is one in which he bangs every girl in sight? IMHO, you have a very limited view of how porn games "should" be designed." But, of course, you did include the qualifier "with his character." You may, if you wish, put this contradiction down to my overall lack of talent as a writer.

It's worth pointing out (again, since I've said this multiple times) that there are some autobiographical elements to certain of the characters, and some of those elements didn't weave into the entire story arc as well as they might have. Again, all on me as the writer of most of this.



With respect, accusing L.Lumpy of paying "little attention to the actual game itself" is COMPLETELY off-base, as he and I are acquaintances outside of F95, and have had regular, sometimes-lengthy discussions about the project's past, present and future. Which, frankly, makes his understanding of the individual characters, their motivations and their foibles substantially deeper than yours.

So, I'll close with my standard comment. Thanks for stopping by. If you find the project just too awful to bear, you're welcome to find something you like better. Or produce something that doesn't exhibit the same issues that you're raising.

Rich

Bravo!

Parker should have been a wrestler.
I love a good take down.