VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [Ch.10 v0.71] [NeonGhosts]

[dietmountaindew]

Nicki's convo with Maya when the MC is listening in, is so varied and awesome. What she tells Maya on the love path breaks my heart. Sheesh. Underrated scene.

 

[RaichiThunder1000]

Romance? In these games? Please lol. Show me these games actually making a legitimate attempt at that. Or who/where these "majority" supposedly are that constantly scream their want for harem games while simultaneously hating on the Magic Penis concept.

Or you can just call a spade a spade there, and stop trying to spin off having bunch of single minded and focused pets as being anything other then what it really is. The harems written in to 99% these games have little to absolutely nothing to do with actual "romance" or some implied desire of intimacy, and everything to do with safely catering first and foremost to people who's more extreme level of surrounding insecurities with woman are typically most in personal need of an ego boost. It's essentially the ultimate tool in that respect, and especially when aimed at the more fanatical types posting here who might be a mere smile at their "claimed" LI from another *gasp* male character away from losing their lunch and racking up a 50 post rant over it.

There is ultimately no real core difference in the "harem" going on here through the fuck/rape them all asshole route, and most of the magic penis stories out there which basically serve to the same fuck them all fetish imo. Just the way your brain decides to interpret it all in an after-the-fact and post busting a nut.

You do know that there are adult games that do have consequences for dating several girls right and will make you choose only one girl.

 

[NeonGhosts]

Big lightning-round response time. I'm still sick as a dog, so forgive me for not being more thorough.

That is definitely right mindset to be honest. You don't have to be part of it, to be supportive to something. For Mason, I don't really care whether a male or female, also don't really care MC's choices but I do care about whether or not he is attracted to men. If not, kinda evil to let him give BJ. I start to feel like we are getting a perfect storyline for him.

Light spoilers, but I see Mason as pansexual. I talked about Mason a bit on my Discord, but I write him with a few things in mind:

• He's pan and perhaps not fully settled into his preferred gender expression yet. He's still young and exploring.
• As part of that exploration, Mason's experiencing a bit of a second puberty, not physiologically, but mentally. He's basically having the formative sexual experiences as a male, that he never got to as a youth. That makes him a bit more willing to experiment and try things.
• Mason's on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum, which can cause him to misread social cues. Hence trying to give MC a BJ after a misunderstanding. He also tends to 'mask' and slip into different personas that allow him to more easily navigate society and relationships, which is why he can slide into his girl personality so easily.
• His traumatic brain injury left him with lowered impulse control and memory problems, so he tends to have poor decision-making skills.
• All in all, he's kind of situated to be easy prey for a manipulator, which is why it's important MC helps him. Or why he can easily control him and twist him into what he wants him to be.

Also, the answer Mason gives as to where they are from is different on the different paths.
Is this Mason lying to the MC on one path or does Mason's backstory change if you go a particular route?

Also can we please get Mason to the hospital? Like poor kid started stuttering after a beating. Let's get them to a doctor and see what we can do for the poor little waif.

I try to keep things very consistent across paths, so if Mason's telling MC one thing on one path, and something else on another, he's probably fibbing. In this case, he's being a little guarded because he's not sure he can trust MC with all of his history yet. Last thing Mason needs is to have his deadname and family history pulled up and waved in front of him by a rich guy who's bent on treating him a bit poorly.

And sadly most TBIs cause chronic issues that don't fully resolve with time, so a hospital wouldn't do him much good at this point.

Why can't this dude win any fights? Makes no sense. Got beat up by Jamie, then he gets killed by a homeless dude if you try to fight. He definitely won't do jack shit to the people that messed up Nicki either. Bunch of bullshit.

-----

B.O.D.Y. G.U.A.R.D

Simple.

This has been addressed, but when I wrote this whole thing I kind of set out to show MC isn't perfect, and doesn't win all the time - even when he tries to do the right thing. He's a clever guy who's in good shape. His strengths lie in being canny and creative, not in being a great fighter. That said, he did exactly what you need to do if you're in a fight with someone holding a knife. He fought dirty and lived to see another day.

As for a bodyguard.. I mean, simple in some ways to add, yes. But that's an extra character in a lot of scenes. More time posing, more time rendering, less drama.. It'd be like giving Bruce Willis a SWAT team as back-up in Die Hard. The fun is in watching him solve the problem, not having someone else do it for him. Just my philosophy on it!

That said, if I keep drilling on the idea that MC isn't invulnerable, and isn't a great fighter, I'm probably doing it to make a point.

neonghost Guy needs a new wardrobe, the white t-shirt hurts. Give him a leather jacket or something.
At least leather gives you +1 against butter knives

Hah! After the giant pain in the ass his suit jacket caused me, I'm reticent to put the dude in anymore jackets.. :'D

NeonGhosts How about an extra option with Mason to not use the wig if you refer to her as a girl and just reuse the other renders.

Actually, people who played the early Sneak Peek version of the chapter know that was originally an option. Ultimately though, it just added an extra layer of work for very little pay-off. In the future I'll try to have some fem-Mason scenes with short hair, though.

In Gabby's scene I wanted to be able to do things with her beyond forcing her to bark. Have I done something wrong, or does she reappear later in the chapter?

Chapter 5 will be a big chapter for Gabby. The way that the next installment will have content for all of Ashe's routes, Chapter 5 will be the same for Gabby.

As someone who has no idea where you were going with the Mason storyline I have to say it ended up being one of the hottest scenes so far. Amazing work setting that up. I can totally understand if you'd rather not but would you be willing to share who some of your OnlyFans inspirations were? This is all new to me and having really enjoyed what you did with Mason I'm kind of interested in finding out more.

I also have absolutely no idea where you're going with the photo teases (I assume the photo Maya took of MC and Nicki was another hint. I guess this is one of the long term plot threads but damned if I know what's being foreshadowed. Is it girls with colored hair???) Anyway, excited to see where you take things, please keep up the great work

I'm glad so many people took a liking to the Mason scene. It was kind of a big swing, but it seems to have landed for more people than not. I'm generally a little reticent to link to my real-life inspirations, but as they're both sex workers actively advertising their platforms, I think it's okay. The two main ones were

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and

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. Go give them some money, they're gr8.

As for the photos, I'm a little surprised nobody's guessed it right yet.. <_<

i was only to the bookstore part, enjoying the game quite a bit, till i made the mistake of skipping ahead a bit to the brittani photo session. now the rest of the game seems completely pointless until there is more brittani content. i hope you make her a huge focus of the game moving forward. this game could easily be in the top three if you do. great job, amazing game.

I often joke that after FiN wraps up I'll do a Brittani management sim spin-off, and it seems like less and less of a joke as people continue to discover her.. :'D

NeonGhosts :
I like your game very much. An interesting (although not unusual, see other games, I mean the part with crypto) idea and the writing of the story is very well done in my opinion. And most of the girls are lovely and sweet. What bothers me the most is the fact that you have the option to rape that nice saleswoman (viola) in the store! This doesn't fit with the rest of the philanthropist's patron story at all. I think that part should be taken out. just to satisfy a few players or to get more interest this is not necessary. that destroys half the fun in my eyes. The dialogues and descriptions are sometimes written so well that this alone should ensure the success of the game. I especially like maya, the little daughter of the consierge.
Now I really looking forward to the finale of the chapter 4!

Thanks for enjoying the game! In order to avoid any potentially unsettling content, I'd always advise people not to install the fan-made patch that adds taboo elements to the story.

Just a few thoughts/points I wanted to make, of varying importance lol.

-Universal Choice Descriptor or Global WT Mod might be useful until someone makes a dedicated walkthrough mod. They won't give you context, like how/why you got to that point or what paths a choice might lead to (and you'd need to know what the variables actually mean) but it will at least tell you what variables, if any, are affected by a choice.

-Start of Chapter 4: Nicki provides some sexy foreshadowing by suggesting MC could stuff her panties in her mouth. I guess he liked the idea! Not sure Nicki would be happy that other girls are reaping the benefits of her dirty mind though.

-As others pointed out, MC needs to learn to fight. Solution? Learn some self-defense techniques from Alex in a private session.

-I wonder if we could end up on Gabby's sugar-daddy route after being on the romance route. I think I'd enjoy that relationship but I don't want to force her the first time. Now that she's mad at MC in the romance route and breaks it off, maybe he can... entice her to keep it going somehow.

-I actually think Mason looks cuter with the red hair. The purple wig is not flattering imo but maybe that's intentional.

-Anyone else think Tessa and Pepper could be related somehow? There's definitely a resemblance imo but Pepper doesn't mention her when she suggests the clothing store where Tessa works so maybe not.

-Finally and most important: How is Fin-Man not the mascot for this game?
Friends In Need ->FIN ->FIN-Man. Neon, you can pay me later

You're reading my mind on a few of these..

Gabby's relationship is going to have a few more opportunities to change.. Still figuring out how it'll work exactly, but I'd like to give the player an opportunity to kind of go a dark-love route with her, where MC is spoiling her with things more than attention and love. Maybe a friends --> sugarbaby path..

Hah! The Fin-Man play on words was a semi-intentional happy accident. I was sitting there like, "Okay, Alex likes horror movies.. What's some horror trivia she'd know that Nicki wouldn't? Oh, Gill-Man, the real name of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.. Can't use Gill-Man, though, so he'd be.. oh shit, Fin-Man, perfect!" Glad someone else made that connection.

Finished playing the update.
Amazing job with Mason. Believe this is the first time i saw a transman character in a porngame on this forum. And in the fashion of this game it was really well done. Great work on doing what you want NeonGhosts no matter what some bigoted may cry about.

Hard to not feel for him after knowing some of his story. Bigoted dad kicked him out of home and when he finally seemed to get some happiness and stability he ends up victim of a hate crime that leaves him with some serious neurological after effect. And because there is no universal healthcare system and labor laws to protect people he ends up homeless, full of debt and having to give blowjobs in exchange for food and a place to sleep.

Another character i can't even touch the rapist option. Good Guy will help Mason too.

ps: wonder if kicking the thief who stole from Mason will bite Guy back later.

I liked the break up scene with Gabi. it was quite organic with the motivations. Think i will even make a save to keep it that way in the future.
Also Ashe scene was really hot and her friend Wren is a pretty too.

Thanks for the kind words! Glad that people are picking up on some of the themes I'm trying to get across, re: healthcare, labor, human rights, etc.

[super detailed review]

Man, thanks for that thoughtful analysis! Glad to see stuff resonate and provoke such a detailed response from people!

Mac link missing? A couple of pages back the dev said they posted the Mac links, but I cannot find them now.

I fucked the link up, but it's back on the front page now. My bad!

i didnt notice at first but pepper is smokin hot!

I was really trying to sneak it up on people, with the eventual reveal she's super-stacked up top. :'D I also altered her model a tiny bit for next go-around, darkening her hair and eyebrows to more of a true black color, giving her more freckles, and elongating her eyelashes. Not a huge change, but you can see what the new and improved (IMO) version looks like

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.

 

[Defenestrator.for.traitor]

• All in all, he's kind of situated to be easy prey for a manipulator, which is why it's important MC helps him. Or why he can easily control him and twist him into what he wants him to be.

I think I am okay with him experimenting and experiencing things with MC but being on autism spectrum even if higher-functioning end is kind of morally dangerous for me. His story borderline my redlines and I really like it. I hope he will have much more part in the future updates.

 

[Xypher]

I've been wondering, once MC and his girls are properly settled with their relationships. Will there be an option to choose what clothing they wear or at least just pose with what MC wants them to wear? Like some sexy lingerie or cute frilly dress?

 

[cat9876]

I often joke that after FiN wraps up I'll do a Brittani management sim spin-off, and it seems like less and less of a joke as people continue to discover her.. :'D

you ABSOLUTELY should. jamie should also be in that game just to add an extra level of f@cked-upness to it, or rather, keep it at the same level as FiN. but also, a few more scenes of her, or a similar looking girl in the main game for now couldn't hurt.

 

[cate.archer]

NeonGhosts :
Thank you for answering my little 'review'.
But I haven't installed any fan-made or other patches. Unfortunately some here don't want to accept my opinion about the rape scenes. However, a forum is just meant to make his opinion known, right? Why do they have to attack someone just because their opinion is different? In most VNs I only play the romance path anyway, because I really like it.
And in your game it is all well written and I like it very much!
I also like the Mason story path very much.
Get well soon and keep going on with this good work!

 

[TigerWolfe]

God damn if your artistic vision sees fit to somehow make a harem ending NeonGhosts I'll be over the moon. As it stands I'll still play this til the end because it's that good but being forced to pick and choose is gonna be the death of me. All the LIs are so sweet.

 

[NewTricks]

I think I am okay with him experimenting and experiencing things with MC but being on autism spectrum even if higher-functioning end is kind of morally dangerous for me. His story borderline my redlines and I really like it. I hope he will have much more part in the future updates.

The thing is that it is fine that you feel that way about Mason but it also begs the question whether it is ethical to have sex with Brittani on the same grounds. After all, she is obviously suffering from some kind of personality disorder stemming from severe childhood sexual abuse. At a certain point, I'm sure moral or ethical arguments could be found to put big red Xs over all the love interests because even in the good Guy path there is always some kind of incapacity to refuse or at least a conflict of interest. These factors are not only important to the story but in the development of Guy's character.

 

[Defenestrator.for.traitor]

The thing is that it is fine that you feel that way about Mason but it also begs the question whether it is ethical to have sex with Brittani on the same grounds. After all, she is obviously suffering from some kind of personality disorder stemming from severe childhood sexual abuse. At a certain point, I'm sure moral or ethical arguments could be found to put big red Xs over all the love interests because even in the good Guy path there is always some kind of incapacity to refuse or at least a conflict of interest. These factors are not only important to the story but in the development of Guy's character.

I am unaware about Britanni tbh. I did not find her interesting, so what was the issue with her?

 

[KotMulder]

Sooo, Mason is a girl, who thinks that he is a boy, firstly he liked girls, but now he is onto boys.
God!
Why can't he be trap (Danny from Taffy tales vibes), and in what universe his haircut is boyish haircut?
It's a great game, anyway. Another potentially great trap character has been denied

 

[NeonGhosts]

Let's all try to take a breath and agree to disagree. No need to be irate with one another.

Here's a character you'll get to meet soon.

 

[Havik79]

So for those of us who don't speak American, Pepper said she was in AP math would be?

 

[fashtar]

Let's all try to take a breath and agree to disagree. No need to be irate with one another.

Here's a character you'll get to meet soon.

View attachment 2585492

She looks an awful lot like Risa, only it's not her. I'm gonna assume from what I have read of previous that this is our upcoming bodyguard.

My second guess is that she's the detective investigating the recent rape cases in town.

And my third guess is she's the lawyer for Mr Barron's case.

 

[DanteRed]

Let's all try to take a breath and agree to disagree. No need to be irate with one another.

Here's a character you'll get to meet soon.

View attachment 2585492

Dude, stop creating attractive characters that we'll want to bang.

Just kidding. Well, she looks gorgeous. Hope we get to meet her soon. Good guy, uhm well, Guy has nothing to fear from her but pretty sure a Dark path Guy might be shaking in his boots a little.

 

[JoeAngel]

there is model in Come inside the Mom Model Looks Like it made up model

 

[TigerWolfe]

So for those of us who don't speak American, Pepper said she was in AP math would be?

Advanced placement. College credit possible for higher level math in High School.

 

[Guz007]

Guys anyone getting errors?

While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 27073, in script
if ch3gabjerk == True :
File "game/script.rpy", line 27073, in <module>
if ch3gabjerk == True :
NameError: name 'ch3gabjerk' is not defined
While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 34083, in script
menu:
File "game/script.rpy", line 34103, in <module>
"Suggest Brittani." if brirel == 0 or brirel == 1 and bri_fear == False :
NameError: name 'bri_fear' is not defined
is it cuz of the patch or is it something else?

 

[EvolutionKills]

So for those of us who don't speak American, Pepper said she was in AP math would be?

AP would be 'Advanced Placement', a more challenging version of a class. At least back when I was in high school there were AP version of Algebra, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, etc. That might have changed since then, and different school districts might have different formats (education can vary wildly by state and tax bracket unfortunately).

 

[EvolutionKills]

Guys anyone getting errors?

While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 27073, in script
if ch3gabjerk == True :
File "game/script.rpy", line 27073, in <module>
if ch3gabjerk == True :
NameError: name 'ch3gabjerk' is not defined
While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 34083, in script
menu:
File "game/script.rpy", line 34103, in <module>
"Suggest Brittani." if brirel == 0 or brirel == 1 and bri_fear == False :
NameError: name 'bri_fear' is not defined
is it cuz of the patch or is it something else?

Yeah, the bri_fear variable bug. It's a known bug. You can either load an earlier save (somewhere around CH3 I think, but I forget the specific part) before the variable triggers so that it triggers the now corrected one. Or you could start from the very beginning. I know it's been listed a few times, so just scroll back through the thread and you should find mention of the specific spot you're searching for if you don't want to do a full replay.