VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [Ch. 8 v0.57b SE] [NeonGhosts]

[Rinbael]

I tried it and to be honest I don't get why the MC is so obsessed with Nicki at all. I kind of wish there was an option just to tell her to fuck off and do nothing with her but I take it she is the main LI in the game.

I'm assuming the game isn't going to be that long. Since I don't see how you can do much with her relationship with the MC after this first update, I mean they have already banged and they seem to know each other pretty well.

 

[DeUglyOne]

" Most relationships in the game are optional, and you typically have every opportunity to avoid sex scenes with specific characters, as well as certain non-vanilla kinks and fetishes."

So... another game where you get the illusion of choice while being forced into relationships, sex scenes and kinks/fetishes that won't be avoidable. Gotta love devspeak.

 

[bobdillan]

patch,

isn't incest, D:

 

[MausMaus]

Definitely keeping an eye on this one, looks good. Might want to open a subscribe star too, patreon can be intrusive with games like this.

 

[SpyderArachnid]

Yeah I couldn't get through it. Right after Nicki tells you the whole story of their situation, all I cared about was kicking her out of my house. I wanted nothing to do with her. They just want your money and say that you "owe" them, so Nicki gets all dolled up to try and seduce you to give her the money? Yeah, no.

Where is the option to tell her to get lost? And where was the whole optional stuff mentioned in the description? Nothing was optional, it was all forced.

Still, wish you luck with your game and all, but this is just not for me. Thanks regardless.

 

[cebs]

Here's my unofficial android port of Friends in Need Ch8 v0.57 [Patched]

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[NeonGhosts]

hmmm the overview got me but stuff doesn't happen the way it's advertised at least I don't consider cheating a good thing EVEN if "you're not the one being cheated on". I like it so far but it's still misleading. Not cool.

Thank you and good luck.

That's fair! I think it's important to remember that good people can make mistakes. Sometimes a toxic relationship can really get someone twisted up, and make them act in ways they might not ordinarily. And those messy relationships make for great drama! Thanks for the well wishes, even if it's not to your exact tastes - maybe come back next time, to meet another potential love interest.

Good start great to see something different but I don't think Nicki will come back after all that humiliation unless she is into it somehow I hope so

No spoilers, but I wouldn't count Nicki out just yet. She could always bump into someone even worse than the MC, especially if she lets Brent get her into trouble again..

I tried it and to be honest I don't get why the MC is so obsessed with Nicki at all. I kind of wish there was an option just to tell her to fuck off and do nothing with her but I take it she is the main LI in the game.

I'm assuming the game isn't going to be that long. Since I don't see how you can do much with her relationship with the MC after this first update, I mean they have already banged and they seem to know each other pretty well.

Well, to be fair he was a middle-aged convenience store clerk three months ago - he hasn't been terribly successful with the ladies. As for the game, I've been working ahead on the script and it's currently at four chapters and like.. 11,000 lines of code. The MC resolves to start a charity venture at the end of Chapter One, and it will be bringing him into the lives of a lot of women who could use a helping hand. After all, it's called "Friends in Need," not "Friend in Need."

" Most relationships in the game are optional, and you typically have every opportunity to avoid sex scenes with specific characters, as well as certain non-vanilla kinks and fetishes."

So... another game where you get the illusion of choice while being forced into relationships, sex scenes and kinks/fetishes that won't be avoidable. Gotta love devspeak.

You got me, I have not invented a new state of the art AI that intelligently responds to your choices. But again, I was working ahead on the game while Horizontical did the renders for this chapter, and there are a few new love interests introduced, and you can totally opt out of being involved with any of them. Though it does shorten play time, somewhat.

Still, wish you luck with your game and all, but this is just not for me. Thanks regardless.

Did she intentionally decide to come seduce the MC, or did she take the opportunity to reach out to a friend her jealously possessive boyfriend wouldn't let her talk to otherwise? People are complicated! Still, thanks for the well-wishes! Maybe the story will develop in a direction more appealing to you, a few chapters down the line.

 

[Rinbael]

Well, to be fair he was a middle-aged convenience store clerk three months ago - he hasn't been terribly successful with the ladies. As for the game, I've been working ahead on the script and it's currently at four chapters and like.. 11,000 lines of code. The MC resolves to start a charity venture at the end of the game, and it will be bringing him into the lives of a lot of women who could use a helping hand. After all, it's called "Friends in Need," not "Friend in Need."

So does that mean that you will be able to tell Nicki to fuck off in future updates and go after another LI or are you going to be stuck with her. I really don't give a shit about her problems and have no sympathy for her or her bell end of a boyfriend.

 

[kartolas]

That's fair! I think it's important to remember that good people can make mistakes. Sometimes a toxic relationship can really get someone twisted up, and make them act in ways they might not ordinarily. And those messy relationships make for great drama! Thanks for the well wishes, even if it's not to your exact tastes - maybe come back next time, to meet another potential love interest.

Sure and they had a few. Yes, this one won't probably be for my taste but I've been surprised a few times so I'll stick around for a while. Also the good english is a pro.

 

[NeonGhosts]

So does that mean that you will be able to tell Nicki to fuck off in future updates and go after another LI or are you going to be stuck with her. I really don't give a shit about her problems and have no sympathy for her or her bell end of a boyfriend.

I'm not going to spoil the story, but every sexual event can be avoided in the future. It makes for a boring game, but you can play it that way! That doesn't mean that certain characters won't still be around. It is, at the end of the day, a mostly linear story with branching options. But, I have no intention of railroading the player into choosing one specific love interest.

Nicki's function at this point in the story is to show the MC there's something productive he can do with all this money he's found himself with - whether that means being a good-natured (but still horny) philanthropist, or a malicious opportunist.

But, his world and opportunities are about to expand, now that he's decided to get more involved with his community.

And hey, maybe Nicki will grow on you.

 

[Ragnar]

Let's see what we have here.

 

[Rinbael]

I'm not going to spoil the story, but every sexual event can be avoided in the future. It makes for a boring game, but you can play it that way! That doesn't mean that certain characters won't still be around. It is, at the end of the day, a mostly linear story with branching options. But, I have no intention of railroading the player into choosing one specific love interest.

Nicki's function at this point in the story is to show the MC there's something productive he can do with all this money he's found himself with - whether that means being a good-natured (but still horny) philanthropist, or a malicious opportunist.

But, his world and opportunities are about to expand, now that he's decided to get more involved with his community.

And hey, maybe Nicki will grow on you.

That's cool I will keep an eye on the game then. While I wish you could tell her to fuck off I understand that it was needed to give the MC the idea about what to do with his money.

I know you said you don't want to spoil the story but can you avoid any more sex scenes with Nicki even if you were nice to her. While I don't like her and had no sympathy for her I didn't want to play as a scumbag MC but if I have do so to avoid her I would be willing to do it and skip through with CTRL.

 

[SomeOldFart]

I cheating games. I'm in.

 

[DarkSithLord47]

Take the bullet for me...let me know how it is

Its a decent game if you like corruption type,there's a romance path too but havent tried that one.Keep in mind the ''old friend'' is pretty much a girl that friendzoned you and she's very unlikable so if you want nothing to do with her there isnt a choice to tell her to fuck off.Its worh keeping an eye on it and see how things go.

 

[Nevermourned]

(So, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

For me, being evil is sweetest when I can also be good. I enjoyed the non-con options with Nicki, very much. However, I also enjoyed just being pleasant with her and making her day. And knowing that I could go either way made both options sweeter to me. I imagine I'll do playthroughs where I am both truly evil, and truly benevolent, as things move forward. I'll also look to see if there's any... 'point' to mixing it up. To put it one way at least.

Now, while I enjoyed helping Nicki, she also made me angry. It helps that when she had sex in the good path, it was because she wanted to and not because she thought I was lying. But that immediate need for money, how she butters you up then tries to beg... yeah, I can see why multiple people are saying to have nothing to do with her. Nobody likes being used.

So, I'm not willing to right her off yet, at least for the romance path. However, if you wanted her to be sympathetic, it's not the best start. Her entire pleasant approach is undone by the revelation of the truth, and it hurt. Depending on what she does going forward... well, we'll see how I ultimately feel about her. This is her first impression for us, after all, and that means the most.

So yes, please make no mistake. I enjoyed it, I'm interested in it, I like that it allows you to be vicious OR benevolent. I'll be watching to see how it develops... and, how far the fetishes and darkness can go in evil paths.)

 

[NeonGhosts]

That's cool I will keep an eye on the game then. While I wish you could tell her to fuck off I understand that it was needed to give the MC the idea about what to do with his money.

I know you said you don't want to spoil the story but can you avoid any more sex scenes with Nicki even if you were nice to her. While I don't like her and had no sympathy for her I didn't want to play as a scumbag MC but if I have do so to avoid her I would be willing to do it and skip through with CTRL.

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So yes, please make no mistake. I enjoyed it, I'm interested in it, I like that it allows you to be vicious OR benevolent. I'll be watching to see how it develops... and, how far the fetishes and darkness can go in evil paths.)

Glad you enjoyed it! And I'm with you on enjoying the salty and sweet dynamic of relationship games. I drew a lot of inspiration from Banking on Bella, a personal favorite of mine. Rest assured, that dynamic will always be part of this game - foundational, even. And the degrees to which you can be good or evil get a little more dialed in, as I've learned how to code certain choices more elegantly than I did in the first chapter.

I will say, the reaction to Nicki has surprised me - not unpleasantly! I take it as kind of flattering to have created a character that can stir strong emotions, negative or positive. Hopefully people will come to see Nicki's not so much a user, as she is a twenty-something girl that let some booze and pent-up feelings get the better of her for a night. Her journey, like the MC's, is at its beginning, not its ending. Next time we see her, she might be quite different.

 

[Nayko93]

you should really not doing choice with only one proposal ( like " the next night" ), it force the player to "switch hand" to grab the mouse and click on the only choice available ... pretty annoying
if "the next night" is the only choice you can choose then don't make it a choice, but a simple text

 

[Crow Armbrust]

THX

 

[Nizzquizz]

Well, I hope Nikki won't be too different, because I kinda liked her. And call me naive, but I hope treating Nikki nicely nets you her sweet ass in the end too. Sure the "Brent said you owe him" thing was a poor choice of words, but then again why shoot the messanger? She's just being honest. And fuck, if 20k really is a 'rounding error' to the MC now, why not help a friend in need?

That said, the darker path(s) were fun too. Nice change of tone. Been a while since I've seen a good choice based corruption game.
And the hinted plans have me grinning.
Good luck dev!

 

[JoeTheMC84]

I'm a fan of romance, so I probably won't really even be viewing the corruption content. For the romance part, being a good guy, I liked it a lot. I get where Nicki was coming from and I didn't feel used, not by her at least. Makes me hate her BF even more. She's young and in a shit situation and we can (hopefully) save her not just from her financial troubles but her fucking asshole BF. And I hope we do it very soon, please don't drag out the BF stuff.

I'm not a fan of anal so it was easy for me to not push that aspect of the sex scene to be even more romantic to her by respecting her wish not to have her ass violated, but I'm glad you left it up to us. So many dev's force anal like everyone loves it, like it's a vanilla fetish that everyone enjoys, it's honestly one of my least favorite forms of sex. The MC bringing it up so much? Not a huge fan of that either, but I'm used to it from VNs. I hope butt stuff stays optional.

On the note of choice though:
I'm also not a fan of the choice to give a girl a creampie only to then have the MC unilaterally offer a morning after pill. I made the choice to cum inside her and if you want to have something brought up after where she says she isn't on the pill, let that be my choice too. You could have offered three choices there: tell her to get (or you'd get her) the pill, tell her if she gets knocked up you'll take care of her and the baby, or tell her it's her problem so deal with it. If you don't want to add pregnancy content just don't have her become pregnant no matter what we choose, but as it stands it felt like my choice was overridden in my face when it doesn't need to be. It's not just here, a lot of games do it and it bugs me every time. Why let me chose where to cum if you're going to just have the possible aftermath overridden? I'm an adult and I know how sex works and how babies are made and I chose to cum inside her, a choice I was given to make, so just respect it. I understand dev's maybe not wanting to add pregnancy to their game (not saying if you do or not, there isn't any planned tags under the genre spoiler section) but that's easy, just don't have her get knocked up, in real life some couples try for years and never have kids and some people use protection and still get pregnant. There isn't a need to force the choice of offering a morning after pill on the player who clearly picked to cum in her knowing what it could mean. This is just me kind of venting because this is just the latest game I've played that did it. It's so common so please don't take it too negatively, what I said was not direct just at you and most certainly isn't meant to be a personal attack or anything on you or your story. It's just a troupe I've noticed that bugs me. I would love if you could change it up a bit, maybe even instead of him bringing up the pill he just says, "Don't worry, it'll be okay," and her comment afterwards (about if something happens you're responsible to paraphrase) still works no matter what you say, but if not that's okay. Like I said, I'm used to the disappointed feeling it causes in me.

Finally, just pair of suggestions:

1. The next time we see her she should either be clear she and her boyfriend aren't having sex since she is now clearly a love interest, or it shouldn't be brough up and left to the player to decide in their head canon if they have or not since this night. This is just an idea to help keep any pro/anti three letter fights from happening in the thread. Hell, personally I think she should dump his ass as soon as she gets home and tells him she got the money, but we'll see what happens. I'm hoping we see her soon as a free woman after finally realizing what a shit bag her BF is and that there was a better option in front of her the whole time.

2. It might be a good idea to put some planed tags in the genre spoiler section. If you aren't sure yet what you plan to add, like if you're undecided about lesbian content or pregnancy content for example you could put that too. Have it look like this maybe:
100% Planned: List of tags
Maybe/Undecided: List of tags
Never Happening: NTR and then list any other tags
Some people feel like this might be spoilers, but it is under a spoiler tab, and you don't have to give the full context so when it happens it can still be a surprise in game.

I really enjoyed this first release and look forward to more of being a heroic philanthropist.