VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [Ch. 9 v0.60c] [NeonGhosts]

[Dessolos]

Yeah I know about that one (although in the guide your relationship is labeled as "Friends with benefits"), but I still think is way too soon to start that type of relationship with her given what happened in the past and how she still acts if you get romantically involved with her, that's why I want to know if there will a posibility in the future when her character develops some more and knows what she wants.

idk the entire game she acted like a Friends with benefits most of the time. The ending of the last chapter makes it seem to me Nicki is ready for a relationship to me she may still be hesitant come the update but it didn't seem that way at all to me anymore. But I played purely the good path

 

[Ragnar]

Viola update when?

 

[Dessolos]

First off, big fan of the game! It has an awesome setup, and is much better than a number of other 'MC suddenly gets rich' genre games. The story has many interesting intersections between fairly unique and intriguing characters. It’s always a priority download for me when a new version is released.
I just want to say that the level of storytelling really elevates the scenes between the MC and the women in this VN.

*Spoilers ahead if you’ve not played 0.4 yet *

I was giving some thought to how things with Nicki would progress going forward in the Domination path. Choosing to visit her after the date with Ashe shows that Nicki has left the Apartment you gave her. This was a really well done emotional beat. As someone who dislikes running a bunch of different ‘path’ saves, this literally made me jump back in to have a serious ‘bastard’ route as I had been doing, and a less extreme ‘extortion’ route to keep from potentially losing Nicki. Well done, Dev!

Now, I suspect she’s going to run afoul of the people who she (and Brent) owes money to, regardless of the path she’s on with the MC. And we may end up bailing her out again even if she’s left us behind. But I was thinking of how the MC would convince her to return after all the (admittedly) shitty things we have done to her in the Domination route?

So, looking back at the Prologue, the setup has an aspect I hadn’t considered. While the sex for money setup is clearly the meta purpose of the scene, we see that regardless of how the MC handles that scene he’s very strongly affected by it. He had tons of money at his disposal, but he indicates he wasn’t doing anything new with it. Just doing the same old same old with more money to burn. By the time the story proper kicks in, he’s running an Organization that funds or helps others. Now, if you play the ‘nice’ path, he’s a fairly well adjusted person who is taking advantage of the opportunities provided by his money. The more exploitive or bastard routes show a person who is fun to watch (in this kind of VN) but objectively broken as a person.

While I’d never suggest that if Nicki were a real person she would deserve any of the crap that’s happened to her, I think the Dev could be setting up an awesome reveal. Everything that happens to and for the MC after the prologue is tied to that night, of course. Nicki and Brent were aware that the MC had come in to money. He left his job, and he didn’t try to maintain his friendship with Nicki due to his romantic feelings for her, due to respect for her relationship with Brent. Brent tried to duplicate the success of the MC, but failed horribly. Either Nicki or Brent realized that the MC had a crush on Nicki previously, and after he liked her bikini pic, that it was an opportunity. Nicki reaches out, they hang out, and have sex. Nicki always questions the path that brought her here, and the MC always pays up.

Which leads me to a reveal I think is coming… Nicki may not have realized it fully, but no matter how it got to that point, she used the MC’s love for her to get that payout. And she then made it clear to him that she’s doing this for Brent, to try and ensure that her relationship with Brent could continue. The MC wasn’t just heartbroken by her actions. He learned that his money is the only aspect of himself worthy of love. And when she comes back into the story, she’s doing the exact same thing again. She’s out of options and Brent is now exposed for his own evil choices. And again, she’s trying to lean on his former friendship/love for him to save herself. I don’t think it’s hard to make the connection that he’s treating her like a whore (in non-Romance paths) because he’s trying to protect himself from seeing her as anything else. Because it’s her fault that he’s so broken. I think she’ll realize this later, and take a more active role in trying to help him. If we choose that the MC reforms, it’ll be with her help. If we choose that the MC continues down a dark path, she’ll accept her role in creating the monster the MC has become.

Ok, that’s a wall of text, but I was inspired to share my thoughts. What do you guys think?

I always assumed the MC dealt with her remaining debt with that guy off screen since she's been back for awhile. Now if Brent tries to blackmail her in future updates at least on the good or romantic path I think she would of realized she can rely on the MC and ask for help even it means using his money. Especially because after seeing how the MC spends his money on others and tries to help others as well I think she would of come to terms that it's okay to ask her best friend for money if it means to help her. Tho i could be 100% wrong even on the good and romantic path and she would still feel guilt and wont ask for help but I don't think so after being around and helping the MC with his charity. Now if we aren't talking about good path I think she would be hesitant on that since the MC is an dick to people especially if it's the patched version and the MC assaulted her in the prologue.

 

[Mesmerizet]

Pause me if I sound like a monster here but..
Does anyone else want to steal Wrens leg on the dark route so she can’t run away?

Hahhahahahhahaha
You just gave me the second best laugh I've had this month.

 

[Mesmerizet]

Well here it is, a gallery mod to replay scenes in the game

Compatible with: Friends in Need
Game version: 0.4
Mod version: 0.4.1

Spoiler: Changelog

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Installation: place all files into the game folder and overwrite

You sir, you're a genius

 

[Master of Puppets]

Which leads me to a reveal I think is coming… Nicki may not have realized it fully, but no matter how it got to that point, she used the MC’s love for her to get that payout. And she then made it clear to him that she’s doing this for Brent, to try and ensure that her relationship with Brent could continue. The MC wasn’t just heartbroken by her actions. He learned that his money is the only aspect of himself worthy of love. And when she comes back into the story, she’s doing the exact same thing again. She’s out of options and Brent is now exposed for his own evil choices. And again, she’s trying to lean on his former friendship/love for him to save herself. I don’t think it’s hard to make the connection that he’s treating her like a whore (in non-Romance paths) because he’s trying to protect himself from seeing her as anything else. Because it’s her fault that he’s so broken. I think she’ll realize this later, and take a more active role in trying to help him. If we choose that the MC reforms, it’ll be with her help. If we choose that the MC continues down a dark path, she’ll accept her role in creating the monster the MC has become.

I think I really like that interpretation. I do keep multiple saves, and one of them is raping Nicki at the beginning, and then he deeply regrets what he's done and starts his charity, sticking to the good paths after that. I don't normally do switching between paths because there are just too many permutations to explore them all, but that one is a pretty compelling story. I especially like the idea that on the darkest path, she isn't gone for good, and she will come back and accept what he does to her as her penance for creating him. And her trying to shield other girls from him by taking it on herself, which she tried to do in Brittani's photoshoot; she begs him to leave Brittani alone and use her instead. Of course that didn't go quite to plan because Brittani is a bit fucked in the head herself.
Basically, even if some other girls might disappear for good (which I also hate but whatever) I really feel that Nicki should be a constant throughout all of it, one way or another.

 

[Dessolos]

I think I really like that interpretation. I do keep multiple saves, and one of them is raping Nicki at the beginning, and then he deeply regrets what he's done and starts his charity, sticking to the good paths after that. I don't normally do switching between paths because there are just too many permutations to explore them all, but that one is a pretty compelling story. I especially like the idea that on the darkest path, she isn't gone for good, and she will come back and accept what he does to her as her penance for creating him. And her trying to shield other girls from him by taking it on herself, which she tried to do in Brittani's photoshoot; she begs him to leave Brittani alone and use her instead. Of course that didn't go quite to plan because Brittani is a bit fucked in the head herself.
Basically, even if some other girls might disappear for good (which I also hate but whatever) I really feel that Nicki should be a constant throughout all of it, one way or another.

yeah even with all the fucked up things you can do to here on the dark path with the patch it felt a little out of place for her to leave at least for a game where she feels like she is a second main character t but realistically makes sense. I'm hoping she does come back in some way though at the same time not a big deal for me since im almost always gonna play good path anyways.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

yeah, at first i downloaded the vanilla version by mistake, redownloaded the other one afterwards
View attachment 2874733
this is whats in my patch.rpy, dont have a .rpa in there

is there maybe a permanent somewhere that could confuse the dirty version?

Does it work on ongoing saves or do I need to restart the game?

i have a little patch problem. i did replace the file like insrtuctet but still get errors where choices should be. sth about "patch" not beeing named/ a variable etc...

solutions? maybe missing a patch including the content to the base game in the first place?

Sorry if you guys already resolved your issues, but if you're still having problems: I'm pretty sure you need to start a new game; changing patch in the middle of a game leads to errors afaik.

Certifiable rape fetishitist here! my humble request to any writers that happen to read this: Please go for the the unnatural middle ground that minimizes the the effects of trauma and just completely fails to depict the harsh realities of what it means to be survivor. Romanticization is absolutely vital, absolutely a key skill for writing noncon erotica is to be able to romanticize in a way that's elegant and intuitive.

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious

 

[Ulrich37]

I always assumed the MC dealt with her remaining debt with that guy off screen since she's been back for awhile. Now if Brent tries to blackmail her in future updates at least on the good or romantic path I think she would of realized she can rely on the MC and ask for help even it means using his money. Especially because after seeing how the MC spends his money on others and tries to help others as well I think she would of come to terms that it's okay to ask her best friend for money if it means to help her. Tho i could be 100% wrong even on the good and romantic path and she would still feel guilt and wont ask for help but I don't think so after being around and helping the MC with his charity. Now if we aren't talking about good path I think she would be hesitant on that since the MC is an dick to people especially if it's the patched version and the MC assaulted her in the prologue.

I can't be 100 percent sure, but I think she still owes the 10k plus interest. And she cut out on their 'porno' that she promised to make, when she thought it would just be a photo session. So it might be a bit more. I don't remember any indication that he reached out to those guys to pay it off.

The path where she and the MC are much more Romantically attached, it'd be easier to explain. But assuming the Dev doesn't want to write her out of the story for the darkest path, I'd imagine this is what would hook her back in. Her need for yet another payout, and for finally realizing what she's been doing.

 

[Ulrich37]

I think I really like that interpretation. I do keep multiple saves, and one of them is raping Nicki at the beginning, and then he deeply regrets what he's done and starts his charity, sticking to the good paths after that. I don't normally do switching between paths because there are just too many permutations to explore them all, but that one is a pretty compelling story. I especially like the idea that on the darkest path, she isn't gone for good, and she will come back and accept what he does to her as her penance for creating him. And her trying to shield other girls from him by taking it on herself, which she tried to do in Brittani's photoshoot; she begs him to leave Brittani alone and use her instead. Of course that didn't go quite to plan because Brittani is a bit fucked in the head herself.
Basically, even if some other girls might disappear for good (which I also hate but whatever) I really feel that Nicki should be a constant throughout all of it, one way or another.

Yeah, she gets saved (again), and sticks around to try and lessen the damage he deals to the other Women. Taking responsibility for it. I went and replayed her interaction after being assulted, and it's fair that she's furious with the MC. But he does directly state that he may have done it to keep her away in the future. It just didn't work because of the bind she found herself in.

 

[Dessolos]

I can't be 100 percent sure, but I think she still owes the 10k plus interest. And she cut out on their 'porno' that she promised to make, when she thought it would just be a photo session. So it might be a bit more. I don't remember any indication that he reached out to those guys to pay it off.

The path where she and the MC are much more Romantically attached, it'd be easier to explain. But assuming the Dev doesn't want to write her out of the story for the darkest path, I'd imagine this is what would hook her back in. Her need for yet another payout, and for finally realizing what she's been doing.

yeah what you say makes sense for sure especially the dark path. I just hope if what you predict does happen it gets resolved in a different manner if you aren't on the dark path or at the very least Nicki more open about needing help. Honestly only reason I just assumed the debt was taken care of off screen since it was never brought up again and some time has passed. Tho maybe not as much time passed as I thought I thought at least 2 weeks - a month went by the end of the last update but I might be wrong and my timeline is all mixed up due to playing another game right after I finished.

 

[Elhemeer]

NeonGhosts

Spoiler: Pretty sure this is an error

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[CrazyRabbit]

NeonGhosts

Spoiler: Pretty sure this is an error

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Did you consider the fact that maybe MC is doing some ventriloquism to woo her ?

 

[SlLePER]

Attempting to open the gallery results in an error message:

I can't reproduce it. Can you tell me what version of the game are you running on what platform?

 

[Karana]

Nicki may not have realized it fully, but no matter how it got to that point, she used the MC’s love for her to get that payout. And she then made it clear to him that she’s doing this for Brent, to try and ensure that her relationship with Brent could continue.

Overall a really good write up here but I'd like to touch on this point specifically a little more. There's a scene where you can fuck Nicki while she's on the phone to Brent. In this scene Brent will refer to the $100K he wants Nicki to ask for. Nicki, however, lowballed the request to $20K. The exact amount of money needed to pull herself out of the debt Brent dumped them in. Nicki is not doing this for Brent. Nicki is doing this for Nicki. It's a similar song with Nicki fucking you. Brent catches a lot of shit for trying to whore Nicki out but he wasn't really down for that. He expected Nicki to bat her eyelids, maybe give you a little kiss and then you'd simp out and throw one hundred grand at her. Nicki fucking you is a Nicki choice. I think this is an interesting scene because it demonstrates that Nicki isn't a blind puppet being pulled around on Brent's strings. She has agency, she has choices and is an active participant in what happened.

 

[CaptainRishard]

There a reason the patch isn't working? I'm getting no options outside of the normal ones.

 

[ciberma7865]

There a reason the patch isn't working? I'm getting no options outside of the normal ones.

you need to start a new save for the patch to work

 

[Dessolos]

Overall a really good write up here but I'd like to touch on this point specifically a little more. There's a scene where you can fuck Nicki while she's on the phone to Brent. In this scene Brent will refer to the $100K he wants Nicki to ask for. Nicki, however, lowballed the request to $20K. The exact amount of money needed to pull herself out of the debt Brent dumped them in. Nicki is not doing this for Brent. Nicki is doing this for Nicki. It's a similar song with Nicki fucking you. Brent catches a lot of shit for trying to whore Nicki out but he wasn't really down for that. He expected Nicki to bat her eyelids, maybe give you a little kiss and then you'd simp out and throw one hundred grand at her. Nicki fucking you is a Nicki choice. I think this is an interesting scene because it demonstrates that Nicki isn't a blind puppet being pulled around on Brent's strings. She has agency, she has choices and is an active participant in what happened.

While you make some excellent points about that scenario. Call me a softy, Nicki simp whatever I don't know if it was cause it was a well written scene or w/e but even when she tells you the 20k is to help her and Brent out I still couldn't help but feel bad for her even if she was totally being a gold digger in that moment. Even before she told you the reason I couldn't help but feel she didn't want to do or ask whatever so was about to do / ask. I'm sure part of it has to do with it being established she is your best friend and crush and you got that feeling by the fact she hung out as a friend all night first. Honestly even tho this a porn game in that scenario I wish I had the option of giving her the money without sex the first time I played it.

 

[Impurity2937]

I'm still playing but just met Ashe's father... What a fucking beast. The whole dialogue with them is hilarious...

 

[RC-1138 Boss]

While you make some excellent points about that scenario. Call me a softy, Nicki simp whatever I don't know if it was cause it was a well written scene or w/e but even when she tells you the 20k is to help her and Brent out I still couldn't help but feel bad for her even if she was totally being a gold digger in that moment. Even before she told you the reason I couldn't help but feel she didn't want to do or ask whatever so was about to do / ask. I'm sure part of it has to do with it being established she is your best friend and crush and you got that feeling by the fact she hung out as a friend all night first. Honestly even tho this a porn game in that scenario I wish I had the option of giving her the money without sex the first time I played it.

Maybe you will get that chance when Neon redo the first chapter.