GokutheG

Active Member
Oct 20, 2022
687
1,163
so i think i tried a much older version of this, but i think the narrative and visuals changed a lot from what i played before, to now. of particular note, nikki looks significantly different from the store, from her attempt to seduce you for the money, to when you meet her later on. the most recent incarnation of her is way hotter, almost night n day, and whoever that guy was that she was modeling for definitely has an artistic vision. that's not to say he's not a scumfuck cockholster, but at least he knows beauty.

that said, the only right decision when she asks for money, is to hinge the money on her dumping brent. she doesn't have to get with protag-kun, but it was obvious then that he was a complete and utter fuckboi who wanted to get into a gang. she could do way better.

other than that, it's a fairly enjoyable ride; most of the women are decently attractive with some standouts, the sex scenes are well done, the narrative fairly compelling. 2 things come to mind.

1. the scene with mason feels......wrong, on a few levels. i'm still gathering my thoughts on that whole debacle, and i've seen it from all the angles. but i don't think I like it.

2. there seems to be something brewing with brent, but there doesn't seem to really be any sort of....fall? often narratives will rise and fall in both tension, as well as success of the protagonist, but there doesn't really seem to be any sort of difficulty that he has, aside from choosing to do the right or wrong thing. maybe there are some choices that could have led to that, but if there are, i either haven't seenm them, or they haven't been developed yet. i'm curious to see if there will be any sort of fall from grace for our 'hero' regardless of whether he made the ethically or morally good choice(s). shit happens in life, and most of it is bad news.
That's one of the reasons why I hope the remake will rework the mc to just having strong feelings of friendship instead of unrequited love because it would tie into giving her the money without sex and he can suggest that she dumps Brent without it coming off as because he wants her.

Now I could see how this could cause some story problems down the line if she breakup with him in the first chapter and I think I have a solution. We know that after she stays with Brent he forges her signature to take out loans and that leads to her ordeal with the photographer. So what if when she breaks up with him it turns out that the money was only enough to cover the debt in his name and since she's dumping him he won't use the proceeds from his (totally successful:rolleyes:) crypto schemes to pay her debt since he feels its no longer his problem. This would make it even more blatant how much of a pos he is.

I can totally see Brent and/or Jamie trying to come up with a plan to go after mc because they believe he wronged them somehow. Like they try to tarnish the charity's name and certain choices can help or hurt their case. Like if you attack the homeless guy who was bothering Mason they can use the video of that incident as proof(but the full vid shows mc was protecting himself and Mason). They can also say the charity is just used for the mc to sleep with desperate girls.

I think I may know what you may be picking up from Mason's story so far that made you uncomfortable.
 

NeonGhosts

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
Mar 20, 2019
1,024
11,710
The new chapter is extremely branchy, more than I expected really. That's not a bad thing, just an interesting contrast to how with many games your paths boil down to "do it or miss out".
I have mixed feelings about it, tbh. I was motivated to do it, because I felt like it's not something I see done a lot and I'd gotten a few reviews along the lines of, "There's the illusion of choice, but it's all linear. :< " So, I wanted to do at least one update where there were some radical divergences in what the player sees.

Buuuut, it kinda reduced the overall length of the average playthrough. Between all five possible openings, there's like 400 images. Nicki's path is like.. 175 of those? So, if you go to Nicki's apartment in the last update, your playthrough will feel longer. If you don't, it'll feel a good bit shorter. Also, it was kind of a pain in the ass to unify all the paths.

I'm sure I'll do something similar again, but keep it to two possibilities, instead of five.

And yeah, I've never liked the way a lot of AVNs are like: Here's your choice, fuck her or don't. I try to even make the friendship/no sex paths interesting in their own right. Gabby's friendship one is a fun example. On her love path, she's angry at you for what she sees as you infantilizing her. On the corruption/dark path she's worried about how you'll exploit your hold on her, to varying degrees. But, on her friend route she's basically like, "Hey, it wasn't cool that you hid this from me," but MC explains (reasonably!) that he's known her less than a week, and didn't think it was his place to meddle in her family dynamic.
 

NeonGhosts

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Game Developer
Mar 20, 2019
1,024
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Isn't Patreon the censored version? Wasn't the patch supposed to work with it instead of SS which I assume is already released with all the content?
On Patreon the files are edited and removed entirely. So, it’s not possible to enable taboo content.

On SubStar they’re turned off by default, but can be turned on via patch.
 

zedascove

Member
Jul 13, 2018
470
1,001
On Patreon the files are edited and removed entirely. So, it’s not possible to enable taboo content.

On SubStar they’re turned off by default, but can be turned on via patch.
Thanks for the prompt reply.

Btw, on the teaser changelog you said there's only Ashe and Nicki content. Is it the same for the full version?
 

NeonGhosts

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
Mar 20, 2019
1,024
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Thanks for the prompt reply.

Btw, on the teaser changelog you said there's only Ashe and Nicki content. Is it the same for the full version?
Sure thing! I try to be especially responsive in the days after an update. :D

There’s a little sexy content with Pepper via webcam, and some teasing content with Britt, but the bulk of the update is non-sexy story stuff.
 

Joshy92

Devoted Member
Mar 25, 2021
9,186
19,817
I kind of find it sexy that Pepper is a webcam girl
Other dudes would be so jealous if she was my girl.
 

Dessolos

Conversation Conqueror
Jul 25, 2017
6,679
8,650
I kind of find it sexy that Pepper is a webcam girl
Other dudes would be so jealous if she was my girl.
Don't worry no spoilers ive yet to play the update yet

I really love that about her it's a different take than most LI out there it's rare to find a cam girl LI. Which has a different appeal in it's self for me not cause it's different but it's a different form of sharing which I find really hot and I totally would be with one in real life as well cause of that. Which is weird as I don't know if id share in person if it was real life but over the internet sharing is really hot to me.
 

PHIL101-YYouPPHard

Active Member
Jan 11, 2022
767
1,388
I'd gotten a few reviews along the lines of, "There's the illusion of choice, but it's all linear. :< " So, I wanted to do at least one update where there were some radical divergences in what the player sees.
Just giving my personal opinion here (maybe others might agree): I don't think your game was remotely linear before this recent update; it's almost insulting actually haha, because all of that work on the multiple paths! This recent decision fork is a really fun & interesting way to shake things up, though. But I think decision overload can start to creep in if you go too far. People start feeling like they're missing out on girls/scenes and what not. I definitely agree that 2-3 is the sweet spot rather than 5. (y)
 

Lightaces

Well-Known Member
Aug 3, 2018
1,362
2,075
Like, in the newest chapter, we see three new girls.

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That's not to say none of these girls will have sex scenes, mind. That's just not the primary function.
All three of those girls would be marvelous targets of a dark path interest. Just saying. The older one clearly doesn't need any light path involvement, though.
 

NebulousShooter

Engaged Member
Donor
Oct 24, 2018
3,217
22,434
Sure thing! I try to be especially responsive in the days after an update. :D

There’s a little sexy content with Pepper via webcam, and some teasing content with Britt, but the bulk of the update is non-sexy story stuff.
Brittani fans jebaited again, I already knew when you moved her in an earlier update than the initial roadmap it was too good to be true... :cry:
 

Ultralazuli

Member
Jul 8, 2018
250
211
That's one of the reasons why I hope the remake will rework the mc to just having strong feelings of friendship instead of unrequited love because it would tie into giving her the money without sex and he can suggest that she dumps Brent without it coming off as because he wants her.
I don't think that's necessary, there've been several options with most of the female cast to broker friendships rather than sexual or romantic relationships, and they seem to be understanding of that (unlike the psychos in a lot of other VNs who effectively won't take no for an answer.) Just look at the situation with Mason, you have the option of telling him that you don't want anything sexual between you two, and it works out fine. The biggest problem is making sure Nikki gets that visual upgrade, henna tatts and all. Because if she splits from Brent then there's barely any reason for her to stay with Brent, considering her feelings about protag-kun.

I think it could be a situation where Brent doesn't take no for an answer when nikki tries to split, protag goes after them with some mercs he paid for, and leaves brent alive but infirm. that would easily set him up as a more established and direct antagonist throughout the game, one whose life becomes terrorizing and ruining the protag's and nikki's life, or livelihood, which is probably in the works as we speak.

As for her visual upgrade, it could be part of brent's revenge, or it could be that brent trfficked her to the artist, and protag-kun grabs her from there. lots of ways it can go.
 
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Joshy92

Devoted Member
Mar 25, 2021
9,186
19,817
Don't worry no spoilers ive yet to play the update yet

I really love that about her it's a different take than most LI out there it's rare to find a cam girl LI. Which has a different appeal in it's self for me not cause it's different but it's a different form of sharing which I find really hot and I totally would be with one in real life as well cause of that. Which is weird as I don't know if id share in person if it was real life but over the internet sharing is really hot to me.
You and I think so similar sometimes it's like we are twins or something.
I just hope we get the option to tell Pepper we don't think any less of her because of her job.
 

qsex

New Member
Mar 20, 2020
4
3
I'd love to support you NeonGhosts - any chance you'll put the game somewhere that takes crypto or provide a lightning invoice to "subscribe" via crypto? I mean after all, MC made bank on crypto..
 

NeonGhosts

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
Mar 20, 2019
1,024
11,710
I'd love to support you NeonGhosts - any chance you'll put the game somewhere that takes crypto or provide a lightning invoice to "subscribe" via crypto? I mean after all, MC made bank on crypto..
I'm looking into opening a Boosty account, which I thiiiiiink takes payment via crypto?
 
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