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

[soprano31]

Why are only the Vanilla download links being updated?

Friends in Need [Ch. 8] [NeonGhosts]

NOTE: This is the SubscribeStar version and is patched

COMPRESSED: Win/Linux/Mac:
MEGA - PIXELDRAIN - WORKUPLOAD

 

[longjohngold]

Yeah, the Nicki from the anti-Nicki patch kind of shows how my Nicki will likely look for the do-over. But, her hair asset here is a giant pain in the ass, so I may go with a similar but different one.

View attachment 3230139 View attachment 3230150

Personally I like current Nikki, something about her here is less sexy, the one on the right in particular is more just kinda spunky.

 

[DougDimmadope]

Chapter 3 doesn't seem so bad to me. In fact, I think there is a lot of improvement compared to 2 and, especially 1. Some of Ashe's expressions in 2 do seem exaggerated to me, but in 7 (I think it's 7. The one at dinner, I say) you can also see Ashe with exaggerated expressions. What I do agree on is the light. There is a tremendous improvement between chapters 1 and 2, and the photo session with Britanni.

anyway, I don't care that much about the renders. As long as they're decent, that's enough for me. I care much more about the story, and that's where FiN shines. But it is appreciated that you have taken the trouble to try to improve them. Actually between chapters 1 and 8 there is a real gap. Although I also think that the renders of chapter 1 were not made by you, and it shows that Guy and Nicki look different than they do later.

nah lets be real, some of the really early renders need a revamp lol. especially as it could turn off some new players

 

[Samuel Hidayat]

The super unnatural way Guy's sleeping/covered in this image..

Silly, that's a totally normal sleeping position, right?

Right?

Am I the only one who sleep like that?

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

You're not wrong definitely ways to make them stay but it will have to have some "love" scenes. Because you have to make her fall for you a believe there's good deep down inside you. So, she essentially falls in love with you while you don't with her and when her friends ask what you see in this guy she'll say he has a good side. Even if it doesn't exist. She will believe it does. Did he say he was reworking chapter 1 again?
But dropping all dark scenes with Nikki is a hella mistake. If that's what Neons going for because Nikki's already the most hated LI in game don't know why I love her and I liked her original look when she came to the door in chapter 1 the first time. She's so hated she's been patched out of the game lol I can only imagine what it'll be like if she no longer has dark content haha.
If he goes a dark love route he just needs to remember that NIKKI loves MC. MC doesn't love Nikki he controls NIKKI. It's tough to write but it is a trope for a reason. As for realism this is a relationship that is as real as time itself they have documentarys on why people stay in abusive relationships. Just throw lifetime on.

It's a trope, yeah, but in order to really sell it, Neon would probably have to have Guy go full on violent psychopath stalker mode. I mean, just based on how I'd expect it to play out in my own mind. A lot of those women you hear about that stay in abusive relationships, they have partners tumors that will severely entrap them by beating them, controlling who they associate with, where they go and when they go, and things like that. They'll also scare off ANY guys that the victim remotely shows an interest in (or even ones she doesn't), whether romantically or otherwise. Is that Guy's character? Is that Nicki's situation? I guess I'm not sure; my leaning is more towards 'no', though. Especially as another commenter has said, Nicki has already run away 3 times from abusive men, and it doesn't look like Guy's situation is any more dire or dangerous than theirs.

Regardless, that'd be a big commitment on Neon's part; for even just 1 girl, much less a dozen. I think in the long run, it would just be a strain on Neon in regards to trying to make it work in the narrative, but also on the audience's suspension of disbelief. Before anyone scoffs at that last line, I believe Neon has clearly had that on his mind throughout the execution of this project, adult VN or no. There's a reason this game's popularity has grown so rapidly lately, and imo, it isn't because it mimics the design choices of every other game It's because it's a breath of fresh air that follows the logic of its own world and characters within it that it's taken the time to setup.

Anyways, that's all just how I see it. Other people here I'm sure would disagree with me.

Yea I don't doubt he will like i said Harley Quinn to his Joker. I mean yea you have to get her a flower once in while that doesn't mean you can't have freaky sex once in a while either. Besides power corrupts if he wants to and keep it realistic. He could turn Nikki into a female MC every bit as fucked in the head as him when on dark path. Because if you live a life without consequences, it will likely fuck you up.

People very, very rarely change their personality in such drastic ways. That's almost always porn logic, which again, I think Neon is trying to avoid as much as possible (within reason; it is an adult VN after all). Would also end up being too much narrative leg work I think, so I don't see that happening. But if it makes you feel better, he already has 2 female characters that will basically be dark-triad partners in crime. They're not main characters or LIs or anything, but they'll give us a kinky lil taste of a lady on the dark side right beside us

 

[JJVOODOO]

Its always nice when you find a game made by someone who has a genuine talent for writing

 

[Xypher]

I did a couple of playthroughs yesterday, and I'd honestly love to redo the first three chapters, eventually.

Chapter One just needs a comprehensive rework. But with Chapter Two and Three, I was still struggling to figure out how to frame things, use assets, etc. A lot of the expressions are just a bit too broad and crazy, the lighting isn't very good, and a lot of the poses are lacking. I was also over-narrating stuff a lot back then.. Something which I'm still working on.

I think with Chapter Four, where Brittani comes in to model, I basically found my style for the art. I used a lot more locked-off camera positions, as well as mixing in POV shots for conversations, and 'dramatic' shots for big moments. The expressions and poses got more subtle, I started making better use of DForce objects, and on and on.

I think that, once the game is done, I'll likely go back and redo some of the art for Chapters 2/3, and then excise a lot of my redundant narration. But, that's a lonnnnng ways away, and something I consider low priority.

Just a suggestion, if you do plan to redo Chapter 2 maybe rewrite how the Gabby love route start in her house w/ Guy since it felt a bit forceful or noncon. Though I could be mistaken.

 

[Drew Anderson]

It really doesn't IMO. Women go back to guys who've done worse to them even when they have other options, and she clearly doesn't.
I know it doesn't matter what I think, but I'd love to see playing chapter one differently to the rest get a bit smoother. Instead of immediately skipping to three months later, show him waking up with a hangover the next day and a choice between "Oh shit what did I do last night?!" and "Gold-digging bitch was asking for it" (OK, maybe not that extreme...)
Or, if he was good to Nicki and then she takes his money and disappears (from his perspective) and that makes him jaded and cruel, he should not be so happy to see her when she reappears later on.

Just because some women do that doesn't mean it makes sense for Nicki to do that. Especially if you're setting up a character with certain values and traits for character development later. I know you're going for the whole wish fulfillment, everything Guy wants is good for the girls harem thing, but there are a billion games like this on that site. Where the MC can do no wrong and all the women love him for it. It gets old and some of us want something different.

 

[Joshy92]

I love that Nicki has Tattoos they make her look even hotter.

And they really fit as part of her backstory.
Unless that part is changing in the redo?

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

so this update has the legit remove nikki patch for people bitching about her inclusion lolz

 

[Dessolos]

I love that Nicki has Tattoos they make her look even hotter.

And they really fit as part of her backstory.
Unless that part is changing in the redo?

100% i'm too used to her tattoo's now that I love them to the point it is part of what makes her hot. I do admit I didn't like them at first not cause im against tattoo's but originally just thought she looked better at first without. But I will say what I like about Nicki she doesn't have a super model body look just your average girl look. For some reason I find that really hot hell id say she is hotter than the top supermodel because of it.

 

[varage]

People very, very rarely change their personality in such drastic ways. That's almost always porn logic, which again, I think Neon is trying to avoid as much as possible (within reason; it is an adult VN after all). Would also end up being too much narrative leg work I think, so I don't see that happening. But if it makes you feel better, he already has 2 female characters that will basically be dark-triad partners in crime. They're not main characters or LIs or anything, but they'll give us a kinky lil taste of a lady on the dark side right beside us

I have never played the dark path and likely never will. Rapes not my bag I'm just saying YES there could be a realistic dark path it just can't be rape rape rape. Realistic would be (power corrupts not porn logic look at every communist community. they are supposed to be equal but the leaders get fat while ditch diggers starve.) YES, she's turned down a rich dude in store before her trouble. Yes, she ran away from ONE abusive relationship with Brint. But, she was kicked out of the other with Vaune. (This is what we know she only came back because richie mik sad fuck ran away on her not the other way around.
Living in his house being his pin up doll I would call a relationship especially when she never said anything bad about him.)

So, she stayed in an abusive relationship for money.(Vaune) She left an abusive relationship because he had no money.(Brint) See there is a patern that works for the narritive. And one thing neither of them had was her friendship and love.
I'm saying that the traditional role up on her and furce fuck her is off the table. But one where you make her dependent and reliant on MC due to manipulation and faking feelings to keep her wouldn't be and could pretty easily be written without any dispintion of disbelief. It just can't be rape fest 2024 (Not to mention she's a nerd that reads Doujinshi. Meaning she's likely looked up some nuts shit to jill off to.)

Edit: I'll add my psychosis theory for Vaune as well he's an in cell that picks up innocent looking girls. Photographs them and gets sick thrill out of corrupting her making her do more and more until she stops reacting and accepts it. When she accepts it that's when games over and he moves on to the next one.

 

[fixet]

Just because some women do that doesn't mean it makes sense for Nicki to do that.

It especially makes sense for her, letting men use her is her entire personality, the sole reason she’s even in the game is her boyfriend using her, then she lets you use her, then she lets some other dude use her, then she comes back and lets you use her again.
I think what causes the different views of her is that when you only play the romance side, you don’t really see the extent to which she lets men use her.

 

[KingPrimeSam]

View attachment 2380952

EDIT: For anyone reading this, the Nicki patch was just a little joke I put out to play with the fans here. Be aware that installing it will revert your game back to version .375, so if you really want to see it, install it in a back-up copy of the game.

Well, gang.. Here it is. People have asked for it. Screamed for it. I've gotten private messages raking me over the coals, people pledging to never play the game again, and a smattering of poor reviews. I know when to admit I'm wrong.

So, here is.. . If you install this patch into your main FiN folder and allow it to merge with the existing "game" folder, it will overwrite existing script script files, and add new images to support a new path. With this path, you can choose to excise Nicki entirely from the story.

Just start from the beginning and, when you get to the choice to help her or not, choose "Tell her to fuck off."

i just got to chapter 2 and I'm starting to see why this mod exists

 

[depeche mode]

0.57 when

 

[Ragnar]

People very, very rarely change their personality in such drastic ways. That's almost always porn logic, which again, I think Neon is trying to avoid as much as possible (within reason; it is an adult VN after all). Would also end up being too much narrative leg work I think, so I don't see that happening. But if it makes you feel better, he already has 2 female characters that will basically be dark-triad partners in crime. They're not main characters or LIs or anything, but they'll give us a kinky lil taste of a lady on the dark side right beside us

Most people have a hard time tying to change their ways during adulthood, but traumatic events like a near death experience can change people lives 180º. Nicki and most characters in FiN are going through some kind of life changing trauma, even Guy becoming a millionaire is a good reason to introduce big changes in his way of life.

 

[fashtar]

Well, I played that compressed version with the new stuff and I gotta stay... Those live-streamers really pissed me off. Randomly accosting someone in the street just because they're famous and rich is grounds for harassment. Then they are blatantly ignoring what we say in favor of appealing to their viewers, which is just plain rude. And then, they follow us when we want to be alone. Again, HARASSMENT, which is enough for the police to be called. I'm so glad we got to tell them off for their behaviour.

 

[Master of Puppets]

Just because some women do that doesn't mean it makes sense for Nicki to do that. Especially if you're setting up a character with certain values and traits for character development later. I know you're going for the whole wish fulfillment, everything Guy wants is good for the girls harem thing, but there are a billion games like this on that site. Where the MC can do no wrong and all the women love him for it. It gets old and some of us want something different.

I didn't say anything at all about harem there, you're just hating. And seriously, "it doesn't make sense for Nicki to do that"? Going back to abusive men is a major aspect of her character. How many times did she go back to Brent before she finally left him, and only then because she got a better offer? If it wasn't for our guy and Vaughn coming along, she would probably still be with him.

 

[DA22]

It's a trope, yeah, but in order to really sell it, Neon would probably have to have Guy go full on violent psychopath stalker mode. I mean, just based on how I'd expect it to play out in my own mind. A lot of those women you hear about that stay in abusive relationships, they have partners tumors that will severely entrap them by beating them, controlling who they associate with, where they go and when they go, and things like that. They'll also scare off ANY guys that the victim remotely shows an interest in (or even ones she doesn't), whether romantically or otherwise. Is that Guy's character? Is that Nicki's situation? I guess I'm not sure; my leaning is more towards 'no', though. Especially as another commenter has said, Nicki has already run away 3 times from abusive men, and it doesn't look like Guy's situation is any more dire or dangerous than theirs.

Regardless, that'd be a big commitment on Neon's part; for even just 1 girl, much less a dozen. I think in the long run, it would just be a strain on Neon in regards to trying to make it work in the narrative, but also on the audience's suspension of disbelief. Before anyone scoffs at that last line, I believe Neon has clearly had that on his mind throughout the execution of this project, adult VN or no. There's a reason this game's popularity has grown so rapidly lately, and imo, it isn't because it mimics the design choices of every other game It's because it's a breath of fresh air that follows the logic of its own world and characters within it that it's taken the time to setup.

Anyways, that's all just how I see it. Other people here I'm sure would disagree with me.


People very, very rarely change their personality in such drastic ways. That's almost always porn logic, which again, I think Neon is trying to avoid as much as possible (within reason; it is an adult VN after all). Would also end up being too much narrative leg work I think, so I don't see that happening. But if it makes you feel better, he already has 2 female characters that will basically be dark-triad partners in crime. They're not main characters or LIs or anything, but they'll give us a kinky lil taste of a lady on the dark side right beside us

Well do not want to go deep into what you say since I agree with most within reason though on darker path Nicki actually does accept quite a lot from her various abusers without getting away and then makes pretty bad choices as well. Especially the tattoos against her wish, well that goes way further as sex for a non-virgin if we talk about remolding someone....

I do agree with Master of Puppets though, that Nicki disappearing on Guy for that period after he helped her out also does need to have an impact on MC especially after in first instance only reappearing in his life since needed money for her pimp and then again for help after she fucked up even more. Whether some anger, disappointment, angry out of worry or whatever. We do not need another MC that just accepts anything and rolls over for a sweet face or victim either and then acts like someone with a ring through his nose on a leash for some pussy. Also an MC needs to act somewhat realistic and not having some negative emotions aside positive ones in such a situation would be inhuman as well.

Edit: Someone said something about a cell and Vaune, yeah I would not be too surprised if in this story Nicki's Ex and Vaune worked together or might belong to a group that enslave women like Nicki for their purposes. With what we know until now the ex could just be a gambler and an abusive ass, but it could also be darker and all orchestrated. Quite the coincidence she got that offer Vaune when needed it.

 

[DavidRees]

Quick FYI to touch on some comments I saw.

Not Enough Sex: No, there's not a ton of sex content in this one. Nicki has two alignment-dependent scenes, Ashe has a short one, Brittani has some teasing, and Pepper has some webcam content. I said this a few times over the last month, and over on my pages, but the original plan was for this to be part of a larger chapter, which would have included three more sex scenes at various points on the light/dark axis, and some big story developments for Gabby. But, I got in the weeds with the update, and would have needed to push the release date back by at least a month, and likely more. Which leads me to my next point..

Too Short: See my comment about getting in the weeds. Basically, my decision to end the last chapter with the player in several very different circumstances (Sleeping alone, sleeping with Nicki, sleeping with Ashe, sleeping with Risa..) along with several other modifiers (Did you know Pepper is a camgirl? Did you know Nicki left? Was Ashe happy with you when she slept over? Is Carolina and Maya happy with you?) just wound up being more work than anticipated. So, an update with almost 900 renders can be played through one time, and you may only see 450 of those.

Do I Need to Wait for the Next Two Official Releases? Not really. The new stuff will come after the events of 0.55, and it's just my attempt to put a nicer bow on the end of the chapter. I'll release that stuff as a patch for people who don't want to re-download the whole update.

Dubya-tee-eff, No More Dark Content? Not really.. Again, this has been a converstion before. I was warning of this even before the last update, and everyone was saying it'd be the death of the game and blah blah blah.. Then the Ashe chapter came out, and I think people realized the truth was more nuanced. My goal has never been to force people into the box of being a good guy. Just that there be realistic consequences for being a bad guy. Consequences =/= punishment, by the way. Learning that Brittani's mom is basically willing to sell her to you is a consequence of being a bad guy, feeding into the dark path. But, so is driving off Nicki, and dealing with the repercussions that come with that. I just want to explore what happens to a Guy who's basically constantly lashing out at the people around him. While he may drive a lot of people away, that doesn't mean everyone will be in a position to leave immediately, and it doesn't mean he might not attract other like-minded people.

Also, to be perfectly blunt, it's never been my intention to write pure misery porn. I've played games that went that route, and I don't think there's any real meat on that bone. I'm trying to make like.. Breaking Bad, not A Serbian Film.

Also, also? Even the vanilla paths for characters will get trimmed a bit, just based on what the story needs. Like, Nicki's around all the time because she's your assistant. How much do we really need to see a Carolina who's been relegated to a friend path? Not much, I'd reckon.

Now, I also think it's worth noting that Not Enough Sex/Too Short are the direct results of me trying to address other critiques I'd previously gotten. People complained that the story wasn't moving fast enough. Okay, now we have scenes advancing the story of Pepper's bruises, your relationship with Nicki, your relationship with Ashe, Brittani's relationship with her mom, the future of your collaboration with Brittani, another glimpse at a place MC's invested in, a look at the downside of fame with being stalked by internet oddballs, a look at Alex's past, the idea that MC's going to learn some self-defense, Maya and Carolina's relationship with MC being dependent on how MC's treated Nicki, the photo mystery having another clue put into place, and more stuff besides. Story movement tends to come at the expense of long sex scenes.

People also dinged me for only presenting the 'illusion of choice.' Well, now the game radically diverges based on what you chose last chapter. But again, that does come at the expense of having one long, mostly linear update.

I'm not putting the blame on people who commented asking for more story/more choices, by the way. Ultimately, I'm the one who made the thing, for good or ill. But, sometimes I like to take these things as a challenge, and use them as inspiration to try new things. It's not always successful!

If I had put this update out as I envisioned it, with sex content for Risa and Mason, and double the renders/story stuff, I feel a lot of these complaints would be moot. But, I've only got so many hours in a day, which I can only devote a few of to game development. So, I made the best thing I could with the time alloted to me, and got it into my paying supporters' hands, because I feel like I owe it to them. I've always said I don't want to be a dev who dithers around for a year or more and then puts out a single update.

Dude, first of all i wanna thank you sincerely for your work. Most because i recognize I've never "supported" projects like this one in terms of money, im not really aware if F95 is, or has always been a legal mirror to download these games, but I've always followed this one from here.

I get what you mean with realism and all that, you re right, pornlike games where you get to fuck your own mom from one day to another kinda suck, but i think what you did its pretty... tough.

Its done, and you'll probably don't care what i have to say between all this people that support you, but I've been following these game, i don't know if it was the very first release, but the only scene there was that first Nicky's scene
Your game really caught me, and i admit it was because of the dark path content, im so into that thing, but to be more specific it was Nicky's dark path, and I've been checking each week for updates cause i wanted more, and not pretending to say the rest of the content is not good enough, ill say for me, Nicky was the face of the game. And given the chance i would prefer millions of times you would have given us that "slap of reality" for being a dick, with any of the rest of the girls but her.

I know you wanna make VN's and not a pornographic powerpoint slideshow, but i think it was a really bad call and yes, content of quality, but lets avoid liyng, we are here to jerk off and fantasize, of course the better the product is the more enjoyable, but i don't think this did any better, i don't think anyone enjoying this game will say "oh thanks dev for teaching me a life lesson as i touch myself".

Also, im not here trying to fight, its your game and you do whatever you want with it, pretty reasonable. But you saying you want choices to have impact is also contradictory when your game says "if you wanna have more content for Nicky, you take this route". Maybe i got it wrong and you meant there's not more content for her on any route, idk.

I just wanted to say, thank you for allowing us to play your game, i really liked it until now and i hope your project keeps growing. Thats it for me, and of course i don't mean it on a "make your game my way or i leave! ((" way. Its just what got me here in the first place is not anymore, but i get that your game really caught other people in many other aspects, and again i hope you finish it and you like the result over anything. Once again thanks a lot <3

I want to excuse myself if any of what i said sounds way more agressive than what i intend, or if im talking nonsense. English is not my native language.