VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [Mini-Sode: Blue Valentine] [NeonGhosts]

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

And someone like me who devours the whole meal.

I'm a picky eater. Just Gabby and Mason.

 

[Machete]

So, NeonGhosts should remove all the girls except for the few that you like?

Nope. He should decide on whom to focus. But it's probably too late now. Consider that not only the game, at this point, have to deal with a rather big cast and numerous plots, but it also have to do it in like 2-3 paralel version of the story, since it can be played as Mr. Nice, Mr. Psycho or in between. So far NeonGhosts has been amazingly reliable and professional on carring on the project but i can only imagine it becoming increasingly extenuating to keep going on, with a overall plot that it has barely been introduced so far. The risk of abandonment is very high.

 

[Joshy92]

I would say the overall plot is helping all these babes have a better life (on the nice guy path anyway).
Anyway, the game feels like a slice of life story to me but I could be reading it wrong.

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

Nope. He should decide on whom to focus. But it's probably too late now. Consider that not only the game, at this point, have to deal with a rather big cast and numerous plots, but it also have to do it in like 2-3 paralel version of the story, since it can be played as Mr. Nice, Mr. Psycho or in between. So far NeonGhosts has been amazingly reliable and professional on carring on the project but i can only imagine it becoming increasingly extenuating to keep going on, with a overall plot that it has barely been introduced so far. The risk of abandonment is very high.

I get it. But, my point still stands: Let Neon cook.

I only like Mason and Gabby, but it doesn't bother me one bit that I have to wait long periods of time for scenes with them. Same with a few other games that I play. I just let the devs do their thing and when I get scenes, I play.

 

[Dogorti]

yeah.... this is a slice of life game, I don't understand people who want a game to end soon, I want my favorite games to continue forever as long as the scenes and the writing are still good. but whatever

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

yeah.... this is a slice of life game, I don't understand people who want a game to end soon, I want my favorite games to continue forever as long as the scenes and the writing are still good. but whatever

 

[Joshy92]

yeah.... this is a slice of life game, I don't understand people who want a game to end soon, I want my favorite games to continue forever as long as the scenes and the writing are still good. but whatever

TBF if games go on for a long time the writing and everything else eventually turns to shit and becomes a shell of its glory days.
I have seen that happen often especially if the dev is just winging things. Thankfully I don't think Neon is doing things that way.

 

[Dogorti]

TBF if games go on for a long time the writing and everything else eventually turns to shit and becomes a shell of its glory days.
I have seen that happen often especially if the dev is just winging things. Thankfully I don't think Neon is doing things that way.

Could be. Did you see how Mason looks so cute in the last sneak peek?

 

[Joshy92]

Could be. Did you see how Mason looks so cute in the last sneak peek?

I did and I was so happy when I saw that render. Mason is so beautiful.

 

[Machete]

I get it. But, my point still stands: Let Neon cook.

On that i totally agree. The problen is if you put too much food in one pot it won't get cooked even on the surface of the sun. It's not about 'the girls i like', it's about wether this game will see an ending or not. So far so good, what's going on?

- MC got money
- MC found himself in the position of helping his crush Nicky, he made her his secretary and the plot went to an half (and Nicki got quite some 'screen time') she also can be over abused and go away to be back with her ex.
- Gabby's parent's shop needs a help, her father need to get out of prison, there is a brief romance with the girl who gets mad with MC... like half the game ago almost to never be seen again.
- Ashe... I don't know. Is there an actual plot with Ashe?
- Brittani is in a bad place and needs help to kick of a modelling career, she might or might not be molest and... waiting.
- Pepper might be in some trouble and she might have a camgirl sister who might or might not be in trouble and she might or might not be molester by MC
- Risa after being that brat at the reception dropped a new huge plot that could be alone a whole game plot.
- The latina receptionist... is there. She is an interesting character with a daughter to rise and a lot of potential but for now, she is there.
- There is the MC's sister that, so far, we... know she exist?
- There is a person to resque from a life on the street who is Mason, and their plot actually kinda got somewhere so far, but it's still barely scratched.
- Viola is a poor immigrand with a difficoult family situation who... is there.
- The MMA girl is a MMA girl who ... is there. Oh, and she'll teach MC how to throw some punch, i guess it will come in handy. Oh, and she installed a jacuzi, it sure will come in handy several times.
- There is Gabby's mom who could be single again soon, maybe? And do something, maybe?

AND

- There is the bratty guy who was dating Gabby and now Brittani who could, i guess, do something?
- There is Brant (was it the name?) who is coming back for revenge? On what?
- There are those influencers that might do stuff?
- Brittani's mom might be up to something? Eventually?
- The fast food manager guy is stealing and maybe he has reasons?
- What's going on with Gabby's father?
- Is Risa's father gonna be an antagonist? And why in the world would he? He is overloaded with cash, couldn't he do something about the psycho dealer to clear Risa's past? I think his security chief could eat the dealer and the samoan bodyguard for breakfast, or are they linked somehow?

AND

- Can we eventually bang the asian shopgirl and Risa's maid? Pretty please?


And all those plot points, in nice guy version, bad guy version, mid guy version have been bearely introduced so far. We are having like 3 update a year, which is remarkably fast, so fast, and it has been how many years?

That's what i mean by "too much to cook".

Where is all this going to be in like 5 years? Anywhere in sight of the light at the end of the tunnel?

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

On that i totally agree. The problen is if you put too much food in one pot it won't get cooked even on the surface of the sun. It's not about 'the girls i like', it's about wether this game will see an ending or not. So far so good, what's going on?

Technically, NeonGhosts is using two possibly three or four pots to do his cooking. Plus the oven. I'm just going to let him cook and bake to his heart's content. No matter how long it takes. I'm not going to worry about anything.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

I guess we like to rehash old arguments lol

I mean, fact of the matter is that Neon's said many, many, many times that the game is getting made exactly how he wants it made, and that he disagrees that it's too many characters. It simply isn't changing. Once we get through the next chapter or two, he'll have more room to time skip. That might resolve some things for some people.

Personally, I also don't get the complaints. I like variety a lot, and this game has it in spades. Each character interests me in different ways, so every update for me is like a free gift every ~3 months. Sucks for others that they don't feel this way, and I get it. But, oh well, what can you do? I try to think about it like this: when the game's actually finished, how ever long that takes, playing it all the way through will be absolute peak quality experience, especially compared to its peers. Then people can zone-in on whoever or whatever they want and won't have to wait months for it.

Anyways, I guess it has a lot of slice-of-life stuff, especially in the lulls, but I think we've maybe confused the well-paced setup taking its time for that style of VN. I also thought it was slice-of-life, but it's definitely a plot-heavy narrative at this point, and it was the whole time if you go back with that perspective and notice little story-building things here and there that maybe you didn't pay too much attention to before.

 

[Dessolos]

tbh even characters I have no interest in like Gabby and Mason. I still look forward to seeing their character story / arc moving forward. Since nothing isn't well written even characters I dont want a relationship with.

To be honest the only character the feels like it's to much / isnt needed to me would be Alex. As it feels like she just came out of nowhere. But I imagine I only feel like that because her story is in the early stages i'll probably feel different after many more updates or when this is completed. I'd imagine she is going to play a role in Nicki's storyline

 

[Dogorti]

I guess we like to rehash old arguments lol

I mean, fact of the matter is that Neon's said many, many, many times that the game is getting made exactly how he wants it made, and that he disagrees that it's too many characters. It simply isn't changing. Once we get through the next chapter or two, he'll have more room to time skip. That might resolve some things for some people.

Personally, I also don't get the complaints. I like variety a lot, and this game has it in spades. Each character interests me in different ways, so every update for me is like a free gift every ~3 months. Sucks for others that they don't feel this way, and I get it. But, oh well, what can you do? I try to think about it like this: when the game's actually finished, how ever long that takes, playing it all the way through will be absolute peak quality experience, especially compared to its peers. Then people can zone-in on whoever or whatever they want and won't have to wait months for it.

Anyways, I guess it has a lot of slice-of-life stuff, especially in the lulls, but I think we've maybe confused the well-paced setup taking its time for that style of VN. I also thought it was slice-of-life, but it's definitely a plot-heavy narrative at this point, and it was the whole time if you go back with that perspective and notice little story-building things here and there that maybe you didn't pay too much attention to before.

Personally I see it as a slife of life,has its premise to advance the characters and some subplots, but many slice of life series also have some arcs full of plot and that does not mean that they stop being slice of life.

 

[NeonGhosts]

As always, I appreciate that people worry I'll up and abandon this project. But, I have no such intentions.

I know I add a bunch of characters, but I honestly just see it as more toys to play with if I want to, and if I don't.. I won't! There's obviously the core cast of love interests, and I have plans for how they connect to each other, and the larger plot bubbling in the background.. But, sometimes a character is just there because I want to do a fun little scene. Blizzy and Cutiedoll are in that vein. I liked the idea of Guy being accosted by two idiots, and based on his mood, having it go in very different ways. Being able to respond kindly, curtly, or angrily -- or if you're already in a bad mood, getting no real choice in the matter.

I also believe that, if you're going to have a minor character in a porn game.. Make them a hot lady. Kara the hotel owner from the last chapter is an example of this. I could have Guy just pull up to the hotel, and then cut to him and Risa in the room. Hell, I could just cut from Guy deciding to take her to the hotel, to them being in the room. But, I wanted to do a little scene where for once, someone is completely unfamiliar with Guy's local fame, and therefore entirely unimpressed with him. And since I'm doing that, let's make her a hot lady (literally, ba-dum-tssh).

And if I decide I want to do a little self-contained chapter where a small business owner realizes a multi-millionaire was staying in her hotel, and approaches him for a grant to fix up her place.. Well, I've got this character ready for sexy fun-times.



We're eventually going to get to a point where the love interests don't really need such complicated sex scenes. That drastically speeds things up on my end, and allows me to focus on more story stuff. Mason gets another BJ scene in the next update, and it's a pretty sparse 40ish renders. Compare that to his first one, which was 100+. Ashe's fucked-over-the-table scene? That's 28 renders for the longest variation, as opposed to 130+ for her long sex scene in the same update.

My intentions are that, as the game progresses and I don't need to do such long sex scenes, I'll be able to focus on moving the story along at a faster clip. So, rather than things getting more complicated, they actually get a bit simpler. This is kind of modeled on the way sex scenes work in most erotic novels -- the first scene is always a big deal. After that, it's more like.. "And then they fucked!"

Once all the characters are at their, "And then they fucked!" stage (currently Nicki, Ashe, and Risa are there, and Mason will be after next update) I'll be able to focus more on interesting little events that depend on your relationship with a character. Threesomes, kink content, and of course the main narrative of sexual exploitation and Guy trying to outmaneuver an antagonist.

All that said -- this is still the first game I've done. I'll mess up here and there, and overextend myself. But, I think I'm already doing better than many novice devs.

Not sure if i messed up somethign in my install, i decided to replay the game and turn DOWN ashe's incest kink when having sex with her the first time because I wanted to see how exactly she explains putting on MC's little sister's swimsuit to fuck when you've already told her you're not into that, but the scene plays out exactly the same later on with MC going full throttle into the incest and calling her his sister's name.

Is that intended behavior?

So, one thing I learned over time is that I really need to be tagging like.. Every mildly consequential decision with a variable. For the Ashe roleplay scene, I kind of just intended for it to initially show her as someone who's extremely kinky/horny in a way that most of the other love interests aren't. Then eventually she'd meet Cassie and it'd be kind of funny/awkward/something. But, I'll often be writing a scene and think, "Oh man, I could bring that back up right here, since all the pieces are assembled."

Writing a scene where Ashe is changing into her swimsuit, realizing Guy would have Cassie's suit in his room, and realizing that Ashe would connect the dots, made me want to revisit her little fetish. But, I didn't have a variable tagged from the earlier scene, to show Guy was into it. Which meant that I had to do a little improvisation, and have Ashe just bring it up in a way that could suggest she'd both already talked about it with Guy, and not. It'll be fixed once I clean up Chapter One, and fill out/polish up a bunch of stuff I've long meant to.

It's important to remember that the game is still technically in a Beta/early access stage. I'm constantly finding little things in the script where I think, "Shit, I wish I'd have labeled that.." But, the good news is that once it's done, I'll be able to do a thorough review and make sure everything is just so.

 

[Dessolos]

Not gonna lie i'm glad Neon plans to do shorter sex scenes , as I find sex scenes tend to be somewhat boring to me depending on the scene and game of course. But I see a decent amount of sex scenes that are prolonged especially with too much dialogue or making the MC cum twice, which bores me to death. It has to be a really hot scenario because of the context or the scene or LI has to feel a bit special to me where I want it actually be longer.

 

[Ragnar]

To me the writing is very important in VNs, even more than visuals some times. Harem games get boring after some time because you're always doing the same thing. Just the magic cock attracting women like light attracts moths. In those games it doesn't matter how many animations or sex positions you have because real porn will be always better for what you're trying to do. FiN writing can vary depending on your choices but it's pretty good for an erotic vn.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

Personally I see it as a slife of life,has its premise to advance the characters and some subplots, but many slice of life series also have some arcs full of plot and that does not mean that they stop being slice of life.

The characters and the stories are under no pressure to go anywhere in a slice-of-life and the stories also tend to be more basic & relatable stuff. We definitely have scenes with some slice-of-life here, but this story's main plot is crime, corruption, & conspiracy interwoven with vulnerable women where our MC is positioned to make defining moral & personal decisions around them. It's thrusting forward as we go, and by the end, it'll all come together and all plot points will be closed. Maybe I'm missing something, but I wouldn't consider that slice-of-life personally.

Not gonna lie i'm glad Neon plans to do shorter sex scenes , as I find sex scenes tend to be somewhat boring to me depending on the scene and game of course. But I see a decent amount of sex scenes that are prolonged especially with too much dialogue or making the MC cum twice, which bores me to death. It has to be a really hot scenario because of the context or the scene or LI has to feel a bit special to me where I want it actually be longer.

Shorter scenes in the future will make sense, but in the meantime, I love this game's scene length. It gives them a meaty girth and there's a lot of choices interspersed for personal tastes or simply for variety. Great erotic introductions for the various LIs and gives great replay value.

 

[Dessolos]

Shorter scenes in the future will make sense, but in the meantime, I love this game's scene length. It gives them a meaty girth and there's a lot of choices interspersed for personal tastes or simply for variety. Great erotic introductions for the various LIs and gives great replay value.

yeah the scenes in this never felt to long to begin with tbh . In fact I really loved how long the Ashe one was during the date. Not to long but really erotic. ( both scenes). Neon is one of the few devs that can pull of longer sex scenes if im being honest and won't feel bored. But in generally usually I just think to my self I want to get back to the story haha.

 

[Joshy92]

As always, I appreciate that people worry I'll up and abandon this project. But, I have no such intentions.

I know I add a bunch of characters, but I honestly just see it as more toys to play with if I want to, and if I don't.. I won't! There's obviously the core cast of love interests, and I have plans for how they connect to each other, and the larger plot bubbling in the background.. But, sometimes a character is just there because I want to do a fun little scene. Blizzy and Cutiedoll are in that vein. I liked the idea of Guy being accosted by two idiots, and based on his mood, having it go in very different ways. Being able to respond kindly, curtly, or angrily -- or if you're already in a bad mood, getting no real choice in the matter.

I also believe that, if you're going to have a minor character in a porn game.. Make them a hot lady. Kara the hotel owner from the last chapter is an example of this. I could have Guy just pull up to the hotel, and then cut to him and Risa in the room. Hell, I could just cut from Guy deciding to take her to the hotel, to them being in the room. But, I wanted to do a little scene where for once, someone is completely unfamiliar with Guy's local fame, and therefore entirely unimpressed with him. And since I'm doing that, let's make her a hot lady (literally, ba-dum-tssh).

And if I decide I want to do a little self-contained chapter where a small business owner realizes a multi-millionaire was staying in her hotel, and approaches him for a grant to fix up her place.. Well, I've got this character ready for sexy fun-times.

View attachment 3877294

We're eventually going to get to a point where the love interests don't really need such complicated sex scenes. That drastically speeds things up on my end, and allows me to focus on more story stuff. Mason gets another BJ scene in the next update, and it's a pretty sparse 40ish renders. Compare that to his first one, which was 100+. Ashe's fucked-over-the-table scene? That's 28 renders for the longest variation, as opposed to 130+ for her long sex scene in the same update.

My intentions are that, as the game progresses and I don't need to do such long sex scenes, I'll be able to focus on moving the story along at a faster clip. So, rather than things getting more complicated, they actually get a bit simpler. This is kind of modeled on the way sex scenes work in most erotic novels -- the first scene is always a big deal. After that, it's more like.. "And then they fucked!"

Once all the characters are at their, "And then they fucked!" stage (currently Nicki, Ashe, and Risa are there, and Mason will be after next update) I'll be able to focus more on interesting little events that depend on your relationship with a character. Threesomes, kink content, and of course the main narrative of sexual exploitation and Guy trying to outmaneuver an antagonist.

All that said -- this is still the first game I've done. I'll mess up here and there, and overextend myself. But, I think I'm already doing better than many novice devs.



So, one thing I learned over time is that I really need to be tagging like.. Every mildly consequential decision with a variable. For the Ashe roleplay scene, I kind of just intended for it to initially show her as someone who's extremely kinky/horny in a way that most of the other love interests aren't. Then eventually she'd meet Cassie and it'd be kind of funny/awkward/something. But, I'll often be writing a scene and think, "Oh man, I could bring that back up right here, since all the pieces are assembled."

Writing a scene where Ashe is changing into her swimsuit, realizing Guy would have Cassie's suit in his room, and realizing that Ashe would connect the dots, made me want to revisit her little fetish. But, I didn't have a variable tagged from the earlier scene, to show Guy was into it. Which meant that I had to do a little improvisation, and have Ashe just bring it up in a way that could suggest she'd both already talked about it with Guy, and not. It'll be fixed once I clean up Chapter One, and fill out/polish up a bunch of stuff I've long meant to.

It's important to remember that the game is still technically in a Beta/early access stage. I'm constantly finding little things in the script where I think, "Shit, I wish I'd have labeled that.." But, the good news is that once it's done, I'll be able to do a thorough review and make sure everything is just so.

Do you think we'll get the option for more roleplay with Ashe in the future? Because that scene was really awesome.