VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [S1 v0.85c] [NeonGhosts]

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

I think most hated Nicky in first build and not sure how much that will change depends on rebuild and if people can ignore the first build.

I dont care about Nicky in any way and thats one of the issues, the problem is she feels to much like the main girl where others feel mostly like side girls, with Nicky you dont have the same choices as every other girl in the game that you can stright up say no to, Nicky is pushed to hard by living with MC and coming into hes bedroom half nude which i dont want a "friend" to do in any way, just another flaw to add to her personality and another reason to get her out of the apartment so she can fix her life, give her money or a job i dont really care how just want the choice.

I dont share your view about Nicky would severely limit the story, to me it would improve the story since theres plenty of other characters like you said, not that i mind Nicky being in the story just want better choices so i can turn her down and move her out.
Also dont think im a pure Nicky hater, had she not moved away and done the brainless things and ghost Guy which she would have gone on to do for who knows how long if she was allowed to stay with the pervet dude, you might say untill debt is cleared but why not even longer to make enough money to get a place to live and so on, to me she had 0 plans of returning to Guy, but in any case had she not done all that shit i would have taken her as Guys girlfriend any day.

On a side note can you even rape her anymore? i dont think thats an option since that made it a million times more weird that she would ever go back to Guy for help, if thats truely an option so shes out of the story i would take it

She won't leave the story per se, she'll just be more absent from dark Guy's life until she shows up at some point in the future (only the dev knows when and for what purpose ofc). You'll also be dark-minded throughout the rest of the game (doesn't force dark content onto you, just means your MC is more psychopathic in his thinking). Basically, you take every chance you can to abuse her and she'll eventually call it quits and leave you without a goodbye. Maybe that's enough for you? But, again, she's a major character in the game, so don't expect her to just disappear completely. If skipping through her content or tolerating her isn't enough, then like I said, it's just not your game and not much else can be said about that.

 

[Dessolos]

But serious question: what does a non-lewd animation add to an AVN? Sure, every now and then you might have a scene that would benefit from some dynamic motion or needs to show a lot of things happening at once, but that's very rare. Most of the time these animations are thoroughly pointless, the equivalent of zooming in on random pieces of furniture in old 3D movies. The game would be better off without them, even ignoring any time spent creating them.

Honestly it's more of an very subjective and biased opinion. Unless it's a fighting scene or something I honestly really enjoy non lewd animations even if it adds nothing to the game. As far me im someone that doesn't really get immersed into games at all, but i've grown up playing games with animations. So seeing it helps me feel like the world is a bit more alive and somewhat immersive for someone that can't get immersed. I've bought AVN's on steam because they have such animations to the game even if most of the time there aren't needed.

For this very reason im not 100% against AI as it allows more dev's to create such scenes without it being a giant waste of time. I mean it will always be a waste of time most likely until AI gets good enough. Don't get me wrong I don't love AI especially for lewd scenes even the good ones ive seen it just loses it's charm compared to handmade ones. But for me it has it's usages and non lewds when it gets good enough would be one such usage.

Now this also depends on the game too. There is very few scenes I can think of in this game for example where I would of liked a non lewd animation. Only scenes that comes to mind is when Guy gets a black eye and maybe when he chases Brent down. But I can't really think of a scene in this game where a pointless non lewd animation would of made me enjoy it more compared to other games I played. Maybe when guy takes Photo's of Britt but that's it.

To me It feels like the way the scenes are created there is little to no filler and most scenes get to the point / objective of the scene right away. That and Guy and the girls don't really feel like they do all that much where a non lewd animation would make it enjoyable. So I guess Friends in Need is one of the rare games I can't think of a scene as a non lewd animation enjoyer that it would improve it for me compared to other AVN's.

 

[Lightaces]

Nicki is not Guy's ex-girlfriend. At most they've had sex once and there's some mutual attraction, but this is all. And yes, i would let my close friend move in, instead of getting all wrapped up in "oh but she has spent some time with a pervert" as if this somehow invalidated anything and everything that has happened in prior years between you two. Regardless of if they were an ex or not. If you think only a "simp" would help a friend in such situation... again, i don't think you really understand those concepts. Or you have such different idea of them i'm just glad i don't share it.

You can put people on your ignore list, you know....

 

[Lightaces]

I've played around with AI stuff, annnnnd.. Some of it looks fine. I did a bukkake video of Brittani, as kind of a proof of concept. My supporters didn't seem too into it. I think I posted that here, too.. But, there's always this weird, uncanny valley aspect of them, where you can tell you're looking at a video trained on real humans, with a Daz skin over the whole thing.

Plus, I know at least one dev has gotten in trouble with Steam for using AI animations -- reason being that they looked too real/lifelike, and Steam doesn't want real porn on their platform.

Oh god, don't remind me. Awful, just awful. Please don't.

 

[Tenebris Progressus]

To follow up on this, now that I'm feeling less sassy.. I've addressed both of these issues before. Music is tough, because a lot of those 'royalty-free' music packs have specific language in their TOS that forbid their use in pornographic material. And even putting that aside, I care a lot about creating a specific feel for the scenes in the game. Something as much as a minor change in expression, is really important to me. It's for that reason that I don't just want to toss a few looping tracks into the game, and call it a day. I'd rather have no music, than bad music.

For animations, I don't really enjoy them, for the most part.. It's rare that I see Daz animations I think look genuinely great. Add to that they take a lot of time to render, and it's a new skillset I'd need to learn, and it's just not something I'd like to explore right now.

Now, I have seen some animations that I thought looked really nice. If I could hire someone to do something on this level, I'd be all for it. But until then, I'd rather just use my little 2-3 frame 'flipbook' animations.

I think your reasoning and priorities are absolutely right, NeonGhost.
Music in this kind of game is completely unnecessary – personally, turning it off is one of the first things I do. I’d guess that players who actually want music are fewer than 1%.

Animations are nice, but unless they’re of very high quality, they tend to do more harm than good.
Since you already maintain good visual quality and your characters are well-made, your 2–3 frame “flipbook” animations are more than enough.

Keep doing what you’re doing – you’re absolutely on the right track.

 

[MikesDK]

That people have different views on these matters have been my whole point, and hence maybe what you should learn is not to call people simps if they do something that doesn't match your personal understanding. It's a derogatory term so if you start with such premise towards people who choose to play differently than you do, don't be surprised you might get a push back.


The story makes it pretty clear that Nicki wanted to stay away while she was sorting out her problem, so she wouldn't drag Guy into it, so it doesn't really make much sense to complain that she didn't "come back running to Guy" until she actually pulled that off. The traumatic experience at the last stretch made her reach out earlier than she planned, but it's basically nonsense to insist that she was never planning to contact Guy again when the game effectively tells you otherwise. Why do you think the game (through Nicki) takes time to establish in detail why she was unable to contact Guy, if she was supposedly deliberately never going to contact him again?

Why would i not call a simp a simp if i see it as such? makes no sense, it might be a derogatory term but so what i call a spade a spade.

To me it makes sense since Nicki should have gone back to Guy before leaving the first time, if she truely loved him and knew Guy loved her and she knew money means nothing to Guy and shes a close friend as you say, she should go back period, ghostng him for ages and then expect/hope to be let back into hes life no fuck that only a simp would let her back (i still dont see her as a friend remember....), like i told you we dont see story the same way, when Nicky came back i see it as her last option not something she ever planed to do, who knows how long she would have lived with the pervert, untill debt free? why stop there why not stay another 6 months or a year to make enough money to get a place to stay and have money for food and so on and maybe get the 10k to pay Guy back, i mean she wouldent want to leach off Guy right? she never left the pervert on her own she went so far to tattoo her self for life, so i seriously dont belive she would leave for a very long time when shes already gone that far.
And she already did deliberately not contact Guy dident she? she never kept in thouch since she never planed to get in touch and as to the why she couldent is idiotic i mean really your grasping for straws, how hard is it for her to pick up ANY phone and call Guy? i can hear you know "oh she cant remember the number" well shit look it up....gimme a break its not that hard is it, i dont belive for a second she gave Guy a single tought doing her time with the pervert.

She won't leave the story per se, she'll just be more absent from dark Guy's life until she shows up at some point in the future (only the dev knows when and for what purpose ofc). You'll also be dark-minded throughout the rest of the game (doesn't force dark content onto you, just means your MC is more psychopathic in his thinking). Basically, you take every chance you can to abuse her and she'll eventually call it quits and leave you without a goodbye. Maybe that's enough for you? But, again, she's a major character in the game, so don't expect her to just disappear completely. If skipping through her content or tolerating her isn't enough, then like I said, it's just not your game and not much else can be said about that.

Temting gotta say im a big fan of blackheart games so not sure i would mind doing it that way, but like i said that is my main issue that she is the main character in the game when it comes to LIs and thats not a good thing when you dislike the character, which is also why i gave up on this game last time and proberly will again, but stll want to see how rebuild turns out.

 

[Varrock]

Guys, do we still hate nicki post rework or what? idk, need opinions

 

[sexyasshamster]

Guys, do we still hate nicki post rework or what? idk, need opinions

if you go by per post we like her if you go by per word in post then no

 

[magefeu71]

hello
have you news about an update ?

 

[jw1221]

hello
have you news about an update ?

Yes, the patch is supposed to be empt.. oh the other question people ask, my bad.
Nothing announced I think, hopefully in the next couple of months.

 

[MF_DOOM]

Guys, do we still hate nicki post rework or what? idk, need opinions

I really hoped she would get killed off-screen during the remake of chapter 1 and 2. Too bad she wasn't

 

[NeonGhosts]

hello
have you news about an update ?

Hey! So, my goal right now is to finish the Friends Indeed build by month's end. Right now I'm on the last scene, with Gabby's love-path ero scene. If I can hurry things along, I may also be be able to get the corruption ending for Gabby accomplished, for Friends in Need. Once I have that done, I can put out a demo/test build for the new chapter. While people test it and give me feedback, I'll be able to fully focus my attention on reintegrating stuff for S1. Right now, I just don't want to split my focus, when I'm on a good roll with the rendering work.

 

[Gormius]

Hey! So, my goal right now is to finish the Friends Indeed build by month's end. Right now I'm on the last scene, with Gabby's love-path ero scene. If I can hurry things along, I may also be be able to get the corruption ending for Gabby accomplished, for Friends in Need. Once I have that done, I can put out a demo/test build for the new chapter. While people test it and give me feedback, I'll be able to fully focus my attention on reintegrating stuff for S1. Right now, I just don't want to split my focus, when I'm on a good roll with the rendering work.

View attachment 5368819

 

[ramvivat]

WOW! no incest tag?! so no sex with sissy there?

 

[Jplays512]

WOW! no incest tag?! so no sex with sissy there?

Not yet. She only just came into the picture tho. Only Neon knows if it is going to be there in the future and he could even be on the fence.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

WOW! no incest tag?! so no sex with sissy there?

Never realized incest tag was removed. It should be there, since it's clearly in the plans. Dunno when, though. There's some incest roleplay from two other characters, though, and some incest teasing from the sister in the next update.

 

[Echoesinthedarkness]

Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well. I too have Turandot playing while I read porn vns.

you guys arent blasting careless whisper while playing porn games?

 

[Lightaces]

WOW! no incest tag?! so no sex with sissy there?

Not yet, and there is at least a possibility it would only be there on some of the darker paths, though that is in no way confirmed.

The game is not fully written, so that content will depend on what semi-believable nonsense Neon can devise. He's a good writer, but the traditional AVN trope of "I was always waiting for YOU, big brother," is a bit....thin, story and character wise.

And this is a game where that stuff matters, both to Neon and to those of us who help foot the bill. I'm kinda hoping it stays only on the corruption paths and darker. The light side path just strains credibility for the universe Guy lives in. But it's Neon's story, and we will see what he comes up with.

 

[Joshy92]

I'm sure there could be a believable way to involve Cassie.

I hope she is included. Or at least in a spin off one day.

 

[personal_hell]

kinda disappointed with the remake of the early chapters (mostly with the darker paths) but nonetheless still a great game