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

[ffive]

Working on the spicy scenes with this version of Nicki (and MC!) has been a lot of fun. One thing that never sat quite right with me in the original Chapter 1 was how Nicki and MC/Guy only got together after he got in better shape and moved into a nice condo. That was mostly a result of me keeping things concise back then. But now? I don’t have those same constraints. I can be a little more indulgent and let different branches of the story play out naturally.

So, in this new version, they can potentially hook up in Guy’s twin bed -- while he’s still rocking that spare tire around his waist. For those who enjoy the true love/romance path, I think it makes things a little sweeter and more sincere, seeing Nicki accept our hero exactly as he is.

I'm confused; does it mean they potentially hook up before Brent happens in the story? Or is the Guy fat and living in his old dump after he gets rich and Nicki comes for the handout? Or is he (still) fat and living in the dump after Nicki comes back from her Florida trip and the timeskip?

 

[Pixillin']

Personally I like the tattoo version of Nicki more something about the way she looks and probably also the story behind them is why I like it more.

I just like Nicky, I kinda wish during the “best girl I know” scene when she looked at them and said something about being covered with her mistakes, guy would have said “If you ever want to get rid of them, you can do it”. I like Nicky better without them, but I’d never say that to her. If she wants to get rid of them, it should be her choice - unfortunately, I suspect that she won’t ask Guy for the money to do it. Nicky is Nicky either way though.

Edit: I still like the idea of Guy providing really good comprehensive health coverage for his employees - which would cover Nicky’s tatoo removal if she wants it and would cover Viola’s mom as soon as she starts working for him.

 

[Dessolos]

I just like Nicky, I kinda wish during the “best girl I know” scene when she looked at them and said something about being covered with her mistakes, guy would have said “If you ever want to get rid of them, you can do it”. I like Nicky better without them, but I’d never say that to her. If she wants to get rid of them, it should be her choice - unfortunately, I suspect that she won’t ask Guy for the money to do it. Nicky is Nicky either way though.

see the thing is my first time playing this game I would of been right with you on she looked better without them up until the last scene or so with her I saw of her during that time ( when she was looking after Maya in our apartment). idk what it was but for most of my play through I was like Nicki is ruined now for me look wise then right when that scene happened , something just clicked where now I love the tattoo's and I can't see her looking the same without them. She even looks less appealing or attractive to me without them idk why.

 

[NebulousShooter]

For me its like choosing to keep a tramp stamp that an abusive ex boyfriend convinced her to get. Plus, I think tattoos do not fit her personality

Spoiler

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[Dessolos]

For me its like choosing to keep a tramp stamp that an abusive ex boyfriend convinced her to get. Plus, I think tattoos do not fit her personality

Spoiler

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I agree with the first part even tho I love Tramp Stamps. But not the 2nd I do think the tattoo's fit her character for me personally. Id expect someone with those tattoo's to have a personality a little similar to her tho probably being a bit more artistic.

 

[Pixillin']

For me its like choosing to keep a tramp stamp that an abusive ex boyfriend convinced her to get. Plus, I think tattoos do not fit her personality

Spoiler

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I agree with all of this, including the spoiler, but for me - asking her to get rid of them is no different from asking her to get them. It should be her call. I’m just worried that she’ll keep them because she can’t afford to get rid of them and doesn’t want “Guy to pay for her mistakes” again.

 

[NebulousShooter]

But not the 2nd I do think the tattoo's fit her character for me personally. Id expect someone with those tattoo's to have a personality a little similar to her tho probably being a bit more artistic.

I’m just worried that she’ll keep them because she can’t afford to get rid of them and doesn’t want “Guy to pay for her mistakes” again.

Now, thats something that fits her personality

 

[Pixillin']

Now, thats something that fits her personality

That’s why I said really comprehensive insurance - then you can sit down with Nicki and tell her that it covers tattoo removal if that’s ever something she wants, tell Viola that it also covers family members, and tell Mason that it covers … everything.

Edit: Although I guess it has to be one way or another - I wouldn’t want Neon to have to do two different renders of Nicky for every scene after that. One with and one without that tats.

 

[ArDZer]

That’s why I said really comprehensive insurance - then you can sit down with Nicki and tell her that it covers tattoo removal if that’s ever something she wants, tell Viola that it also covers family members, and tell Mason that it covers … everything.

Perhaps the protagonist can also cover a psychological therapist for Ashe. She's still kind of shaken up after the accident that ended up with Wren losing a leg, if one remembers what she said back at the jacuzzi.

 

[Dessolos]

Perhaps the protagonist can also cover a psychological therapist for Ashe. She's still kind of shaken up after the accident that ended up with Wren losing a leg, if one remembers what she said back at the jacuzzi.

Also find a way to get Risa away from her Dad and be able to live her own life without his say so tho that will be harder said than done

 

[Pixillin']

Also find a way to get Risa away from her Dad and be able to live her own life without his say so tho that will be harder said than done

They all need help in a variety of ways, I was just thinking about the insurance because all three of them (Nicky, Viola and Mason) would have a hard time asking Guy for the money but there is nothing weird about providing insurance for your employees. That it’s really, really good insurance and he’s not deducting anything from their pay for it is a little weird, but I think that (at least on the good path) guy has established that he’s a really generous person - so they probably won’t fight him on it.

 

[NebulousShooter]

That’s why I said really comprehensive insurance - then you can sit down with Nicki and tell her that it covers tattoo removal if that’s ever something she wants, tell Viola that it also covers family members, and tell Mason that it covers … everything.

Viola's mom better survive the game, Neon doesn't want to test me!

Edit: Although I guess it has to be one way or another - I wouldn’t want Neon to have to do two different renders of Nicky for every scene after that. One with and one without that tats.

Its somewhat manageable since no animations, thats why a lot of games in the past used to work in outfit choices, haircuts, or pubic hair choices, but the moment you want to try animations you extend the dev time by months.

 

[The Anti]

Also, Frumpy Guy is going to gas out like 3 minutes into prime Nicki

No cardio man gonna be begging her to be on top

 

[NebulousShooter]

I'm confused; does it mean they potentially hook up before Brent happens in the story? Or is the Guy fat and living in his old dump after he gets rich and Nicki comes for the handout? Or is he (still) fat and living in the dump after Nicki comes back from her Florida trip and the timeskip?

Probably he gets the money, but doesn't immediately rents the penthouse and gets liposuction
Maybe the Nicki encounter is the last straw that makes him change his life?

 

[ffive]

Probably he gets the money, but doesn't immediately rents the penthouse and gets liposuction
Maybe the Nicki encounter is the last straw that makes him change his life?

Well i dunno, i'm trying to consider all combinations of possible scenarios, but it just doesn't really make much sense to me in any of these cases.

Any sort of getting together after Guy gets the money arguably doesn't prove much in terms of "Nicki accepts our hero exactly as he is". If anything, it potentially makes the optics worse, because when before you could argue that it's either money or improved looks (or both) that made the difference, now it's only the pile of money that becomes Guy's "new quality".

And if the hookup has happened before the money, then it means either Nicki then got together with Brent as her boyfriend, choosing him over Guy, or the hookup has happened while Nicki was with Brent, and she stayed with her boyfriend afterwards? Again, neither case shows any real "acceptance of Guy the way he is", and on top of that would kinda completely wreck that thing in the original prologue how Nicki and Guy having sex is for him "finally getting his dream girl" after years of just wanting her.

So... like i said, i'm confused. :v

 

[Joshy92]

Nicki stayed with Brent because she was scared imo. Leaving him would have been a big change in her life, and some people stay in relationships because of the fear of the unknown.

 

[NebulousShooter]

Well i dunno, i'm trying to consider all combinations of possible scenarios, but it just doesn't really make much sense to me in any of these cases.

Any sort of getting together after Guy gets the money arguably doesn't prove much in terms of "Nicki accepts our hero exactly as he is". If anything, it potentially makes the optics worse, because when before you could argue that it's either money or improved looks (or both) that made the difference, now it's only the pile of money that becomes Guy's "new quality".

And if the hookup has happened before the money, then it means either Nicki then got together with Brent as her boyfriend, choosing him over Guy, or the hookup has happened while Nicki was with Brent, and she stayed with her boyfriend afterwards? Again, neither case shows any real "acceptance of Guy the way he is", and on top of that would kinda completely wreck that thing in the original prologue how Nicki and Guy having sex is for him "finally getting his dream girl" after years of just wanting her.

So... like i said, i'm confused. :v

I was joking around, didn't actually think it through, but you are right. It looks worse for our characters.
Will see how the final version looks and make my opinion if its an improvement, or not.

 

[NeonGhosts]

Well i dunno, i'm trying to consider all combinations of possible scenarios, but it just doesn't really make much sense to me in any of these cases.

Any sort of getting together after Guy gets the money arguably doesn't prove much in terms of "Nicki accepts our hero exactly as he is". If anything, it potentially makes the optics worse, because when before you could argue that it's either money or improved looks (or both) that made the difference, now it's only the pile of money that becomes Guy's "new quality".

And if the hookup has happened before the money, then it means either Nicki then got together with Brent as her boyfriend, choosing him over Guy, or the hookup has happened while Nicki was with Brent, and she stayed with her boyfriend afterwards? Again, neither case shows any real "acceptance of Guy the way he is", and on top of that would kinda completely wreck that thing in the original prologue how Nicki and Guy having sex is for him "finally getting his dream girl" after years of just wanting her.

So... like i said, i'm confused. :v

Actual (broad) spoilers for the remake, so don't read if you'd rather not know: So, going into the meeting with Nicki, there's basically three things going on. 1) He's been ducking Nicki, because he doesn't know how to tell her that he's now rich, and he's afraid it will ruin their friendship. 2) A few days prior, he meets with his lawyer for the first time, who advises him that he'll soon see people crawling out of the woodwork looking for money, and he needs to be suspicious of everyone. 3) He's still living in his crappy apartment, because he remains too emotionally paralyzed to actually finish moving into his new condo.

So, when Nicki arrives at his old place and demands they watch the season finale of one of their favorite shows, he tries to wiggle out of it, but finally relents. If you've done things right with Nicki, she'll surreptitiously cuddle up to you, making you wonder what the fuck she's doing. If you haven't met the conditions to get her to initiate a cuddle, you just sit and hang out.

The cuddle path has three options. One where you get touchy back (love), one where you don't (friend), and one where you wonder why she's fucking with your head, when she has a boyfriend.

If you're on the friend or love path, you'll have the option to sleep with her there in your apartment. It's only after you do, that she reveals she had a fight with Brent, and that he's fucked their finances. She thought he was taking her on a date, but he was bringing her to meet a guy offering to square their debt, if she agreed to model for him. Hence why she's all dressed up.

If you're not on a path that leads to sex there (not cuddling, or not responding correctly to the cuddles), she tells you the same story, and it sets alarm bells ringing. You begin to wonder if she figured out that you're wealthy, and now she's here to hit you up for money. You can either take a cynical view and think the worst of her, or not.

Continuing from the "apartment sex" path, you ask her if she wants to come see "something cool" and bring her to your condo, where she meets Carolina, and you mention that Nicki can be put on your approved visitors list (explaining why she's able to get to your place in Chapter 3).

If you're not on the sex path, you do the same, and bring her to your condo.

On the apartment sex path, this ends pretty quickly, and he agrees to help her. She ultimately leaves, because she still needs to talk with Brent, and figure her shit out.

If you haven't already has sex with her, it branches into a few options: platonic route, where you decide to help her but not sleep with her. Corruption route, where there's a lighter/playful option, and more of a hard dom option. And the dark path.

So, why did I make these changes? One reason is that I just wanted Nicki to be a better friend. So, she is. She doesn't directly hit up Guy for money, she just explains her circumstances and Guy reacts. I know people will probably dislike that it removes a little of the ambiguity over whether Nicki was intentionally trying to take advantage of Guy. But, I like that it's still there, but being driven more by paranoia induced by his lawyer. Nicki knows Guy messed up his finances years ago, by buying into crypto. She comes over and gives him this story, without asking for money. Now it's on the player to decide if she's trying to coax a check out of them, or not.

The main reason I shifted away from setting everything in his fancy, full furbished condo, is that I really wanted to hammer on the idea that helping (or "helping") Nicki really busted him out of his mental paralysis, and encouraged him to move forward with his life. A lot of this is stuff that was always in the first chapter, it was just more hinted at/stated through brief narration, rather than more explicitly talked about.

Ultimately, it all leads to the same place, with Nicki leaving to sort out her life, and Guy moving on with his.

 

[ffive]

Actual (broad) spoilers for the remake, so don't read if you'd rather not know

Thank you very much for the explanation, it does clarify things. To be honest, i'm not sure if making Guy effectively a rebound hookup improves things -- to be perfectly honest, i feel it makes them a bit worse... but then i'm biased because i really liked the "nice" path in the original prologue and i'll miss it gone. So you can safely disregard my view here

In any case, looking forward to the next update~

 

[Pixillin']

Actual (broad) spoilers for the remake, so don't read if you'd rather not know: So, going into the meeting with Nicki, there's basically three things going on. 1) He's been ducking Nicki, because he doesn't know how to tell her that he's now rich, and he's afraid it will ruin their friendship. 2) A few days prior, he meets with his lawyer for the first time, who advises him that he'll soon see people crawling out of the woodwork looking for money, and he needs to be suspicious of everyone. 3) He's still living in his crappy apartment, because he remains too emotionally paralyzed to actually finish moving into his new condo.

So, when Nicki arrives at his old place and demands they watch the season finale of one of their favorite shows, he tries to wiggle out of it, but finally relents. If you've done things right with Nicki, she'll surreptitiously cuddle up to you, making you wonder what the fuck she's doing. If you haven't met the conditions to get her to initiate a cuddle, you just sit and hang out.

The cuddle path has three options. One where you get touchy back (love), one where you don't (friend), and one where you wonder why she's fucking with your head, when she has a boyfriend.

If you're on the friend or love path, you'll have the option to sleep with her there in your apartment. It's only after you do, that she reveals she had a fight with Brent, and that he's fucked their finances. She thought he was taking her on a date, but he was bringing her to meet a guy offering to square their debt, if she agreed to model for him. Hence why she's all dressed up.

If you're not on a path that leads to sex there (not cuddling, or not responding correctly to the cuddles), she tells you the same story, and it sets alarm bells ringing. You begin to wonder if she figured out that you're wealthy, and now she's here to hit you up for money. You can either take a cynical view and think the worst of her, or not.

Continuing from the "apartment sex" path, you ask her if she wants to come see "something cool" and bring her to your condo, where she meets Carolina, and you mention that Nicki can be put on your approved visitors list (explaining why she's able to get to your place in Chapter 3).

If you're not on the sex path, you do the same, and bring her to your condo.

On the apartment sex path, this ends pretty quickly, and he agrees to help her. She ultimately leaves, because she still needs to talk with Brent, and figure her shit out.

If you haven't already has sex with her, it branches into a few options: platonic route, where you decide to help her but not sleep with her. Corruption route, where there's a lighter/playful option, and more of a hard dom option. And the dark path.

So, why did I make these changes? One reason is that I just wanted Nicki to be a better friend. So, she is. She doesn't directly hit up Guy for money, she just explains her circumstances and Guy reacts. I know people will probably dislike that it removes a little of the ambiguity over whether Nicki was intentionally trying to take advantage of Guy. But, I like that it's still there, but being driven more by paranoia induced by his lawyer. Nicki knows Guy messed up his finances years ago, by buying into crypto. She comes over and gives him this story, without asking for money. Now it's on the player to decide if she's trying to coax a check out of them, or not.

The main reason I shifted away from setting everything in his fancy, full furbished condo, is that I really wanted to hammer on the idea that helping (or "helping") Nicki really busted him out of his mental paralysis, and encouraged him to move forward with his life. A lot of this is stuff that was always in the first chapter, it was just more hinted at/stated through brief narration, rather than more explicitly talked about.

Ultimately, it all leads to the same place, with Nicki leaving to sort out her life, and Guy moving on with his.

I like the changes, mostly, I think ... but I'm firmly on the "nice" and Nicky - solo path anyway, even without the changes. With the changes and especially the convo with the lawyer and the changes to Nicky's approach even more so. People "coming out of the woodwork" wouldn't apply to Nicky in Guy's mind I don't think.