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

[Dessolos]

I'm a bit confused about the structure of Friends in Need. Is version 0.72 (Chapter 1-11) completely separate from the Chapter 1 remake (version 0.25)? Does the Chapter 1 remake replace the original Chapter 1 in the main game (Chapters 1-11), or are there two different versions of Chapter 1? Will the Chapter 1 remake be integrated into the main game file, or is the plan to remake each chapter individually? Do I even make any sense?

I think it's just not fully integrated if I understand correctly Ch 2 and 3 and maybe the Ashe Date are getting some love to just not to the extent Ch 1 did. I'm going to assume it's not going to be fully interacted until till the other chapters are added or till Ch 11 update is out

 

[NewTricks]

I'm a bit confused about the structure of Friends in Need. Is version 0.72 (Chapter 1-11) completely separate from the Chapter 1 remake (version 0.25)? Does the Chapter 1 remake replace the original Chapter 1 in the main game (Chapters 1-11), or are there two different versions of Chapter 1? Will the Chapter 1 remake be integrated into the main game file, or is the plan to remake each chapter individually? Do I even make any sense?

You make perfect sense. Version 0.72 has the original version of chapter one, which the standalone chapter 1 is eventually replacing in the next version. The dev is at work splicing ch 2-11 onto the new chapter 1 but they will not be changing except in terms of code. There will be additional scenes to bridge the new ch 1 to the rest of the game. Until then, the new ch 1 standalone is just proof that the hard work of reworking it paid off.

 

[Pixillin']

Played the remake today without reading the comments around here first, and right now at a glance I see some people sharing the same sentiment as I've had playing it.
Gotta preface it though by saying that wow, the difference in art is just fantastic. The old intro was kinda ugly at times and this shoots it out of the park! And while I never hated Nicki, she was never up there either, and I like her more now.

So, I've been playing this game on a "douche" path, like a helpful asshole of sorts, but the changes to the intro in comparison to how it was before makes it almost impossible to justify being even remotely bad to Nicki.
Before, the cards were completely stacked against her. We didn't know her because the connection with Guy was something we were told about but it was a bit meaningless since we didn't experience it. So props to Neon for fixing that. I feel way more attached to Nicki now.
However, I find that now the cards are too stacked in her favor. Because before you could use the argument that she was "using you" for your newfound wealth and let that be an opening for a darker path. I believe that if we still had that argument in the remake, the choice to be bad to Nicki would still be a difficult one and you wouldnt feel like you're "playing it wrong" by choosing to go that way. Right now Nicki is just awesome and basically flawless, and Guy has been very chill and nice too, so it feels out of character to suddenly decide to be shitty. And sure, everyone has had moments of morally bad decisions in life. No good person is good 100% of the time, so you could argue Guy just fucked up, but It kinda doesn't work for me, personally (I tend to play good guy in every game).
Just to be clear I don't think the new path is bad, but I don't find it good for those that aren't aiming for a good guy/romance route with Nicki. Well, saying it's not good is wrong too...the right word would be "hard". It's harder to play the bad guy because there are no arguments for it, "Guy is just bad now" doesn't feel good narratively. And making it be this much harder doesn't make much sense when you write all this crazy good shit for the route. This might steer new players into a route they might have not chosen given "fairer" options.

All that is just my opinion, of course, I still think this was a great remake and I can't wait for what's next.
I hope I managed to convey my experience correctly. I'm not native english speaker.

Thanks for reading.

I get what you're saying. Personally, even in the old version, I was only ever nice to Nicky. My one save is a Nicky solo path. So for me, not much has changed except that I don't have to defend Nicky as much in these forums. However, people are complicated. Romance with Nicky is optional and you could be nice to her and still be an asshole to everyone else. It's not like it's unheard of for a person to have a wife/ girlfriend/ best buddy who they love and treat like a princess but outside, when she's not watching they are a complete asshole. It's also not unheard of for a dude, especially a wealthy dude, to dump the woman who has been with him since he was poor and go after someone he sees as younger / prettier / looks better on his arm or to have a side piece or sugar baby who he doesn't treat as well. It's also not unheard of for a guys wife to know about the other(s) and stick with him because she's comfortable and safe and she'd rather just ignore it than deal with it. Or maybe they ignore it until it hits the news and then they are shocked and file for a divorce.

It may be harder to be an asshole to Nicky but overall I don't think it's harder to be an asshole. You just have to be an asshole (or rather your MC does).

 

[parceload]

hi, just played from the beginning (non remake version) and i can't find chapter 5? looked in the code and it looks like chapters 5-7 aren't in there at all. is there a separate download, or do those chapters just not exist?

 

[NeonGhosts]

hi, just played from the beginning (non remake version) and i can't find chapter 5? looked in the code and it looks like chapters 5-7 aren't in there at all. is there a separate download, or do those chapters just not exist?

The chapter versions are kinda screwy. I'll be inserting little chapter cards with the next version, delineating where each one begins and ends, as I did with the new Chapter 1. But, basically Chapter 4 grew past what I had planned for it, and I cut it into three chapters, after originally labeling it Chapter 4 Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. So, the labeling for everything is kinda wonky, and you shouldn't pay attention to the file names.

Retroactively:

Chapter 1: Nicki.
Chapter 2: Ashe and Gabby.
Chapter 3: Nicki's return, Viola.
Chapter 4: Halloween mini-update.
Chapter 5: Brittani's photoshoot.
Chapter 6: Pepper, Mason.
Chapter 7: Ashe's date.
Chapter 8: Blizzy/Cutiedoll, Risa.
Chapter 9: Risa, Lucien.
Chapter 10: Mason, Brent, Gabby, Madison, etc.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

Played the remake today without reading the comments around here first, and right now at a glance I see some people sharing the same sentiment as I've had playing it.
Gotta preface it though by saying that wow, the difference in art is just fantastic. The old intro was kinda ugly at times and this shoots it out of the park! And while I never hated Nicki, she was never up there either, and I like her more now.

So, I've been playing this game on a "douche" path, like a helpful asshole of sorts, but the changes to the intro in comparison to how it was before makes it almost impossible to justify being even remotely bad to Nicki.
Before, the cards were completely stacked against her. We didn't know her because the connection with Guy was something we were told about but it was a bit meaningless since we didn't experience it. So props to Neon for fixing that. I feel way more attached to Nicki now.
However, I find that now the cards are too stacked in her favor. Because before you could use the argument that she was "using you" for your newfound wealth and let that be an opening for a darker path. I believe that if we still had that argument in the remake, the choice to be bad to Nicki would still be a difficult one and you wouldnt feel like you're "playing it wrong" by choosing to go that way. Right now Nicki is just awesome and basically flawless, and Guy has been very chill and nice too, so it feels out of character to suddenly decide to be shitty. And sure, everyone has had moments of morally bad decisions in life. No good person is good 100% of the time, so you could argue Guy just fucked up, but It kinda doesn't work for me, personally (I tend to play good guy in every game).
Just to be clear I don't think the new path is bad, but I don't find it good for those that aren't aiming for a good guy/romance route with Nicki. Well, saying it's not good is wrong too...the right word would be "hard". It's harder to play the bad guy because there are no arguments for it, "Guy is just bad now" doesn't feel good narratively. And making it be this much harder doesn't make much sense when you write all this crazy good shit for the route. This might steer new players into a route they might have not chosen given "fairer" options.

All that is just my opinion, of course, I still think this was a great remake and I can't wait for what's next.
I hope I managed to convey my experience correctly. I'm not native english speaker.

Thanks for reading.

Hm, fair point. Haven't played it yet, so I won't know if I'll agree or not, but I get why someone would want to maintain uh... the rationale behind their strong 'reaction' to Nicki's character before, I guess, or at least the plausibility of it. Imo, though, basically none of the LIs deserve a strong reaction; they all feel like pretty normal people for the most part, sans the (constrained) porn logic that makes VNs so fun in the first place. But, out of all the LIs, Nicki's drama felt the most manufactured and forced tbh, and I think the chp 1 rewrite basically serves to fix that and put her more in line with the other LIs in that she's loveable and trustworthy, and therefore laying down the dark route on her feels insane. She's still a complex character, imo, she just makes more sense to the overall playerbase now. I think any demand for women who 'deserve' a dark route, or at least a mean corruption route, are just going to be met with minor characters like Isabella, Tessa, 'Cutiedoll', etc., basically characters that would struggle to be seen as true LIs by most players anyways.

 

[LWtbo]

Great Chapter one FriendsinNeed.v.0.25 just one thing.
You re-wrote the first chapter so that Niki is nolonger villainized like she was before.
However in doing so now the MC is the Dick.

After finding out he's now got money and lot's of it he ignores her phonecall on Four seperate occations.
20 times total from what the MC later say's.
And the MC's excuse he's been so busy sorting out his money he hasn't had time to take her calls.
And his excuse is he's afraid that what Lane said is true and it will change his friendship.
Except he had as far as we know he had already Ignored her 3 times before Lane's gem of advice .
And ignoring her won't change the friendship really?.
so BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT!!!

If he was at work for someone fine, if he was in a Bussiness meeting for an important deal fine.

But he wasn't all the people he ignored her for were meeting so they would Work for him.
Yes they may of been anoyed sure may even of Grumbled.
But they wouldn't of said shit if he had actually took a moment to talk to her.

I'm sorry but thats a Dick move which ever way you cut it.
So grat's on that Now the MC's a DICK before you even get to choose if he's gonna be a DICK or not.
Just Sayin.

 

[portiamento]

is the game really being re-made?

 

[portiamento]

Great Chapter one FriendsinNeed.v.0.25 just one thing.
You re-wrote the first chapter so that Niki is nolonger villainized like she was before.
However in doing so now the MC is the Dick.

After finding out he's now got money and lot's of it he ignores her phonecall on Four seperate occations.
20 times total from what the MC later say's.
And the MC's excuse he's been so busy sorting out his money he hasn't had time to take her calls.
And his excuse is he's afraid that what Lane said is true and it will change his friendship.
Except he had as far as we know he had already Ignored her 3 times before Lane's gem of advice .
And ignoring her won't change the friendship really?.
so BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT!!!

If he was at work for someone fine, if he was in a Bussiness meeting for an important deal fine.

But he wasn't all the people he ignored her for were meeting so they would Work for him.
Yes they may of been anoyed sure may even of Grumbled.
But they wouldn't of said shit if he had actually took a moment to talk to her.

I'm sorry but thats a Dick move which ever way you cut it.
So grat's on that Now the MC's a DICK before you even get to choose if he's gonna be a DICK or not.
Just Sayin.

dang I was playing the game as a good and caring guy for Niki, now I have to be an asshole, great.

 

[ffive]

Great Chapter one FriendsinNeed.v.0.25 just one thing.
You re-wrote the first chapter so that Niki is nolonger villainized like she was before.
However in doing so now the MC is the Dick.
(...)
I'm sorry but thats a Dick move which ever way you cut it.
So grat's on that Now the MC's a DICK before you even get to choose if he's gonna be a DICK or not.
Just Sayin.

The funniest part is, MC effectively ghosting Nicki was also in the original version of the game, but it was only briefly alluded to, instead of shown.

So MC was always this sort of a dick. But you've had people completely miss out on this aspect and him being largely responsible for the state of things, and instead raging in the thread how much of a bitch Nicki was for not keeping up with Guy for weeks and only coming to visit him once she knew he's had money...

 

[johndoe812]

really liked this remake, nicki best girl!

 

[Pixillin']

really liked this remake, nicki best girl!

Yep. I liked the remake but it didn't change anything for me - Nicky solo path, and just really nice to everyone else.

 

[TheWalkingChinko]

So Subscribe Star version is without removed content as compared to the Patreon version?

 

[karumi56]

So Subscribe Star version is without removed content as compared to the Patreon version?

Short answer: Yes

The two versions have different names to make that explicitly clear. Patreon version is "Friends Indeed" and complies with the rules of that site. Subscribestar version is "Friends in Need", the more complete version we are used to seeing here.

Unfortunately, this thread was updated with the "Friends Indeed" version most recently, before the actual game for this thread, as in what the thread is named after, "Friends in Need". I love the uploaders, but honestly this was not smart, and now the original post is a mess.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

it's both sad and funny that some people see routine story + character development as a negative =S homies, there are plenty of basic VNs out there that focus on pure fantasy where nothing undesirable ever happens to your MC or the LIs. go and seek!

 

[Nerv_rr]

is the game really being re-made?

just the first chapter

 

[LWtbo]

The funniest part is, MC effectively ghosting Nicki was also in the original version of the game, but it was only briefly alluded to, instead of shown.

So MC was always this sort of a dick. But you've had people completely miss out on this aspect and him being largely responsible for the state of things, and instead raging in the thread how much of a bitch Nicki was for not keeping up with Guy for weeks and only coming to visit him once she knew he's had money...

Sorry to say but i'm afraid you'r wrong unlike this remake he didn't ghost her in the Original.


As you can see they nolonger met up and He may not have phoned her to chat.
But then neither did she before he liked her picture which got brent send her to ask for money.
She wasn't ghosted like in the remake they were still in touch via phone.
They just did it by text and meme's instead of actually chating.

So sorry it is just the remake that makes him look like a Dick at the start.
Just Sayin.

 

[ffive]

Sorry to say but i'm afraid you'r wrong unlike this remake he didn't ghost her in the Original.

Hmm i guess i mixed up what was said in the game with the talk about that period on the forums. I could swear there's a mention how Guy basically up and left since he was afraid of his former friends/acquaintances learning his status has changed so drastically. In this case yes, it's even more severe in the remake.

 

[Kuolemanlaakso]

I tried the new chapter 1 remake, and I like the changes. That said I'd rather play the proper version of the game. Any updates on a possible android port of the Subscribestar version?

 

[Sparhawker]

slightly confused. Last I played was just plain 0.39 (yes I know it was a long time ago).
So the 'remake' is remaking the whole thing from scratch...I don't see the point as it was great as it was.
Question....if/when a chapter 2 comes out is there a continuation from ONLY the remake version or will it continue from the original chapter one....or will it just be a fresh start?