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

[NeonGhosts]

@NeonGhosts , I was away for a few days and I had to look for some DarkAssassin Android ports and I noticed this banner. Is that early drafts of the characters, because I don't remember Mason with that hairdo

Yeah, that was the banner I used for the first few months. :'D

My original concept for Mason was pretty different, and many of the love interests' models were tweaked. Madison got some better hairstyles. I lightened Britt's eyebrows. Nicki's hair was changed, and eventually I made some tweaks to her face before Chapter 4. Carolina got a new skin texture before her first appearance. Mason was made shorter and given a better hairstyle, and a softer attitude.

A lot of the quirks in this image are just a result of me being much better at lighting stuff now, though. I've had supporters mention that I "replaced" Carolina's model between her first appearance and her next one. But the fact is that I just had her start wearing make-up, to demonstrate that she was getting back into a headspace to consider dating. I'm just better at lighting now, so the difference seems more pronounced.

Carolina Chapter 3


Carolina, Chapter 5


Carolina, Chapter 1 (Remake)


The remake model is the same one as the Chapter 3 model, she just looks way better because I've learned how to work with the character, and lighting. Likewise, Madison often looked kinda mehhhh early on, but I've got a better handle on her nowadays.

 

[NebulousShooter]

Yeah, that was the banner I used for the first few months. :'D

My original concept for Mason was pretty different, and many of the love interests' models were tweaked. Madison got some better hairstyles. I lightened Britt's eyebrows. Nicki's hair was changed, and eventually I made some tweaks to her face before Chapter 4. Carolina got a new skin texture before her first appearance. Mason was made shorter and given a better hairstyle, and a softer attitude.

A lot of the quirks in this image are just a result of me being much better at lighting stuff now, though. I've had supporters mention that I "replaced" Carolina's model between her first appearance and her next one. But the fact is that I just had her start wearing make-up, to demonstrate that she was getting back into a headspace to consider dating. I'm just better at lighting now, so the difference seems more pronounced.

Carolina Chapter 3
View attachment 4677024

Carolina, Chapter 5
View attachment 4677027

Carolina, Chapter 1 (Remake)
View attachment 4677030

The remake model is the same one as the Chapter 3 model, she just looks way better because I've learned how to work with the character, and lighting. Likewise, Madison often looked kinda mehhhh early on, but I've got a better handle on her nowadays.

View attachment 4677038

I was also sure you changed Carolina

I checked and I made my first post in this thread in page 206~(default page size), but I think I still remember a banner similar to the current one, so that banner is definitely before my time.


I also have some duf files downloaded since forever, never tried them out to see what version of the characters you shared

Side note: I like femme fatale Carolina with the makeup for the chasing phase, but in a relationship on her route, I would pick no makeup any day.

 

[NeonGhosts]

I was also sure you changed Carolina

I checked and I made my first post in this thread in page 206~(default page size), but I think I still remember a banner similar to the current one, so that banner is definitely before my time.

View attachment 4677173
I also have some duf files downloaded since forever, never tried them out to see what version of the characters you shared

Side note: I like femme fatale Carolina with the makeup for the chasing phase, but in a relationship on her route, I would pick no makeup any day.

I'm a fan of Cool Mom Lina, dressing down her work clothes with a denim jacket and some sneakers. Rowr.



Also, sometimes I start looking through the blog posts and realize how much content I've made over the past few years.. :'D Staggering!

 

[Joshy92]

You can clearly see how much Neon has improved when comparing those banners. It's night and day.

Also, I much prefer Mason's short red hair hairstyle he has now, It's really hot.

 

[AMRFTY]

NeonGhosts Although I read you like to protect yourself from strong opinions on your game on Patreon, I did want to take the ballsy chance to give you my opinion. It's not harsh, but there are a few things I wanted to voice my opinion on - before I post reviews later today. It's clear you have passion for the universe you created and love spending time puzzling how things work to connect together. I figured I'd post this in your discord, but since I'm unable to find it - I'll just put this here. I'll put everything in spoiler tags because it might get lengthy and let's not inconvenience people with scrolling.

Also, sometimes I start looking through the blog posts and realize how much content I've made over the past few years.. :'D Staggering!

Spoiler: So about content amount...

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Making a new post to contain the short stories I've done so far.
(...)
I'll work on getting these formatted in a more visually appealing way at some point.

Spoiler: On formatting short stories

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I'm just better at lighting now, so the difference seems more pronounced.

Over time, things in FiN definitely got better and I now understand Chapter 1 was originally rendered by someone else and since, you went back and re-rendered things for earlier chapters. That's a lot of commitment for which I also want to praise you. In reading your dev updates, a lot of choices, frustrations and cut content come through and it's a great insight into how hard it is to create a game like this.

***

Okay, that's enough out of me. I'll finish up a couple reviews - the FiN one + Friends Indeed + patch + short stories , the 'A Slave to Desire' and the 'Blue Valentine' - and post those. Whatever my opinion will be, I just want to make sure you understand you are doing great work to your subscribers and to the world you're building. That's far more important.

And if you can, please explain why Dutch language keeps popping up in your game unnannounced when you're not even in Europe.