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.

 

[breeper]

Weird nitpick, bro... Viola is not so rare both as a proper name and as a diminutive form of the name Violetta.

Now Violetta is a Russian name I've heard!
Viola is the diminutive of Violetta? That's interesting. I tried looking it up and I found that the diminutive of "Violetta" is "Vita" according to

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But then again, this Russian lady named Violetta has the name Viola in her username

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, so maybe you're right.
But I suppose they could both be true.
Still, thank you for your answer.

View attachment 4670878

Thanks, could you link me the website please, instead of the screenshot?

Even if it *wasn't* a proper Russian name, isn't it still possible she had a non-Russian parent/grandparent or that she was simply given a foreign name for some other reason? My Irish father called my brother 'Carlos' after a musician despite it not exactly being a common name there.

That would be great if there's a storyline reason for her name, but thus far, there has been no diegetic dialogue between MC and "Viola" as to the reason for her name. If it is agreed upon that it is as an uncommon name(which it may not be), then MC should remark on the uncommon-ness of it somehow.

Let's say I agree that Viola is the short of VIoletta, would a Russian person(when asked for their name), actually use the diminutive version of their name when first introducing themselves? I think not.

If instead the dialogue went,

MC: What is your name?
And If Viola was like, "Violetta Sir, but people call me Viola."

I wouldn't even have thought to bring it up, if she'd said that.

I don't think Russian people introduce themselves in formal settings, using the diminutive version of their own name. This seems wrong to me.
Now, if the two people in question are related/somewhat familar with each other, then maybe.
But introduction between two complete strangers? I don't think so.

 

[Eternamite]

Dev Update! 3/25/25

Hey, folks! First off, sorry this is a day late. I was on a roll rendering yesterday, and just didn't want to break my stride. So, figured I'd kick it to today. Then I had to go have my taxes done, and blah, blah, blah.. Hope you're all doing well this week!

I'm still hard at work on the Chapter 1 remake, and progress remains steady. Some of these scenes are taking a little longer to render than normal, which is a bit annoying. But, no major problems so far. For the most part, I leave those renders to run while I'm sleeping or at my day job, so it doesn't result in a bottleneck. It can be a little annoying when I realize something didn't render right, and I need to go back and redo it on the fly, though.

I'm still working towards having the Chapter 1 remake done by the end of this month, and hoping I don't slip into April. If I do, it should only be by a week or so. Either way, I'll have a new build ready by month's end for the Close Friend/$15 tier.

But, I'm not leaving everyone else out! I recently unlocked

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for $5 supporters, and I'll be doing the same for $2 supporters on Friday, the 28th. It'll be made available to the public on Monday, the 31st. So, everyone will have a little something to enjoy. The release schedule will look like this, for the foreseeable future.

• Chapter 11 Teaser: Releases by the end of this month for everyone. Use your most recent save, and see what the beginning of Chapter 11 looks like. This will be the last version compatible with previous saves. (Sorry! ;_; )
• Chapter 1 Remake: Releases by end of this month/early next month for $15 members, before rolling out to everyone else on the normal schedule. Start a new game, and play through the new and (hopefully improved) Chapter 1.
• Chapter 2-10 + Chapter 11 Teaser: Releases by end of April. Might be some minor story improvements in Chapter 2/3, but mostly just fixing code I haven't had time to address yet.
• Chapter 11: Planned for release by end of June. I've got about 80% of it written, so I just need to get the variables set, and begin rendering the rest of it.

Hopefully that's not too confusing. I promise, it'll all make sense eventually.

I'm going to get back to rendering! Got a long few days ahead of me, but I've got the eye of the tiger and the thrill of the fight. As always, take care of yourselves and thank you for your support!

 

[ffive]

I don't think Russian people introduce themselves in formal settings, using the diminutive version of their own name. This seems wrong to me.

It'll depend on the person. It'd be dumb to claim that every single American introduces themselves exactly the same in given settings. It's no different for Russians or people of any other nationality, really.

And it's really not worth nitpicking if the basis for it is such sweeping generalizations and a person's vague impressions about the matter.

 

[NeonGhosts]

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.

Hey, first of all thanks for the thoughtful analysis! My tongue was a little in-cheek when I said I avoid looking at anonymous commenters. My supporters know that I'll sometimes comb through various pirate sites and find some utterly unhinged reactions, which I'll share with them to blow off steam. The reason why I post here, chat here, etc. is because the community's been very good to me, and most people here are super chill. I think I read everything posted here, though my ability to reply to all of it falters when I get too busy. I'll do a quick little lightning-round of responses, since I need to get back to rendering.

• Communication, blog posts, etc. : Man, I'm glad people appreciate that. I've always been of the mind that the very least I can do is check in with folks and let them know how things are going, and that I'm alive. I've actually been advised (by paying supporters!) that I should communicate less, hide my income amount on my platforms, etc. to help gain and retain subscribers. But I've always said I'd rather live and die by the stuff I make, than succeed through scumbaggery and subterfuge.
• Orc Exchange: This is actually a project I'd like to do, buuuut I increasingly suspect I won't. I wrote a novel (soon to be serialized on my platforms) which covers a lot of the stuff I wanted to do with Orc Exchange. Fantasy, inter-species romance, etc. So it feels increasingly less pressing.
• Scraps of Other Projects: This is something I've definitely done a lot of.. Pepper was going to be the star of her own game at one point, before I rolled her into FiN.
• Short Stories: I'm glad you like them! I kinda stopped fussing with them, because there's only so many areas of interest I can cover, while keeping them A) non-essential B) canonical to multiple playthroughs. But, I do enjoy writing them. Lets me flex a different set of muscles, and as you said, they do expand the world a bit, with a relatively small investment from me in terms of time/effort.
• Effort and Frustration of Development: Yes and yes! This project has been one of my longest creative commitments, and it's not without its difficulties. But, I still greatly enjoy making it, and I'd like to keep making visual novels for a long time. With any luck, my audience will stick around, and I can keep doing this for years to come. That said.. My next project is definitely going to be a bit smaller in scope. :'D

Thanks for playing! Always nice seeing folks discover the game!

 

[AMRFTY]

Hey, first of all thanks for the thoughtful analysis!
(...)
Thanks for playing! Always nice seeing folks discover the game!

More than welcome and thank you for responding. Everything you explained makes sense and as long as things happen in a way you are comfortable with, it's great! Taking people through the process is beautiful, as long as it suits your style of work. As developer, you get a 10/10 for all those things. There are some great developers who seem great people and based on what I see, I would add you to that list.

REVIEWS

I will post three reviews, but submit one to F95 because the mini-sodes can't be separated. Again, the scores are my personal rating and a player's opinion can easily sway one or two points based on their preferences.

Friends In Need / Friends Indeed

★ ★ ★ ★

Spoiler: Review

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Friends in Need: Blue Valentine

★ ★ ★ ★

Spoiler: Review

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A Slave To Desire

★ ★ ★

Spoiler: Review

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For anyone curious about ratings for the short stories - bit hard to rate but here goes:
Viola's Song: ★ ★ ★ ★
Picture Imperfect: ★ ★ ★ ★
A Little Mad (Part One): ★ ★ ★


NeonGhosts, you have something special on your hands and I hope you can enjoy it for as long as possible.
The review-to-post list is quite full, but I'm squeezing you somewhere in there in time for the new update. When Ch. 11 releases I'll do an update review and adjust accordingly.

 

[Hullahopp]

Thanks, could you link me the website please, instead of the screenshot?

Here:

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[Joshy92]

Is Nicki touching the nice clean glass with her bare hands? Bloody hell Nicki, that sort of thing drives me mad lol.

 

[Dessolos]

btw did Neon ever say if the Blue Valentine will be included in the rework as I realized I never got around to playing it and if it is I might as well wait. I thought he said it might be but I forgot

 

[NebulousShooter]

Is Nicki touching the nice clean glass with her bare hands? Bloody hell Nicki, that sort of thing drives me mad lol.

It could be worse, it could be Jill throwing rocks at the newly installed mansion windows

 

[Green83rry]

btw did Neon ever say if the Blue Valentine will be included in the rework as I realized I never got around to playing it and if it is I might as well wait

I seem to remember Neon did, but I can't recall the page in which it may have been said. I don't think it was specifically the rework, but chapter 11, maybe 12.

 

[Pixillin']

btw did Neon ever say if the Blue Valentine will be included in the rework as I realized I never got around to playing it and if it is I might as well wait. I thought he said it might be but I forgot

IIRC he said it would be included at some point, but I don't know if he meant the current rework, or just later at some point.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

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

Hey, just out of curiosity if your limited time permits, what do you mean "got better at lighting"? Is this something like, custom-placed lights as opposed to generic auto lighting that covers the whole scene? Just better placement of light sources for interesting shadows? You don't have to go into detail or anything, but as a complete render newbie, I can't help but wonder what's made such a big difference.

Those really are some major improvements btw, you should be proud of that! I wasn't a fan of Madison's model, but these kinds of renders make her 1000x more enticing!

 

[halleluja10]

• Orc Exchange: This is actually a project I'd like to do, buuuut I increasingly suspect I won't. I wrote a novel (soon to be serialized on my platforms) which covers a lot of the stuff I wanted to do with Orc Exchange. Fantasy, inter-species romance, etc. So it feels increasingly less pressing.

Orc Exchange?
Now you got me curious!

 

[Kateterpeter]

This is unironically the first AVN where I actually care about the story lol

 

[NeonGhosts]

Hey, just out of curiosity if your limited time permits, what do you mean "got better at lighting"? Is this something like, custom-placed lights as opposed to generic auto lighting that covers the whole scene? Just better placement of light sources for interesting shadows? You don't have to go into detail or anything, but as a complete render newbie, I can't help but wonder what's made such a big difference.

Those really are some major improvements btw, you should be proud of that! I wasn't a fan of Madison's model, but these kinds of renders make her 1000x more enticing!

Oh hey, I actually did a whole play-by-play over on Discord where I showed this. So, I'll just copy-paste it here.

Spoiler

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Orc Exchange?
Now you got me curious!

So, once upon a time I'd planned to do a mini-game called Orc Exchange. The idea was that it'd take place in this medieval fantasy world where the war between orcs and humans had been settled for a couple decades, and relations were beginning to normalize, trade was reopening, etc. As a result, cultural exchange programs were instituted, which would see select households in the human kingdom assigned an orcish guest, and vice versa -- the player being the head of one such household. The idea was that you'd basically be able to guide your relationship with the orc girl along two routes. In one, you'd be an encouraging and gracious host, and love would blossom, making you an example to the two peoples of what can happen if the old grudges are put aside. In the other, it would go less well, and the kingdom would return to war.

But, it eventually became a show that Guy and Nicki watch together, as a little nod to my former plans. And like I said, now I've written

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that touches on a lot of the same themes, so it all just seems less pressing. Maybe one day! I originally envisioned it as an RPG Maker game, without all the annoying grind. There's still a part of me that'd like to attempt that, but we'll see.