Happy Xmas, and Newlife 0.3.14

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a happy Christmas, or a happy non-Xmas holiday, or even just a happy Friday if you're from somewhere where this is just a normal week.

Version 0.3.14 of Newlife is finished and I've released it on Patreon. Early-access Patrons can find it in the creations section here. The changelog is below.

I'd normally release the public version of 0.3.13 now, but unfortunately due to a lapse in planning, I don't have it available. I couldn't come up with a way to get the correct files this week, so instead I've uploaded the supporter version from Patreon. I hope you'll forgive this mistake and it won't prove too troublesome for you. The 0.3.13 changelog is here.

As usual, saved files & templates from older versions probably won't work with newer ones. 

For new players - just use one of the links to the right to get either the jar or the exe version. You only need one or the other - not both. I recommend trying the jar first.
For either version you'll need to have Java installed. A lot of programs use Java so you might well already have it. If the jar shows up as an unrecognised file type, then you probably don't. In that case you can get it from http://www.java.com/. 
The exe should tell you if you don't have the right version on your computer, but you'll still need to install java to run the game.
There's a guide for new players here which includes some troubleshooting tips for installation & downloading.

The main change for this version is the new date alternative - this will appear as a separate action on some weeks that'll replace the usual "go on a date with <name>" one and has different text in the week planner screen. 
It's fairly rare as it isn't an event that makes a lot of sense to be happening repeatedly - I might change this if I add more paths to the scene, but there are lots of scenes that could use new paths and I don't know if this one will take precedence. Ideally you'll see it 1-3 times in a 52-week game - let me know if you think it's showing up too often.


Here's the full changelog for 0.3.14:

Major changes & additions:

•    Added a new scene which will occasionally show up as an alternative to the usual date in town.

•    Some new groping content for the new scene is also now available in some older ones in a slightly modified format. While it currently only shows up in some very specific situations, it'll eventually be available as part of one of the standard makeout scenes, and so these additions bring the game closer to a major update to one of them.

•    When starting a new game you’ll find a Christmas present in your character’s wardrobe.

Minor changes & bugfixes:

•    Fixes to text issues. Thanks to Cubano, Axeon, Death25 & OrangeJuice for reporting problems they found.

•    Implemented a suggestion from Cubano - if you have a framed photo of your boyfriend and go to bed with another man seeing the picture will now remind you that you're cheating and make you feel guilty. Romantic characters can get a point of stress from this.

•    Added a stat to track how many times you've been unfaithful. This is currently quite forgiving and won't count times you stopped things partway.

•    The custom NPC test output now includes the path to the directory the game is checking for npcs.

•    Npcs who disliked you are now less likely to ask you on dates, although this can still happen if they’re in love or find you very attractive.

•    Reduced asking-out chances for men with the impregnator trait when you’re pregnant, and men who don’t want kids if you’re pregnant or have children.

Enjoy the new version, and let me know if you find any bugs!

A short update for Thursday

Hello everyone!

I realise that the blog is mostly just a series of release announcements, so I thought I'd change things up with an update on my progress that doesn't come one day before a new version comes out.

The main change for the next version of Newlife will be a new scene. I haven't connected it up yet, but right now I'm planning for it to be an alternative to a normal date. Alternatively, it might end up branching off the date scene in a similar way to the porn movie scene.
It's still early on in development, but I've had a lot of ideas on where to go with the new content. As usual, many of them will prove to be excessively ambitious, but this time I'm trying hard to limit myself early on so I don't get carried away and spend twice as long on it as I planned to.

I haven't looked over the default save location bug again yet. I've had a pm on Patreon with a suggestion, so I'll give that a try when I get back to it.

Aside from that, I think I've fixed all the typos and bugs reported from the last release. It looks like there weren't any big ones this time, touch wood. I've also made a small addition based on a suggestion from a player - adding some text when going to bed with a man if you have a framed photograph of your boyfriend and it isn't him.

Finally, I've been trying to get through my backlog of messages a bit more than usual today. I've still got some posts and pms dating back some way that I need to answer, but I think I've replied to more than I received over the last day or two. At some point (soon?) I'll have a big push and catch up properly.

I hope you're all having a great week, and thanks for playing Newlife :)

Newlife 0.3.13

Hello everyone!

Version 0.3.13 of Newlife is finished and I've released it on Patreon. Early-access Patrons can find it in the creations section here. The changelog is below.
That also means that the 0.3.12 release has been made public. I've updated the links here on the blog, so you can download it now from here. The 0.3.12 changelog is here.

Additionally, FreshSalad has updated their character creation tool for Newlife to include the new Repairman trait for 0.3.13. You can get the updated version from Mega here.

As usual, saved files & templates from older versions probably won't work with newer ones. 

For new players - just use one of the links to the right to get either the jar or the exe version. You only need one or the other - not both. I recommend trying the jar first.
For either version you'll need to have Java installed. A lot of programs use Java so you might well already have it. If the jar shows up as an unrecognised file type, then you probably don't. In that case you can get it from http://www.java.com/. 
The exe should tell you if you don't have the right version on your computer, but you'll still need to install java to run the game.
There's a guide for new players here which includes some troubleshooting tips for installation & downloading.

The new version adds a new event and has a bunch of improvements to various scenes, many of which were suggested by players. 

I haven't yet got a fix for a problem some players reported with the game thinking the default save folder should be some system32 one and trying to use it for custom npcs. One helpful (but anonymous) commenter suggested this might happen if you use Windows 10 Frequent Folders to launch the game - I'm not using Windows 10, so I haven't been able to test this myself.
I'll be looking into fixes again for the next version.

Finally, Kao Rock has started a wiki for Newlife. You can check it out at http://new-life.wikia.com. 


Here's the full changelog for 0.3.13:

Major changes & additions:

• Following a request on the blog, added an option to block rough/abusive content in character creation. This will stop jerk npcs from autonomously taking the sort of actions that are unlocked by the “treat me mean” request even if you haven't asked him to be rough with you. There will undoubtedly be rough actions that aren't caught by this option yet. If you find an npc being excessively unpleasant to you when you've selected it then please post a blog comment with the copy-pasted text so I can fix it.
• Added more variety to certain actions in existing scenes: Tell him you're ready, romantic kiss and the move hips action in the missionary scene.
• Added a new action to sex scenes where your partner has refused to pull out. You can now beg him not to finish inside you as a repeatable follow-up action. This never actually works. This change was suggested over pm on Patreon from one of Newlife's patrons, so say thanks to them in the comments if you like it!
• In an addition suggested by Cubano, romantic characters who don't have low self-esteem can now dump their boyfriend if he forgets an anniversary.
• A new npc trait for custom npcs - repairman. Npcs with this trait won't be valid in earlier versions. See the updated custom npc guide for a description of its effects.
• One new random event.

Minor changes & bugfixes:

• Fixes to text issues. Thanks to Cubano, Archmage Bob and good old Anonymous Blog Commenter for reporting problems they found.
• Updated knowledge increases to use friendship status.
• Improved how stress and the charm skill modify liking as you first get to know someone.
• Added a few more descriptions for your character arriving at a nightclub.
• Modified love thresholds for low-self-esteem. Previously they had a “quick-fix” implementation that just let them always fall in love. Now they fall in love based mostly on attraction (not attraction + liking like most characters) but get a bonus if they dislike the man as they feel they “deserve” to be with someone horrid. Low-self-esteem girls still fall in love more easily if they have the romantic trait, but girls with bitchy + LSE don't get the usual increase to the threshold that bitchy gives other characters.
• Fixed a bug reported by Cubano where the time check was being skipped on returning to a home date from sex, which meant that the player was able to choose 2-part actions like the important talk one only to find the scene end before they could pick the action for the second part.
• Characters with low self-esteem now get more forgiving text and lower relationship penalties when other girls would get the “angry and upset” response to the man finishing inside them when they asked him to pull out. The enjoyment penalty (and therefore stress effects) is just as big though – low self-esteem girls are just as upset as normal ones, they just blame themselves instead of the man.
• Fixed an issue reported by Porne where heavily pregnant girls would be told there was a dance competition but be unable to attend. Now they're still unable to attend, but the message on the week planner screen makes it clear why.
• Fixed a bug reported by pgiac2 where the game would break if you split up with your boyfriend in an event that happened on the same week as your anniversary but in an earlier timeslot.
• Fixed an issue where your boyfriend would forget that you'd asked him to be rough when you went to sleep on your anniversary – this should last the entire scene chain, for consistency with normal dates.

Enjoy the new version, and let me know if you find any bugs!

Development update

Hi all, I lost most of a day due to computer problems but that's all sorted now.

The next release is essentially done aside from testing, although a fix for the Windows 10 save location issue still eludes me. It's 5am over here, so far too late for me to finish tests with a clear mind - you can expect the next version tomorrow.