Newlife 0.3.4

Hello everyone!

Version 0.3.4 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 0.3.3 release has been made public. I've updated the links here on the blog, so you can download it now from here. The 0.3.3 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.

0.3.4 adds a new scene for making friends. For now you can only do this on the weekend and only by having coffee together, but I'll be adding new befriending activities soon. It should also be much easier to make friends in this version, although your initial friendships might not be as strong.
Here's the full changelog:

• Fixes for text issues. Thanks to cubano for reporting problems they found.
• Added a character creation section for 'mutation' traits, which are ones like rapid pregnancy that don't exist in real life.
• Added two new traits to the mutation category.
• Added Fashionable as a new npc trait, and put a bit more variety into some npc outfits.
• Fixed a bug reported by Pintapau on TFGS where many makeout actions weren't able to make the player orgasm. As part of this fix, most characters will orgasm about 1% more easily now ;)
• Fixed a bug reported by Neokenka on patreon where you couldn't set a game length over 999 turns because the field was adding a thousands separator (so 1000 became 1,000) and this was viewed as non-numeric.
• Reduced the minimum game length in the cheat options to 1, for people who really like the endgame scenes.
• Fixed a bug reported by Anlu where your count of children with a man wasn't always being properly increased.
• Fixed a second bug reported by Anlu where you wouldn't get the chance to be walked home from a date if it ran out of time as you exited the porno cinema.
• Fixed a bug reported by cubano where the game would sometimes think you were being bought a drink, when in fact you were on your own. This same bug also meant that you weren't being charged for soft drinks.
• It's now much easier to unlock the befriend action for someone, but your attempt to make a friend is no longer guaranteed to succeed.
• No more tissues in the shower.
• Fixed an oversight reported by laevus where getting a drink after the dance class wasn't increasing the appropriate stat.
• Added a fertility treatment to the GP, as suggested by Kao Rock on a blog comment. This significantly increases your chance of conception, but doesn't guarantee it.
• Due to mass player outrage, renamed the DVD player to “media player” and the associated action to “watch a film”.
• Added a new scene for making friends. If your relationship is good then it'll be easy, but otherwise you might have to convince him...

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

Newlife 0.3.3

Hello everyone!

After looping this song about a hundred times this evening I've finished my must-do list of changes & testing. That means that the 0.3.3 version of Newlife is ready 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 0.3.2 release has been made public. I've updated the links here on the blog, so you can download it now from here. The 0.3.2 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.

0.3.3 has the first set of friendship improvements. There's a lot more to come in this area, including a whole bunch of new scenes, but the central structure and new code functionality is there.

Here's the changelog:

• Fixes for text issues. Thanks to cubano, death25 & mke for reporting problems they found.
• The final “friendly old man” scene will no longer act as if he's present in the relationship browser and the describe characters output – thanks to cubano for reporting this one.
• Following a request over pm on Patreon, added game length to the advanced customisation options.
• Fixed an issue reported by antage where some stat names were being truncated as the list was too narrow.
• Added the “Befriend” action that you can use to become close friends with someone. You need a good relationship with them first. Your boyfriend gets special treatment so you can't turn him into a 'normal' friend. For now the befriending scene is very limited – just a choice of npcs. In the future this will lead into another scene where you have to socialise with your potential future bff and convince them that you're worth spending time with.
• There'll be (lots) more friend content coming up soon, but for now the main benefit of friends is that they provide you with a passive weekly benefit. Beware though! Some people don't make good friends and you might end up regretting bringing them into your life!
• Added similar passive effects to your boyfriend. You can't unfriend him quite so easily though!
• Limited the maximum number of friends based on the shy & outgoing traits – between one and three.
• Added some friendship-related information to npcs in the relationship browser.
• Added a friends screen to the UI. You can unfriend people through this, but some friends can be difficult to get rid of...
• Added a small fitness training effect to the dance class, thanks to KTDid for suggesting this.
• Added a new action to the cowgirl scene. This is a modification of one for the upcoming doggy-style scene, but which KTDid suggested could go in the existing ones as well.
• Fixed a bug reported by KTDid where the stat for drinks bought for yourself was being increased if a man bought you a drink but you chose which one to have.
• Replaced the Friend One/ Friend Two etc label with a more descriptive one, based on a suggestion from Cubano.
• Made the willpower check to enable to “walk home alone” option at the end of a night clubbing a bit harder.
• Characters with the romantic trait now get a larger willpower penalty when interacting with their boyfriend.

Have fun, enjoy the new version, and please report any bugs!

The friends screen

Hello everyone :)
Here's a quick preview of the upcoming friend screen:

The next release will have the basic functionality of the friendship system, but won't yet have any of the new scenes that'll be required. For now passive bonuses are all you get, but over the next few months I'll be adding lots more social activities.

A quick update

Hello everyone!
I hope you're all having a good week. I've just got home after voting. Just a few hours left, if you've been leaving it to the end of the day to cast your vote.

I've also been working a bit on the new friendship system today. I think for the next release I'll put out a basic framework with the game mechanics but not the scenes. By 0.4, I plan that to befriend someone you'll need to play through a scene where you hang out with them socially; but in 0.3.3 it'll just be an action that adds them as a friend without any special scenes.
One thing I'm still thinking about is how to handle "bad friends". Of course it'll be easy to give someone a friendship effect that increases stress, decreases money or whatever to represent a needy or exploitative friend. The problem though, is that there wouldn't seem to be any reason for the player not to immediately un-friend them. Well, I'll keep thinking, and of course I plan to refine the system as I work towards the 0.4 release.


Finally, some more depressing links for you. Spanking isn't exactly my cup of tea, but while looking over ATVOD related issues I found a link to some recent posts on dreamsofspanking.com about being targeted by ATVOD:
http://dreamsofspanking.com/blog/2015/4/the-first-letter
http://dreamsofspanking.com/blog/2015/5/under-investigation-by-atvod

The second link is especially worrying - ATVOD's tendency to "out" adult video makers by publicly revealing their real names is really rather nasty, considering how many people face discrimination from involvement with the sex industry. It also means that even winning an appeal against an ATVOD ruling can have a seriously negative on someone's life.
Of course Newlife doesn't need to worry about ATVOD for now, as they only regulate UK-based video sites, not games. However, this is likely the regulator that the tories want to put in charge of all online pornography. Maybe I should start looking into other countries to move to!