Discussion about the making or playing of Original English Language Visual Novels.
Do you have a question about a Japanese visual novel or a translation of it?
/vn/ is ready to answer it.
>Getting Started:
http://pastebin.com/7LsCvtq3
>Recommended Reading:
https://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=olang-en.tagspoil-0;o=d;s=rating
For Developers. Huge collection of guides on everything:
http://meganelover.com/post/122965940223/visual-novel-creation-masterlist
Ren'Py Download:
http://www.renpy.org/
Previous thread: >>122964562
Remember to BUMP THE FUCKING THREAD every three hours please.
> lewd Christmas game
> no lewd Halloween game
>>123504487
there is only Halloween Otome
>>123498935
That butt doesn't look right
>>123508373
Your butt doesn't look right.
>>123511258
>>123508373
I'm looking right at your butts.
>>123512173
>>123479224
Thank you anon.
So what should I buy during the Steam sale?
Threadly reminder to NAME AND SHAME (con)artists.
Anyone knows if there are japanese doujin or fan dubbing groups?
>>123525986
CONS FOR THE CON GOD
>next to no lewd EVNs
;_;
>>123530673
How lewd do you want?
>>123530916
Balls touching.
>>123533595
Only balls or holes too?
On another note how do you guys feel about an eroge where you get to date a gross NEET similar to Tomoko-chan? How can I make it disgusting and arousing at the same time?
>>123534260
I think it's pretty interesting. I mean, her poor hygiene and social skills should make it disgusting pretty easily.
Any other location for my "Human Exploitation Project?"
>>123535771
I'm new.
What's that?
>>123535771
Transport tycoon ala human smuggling. A three-part story about a smuggler, a refugree, and an organ farmer making big $$$ on the migrant crisis. Complete with economic and SJW mechanics.
>>123536275
Fund it.
Each Western European country begins with a high-level of "diversity' with each race having it's own "acceptance" bar. Depending on completely random shit like terrorist attacks and rape incidents, the "acceptance" bar goes down or nothing happens... when it finally goes down for one group, it's either they wait it out until the next election to change regimes or fuck it civil war right away.
Eastern Europe gets a lower amount of acceptance to begin with but that makes it hard for the smuggles to smuggle in people.
And I can't fund this shit.
Lmao
WAKE UP!!
>>123526680
I've found some people while looking around DLsite for ASMR.
give it a look
>>123546348
SAVE ME
>>123521912
well, what do you like?
Or do you just mean, "What's a good deal on EVNs that don't completely suck?"
Toko and Dysfunctional Systems are both half off but are both first episodes of a story that will never (or may never in TOko's case) actually continue.
The Way We All GO is half off, probably a good catch.
Scheherazade is very cheap for the amount of content it has, but the steam achievements are broken and the dev has given up on fixing them.
Date Warp is half off and has a decent story.
Sakura Fantasy ep 1 is supposed to be better htan usual for a Sakura game and is half off but are they ever going to make an episode 2? Signs look hazy.
Cinders is 60% off, good buy.
Sunrider Academy is 67% off, if you actually want to pay for it I guess this is a good time.
Roommates and Loren are half off, they're okay
I think that sums up all the best deals this sale.
Is anyone producing any adult games?
>>123551081
I have adult scenes in my game but the focus is story.
>>123551081
All my characters are underage.
>>123551709
That doesn't necessarily mean
>>123551302
I have some ideas for adult scenes I'd like to see in a VN.
Scene 1
Protagonist has been working all year. However, there is a luxury purchase they have been desiring for for the entirety of the year. That item goes on sale and if they complete their taxes accurately they might have enough for it finally. With the assistance of a tax agent they're able to process their tax refund. However, they conclude that it would be wiser to put off purchasing the luxury item and instead appropriate the money towards future expenses as it would be the adult thing to do.
(Continued)
>123498935
Scene 2
The protagonist has been working even more diligently this year and uses time off to take their significant other to a broadway play. However, during the night of the play the star of the performance throws a fit and refuses to perform. Rather than write a bad review for the play, the protagonist understands that performers are people too and concludes that the adult thing to do would to simply request a refund or have their tickets comp'd for another showing. However, on the way out the protagonist bumps into the performer and launches a tirade of insults at them. Understanding the futility of engaging in such immature behavior the protagonist wishes them a good evening and leaves with their S.O. to engage in thought provoking conversation with the radio playing back at their loft.
I'll admit that some of the people I've pitched these ideas to have said that they were too adult. And that the idea of someone of age working diligently and instead spending their money on necessities takes a tremendous amount of disbelief to sustain. A forbidden fantasy if you will.
Now, I don't intend to make to do a commercial release but based on some of the feedback I've received I'm lead to believe that an M-17 rating would simply not be enough and that I'd have to water it down or risk an AO (Adults Only) rating.
I just don't understand why adult themes like having to buy a house, provide for oneself and others, and maintaining genuine relationships are so frowned upon in this industry.
>>123551709
That's even better, anon.
>>123554938
>having to buy a house, provide for oneself and others, and maintaining genuine relationships
But those are things only women do. That's why they show up in casual games.
>>123554938
That's because it's exactly what we do in our daily lives. You don't play super mario brothers to see him go into a house and fix plumbing.
Also, I see a lack of conflict in your pitch. In the end, it comes out as just something "boring", or at best, too "forced to sound artistic"(I hope you understand what I mean by this)
>>123555464
>That's because it's exactly what we do in our daily lives.
But we also have sex in our daily lives and yet we still play games about...
... oh.
... oh, anon, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise.
>>123555541
Literally no one plays eroge for the same kind of experience they get in sex. Even when they do get enough pussy/dick.
>>123551709
I applaud your efforts then as it takes bravado to produce an adult themed game featuring underage characters;and especially in the West.
Oftentimes games like these are met with harsh criticism such as "How is it that they can understand Algebra so early?" and "Childhood as we know it is a modern invention. How dare you reacquaint us with such harsh realities as children working to make a means for themselves and their families?"
>>123551081
nukige VN, netori.
nearly 22k words so far. Sprites for 4 characters are done, I still need 1 character, and all their expressions. there are some sprites for objects, and there's 4 BGs done, still needing 5 others.
There are 12 eroCGs, all described, but none started.
The greater challenge now is finding someone to do music, or decidinfg to use copyright free stuff...
>>123554938
>>123554827
That sounds boring as fuck, sorry to break it to you.
>>123555671
People who play casual games, despite them looking like workplace simulators, aren't doing it for the same kind of experience of real-life work either. It's like a fantasy of what your job would be like if none of the customers were vile apes and your supervisor never harassed you and every time you finished a task everyone crowded around you and cheered about how great you were.
>>123555682
>"Childhood as we know it is a modern invention. How dare you reacquaint us with such harsh realities as children working to make a means for themselves and their families?"
The game actually does involve child labor exploitation, so perhaps you'll enjoy it. (And oblique mention of baby farms. Note, to anyone who doesn't know what baby farming is, you will hate humanity a lot more after you find out.)
I am currently wrestling with the age-old dilemma: whether to hire the artist whose art style I like better, or the one who is more reliable.
>>123555991
What dilemma? Reliable is best, always
>>123555991
Are there resources you could spend to increase the former's reliability?
>>123555701
>netori
Anon, my little Spurdo just said "Bergele :DD :D" out loud. God bless you and your work.
>>123556267
The main problem is mostly that I don't know the first artist well and their public portfolio is a little scanty and outdated, making me uncertain. Not having clear statements and demonstrations of projects they've done makes me uneasy.
The second artist I've worked with before so I know they can do what they say they can do.
>>123555991
Reliable > all. Fuck having friends when it comes to business.
>>123556932
> some people out there believe that contracts are necessary because they are their friends
>>123559136
Fuck, I meant "aren't"
>>123556410
Glad to see my fetish is not alone!
My worst enemy right now is my daily job, but I'm fitting my writting/coding/creating a website to showcase it in whichever time I have left.
For something "short", let's say, "taimanin asagi-length", how long would the full development time be?
6~8 months?
(indie team, as I guess lilith-soft would probably deliver way faster, they're professionals, after all...)
>>123563409
It's fairly impossible to give estimates since nobody's hiring full-time employees and contractors are flaky fucks. Maybe they do everything in a week, maybe they disappear for six months between pictures.
ah my artist offered to do all the art of a short visual novel with me for free, as a christmas present to me...
i'm not worthy...
>>123565017
Get ready for them to push it to the side as obligations arise, never finish it, apologize and promise to work on something for free again to make up for it.
>>123565245
Speaking from experience?
>>123563501
Ah, I see... I'm >>123555701
and I was worried about taking too long, trying to find a reasonable development cycle...
I'm just going to say it: konett is very slow in her work and responses.
>>123568134
I'm curious, how slow is slow? Did konett specify her turnaround time?
>>123568134
This is true, but at least she still produces stuff eventually.
>>123568134
Had the same experience. Honestly, wasn't too happy with what I got out of it either, but given the hassle and trouble I didn't bother to make an issue about it. I know she's capable of really good work so I was kinda disappointed how it turned out.
>>123568996
Give at the very least one month for completed tasks and expect it to be late.
>>123569071
>she still produces stuff eventually.
Which is true but for the money i hoped she'd make it slightly more of a priority than it was. I don't need her to be my slave but more frequent reply backs vs averaging 1 week and at times 2 weeks between. I'm not one of those clingy people so having to send hey how are you doing's is embarrassing to me.
>>123569338
I liked the work she did.
>>123570884
>I'm not one of those clingy people so having to send hey how are you doing's is embarrassing to me.
I find it embarrassing as well but sadly I'm used to artists falling behind if I don't routinely prod them so I just have to learn to chatter inanely to keep them on board.
>>123571343
(I should clarify, I'm not writing them every day or anything, but I've found that it's a good idea to hassle people if a week passes, or you may never hear from them again.)
>>123571460
I like to mail them with my own progress(on writting/coding), it kinda puts some pressure without sounding rude.
>>123568134
>>123570884
>I don't need her to be my slave
See, that mentality is why you don't have a cute artist gf.
Het
>like character bs design more but character a is easier to draw
suffering.
>>123582304
eronormative
>>123583492
Ero-normative is how I strive to live my life.
>>123584053
somehow I read it as eco-normative
>>123584415
No, anon, you can't fuck trees.
>>123584640
You can. It's just not very advisable.
Splinters...
>Welp, the VN industry turned out to be a stillbirth instead of a revolution
Do you agree with this?
>>123587435
No. There are simply not enough talented people and people thinking big, trying to reach for bigger audiences, for it to grow adequately.
>>123587926
>people thinking big, trying to reach for bigger audiences
There are, but it either immediately turns into
>"I'm gonna make the best and biggest game ever and it will look just like a japanese title and be 100 hours long and i will do it with three friends and no budget!"
Which will never actually work, so the developers will hang themselves in shame.
Or:
>"I have a brilliant plan to reach past the traditional VN audience by incorporating things actual gamers like!"
Which immediately gets the reaction of "that's not a VN" and is discarded.
>>123588341
Are you still salty Telltale games and Until Dawn aren't considered VNs?
>>123588341
>Which immediately gets the reaction of "that's not a VN" and is discarded.
there's only so much you can change until it becomes something else.
>>123569338
I don't know about her, but I find that the stuff that I produce for others either surprises me, or I don't like it. Among the things I don't like I usually get nervous for one reason or another and things end up looking stiff. I am slowly learning to bullshit myself into thinking I'm drawing stuff for myself and to a deadline that I really like. 'cause deadlines are awesome and cute.
>>123588694
Hell, half this thread won't even consider Long Live The Queen a VN.
Whatever happened to the background anons? It's been threads without them now.
>>123588704
And some of the attempts have been utterly disastrous. Snow Light, for example. What were they smoking?
On the other hand, you can't reach for bigger audiences by doing the exact same thing you've been doing for ten years, but with your nose higher in the air.
If you want an example of how to make a VN that will appeal to the regular game audience as well, play a Eushully game.
>>123589727
The regular game audience don't like grinding.
>>123589648
>look up Snow Light
>nintey-nine dollarydoos
>because they want people to buy it from their site, not Steam
Nice
>>123590189
That's why you sell Ultra Hero Anti-Grind DLC item packs.
>>123590195
And somehow, it has owners.
(Well, I know why, it was in a bundle, but still.)
If you're an artist but can sort of write and code, is there any reason to take commissions, or is it better to work on your own game?
>>123593017
>is there any reason to take commissions
Money.
>>123593148
But presumably one could make money from their own game. I wonder why other artists take commissions when the learning curve is so low for making their own vn or making their own team?
>>123593017
You are seriously understimating how much work it is. You can ask the Duenkhy girl - writing, drawing, promoting and so on by yourself will murder you.
>>123593592
>But presumably one could make money from their own game.
That presumes an awful lot, actually. Being able to 'sort of' write and code doesn't mean you'll be able to put a decent game together in a reasonable amount of time, and it certainly doesn't mean you'll be any good at selling it.
If you take commissions, you do a bit of work now and you get paid money now. If you try to produce your own game, you do a lot of work for the next year and pray that you get paid eventually. In the long run you might make a LOT more money if you can actually pull it off, but it requires an up-front investment and some knowledge in a lot of other fields.
Of course nowadays with kickstarter, an artist might be able to fake up some pretty-looking pictures to get funding for a project, if they have the guts to go for it.
>>123593017
All of those things individually are huge tasks and mentally draining. Two of the three together (writer and coder) is seen often and often ends up with that person having a bad time. All three? Fuck that.
>>123593017
Depends on what you want to do more? If you want to make money from your own work then go for it. If you want to make money doing commissions then do it. They both have pros and cons and are personal to your situation.
>>123594301
>often ends up with that person having a bad time.
Not really in VN. The ability to direct and pace your own scenes is worth it. If you were making an rpg or a VN with gameplay elements it's worth hiring a programmer.
>>123595458
Have you ever made your own VN?
>>123595635
Working on three.
>>123595458
> he thinks having no program facial expressions is not a bad time
Look at him! Look at him and laugh!
>>123596079
It's not like changing expressions is hard, even for an artist. Certain people just got lazy.
>>123596079
Facial expressions? It takes me maybe 10-20 minutes for a sizable scene. It's timing and further polish that eats up time. The only thing "bad time" about renpy is the messy garbage disposal they use for documentation. Once you get a bit of experience under your belt tasks will become very streamlined and anything more intermediate like particle effects is free in the cookbook.
>>123596685
>>123597486
It's not particularly difficult, but it's boring as fuck.
>>123596685
>>123597486
>>123598767
The #1 cause of suicide in VN devs is scripting facial expressions
>>123598767
Game making can be boring. All the fun stuff inevitably has boring parts you'll wish to put off forever. This is often what weeds out the newbies from the people who actually release games.
If you have a programmer who is doing all your stuff then hopefully you have a long partnership.
>>123599354
guys, just get your writers to use the built-in system and tag the desired facial expression next to the line of text. sure, this rules out certain fancy effects, but compared to the time saved...
>>123598842
Cute! But holy fuck that menu.
>>123600014
If you're doing that you may as well get them to do it properly.
>show Anon happy with mid_dissolve
vs
>#anon happy
>>123600462
> people that use dissolve to change expressions
Why.
Is 30 backgrounds plus UI in two months reasonable? That'd be one background every two days if I don't take any breaks. A programmer is asking me for this, and I don't know if they don't know how long bgs take or or if I'm slow.
>>123600462
But then they're typing "code", and they'll whine that code isn't their job and breaks them out of the flow of writing.
name "Speech" or name expression "Speech" doesn't require them to use their poor little brains
>>123602340
I don't think that's reasonable, even an artist who can polish a background in two days needs a bit of give time in the schedule for unexpected slowdowns. With UI on top, ask for three months minimum.
>>123602238
What do you use?
>>123602651
Nothing. If it's the same pose and the change isn't significant (for example, just the face changes.) having a transition is distracting.
>>123602963
>what are custom transitions
>>123602340
I don't know how fast you are but UI takes a month for most. I also don't see why he'd need all this in two months. Game dev needs to be fast but not that fast.
Oi, person who recommended Cupid: I am enjoying that, thanks.
>>123602340
30 working days or calendar days? I don't think I could pull it off unless I was working longer hours every day and if you have a house to take care of or any emergency, you're going to get fucked.
If they ask you any revision you're also going to slow down.
I don't know, maybe I'm slow myself, but I don't think I could output consistently good stuff at that pace.
>>123604138
>revision
Yeah and it's not accounting for his own issues like maybe he'll take three days to reply back about the wip.
>>123603690
There is the mild nuisance that RenPy afaik doesn't want to let you do a sprite transition while also starting to display the next line of text. You can fade things IN using ATL while the text is going, but you can't dissolve between one expression and another that way. So to do any dissolve at all means making the text pause and wait for you.
>>123604527
>So to do any dissolve at all means making the text pause and wait for you.
I do not have that problem. What did you do with your textbox?
>>123605070
I don't mean 'pause' as in pause and wait for a click, I mean new text does not start rolling out until the transition is finished. That's default.
>>123605609
Again that does not happen for me. I don't use the default dissolve, I use ones i've defined. Try that? Otherwise look for the issue.
>>123605761
I'm deeply confused and waiting for someone else to weigh in because as it is I can only assume you don't understand what I mean. RenPy finishes the 'with' before going on to the next line of code, that's intrinsic to the engine. It has to, how else would multiple transitions in a row be possible?
>>123588341
I hope exogenesis does well. HRP is also promising alot, so if these do well then more large scale vns will likely follow.
>>123606426
>I hope exogenesis does well.
I'd love for them to do well but evidence points to a trainwreck in the making. Look at their last kickstarter update, the angry comments, and them having to backpedal and claim that it wasn't the real update, the real update was coming... several months ago.
>>123606426
>HRP is also promising alot
I have somewhat more confidence in HRP being completed eventually, but I have less confidence in it actually being a groundbreaking hit that gets interest from anything but the dedicated VN fans.
>>123606426
Exogenesis is a funny example since they're in dev hell with 6 months of almost stillbirth progress. I hope they make it but it's the classic newbie dev over-promising.
HRP is still too soon to tell.
>>123607304
I also have confidence in HRP being completed. but the fact that their pitch was "better than other vns" doesn't make me confident in the quality.
bum
>http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=35877
Not sure if want
>>123619639
I love gradient hair
>>123551081
Doing a gay game (not BL because the guys are all clearly masculine) because while COoT was nice and funny, I want to make something dark and a bit depressing. While it won't be a gay Euphoria, it'll definitely have some off putting stuff.
>>123606249
>how else would multiple transitions in a row be possible?
ComposeTransition helps
>>123623540
BL is literally guys dating/fucking other guys, it doesn't have anything to do with how the look.
Also, off puting BL is pretty common (though not in evns). Take a look at literally all the n+c games.
>>123624210
>BL is literally guys dating/fucking other guys, it doesn't have anything to do with how the look.
It actually does. The main difference between them is the audience it appeals to. BL is aimed at women. Hence why all the guys are pretty and sparkly (and is also why there's a strict top/bottom paradigm. The uke is supposed to be an insert for the female reader). On the flipside, works aimed at gay men generally have more masculine-looking men (Usually macho-looking, sorta like pic related) and don't have that same top/bottom formula.
>though not in evns
Exactly. Those who solely read EVN's (such as a good chunk of COoT's audience) haven't gotten something akin to the levels of N+C because the majority available are all fairly sweet or bittersweet stories. Nothing that would squarely fall in the horror genre.
>>123625421
Then... it's bara. I know we are opposed to using japanese words for the heck of it, but saying "it's a gay game because they are masculine" and then pretty much giving the text book definition of bara makes it sound like you are one of those people who want to make "a real VN".
>>123625421
>The uke is supposed to be an insert for the female reader
People say this a lot but I've never actually seen a girl that self inserts as them.
>>123629930
How would you see them do it?
>>123630337
An easy way to tell if someone self inserts is if they refer to the main character as I during the discussion, e.g. "I took her to the mall after I picked date" vs "Main Character-kun took her to the mall". This happens all the time in eroge and otome, naturally, but I've never really seen anyone do it for BL games.
>>123625421
>The uke is supposed to be an insert for the female reader)
You don't get it. The attractive point of BL is that you can be an voyeur. Entry level yaoi usually mimics the shoujo dynamic and appeal to a more juvenile public but in bls aimed at adult women it's not that fluffy feminine anymore and another thing is that you can enjoy sex scenes without having to put it with sexist bullshit since in Japan roles are still very stiff and with two guys they can be at a more equal footing(even with the seme/uke dichotomy).
Another thing, it might be just me, but it seems that innocent girly ukes are getting more and more out of fashion, with more masculine ukes becoming more common in female targeted bl.
>>123504487
Don't lose hope so soon... I know someone who has a witchy h-game in the works.
Another update for "Human Exploitation Project"
Being a programmer my trade, it's going to take a while before I can get art. Wait--what I mean is, I still have to learn and build my drawing skills to an objectively acceptable tier.
For the meantime, I'm going to build up the setting and shizz.
>>123640334
Maybe it can be a text game
My next problem would be how to release it, and after what name...
>>123623996
Create a brand-new renpy game. Set your text speed to half-speed so that you can see the text type out. Insert a scene or graphic change between two lines of text. Do absolutely nothing else to customise anything.
[code]
image yellow = "#Ff0"
# The game starts here.
label start:
e "You've created a new Ren'Py game."
show yellow with dissolve
e "Once you add a story, pictures, and music, you can release it to the world!"
return
[/code]
With the default settings, the ugly black textbox will disappear while the yellow image fades in. Once it has completed fading in, then the ugly default black textbox will reappear and the text will start typing out.
If you add a "window show" command, then the ugly black default textbox will stay visible while the yellow image fades in, but text will not begin typing out until the dissolve has finished. Until then, the box will be visible and empty.
Custom transition, you say? Okay, use:
>define sd = Dissolve(1.5)
and replace the 'with dissolve' with 'with sd'.
Exact same thing happens. The yellow image finishes dissolving in before the text starts displaying.
When I said "how else would multiple transitions work" I did not mean "Tell me how to make multiple transitions", I mean that you can do
[code]
show red with dissolve
show yellow with dissolve
show somebullshit with fade
"Hi"
[/code]
And all of those graphical operations will be carried out and completed before it moves on to show the text. It will not begin to display the next line of text until after it has first dissolved in the yellow image, then the red image, then whatever else you told it to do.
>>123640334
You just just hire an artist.
>>123650167
nonsense, a true game-maker should do everything themselves
>>123650794
Stay mad.
>>123649790
Use transforms instead of transitions. Problem solved.
>>123652054
As mentioned in the original post that started all this, yes, you can use ATL to fade an image in while the text is being displayed, or to make it move, or all sorts of things.
However, you cannot easily dissolve between one expression and another using ATL, afaik, because it tends to disappear in the middle as one expression is replaced by the other. I believe this is because the built-in system that automatically removes the old sprite when you change the expression is kicking in.
My very longwinded explanation of how 'with dissolve' works is because someone was trying to claim that the text keeps going on even while a 'with dissolve' is happening, which isn't true.
From Twitter:
>I know a lot of people think blunt criticism is always okay; this is bullshit. It takes very little effort to mix in some encouragement.
cont.
>And if the person doing the critique can't be bothered it's their failing, not the artist's for feeling hurt.
>>123654096
oops, it keeps going.
>Note: I'm a lot more sensitive about art I do for funsies cause I do it to feel good and taking on blunt criticism does not feel good.
>Shocking, I know.
>I like to add "shocking, I know" so in case you disagree you feel like your disagreement is invalid because I've already presented consensus
>>123654096
>>123654209
Who's bitching this time?
>>123654096
Eh. There are situations in which one should add a little encouragement, particularly if you are a teacher or trainer. However, if you are simply criticising a work as a consumer, you do not have an obligation to add 'encouragement', especially if you honestly feel that the person you're critiquing should stop making games (AJtilley, just stahp.)
If you are writing a review of a product, you're not really doing your job if you don't point out things it does well as well as things it does badly. Assuming it does anything well, that is.
If you're just commenting on a forum thread for a game and not writing a formal review, you have no such obligation.
Context matters.
>>123654307
Context was someone commenting on their pixel art on Twitter, saying it didn't look like Korra.
>>123654264
Someone who's only a LITTLE involved in VNs, so they're not too important, but its a relevant topic.
>>123654939
Yeah, that's just silly.
>>123602372
I'm my own writer and programmer, and I don't put any code in the text when I write it - I don't define character names or sprites or anything. I just write like I would write a regular story (even including things like character expressions/gestures etc which I know I'll cut out later, since sprites often render this redundant), then edit it together afterwards. It's a lot easier that way.
>>123654307
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is required to be nice to you or has an obligation find something nice to say about your work regardless of the context. Get over yourself.
>>123655920
Funny, I do the exact opposite. And when it comes to more complex transitions or stuff that I'll have to implement more carefully, I add a #comment and leave some sort of general code that I can run a CTRL+F on all files and find all places where I left stuff "to code".
>>123656080
Did you actually read my post, or did you just dig straight in with "obviously anyone complaining must be wrong"?
>>123654209
>>I like to add "shocking, I know" so in case you disagree you feel like your disagreement is invalid because I've already presented consensus
Nope, I generally feel my opinion is invalidated when someone comes up with a compelling argument. Actually, I don't even feel like it's invalidated, I get more info and change my opinion, which is good.
>>123654209
>>Shocking, I know.
Whenever I see this I feel the urge to respond with "man, I'm shocked!"
>>123656572
Leave your bedroom preferences out of this.
>>123656156
That's interesting. Sometimes, I feel like I should at least define the characters who talk, since it would save time, but I feel like I'd get distract me and I wouldn't be able to write the story properly...
I don't write anything direct in renpy, I always write it on Word first, then leave it for a few weeks, then proof each scene before I put it into ren'py. I feel like proofing before I put my writing into the script format improves the quality of the writing a bit, but who knows.
>>123656864
>>123656156
I feel like it would be a huge waste of time and effort if I didn't write in the basic renpy dialog format to begin with, so I will indent slightly and put everything in
>speaker "Text"
format, but thinking about expression changes is too much of a slowdown for a first writing pass. I'll add a comment if someone's being sarcastic or there's otherwise an important emotional clue to be conveyed which might not be obvious in the words alone, to be sure I don't forget what I was thinking when I get around to implementing.
I do a lot of the proofreading as I implement because seeing the text on the screen makes it feel and read differently to my eyes and therefore points out flaws I didn't see when I was writing in pure text.
>>123640334
You ever done much writing before?
Cna someone name the VNs that got money from kickstarter and actually got released?
>>123661060
top of my head:
SC2VN
Coming Out on Top
Sunrider
.. I remember deji has a gdoc file that tracks crowdfunded vn projects.
>>123625421
Well, if you include officially translated games, they did get NTY and a lot of people hated it because of some of the dark elements (I hear MG even got some refund demands because some people found a couple scenes too upsetting).
>>123662712
>(I hear MG even got some refund demands because some people found a couple scenes too upsetting).
lmao what. NTY is really friendly to newcomers compared to Sweet Pool or Animamundi, this new generation of fujos need thicker skin.
>>123662712
I've never heard that. I've heard that complaint about the early Jast BL games though. Is there a source? I'm just curious to see what they said about it, I havent played the game yet.
How do I become popular/famous?
>>123663930
Strip and post image. Done.
>>123663930
Get mass amounts of negative attention because having talent is hard.
>>123554827
>>123554938
>>123555743
>>123555415
>>123555464
>>123555743
Satire is lost on this general.
Lost it at "Will I get an AO rating for a game where adults file their taxes?"
>>123665506
Satire is difficult to dicern in a thread were people often come in to ask retarded questions and when anons often base their games on things that sound ridiculous on paper.
>>123662712
Post source or you're full of shit.
>>123665506
To be fair, you weren't paying enough attention to figure out which of those posts were obviously playing along and which seemed to miss the point entirely.
PSA to never pay people up front no matter how nice they seem. Per asset is the only way to do it.
I'm trying not to blame the victim but an artist likely just ran off on my friend with a lot of money already in full.
>>123661060
Brilliant Shadows, but some Yuri fans were upset weren't very pleased with it.
>>123669573
Did your friend choose someone with no track record or were they the first to be scammed?
>>123670712
I think the first but I'm not familiar with the artist.
>>123669573
Name and shame. It's the only way we have to avoid shitty artists/any other kind of people we have to work with.
>>123670379
Most of which were upset about rumors rather than the actual game.
>>123671776
They're obviously still trying to work things out which I have no control over. If he decides it's a bust i'll ask to name their name here.
Only way to actually know who is a scammer is to have a network of dev friends. People are happy to tell you about their situation in private. And their friends are happy to tell other devs, and so forth.
>>123672238
There are 2 negative Steam reviews, both expressing similar sentiments about the game. The newest one seems mad that the advertised best friend character that the MC loved in the beginning isn't their actual love interest in the vn.
>>123665735
>source
It was a few months ago, one or two people (can't remember if it was the same person or not) posted in the game's tag saying they'd asked for a refund because the game traumatized them or something and either the same person or another one was going around asking for someone to buy the game off them because they were so offended by some of the content they felt they'd been robbed of $40 or something.
Plenty of people enjoyed the game too from what I could tell, but there are some weird double standards in the community (most of the more vocal complainers were fans of not only DMMd but specifically Mink--the abusive rapist). Just something to be aware of. Seems like they're a-okay with shit as long as you have the victim rationalizing or justifying any abuse/shitty actions taken against them in narration.
>>123673319
>>123672238
I really don't understand why the devs went on reddit and KS to claim they're throwing away harmful lgbt tropes and then made the trans person and lesbian couple the only ones to permanently die in the good end (everyone else gets brought back to life). There's a choice to make the lesbian MC kiss a dude to make sure of her sexuality and not doing that earns evil ending points. None of the other characters budge from their sexuality.
To me it's in poor taste either way.
Do you prefer unique art styles, or ones that mimic anime style?
>>123675543
I don't care either way, but it should suit the game. Duenkhy has a very cutesy artstyle that goes well with its intention to be a feel-good game, CooT is a western take on BL so it wouldn't make sense to have it anime. And so on.
>>123675818
I agree.
>>123675543
Are you saying anime style can't be unique?
>>123675543
That question is so broad. Also some people are so stupid they think bigger eyes and cell shading = anime.
>https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1161633376/circles-a-kinetic-novel/description
Anyone heard of this?
bum
Post progress.
I'm amazed how much winged cloud gets around despite never updating twitter or the website.
>>123686002
Trying to write instruction email to artist, it takes forever
>>123687975
Their art does the promoting for them.
>>123689419
well, what else is there to promote? The writing?
>>123498935
OP you are triggering the hell out of me with this loli butt
why is this allowed?
>>123693536
>loli
If you're going to shitpost, at least do it right.
>>123693660
Can you prove she's of legal age?
>>123695352
Loli is a body type, not an age. Look at these titties and proportions. This ain't no loli.
I drew girls for my waifu game but I don't really find them attractive.
>>123698096
Might as well end it now, anon.
>>123698636
It's hard since the type of girl I find attractive does not appeal to the waifu crowd.
>>123699052
Literally impossible. There's a fetish for damn near everything, and I bet it's not nearly as out there as you think it is.
>>123701751
Looking into this matter over the years suggests otherwise but I am at least making a VN full of girls I do like on the side.
>>123701965
What sort of girl do you like, then?
>>123702051
Tall, muscular and sexually aggressive. But not futanari or SS so my pool dwindles..
>>123702752
What if the futanari is fucking another girl?
>>123702752
Define muscular and tall. Are we talking bulging muscle woman 7 foot amazon or really fit regular girl with abs? I can think of several of the latter. And fetish art of the former abounds too.
>>123696772
True. Poster might not have been able to tell from the OP image though
What if my fetish is a life size hello kitty doll with laundry scenes instead of bath scenes...and decapitation a la preying mantises then wearing hello kitty's skin? Would you play it
>>123706198
That's not your actual fetish and you're looking for shock value lol so randumb XD so no.
>>123706365
Anon says no fetish is too out there then you shoot me down/ don't believe me
b-bum..?
Do you ever feel awkward when giving an artist detailed instructions about young girls' bust sizes?
>>123710164
Only a bit but if it's a game where the info is important then the artist should be equipped to deal with your request. Otherwise yeah sorta awkward.
>>123710164
I wouldn't feel awkward receiving them, for what it's worth. I mean, I don't really see the difference with telling me about hair length.
I'd particularly appreciate it if I could get reference pictures, though - sometimes I've seen people having greatly different opinions on what size some breasts actually were, so if I get a picture (photo or drawing, or even your own scribble) I know I can draw something that's as near to your mental image as possible.
>tfw slow moving corporation making it hard to do the sequel to your well received evn
What are your favorite commissioned assets? Mine are backgrounds.
>>123724602
Of the game, or in general? I love my sprites, but in general I love good guis and transitions.
Is there a evn nearly unanimously thought as being the best? Its not Katawa Shoujo is it?...
I want to read one, but I feel like there are just so many japanese vn's that are better
>>123730287
didnt mean to post that image, sorry
>>123730287
>Is there a evn nearly unanimously thought as being the best? Its not Katawa Shoujo is it?...
Oh come on, it's not like any other evn has come remotely close.
Everlasting Summer would arguably be a reasonable contender, except that it's Russian.
>>123730287
Analogue got a lot of acclaim but you could argue it's not a VN i guess.
>>123730669
Well I dont mean popularity, but quality
read Katawa Shoujo when it came out and I liked it, but so many vns are better
>>123730287
>unanimously
Oh anon. It's all relative.
Here's "my list" of enjoyable evns, feel free to disagree:
Sunrider: First Arrival
SC2VN
Mira's Magical Mishap
Fault Milestone
Mira's Magical Mishap is the only VN in that list, the others are pretty much linear stories.
>>123731504
>Mira's Magical Mishap is the only VN in that list, the others are pretty much linear stories.
does anybody in this thread actually know what VNs are
>>123731504
I have read the sc2 vn and it was pretty great. Just too short, but I imagine thats pretty common with evn's
just got done reading umineko and that must have been well over 100 hours haha
>>123731854
a VISUAL novel... you fucking elitist
>>123731973
Apparently considering KNs as a type of VN makes me an elitist.
>>123731504
The word you're looking for is kinetic novel.
Yikes!
>>123731861
>been well over 100 hours haha
As a dev; fuck that. I literally have to look at the playtime of games now to make sure I wont get sucked in too long. 3-5 hours is my sweetspot and i put off longer games for months.
>>123731176
The English VN industry is still almost nonexistant. It's such a huge risk for any company to invest any vaguely reasonable sum of money into the production of a VN, so the only ones you're going to see for some time will be created by hobbyists rather than professionals.
>>123732218
>literally triggered by lots of content
>>123732218
>As a dev; fuck that. I literally have to look at the playtime of games now to make sure I wont get sucked in too long. 3-5 hours is my sweetspot and i put off longer games for months.
In a VN with branching paths, 3-5 hours per path is a good length for a short story. I really liked that aspect of KS.
>>123731861
>just got done reading umineko and that must have been well over 100 hours haha
Did it live up to the hype? I keep seeing praise for it as being the most deep and intellectual thing to have come out of Japan, but I'm dubious.
>>123732218
yea thats fair from a dev perspective
but ending my days with reading the same vn for months feels pretty good. Really feel immersed by the end
>>123732501
Well the first 4 episodes make you think it just might be the best fiction ever, but 5-8 fall short. Still 8/10 though
Muv Luv Alternative on the otherhand... is the greatest fiction I've ever consumed. COuldnt recommend it more
>>123732501
>I keep seeing praise for it as being the most deep and intellectual thing to have come out of Japan
No one has ever said that about Umineko. Not even its fans.
