Xelestial

I have seen so many users saying "I can make a visual novel with [name_engine] , its so better than [name_engine_2] because [name_reason]." Yet they forgotten that there are always bad things in a engine, you could fall for paying such engine to only discover that it has no way to make that dream game. This is why why i'm listing well known vn engines and their cons, I hope the guide will help you pick the right engine for you not the company.
renpy - One of the most known engine in the world (i'm not kidding), it uses python language to make vn. It's being updated as much as it can and also people have been able to make rpg from it. The main reason people choose this over any other engine is due to the freedom to add anything, learning python takes a while but most people have the novels stay in dating sims or storyline. Another key reason it's used is due to the fact that it can make windows, linux, mac, android, and IOS, which is very great advantage for anyone wanting to build games in a certain area or so. Finally it can be use for commercial  and non-commercial use, however the art is not free but that is another topic itself.
tyranobuilder - The main problem with this engine is the price but if you willing to overlook that it offers almost the same has renpy. HTML is the reason people have buy the game, however there have been problems with the HTML from not being able to click anything to buttons not working. It claims to be the fastest VN maker but that is something the user has to figure out. If you are able to code 2 scenes in renpy under 30 minutes thats fast progress, tyranobuilder is drag&drop meaning you have to waste 50% of your progress to clicking on a button. lastly tyranobuilder script language is javascript, almost no indie developer even dare use javascript, the reason is due to the fact it was never built for games. It's the main reason why tyranobuilder games lag campre to any other engine in this list. Also the maker of tyranobuilder fail to understand that it was Processing.js that make games work better in javascript not ECMAScript.
Novelty- its the same idea of tyranobuilder but it was first built way before tyranobuilder, also its free so there is no reason to even buy tyranobuilder other than the HTML that lags. Novelty use C++ and java to script the language, this is a huge advantage since you can use this language to get jobs faster in the world and people from unity will hire you for just knowing how to code a vn in C++. As far as i understand, the main reason no one goes there is because its only windows OS which limits everyone who is not windows.
Belle - Another VN engine that works like tyranobuilder, one big difference is that it's free. If you looking for tyranobuilder alternative for its HTML, this will be the one (again it was build first). Another advantage is that it really does run well in HTML but the bad news is that it only builds HTML which is the only thing it can build the game.
Unity plugin: Fungus - Now i dont know much about this engine (reading things off google), it does seem like it another no code engine. what really makes this one different from all other engines that i list is its ability to run animated sprites, unity build (standard build, no consoles included), and the script is whatever unity has right now. Since this is Unity you will face these problems, Poor graphics quality as compared to Unreal Engine, Unfriendly User-Interface (even if you download the plug-in you will still have a bad time on it), and lastly dependent of unity, if their web browser stops working you have to wait for them to fix it, if unity discover a hack bug you have to update, if they going to upgrade you have to upgrade.
Cloudnovel- A website browser to make VN, the reason i put this one so low is because it does a poor job to help developers. You'll find that there is no scripting language so you cant really do anything new with it. Another thing is that you cant use it outside their website so it stays in cloudnovel with no way to gain money. The drag&drop has pages that you must click and wait for the website to load your pictures, music and your gameplay. Lastly on why it makes such a bad vn maker is due to the fact that its only in english, sure it might be possible that someone might do it without reading but most of the great stuff is in english writing and in english videos.
 
Thats everything, I didnt add GM because its design to build platform games not VN, construct is way too basic gaming that offers unneeded elements in VN, RPG maker is only build for RPG, adding long dialog will not help in a rpg (only the boss does that) 80% of the game is fighting not learning about the story. I hope this little insight of what each vn engine offers and what doesn't offer will help you. If you have any questions post here or want to ask why [engine_name] is not added it's because i can't post all of them.

Since we're approaching the deadline of our Kickstarter (6 days left!), we thought we'd share about our background process. That's right. We'll walk you through and through as to how our dedicated, talented artists spend sweat, blood and tears into breathing a magnificent BG art into The Letter. Don't feel too bad; it's actually their pleasure!  [:D]

The Letter's Background Process



2D Thumbnails

We start off by planning our background composition and layout with thumbnail sketches. For the Ermengarde Mansion parlour, our lead artist (Eko) drew four quick sketches for us to choose from, putting only the larger objects that will be present in the scene. We decided to go with the fourth one for our next step.



3D Layout

After picking a thumbnail to work from, our background artist (Czar) will now start layouting the scene in 3D. While we can certainly manually draw the scene line by line, using a 3D program to construct the scene helps speed up the process and allows us to easily add smaller objects to enhance the atmosphere. In this case, we added the wine table, candelabras, vase, and a clock to fill the empty space! Now that the basic layout is done, we now move on to the lineart!



Lineart

This is a pretty straightforward process: From our 3D program we now switch to Photoshop and start drawing our lineart based on the scene we created! We also modified parts of the lineart such as the window and the door, and drew it consistently with the design style of our mansion. Smaller details are also drawn manually such as the embellishments on the tables.



Flat Colors

Next we start planning our colors! Since our mansion is mostly consisted of warm colors, we decided go with the same ambience (notice how in the image the walls were originally supposed to be of a green color?). Once that is done, we can now finally start rendering the whole background!



Rendering

This is the process that took the most time in the entire background drawing process. Here we start to paint everything in the scene and slowly bring it to a detailed finish that is still consistent with the other backgrounds’ style! (Those patterns on the walls are actually made from our background artist’s sketch of Saitama from One-Punch Man! Cool, huh?)



Lighting

Many hours and three cups of coffee later, we can now add the lighting and make final adjustments to the illustration.



Final Adjustments

Lastly, we make adjustments to the whole picture to keep colors harmonious and bring out certain parts of the picture. 

Congratulations, you now have your background! What do you think? If you have any criticisms or suggestions, please feel free to comment them down below!

Congrats. When I'm able to make some time, I'll check this out.

Good luck with the project, the art style looks really good.

Hi, I am writing on behalf of my team at Star Maiden Games.
Mystic Destinies: Serendipity of Aeons is an urban fantasy romance novel focused on the journey of twenty-year-old Tsubasa Fujimoto from human to legendary sorceress. 
It's first route scheduled for release in Q1 2016. We have been greenlit on Steam and will also be releasing on mobile devices.
Download demo here

Story