Jump to content

VN creation forum?


Recommended Posts

Okay, let's all admit it - we've all thought of attempting to make a game of some form at some point in our lives.

 

Since this is primarily a VN forum, and as one of Fuwanovel's objectives was to get VNs popular in the US - I was wondering if we could make a thread for those who wished to create games themselves.

 

It would require some different skills than simple translations - writing would be the same, but no need for translations as the game will be in English from scratch.  (Or whatever the developers speak.)  That said, art and sound resources would be needed, although the need for a hacker isn't needed in this since the development tools are here anyway.

 

In short - as a site aiming to get VNs popular in western markets, in addition to it being something a lot of people might find interesting, I propose we have a forum for the creation of VNs, in addition to our existing forum for translations - with a different user skill base required than in translations, it shouldn't slow down the translations of existing VNs, while creating more VN content that is easily accessible for a western market.

 

That, and as the original developers - it would give more VNs a chance to get on places like Steam, which would increase visibility for the genre as a whole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hm. VN creation shouldn't be half-assed. However, I was thinking of something like this... Well, after I pass through the first stage by myself I may create a thread here. If talented artists can gather, that's be awesome.

 

Oh, I do support this though I think creating a whole forum for VN development is overkill- there aren't enough people with the disposition to release that many VNs, after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also known as YAVNE (Yet Another Visual Novel Engine), though being based on Unity (e.g. being able to code in C#) is kind of interesting.

 

One would also be able to create it themselves, that's the idea behind Unity after all, no need to pay $10 for it.

All I'm saying is it's possible to just use Unity to make it \o/ (and I'd prefer it that way, instead of having one project in Unity, another in Renpy, another in Python, another in C++ or something...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With how we define "VNs", I would expect the following components in addition to the story

 

1) High quality CG, which includes background, sprites, and actual CGs themselves.

2) Character Voice

 

I'm only going to be harsh on this idea because I had the same mindset as you guys when I first started reading VNs and eroge. 

 

Unless you can do everything by yourself, there will be clashes among members who are working together, and it won't be pretty. Also, you need to be able to interest many of the players like me (who plays Japanese VNs) above the continuous, new releases. 

This is because if your game looks blah, I'd much rather play a nukige instead (or the 50 titles I've stashed on my External HDD) 

 

Don't forget that you are doing this all on your own behalf, and you shouldn't be expecting money for it; are you sure you can come up with even a full story without getting tired/finding progress to be slow?

 

There are so many factors against "writing a story", which is why I admire even the crappiest games for at least making an effort. Normal people like me can't "make a VN" like we hope to do, and even if you can get everything (CG, Voices, Scenario) all compiled into an engine, it'll be inferior to the commercial VNs being sold and pirated every month. 

 

But my suggestion follows: Are you trying to make a novel instead? Remember that there's a difference between a "Visual Novel" and a "Novel". If it's just a story, you can make it yourself, include your own ideals for it, and you can do it without stress and in your free time. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With how we define "VNs", I would expect the following components in addition to the story

 

1) High quality CG, which includes background, sprites, and actual CGs themselves.

2) Character Voice

 

Also, you need to be able to interest many of the players like me (who plays Japanese VNs) above the continuous, new releases.

 

I think that's expecting way too much.

Personally, I'm against a forum completely dedicated to VN creation because it would have very few activity, and it'd be just another green dot that calls attention. I think it's better to just use a thread instead.

 

But there are tons of VNs considered good that have bad artwork, no voice and sometimes little to no CGs. Things that actually make success, like Nasuverse stuff, that have no voice and have "bad" artwork. They are still awesome anyway. There's also things like Higurashi, Umineko or Higanbana, all having no CG at all, no voice and definitely bad artwork, and they're still a few of the best VNs I read.

 

Things don't need nor should need to be perfect. And as someone who reasonably knows japanese (enough to read without needing a translator) and read a lot of VNs already, I think putting interest in that part of the community is not really needed. The western jp reading community is reasonably small, and you don't need to force yourself to put interest in them.

 

Say that you make a VN- You post it into the community, get a few friends that are into anime to play it and tell them to publish it if they like. Only that by itself is already greatly contributing to Fuwanovel's goal of making VNs popular in the west.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If memory serves me correctly, Tay proposed something like this a while ago. I think the most difficult hurdle to conquer would be to actually commit yourself to a project like making a VN. You need a writer, (or several), multiple good artists, a programmer, and a composer; not to mention they all have to be dedicated and available. Creating a visual novel is a very difficult task because you not only need to find a good team, but it requires strong organization and commitment. I don't like to be the pessimist, but I think most people here want to contribute to a creation of a VN, but when looked at realistically only a few people can dedicate and commit the time required to actually participate, (myself included).

 

However, I do think a forum would be a good idea. I'm not sure how active it would actually be, but as I mentioned organization is an important aspect. And a forum dedicated to such discussions would certainly help organize things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the time being, we have no plans for a dedicated VN Creation forum. Two reasons for this:

1) While there have been quite a few VN projects started and discussed on the "VN Discussion" board, it's not common enough to warrant a new section.

2) Past experimentation has led me to be cautious about partitioning discussion too much. Making new forums/sub-forums is a process I've started vetting much more intensely.

All that said, I truly hope to see more projects! VN creation is a fun, challenging and rewarding thing. I hope more people will give it a try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...