Sup' guys so I'm asking cause I need enlightenment *internally screams* Alright, how do I say it every time I hang-out with my little sister which is quite seldom due to work. She would ask about the progress of the Otome Game or Visual Novel (VN) that we are making from college. So we meet just today for Bon Odori, she was cosplaying and we eat a lot. The biggest worry is the news she has a laptop as she says she can work on the game's backgrounds since she want to do it. The problem is, I started the game way back 2012 and it's now 2018. I use Renpy and it updated so I need to adjust most drawing to 480p to 1080p. I did conceptualize the drawing and story, a flowchart for the event. as my sister help in the bg. But my laptop ends up breaking on 2014 so I stop. Mostly due to lack of confidence since I was confused on whether to start with the art, script or sound. And also how to draw IKEMEN! Yes, those guys (╯°口°)╯┴—┴ Damn you!! *cough cough* I'm not good drawing body proportions on that year and still not confident enough this year. But for my little sister, I shall prevail! Or else it, she will hunt me *shivers*. The problem is I found the starting story a bit cliche and embarrassing, romance is not my forte *cough blood* Spoiler: Sample: The work progress in 2012 {} Blurry due to MB limit in NUF sorry Orz The 4th image has one of the capture targets, the head is too big so I need to broaden the shoulders luckily the screen will be 1080p so more space. The only drawing I like are the females for some reason. I probably need to redraw some from scratch since it been so long. Anyway, if anyone has experience with Visual Novel making who can give me a suggestion. How do you start? From the Art -> Script -> Music right? Any suggestion for sites where I can get good free music and sound effects.
remake my friend. . . re-make. . . . you're outlook on things from 2012 are a whole lot different than your outlook now. . .(well unless your asleep the whole time and just woke up or had some amnesia. . .) but well. . . for the case of emotional attachment and sentimental value. . . finish the game, well i think you can still port it using the program nowadays. . . but well goodluck~
If were talking about otome games, doesn't most of them always start with cliche & embarrassing situations.
U start from degree of importance. In this case a visual novel need 1st story for the novel part then the images for visual part. Voices and bgm is more of flavouring in this case. Go for assets store unity It got some free assets
When making a game, having the story written and ready for production is the most important thing before you focus on the visuals or aesthetic. If you're just doing this project to have fun with the process, it's fine to do all of the parts you enjoy first - but most VNs don't make it out into the world because people forget that this is a visual novel. If you don't have the novel written, you can't program the events that will show off your visual and sound assets. Some people will spend a ton of money hiring artists and composers for the art/music, but in the end they don't ever finish the story or get around to programming the thing, which means that all of those assets go to waste and are never used. It's fine if your story isn't amazing. It's fine if it's even just a barebones outline like [in this scene, MC talks to Char A and Char B. Char B says something that shows he's angry. I'm not sure what Char A is saying, but he should seem sad.] As long as you can insert those words into the game programming to create an outline of where your overall game is going, you're safe to progress on the other aspects around it. Also, in general, games take a very long time to make. If you start with art, then by the end of the game process it might have already been years, and your art style might have improved by leaps and bounds. By that point, you might look back at the art you made in the beginning and realize you want to redo everything. That's why it's not the best idea to start with what you intend to be the official art assets. Concept art is always great to make at any stage, though. The biggest community for visual novel makers is of course at lemmasoft. You'll be able to find threads with links to free resources (art and sound) in the subforums. https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewforum.php?f=18
Only make the art for characters at first, because you need to know your characters before you can start the script. Storyline is different from the script. You create the storyline first, then the script once you've finalized everything else. You don't want to write the script first as there will be a god load of stuff you want to change and having the script beforehand will kill you when you want to edit stuff. Before you can do scripts, you need to first have the storyline, the branches, the characters, the themes, the setting and the events finalized. From then on, doing the scripts is a cinch. Other arts such as background, or prettying up the interface should be done even later than the script. This ensures that you do not make a mistake that most VN developers have done in the past, such as drawing a TV in the room which the character in the scene says, "This room is so drab, there isn't even a TV here." but there is a TV there, except the art was done before the script and the people handling the script forgot about the TV in the room. You can't change the art, and you can't really change the script either. Fixing a script once it's already keyed in is a pain in the buttside. Music is usually last, but not always. Some games rely on a central theme music, and made the whole story revolve around that music, such as Project AT and Project Ciel. If your music is not distinctive of the theme of the story, then it's fine to leave it for last. However, if your music is the very reason the game exist, then it's more important than the storyline, characters or setting. For example, this entire game was made around this song.
The Ar tonelico/nosurge series had a rich history of lore and four established and completed games leading up to Ar nosurge, so it's not entirely accurate to say that the entire game of Ar nosurge was made based on that theme song. The storyline and everything about the world in that game progressed from what was already made, and that song was created according to the plot that was established in the series. It's true that the songs are integral parts of the game, but they weren't made before the game production, especially since their lyrics/themes directly relate to the plot points of the game. Though it's true that having nice art and an awesome theme song can help inspire you to actually finish making something (I used to be really passionate about this series so I just wanted to jump in when you mentioned that, sorry )
Forgot to watch this thread so I didn't get alert ' - ' ) I'm gonna just adjust the background and remake some characters. My art style hasn't changed much since I stop drawing to focus on my degree and exam. Not much sentimental value, just wanted to finish this for my little sister. Thanks~ And that's the reason I was able to write the script properly cause they feel embarrassing lol~ Got the story but I sometimes I want to draw the image when I thought of it. Thanks, I'll check the unity store once I finish the story and art. Thanks for the info, I have already made a flow chart about how the plotlines and routes. Problem is, I'm unfamiliar with the length of event/interaction visual novels have. Thanks for the info! I already made a character design in 2012 and luckily save it on my google drive. My only problem is how I'm not confident with drawing ikemen Orz. Though my little sister said it's alright, it still bothers me so I think I'll start to redo the character design. I'll check those music you recommended thanks~
Most important thing to consider though, is to not overextend yourself. You can't draw ikemen, that's fine. If you feel it's unsatisfactory, keep it as a placeholder first and then once you've gotten better at drawing them, replace the placeholder with your new illustration. Just make sure it's done first. Compare the original sprite for Umineko with the updated sprite. Even after your game is out, you can still update your art with a patch. Give it for free if it's not a complete remaster. Don't be too ambitious like me, who's making a cross-relational visual novel with thousands of branches and hundreds of variables and parameters before giving up to work on a much easier (and less ambitious) VN called "Nee-chan wa Ore no Bicchi".
Yup, I think I'm being too hard on myself so I should just focus on what I can do for now. That's a good idea, I guess I'll draw it first then change anything that bothers me when I finish everything and do the last checking-up. *thumbs ups* I'll be fine since I always judge myself if I can even do it. I'm doing an easier and simple VN since it will be my first try.
For music and sound effects I'd recommend opengameart.org, it has some good music in there, most of which you can use for free (you might need to credit the author depending on the license though, but it's no problem if you do it as a personal project instead of something to publish).