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Lux Iris Visual Novel Project

Inspired by Katawa Shoujo, we want to create a Visual Novel diverging from the typical mold. It actually began as a web-manga, but due to an unfortunate event, we could not bring it into fruition. With the release of Katawa Shoujo and other amateur VN projects, we are determined to see this project through to the end.

So, with the effort to attract fellow creative people, I'm putting together a preview of our vision. Over the course of a month, I've learned the basics of Ren'Py, a Python-based game engine commonly used to create VNs, and wrote one of several prologue chapters into it. I am currently using placeholder images for the backgrounds until a design choice is finalized.

Sample: http://forums.lux-iris.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10

The premise:
The story is set in an original but generic fantasy world. It follows the adventures of several characters with radically different backgrounds who are part of an adventuring agency. An agency is a company whose employees take on dangerous jobs. While each has their own personal agenda, they all have a stake in the world-changing events that are developing around them.

Setting: Hard Fantasy
Genre: Adventure, drama, mature.
Presentation: Third-person view, multiple POVs, linear story.
Engine: Ren'Py
Release: The current plan is to release it for free.

The Team:
Writer: Magic (Myself)
Editors: Ren (Story), C-Kun (Proofreading), LandBassShark (Grammar)
Artists: Aisolus (Colorist)
Music Composer: Walko [Sample: http://forums.lux-iris.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9]

Right now, we want to build a team. What will follow is brain storming/drafting to flesh out the setting and story. Once we have a good grasp of the scale, we'll need to figure out the amount of assets that we need, and who will do what. The first milestone will be completing the prologue chapters, which will also serve as the demo version.
None of us have any experience with making VNs. We do not expect anyone who wants to join to have any. We can learn as we go. But what we do expect applicants to have a skill to bring to the table, and the dedication and time to make this a game worth playing.

What we want:
• Writers
• Artists (Background, CGs, sprites, colorists)
• Programmer (Python)
• Director
• PR/Marketer/Community Manager

I will be self-funding this project. I have a significant portion of my income that I can spare. So, we are willing to negotiate commissions with the artists, provided their skills are good enough to be paid for.

If you are interested in joining the project or simply following it, then check the development blog and forums for more information.

http://lux-iris.com/
http://forums.lux-iris.com/index.php

Note: You can contact me by email at magic(at)lux-iris(dot)com

I would strongly recommend starting with a small project if you have no experinece with VNs. It's much better to hit the learning curve on something small and achievable vs a couple months into a massive project. VNs are a lot of work and have a lot of elements to fit together. Having a larger team can help spread the work load but it can also get much harder to keep everyone on the same page and working well together. I work in a two person team and while it's a lot of work for us, it's much easier for us to work together. A small project will help save you a lot of time by teaching you better processes and making you aware of things to watch out for both in projects and teamwork before you tackle something bigger.

(Also, this is kind of the home of Ren'Py, so if you have questions about programming, here is the best place to ask)

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Welcome to the forum, Magic.

Investing time and money into your story is not a bad idea. But like Auro-Cyanide said, it may not be wise to go all out with your first project. Getting a team to work together can be quite difficult. And it's an unfortunate reality that freeware games go unfinished all the time. People lose their passion, get too busy with real life, and so on. So you may benefit by scaling back your ambition a bit.

Later on, please provide some specifics about your cast and your world. Writing is difficult, and it can be equally tough to edit and debug. So in other words, good luck. Be sure to ask on this forum if you need advice.

Thanks for your suggestion, and we have a contingency for that. The story is divided into several (5-6) stand-alone acts. We will be tackling and possibly releasing one at a time. This will help compartmentalize our work and even allow for easy evolution in production quality from act to act.

Also, we are quite aware of the scale of our project but we are prepared to take it on. Every person currently on board as of now is committed to this project and shares the vision. Also, some of us are already professionals in the field (some of the editors and the composer), while all are graduates from college. We're not considering this as a school project, but it's something that we're passionate about. We've done our research and we're prepared to see it through.

Thanks for your encouragement, though. I'll be sure to use these forums to ask for advice if we ever face a problem. In fact, I've been lurking here for a few months now.