Lemma Soft Forums

I thought the board could use a resources thread , so I made one.
(that's odd, I thought I was going to come back to a mess but I seem to have things spaced and categorized pretty well...*shrug* )

Creation Tools - Ren'ai Exclusive
Specificially for ren'ai only but could possibly be adapted for other things.
http://www.bishoujo.us/renpy/


Creation Tools - Other
For those that don't mind making interactive fiction ren'ai
, RPG / AGS aka Sierra style ren'ai , ect.
http://www.adrift.org.uk/cgi/new/adrift.cgi
http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/gmaker/download.html
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
http://www.cs.csubak.edu/~dgriffi/proj/frotz/
( tools for things like frotz and tads may have a steeper learning curve
so if you think you're up to the task of creating a ren'ai with these...good luck and thank you )


Tools For Working With Graphics
When you get frustrated and tired of Windows Paint , give these a try.
If you're willing / able to shell out the money , enjoy PSP ...others might want to try Adobe Photoshop or other programs.
http://www.gimp.org/
http://www.daz3d.com/


Anime And Manga Style
For the otakus / people who finally got
sick and tired of American style art! Yay! ( heh )
http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/
http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/
http://www.mangatutorials.com/
http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/tutorial/tutorial.html


American / Public Domain And Other Graphics
Non-Manga style , Public Domain , and other graphics.
http://www.americanpostcardart.com/
http://www.vampires.nu/pages/Books.cfm/ ... /PageID/22

( I can't find original RPG Maker sprites....*blush* I thought there were
some places that had such things but apparently they are now MIA *sighs* )

Backgrounds
Photographs and other stuff that can be / to act as BG.
http://www.morguefile.com/

Free Original Graphics
Various styles.

http://www.celmart.com/dijgraphics/

Photographs
If you want to use photographs for something besides BG.
http://www.morguefile.com/


Name Ideas
If you're having trouble thinking up a good name for a character.
http://babynames.com/


Music
Free Midi Music
http://www.mididelight.com

Sound Effects
Free sound effects.
http://a1freesoundeffects.com/


Voices / Speech
Tried my best to find free Japanese , Anime , and other free voice wavs.
http://tcts.fpms.ac.be/synthesis/mbrola ... ypage.html
( I apoligize if I misunderstood their little copyright statement...I skimmed over it but I think they're saying if you're involved with the project or want to use the wavs for non-commercial use...it's ok )
http://www.wallys.com/archives/archive.htm
( supposedly has some japanese voice wav files but I dunno...I also am not a hundred percent certain of terms of usage so ...as in all / most things...caution is advised. )

Uncertainty
May or not be ok to use , but I thought people would want to know about them anyway.
Caution is advised if you're interested in these.
Also , sites that make you scratch your head by claiming one then somewhere else claiming something different entirely.
( ie has "free to use" on one page but when you click on the sound byte or whatever , you're taken to a page with the sound
and text that has "$1.00" on it or something like that )
http://www.mididb.com/


Japanese / Otaku Speak ( aka Otaku for short ) Terms
For those that want to mix it up a little or give their games a more authentic flavor.
http://www.animeinfo.org/odiction.html


Other Terms / Ideas
For those who want a little something special in the mix or give their game a different mood / feel or flavor....Such as Latin , French , German , Arabian , Egyptian , or Irish...ect.
Also , slang.
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/
http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html
http://www.hisurf.com/hawaiian/dictionary.html
http://www.manythings.org/slang/
http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/




"Just Ask" Resources
These are the sort of things that you have to ask before you can
use them in something besides what they were originally intended for.
http://boogiejack.com/
( has sound effects you might be interested in )


Other
Just in case you need it... ( I'm forgetful myself so I thought this was a good idea at the time )
http://m-w.com
http://www.google.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.renai.us/
http://www.thejapanesepage.com
http://renai.sourceforge.net/

I'd also add...

Backgrounds - free photographs
http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml
http://www.morguefile.com/

Nice idea for a thread ^^

Hmm... I wouldn't use the word "otaku", too much negative-to-positive variation that people can gleam from it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku
Up to you though.

Some more photo stock places for backgrounds etc.:
http://www.freefoto.com/
http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml

There is also a Japanese website available that lists Japanese resource sites that offer various materials for visual novel creation such as photo backgrounds, CGs, tutorials, midi etc.

I found this site through Megatokyo forums where member akari-chan posted it along with instructions about how to use the site both in the navigational and respectful (giving credit) sense:

_________________


--- -- - - CrossRealms Network --- My Deviantart Artwork Gallery - -- ---

I know.
It's funny how , even today , the term "otaku" , can be taken so seriously.
I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers ,
I'm just using otaku in a general sense / because I don't consider it a bad word and stuff...but I do know about its history so I apoligize if anyone is offended , especially if there's any Japanese members here or even if you've just stopped by and just happen to be Japanese.
Gomen nasai.
But thanks for the concern.

Then I'll add some business aspects into this thread...

http://www.dexterity.com/articles/indie-faq.htm - Guide to Business for Indie Developers, read this and worship it if you haven't taken 7 high school business courses or a university program!

http://ICv2.com - For all industry news and correspondance.

Someone list some popular forums that have DSVN fans other than MT...

_________________
=/| ClearWind Design Studios |\=

Resource Pages
GameDev.net Tutorials & Downloads list - Tutorials, Texture & Models, and More
Game Creation Resource - Engines/Authorware for Non-Porgrammers, Graphics, Music, other resources

Miscellaneous Softwares
Labyrinth - Keeping track of your story
NSIS Editor - for making Ren'Py games into a Windows executable
Alice - 3D Animation software

Engines
Game Maker - Free, GUI interface software for making games

Music
Midi Webring - professional and personal midi music
Melody Assistant - Music writing, printing, rendering software

About Ren'ai Games
Wikipedia - Bishoujo Game
Wikipedia - Ren'ai Games
Wikipedia - H Game
Wikipedia - Visual Novel
Megatokyo Dating Sm and Visual Novel FAQ page

Ren'ai Development Resources
Lem'ai Ren'Ai Development Center
Ren'ai Games Development Corner

Ren'ai Game Events
NaNoRenO - make a ren'ai game in one month
IntRenAiMo - complete your unfinished game by the deadline

Anime and Manga Tutorials
Manga Revolution
MangaTutorials.com Massive Tutorials List
MT.com Resources Page

_________________
Ren'ai Games (Archived)
Manga Tutorials
The Ultimate Indie Game Developer Resource List

^_^ happy editing of the main post, Kara!

Wow, it really is a good idea - the free ren'ai resources sound particularly good.

two notes about this...
A) it's not totally free, as you have to register to compile the games.
B) it's a heck of a lot more complicated than most people would think. (I tried to work with it for three weeks, and got less than what I could do with RPG tsukuru advance. [in 100% Japanese, which is incomprehensable to me])

kara>>I'll search for some RPG tsukuru resources. (this does not translate to "I'm finding the pirated version(s) for you", as I am still waiting for enterbrain to release a US version of RPGXP. this means "I'll find some sites with resources for the RPG Tsukuru series.") I'm gonna start on a RPG game with some renai elements in it soon. just gotta reinstall the fan-translated version... my system doesn't seem to like the original version's installer. [edit: see below]

_________________
~Kitsune Zeta

You don't have to register to compile the games. You have to register to remove the "Made With Game Maker" screen and to use certain functions. It's complicated because you can make ALL KINDS of games with it... even (very laggy) RTSes. Generally requires some programming knowledge to get very far.

Anyone wishing to make ren'ai games in GM can have my engine, just let me know and I'll mail it to you. Probably requires a registered version, though.

_________________
Hanako Games

hmm... I couldn't compile any games with the unregistered version... I may have not been looking in the right places, though...
the engine probably will require a registered version... (knowing most things registered guys create...)

_________________
~Kitsune Zeta

Can I also recommend:

Graphics:
OpenCanvas - Although not free, a good alternative to Painter.

Vector graphics:
Inkscape - Like Illustrator

3D:
Blender - Free powerful 3d modeller
Wings3D - Subsurf modeller
Art of Illusion - Java based 3d modeller
MetasequoiaLE - Free Japanese 3D modeller

Sound:
Audacity - Sound editor

Thanks everyone for posting , making suggestions / giving advice , and adding to the listings.

Please note that although this is mainly for any "free to use" type resources you can find or am interested in , it's totally ok to list or ask about stuff you'd have to pay for too.
Please just note them as such when discussing 'em.
Thank you , come again.

here's a couple of sites with them.
Fantasy Zone's RPG maker XP resources: the first I found. simple navigation. trying to find a similar site... (i wanna say "time square" or something similar...)

rios-ent.com: not a lot of catagories up right now, but from what they have, it has a lot of stuff you can get. some of it is decent quality too! (sadly, only two different fog images...)

Eternal Storm RPG's RPG Maker XP section (forums): it may not have a lot in terms of images, but it does have a section specifically for the R.G.S.S. (which is responsible for screwing up the name input screen on so many people's computers...). If people want, I'll look for some sites specifically for the R.G.S.S.

I'll look for more later...
(oh, and Kara: you may wanna update your sig. because when you teach a man to fish, he sits in a boat all day drinkin' beer.)

Interesting little note I found... seems that somehow RPGXP has found it's way onto the PS2... weird...

_________________
~Kitsune Zeta

Graphics Manipulation: As well as the excellent GIMP already mentioned for visual use, I recommend GraphicsMagick to anyone who uses a command-line. Homepage and download at http://www.graphicsmagick.org ; documentation on how to use it at http://www.graphicsmagick.org/www/utilities.html .

I keep forgetting to put up the ren'ai sourceforge project up as a ren'ai exclusive thing at the top....and I can't think of any other ren'ai exclusive programs / creation tools....ack...so many things to sort out and still get done....ack...need to concentrate on one thing at a time...darn "want to do many things at once" urges...