What's your reason for making a visual novel? Since when?

[Ionait]

I think there are a lot of good things about VNs, but it is really thanks to Renpy that I got interested in making them or even knew I could! I have an interest in story-telling, anime, and games, but I never really thought I could make my own game without a lot of training and professional experience.

Then I found Renpy and realized with less studying than I could have ever expected (and no start-up costs either) I could actually make games! I mean, that just flung open wide the door of possibility.

So far I've only completed one game, and that was a parody, horrible game. But I hope to complete a real treasure one day that people will be able to enjoy!

[CrimsonMoon]

I write because I like writing. It doesn't matter if it's visual or not. I've been writing since years back, when I was in my early teen. I never finished though, because I've always been a procrastinator and I easily get bored. I've been writing on and off, and scrapping ideas here and there. It's nothing new. But right now, I hope I can finish a script and make it into VN as my leisure project.

[llplldll]

I like writing romance stories so naturally I gravitated towards VNs. They're big on romance themes for the most part. Its rare to find any other video game genre with such a large focus on it.

[Crystaline Spade]

Well, let's see...
First of all I'm a total JRPG nut. I don't even remember the last english game I played... This lead to me discovering VNs which I thought were cool.
Second, I love the liberal arts such as writing, music, art, etc. And VNs had a bunch of these elements in them.
Thirdly, I've always wanted to design characters in games since I was little
Finally, I have way too much free time...
These are what lead me to were I am today, right now.

I've been working on ideas for video games since I was 10.
But I didn't act on anything until recently at age 16.

And that's that!

[Googaboga]

Well I've always been the type of person who just liked to make things that I like. And I like VNs, especially VNs about friendship, so I really wanted to make my own VN that I'd like. I also do it because it's fun :3.

I started planning to make a VN not long before 2013.

[EwanG]

For me, I had just started getting into Anime (around the time Haruhi first came out), and somehow found my way to a link for the English translation of "The Sagara Family". Playing through it felt like living in an Anime, and I wanted more. There weren't many english translated VNs at the time (not that the list is huge now), and so my choice was to either learn Japanese, or start making my own games.

Amusingly enough, I thought making my own would be easier

[LRH]

I came to creating VNs about a month ago when I was searching for a way to create a Myst-like point-and-click adventure. I was dissatisfied with limitations on the free software available for creating such adventures, and a little digging brought me to Renpy, where I'd be able to learn the basics of python, and be able to branch out into pygame. Then I found out that Renpy actually could do everything I needed it to do, and then some - so much for moving to pygame after a few practice VNs! I played a few games made with Renpy to see what VNs themselves were about, since I thought playing a few might help me tailor my game to what Renpy can do, making my life easier, and that created the plot bunny that's growing up into a VN about street racing.

[alberte]

Well making a visual novel is my final assignment I chose in my art class.
I am good at drawing anime characters and I love dating sim qualities so that's why i'm making a visual novel.

[hiko27]

Well, I mostly learned of VNs through Japanese culture ofc (I'm more of a manga/VN person than anime really) so I played a few otome games 6-7 years ago, back on my PS2, and I loved it. Sadly, I sucked at Japanese back then but at least I'm better now lol.

Well, tbh, the main reason I even started working on otoge-Real! is to prove to others, OELVN makers and VN fans alike, that us OELVN makers can make something that can rival professional VNs. I honestly don't know yet if I'll be able to make otoge-Real! that kind of game, but I'll die trying. I don't really want people looking down on us because OELVNs are still visual novels. Just because it's made by non-professionals doesn't mean they can look down on us.

But aside from that, another thing is that I wanted to bring more otome games to the table. Most otome games are either in Japanese (which I can read but I can't buy it cause so expensive) or are for the iPhone/Android (those mobages). Also, I wanted to make unique plots for the VNs. I try to create ones that I know I would love to play.

Well, I started plotting otoge-Real! last year I believe, not sure. Probably around May? Or March? Idk, M's. I went on a hiatus for a bit cause of school but now I'm back, and probably not leaving for a bit since my major is Animation and drawing everyday helps me with that.

[DeletedUser160413]

I played this really good VN back in late 2013 and decided that I wanted to make something but with my own story and art. And that's when I found ren'py and got addicted to overworking myself on my project xD

[Broodelin]

They've taken my family hostage, so I now must work for them while trying to bring the entire system down from the inside. This summer, rated R for excessive cursing.

[Artemisia]

My life is so absurdly terrible, it's hilarious. As far as I know, even the people who've committed suicide were generally luckier. I just want my life to have a meaning; so before I go, I'll create a VN that reflects the real me. Since I didn't get a single chance to express myself before, it's very important to me. So important that I can't stop thinking about it! Take some action already, me! LOL.

[Gospel]

Like most people here, I've always loved drawing and writing.
In early elementary school, we had one class where every student got a book he/she had to fill with their own stories and illustrations over the course of the school year. That was the only period in my school life when I willingly did my homework and had real fun doing it.

My first real visual novel was 'Umineko no Naku koro ni' in... 2009, if I recall correctly.
Since then, I've been fascinated with the idea of making my own visual novel, since, as it's the same for many others around here, creating one combines my favorite hobbies.

It's a lot of work and certainly no easy task, but it's just so much fun.
I really enjoy working on my own projects. Writing stories, creating my own worlds and characters... I love it so much.

I've always dreamed of having other people see/read and hopefully enjoy the stuff I come up with. I want to make them laugh, cry and experience all the emotions I like to experience myself when reading a good visual novel.
If just one person would say 'I really liked it' about any future visual novel I'll create, it'd make me incredibly happy.

[DeletedUser160413]

I want to make them laugh, cry and experience all the emotions I like to experience myself when reading a good visual novel. If just one person would say 'I really liked it' about any future visual novel I'll create, it'd make me incredibly happy.

Same here. I think it's the biggest reason why I'm doing this

[Green Glasses Girl]

I want to make them laugh, cry and experience all the emotions I like to experience myself when reading a good visual novel. If just one person would say 'I really liked it' about any future visual novel I'll create, it'd make me incredibly happy.

Ditto.

I used to be a webcomic artist, but like it was mentioned, making pages was somewhat tedious and took longer to get to particular scenes. A friend and I were supposed to start a VN (he was going to do the programming and I was going to do the art), but he soon lost interest in the planning stages. My sister recommended Ren'py to me due to its easy to learn format, and I haven't looked back since.

I really enjoy visual novels and reading about others' progress in making them. We're all here to motivate each other, and that helps along the way.