Creating a visual novel...

[LunarVN]

For now, I'm calling my game "Project Lunar". Original right? =P

It's going to be a sci-fi action visual novel with elements of romance. It's inspired by the likes of Mass Effect, Knights of Sidonia, Deus Ex, and Studio Ghibli.

It takes place on the moon sometime in the future. The moon itself has become a bustling city with a lot of visual inspiration taken from steampunk. It's crowded and full of life. The main city is built around the largest crater on the moon with bridges extending across the crater like a spider web.

You play a young pilot in a special military division stationed on the moon. Yes. You pilot a mech. Your family was killed in an alien attack back on earth. You were one of the few survivors of the attack. A military general found you and adopted you. When he was stationed on the moon, you naturally went with him. He's an important character in the game that you very much look up to.

The game itself will take place within the academy of pilots and the aforementioned city. You will build relationships with characters in the academy and the city. I want the relationships to be very in depth with a ton of choices and outcomes. I don't want it to feel like there's one "right" path to select in order to romance a specific character. I do want it to be a mature game, but I don't want sex to seem like the end game or a reward.

I also want to implement action into the game. Scenes will take place during space battles and choices will have to be made during those fights. Obviously with dire consequences.

Choice and consequence are main themes of the game. I want the relationships to feel earned. I want the characters to react to your actions realistically.

There may be a supernatural element to the game as well. I haven't decided on a lot of the details yet.

Here's a little snippet of music I made to get an idea of the tone -
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/cv42jv1 ... N_Test.mp3

Original Post -

Hey everyone. I'm sorry for the incredibly vague thread title. My name is Dillon and I've recently decided to create my own visual novel. I found these forums and decided to join up. I find it very valuable to have a place to go for advice and critique. Or even just a place to talk about a common interest! I'm... not quite sure where to start. There seem to be a plethora or useful resources here. I'm a little overwhelmed to be honest. I guess I should start with my intentions and progress so far...

I've never written more than a short story. I enjoy writing and have always been interested in expanding my vocabulary... but I won't lie and tell you that I'm a savant of story telling. However, I have been a voice actor for many years now. I believe that I have what it takes to write good scenarios and dialogue encounters. I want to give it a shot, at the very least. I have an idea for a visual novel. I have the basic concept. The tone. The inspirations. Even some early story segments. I also have an idea of how I'd like the game to be structured. The way in which the encounters unfold.

The problem is that... I'm not an artist and I'm not a programmer. I count myself lucky that I discovered Ren'Py. I'm willing to dedicate myself to learning this engine. If I can find help in that department then that's even better. I do not know how to handle the artist situation however. I don't know the proper procedure for finding an artist. If there are any "rules" I should be aware of... I do not have much of a budget for this project. So I was considering kickstarter or patreon; something along those lines. But I can't ask for money when I don't have anything to show for it. I plan to have the majority of the writing done by then, of course. But that's not enough to ask for funding, is it? Do I find an artist, ask how much it would cost to commission art by the estimated amount needed, and then factor that cost into a kickstarter goal? Not having an artist is my biggest hang up right now, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I want to do everything legally and in a manner in which everyone involved gets fairly compensated.

Beyond that topic, I have a million questions. Big and small. I feel like that might not be the best way to introduce myself though, haha. I'm sorry, I'm just a tad overwhelmed as I stated earlier. I don't know if I should post the general details of my concept yet... or the ideas behind the gameplay structure... or anything! I just... figured I had to start somewhere.

[Shaples]

Hi Dillon! Welcome to the forums!

There are actually a lot of ways to start making a game without having to raise or spend any money out of pocket, and there are plenty of people here that do exactly that. In fact, now is one of the best times of year to find people who are willing to team up on free projects, because there's an event during the month of march called NaNoReNo where people challenge themselves to make a game from scratch in a single month. Lots of artists, writers, programmers, and musicians team up to work together for the month, and plenty of them are looking for team members or partners over in the recruitment thread.

Another good way to get started is to use some of the free resources available in the Creative Commons section of the forums. There's a ton of stuff there - sprites, backrgounds, and UI elements, most of it available for free projects and some of it even for commercial ones. If you decide you do want to have custom art done, you can get a feel for how much it would cost you by looking at the Artist thread in the recruitment forums. Again, there are tons of artists there with lots of different styles and all range of prices, including people who are willing to work for free since they're just starting out, too.

As for learning how to use Ren'Py, probably the best way to do it is to play through the game "The Question" that comes with the program, and look at the game's code as you're playing along. It's the very most basic stuff, but it's a good place to start to get a feel for how things come together. The game "the Tutorial" has more advanced guides for once you get there, and the Quickstart guide will also walk you through the basics (and you can find more detailed information through that link as well). But like I said, hands on is the way to go - start with a small project just to get a hang of what you're doing, search the renpy website and the forums for answers to questions you have, and if you still need help, there's always lots of people willing to help in the Ren'Py Q&A section.

Hope this helps, and best of luck! Also, this forum (WIP -> Ideas) is the place you're looking for if you want to post information about a game concept that's in it's early stages and start getting feedback on your ideas.

[LunarVN]

Thank you so much for the information Shaples! This helps out a lot! I wasn't exactly sure where to post this, haha. I'll update the original post with some information about my game's concept. Might as well get some feedback as soon as possible, right? =)

[Shaples]

Haha, you're welcome! I know it can be pretty hard to know where to get started (not to mention intimidating!), but there are a TON of resources here, and the people on these forums are really friendly, so don't be afraid to ask for help or advice if you need it. A good way to get into the swing of things is just to take a glance at the stickied posts in each of the forums and read some of the recent threads to get a feel for what each subforum is for, and then just jump in if you see a discussion that grabs your interest. Kick back, play a few games, leave some feedback. You'll feel right at home in no time

As for your game idea, I'm a big fan of sci fi, so I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this!

Obligatory Advice (which everyone gives, but no one listens to, because you have to figure it out for yourself): before you dive into dozens of characters and badass space battles, make a game that has two characters, a handful of choices, and, like, three endings. Your first game shouldn't be your dream game, because your first game is going to be a learning experience. Basically everything will be brutally difficult the first time you do it, and forehead-slappingly simple the second time, so save the bigger, longer, more complex game for when you have your sea legs.

[LunarVN]

Thanks again for the help and advice Shaples! I'm definitely gonna check out those tutorial games in Ren'Py tonight. And I'll try my best to stick to your advice and craft a small experience before attempting this big project! ^_^

[Shaples]

Best of luck!