Blade Visual Novel Engine

[PyTom]

I noticed that blade now claims to support rollback. Can someone check it out and let me know if this is Ren'Py-style rollback (where you can change a choice), or if it's merely readback.

(Blade doesn't work on my virtual system.)

[mikey]

I wan't able to change a choice (in the sample game 3). But one should probably make a script to see. Other than that, the rollback is relatively clumsy, at least IMO, it shows some kind of a
- rollback button that lets you skip to the beginning of where you started to read
- mouseup/down scrolls dialogue lines
- and mouserightclick transports you back from where you started to roll back (so you can continue reading new lines)

You cannot advance to the next line with a mouseleft click while in rollback mode - you can *only* use your mousewheel or PgUp/PgDn - even when you want to read the text log line by line again.

You do not get the scenes, pictures and so loading back as you scroll your mouse, you just get the text log in the same scene - it's typical text log mode.

More issues:
- I wasn't able to open TWO instances of a blade game at the same time (play genyu toshi and samplegame03 simultaneously)

- and I wasn't able to run the game on my main computer, because of DirectX9, I have copied the DLL, but it didn't work anyway, and suggested I install/reinstall DX9.

[mikey]

And so it's here, the new Blade 2.0 Final. Now with cool box-style picture on the revamped main page. And it costs... wait for it... $30. To be honest, I thought it was going to be something under $10, maybe a friendly price of $5, but I was wrong, evidently Well, what else is there to say, really...

[Adorya]

And it seems to be they began to put some commercial advertising on some sites, some sites dedicated to otaku and doujin consumer, some site for exemple...*cough* DLsite english side only*cough*

The banner say "Free Visual Novel Construction Tool"...

[papillon]

.... well, on the plus side, maybe them having a business relationship with dlsite can convince dlsite to finally start accepting overseas-made content? It's currently quite hard to sell H since most sites won't let you list adult content.

[Adorya]

Yes it could be the trigger and a good move of them if they would let western creators in, though I don't know if the average price would be ok (8 $ is quite huge for a basic cg set but not enough for a complete VN imo).

[mikey]

.... well, on the plus side, maybe them having a business relationship with dlsite can convince dlsite to finally start accepting overseas-made content? It's currently quite hard to sell H since most sites won't let you list adult content.

Well, an anonymous PayPal account, an e-mail ending with .jp, call yourself circle Flower-MOON and you're there... unless they have some special requirements that only Japanese makers can meet.

[Adorya]

.... well, on the plus side, maybe them having a business relationship with dlsite can convince dlsite to finally start accepting overseas-made content? It's currently quite hard to sell H since most sites won't let you list adult content.

Well, an anonymous PayPal account, an e-mail ending with .jp, call yourself circle Flower-MOON and you're there... unless they have some special requirements that only Japanese makers can meet.

With that you can enter the maniax side, but you will only get the japanese customers (though the number of download is much higher if you are famous there than in english side). Credit card system has been restricted to japanese cards only long time ago after some used fake cards.

[mikey]

That procedure was more of a joke though ^_^.

About DLsite, isn't it a bit too hardcore? All I ever see is 9-year-olds covered in yogurt or women with breasts the size of the moon.

[DaFool]

Did anyone try customizing the text window? Have they been able to implement NVL mode with it?

I also like how the forum was changed somewhat to mirror Lemmasoft's.

[papillon]

It's a bit hardcore for most games from *this* community. But my partner and I still have dreams of writing Tentacle Temptress Twins one day.

[Blue Lemma]

To be honest, I thought it was going to be something under $10, maybe a friendly price of $5, but I was wrong, evidently

Haha, good one, mikey

I checked out the new stuff, and I'm so unimpressed. If Ren'Py had the same contacts and marketing as Blade, I bet it would be kicking butt and taking names. Then again, if you look at the output of the communities, it already is

[mikey]

Sadly, that price is nothing to laugh at. I'm actually very disappointed. Five dollars are more than enough for what this software is. The extra five to make up for the priority support and exclusive goodies would probably also be okay, but anything over $10 is too much for what this is. And the big question is of course - what will happen when 3.0 comes along? Another $30 for say autowrap and cross-platform compatibility?

Unimpressed, that kind of sums it up for me as well. I've tried to fool around with it yesterday and basically, save for the variable support, nothing has really changed. And the DX9 requirement is comlpetely out of place, it's so irritating. The engine, don't know why, is very slow, it feels really heavy for some reason. This is text, pictures and music, it should run on a clean installation of Win95. Missing DLL, grrrr....

Anyway, maybe in your comparison chart you could also include a basic script for the same simple scene in all three engines (new scene, show park, show character, say line). To see which one's scripting is easier. Blade claims it's simple, but just how simple is it? And I have no idea about ONscripter, maybe that's also quite straightforward.

What I like about Blade is the way they've attracted people who donated graphics. Granted, those may well be e-friends of Blade's creators, but nevertheles, a section where anyone could donate resources is very good. I'm not quite sure I would make use of it personally, as I prefer things made specifically for the game, but as placeholders, or for low-budget productions for people who want to liven up their written stories, this is a good idea. I realize we have a Resources thread, but there doesn't seem to be a campaign encouraging people to donate.

Then again, the drawback is, that this is organized by Blade - I love Ren'Py, but I also like the fact that even though a large amount of people use it, the community isn't limited by it - no one is discouraged from using something else, or their own, or Blade. It's too bad that Blade is commercial in essence, because it basically forces them to create a closed community. It then becomes a little difficult to speak freely about game development, specifically about the individual engines and their advantages, when there's money involved. And it even affects the Free version of Blade, since it's meant to promote the Commericial version. It puts the Blade staff into a complicated position (see Engine X), but I guess that's the "price" one pays.

The again, many of the game dev communities are indeed centered around the egines or creation programs they use - AGS or Gamemaker.

[DaFool]

The engine, don't know why, is very slow, it feels really heavy for some reason. This is text, pictures and music, it should run on a clean installation of Win95.

Sounds like a huge Powerpoint presentation on a near-decade old box

I prefer things made specifically for the game, but as placeholders, or for low-budget productions for people who want to liven up their written stories, this is a good idea. I realize we have a Resources thread, but there doesn't seem to be a campaign encouraging people to donate.

Ditto. A Visual Novel is primarily visual. Therefore, the artwork will naturally be the attractor for people and to show just how unique the work is. If the story is the attractor---well people won't know until they've read it, will they And Light Novels are the corollary for more text, less pictures. (or Sound Novels for more emphasis on music and text)

The disadvantage of the Ren'Py community is that is has fewer 'professional doujinshi artists' willing to donate materials.

But as for me, unfortunately the stories I work with are very specific to the environment and require specific characters --- I have no need for any catgirls nor schoolgirls.

While a campaign may work for artists doodling stuff for no purpose, in here we seem to design the artwork specifically to meet certain needs...what gets donated are essentially things which should have been used in a project.

It's too bad that Blade is commercial in essence, because it basically forces them to create a closed community. It then becomes a little difficult to speak freely about game development, specifically about the individual engines and their advantages, when there's money involved. And it even affects the Free version of Blade, since it's meant to promote the Commericial version. It puts the Blade staff into a complicated position (see Engine X), but I guess that's the "price" one pays.

This is similar to how commercial linux distros try to make money. The product is free, or the product should be free for what its worth. Technical support via forums should be free if it doesn't get nitty-gritty. Heck, if you search hard enough, you can find any answer you want through google. And yet, they try to make money by 'boxing' the product, and enabling exclusive access to hi-end technical support (the Pro Forum). The catch is that most problems do not really need a 'Pro Forum', so what people are paying for are supposedly 'more responsive' technical help, whatever that means. And those very few problems that are really complicated are not suited to forums at all...that is why large corporations have their own Account Manager who is the dedicated walk-in consultant...and his services is priced waaaaaaaay above any box set. And this is for an operating system...a visual novel engine is not even worth such a thing. But basically this should explain how freeware + commercial ware + technical support don't mix, since its hard to draw the lines, and many people will end up paying for something that's easy to get for free, simply because they didn't do their research.

[mikey]

An interesting thought - probably comes from experience, I've just assumed the proforum would have some sort of priority (what else would it be for), but the great thing about the internet is that there are indeed a lot of people who will help you and ask nothing in return.

Also, I can't really think of Blade Free as "free", mostly because of the nagscreen. The fact that you're basically doing marketing work and selling Blade Engine with that omnipresent logo is reason enough to either turn away or buy the thing. And I don't know, usually when you make a free game, your pride is all you have - this is also why I will concede that the lack of a resources repository (especially character graphics) is not so incredibly crucial - indeed because of the pride, people will usually want to make their own things, even at the cost of having to do everything in lower quality. So I do like construction kits, but not so very specific graphics - all it takes is a game with the same asset and a lot of the atmosphere is ruined. Some of the alltogether games had the same pictures and while you couldn't say it was cheap, a prominent asset, such as a BG picture really stays in memory and seeing it again... it's a bit strange.

The story is different, if you present your VN to a totally unaware audience, since that will probably see the assets for the first time.

Anyway, to get back to that one thought, I'd say this community needs more artists willing to participate, rather than donate. Even though having free assets never hurts.