Tips for a Beginner Creating Otome Game?

[macaron]

I have downloaded Ren'py but I've no idea how to work with it.
For drawing, I have a tablet but I've no idea too
Basically I'm new to this thing.
Any advise? Thanks

[merdeamour]

Hmm. As for drawing, study, study, study anatomy and the basics of drawing.

As for coding in Ren'Py, here's a starter tutorial-- http://www.otome-games.com/index.php/ma ... l=&start=1

Advice..? Hmm. Maybe, keep it simple for your first project. Like, 2-3 love interests, about one ending for each of them.

Sorry.. I'm writing this at 12 AM, but I hope that made sense xD *Especially the last part.

P.S. You can also ask for help in the recruitment thread/offer what services you can. Although in looking for people to work on your project, you must first show that you've done some work on the project yourself (:

[macaron]

Hmm. As for drawing, study, study, study anatomy and the basics of drawing.

As for coding in Ren'Py, here's a starter tutorial-- http://www.otome-games.com/index.php/ma ... l=&start=1

Advice..? Hmm. Maybe, keep it simple for your first project. Like, 2-3 love interests, about one ending for each of them.

Sorry.. I'm writing this at 12 AM, but I hope that made sense xD *Especially the last part.

P.S. You can also ask for help in the recruitment thread/offer what services you can. Although in looking for people to work on your project, you must first show that you've done some work on the project yourself (:

Thanks

[Darkmoonfire]

My advise would be to play a whole bunch of games. In fact don't just play them, dissect them. As you're playing, think about what you liked and didn't like, and why. And remember that you can find things that you dislike (or just could have been done better) even in games you like, and things that were well done in games you don't. Also think about what has been done already, and try to either think of new things or a new direction to take it (remember that execution is more important than originality). And even if you don't have the money to buy commercial games, I'd at least play the demos (unless you have poor self-control and would end up buying all the games even though you don't have the money). Mostly when you're playing, you should be thinking about how you want to do your own game.
Sorry if you've already done this, it's just the best advice I could come up with besides take things one step at a time. I wish I could be more helpful with your specific concerns, but I don't know much about drawing, and merdeamour already linked you to a tutorial for the coding. There is a section of the forum for renpy coding questions, so if you still don't know how to do something after reading the tutorial you can go to the Ren'py Questions and Announcement section for help.

[AznGreen]

There are plenty of things you should keep in mind if you're serious about making a visual novel.
Story, characters, settings, learning how to program (I suggest using the tutorial built into ren'py), creative ideas of how you want your novel to look like, ask questions in the forums, and last but not least, do it. Anybody can have an idea, but making a story or a VN out of thin air is something else. You shouldn't sweat yourself over sprites or bg or anything like that. You can go to the creative common section on this site for free place holders. Gl on your journey~!

[chocojax]

Don't be overly ambitious, especially since this is your (probably) first game! With a lot of ideas, comes a lot of work. And yeah, play some/tons of otome games so that you can see what makes an otome game an otome game, etc.

[macaron]

Don't be overly ambitious, especially since this is your (probably) first game! With a lot of ideas, comes a lot of work. And yeah, play some/tons of otome games so that you can see what makes an otome game an otome game, etc.

I've played lots of games before deciding to make my own. The thing that really confused me is the codes T A T;;

[Darkmoonfire]

Okay, since I'm assuming that you already know what direction you're going to be taking your game in then, figure out what needs to happen in the coding and break it down into steps with a single task. For example...
I. Learn to display the writing
...1. Learn to display dialogue in the game.
...2. Learn to get the textboxes to display the name of the speaker when they talk.
II. Learn to display the art
...1. Learn to get images to appear on the screen.
...2. Learn to get sprites to change facial expressions.
...3. Learn to use transitions (if you didn't in the previous two steps)
III. Learn to code the gameplay
...1. Learn to code in a player choice
...2. Learn to use variables so that the choices do something
Etc...
If you're focusing on a single task, it's easier not to get overwhelmed by all the information in guides like the one posted previously in the thread, the ren'py tutorial game, or the ren'py documentation guide found on the ren'py website. It's also easier to get advice from other people when you have a focused topic.

[macaron]

Okay, since I'm assuming that you already know what direction you're going to be taking your game in then, figure out what needs to happen in the coding and break it down into steps with a single task. For example...
I. Learn to display the writing
...1. Learn to display dialogue in the game.
...2. Learn to get the textboxes to display the name of the speaker when they talk.
II. Learn to display the art
...1. Learn to get images to appear on the screen.
...2. Learn to get sprites to change facial expressions.
...3. Learn to use transitions (if you didn't in the previous two steps)
III. Learn to code the gameplay
...1. Learn to code in a player choice
...2. Learn to use variables so that the choices do something
Etc...
If you're focusing on a single task, it's easier not to get overwhelmed by all the information in guides like the one posted previously in the thread, the ren'py tutorial game, or the ren'py documentation guide found on the ren'py website. It's also easier to get advice from other people when you have a focused topic.

I'm currently focusing on the code which is making my brain burst already but yeah thanks for the tips (:

[Lesleigh63]

Try the Renpy tutorials and demo, they helped me a lot.