how much budget is very ideal to creat a vn?

[dendenboi]

I am a newbie in the vn making world and as hoping how much is the ideal budget for vn and how much is ideal to pay for staff? Thanks

[firecat]

it can be anywhere between $0-$1000.

[truefaiterman]

it can be anywhere between $0-$1000.

The projects I'm in with a budget will need more than $5000.

It entirely depends on the content and the workers: a little project will require less, a big one... obviously a lot more. It also depends on your planning, and how do you use your resources. It also depends on how much can you do by yourself, too.

[papillon]

it can be anywhere between $0-$1000.

How many people fundraising have you seen everask for anything that low? Sure, it's possible to make a VN for that small a budget, but considering that to be the top end is completely silly.

I know you think I'm picking on you but I do not understand why you rush in to answer this sort of question.

@dendenboi - If you are a newbie at this you may want to consider whether rushing right in to hiring people is really the way you want to proceed. It is very possible to end up throwing a lot of money at people and getting nothing in return, if you don't know what you're doing on the management end of things.

There is no one single rule for how much a VN costs. The costs to create a commercial one in Japan, for example, are way higher than anything anyone here wants to think about, because hiring people as actual employees and dealing with people who have fame and can command high prices is expensive.

If you want a simple starting idea of how to judge your budget (and even this is, of course, just a rough guide and not the only way to do it) start by figuring out what will go INTO the game you want to make and how much those individual things will cost.

Say you want 50 CGs in your awesome game, and you want them to be at least as good as Artist X. You look up Artist X's commission information and they charge $150 a picture. So there's a starting guess for how much you might have to spend on CGs. It's not going to be perfect - different artists will have different costs, they might negotiate a bit cheaper for a bulk order, you might have to pay more for commercial rights, etc - but it gives you a start point.

No one else can tell you what's ideal for your game because it is going to depend on the decisions you've made about design. However, we can warn you that if you have no idea what anything should cost, you PROBABLY need to spend more time planning before you jump into it.

[firecat]

it can be anywhere between $0-$1000.

How many people fundraising have you seen everask for anything that low? Sure, it's possible to make a VN for that small a budget, but considering that to be the top end is completely silly.

I know you think I'm picking on you but I do not understand why you rush in to answer this sort of question.

@dendenboi - If you are a newbie at this you may want to consider whether rushing right in to hiring people is really the way you want to proceed. It is very possible to end up throwing a lot of money at people and getting nothing in return, if you don't know what you're doing on the management end of things.

There is no one single rule for how much a VN costs. The costs to create a commercial one in Japan, for example, are way higher than anything anyone here wants to think about, because hiring people as actual employees and dealing with people who have fame and can command high prices is expensive.

If you want a simple starting idea of how to judge your budget (and even this is, of course, just a rough guide and not the only way to do it) start by figuring out what will go INTO the game you want to make and how much those individual things will cost.

Say you want 50 CGs in your awesome game, and you want them to be at least as good as Artist X. You look up Artist X's commission information and they charge $150 a picture. So there's a starting guess for how much you might have to spend on CGs. It's not going to be perfect - different artists will have different costs, they might negotiate a bit cheaper for a bulk order, you might have to pay more for commercial rights, etc - but it gives you a start point.

No one else can tell you what's ideal for your game because it is going to depend on the decisions you've made about design. However, we can warn you that if you have no idea what anything should cost, you PROBABLY need to spend more time planning before you jump into it.

its a simple question, so it needs a simple answer, $1000 is still huge so its still correct by many standards. the question can be answered in many ways so everyone is correct.

[Katy133]

The question is quite vague and general (rather than simple). There are so many factors that need to be taken into account:

- How long is the VN?
- Will you be doing all the writing? Or will you be hiring a writer/several writers? How many?
- Will you be doing all the art? Or hiring artists?
- Ditto for GUI.
- And foley (sound effect) artists.
- And musicians.
- Are you going to hire an animator?
- What video editors/animation/art/recording/audio programs are you going to be using? How much do they cost?
- You may also want to hire editors and beta testers.
- You'll also probably want some emergency money in case something goes wrong.
- Are you paying people by the hour, or a by quota, or by a lump sum?
- Will there be voice actors? Are you going to hire-out a recording studio for them?
- Are you going to send out advertisements? That will cost money too.
- How are you distributing the game? Are there submission fees to those places? (Steam=$100, IndieCade=$80-$110, etc.)
- Will the game be released for free, or have a set price?

[trooper6]

Some games cost no money to create because the maker can do everything they plan on having in the game themselves.
Some games cost no money because anything the creator can't do themselves they get people to do for free or they get assets from Creative Commons.
Some games will be cheap because they hire inexpensive people.
Some games will be expensive because they hire expensive people, or they have a lot to do.

I recommend making a test game that is short for no money. See what it takes to make a game, what you can do, what you'll need to have done by other people in the future. And then look at the recruiting threads and see what those people cost.

[dendenboi]

- How long is the VN? - Probably a 6 hour vn. maybe
- Will you be doing all the writing? Or will you be hiring a writer/several writers? How many? - Ill be doing the writing
- Will you be doing all the art? Or hiring artists? - I will be hiring artists
- Ditto for GUI. - Yes i plan to hire a GUI artist
- And foley (sound effect) artists. - Yes sound effect artist too
- And musicians. - One musician is enough i think
- Are you going to hire an animator? - No
- What video editors/animation/art/recording/audio programs are you going to be using? How much do they cost? - I will hire a programmer to program stuff like those
- You may also want to hire editors and beta testers. - Editors :/
- You'll also probably want some emergency money in case something goes wrong. - Yes
- Are you paying people by the hour, or a by quota, or by a lump sum? - Maybe by quota
- Will there be voice actors? Are you going to hire-out a recording studio for them? - I plan to hire va after the game is done
- Are you going to send out advertisements? That will cost money too. - No.
- How are you distributing the game? Are there submission fees to those places? (Steam=$100, IndieCade=$80-$110, etc.) - steam
- Will the game be released for free, or have a set price? - Have a set price

[Kailoto]

If it's your first project, always start out with a small scope; pick a project that can be done for free or with very little investment, and see what you can get done. Getting the experience in before you attempt something larger is invaluable. Too often do I see people dive right in to a huge project without any prior experience.

Also worth noting: it's possible to have too many people working on the same project at once, to the point where things break down and production stops. If it's your first attempt, I'd plan on hiring only the bare minimum, which in most cases is one or two artists. The rest can be filled in through unlicensed materials or even commissions if it's really necessary. If you have four or more people doing small tasks, not only does it become more costly to reimburse all of them, but communication breaks down easier.

[Cruxador]

its a simple question, so it needs a simple answer, $1000 is still huge so its still correct by many standards. the question can be answered in many ways so everyone is correct.

It's half a paycheck at the poverty line. Unless you are utterly destitute (which you're not, if you're on the internet) that's a fairly low amount of money to accompany the time it takes to make a good VN. It's definitely way to low to call the upper ceiling. In fact, although I don't know the lemmasoft community that well, I've spoken with a few people making VNs elsewhere and never heard anyone say they were spending less than $1000. Every time, it's been more. Not counting the zero-investment things that people churn out for practice or as proofs of concept, of course. But anything intended to be played by others has a few thousand dollars budget. That's for normal small-team free time projects, the big name stuff usually has five digit budgets.

That said I also agree with Kailoto, if it's your first project, treat it as something you're doing for fun and for practice, don't spend money on it until you've got something good and people like it, and if you do get to that stage, only then should you pay for things. Because your first project is likely to either be scrapped as your growth as an artist outpaces it, or to be insufficiently popular to validate financial investment.

[firecat]

its a simple question, so it needs a simple answer, $1000 is still huge so its still correct by many standards. the question can be answered in many ways so everyone is correct.

It's half a paycheck at the poverty line. Unless you are utterly destitute (which you're not, if you're on the internet) that's a fairly low amount of money to accompany the time it takes to make a good VN. It's definitely way to low to call the upper ceiling. In fact, although I don't know the lemmasoft community that well, I've spoken with a few people making VNs elsewhere and never heard anyone say they were spending less than $1000. Every time, it's been more. Not counting the zero-investment things that people churn out for practice or as proofs of concept, of course. But anything intended to be played by others has a few thousand dollars budget. That's for normal small-team free time projects, the big name stuff usually has five digit budgets.

That said I also agree with Kailoto, if it's your first project, treat it as something you're doing for fun and for practice, don't spend money on it until you've got something good and people like it, and if you do get to that stage, only then should you pay for things. Because your first project is likely to either be scrapped as your growth as an artist outpaces it, or to be insufficiently popular to validate financial investment.

I'm sorry to disappoint you but my project "The Unknowns Saga" series is under $1000, I know a whole lot of resource so little money is needed. Just because there is a need for everything (gui, proofreading, characters, etc.) it doesn't mean you are forced to have them. A VN that is build with everything does not mean it guarantee better story, a VN with the best story is the better game.

[Caveat Lector]

I'm sorry to disappoint you but my project "The Unknowns Saga" series is under $1000, I know a whole lot of resource so little money is needed. Just because there is a need for everything (gui, proofreading, characters, etc.) it doesn't mean you are forced to have them. A VN that is build with everything does not mean it guarantee better story, a VN with the best story is the better game.

And that's the thing with the point I just bolded: The reason why you're spending under $1000 for your project is because you're using Creative Commons sources (so I assume from how you phrased it), hence you don't have to pay for them. For those of us who want our own resources from scratch but aren't a brilliant combination of writers, artists, musicians, and programmers in one, we need to look elsewhere if we want any help with our project at all. And we will need to spend a LOT of money.

And nobody was saying that a fancy-schmancy VN with bells and whistles was more important than a simpler one, not at all. They're trying to underline that those who seek original materials for their projects typically spend over $1000. If you choose to go with CC materials, there's a good chance you probably won't spend a whole lot, if you do at all. But if you choose to commission original materials that you cannot make yourself? Backgrounds are expensive. Sprites are expensive. CG's are expensive. Music is expensive. Even if something doesn't SEEM that expensive now, it can and DOES eventually add up in the long run, to the money you're spending on the project in total.

So anyway, to tie this in with the OP's question...however much you can afford, and however much it will all add up to in the long run. Scout out potential artists you might want to use in the future, and keep a note of their prices. Also make note of your own financial situation. If it's stable enough, you can go into it, but proceed with caution. But if, say, you're living on your own and the rent is a week late because your paycheck is also late? Step back and wait a bit before diving in.

[SundownKid]

its a simple question, so it needs a simple answer, $1000 is still huge so its still correct by many standards. the question can be answered in many ways so everyone is correct.

$1000 is not anywhere near "huge" for an indie game. All things considered, it's still really low. Many Creative Commons assets are not even licensed for commercial use, not to mention the discrepancy in quality. Yes, you may have the best story ever in the universe, but if the assets are extremely low budget then people won't want to pay for it.

Assuming you can only do writing and have to hire everyone else, you are looking at something like $6000 minimum and that's if you're really stingy. The budget can easily be $10,000 or more. Any less and you will have compromised on something and it will no longer be "professional quality". That's not to mention that marketing costs for a game can easily go into the thousands of dollars. Marketing is the most important thing by far for your game, but it's something a lot of indie developers don't include in the budget.

Obviously it will depend on how much work you can handle by yourself. If you can do the graphic design, programming, writing, etc. it will become cheaper each time (albeit more time consuming from your own time).

[wifom]

Here's a fun calculator that helps you calculate the minimum price you should be expecting to spend on any game in general (It applies to visual novels too )

http://yourgameideaistoobig.com/

And if you notice, the starting cost is $1,000

[Katy133]

I am a newbie in the vn making world and as hoping how much is the ideal budget for vn and how much is ideal to pay for staff? Thanks

I remember one of my mentors giving a talk on this. Allow me to illustrate with a rough estimate:

How much it costs to live: (aka "Scraping by")
Rent: $1500 /month
Food: $600
Transportation: $200
Phone: $50
Cable: $50
Internet: $100
Student Loans: $300
Video games/partying: $200
Misc: $200
-----------Total: $3,150/month OR $37,800/year OR Roughly $20/hr, CDN.

This is for hiring someone who is trained and experienced with what you are hiring them for.

How much you pay someone should be AT LEAST double this. But even that is pretty low (consider taxes, holidays, flooding, etc.) Also take into consideration that it differs between places.

it can be anywhere between $0-$1000.

How many people fundraising have you seen everask for anything that low? Sure, it's possible to make a VN for that small a budget, but considering that to be the top end is completely silly.

I know you think I'm picking on you but I do not understand why you rush in to answer this sort of question.

@dendenboi - If you are a newbie at this you may want to consider whether rushing right in to hiring people is really the way you want to proceed. It is very possible to end up throwing a lot of money at people and getting nothing in return, if you don't know what you're doing on the management end of things.

There is no one single rule for how much a VN costs. The costs to create a commercial one in Japan, for example, are way higher than anything anyone here wants to think about, because hiring people as actual employees and dealing with people who have fame and can command high prices is expensive.

If you want a simple starting idea of how to judge your budget (and even this is, of course, just a rough guide and not the only way to do it) start by figuring out what will go INTO the game you want to make and how much those individual things will cost.

Say you want 50 CGs in your awesome game, and you want them to be at least as good as Artist X. You look up Artist X's commission information and they charge $150 a picture. So there's a starting guess for how much you might have to spend on CGs. It's not going to be perfect - different artists will have different costs, they might negotiate a bit cheaper for a bulk order, you might have to pay more for commercial rights, etc - but it gives you a start point.

No one else can tell you what's ideal for your game because it is going to depend on the decisions you've made about design. However, we can warn you that if you have no idea what anything should cost, you PROBABLY need to spend more time planning before you jump into it.

its a simple question, so it needs a simple answer, $1000 is still huge so its still correct by many standards. the question can be answered in many ways so everyone is correct.

Scale of the project is another important factor. I've been able to make a few vn projects that had no budget (but it should be noted that I included royalty free assets, such as music and sound, and made those games available for free).

On the other end of the scale: Although Telltale has not publicly disclosed its budget for its games, there have been speculations (taking into account how much the games made, the fact that that number was considered financially successful, and the office studio space, number of non-intern developers, and voice actors) that the budget is possibly somewhere between $500,000 to $5 million per 5-episode season.

EDIT: Also, consider this spreadsheet containing a list of VN Kickstarter campaigns.