New to VN with a question

[Efreet]

Hi all, this is my official first post here on the forums. Just to say I've been lurking on the forums for a while, I can see quite a few talented artists as well as writers..

The only virtual novels I've played with were the Newgrounds flash dating sims (Love Hina, DNA2) and the Japanese sim True Love (tried to find Tomeike Memorial). I've seen Excel Saga's dating sim parody and I've watched Kanon - coupled with wanting to learn programming sparked off my search and eventual discovery of Ren'Py (just after finding Blade Engine - the 'free' version is a cut down 'logo' version).

So I've played through the demo and the question on Ren'Py and reused the images from those games to create a practice game with transitions, text, options, branching and music - I think I'm getting the hang of using Python. Though with university looming towards the end of the year, I'm not sure I'll be able to create a 'good' game (let alone by myself )..

With that out of the way, Id like to ask a question..

With the possibility of combing text, music, imagery and movement, would I be able to create an opening/ending sequence to my VN?
That is to say, when you start/finish a new game, you'll see a montage of backgrounds and characters, like in some Japanese VNs but without using a video format. I know the visual demands of this would be high, and that the programming could be a bit of a hassle (I just need to get the scripts for the timing and image transitions, like a background image coming in from the top right corner, and a character coming from the bottom left at the same time... ), but it's something I haven't seen used in the few VNs I've downloaded here...

[Cybeat]

Welcome. I found Renpy after I found Blade Engine, too. Good thing is renpy can do more and is free. Anyway, yes, you can make open sequence and ending sequence. My game has an opening (Cyber Troops), but it's not like those professional ones.

[bloodywyvern]

Yes you very much can to add to the previous post, actually there are two ways you could go about it. You could use Ren'Py's built in functions to create an opening atmosphere, or make an actual opening move in Mpeg format. Either of those would work just fine.

[Efreet]

Ah, Cybeat, I've seen a bit of your artwork - seems like you really are coming along..

I would like to be able to do what you've done, that is create a whole game by oneself, but then that's a whole lot of work. And considering that I can't draw too well, nor have I used Photoshop yet to add colour, I might have a problem...

I'll download your game and see what it's like.

BTW, I'm somewhat planning a dark, horror-esque game too..

EDIT: Thanks for the answers, so now at least I know it can be done.

[Cybeat]

Ah, so you know a bit about me. It is hard, but it's not very hard to work solo. Don't worry about not being able to draw. There are sites that offer free characters and background art. We have artists here that offer characters and backgrounds too, but if you want to draw your own characters, you should look at some tutorials (http://www.deviantart.com have many) that teach you how to draw. You can also recruit artists here. Same with with music. You can either find them on internet, or ask a musician here. I'm a musician (not a very good one), and if you need some music, ask me. Good luck!

[Enerccio]

Hi, welcome to the forums!
I hope you will enjoy your stay.

The only virtual novels

Just small thing, don't make the same mistake as I did, it's visual novel, not virtual. I made this mistake in official review of ever 17 ;_;.

[Efreet]

Hi, welcome to the forums!
I hope you will enjoy your stay.

The only virtual novels

Just small thing, don't make the same mistake as I did, it's visual novel, not virtual. I made this mistake in official review of ever 17 ;_;.

Ahh.. Typo... Thanks for pointing it out.

Well I got a rough idea of what I wanna do, I might post some in the ideas thread too. Now it's just a matter of how much free time I can have...