Lemma Soft Forums

Hi guys! Just wanted to see what the general response would be. I'm currently working on a visual novel for my patrons (Which will later be released to the public for free.)

But I'd like to get an idea of what fandoms people prefer and would be interested in playing! Just throw out your ideas! Your help is greatly appreciated!

I'd take a look at the most funded VN projects on crowdfunding sites: https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/ad ... 131&page=1

You're probably just best off making what you like. If you make a game off of something you don't know very well fans will notice. Add that on top of how long games take to make and how fast trends change.

Maybe play around with popular themes over fangames. Things like fairy tales and whatnot. Avoid possible C&Ds that way as well.

KittyWills wrote:Things like fairy tales and whatnot. Avoid possible C&Ds that way as well.

You might benefit by writing a VN based on a story which has been in the public domain for quite some time. Especially if that public domain story has not recently been adapted into a well-known movie, comic, or anything else.

I agree with both, do something that you like to write about or find a story that hasn't been told in a while.

One of my favorite stories growing up was a German tale about the The Six Swans. It's a story about a girl whose brothers were turned into swans and the only way to break their curse is to weave them shirts out of nettles, and even though the nettles are sharp and she bleeds and suffers as she performs this task she can't make a sound for seven years or the spell will never break. Yet her stepmother finds out about what's she's doing do and she accuses her of witchcraft. She can't defend herself and she's sentenced to be put to the stake. In the end she finds a way to get her brothers the finished shirts, barely finishing the last of the six shirts, and breaking the curse. When they are human again they reveal that it was their step mother who cursed them and reveal the truth of how she suffered to save them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Swans

Although I agree with the above posts, I'm also going to list some works that I think would love to see be given VN fan games.

The ones I'll list will pick because of the following criteria:
1) I think the plot and characters can adapt to being in a visual novel, even though they are from a different medium.
2) The original creator has no track record of responding badly to fanworks of their creation (to the best of my knowledge), and can be contacted online (in case you want to ask their permission).
3) I want to see an fan VN of it, and,
4) There is a recognisable fandom online of the original work.

With that in mind, I'd love to see a fanmade VN of...
Skulduggery Pleasant.

Skulduggery Pleasant is basically a series of novels about a skeleton detective sorcerer who solves mysteries in Dublin, Ireland. It's funny, it's dark, and the series is full of moral choices (making it good for VNs). An important thing to note is that I think a VN adaptation of it shouldn't make Skulduggery the player character. It should be the teenage girl who partners up with him, Stephanie (because in the original books, she is the POV/eye the story is mainly told through).

In terms of public domain works, I'd love to see a VN of Alice in Wonderland. Not modernised, not changed. Just a traditional adaptation based on the original illustrations.