What software is out there for making VNs or VN-like games?

[Dollywitch]

It's just something I thought I'd research. Ren'py seems to be the default, but I've also seen people try to make VNs in things like Construct as well. I heard someone on /jp/ recommend an alternative to Ren'py too.

I'm thinking of doing a spin-offs to my VNs when finished which may require a lot of awkward gameplay elements. In general, I'd like to scope out what's out there anyway. While I understand this community is very Ren'py centric, it'd be nice to have other options to explore too.

[kaleidofish]

You can make one entirely in Adobe Flash, or in any sort of programming language out there (like pygame or Python, which you can put into your Ren'Py projects). There have been some visual novels created with the RPG Maker programs. Doing something like that would make it far easier to create a VN/RPG hybrid or whatever else you want to make.

There's also GameMaker, that would be helpful for making visual novels with more gameplay elements. You can learn GML to make your games even more complex. Novelty (it's in beta, though, I believe) can be used for making visual novels, but I don't know how you could easily make a hybrid VN with that.

[Dollywitch]

I've been considering doing it in Flash as I like drawing in Flash, but I'm worried it would be awkward. I was going to make mine in Flash originally as a college project.

[SusanTheCat]

OELVN has a great list here: http://wiki.renai.us/wiki/Engines_and_D ... tion_Tools

JS-Vine is a javascript version playable in browsers: http://langintro.com/js-vine/
I did a mini-Ludum Dare challenge with it http://www.thecatsweb.com/AllAreInvited/

Point and Click:
Adventure Game Studio: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/

More Text based:
ChoiceScript: http://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your- ... ipt-intro/
Undum: http://undum.com/

There was another html one that was posted here not too long ago...

Susan

[Dollywitch]

Awesome, thanks.

Also, are there ways of making things plug in with other things? Say I wanted to do the basic VN in Ren'py, but wanted to pass values out to another program and back? Is there a way to do that easily?

Also, how do I know which of those to use? Obviously I'd lean somewhat towards Ren'py as it's got the most support here, but the others seem pretty interesting.

[sake-bento]

GameMaker is the one being used for Cinders, to great effect. I think there was a group that ported a VN into UNITY. While UNITY is sort of a sledgehammer for a small problem, it's flexible enough that you could do all sorts of cool non-VN things in it (like cut to a FPS if you wanted).

[jack_norton]

Vera Blanc was ported to Unity, you can see a online demo here: http://www.winterwolves.com/webgames/verablancfullmoon
though I didn't code it myself so don't know how easy/hard it is!

[Dollywitch]

Yeah, I'd like a breakdown in terms of difficulty level to beginners. I've used actionscript3/Flash and Multimedia Fusion before, as well as done some C/C++ so I'm not entirely a newb but don't want much of a barrier between my ideas and the final product.

[Desu_Cake]

I'd recommend KiriKiri/KAG, but the lack of english documentation is a bit of a barrier. If you want to emulate some of the JVNs out there, it's very good though. (And it has NVL mode as default which is awesome)

[DaFool]

I would have grabbed Kirikiri if it had more support. But with ATL/Screen Language, Ren'Py games are now starting to not feel like Ren'Py games, even the ones I'm working on, which surprises even myself.

If you're going to be working with Adobe products, I think Zeiva packages in Flash (not sure if they use AIR, what Adobe recommends for packaged applications).

I've invested years into Ren'py, so I can count the people better at it than me on my fingers and toes. So it's just more logical for me to continue with it rather than trying to master an unfamiliar engine. But if you're just starting out, there's nothing to lose. Just remember to stick with your choice for years so you become a master at it -- it may prove beneficial to you in the long run.

[ThisIsNoName]

I've used Unity a bit and it's pretty easy to get into.

You can use Javascript and C#, and I imagine there wouldn't be too much of a learning curve for you going from Flash to Unity.

but like sake-bento said, it seems a bit drastic if you want a pretty standard VN.

[Percon]

Unity is actually super easy to use, even for those non-programmer types. Everyone is saying that it is a bit extreme for making a VN, and while they're right, if you want to make games in general and not just VNs, it might be worth learning (more so than Game Maker/RPGMaker).

If you REALLY want to get into it, there's nothing stopping you from making your own script compiler/application in... well, any language you want, really. You'd have a bit more freedom and it's a good learning experience. VNs are one of the easiest types of games to code, too.

Of course, if all you want to do is to get your game out as soon and as easily as possible, use the highest-level tool you can. I've never used Ren'Py but it seems flexible.

[Dollywitch]

I'm thinking of trying Construct 2 actually, since Construct was very similar to MMF(which I've used for years), and it exports to HTML5. I probably won't be using it for VNs though.

Is Ren'py the highest level tool available, OOI?

[LVUER]

Personally, I would recommend Game Maker. It's easy to use though rather difficult to master but you could make seriously awesome game (even 3D one) using GM. YoYoGames have released HTML5 version so for those who want to make games for all platform could buy it (unfortunately, HTML5 version is pretty expensive...). If you don't mind with Windows only platform, full version of GM is rather cheap and there's even the free version.

With GM, you could make almost any kind of game (as long as it's 2D, though some people could make 3D game out of it), be it FPS, shooter, RTS, RPG, adventure, action, platformer, and obviously... VN too.

Equivalent of GM, there's Construct 2. It's free but I never tried it before since it just refused to be installed in all of my computers (I have three)... that's not a good sign so I didn't bother with it anymore. I've heard lots of positive comments about it though... Lots of people comparing Construct 2 with GM, so if you already into GM, I don't see many reason to go to GM (or vice verse). Although you might want to consider that Construct 2 is relatively new and supported by a bunch of college students. Meaning we don't know how things go with Construct in the future.

Unity is a 3D game-maker software, so expect a high spec PC to run it properly. so you must consider both your PC spec and player PC spec. AFAIK, Unity is focused in making 3D FPS game but that doesn't mean you can't make other kind of game with it. There is free version of Unity, btw...

There's also Novelty. Like RenPy, it's a software to make VN, but instead of text-based, it's very graphical. I never tried so I can't say much, but people say it's easy to use Novelty to make VN. AFAIK, Novelty is still in beta stage (but already enough to make a proper VN).

[Percon]

AFAIK, Unity is focused in making 3D FPS game but that doesn't mean you can't make other kind of game with it.

Unity isn't tailored to any specific genre, though the tools available make it easier to build a 3D world than with any of the other tools listed in this thread.