Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

For discussion and support of other visual novel engines.
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Ispheria
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Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

#1 Post by Ispheria »

I decided to switch engines when this plug-in for Unreal 4 came out https://forums.unrealengine.com/communi ... tem-plugin

It occurred to me that many people might not even have considered Unreal for making visual novels, or if they did, they might not have known what to do because it's so different from something like say...renpy. They might have found this https://forums.unrealengine.com/communi ... tem-in-ue4 but it relies on using a spreadsheet which might not appeal to a lot of people.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone's interested in using a node based system for writing their games, cause I was thinking about making a pretty long tutorial series about it.

mikolajspy
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Re: Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

#2 Post by mikolajspy »

I've been using Unreal Engine for a veeery long time, I even tried to make my own VN system when I was working on my first game, and came with few conclusions.

1) It's way too overkill for such simple game (mechanics wise). Basic UE4 has pretty high requirements to run, even without art maxed out. And with VNs graphics isn't too demanding (unless you plan to use 3D scenes, not drawn backgrounds).
2) It has rather steep learning curve, the UI can scare most of starting users.
3) Community - on UE4 forums you won't find VN specifics, and the VN creators using UE4 is rather small, you might never find the answer you need. On the contrary, quick google about RenPy usually gives answer, if not, ask on forums and you might get right answer even the same day!
4) Pricing - you'll want professional accountant to handle things if you want to go commercial, UE4 license is % based, RenPy is free (thank you so much PyTom!)

Ispheria
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Re: Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

#3 Post by Ispheria »

1. I agree thats it's overkill for anything simple, but if you want to add any gameplay stuff at all, it's way better than something like renpy. And using 3D backgrounds makes it easier to have stuff animating in the background. I've always found it kind of jarring when stuff in the background that should be animated is just a flat picture.
2. I completely disagree. Widgets are a whole lot nicer to work with than having to guess if you set the right pos and width and stuff. And having an actual animation editor makes animating anything not included in renpy a lot easier.
3. That's why I was thinking about making a pretty long video tutorial series on making a visual novel in unreal. I was going to cover everything from the basics to more complicated stuff like adding mini games, and using 3D backgrounds and even triggering sequencer cinematics and stuff. If you need writing advice or something, these forums are always here. But there's no point if no one's interested.
4. Did I make $3,000 a quarter? Then pay 5% to unreal. The math really isn't that hard. Kudos to renpy though.

xermao
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Re: Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

#4 Post by xermao »

thank you very much,I have looking for a visual novel lib for ue4 a long time.But no one found,so I develop it myself,it takes me more than a month.but now I can use this cool lib.This will save my time.

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Re: Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

#5 Post by ocimpean »

Very interesting, thank you.

Ispheria
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Re: Any interest in creating visual novels using Unreal 4?

#6 Post by Ispheria »

Ok, super sorry for the really long wait. To be honest I just stopped checking this post about a week after posting it. And then I checked it again a few days ago and saw some yes responses and felt bad I kept you waiting. So I finally started the series over here

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO ... LZuzOfVfHd

I don't have any art yet so when it comes time to switch to 3d I might take a small break between making videos to make some (lousy) art, but other than that, I'll probably post a video every 1 - 2 days since I'm busy working on my own game now. Hope this series helps and it was worth the wait. And sorry again for that wait.

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