There will be a few questions however they all co-relate to the same two(or technically three) questions: Can this be done & where do I start if this can be done. Or if it cannot be done (by me) what budget should I expect to prepare (roughly) if I were to hire someone to do this for me?
It's a lot of text so I will try to write it as short and clear as possible!
To start of I am a coding noob. All I have been able to do in the past are the basic VN's (dialogue, assets, choices, heart systems, name input ("your name"), clickable maps/UI buttons, persistent variable in the settings, making NVL appear as a chat screen).
No mini games or anything. I have not yet dabbled into inventory/currency either.
I am willing to learn but sometimes get overwhelmed by information, however I do realise coding is a lot about thoroughly reading what everything does and then trial and error. I am aware it would take time for me to learn how to do these things and I am willing to put in the time, however I get overwhelmed and have a really hard time to determine what I should be looking for. Where to start. What functions/knowledge this requires etc. What keywords to type in etc.
I am currently planning a game that is basically a mixture between this game, this game and games like Choices/Chapters and the like. As well as the influence of popular dating/social media shows like Love is Blind, Are You The One and The Circle.
Quick rundown of what it is and the functions I envision (The blue text is what I don't know how to do at all. I hope this makes it easier to understand what I am stuck on.) :
What is it?
Set in a fantasy world it's basically closely related to the first game (picka) where you are on a dating show that lasts for 30 days. This will therefore require a messaging system where you can select choices from time to time, where I can add in pictures in the chat etc.
Different from the first game however is that I do want to implement actual sprites (so scenes where you are on the dates instead of commentary in the chatroom). Including an shop/inventory where you can buy items to give on dates.
All the "mini games" can be done through the text system, as well as how you earn the currency to buy anything so I don't need a game within a game on top of it.
If I go the mobile App route these are the functions I am looking for:
- When you open the app you're not directed to a "save file" but rather it remembers you and where you left of. (Looking into this)
- In the app you can switch between tabs/chats aka it saves all the chats you've had so far. (I only know I need persistent data but nothing beyond that)
- Next scenes could be locked by IRL time (like in picka sometimes you need to wait 24h for the next chapter OR you could unlock it now with currency).
- Microtransactions /currency that can be bought with real money
- As well as currency that you can earn through dates/completing the "mini games"
- Potentially then also a spin the wheel for free currency or watching ads to gain free currency
- The option to start from the beginning where it deletes your process and you can start the story again (for replay-ability. I assume I just need persistent data for this and redirecting someone to the first scene)
- I also require the player to choose a character profile which would switch the storyline a little (but I assume that in both cases this can be done by using an image map and then using variables and if statements when this comes up in text?)
^ Although I would need to figure out how to change the MC's picture based on what they choose and I am unsure of how to do this.
I think I could maybe figure out the tabs, locking of scenes, starting over from the beginning etc. However I am at a loss for what to look into/where to start with the other things.
Question 1.a If yes, what do I need to look into for the functions mentioned above?
Question 1.b If no, with what could this be done? Where do I start?
If the mobile app cannot be done (by me) I realise I need to switch gears completely and alter the entire thing in normal Ren'py VN style. In which case I would be looking for these functions:
- I would work with savefiles then but inside of your save file I still would want you to be able to switch between chats and have the system remember all the chats until now. I know I should probably use persistent data to some extend for the remembering part but I struggle figuring out what I need to look into to make the switching chats a possibility.
- This also means that new "scenes" could be added in the same tab. (example: Say scene 1 is done in a group chat, scene 2 in a private chat but scene 3 is in the group chat again. I would want it to resemble a true message system where you can still see everything from scene 1 but scene 3 now gets added underneath).
- inventory/ fake in game currency (I think I would be able to figure this out myself. If not I can always open a topic on it when I truly struggle)
- Here I also need my player to choose a character profile. (I would do this with an imagemap, variables and if statements. I think I can do this myself.)
- But! Here the same issue where I would need to figure out how to change the MC's picture based on what profile they picked.
Question 2. If I were to make this version would it be doable to let a professional programmer make an app out of it like the first example later on?
Question 2.a Would that price differ from if I would let that be done from the beginning?
Question 3. What should I look into for the above functions I cannot do atm?
I realise that this is an ambitious project and that the normal VN style would be much more doable for me, but I do prefer to make a mobile app so I am really curious if I somehow can make this happen.
If not I would like to know how much I need to roughly save up to make this happen through somebody else.
If you read all of this thank you for your patience. I hope you can help me.