Blade Visual Novel Engine

[PyTom]

No, last time I've checked I haven't been banned from Wikipedia. In fact, I follow the rules as best as I can... that's why I'm letting other people write the Ren'Py article.

[mikey]

I'm sort of kicking myself for not promoting Ren'Py more. Blade has gotten alot of attention, and even a panel at Otakon. Not bad for something with no third-party games.

This is not very much US-related, but anyway... I can say that in my days I've written more than 15 bgame reviews for my club page, I've been presenting these games at cons for the last 2 years, often submitted news, but actually no one really cared. I mean there is what a handful of people from the Slovak (and Czech) community to whom bgames are a little bit more, but there are very few people who actually actively play them, let alone make something.

I was thinking not too long ago, whether this perhaps isn't caused by pitching it to the wrong community. I got to anime through games - I played games and discovered anime-styled games and later bgames through gaming - not through watching TV. So maybe if you'd like to spread the word, it's more meaningful to primarily address the gaming community. I'd say the freeware gaming communities around bonusweb.cz and doupe.cz would probably care more... as it's actually gamers and a lot of gamemakers who hang out in there, so an engine and new games would IMO be of more interest.

Well, I realize this is somewhat detached, as it's probably very specific to the Czech and Slovak community, but you see, Ren'Py has already been translated into Czech and stressing this again, the Czechs have a tradition in making dating sims, and IMO the Playboy series is vastly popular and known, and there've been attempts to make anime-styled games as well. So maybe introducing Ren'Py to those circles would be more "effective" than introducing it to the anime-fans.

Anyway, what does denzil think?

[Jake]

(Part of this is that I'd rather spend my limited time helping and growing the community, rather then on the crap required to make Ren'Py more professional.)

I guessed this was probably the case, but all the same... loading up that Blade demo with the guy and the boat and the island and the name I don't understand let alone remember, I could see why people might be led into thinking it was a better choice than Ren'Py. Being careful not to assert that it necessarily isn't, mind...

That said, I think another thing that Ren'Py loses out on PR-wise there is that the demo isn't really a demo, it's a tech demo, if you see what I mean - it shows off each of the cool features, but it does so in a detached and uninvolving way. The Blade demo I tried, on the other hand, is set as the intro to a full VN, and just happens to show off some cool features while it's there. As a result, all the things it shows you - the manga panels sliding in and the sound effects and so on - are all given much more impact by being contextualised properly. The Ren'Py demo is more technically impressive (not to mention longer and more fully-featured) but I suspect I'll remember the Blade one for a lot longer.

(In that respect, Moonlight Walks should be considered a far better demo for the engine...)

(And noone got my not-so-subtle wikipedia hint?)

I got it, then I remembered how much I dislike spending hours of my time arguing with fanatic deletionists who seem to universally believe that nothing which exists wholly on the web and doesn't get referenced by printmedia is 'notable' enough to be on Wikipedia. Myself, I'm broadly in the "a little information is a whole lot better than total ignorance" camp and think notability is a near-criminally egotistical criteria to place on encyclopaedia entries, and I think Ren'Py ought to have an article, but I don't have the time to trawl for enough 'supporting evidence' to make me believe it's worth writing one... yet. If you'll excuse my laziness. :/

[denzil]

This is not very much US-related, but anyway... I can say that in my days I've written more than 15 bgame reviews for my club page, I've been presenting these games at cons for the last 2 years, often submitted news, but actually no one really cared. I mean there is what a handful of people from the Slovak (and Czech) community to whom bgames are a little bit more, but there are very few people who actually actively play them, let alone make something.

I don't think it's that bad. I found about Ren'Py from your review and if I remember correctly the room was full during your presentation at Animefest in Brno (so many girls...). And english could be problem for lot of Czech\Slovak people possibly interested in those games (and possibly also in making them). Well, the Czech translation of Ren'Py is available for a while so it might take some time to gain interest of people (plus the manual is still untranslated and there isn't any czech tutorial).

So maybe if you'd like to spread the word, it's more meaningful to primarily address the gaming community. I'd say the freeware gaming communities around bonusweb.cz and doupe.cz would probably care more... as it's actually gamers and a lot of gamemakers who hang out in there, so an engine and new games would IMO be of more interest.

It's simple more coverage = more people interested in it. The Blade engine was covered by quite big sites (Slashdot for example) so there's no surprise there's quite lot of interest in it.

Well, I realize this is somewhat detached, as it's probably very specific to the Czech and Slovak community, but you see, Ren'Py has already been translated into Czech and stressing this again, the Czechs have a tradition in making dating sims, and IMO the Playboy series is vastly popular and known, and there've been attempts to make anime-styled games as well. So maybe introducing Ren'Py to those circles would be more "effective" than introducing it to the anime-fans.

It's worth a try. All that is needed is Czech tutorial, then try to submit Czech MW to those communities and wait. For English version it might be worth a try to submit it in this kind of communities (when Blade can be covered by Slashdot why not Ren'Py?)

Well I try to make Czech tutorial covering at least basics and put it here.

[mikey]

It's simple more coverage = more people interested in it. The Blade engine was covered by quite big sites (Slashdot for example) so there's no surprise there's quite lot of interest in it.

I do admit I'm very pessimistic these days, after so many reviews and so, the responses were almost exclusively asking me whether I could send them a copy of the game in question.

Anyway, what I can always do is submit cz/sk-related news to manga.sk's news column and put it on the forums.

... if I remember correctly the room was full during your presentation at Animefest in Brno (so many girls...).

Too bad I missed the cosplay one who stripped naked... ^_^

It's simple more coverage = more people interested in it. The Blade engine was covered by quite big sites (Slashdot for example) so there's no surprise there's quite lot of interest in it.

It's a point. And IMO it's even more effective than posting it on community forums.

It's worth a try. All that is needed is Czech tutorial, then try to submit Czech MW to those communities and wait. For English version it might be worth a try to submit it in this kind of communities (when Blade can be covered by Slashdot why not Ren'Py?)

There should be some kind of a convinced Ren'Py activist doing all this . I don't like promoting things, but OTOH it's through awareness that more people will be inspired.

Of course, this is nothing new ^_^ I don't even know why I said that

[ShiraiJunichi]

(Part of this is that I'd rather spend my limited time helping and growing the community, rather then on the crap required to make Ren'Py more professional.)

I think another thing that Ren'Py loses out on PR-wise there is that the demo isn't really a demo, it's a tech demo, if you see what I mean - it shows off each of the cool features, but it does so in a detached and uninvolving way. The Blade demo I tried, on the other hand, is set as the intro to a full VN, and just happens to show off some cool features while it's there. As a result, all the things it shows you - the manga panels sliding in and the sound effects and so on - are all given much more impact by being contextualised properly. The Ren'Py demo is more technically impressive (not to mention longer and more fully-featured) but I suspect I'll remember the Blade one for a lot longer.

You don't want to spend your time making Ren'Py more professional? Why not let this community pool all their talents to make a new demo? What Jake says makes a lot of sense. The Ren'Py demo is a bit boring in it's delivery. It explains Ren'Py as if the player has already decided they're going to use it. I think a better approach would be to first awe the player with what Ren'Py can do- until they decide they definitely want to use Ren'Py. Then show them all the technical stuff.
The demo as it stands doesn't justly display Ren'Py's power. When I saw monele's ImageDissolve tutorial, I was completely blown away- I had absolutely no idea. Some time later I played the Utsukushii demo, and all of a sudden sirens started blaring and the screen was flashing red, ships flying through hyper-space... It was intense, and all I could think was "wow...". I hadn't before thought of visual novels as being terribly exciting, but that frame of mind was shattered when I saw that demo. And it was all done using Ren'Py. I think it's that kind of experience that should first greet people who are new to Ren'Py. I think the demo needs that "wow" factor, to really get developers excited about using Ren'Py.

I advocate publicizing Ren'Py, and doing everything you can to make it appeal to others, because I think it's a very good, easy to use tool. IMO, making Ren'Py more professional will "grow the community". Making Ren'Py more professional, by giving it new art and a more exciting demo, could very well make Ren'Py more popular- putting it on the computers of untold numbers of developers who would otherwise be in the dark.

"Build it, and they will come" seems like a bit too romantic of an idea to me. I think that, "Build it, then erect billboards near every major highway advertising it, and they will come" is a bit more realistic and effective. Ren'Py can't fulfill it's purpose until it's gained the popularity it deserves. And that will require a professional look and a stronger appeal to developers as well as gamers.

We have several talented artists, composers, and writers here who I'm sure would love to contribute their efforts to give back to the game engine which they so highly value. So I really don't think it would even require a whole lot of Py'Tom's time- he could just be a sort of director that oversees and approves everything.

[PyTom]

What's worse, is that I've mostly been using the Ren'Py demo as a technical testbed. It's primary purpose nowadays is for me to run through it to be sure I didn't break anything.

If people are willing to volunteer to revise the tutorial, I'd appreciate it. (I suggest we move future work on this into a thread in the Ren'Py forum.)

[RedSlash]

Why not let this community pool all their talents to make a new demo?

I think this would be a time to call for a ren'py demo contest! Since, we've been lacking new games since the last nanoreno, this would be an opportunity to start up something. Etiher that, or it can be a big collaborative project between all the forum members combined, which would be cool too.

If people are willing to volunteer to revise the tutorial, I'd appreciate it.

Wiki it?

[Blue Lemma]

[a bunch of good stuff =:3]

I agree! Let's band together to help Ren'Py get out there

I'll do what I can with publicity on Lemma Soft. I don't have any Ren'Py experience, though, so that might be the extent to which I can help ^_^;

[PyTom]

I mistyped, and meant to say demo rather then tutorial. But the tutorials could also use updating.

Anyway, I wrote more about this here, just to get this thread on topic.

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 5666#15666

[shaja]

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

[mikey]

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

... and that despite the fact that the bride is more experienced, sexier, and you can do things with her that the younger one never heard of.

[RedSlash]

LOL

[monele]

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

... and that despite the fact that the bride is more experienced, sexier, and you can do things with her that the younger one never heard of.

Best analogy of the week XD

[DaFool]

Hello everyone!

The meeting with Buredo was a very benefitting experience.
It is always great to meet face to face within the team and discuss about the current issues of the project.

We reviewed feedbacks from our users, and spent days to talk about the future add-ons and improvements for the current / next version of Blade Engine.

For those who are interested in to see how our meeting was like, we've uploaded our meeting video on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRErag7AkxA

Ok, here comes the official announcement.

For the next version of BE, we will add the following features.

- Compatible with DirectX 9
- Movie Play Feature
- Max choice selection text will be 32 characters
- File Packing Ability*
- Flag and jump functions
- Accept JPG for background
- Menu text, looks, option screen customization
- Animated Layer support

*Pro version only

Aimed release date for next version of BE: October 2006

Also, we will be adding new sample game with horror themed story, created by Buredo.

...and here is another exciting news!

We are also developing Windows Mobile version of Blade Engine simultaneously with regular Windows version.

We are very excited for the future development of Blade Engine, and are always looking forward to your feedbacks.
If you have additional feedbacks or request for future version of Blade Engine, please let us know.

Thank you all for your support and we look forward to hearing from you all.

Nice, that's getting really up to speed!

In other news, just downloaded the demo for Narcissu 2, let me just say wow ^_^.