Being friends with another visual novel creator?

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inkbrush
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Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#1 Post by inkbrush »

Hi lemmasoftians!

So, I had a thought pop into my mind today.


Does being friends with--or even just having someone you communicate with frequently--that's also creating a visual novel of their own . . . Does that help boost productivity?


I was thinking that if you had a friend that was also trying to make their own project a reality that you would communicate and share ideas and update them about your game . . . Do you think that might help boost your productivity?

So, not someone that's physically helping you create your game (other than maybe some idea bouncing here and there) but a person that's creating their own game. Someone that you give updates to and they give updates to you. i.e. when you finish your sprites, when you finish your script, when you're stuck on a piece of art or writing, etc.

I haven't tried doing it myself, but in my opinion, I feel like that would help creators be more motivated to FINISHING their game.

Do you have any friends that you talk to on Skype or Tumblr that are working on their own games? If so, do you think that helps to motivate you to work on and finish your own?
If not, what is your opinion on this matter? Do you think it might help boost productivity?

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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#2 Post by Mad Harlequin »

It's been helping me so far. I've made a few friends here, but I also know folks who are working on RPGs. I get a lot of screenshots from one such friend. Seeing another person's creative output boosts my motivation to write, which is a good thing for me.

I hope to run my drafts by my friends once they're complete.
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#3 Post by KittyKatStar »

Do you have any friends that you talk to on Skype or Tumblr that are working on their own games? If so, do you think that helps to motivate you to work on and finish your own?
Do you think it might help boost productivity?


Yep! I have a lot of friends who are working on their own visual novels. Some I've worked with before, and others I eventually started working on projects together.

Being able to discuss our progress - highs and lows is great. i.e. celebrate milestones, work through writer's block or brainstorming or even just how to react to a email or situation outside of VN development really helps. You get to share passion, talk about gaming mechanics, beta-test or even just get excited over something together. When someone reports they wrote X word count for a scene, then I tell myself I can't fall behind and need to keep going too.

So I think it's really useful. ^o^ Of course it's also easy to waste hours discussing stuff, so also be sure to keep track of what you're doing and have a schedule. XD
Last edited by KittyKatStar on Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#4 Post by MaiMai »

I started using Twitter more frequently since quite a few LSF people/VN devs use that site as a way to talk VN development and showing progress on their works... I have to say that I've been more productive art wise because of all of those progress shots. It makes me want to try out more things.
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#5 Post by trooper6 »

I think it depends on how you work.

For me, over the summer I had a writing buddy--another faculty member who also needed to work on her tenure book. We would meet everyday over the summer at a cafe and work for 5-6 hours on our projects. It was a really productive time. Now the school year has started, we haven't met to work and I haven't been as productive (neither has she). So for me, having an accountability partner has been really productive.
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#6 Post by Kinjo »

Yes. As the saying goes, "you are who you hang around", my motivation boosts when I'm around those who have similar goals as I do. When I'm around, or even talk to, people who aren't motivated to do anything, I lose the motivation I have for my own aspirations. But when I'm around people who share the goal of making a project and wanting to see other projects succeed, it's a reminder that I'm not alone in this quest and that we're willing to help each other out so that all of us can make something great together.

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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#7 Post by Tyrantauranox »

I agree 100% with KittyKatStar. Having someone to bounce ideas with can help out in so many ways. I love meeting with game devs, writers, painters, filmmakers, and other creative types.

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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#8 Post by truefaiterman »

Absolutely, having a partner working hard estimulates me a lot! Watching other creators making their best efforts, and delivering great quality results is pretty inspiring, and your own developement can boos their morale, too.
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#9 Post by Geckos »

Definitely. I've had someone that I talk to on a regular basis for about a year now. We often idea bounce and are always sending content back and forth, or talking about it. It's also nice that we both know a decent amount about coding for Ren'py and can help one another with those issues from time to time.

As a result of this we've been collaborating on more and more projects, actually. It's quite fun!

I generally end up doing the editing, coding and art for the projects I work on! (Not much of a writer but I'm a pretty good ideator and bouncer.)
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#10 Post by Railgun »

Yup. Better still is to have friends who share a similar way of thinking and friends who don't.
Those sharing the same interest will have an easier time understanding where you are going and those who don't (for instance, friends who are neither players nor game dev) will often give you insight you'd never have thought of. They can be brutally honest too ^^

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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#11 Post by underbliss »

Because my closest friends have abbbbsolutely no interest in visual novels(grrr!) and seem to tolerate any talking I do about the subject purely because of their affection for me, I partly attribute my preoccupation with forums like lemmasoft as filling ~the void.~

I can think of a few scenarios where having a visual novel dev buddy would backfire, but those are the sorts of things which would backfire in almost any relationship (like having a friend who makes you feel poorly, general negativity, etc). Further people in the depths of depression might feel poorly about themselves if their friends are accomplishing things and they're not, but hiding away tends to feed depression in the first place and I'm rapidly drifting from the point! Aside from that I imagine there are some people who completely 100% work best alone and a buddy who's coming in to their work/hobby space would only be distracting, but I suspect that's the great minority. Humans tend to be social as a rule, even if despite themselves.

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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#12 Post by KairuKyun »

I believe so. Invertmouse and I became chummy not to long ago, and he has been helping me motivate myself for the release of my own visual novel. He through ideas around with me, and taught me alot. He is my Senpai in the EVN industry. I recommend finding a good friend like that in this industry.
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#13 Post by Auro-Cyanide »

Yes, 100% yes. Being friends with other VN devs has saved me from going completely insane on multiple occasions. My friends in real life barely play games, let alone know what a VN is so being able to talk to these people has meant the world to me. It also helps that they are as driven as I am and we all push to make progress, be productive, be positive and help each other out. I definitely recommend finding the group of people you really click with that you can share work with that is full of spoilers, that you can go to for help and who you can just have a friendly chat with!

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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#14 Post by Alera »

Sadly I'm not close with any other VN creators, but Twitter is a useful place for me to make up with that. I just follow a lot of devs there, not only visual novel creators, but game devs in general and I find that quite inspiring. Still- it's only inspiring and not pushing me to work on things myself. I've found that the few times when I've tried working with other people- I've been really productive. It's just nice to share and bounce ideas. However as soon as the friend looses interest- everything collapses and the project gets abandoned, becoming a distant memory. :'<

But I've found I'm a better listener. I enjoy listening to other people's stories and supporting them! I feel more awkward talking myself for some reason. So if anyone wants me to listen about their project and cheer for them, I'm here (or could be skype or anywhere) OvO
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Re: Being friends with another visual novel creator?

#15 Post by Aviala »

I only know one or two VN creators, and those are through doing commissions. I guess it's a bit hard for me to make friends online since I don't like to chat by typing, and actually speaking through Skype or something is a bit scary. I kind of dragged my partner into making VN's though... First he was only supposed to do a bit of coding but now he's helping me with everything from world- and character building to doing all the coding. I do all the art, writing, marketing, directing and management but it really helps to have someone you can talk to about anything related to the project. He also keeps me motivated and makes me do all the stuff I don't feel like doing but that have to be done.

I'd like to know more VN devs though! Networking and all that, you know. So if anyone is interested in me or my project, feel free to drop me a message. :)

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