New "visual" visual novel engine with no programming

[JamesSwish419]

Hi. I've over the past week I've made a little visual novel engine that requires no programming (in the usual sense, anyway) and allows you to see how your game looks as you make it.
Here is a download to a demo: http://www.mediafire.com/download/zsctd ... eator1.zip
The demo contains some free resources I found on the internet, and a sample project to get you started. It needs Java to run, so make sure you have the latest version installed.
Here are some tutorials I made http://imgur.com/a/dCGCp (getting started) and http://imgur.com/a/CgAo9 (more instructions).
Please give me all feedback - bug reports, features requests, problems, positive and negative.
Thanks!

[firecat]

but what makes it better, python is easier to code for beginners while java is harder. on the customize side of things, it seems like its only for windows and nothing else can be added. lastly it seems like any other VN where its just basic story but nothing better where you can add cutscenes, point system, and rpg battles.

[JamesSwish419]

Hi,
First there is no Java programming! I wrote the program in Java, but the user makes the game out of the "blocks" as you can see in the screenshot. I think this is a lot easier than Python, especially for new users.
Secondly, yes it is currently only for Windows. That said, Java is somewhat portable, so a Linux and Mac port shouldn't be too difficult, an Java can be integrated into webpages as applets, but I'm not sure if all browsers support it anymore. I'll probably have to write a run-time in JavaScript or something, but we'll see how that goes. Android actually runs on Java, so a mobile port could be possible as well.
Finally, at the moment you can't really do things like complex animation, but there are variables so point systems and RPG battles would be kinda feasible, just a bit tricky right now.
I'm mostly trying to smooth out how the preview window works at the moment, but I'll be sure to add some more customization options which allow more complex games to be built.
Thanks for your feedback.

[fleet]

Looks promising!

[Alte]

Does it allow customization for the project's screen resolution?
From the screenshot, the engine resembles to WYSIWYG.

[JamesSwish419]

Currently, you can change the resolution of the game to anything you want, but the game window is fixed at 1280x720, while the preview window is re-sizable. I'm going let the user configure the size of the game window in the future though.
I don't really know if it counts as WYSIWYG, because you can only interact with the preview window in certain cases (mainly dealing with characters ATM). It's mostly designed to act as a visual aid while you make long scenes.
I actually haven't made a visual novel before, so I'd be interested to see if you think it'd help.

[ChronoWorkS]

Oh, this looks cool, I will try it.

[lamb]

Interesting. I'll check it out and give you some feedback. Would you prefer a direct post to this thread or a private message?

[JamesSwish419]

@lamb Sorry for the late reply. Just post them in the thread, thanks