Hate To Be A Bother But...

[LightsGreatTree]

Hi This is LightsGreatTree (Lights for short) and I am sorta new to VN's. I write long stories mostly and one of my offline friends (and main artist since I suck in that regard) said "I think this would make a great visual story thing. Wonder if they have those." While she loves anime she didn't know much about English VN's until I mentioned it.

I have basic ideas for several novels (all more or less connected by recurring characters) and the main genres would be "Action/Adventure, Fantasy, slight scifi, or Supernatural with a hint of romance" Neither of us really cares for the pokemon motto of "Gotta Catch them ALL!" if you get my meaning (romance or guy/girl collecting) hence romance will not be "Oh look a new addition to my harem" but flow more naturally via certain choices (maybe).

The first story is actually told to the main character by someone who knew her grandfather when he was her age (18). Like this.

Royce: You remind me so much of Ziv when he was young.
Cassandra (MC): Oh? Before or after you went crazy?
Royce motions her comment away: He was a skeptic. -Flash back 1-

I was originally just going to leave it as a novel but due to my ultimate desire to make games in general here I am. Ziv Daiku's story may be told in small parts like missions or simply stand alone.

The main idea for the story at the moment is: Cassandra arrives to Ranceford, Hawaii (yes it's a made up city and first place to pop into my head. Will change) due to her grandfathers sudden request to see her. Never knowing of the supernatural/Mother's side of family, she gets into trouble. A ball/party is thrown for her coming of age and Ziv's former partner Royce Davidson is set free (though a bond formed between him and Cass) Loud noises in the ballroom sets off a massacre (okay 3-4 people who broke in die horribly thanks to Royce), Keita Tsukino survives thanks to Cassandra hence forming a life debt type of thing.

She wants nothing to do with all this but the longer she stays in Ranceford the more harder it is to leave. Namely due to the Council thinking she may be linked to the murders of the most influential members of the international sup(ernatural) community that began days after her arrival.

I know way too adventurous for a newbie but still it's best to list something here. Ziv's stories will probably be Kinetic though due to them being 'memories' so to say.

If anyone has any advice, good luck prayers, random comments, or simply interesting to know more then type things up here or send me a message(?). Also should I attempt the kinetic novels using ren'py for Ziv while using Cassandra's adventures (due to action and fight scenes) for a game maker type of engine?

Many Thanks for listening to me...
LightsGreatTree

[Efreet]

Welcome!

It seems like you got plenty of ideas towards your story, and it's a good start that you've broken it down into small parts - are you thinking of releasing self-contained chapters as seperate games or all in one game?

Ren'Py would be fine in making a kinetic novel - all you have to do is write out the plan out the script alongside the images and music you'd like to use. However, looking at your last sentence, it seems to me that you want to implement a "mini-game" with your novel - is this correct? If they're seperate then it's like I stated before, but if you want a mini-game inside your VN, it could be pretty difficult depending on what you want to do...

Some tips - plan and write down everything - ideas, changes, inspirations. Even though you're making a kinetic novel, have you thought about using a diagram for your story? It's a great way to adjust the flow of your story and see how it all fits on a timeline. Good luck and don't be dissuaded by all the work... =p

[Wright1000]

If you are new to Ren'py, I suggest you practice making some short games before you try to make a minigame. The coding for minigames are very difficult.

[HikkiPanda]

If you think your VN is a bit too big, maybe split it into 2 VN? or maybe a trilogy ?

Good luck with the project ^^

[LightsGreatTree]

Sorry for the late reply. I didn't have a computer to respond with. Thank you for your advice (especially Efreet). In regards to the story. I'm thinking of breaking it down then when I get a few visual novels up I'll be putting it up together. Yes, me and my offline friend are working on diagrams and timelines. Ziv's stories/missions take place in our present. Between 10-20 years from now Ziv joins the council. 20-35(ish) years from then Cassandra makes her entrance.

The diagram branched off from there.

Originally it was going to be in flash since my friend owns a copy but then she saw the programming language for Ren'Py and she was going. "This is WAY easier!"

I'll post more questions as the come along. Thank you everyone for reading this.

[bunny-gypsy]

Good luck with it! =)

[LightsGreatTree]

Thank you bunny-gypsy! I really appreciate it! I wish you the best luck as well.