VN Engine for the Web

[Shad12ow]

Hello there!
Just want to ask your opinion.
I want to make a VN that can be viewed by a browser without the need of downloading anything. I mean that you just type the link and play. That's it.
What engine do you recommend? For now I'm trying to use WebStory Engine, but since the documentation is somewhat lacking, I am progressing in a slow pace.
Thank you all!
And sorry if a similar thread was already here. I've try to look for it, but either there is none or I failed to understand the content of the thread, hehehe...

[netravelr]

For ease of use, WebStory is probably good. I'd also look into Flash as I've seen a ton of VNs being done in it. I'm using Unity right now to prototype a VN engine, but that's more work than you'd probably want to do for something similar. You could also look into doing something with HTML5 since it'll just be text and images... Either way, good luck!

[Shad12ow]

For ease of use, WebStory is probably good. I'd also look into Flash as I've seen a ton of VNs being done in it. I'm using Unity right now to prototype a VN engine, but that's more work than you'd probably want to do for something similar. You could also look into doing something with HTML5 since it'll just be text and images... Either way, good luck!

Hmm, I see. I guess I'll choose WebStory for now.
I've tried Flash before. Tried once to program a game, good engine. And not to mention that it has unlimited possibility for animation. So maybe I'll try that as well later.

[Ryue]

Depending on what you really want to do you could also just go with "normal" html/php (or html/.net).
There are some nice "tricks" to do animations quite nicely with just plain old javascript (and also extremely easy to implement).

[Shad12ow]

Hmm, for myself maybe using html/.net will be the quickest since it is the language used in my everyday work.
And maybe I can use XML as the data storage like in WebStory.
Not a bad idea. Not bad at all...

[Ryue]

Hmm, for myself maybe using html/.net will be the quickest since it is the language used in my everyday work.
And maybe I can use XML as the data storage like in WebStory.
Not a bad idea. Not bad at all...

Tbh: If you want to do it fast use that what you use in everydays work.
(I'm a php programer myself so always thinkiing of how to implement things in php first than any other solution).


Either XML or a database......with a vn...depending on what you want to do in it you should always consider that you also need to save data per player
(where are they at in the vn,.... but only if that is relevant somehow or there is some sort of saving possible).

I just love databases more than xml because of their better performance when it comes to masses of data^^
(at least so far I have seen nothing programed with xml that could access data faster)

[Shad12ow]

I know that database is better for handling masses of data. But somehow I just want to explore another language.
Let's just say I want to have an "adventure" in the unknown realm of the unknown language. Hehehe...
But then the pace is going to be slow.
Well, back to the drawing board for me then. I need to really think about the best engine first.
Thank you for the input guys!

[C7N]

@Shad12ow:

I would be interested in what parts of the WebStory Engine documentation you'd like to see improved. It's difficult for me as the developer to see what information VN developers really want to know about the engine. You could say, as the developer of something, you are a little clueless about that because you already know all about the stuff you are making and thus have a rather different perspective. So, your help would be much appreciated even if you decide not to use the engine. Thanks!

[Shad12ow]

@Shad12ow:

I would be interested in what parts of the WebStory Engine documentation you'd like to see improved. It's difficult for me as the developer to see what information VN developers really want to know about the engine. You could say, as the developer of something, you are a little clueless about that because you already know all about the stuff you are making and thus have a rather different perspective. So, your help would be much appreciated even if you decide not to use the engine. Thanks!

True word of a developer, eh? Hahaha...
As a developer myself, that is always the problem that hit me whenever I have to write a documentation.
This is where tester hold a very important role, don't you think?
I am going to use this engine by the way, so I'll help you with stuff like that.
Ah, since this is my first time using it, so expect a lot of question from me, hehehe...

[DaFool]

I recall there was one engine that can import Ren'Py syntax, saving the creator from having to rescript anything.
One that could translate Ren'Py language to javascript for HTML5 would be neat.

[netravelr]

I recall there was one engine that can import Ren'Py syntax, saving the creator from having to rescript anything.
One that could translate Ren'Py language to javascript for HTML5 would be neat.

Agreed. If this was done it'd be a lot easier to get people to switch over to WebStory as it'd obviously be less work on their end. I'm unsure at how it would work if someone actually did python coding at all though.

[freemind]

Hey,

I'm also developing a web engine for visual novels, you might want to try it out. It's still in alpha stage, so probably isn't reliable for production yet.
Anyway you can check this thread for more information.

[Shad12ow]

Okay!
I've download it. Will try it later.
Thank you!

[C7N]

I'm unsure at how it would work if someone actually did python coding at all though.

Well, there are some Python to JavaScript compilers out there and I'm aware of at least one Python interpreter written in JavaScript.
http://www.skulpt.org/

I'm not really familiar with writing Ren'Py scripts, but I really like the idea of using the language for WebStories, too. The reason I used XML for the scripting was that it spared me from writing a parser. But since I'd like to learn more about the topic, maybe that would be a nice way to practice it. And I have to admit that Ren'Py scripts look a lot nicer than XML...