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Has anyone ever made a VN in PowerPoint? It seems like it has everything necessary to make a simple kinetic novel. I think it would make for an excellent prototyping tool for VNs.

You know, that would be plausible, but I don't know anyone who has ever used PowerPoint for a kinetic novel. The immediate downsides I can think of is that you can't customize a GUI, and adjust sounds, music, voices, text speed; no CG gallery, save states if it's a particularly long story...

Then again, the last version of Powerpoint I used was from the Office 2007. I'm not sure what the capabilities of the newest PowerPoint is so you may be onto something about it being a prototyping tool.

PowerPoint software lets people use text, images, sound, and video clips. And if I recall correctly, the slides do not have to be shown in order. That's reasonably close to a visual novel.

Groups such as Okashi Studios have hosted panels at fan conventions, and used PowerPoint (or a similar program) to convey information. You can use it in your own presentations and discussions. Also, it can be an alternative to creating a demo.

You can make a choose-your-own adventure using Youtube and embedded video links. It'll probably be more user friendly and exciting.

my cents:
>it's kinda like a drag and drop VN engine
>it's not free to use
>I find the idea interesting
>hardcoding in renpy should be easier than drag and dropping stuff in PowerPoint
...
related: a VN in HTML5 is a better idea

It can be done; I'd thought about using Powerpoint, but decided to go with Visual Novelty instead. The reader/player would need a Powerpoint Viewer (free from Microsoft) if they don't already have the Powerpoint program installed.

MaiMai wrote:You know, that would be plausible, but I don't know anyone who has ever used PowerPoint for a kinetic novel. The immediate downsides I can think of is that you can't customize a GUI, and adjust sounds, music, voices, text speed; no CG gallery, save states if it's a particularly long story...

Then again, the last version of Powerpoint I used was from the Office 2007. I'm not sure what the capabilities of the newest PowerPoint is so you may be onto something about it being a prototyping tool.

Yeah it wouldn't make for a compelling final product. But it'd be great for say, artists who want to experiment with the look and animation feel of the game and finalize before giving it to the programmer to implement. Think of it as an animated Photoshop Template.

DaFool wrote:You can make a choose-your-own adventure using Youtube and embedded video links. It'll probably be more user friendly and exciting.

Now that's an interesting idea. Never thought of that. Maybe you could even make a multi-route anime out of that.

curry nochi rice wrote:my cents:
>it's kinda like a drag and drop VN engine
>it's not free to use
>I find the idea interesting
>hardcoding in renpy should be easier than drag and dropping stuff in PowerPoint
...
related: a VN in HTML5 is a better idea

You might wanna take a look at the link in my sig if you're interested in a browser based VN.

Wow, I remember doing a visual novel type of thing back in 4th grade in power point.
I'll just give my two cents on my experience back when I was younger:
It was easy and fun to be honest (though I had a template already)
There were buttons that lead to certain pages (just like one of those choose your own adventures little bookies)
Animations-you kind of had to click to start it up, so that could get annoying since then you gotta click again when it ends.
Plus, as far as I know...Power point on that part hasn't changed much.

If you wanted to make a kinetic novel:
truthfully, it'd probably be prettier without that much extra work even if you did it somewhere else
It'll make the reader do more clicking than wanted probably if there'll be animations or something
(unless they added a feature that didn't have that type of thing and just went ahead with the animation
then, hey~ sounds like a good idea. Why not?)

Could be good for testing simple effects, but handling a script of any kind of size is going to quickly become painful.

I think it's very possible to make a visual novel in powerpoint, especially in PowerPoint 2016.
Powerpoint allows you make short routes or a linear story.
Powerpoint allows you to design a simple gui.
- Granted, your won't be able to do controls for sounds or save states.
But you CAN make menus.
You can add sound effects, music, and voice acting!
Powerpoint let's you add videos for cutscenes as well.
You can even make mini games in powerpoint or add flash games if you know how to integrate them.

You don't have to click to advance to the next slide if you know how to program it.

I want to make a PowerPoint Visual Novel to demonstrate it's capabilities.
Every engine has pros and cons.

Yes its possible to make power point games.
I did make many games in visual novelstyle.
Even with the possibilty to make own decissions.
Power Point is the easyst way to create a novel or labyrinth game.
With nice effect too.
But now I want to create games more proffesional and for android thats the most inportant part.
But I think I will use Power Point again for Pc.
Even Fights in form of minigame was possible.

I mean, as someone who lives in powerpoint sometimes for my day job, you definitely could...

but why exactly do you want to create a visual novel using Powerpoint? Just to prototype? I would recommend twine instead, it was built specifically for telling nonlinear/interactive stories!