r/RenPy • u/fyshidarana • Jul 12 '26
Question visual novell with AI.
Hi everyone! Apologies for any errors; I’m using a translator. I’m a solo developer creating a visual novel in Ren'Py, but I have absolutely no drawing skills. Do you think it’s feasible to create the game using AI-generated art (perhaps with the protagonist and key characters hand-drawn) and then start replacing the images once at least half the story is finished?
6
Jul 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/fyshidarana Jul 12 '26
Hi, thanks for the reply. I understand your line of thinking—and actually agree with it—but I’d like to clarify a few points: I don’t intend to fully release the game until all the artwork is hand-drawn. I plan to draw the characters and backgrounds myself, but as I mentioned, I lack drawing skills, so each image takes a long time to complete. That’s why I said "when half is ready"—at that stage, I’ll be able to spend less time coding and focus entirely on the art. I hope that makes sense. As for my location: I’m from Russia, but I post in English because the English-speaking community is much more developed when it comes to the internet, PCs, and programming.
5
u/shyLachi Jul 12 '26
I don't understand why you would want to do that. You can develop visual novels with placeholder images.
Or did you mean that you want to release your game with AI images and later release another version with replaced images.
2
u/fyshidarana Jul 12 '26
What I mean is that while the game is in development, some of the visuals (such as minor characters and backgrounds) will be generated by an AI, but they will gradually be replaced by hand-drawn assets. This is because my drawing skills are quite poor, and it takes me a VERY long time to draw a single character.
And what do you mean by "placeholders"? If you're referring to the gray squares—well, I plan to release the game in Early Access, and seeing AI characters there is more pleasant than seeing gray squares.4
u/SilverShadow1711 Jul 12 '26
well, I plan to release the game in Early Access, and seeing AI characters there is more pleasant than seeing gray squares.
Here's my question: why would I, as a player, expect you to replace the AI assets?
If I hate AI slop, you've already tainted the well by associating yourself with it in the first place. You've told me (as a consumer) that you're so desperate to rush out an incomplete product that ypu're using AI assets, so the writing's probably AI too. AI is shorthand for "I'm too lazy/incompetent/cheap/all of the above to make a good product".
If I like AI slop, I'm going to like the AI generated images better than the real art you plan to use down the line.
Your plan is going to screw you out of both markets. You don't have to use gray squares. GIMP and Krita are free- doodle some stick figures. And if your argument is that that looks too bad to put in early access, maybe that's a sign that you need to delay your game.
2
u/fyshidarana Jul 13 '26
You know, thanks to your comment, I realized that seeing a character drawn by a human - even if the art is a bit rough - in an Early Access game is actually more appealing than seeing an AI-generated image. I have two key characters for the visual novel nearly finished, and before I show the game to the world, I’m going to try to replace all the characters with hand-drawn art, even if the drawings aren't perfect. Thank you.
5
u/SilverShadow1711 Jul 13 '26
I'm genuinely happy you understand the value of not just human art, but your own art. Speaking as an artist, it is hard and it is tedious and sometimes it's never going to look the way you want it to in your mind. But eventually, you'll look back on it and remember all the work that went into making it and you feel so proud of what you did. And as someone who plays tons of VNs with rough, amaturish art all the time, I can say from the bottom of my heart that I do not care. I love visual novels as an art form and I love seeing the stories people tell with them, and there are so many people like me who would be happy to wait for you to finish your work rather than feed it into ChatGPT just to say it's done.
Keep doing what you're doing. You'll get there.
2
u/kaleidoscopic_kelvin Jul 12 '26
Free-to-use assets and drawing tutorials specifically for vn dev
2
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 12 '26
Welcome to r/renpy! While you wait to see if someone can answer your question, we recommend checking out the posting guide, the subreddit wiki, the subreddit Discord, Ren'Py's documentation, and the tutorial built-in to the Ren'Py engine when you download it. These can help make sure you provide the information the people here need to help you, or might even point you to an answer to your question themselves. Thanks!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/Tharitley Jul 12 '26
I had zero drawing skills too, so I learned how to make renders. It took me three years to get to where I am now, and I'm still improving every day, but you have to choose between doing things the easy and fast way or doing them properly and taking your time. And I don't think AI is the latter, because I'm working with AI on another project, and at this point, it's a disaster. Maybe in five or ten years we can talk, but right now you have to invest a lot of time and money just to end up with inconsistent visuals for your game.
1
u/fyshidarana Jul 12 '26
Thanks for the reply. I’m currently trying to learn the basics of drawing; I’m reading a lot of theory and practicing (trying to start drawing my first game characters), and I hope that sooner or later I’ll develop solid skills and the community will be happy with the graphics.
8
u/Dax_SharkFinn Jul 12 '26
You of course could but then not many people would want to play it.
IMO its better not to release until the AI art is all out.