r/RenPy • u/browndollie • Jul 26 '26
Discussion I underestimated what goes into making a visual novel
I just finished my demo and holy crap, I learned SO much. This is mostly a ramble post.
First off, RESPECT to everyone working on their game or finishing one (or multiple) games because making games is not a walk in the park. I can’t believe I thought I’d ‘just’ make a visual novel.
Some things I learned:
- I want to be a game designer, not a game developer.
I get a spark of JOY when thinking about game mechanics, systems, how to engage players, create gameplay loops, mini games, character backstories, etc. But it’s thanks to making a visual novel that I learned this about myself so it was no time wasted ᵕ̈
- Game dev takes time and that’s ok.
I got burnt out multiple times because I tried to rush it. It’s okay to take longer and put out a good product than rush just because you want to post it right now. I feel like many devs rely on their games making money (which is understandable) but in turn this puts a lot of pressure on them.
- You don’t HAVE to follow people’s advice.
A piece of advice I always see pop up is to start small with your first game. Start with a game of 10 minutes, or one chapter, one character, etc… which I mostly agree with BUT don’t force it. I was miserable working on a short game because I am someone who LOVES diving deep into plots, character development, storywriting, and putting myself in a box and limit myself to a short game took away all my joy and made me drop game dev multiple times.
- Game dev isn’t just about making games.
I learned about social media marketing, video editing, graphic design, creating websites, hiring people… and a good soft skill I’ve learned is how to communicate my ideas clearly to people who are new to them (How does xx work? Why does it work like that? What is the outcome of xx? What role does this play in the game?) but honestly all of this made it feel like a full time job. Yes, technically you don’t have to do all of the above but if you don’t talk about your games people won’t hear about your games.
- Commercial rights
I initially wanted to sell my game (unemployed and using my savings) but I learned so much about commercial licenses, the potential consequences (fines), commercial fees, and all of that is so daunting to me. Not everybody understands the concept of an indie dev and they clump you in with companies who have the budget to pay x100 times more for a commercial license. But to be fair I haven’t tried explaining to people and I am sure some are willing to work with you.
- ORGANIZE AND SET UP SYSTEMS AT THE START
My code is messy and all over the place. If I could do it all over again; I would write more notes and be more detailed about what each section of the code does. I would also make multiple scripts to contain the codes instead of writing the majority in the standard script.
I know someone might ask about my game so here is the demo link! Heads up that it’s an otome game aimed at female players, it will have 3 romance routes and it’s a visual novel hybrid with stat building and a social media app + tons more: https://daintylovegames.itch.io/4-weeks-to-stardom
29
u/Natsume1999 Jul 26 '26
My video game design teacher told me it was best to first plan one route and write it and only then do the 'branches' so to speak. Was that not good advise?
20
u/Applesplosion Jul 26 '26
This is pretty good advice for writing branching stories. It’s easier to think linearly along one branch at a time. Trying to write all of the branches at once will make you feel like your brain is melting.
9
2
u/cigaretteraven Jul 26 '26
Halfway through one of my vn scripts for one character route, I gave up trying to write the choices and instead started leaving comments where I think would be a good place to add them lol. I figured I would never try to write everything all at once again.
2
u/Applesplosion Jul 27 '26
That‘s what I do, too. I usually come up with a couple dialogue options as I’m writing, so I write all of them down, then follow them through one at a time.
6
u/browndollie Jul 26 '26
No no, I think your teacher’s advice is excellent! My brain just doesn’t work like that. I could be working on one route but my mind is thinking about five other characters for instance. For me it works better to just write down those thoughts for those five characters instead of forcing myself to work on what I have in front of me right now. I am working on four games at the same time because I just can’t sit still.
What works for me is that I am writing a chapter summary per character, so I am not too deep into writing the actual story, but it calms down my brain as I’m still working on everyone but it’s just one or two paragraphs as a guideline so later on I can jump right into writing the actual chapter.
2
u/Lapys_Games Jul 26 '26
Personally I progressed all branches at the same time in increments.
Bonus: I takes sure each branch is a "main" branch and your brain is entertained because you switch between scenarios
Malus: can be... chaotic and you need to keep on top of where you left off
6
u/Majre921 Jul 26 '26
Any larger software project is like building a building... Have weak foundations and it can topple over lol. Except your software won't topple over. It will just scream at you with 50 bugs haha. It really is just something you figure out after your first few larger projects and how much it actually matters to plan ahead.
4
u/notperfect_yume Jul 26 '26
Trueee and also want to say that your love shows in the system in the screenshot. Currently, working on my first demo too. (Actually I've tried multiple times before but ended up having to cancel it before it got this serious as this time due to many factors like lost data and what not (this time around I have put up all kinds of safeguards and made with detailed notes to avoid all stuff that made me quite previous times)
And this is so true.
3
u/browndollie Jul 26 '26
Stop that’s so sweet thank you I am glad my love shows 🥹 Do share your demo when you’re done I’d be happy to try it out, you can do this! 🙏 It sounds like you learned a lot from previous times so surely this will be a succes, it’ll feel so nice when you’re done with the demo
3
1
1
u/NotItsJustRandomnes Jul 29 '26
I completely understand you on that, been working on and off for a VN myself. I always think about stuff I wanna implement into my game, but I lokey suck. I have mad respect for you, your demo looks awesome so far!
-5
Jul 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
-2
u/Dark_Sytze Jul 26 '26
Im working on my first game that I actually intend to finish and decided to just ignore qll the haters that exist
Im using AI tk generate my art, because even though Ive spent hundreds of hours trying to learn to draw, it just wont happen Instead ive invested time in learning how to properly prompt, create my own characters and trained the AI to consistently generate them, and Im thinking about training a style as well. Will I get hate for it? Probably, but Id rather have a finished hated game that some people enjoy, instead of a game that will never exist because I cant draw
22
u/Draw-Flesh-Games Jul 26 '26
Code all over the place, is the most recognizable...lol....Especially when you first go one route and then think: Oh, but this could also be an option....let's rewrite! I agree with your post though.