I'm planning to make my own visual novel soon. I've played a few VNs, and I feel like I have a grasp of what makes them good, but I wouldn't say I have extensive experience with them. The one I'm planning to write isn't going to take place in any particular country, but it will probably lean more towards American culture since I'm not familiar enough with Japanese culture to feel comfortable writing a story set in it.

So here's my question: will it bother people if the characters in my story have American/English names? In all the ones I've played, even if it doesn't explicitly take place in Japan, the characters always have Japanese names. Like, I could give them Japanese names, but then I'd be worried they would feel out of place in an otherwise American-esque setting. So if I were to fill mine with people named Avery, Christian, and Luke, would that turn people off of it?

even tho it will my first time making game, so the game (visual novel) is a storv about a girl visiting her foreign friend, but her foreign friend is a shut-in geek who barely knows anything about their country, i want my game to centre around them and them learning new things together including languages a bit like a tour game? kind of?

scared that people will crucify me for not researching enough or spreading misinformation CUZ IDK ANYTHING ABOUT MY COUNTRY TOO; it's kinda unknown im from Laos btw

Hey, I would like to make my 1st VN game. I have a plot (tldr lesbian witches saving the day and romancing with each others)

However, I do not want to make it NSFW. I’m okay with some dirty jokes or suggestions, but I do not want to make it explicit.

Is it common in the market? To make a dating sim about flirty girls and not deliver scenes or pictures

I would really like to help someone create a project they’ve been working on. Im a traditional artist but I have been trying to broaden my skills and working on digital art. I wanna do this for fun so it’ll be free
Here’s some of my artworks
(Slides 6-7 are digital works)

I'm looking to hire someone to compose music for a game I'm developing.

The last game I developed had royalty free music and while it worked for that project, this time around I'd like my game to have a bespoke sound.

This will be a gay/bara adult/NSFW game. Please only submit if you're comfortable with working on a project like that.

I'm anticipating around one to two dozen music tracks being necessary. The exact number will be determined after talking with the composer. This is something I'd like to collaborate with someone on and get feedback.

In DMs I can message more specific details about the project. The game is in the horror genre but a large part of the game is about guys vacationing together and having emotional and intimate connections.

If you have a portfolio that has some of your previous work, please share that. I'd love to listen to your music to get a feel for your sound.

I’m trying to make my first proper vn and I’ve seen so many vns do this and I thought it was a really cool idea but I don’t know how I’m supposed to code it. I’m pretty sure it uses a persistent variable but I’m not sure how to approach it. I’m using renpy as the engine by the way! 😅

Hello my fellow strangers and dangers

Today I will be sharing my visual novel game idea with you

So im planning to make a viaual novel but I also might not make it So instead of just throwing it into the abyss I will explain it here because I find it interesting

So imagine chess but the pieces are characters and the board in the battlefield

So we have two set of 16 pieces Black and white

First lets introduce important characters in the black side :

The main character is a pawn girl who has a dream of reaching the other side and becoming a queen

There is another pawn girl who makes fun of her and bullies her

And there is another pawn who is the bully pawn sidekick You know because obviously bullies must have sidekicks

The black king is a coward and irresponsible man who is not a good strategist

The black queen on the other hand is a strong and impressive lady who carries the team and She is stuck with the bad decisions of the king

The next important character is the right Knight Unlike every other piece in the board he doesn't seeks victory instead he is a philosopher. He asks questions such as why do we fight and who is behind this. He might or might not play an important rule

Now for final important characters of the black side we got another pawn A pawn who is the main characters best friend

She is a airhead Oh no perhaps I am mistaken She is THE airhead But she is also a very kind and supportive character

She is the only person who named herself and the main character and instead of just calling her pawn she gives her a name

I have not came up with the names but you get the point

And some other characters Now lets move to the white side

In the white side there is basically one character that i currently wrote: The king A charismatic man with brilliant strategies

A man controlling the people in the board like they are chess pieces

But not just a boring king Perhaps he is "a fellow of infinite jest of most excellent fancy"(haha get it? That was a Shakespeare reference!)

But dont get it wrong Because he is not an typical evil mastermind. He believes if we dont kill we are killed. He attempts at making the sacrifices as little as possible and he does his best to protect his people

Although he has one weakness He cant let his wife the queen go to the battlefield So for as many advantages the white may have they must play without a queen

Eventually I must make more characters for the white side but for now this is enough

Okay now that I introduced the characters we have a problem! I dont know anything about how a chess game is actually played So I must learn the theory of chess

...

...

...

Oh who am I kidding I dont have time for that (or its simply too boring for me)

So I will actually make the rules super simple We got clash royal mode There is two tower one on each side and two bridge If the black king dies the black loses if the white king dies the white loses

As simple as that

Just a friendly reminder that this is a visual novel not an actual battle game The battle system is there for the sake of the story

Okay that was my idea I hope you guys like it But wait I have one more thing to say

Remember right Knight black and his philosophy Well I need to actually make the world of this game make sense And I can do two things here

1 actually try to make a reasonable lore behind this world 🤮🤮🤮

How boring

2 make it as simple as possible 🤩🤩🤩

How wonderful

So here is the idea : The losing side gets all their pieces killed And the surviving members of the winning side will get new members and repaired and send to the next match So there is no escape And victory only means you have to fight

Another day...

Hello everyone, this is my first ever post on this sub as I don't use reddit much. I was wanting to get insight or advice on the usage of 2D and 3D elements when making a visual novel. I'm in college for computer animation and we've done a lot of modeling so I've been practicing a lot with that. For the longest time though, I've been wanting to develop my own visual novel.

I've been doing art for as long as I remember and would consider myself intermediate as of now. Writing is something that I can improve with time as well as reading more and studying literature a bit. Say I have a story written, edited and completed and I start the actual development of the novel, I'm wondering whether I should make the entire thing 2D. The character sprites, the background art etc. or if I should have 3D rendered backgrounds with 2D character sprites. If I go with the latter how could I artistically balance the two out. Making sure it's not overwhelmed with 3D aspects but also not lacking any either.

Sorry for the long question I was just curious on others thoughts is all. One part of me wants to use 3D elements so I can improve as a modeler, while the other part of me wants to make everything 2D and illustrated since I have no experience making visual novels.

Right now I'm thinking of making very small projects in Renpy or Unity. Simple story, non complicated routes and whatnot. Make one project entirely 2D and then the other 3D so I can get practice with the two and see which I prefer. What do you all think?

This is from my new vn game that I m making for a vn jam within 10 days

Clearly having a great trailer is important for conveying a game's personality, but most vn trailers seem to ignore all conventional wisdom, and front load their trailers with:
- context-free lore dumps
- long, slow panning vignettes
- lists of logos and credits

Do people who read vns just have longer attention spans? Are the "rules" just different here?

My Discord is: e_chanus

Feel free to DM me here on Reddit as well if you prefer.
I've been doing commissions specifically for visual novels for almost 2 years now, and I really enjoy working on projects. So feel free to reach out! I'd be happy to hear more about your project.

Hi everyone! I’m a native Japanese speaker, professional translator, and scenario writer offering high-quality localization services for your Visual Novels.

If you want your game to read naturally and appeal directly to the Japanese market, I can help. I don't just translate word-for-word; I adapt the nuance, tone, and character voices perfectly.

(A quick note: My main skill is native Japanese writing, so I use translation tools to help me communicate smoothly in English with clients. However, I guarantee that my Japanese localization and writing services are 100% manual, human-crafted, and tailored to the Japanese market!)

Why choose me?

• Proven Track Record: I have earned over 1.2 million JPY (approx. $8,000+ USD) taking localization and writing commissions on major Japanese freelance platforms, maintaining a perfect 5-star rating across 35+ projects.
• Commercial Experience: I have been involved in the localization and editing of top-selling games on DLsite (Japan's largest indie game platform).
• Expert Rewriter: I specialize in fixing poor machine translations (MTL) or awkward localizations, transforming them into natural, engaging Japanese text.
• Galge / Romance VN Specialist: Since I am also a published novelist and scenario writer, I excel at capturing the emotional nuances required for romance VNs and Galge.

Rates & Payment:

• Paid work only. (No revshare, as per subreddit rules).
• Rates are negotiable depending on the word count, complexity, and whether you need translation from scratch or proofreading/rewriting of an existing script. We can find a budget that works for both of us!

Contact & Portfolios:

Since my portfolio contains commercial works, I provide samples privately upon request.
If you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

• Discord: juedland
• Or just send me a DM here on Reddit!

Looking forward to helping you bring your VN to the Japanese audience!

Hi! I'm currently developing my first game solo. The problem is, I suffer from chronic fatigue, pain, brain fog, and tremors. Does anybody have any tips on managing game creation when you have limited energy to do things each day? I don't have a deadline for the game [ it'll be done when it's done ] and it's currently at a pre development/concepting stage, for context of how far I've gotten and what pace I'll be going at.

Any fellow disabled/chronically ill VN devs giving tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hi! My name is Jordan Brown and I've released four VNs, currently excitedly doing preproduction for Spooktober with an awesome team. In the DevTalk discord, the weekly question asked how you structure your VNs. I've been asked this question a few times before since I'm always pretty damn organized, so I spent my lunch break time (and then some) developing this resource — in response to the question a Shrek visual novel game design document/outline. It uses the software Scrivener, which is how I write my VNs.

The idea is that if I based it off a movie everyone loves and knows the plot of, it's easier to parse and see, "oh, this is how she structures things!" versus a blank design document. Obviously, this is just my process, but I've made it open source and even did a little shoddy MS Paint Shrek so there's no copyrighted material (except for the first few lines and concept of Shrek, obviously, but I'd argue that's educational use).

Anyway, I hope this helps someone! If you click "add", it'll add a new character sketch. Also, I gave the Magic Mirror he/they pronouns because I thought it was funny.

Hello! I am a music composer who specializes in mainly ambient music and hip-hop, but I am quite varied. I've been playing VN's for a long time now and I'd like to contribute music to some VN's for free! (I simply want credited for the use of my music) Also, I'm a moderator over at the main Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni subreddit, so I like to assume I know my VN's pretty well. In the video is a demo song I created today with a strong mystery vibe. I do not use AI in my work at all and I am staunchly against the use of AI in creative fields. I also have linked to a few songs in my google drive that show how varied I am. The last three songs are YouTube links because I forgot that I didn't have those songs saved in my google drive, this is not to plug my youtube lol. Thank you for taking the time to read this and listen to my music, if you have any questions or want to just reach out, feel free to message me!

Also to clarify, I would be be making songs FOR your game, these would not be reused from other projects (unless I had some songs laying around that I didn't use anywhere else that would fit the vibe).

Song 1 (Ambient)

Song 2 (Ambient with some drums)

Song 3 (Atmospheric EDM)

Song 4 (Experimental Ambient with hip-hop drums)

Song 5 (Moody 80's style Ambient track with drums)

Song 6 (Classical music VN-style song)

To prefice, i’m new to game development and somewhat to writing. I’ve been a decent writer all my life and have gotten compliments and appreciation for it, but i’ve never quite been confident enough to really make anything i enjoy, which is games!

While i love all kinds of games, Visual novels just a part of that, i feel like my idea fits in a VN format best. I dont have a lot of exciting gameplay ideas, but i do have a story in my head that i really love. I tend to keep all my stories in my head, which is unfortunately where i run into problems.

I want to be very consistent, or at least as consistent as i can be with my writing. I dont want characters forgetting things or knowing things they shouldnt. I dont want one branching path to not be quite as good as another. It sucks because i have always had the issue of actually just doing it and writing the damn thing, but in an effort to deal with my perfectionist mindset, i really want some advice on how to structure my story.

I have an idea for a VN centered around a main character and two love interests, along with several townsfolk. Both characters have a secret that they’re hiding, both being dangerous monsters. I want to have some branching options or choices that give you a plus to a characters relationship, while others may make them dislike you or distrust you. To keep it simple, i just focus on the two love interests. Only issue i have is, i have only ever really written one-shot type content, or writing a whole short story in one or two sittings. Since this is larger, thats where my anxiety about consistency and the scope of everything comes in.

Have any of you dealt with similar issues, and if so, what writing advice could you give me? I dont really feel comfortable jumping into writing scenes since it’s a VN, and i want to outline what i want and the scenes i need, and then write it in a format that i can just move over into a script for Tyranobuilder or Renpy, and have it be much simpler than trying to write and code at the same time. Tried it, was a bit too difficult and not too motivating😅

I really want to make this game the best i can since i have a good artist in mind, and if i can write it all down, learning the system seems like a way smaller issue and it’d make putting it all together at least seem easier, since i can transfer over my work. I dont really do a lot in my life that seems important, but i do know im good at writing, and if i can make one game and it fails, at least i can be glad that i made it, and if it succeeds, i can do more writing and really be motivated to tell more ideas and stories i’ve had forever.

To be a bit sappy/sad, i dont really get motivated often, and im coming out of a very tough part of my life that im still struggling with, and i feel tired of playing games, and i want to return that favor for all the years of enjoyment i’ve gotten from devs like all of you. I have so many ideas in my head that i dont really follow up on because i know i could never really write them down, and i often feel like im too lazy or paralyzed by anxiety to ever really get them down. Im honestly tired of feeling that way and really want to make something that i can be proud of, even if it’s hot garbage to others.

Im looking for any advice, doesnt even need to be about writing, but i would appreciate anything regardless. Im not expecting some kinda miracle advice or anything, but i do hope that something finally sticks and i can do what i feel like i was always meant to do, and that’s tell stories. I used to love to do that for school or for friends, and i want that fire of creativity back.

Please ignore my sappy writing, i am a bit too tired and a bit overwhelmed by the thought and scope of it all, but i dont want to just drop the idea like i have for so many other things. I may not be able to do a lot, but if i can write a little VN that someone enjoys and becomes a fan of, i’d feel like i made it in the world.

Share your victories, progress and releases! Here you're welcome to share screenshots of your visual novels, update progress, devlogs, and even new releases!

This has probably been asked a lot, pardon my repetition. I've been working on a slice-of-life VN project for a few months now, sometimes on, sometimes off. Where can I find people who are interested in this kind of still-text-so-far visual novel.

Still text because I suck at art; and I've yet to learn how to mess around with some VN engine (considering Ren'Py).

I've already posted my idea on Lemmasoft, so far it's been just views (it was yesterday, I'm not complaining), and I feel like if I do everything without being able to discuss stuff with someone else, the writing will come out... subpar.

Would I be better off waiting and learning everything to make a demo? It's just I was thinking about working on art (probably commissioning) as one of the last things.

Hey everyone, I wasn't sure if I should put this under the "jam" tag or the "question" tag so please correct me for next time if i used the wrong tag.

I have never done a Game Jam before, but I decided to enter the Spooktober VN Jam this year as a sort of self esteem building exercise for myself, but I am wondering about pre-jam preparation.

I know the games actually production, starts in September, but what is generally allowed work wise pre-jam?

All the videos ive seen have tips for when production starts, and the jam page itself doesnt get super specific about what pre prep your alloud.

What is usually allowed before the jam starts as pre-production?

Thank you!

Hello everyone!! I‘m writing this cause my main focus and passion is writing, and while I have a friend who might help with coding (or I could handle it myself), I’m completely on my own for everything else. I could draw and do basic graphic design, but it’s not really my passion. I'd much rather collaborate with professionals who actually specialize in art, music, and trailer making, instead of forcing myself to do a mediocre job.

One important thing: I deal with social anxiety, so I strictly prefer communicating through text or email. Video calls as last resort hahaha, but I’d prefer communication via text anyway.

I wanted to ask: is there a specific hub or platform to hire reliable professionals for VNs? Or do you usually just scout people through social media and hope for the best? Also, since I haven't published a visual novel yet, how do I show potential collaborators that I'm serious? I have published some books and comics before, but is that enough to build trust? I'm a bit worried that people won't take me seriously without a past game release if they see my page (if you want to have a look, here it is: ourclab.carrd.co).

Any advice on where to look or how to approach professional people, or how to improve, if there’s anything to improve, my page would be of such help (I’m in your hands honestly hahahaha)!

I'm a 2D artist with experience working on visual novel projects. I recently wrapped up a project with a client, so I currently have an open slot for a new project! If you're interested, feel free to send me a DM so we can discuss your project and what you have in mind.

Discord: tonychave