Line #35 SoYouWantTo/MakeAVisualNovel


1	Okay, so you want to make a VisualNovel. Great! You are about to add a new work into the newest medium of art! Oh, and before you ask, DatingSim =/= VisualNovel. Romance-focused {{Visual Novel}}s and {{Dating Sim}}s do have similar plots, but the former is more akin to a novel while the latter is more akin to a {{RPG}}. While those works have their own section at SoYouWantTo.WriteADatingSim, this section will cover visual novels in general regardless of the genre. Yes, there are {{Visual Novel}}s of every genre. Regardless of what you plan to make the VisualNovel in, this guide's goal is to assist you. So here we go!
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3	!!The Engine
4	The first place to start is the engine for the VisualNovel itself. While it's certainly possible to handle all this stuff yourself from scratch, there is a wonderful open source VisualNovel engine known as MediaNotes/RenPy. It's easily accessible even to someone with almost no coding experience, and comes with numerous helpful tutorials to get you started. You can also use [[https://www.episodeinteractive.com Episode]] if you have a mobile device and want an easily understood coding system and/or pre-made character models that are customize-able with and include many animations.
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6	!!A Very Unusual Medium
7	So visual novels are just electronic books with fancy anime pictures and music, right? Not exactly. While many can undeniably be described as that, others like ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' have SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome so prominent the action scenes are akin to movies. [[IncrediblyLamePun Alternatively]], there are those that are like interactive manga such as ''Quartett''. Text and dialogue are undeniably the most important aspects of a VisualNovel, but you cannot neglect the visual or even audio aspects of them. Presentation is important, after all.
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9	Another aspect you need to consider is how [[BuffySpeak game-y]] you want your VN to be. Visual novels walk the border between a game and a story, from kinetic novels with no interactivity to ones with complex branching plots or detailed minigames.
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11	!!The Visual Aspects of a VisualNovel
12	* '''Backgrounds''': While most people won't care if you just take real pictures and use a watercolor filter to save money on backgrounds, they are still important. It's a lot of work, but hand drawn sprites just look better on hand drawn backgrounds. Furthermore, with self-created backgrounds, you can create your own unique atmosphere. Just look at ''VisualNovel/SekienNoInganock'' with its fancy and artsy backgrounds which complement the text and the characters.
13	* '''Character Sprites''': Each major character in your theoretical VN will probably need at least half a dozen sprites. While it's recommended for beginners of any kind of story to avoid using a large cast, this is especially important for a medium like visual novels. The ''Franchise/WhenTheyCry'' series can get away with its art because the facial expressions of the characters in the ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' series are considered awesome. (Faces are what people focus on the most.)
14	* '''Computer Graphics''', [=CGs=] for short: These are still images made to appear when certain scenes occur. These images are best used to convey events that cannot be shown accurately simply by moving the character sprites such as a FirstKiss, a DyingMomentOfAwesome, a TransformationSequence, baking cookies, and of course, sex.
15	* '''SpecialEffects''': Sure, they may not seem important, but a few well-placed special effects can go a long way. Visual effects cannot be used by physical books but ''can'' be used by visual novels. A flash here or falling snow there, can easily enhance the amount of emotion of any given scene. Even something as simple as moving a sprite left or right or the way the text is shown on the screen is important! ''Quartett'' is a great example of sublime visual presentation of the story text itself and use of visual effects to evoke emotion, and ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' is a great example of using these effects to [[PaintingTheMedium Paint The Medium]] even using them as a plot point.
16	* '''How to present the text''': There are multiple ways, but the two major ones are ADV (short for Adventure) or NVL (short for Novel). There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
17	** '''ADV''': The most common style. The text is put into a defined dialog box at the bottom of the screen. While this forces the writer to focus on a script-like format with little space to describe the setting or character actions, the background images or [=CG=]s can do that for you since a picture is worth a thousand words. This type of style leads to a large emphasis on the ''visual'' aspect of the VisualNovel, so it is a terrible style to use if you suck at drawing and are more used to writing in pure prose. A common pitfall is for an amateur prose writer to attempt this style, simply because it is the most common one and likely the default style of their engine.
18	** '''NVL''': The best format if you want less of a focus on the visual aspects and more on the actual writing, as text covers the whole background and forces the reader to actually read rather than look at the background images. Part of the reason why ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' can get away with its relatively lame art is because it uses this particular style. It is also the best style to use if you tend to be very descriptive in your writing or enjoy stream of consciousness internal monologues like [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]]. Some visual novels that normally use the ADV style like ''VisualNovel/SharinNoKuni'' or even ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' switch to NVL to highlight important moments and to describe them in detail.
19	** '''Others''': An interactive comic book style like ''Quartett'', a [[{{Minimalism}} minimalistic]] letter box style like ''Narcissu'', a DiegeticInterface like ''VisualNovel/DigitalALoveStory'', or even one with vertically oriented text.
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21	!!The Audio Aspects of a VisualNovel
22	* '''BackgroundMusic''': A major reason why a visual novel can get away with worse writing than traditional novels is because of this. Other than {{Grammar Nazi}}s, nobody cares if a phrase is all that awkward if SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic is playing in the background. The background music has to complement and enhance the text it is behind. Describing a soothing SliceOfLife scene? Then use calming music! An action scene? HeavyMetal, of course! A PlotTwist goes great with OminousLatinChanting, and so on. You could also try using SoundtrackDissonance to complement BlackComedy or MundaneMadeAwesome.
23	* '''Sound Effects''': As with any audiovisual media, a well placed sound effect can have a great impact. They are especially important in action-packed stories like ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'' or ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
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25	!!VideoGame Aspect of a VisualNovel
26	* Do you want to add game mechanics to your VN? If not, skip to the next major bullet point. If, for whatever reason, you do, then read on.
27	** '''Relevance''': Make the gameplay reflect the Genre of the VisualNovel as a whole. For example, if the VisualNovel is in the horror genre, then give it some gameplay that involves running away from {{Eldritch Abomination}}s such as in ''VisualNovel/ShikkokuNoSharnoth''. If it's a war story, then there better be StrategyRPG elements like in ''VisualNovel/AseliaTheEternalTheSpiritOfEternitySword''. If you want to make a mystery genre VN, AdventureGame elements would go well with it like in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series. If it's a PornWithoutPlot game and you feel like adding gameplay then... You get the idea.
28	** '''RuleOfFun''': If you're going to have gameplay, then it better be fun. No one cares how symbolic your MiniGame about very tedious button clicking is if it's not fun.
29	* '''Forced Reading''': You can hijack the player's control of the reading speed and force him to read at your own pace such as in ''Deardrops'' or certain SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome concert scenes or certain ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' fight scenes. It gives the creator more control over how the player will experience a scene. Just don't use them too much because it can break the immersion of some players.
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31	!!The Novel Aspect of a VisualNovel
32
33	(Also check out the more general story guides in [[SoYouWantTo/SeeTheIndex the index]])
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35	[[AC:'''Plot Structure''']]
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37	In other words, how your story is broken up into the various routes you may have. However, the first question that must be asked is "Do you even want your VisualNovel to have multiple routes?"
38	* '''No''': You could always make a KineticNovel or LinearVisualNovel. There's nothing wrong with focusing all of your effort onto one plotline, as long as it's good. ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' is one of the most highly rated visual novels despite being totally linear.
39	* '''Yes''': How will the routes tie together? Will you use a JigsawPuzzlePlot like ''VisualNovel/Remember11''? Have them all lead up to a climactic final route with the TrueEnding like in ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters''? Share the same fundamental Aesop like in ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''? Of course, you could make them have no relation to each other whatsoever like in ''VisualNovel/KiraKira'', but they all better be individually good. Just please don't tack on the routes just for the sake of making every possible character date-able like in ''VisualNovel/TheDevilOnGString''.
40	** '''Common Route''': It goes without saying that you'll need one to contain the choices that will decide which of the multiple routes a player will go on, but what type of length do you want to make it?
41	*** '''Long''': The upside is that you will have plenty of time to develop all of the characters at once through their interactions and [[WorldBuilding establish the setting]]. The downside is that a few of the individual character routes may suffer because you don't get enough time to focus and develop on a single character and make up a good plot related to that person. ''VisualNovel/HoshizoraNoMemoria'' in particular suffers from this problem.
42	*** '''Short''': The upside is that you have plenty of time to make up unique conflicts for each route by giving yourself enough time to add build-up within the diverging routes themselves and only leaving small tiny hints within the common route itself. The downside is that it gives you less time for WorldBuilding or you have to copy/paste text between the routes. ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' has this problem to some degree even though it has a recommended route playing order. ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' removes the problem by having a forced playing order, but the first route's quality is sacrificed for the need to establish the setting.
43	** '''Diverging Routes''': A common way to split them is by centering the individual plotlines around a specific {{Love Interest\|s}}. That being said, don't be afraid to have a HeterosexualLifePartner route like ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}''.
44	*** '''Choices''': You should have some, but not too many. Furthermore, make them intuitive or at least solvable with some thinking. ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' is known for GuideDangIt for having too many unintuitive choices.
45	*** '''Bad Ends''': You could just add a short event where the protagonist dies or falls into despair before showing a GameOver screen, but you know that you're better than that. Why don't you try punishing the player by forcing him to read a emotional TearJerker or some scarring NightmareFuel. ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' has such potent bad endings that it is generally believed that while ''School Days'' is decent on its own, the bad endings are what make the game a classic.
46	** '''Final Route''': If you decided to have one of these, that means you stored absurd amounts of pure build up.
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48	[[AC:'''Writing Style''']]
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50	You know the writing techniques for prose and poetry some people use like GratuitousIambicPentameter, Repetition, AddedAlliterativeAppeal, Allegories, Symbolism, and so on? Use them! Just because VisualNovel readers are more lenient on wordsmithing because of BackgroundMusic doesn't mean that you can just give up on wordsmithing. Incidentally, the Japanese version of ''VisualNovel/SekienNoInganock'' uses very poetic writing, but its fan translator had to use prose for the FanTranslation.
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52	[[AC:'''Characters''']]
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54	* '''The Protagonist''': Let's break down some of the more popular archetypes, from the sliding scale of morality. Pick one that fits the story best.
55	** NiceGuy: Your visual novel will be most likely in first person point of view, and thus NiceGuy archetype is the sensible choice. Common for Romance Visual Novels.
56	** TroubledButCute: Similar to the nice guy, but with more striking flaws, they may have some hidden things about them that are unsavory or make them somewhat unlikable.
57	** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Somewhat unlikable protagonist
58	** {{Jerkass}}: Highly unlikable, although, what they don't do is go around and commit crime ForTheEvulz.
59	** VillainProtagonist: The outright bad guy. Despite being the polar opposite to the NiceGuy, it's actually much harder to write about one, as you're writing about a DesignatedHero anyway.
60	** BlueAndOrangeMorality: Like the VillainProtagonist, but they aren't really evil as much as being of an alien mind.
61	* '''Other Characters''': If you have multiple routes and they are centered around specific characters, be sure those characters are interesting. Since individual routes have less characters, if the character the route is centered around is uninteresting, then there's a significant chance the player may utter the EightDeadlyWords. Even if you are doing a LinearVisualNovel, it should have interesting secondary characters like any other story.
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63	!!Warnings
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65	* '''Don't bite off more than you can chew.''' ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' (a Medium length VisualNovel) took five years for a reason. A VisualNovel requires an organized team of artists, musicians, programmers, writers, and editors. Don't forget about the potential infighting an amateur group may have when a project is too big. Start small.
66	* '''Substance over Style''': Nothing can save a VisualNovel if the story it tells is terrible. Bad art can be counteracted with good music, bad music can just be muted or be counteracted by good art, but no good visuals or audio will save a bad story.
67	* '''List of Cliches that are extremely common in visual novels''': GroundhogDayLoop, DelicateAndSickly, RapeAsDrama
68	* '''{{Vaporware}}''': Creating FreewareGames of any kind, including visual novels, is a long and often frustrating process. If you can not (or choose not to) charge money for your final game, then it can be difficult to keep writing and coding until it's finished. Some people who aspire to create freeware visual novels give up, leaving nothing more than a few paragraphs of description and perhaps some concept art. Other people finish a demo, and the final version ends up in DevelopmentHell. If a group decides to collaborate on a freeware VN, then it may be more likely to remain unfinished. Either way, if months go by with no substantial news, then the VN has likely become vaporware.
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70	!!The Greats
71	* ''VisualNovel/ClassOf09'', for basically being an outright ''satire'' that's comparable to TheAbridgedSeries or a CrackFic but for Visual Novels.
72	* ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' for both showing the strength of good voice acting, sound-effects and a strong soundtrack with the proper kind of tunes, used when appropriate to sell emotion or grandeur. Its prequel, ''[[VisualNovel/DiesIraeInterviewWithKazikluBey Interview with Kaziklu Bey]]'', continues this trend on top of displaying the strength of good prose even in more verbose works.
73	* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', both for its masterful handling of depression and for its metafictional storyline.
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75
76	%%!!The Terrible

Context SoYouWantTo / MakeAVisualNovel