72 Unity Games categorized by their VN plugin.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Aug 31, 2023

Started this thread 'cause I wanted to find out what engines other AVN creators were using. After analyzing (and ripping) 72 Unity games, I think that's enough. Time for me to start making my own games.

Here's the list of games I've analyzed, sorted by the VN plugin they use:

Fungus:

NaniNovel:

Other VN Engines:

Horror in hongdae [David Balsamique] - Articify Draft 3
Cuckold Life Simulator [Octo Games] - VN Engine

Self-Made VN-system (or I could simply not find it)

A Long Journey [Marvellous Lunatic]
Cabin Corpse [MetalB]
Flirty F or Quickie [Oppai Comics]
For the Queen [Ginkgo Studio]
Goons Raid her [The Architect] all of three
Hack'n Stalk [The Architect] all of three
Hail Dicktator [Hachigames]
Lockdown 2024 [480 Games]
Lucky Mark [Super Alex]
Lust Man Standing [EndlessTaboo] (Doozy Engine)
Misadventures of Agent Romanov [beWilder]
Mistywood manor and Man of the House [Faerin] (he created of his own)
My Wife's a Star [DeviantWiz]
Two Sides Redone [GreonoGames]
TimeStamps [MotKeyz] both of them
Under Control [Slusiom]
Wars and Roses [v1.070] [Blaze Worlds] (not a VN in fact)
World after War [Crazy Forge Studio]
[Lesson of Passion] Party With Friends / Living with Temptation / Romance After Dark / Hot Wife Tara (they're using something called Inspira?)

If you know the toolkit behind any of these games, OR you've seen a game missplaced in my list, OR want to add more games to the list, please reach out.

I, these are the two only real options for VN plugins in Unity;

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: You can check out all their features in this
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. I love the story flow diagram.
- PROs: It's like Ren'Py, but for Unity. A lot of features out of the box that may expand game functionalities.
- CONs: For beginners, it may be less intuitive than fungus. Also, expensive ($150) if you're an amateur dev.
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: A free, very viable option with many features, used my most of the AVNs that I've analzyed.
- PROs: a lot of AVNs have used this, and some have reached success. Can do pretty much the same as NaniNovel, and has some flows and pre-made scripts that you may not find elsewhere.
- CONs: It may need a bit of manual coding to update some functionalities to new VN standarts (such as the SaveLoad feature).

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NylonBandit · Sep 1, 2023

I may be bias, but I highly recommend Unity over Ren'py as it gives much more freedom with what you can do... however it does require a higher level of programming skill. Again though, I am probably bias as I've been using Unity for years and I've never used Ren'py, although I believe it's more popular because it's free and it's ease of use.

Since you would like the freedom to make more complicated game types in the future however, just go with Unity. It will have a steeper learning curve but you can apply the knowledge to future projects. A VN is a great first project as well since it doesn't require anything too complicated, and you'll be reusing the knowledge of creating dialogue systems in pretty much every game you make going forward. (That's actually how my EZVN project started life... it was the dialogue system I've been looking to make for the last year or two for another project).

You did mention an interest in EZVN, but I'm actively not trying hijack other peoples threads to self-promote... coz I don't want to be that guy. However, since you have specifically mentioned VN engines for Unity, yes I do have my EZVN toolkit for Unity. However, and just being honest here, it's designed more for people that want to make a visual novel, but just don't want the headache of learning to code. For someone like you who does want to learn to code, the actual code it uses might be a little too advanced to reverse engineer since it uses some fairly advanced stuff like linq and polymorphism. Not trying to sound like I'm tooting my own horn, I just remember what it was like when I first started teaching myself coding and I had to go over the basic stuff repeatably until it finally sunk in. But this is me assuming, I actually don't know how much coding you may already know and just going off my own experience.

Point I'm trying to make is, if you are still a beginner and want to learn to code, your best bet is probably to just find a tutorial on YouTube to follow and code your own systems.

Saki_Sliz · Sep 1, 2023

NylonBandit said:
You did mention an interest in EZVN, but I'm actively not trying hijack other peoples threads to self-promote...

XD actually, I was about to link your other post, not realizing you were the same user. I see that OP already found your thread.

If I had to suggest an alternative, there is Naninovel for Unity. it is $150, it provides many similarities to renpy. you can do some crazy shit if because of its flexibility. It is 'expensive' to start, but you get something that is as professional as a solo(?) developer can get, and lots of support! If you want to get into the coding side of things, there is documentation, a help form, and the discord is small but active (I don't like large discords because they are overwhelming). I'm using it for 2 projects, 1 for a base managment VN, and another for A 3D/2D game similar to this project.

example of flexibility include, making custom commands that interact with other game systems, such as what I recently got working.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Sep 1, 2023

NylonBandit said:
I may be bias, but I highly recommend Unity over Ren'py as it gives much more freedom with what you can do... however it does require a higher level of programming skill. Again though, I am probably bias as I've been using Unity for years and I've never used Ren'py, although I believe it's more popular because it's free and it's ease of use.

Since you would like the freedom to make more complicated game types in the future however, just go with Unity. It will have a steeper learning curve but you can apply the knowledge to future projects. A VN is a great first project as well since it doesn't require anything too complicated, and you'll be reusing the knowledge of creating dialogue systems in pretty much every game you make going forward. (That's actually how my EZVN project started life... it was the dialogue system I've been looking to make for the last year or two for another project).

You did mention an interest in EZVN, but I'm actively not trying hijack other peoples threads to self-promote... coz I don't want to be that guy. However, since you have specifically mentioned VN engines for Unity, yes I do have my EZVN toolkit for Unity. However, and just being honest here, it's designed more for people that want to make a visual novel, but just don't want the headache of learning to code. For someone like you who does want to learn to code, the actual code it uses might be a little too advanced to reverse engineer since it uses some fairly advanced stuff like linq and polymorphism. Not trying to sound like I'm tooting my own horn, I just remember what it was like when I first started teaching myself coding and I had to go over the basic stuff repeatably until it finally sunk in. But this is me assuming, I actually don't know how much coding you may already know and just going off my own experience.

Point I'm trying to make is, if you are still a beginner and want to learn to code, your best bet is probably to just find a tutorial on YouTube to follow and code your own systems.

Thank you for your advice. Feel exactly the same as you said in the first half of your post. I'm not a coder myself, but not afraid to learn it either. It's also the reason why I'm getting so interested in those toolkits that "promise" you can create a VN without coding. And idk where life's gona take me, but I must learn something, better if it has many applications.

As I said in your other post, I can't wait to try your EZVN. keep up the good work!

Saki_Sliz said:
I see that OP already found your thread.

If I had to suggest an alternative, there is Naninovel for Unity. it is $150, it provides many similarities to renpy. you can do some crazy shit if because of its flexibility. It is 'expensive' to start, but you get something that is as professional as a solo(?) developer can get, and lots of support! If you want to get into the coding side of things, there is documentation, a help form, and the discord is small but active (I don't like large discords because they are overwhelming). I'm using it for 2 projects, 1 for a base managment VN, and another for A 3D/2D game similar to this project.

example of flexibility include, making custom commands that interact with other game systems, such as what I recently got working.
View attachment 2894414

Been doin my homework

NaniNovel is one of my first options, but the price for what is right now just a hobby feels prohibitive. This is why I started with the "cheap" options instead. But indeed, it looks professional. Feels like using all ren'py features, but inside unity, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

By the way, I've checked the base management VN you mentioned, but the developer is Romenjack. Sorry for the confusion, but are you a modder, freelancer or...?

My progress so far:
I have a list of Unity VN plugins I'm testing and exploring what they can offer:

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: Started with this one bc it's free. I discarded as I couldn't make it work properly in the latest Unity versions. There's a lot of outdated code. The last version released was in 2014. The idea behind it was probably revolutionary on that date, but today I would not build a game with this one.
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: Another one that hasn't been updated a while ago. Working in Unity 2022, some things are not optimal. Overall, it feels "raw". It has nice features (yet to be tested), such as an inventory system and character stats. I tried a few tests with a pirate version, but idk Rick... I feel like
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with this toolkit and Naninovel.
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: Not tested yet. It looks like a simpler "Choice Engine 2" version with fewer features. I'll probably skip this one.
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: Still needs to be tested. I love the story flow diagram. Haven't found any "pirate" version to test it out. Any generous soul around?
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: Kudos to Night Mirror for the heads-up. I need to investigate more. It looks like a free, viable option with many features. Also, the fact that a successful game like Rick and Morty is using it keeps my hopes high. Deterrant: It's not in the Unity asset store. It could be a sign that it's been abandoned, too.
EZVN: In Development & closed beta. I keep my hopes high, but time will tell

Do anyone know any AVN developed with any those toolkits?

Winterfire · Sep 1, 2023

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I'm no Unity expert

Then do not make your life complicated, and just use Ren'Py. It is way more forgiving.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Plugins or Toolkits are the best (or do you recommend) to create an AVN in Unity?

Naninovel is the one I use and recommend, the rest is lacking at best.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
What features are essential or should I look for?

Anything that is not offered by Ren'Py is something people will ask for. Naninovel has pretty much all of them.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
If I ever want to do another non-vn game, I'll be familiarized with Unity.

You do not publish a game to learn Unity. You learn Unity, then publish games.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Sep 1, 2023

Winterfire Thank you for the headsup on Naninovel. I'll take a look at Legacy of Hestia this weekend!

I agree on your final statement. In my case, I'm NOT publishing a game to learn Unity. I want to make a game, and therefore, I'm learning about Unity

Queen Rat · Sep 1, 2023

If price ever becomes less of an issue, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Unity toolkit Adventure Creator ($80). It is an incredibly powerful tool to create any point & click adventure game (including visual novels). It does have a learning curve, though, but removes the need to learn C#, as programming has been replaced with a visual interface (drag and drop decision trees). The developer is also very active and helpful on the forums, and there are a ton of tutorials.

The biggest issue I have is trying to replicate some of the Ren'Py functionality in Unity without programming. For instance, most people on here are used to scrolling back through dialog and options (Ren'Py feature), and sometimes complain when this is not available in a Unity game. Replicating that (and some other) functionality is not that easy in Unity without having a solid grasp on coding.

Winterfire · Sep 1, 2023

Queen Rat said:
The biggest issue I have is trying to replicate some of the Ren'Py functionality in Unity without programming. For instance, most people on here are used to scrolling back through dialog and options (Ren'Py feature), and sometimes complain when this is not available in a Unity game. Replicating that (and some other) functionality is not that easy in Unity without having a solid grasp on coding.

Which is not an issue with Naninovel, since it replicates all of the Ren'Py features.

GNVE · Sep 1, 2023

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
What features are essential or should I look for?

From a players perspective it should probably do what Ren'Py does. As you correctly said Ren'Py is optimized for VN's so a lot of time went into streamlining the UI for VN's. I'm not saying Ren'Py is perfect or can't be improved but what it does it does really well overall.
The Ren'Py's ubiquity also means it sets certain conventions. players have expectations as to the control scheme, UI etc. (similar to a health bar being red, mana bar being blue and stamina bar being green. change it up and you'll confuse players.)

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Ps, some people will recommend to use Ren'py. I have already tried it, but I want to give Unity an opportunity. The reason behind this is that Unity feels more adaptable. It also provides more chances to explore and integrate other plugins. And Ren'py is way too vn-focused. If I ever want to do another non-vn game, I'll be familiarized with Unity.

As I said in a different post somewhere the difference between Unity and Ren'Py is like a log of wood and an Ikea table. The former has a lot more possibilities but is harder to make use of. So yeah Unity has more possibilities but that is by design. Both products have a different target audience with a different skill level needed to make use of the tools.

I do have to wonder if your approach is the best. If your goal is to learn unity I would suggest starting off with a one day build like a bricks clone. Working your way up to a weeklong build etc.
I would not suggest making a VN be a part of the learning process for Unity. Generally speaking most of the time you spend on a VN is art leaving just a little time for writing and code. If your goal is 'just' to make a VN than Ren'Py is the obvious choice as it is all you need in 99% of cases. I see little intersection between the two goals to be honest from my experience writing VN's.

I'm assuming (from the way you write) you already know C# otherwise a beginners course in C# would be advisable before diving into Unity itself.

NylonBandit said:
I may be bias, but I highly recommend Unity over Ren'py as it gives much more freedom with what you can do... however it does require a higher level of programming skill. Again though, I am probably bias as I've been using Unity for years and I've never used Ren'py, although I believe it's more popular because it's free and it's ease of use.

The versatility is only useful if you use it. Most developers make a straightforward VN so any versatility is wasted on them. So Ren'py is a far better choice for those developers.
You also need to remember that a lot of dev's experience in programming when starting out boils down to typing "HTTPS://" in front of "www." or if you're lucky having used "= A1 + A2" in Excel. It isn't just that Ren'Py is far easier to learn but also that Python is easier to learn than C#.

Deleted member 2282952 · Sep 1, 2023

GNVE said:
the difference between Unity and Ren'Py is like a log of wood and an Ikea table.

Anyone can assemble an Ikea table or any other Ikea furniture they will purchase in the future. Anyone can find a log of wood and sit on it. A tiny percentage can turn it into a beautiful table.

C# is kinda nice, but Python is so easy you can pretty much do anything you want. And if you are making a VN in Ren'Py, you won't be punished for code that's not fully optimized with performance, because of the overall low requirements, but there are always ways to mess up C# pretty badly.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Sep 3, 2023

Queen Rat said:
If price ever becomes less of an issue, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Unity toolkit Adventure Creator ($80). It is an incredibly powerful tool to create any point & click adventure game (including visual novels). It does have a learning curve, though, but removes the need to learn C#, as programming has been replaced with a visual interface (drag and drop decision trees). The developer is also very active and helpful on the forums, and there are a ton of tutorials.

I'm so focused on VN that I completely skipped that one. But looks quite interesting. Definitely worth taking a look.
You know any AVN using this toolkit?

GNVE said:
The Ren'Py's ubiquity also means it sets certain conventions.

Agree. Not trying to reinvent the wheel here. More like investigating the available types of wheels.

GNVE said:
If your goal is to learn unity ... I'm assuming (from the way you write) you already know C# ... Ren'Py is far easier to learn but also that Python is easier to learn than C#.

Maybe I explained myself poorly in a previous message. I see Unity and Ren'py as means to an end. My goal is to make an AVN. Now, how will I get there? Still don't know. Will I get there? who knows. But I'm enjoying the process, and sharing my findings for those who come after me.

GNVE said:
The versatility is only useful if you use it.

Sometimes you realize you need more versatility only when it's too late. Don't want to find myself in that situation once my project is half done. I could go the easy road, but I'm more a "better to be safe than sorry" person.

FunDi said:
C# is kinda nice, but Python is so easy you can pretty much do anything you want. And if you are making a VN in Ren'Py, you won't be punished for code that's not fully optimized with performance, because of the overall low requirements, but there are always ways to mess up C# pretty badly.

I've been doing some research, on this forum and other communities, about developers comparing Ren'py and Unity. Can't share any specific quotes but what I've read most is that Ren'py performance is somewhat low. People using Naninovel or developing their own code for VNs in Unity end up with better-performing games pretty easily. I also remember something about ren'py having to load videos and pictures before they're called onscreen, or that the sprite compression sucks. As the game gets bigger, that's quite punishing on the user's side.

Queen Rat · Sep 3, 2023

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I'm so focused on VN that I completely skipped that one. But looks quite interesting. Definitely worth taking a look.
You know any AVN using this toolkit?

Sorry, not sure if any AVN use the toolkit (unless you count the one I'm working on!) Still at least a year away from me feeling comfortable sharing anything, though.

GNVE · Sep 3, 2023

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I see Unity and Ren'py as means to an end.

I wholeheartedly agree. They are. It's just that for someone who is a total noob to coding (like me) Python is just easier to wrap your head around.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Sometimes you realize you need more versatility only when it's too late. Don't want to find myself in that situation once my project is half done. I could go the easy road, but I'm more a "better to be safe than sorry" person.

I understand, I'm like that myself as well. The other side to that argument is that you might drown in the options. Like diving into the middle of the Atlantic without knowing how to swim.
To pull it away a little from Engine vs Engine: A lot of dev's on here want to tell a linear story and plonk that linear story into an empty sandbox. Why? Probably because 'everyone' else is doing it. Doesn't make it a good fit for the game or make the game better or more enjoyable to play. (I'm not saying a sandbox is never the answer I'm just saying it isn't for over 90% of the games on this site.)
If you plan your VN well you will know beforehand if you need the power that unity provides.
That also feeds back to my argument of making smaller games first. You don't want to start making a Magnum Opus first time around. Sure a lot of Dev's do and their games come out fine but the sheer number of abandoned projects that only made it one update in it staggering.
No matter what you want to make I suggest making a few small projects to wet your appetite and as learning experiences before jumping into a bigger project.
In my small projects I made giant mistakes that would have ended my enjoyment in larger games. but as they are small experiences I can complete them before all the fun is sucked out of it.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I've been doing some research, on this forum and other communities, about developers comparing Ren'py and Unity. Can't share any specific quotes but what I've read most is that Ren'py performance is somewhat low. People using Naninovel or developing their own code for VNs in Unity end up with better-performing games pretty easily. I also remember something about ren'py having to load videos and pictures before they're called onscreen, or that the sprite compression sucks. As the game gets bigger, that's quite punishing on the user's side.

Yes it is true that Ren'py is slower than Unity (if properly optimized) Python itself is slower than C# but for most VN projects it doesn't matter. Pushing static pictures to a screen is not that taxing on any system made in the last decade or so.
Yeah great the VN uses 75MB of RAM rather than 100 or whatever. Nobody is going to notice a discernible difference.

Most issues come from inexperienced developers. If you plonk your renders directly from Daz into the image map than yes you're going to have problems. Also generally people using Unity have more experience then the people who choose Ren'Py. So they might optimize out of habit rather than having to do research.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Sep 5, 2023

GNVE said:
To pull it away a little from Engine vs Engine: A lot of dev's on here want to tell a linear story and plonk that linear story into an empty sandbox. Why? Probably because 'everyone' else is doing it. Doesn't make it a good fit for the game or make the game better or more enjoyable to play. (I'm not saying a sandbox is never the answer I'm just saying it isn't for over 90% of the games on this site.)

Game mechanics are more complex than what they look like. When someone cares for their project, any new mechanic integrated will be tested and balanced. If a second developer only wants to jump on the trend that the first one created, it is possible that they will skip the balancing and will offer that mechanic without contemplating how it is going to affect the rest of the story. But does that mean that if it was properly balanced and integrated, wouldn't that mechanic fit the second game (or the 90% of the games on this site)?

GNVE said:
That also feeds back to my argument of making smaller games first. You don't want to start making a Magnum Opus first time around. Sure a lot of Dev's do and their games come out fine but the sheer number of abandoned projects that only made it one update in it staggering.

Some people can't stop themselves from dreaming big

But I think is the excess of motivation that pushes new developers to create big project on the first try. I'm positive that a lot of people start with a small idea. They iterate on that, adding more branches, more content... and before you realize, the little boat you wanted to create looks more like a transatlantic.

GNVE said:
In my small projects I made giant mistakes that would have ended my enjoyment in larger games. but as they are small experiences I can complete them before all the fun is sucked out of it.

I would love to see any of your projects, or learn more about those giant mistakes. Do you have a devlog or could you please point me in the right direction?

GNVE said:
Yes it is true that Ren'py is slower than Unity (if properly optimized) Python itself is slower than C# but for most VN projects it doesn't matter. Pushing static pictures to a screen is not that taxing on any system made in the last decade or so.
Yeah great the VN uses 75MB of RAM rather than 100 or whatever. Nobody is going to notice a discernible difference.

Thanks for that piece of info! I saw only a few comments here and there about performance problems, but nothing as solid as this one.

Queen Rat said:
Sorry, not sure if any AVN use the toolkit (unless you count the one I'm working on!) Still at least a year away from me feeling comfortable sharing anything, though.

Wish you the best in your project! if you ever care to share, ping me!

Michelangelo da Mouso · Sep 5, 2023

I have done a bit of research, mostly in this forum, and through searches and comments from other people, I created this list of developers using Unity Toolkits in their games:

NaniNovel

Fungus

Articy Draft 3

Horror in hongdae [David Balsamique]

In-house toolkit (They coded it themselves)

TimeStamps [MotKeyz] both of them
Hack'n Stalk [The Architect] all of three
Goons Raid her [The Architect] all of three

Games still to find out

[Faerin] games = Mistywood manor or Man of the House
[Oppai Comics] games = Flirty F or Quickie
[Super Alex] games = Lucky Mark
[Hachigames] games = Hail Dicktator
[Eek! Games] games = House Party
[Anduo Games] games = Third Crisis
[Cloudlet] games = True Bond
[Droid Productions] = Love of magic
[Flexible Media] = Paradise Lust
[Walkius] = School, Love & Friends

If you know the toolkit behind any of these games, you've seen a game missplaced in my list, or want to add more games to the list, I'm all ears.

ps. I'll add this to the main thread

GNVE · Sep 5, 2023

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Game mechanics are more complex than what they look like. When someone cares for their project, any new mechanic integrated will be tested and balanced. If a second developer only wants to jump on the trend that the first one created, it is possible that they will skip the balancing and will offer that mechanic without contemplating how it is going to affect the rest of the story. But does that mean that if it was properly balanced and integrated, wouldn't that mechanic fit the second game (or the 90% of the games on this site)?

Sure testing is important to integrate a game mechanic. but it starts before that. You can't just take any old game mechanic and plonk it into any old game. You have to think about what the game mechanic would add, if it fits the game and if it adds to the player experience.
The sandbox for instance is a good fit if the game has decent management mechanics. There are a few games where I think the sandbox is a good choice. HHS+ for instance comes to mind. (the mechanic could be improved and balanced but it fits the idea of the game).

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Some people can't stop themselves from dreaming big
But I think is the excess of motivation that pushes new developers to create big project on the first try. I'm positive that a lot of people start with a small idea. They iterate on that, adding more branches, more content... and before you realize, the little boat you wanted to create looks more like a transatlantic.

I agree. Trouble is that they eventually find themselves in quicksand. The game becomes to complex and big and grows above their skill level or they introduce a mechanic that is too unwieldy that kills the project.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I would love to see any of your projects, or learn more about those giant mistakes. Do you have a devlog or could you please point me in the right direction?

Not really. At least not where I talk about my mistakes. I am a very slow working dev. Too many ideas too little time. My first project is on this site. It's been a while since I thought about it but it's biggest flaw is that it doesn't convey time correctly. It is meant to play out over the course of an entire afternoon/evening but I constructed the story as if it plays out over an hour or so making for a jarring experience to the player.
Also the marketing is a little disingenuous. It pretends you need to make choices to get to the correct story line. While that is technically true it is reaaaallllyyyyy obvious which one your supposed to take leaving the other story branch in there as a joke and if you wanted to read the short story.

Another project I've been working on has a lot more problems. Biggest being that the ratio of art to dialogue is way out of balance. A page of dialogue can be written in something like 30 minutes or so? While a single image takes hours (sure the rendering is done on off times like at night but still). So preferably you'll have a ratio where several lines of dialogue have one image. In my project it is the other way around. This leads to a long dev cycle with only a short game to show for it at the end.
Also I think I decided that animation in Daz just isn't worth it. I know many players like it but so far it always looks off and slow in games that use it. The time it takes to make the animation loop can be a week to make it look at least somewhat decent.
Third (and biggest) is that I used a too elaborate script for spin the bottle. Rather than having a simple a-b-c route I programmed it on a play by play level. there are three players (hence tha 3 routes) with 6 pieces of clothing. This means I made literally hundreds of images just for a tiny part of the game. That really broke the fun I had for development for quite a while. I had to step away from the game and do other projects. Only having returned recently to try and finish it. (I still need to finish about 1,5 endings right now).

A second project I'm working on is becoming a little unwieldy of it's own (

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). I think I might need to rethink my work on it in some way to make it successful or do a few more smaller projects before I can do this successfully.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Thanks for that piece of info! I saw only a few comments here and there about performance problems, but nothing as solid as this one.

It wasn't an actual benchmark. Just to say that if you're worrying about performance issues you are doing it wrong. PC's could have a dozen VN's open before getting to a point where you might notice some impact on an underpowered machine. Another reason issues crop up is bad code. (You can slow anything down if you really want to

) It is rare though that a game suffers performance issues in the (adult) VN space.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Sep 6, 2023

GNVE said:
The sandbox for instance is a good fit if the game has decent management mechanics. There are a few games where I think the sandbox is a good choice...... The game becomes to complex and big and grows above their skill level or they introduce a mechanic that is too unwieldy that kills the project.

I've recently played "School, Love & Friends" and after that experience, I relate to what you're saying. The sandbox had no bugs, but I felt utterly disconnected from the story and mechanically clicking buttons like a devil trying to find what to do.

GNVE said:
So preferably you'll have a ratio where several lines of dialogue have one image. In my project it is the other way around. This leads to a long dev cycle with only a short game to show for it at the end.

I've seen that some games use static images and, on top, there are moving elements. Mostly it's eyes blinking. This gives a lot of dynamism and could save you many renders. You could even extrapolate that to other moving elements, like a character in the background moving (while staying in those fixed coordinates). And at the same time, it would save you from rendering full HD pics, and focus only on the moving parts.
Just an idea

GNVE said:
Also I think I decided that animation in Daz just isn't worth it. I know many players like it but so far it always looks off and slow in games that use it. The time it takes to make the animation loop can be a week to make it look at least somewhat decent.

I thought the same, and I still have to learn a lot about it, but then I played MissFortune game (I hope you are okay with me using you as an example of success), and he is doing a visually impressive AVN with Daz3D animations. Indeed, it's not an easy task, but when I played "Move The Chains" it made me very hopeful with Daz3D animations.

GNVE said:
Third (and biggest) is that I used a too elaborate script for spin the bottle. Rather than having a simple a-b-c route I programmed it on a play by play level. there are three players (hence tha 3 routes) with 6 pieces of clothing. This means I made literally hundreds of images just for a tiny part of the game. That really broke the fun I had for development for quite a while. I had to step away from the game and do other projects. Only having returned recently to try and finish it. (I still need to finish about 1,5 endings right now).

Branching has its risks. I'm not an AVN expert, but I played many RPGs and noticed that their branching options don't shift the story massively. Yeah, Triple-A games can allow themselves to do several endings or kill characters, but generally, the choices are more anecdotal. For example, the game may let you choose three dresses to attend a party, but after five renders, something happens (drink spills on the dress, or falling on the pool), and you have to change to something else.

GNVE said:
It wasn't an actual benchmark. Just to say that if you're worrying about performance issues you are doing it wrong. PC's could have a dozen VN's open before getting to a point where you might notice some impact on an underpowered machine. Another reason issues crop up is bad code. (You can slow anything down if you really want to ) It is rare though that a game suffers performance issues in the (adult) VN space.

Now that I'm the stage where I started tearing apart Unity AVNs, trying to understand how they are built, I think I understand where are the performance problems.
I've seen games like HailDicktator where I could only see one Unity scene - I guess the whole game was created using a single scene?-. Others like Project Cappuccino -that it's not entirely an AVN, but a manager-, had 100+ scenes. So maybe it's not just the coding but the amount of assets the scene pulls.
I'm learning SO much on how to build an AVN in Unity by ripping other people's games. I have a long list of games to "dissect".

GNVE · Sep 6, 2023

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I've seen that some games use static images and, on top, there are moving elements. Mostly it's eyes blinking. This gives a lot of dynamism and could save you many renders. You could even extrapolate that to other moving elements, like a character in the background moving (while staying in those fixed coordinates). And at the same time, it would save you from rendering full HD pics, and focus only on the moving parts.
Just an idea

It's a decent idea indeed. But when I see it in other games it still feels like it is deeply in the uncanny valley (with Daz works better with a more cartoonish style). My problem is that I have to restrain myself rather than trying to make a movie at 1 frame per click.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
I thought the same, and I still have to learn a lot about it, but then I played MissFortune game (I hope you are okay with me using you as an example of success), and he is doing a visually impressive AVN with Daz3D animations. Indeed, it's not an easy task, but when I played "Move The Chains" it made me very hopeful with Daz3D animations.

Well the trouble I generally have is that in the story it is clear there is aggressive fucking going on while the animation shows a slow fuck of penis entering vagina. If you're lucky the dev at least tried to keep weight in mind otherwise it's just two puppets sliding across each other. Daz is just limited in it's animation capability.
My biggest gripe is that everything moves around the hip while you probably want to have shins/feet and hands stay in place as you put your weight on it while having sex.

Michelangelo da Mouso said:
Branching has its risks. I'm not an AVN expert, but I played many RPGs and noticed that their branching options don't shift the story massively. Yeah, Triple-A games can allow themselves to do several endings or kill characters, but generally, the choices are more anecdotal. For example, the game may let you choose three dresses to attend a party, but after five renders, something happens (drink spills on the dress, or falling on the pool), and you have to change to something else.

This wasn't branching this was me being stupid.

Michelangelo da Mouso · Jan 18, 2024

Just curious... anyone still into this topic?

Been ripping games in Unity and trying to learn how they're built. Gotta say, I've learned a ton these past few months...

I could update the list, but it looks like no one's really into bringing this thread back to life.

osanaiko · Jan 19, 2024

I appreciate the time you have taken to summarize the "state of the world" for Unity game making in the first post. I'm not interested in using Unity myself, but I'm glad there are multiple viable choices for VN/adult game engines in the world. The exception is the occasional game which is made in unity but does not implement vitally important stuff like text rollback/hide text box. Those can go die in a fire (lol joking okay maybe half joking).

BTW one more example of a unity game with custom engine: "A Long journey" by Marvelous Lunatic, which is linked in my sig.

72 Unity Games categorized by their VN plugin.

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