Adult Visual Novel Tips

[UndergradSteve]

Hey sorry if this has already been posted somewhere before
I'm currently starting to make an adult visual novel based on college and would like to know if there's any big DO'S or DON'Ts specifically for adult visual novels.
I have read some threads about what to avoid but they mostly revolved around RPG maker and open world games. I'm using Renpy

Thanks

 

[Salami Pasta]

Avoid incest/loli/shota/rape. Unless you're gunning for those themes specifically.
Mainly because of Patreon. Loli/shota also not allowed here, I think (?).

Spell-check your script.
Do a decent-length first release.
Use version control/backup things regularly.
Don't publicly commit to a release date, unless you're 110% sure you can make it (you will still probably miss it, but maybe not by that much).

 

[Madmanator99]

One major thing is how you plan on making some money from it.
As SalamiPasta said, some themes will not be welcomed on some platforms like Patreon and others.
There are ways to deal with those themes, for exemple you make one "clean" version on those platforms, and either provide a "patch" (if it involves removing renders for exemple) for the "dirty" version elsewhere, althou that is still risky. The other way is to simply rename everyone and claim they are all 18, of course there are limits...

Next thing about the theme other than monetisation, it's realy up to you, everyone on the internet likes different things, so you do what you like, and some people will enjoy it, while others won't, so be ready for that.

Renpy can be and is realy a great tool for making visual novel, but since it is mostly still images, unlike other games that are 3D and keep you distracted with freedome of movement and fancy animations, or voiced dialogue all the time, etc, Renpy will require a solid story, one that has to make up for what it lacks in terms of 3d interactions. I think the story is the most important thing when it comes to Renpy, if you want a game that gets people hooked.

Finaly, I'll say that everything that SalamiPasta said ad the end of his post is very pratical and realy important. A happy fanbase means you get paid.

 

[UndergradSteve]

Avoid incest/loli/shota/rape. Unless you're gunning for those themes specifically.
Mainly because of Patreon. Loli/shota also not allowed here, I think (?).

Spell-check your script.
Do a decent-length first release.
Use version control/backup things regularly.
Don't publicly commit to a release date, unless you're 110% sure you can make it (you will still probably miss it, but maybe not by that much).

Thanks for the feedback I've followed everything that you've said on this

 

[UndergradSteve]

One major thing is how you plan on making some money from it.
As SalamiPasta said, some themes will not be welcomed on some platforms like Patreon and others.
There are ways to deal with those themes, for exemple you make one "clean" version on those platforms, and either provide a "patch" (if it involves removing renders for exemple) for the "dirty" version elsewhere, althou that is still risky. The other way is to simply rename everyone and claim they are all 18, of course there are limits...

Next thing about the theme other than monetisation, it's realy up to you, everyone on the internet likes different things, so you do what you like, and some people will enjoy it, while others won't, so be ready for that.

Renpy can be and is realy a great tool for making visual novel, but since it is mostly still images, unlike other games that are 3D and keep you distracted with freedome of movement and fancy animations, or voiced dialogue all the time, etc, Renpy will require a solid story, one that has to make up for what it lacks in terms of 3d interactions. I think the story is the most important thing when it comes to Renpy, if you want a game that gets people hooked.

Finaly, I'll say that everything that SalamiPasta said ad the end of his post is very pratical and realy important. A happy fanbase means you get paid.

Okay that's really interesting.
I wasn't planning on including any restricted categories
I've tried very very hard to create a strong story line and that is what I would say is the games best feature. It's probably more of an Erotica

 

[Nonsense200]

properly tag it, especially if you're unsure about your artwork and it looks like it could be animated in any fashion, especially if you're using unity or any other engine than ren'py.

Have enough routes that it feels complete for what it is, perhaps not even making more than 2-3 models/characters at first and then being careful with camerawork/positioning.

Don't worry about originality, or people accusing you of ""stealing"", especially if this is your first VN, or whatever, stealing is fine just don't be outright blatant. important thing to pay attention to is to decide early on what kind of structure you're going to have, you can change it later but having a somewhat grounded idea for a "minimal viable product" is good.


Lastly all I can think is experiment a little with anything that can avoid my (and people like me) "this is Honey-select/Koikatsu/etc." knee-jerk-reaction. either by creating new 2d stuff from scratch, or by careful management of assets such as:
-custom or 3rd party clothes, backgrounds, etc. look around here and notice how many assets you can recognize from various 3d H-games. it's not a few, and the background alone is often a dead giveaway.


-taking the image for a scene or frame and putting it through photoshop/krita/GIMP so that it gets a filter effect
-using the image from a "3d scene" as either a stencil/trace-pattern for a 2d one.

In the end try to have realistic senses of proportions, and a good eye for poses/camera angles.

 

[sc0rp10n]

The most important thing is - make an actual game that's interesting to play and not just a slideshow/animation collection.
Players want to be invested, while exploring your storytelling - for VNs that's usually decision making, or environment/NPC interaction. Event if it doesn't affect the story much or at all, the playing experience is much better than just watching.

When you want to go the 3D-rendered route for your visuals, make sure to light your scenes well and denoise it properly.
Lots of game renders are too dark and noisy. Pleasant looking artwork takes some time to calculate at a decent quality level
and will likely require some post processing, like color grading, denoising and such (might be just an an additional setting or
processing step, depending on the 3D software used for artwork creation).

 

[Polpota]

Try not to lock too much content behind a paywall.

What people will tolerate-

delayed public releases

new features being beta tested to paying fans first

what drives people away-

Patreon only characters or routes

Slow, repetitive, grindy content that is ‘fixed’ if you’re a supporter