Hello. I'm currently "making" a visual novel and at this point, I don't know what the future looks like. Sorry for the long post, but I feel like it's all necessary information.
As soon as I knew I wanted to make a VN, I immediately went to work on the story, and after a few months, I finally have a story that I am unbelievably happy with and NEED to see made into a game. This story is unironically my baby. I also played with Ren'Py enough that I am certain that I could, at the very least, spaghetti code a playable version of the game by myself. The issue is, I can't make renders. I am willing to do literally everything else myself from coding to the music, but I have no way of getting art, so I don't know where to go from here.
The way I see it, I have two realistic paths for the future I could take:
A. Hire someone to do the renders for me (probably from the recruitment thread on this site). Of course, I'd make less money, but I don't care at all about that. I'd even do up to a 30/70 rev share if necessary for someone to JUST do my renders. However, the issue with this path is twofold. Firstly, bringing someone onboard is scary because there is ZERO way to guarantee their commitment to my project. Like I said, this story is my baby. I'd be fine never making a dime as long as it got finished, but am I really supposed to believe a stranger would stay on board if they haven't made any money for 6 months or longer? If my artist leaves after any extended length of time I am simply fucked. It's terrifying. Secondly, I know how I want certain things to look, so I might get very nitpicky about certain renders and I know that can get annoying for artists. This is less important than the first point, but it's still something to note.
B. Just learn how to make the renders myself. This would give me the security and control that I need, the only issue is my setup. Right now I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 5 14ALC05, and after seeing how long these Daz renders take for other people combined with how much space the assets use, I simply don't think it's realistic to make my game on my laptop. Even if I was a Daz pro I'd still be at the mercy of my hardware, and I'd rather not start if it's going to take obscenely long between updates. I also have NOWHERE NEAR enough money to upgrade to a proper computer. I could use something other than Daz, but Daz seems to be the clear choice for my 3d renders to me. I've seen good Daz renders and THAT is how I want my game to look. I could also save money to get a computer but sitting on my hands and doing nothing for 6, 7, or 8+ months when I literally have a completed story would unironically drive me absolutely insane.
If I'm being an idiot PLEASE tell me, I just want my game to come out as soon as physically possible while maintaining some level of quality. ANY tips that could help me do that would be appreciated, even if they aren't directly related to what I'm talking about.
Thanks in advance for reading.
As soon as I knew I wanted to make a VN, I immediately went to work on the story, and after a few months, I finally have a story that I am unbelievably happy with and NEED to see made into a game. This story is unironically my baby. I also played with Ren'Py enough that I am certain that I could, at the very least, spaghetti code a playable version of the game by myself. The issue is, I can't make renders. I am willing to do literally everything else myself from coding to the music, but I have no way of getting art, so I don't know where to go from here.
The way I see it, I have two realistic paths for the future I could take:
A. Hire someone to do the renders for me (probably from the recruitment thread on this site). Of course, I'd make less money, but I don't care at all about that. I'd even do up to a 30/70 rev share if necessary for someone to JUST do my renders. However, the issue with this path is twofold. Firstly, bringing someone onboard is scary because there is ZERO way to guarantee their commitment to my project. Like I said, this story is my baby. I'd be fine never making a dime as long as it got finished, but am I really supposed to believe a stranger would stay on board if they haven't made any money for 6 months or longer? If my artist leaves after any extended length of time I am simply fucked. It's terrifying. Secondly, I know how I want certain things to look, so I might get very nitpicky about certain renders and I know that can get annoying for artists. This is less important than the first point, but it's still something to note.
B. Just learn how to make the renders myself. This would give me the security and control that I need, the only issue is my setup. Right now I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 5 14ALC05, and after seeing how long these Daz renders take for other people combined with how much space the assets use, I simply don't think it's realistic to make my game on my laptop. Even if I was a Daz pro I'd still be at the mercy of my hardware, and I'd rather not start if it's going to take obscenely long between updates. I also have NOWHERE NEAR enough money to upgrade to a proper computer. I could use something other than Daz, but Daz seems to be the clear choice for my 3d renders to me. I've seen good Daz renders and THAT is how I want my game to look. I could also save money to get a computer but sitting on my hands and doing nothing for 6, 7, or 8+ months when I literally have a completed story would unironically drive me absolutely insane.
If I'm being an idiot PLEASE tell me, I just want my game to come out as soon as physically possible while maintaining some level of quality. ANY tips that could help me do that would be appreciated, even if they aren't directly related to what I'm talking about.
Thanks in advance for reading.
