Image size & code free engines?

[bingbongabcdefgkjfgldfdkg]

Hey!

What code free or visual coding engines do you prefer?
I have some experience in Tyrano but most people here seems to hate it. And it had some limitations. And the support is beyond cr*p.

Code free or visual coding is a requirment so no renpy stuff.
Everyone uses different screens and resolutions so I want the engine to adapt the size accordingly when you resize the screen. And what resolution is best to render in for that purpose?
Is it still 1080p?

The game style I'm thinking about is more like a visual novel with choices and branching paths.

Can you guys recommend any engines?

 

[AllNatural939]

Sorry, but I think the most basic and easiest way to make a visual novel is without a doubt RenPy. Maybe I'm wrong, but from the beginning, when I wanted to make a visual novel, I looked for information and came to the conclusion that I had to use Renpy no matter what.
In the end it's super easy. Renpy gives you the basic menus of the game and the interfaces to save and load games, ready-made, and with that you save a lot of time and headaches from the beginning.
You can know zero about programming and learn Renpy in a couple of months.

 

[Winterfire]

If you want a toy engine, you can get something like:

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on steam, but Tyrano is good enough if you use it properly.

 

[MissFortune]

AllNatural939 is correct. There's no such thing as a WYSIWYG visual novel maker that's really taken all that seriously.

In the AVN space right now, Ren'py is basically a requirement. Players know it, they're familiar with it, and they'd rather not use something new for the sake of being new. Luckily, the knowledge of code needed for Ren'py is limited. A short tutorial on Ren'py should have you covered on all the basics you need. You don't need to adjust menus or screens if you're just looking to make a basic first-time VN. The deeper your knowledge in Python, the more you'll be able to do, but it's hardly a requirement to learn Python.

As for image size? It's generally recommended to render in 4K and then downscale to 1080p, as you'll retain the detail of the 4K render but in a more manageable file size. For example, here's what I've rendered thus far for Ep. 3 of Move the Chains (roughly 700 4K renders of 2200) that haven't been downscaled yet:



1080 Lossless WebP is often under 1MB (whereas the average 4K PNG is roughly 8-10MB per render.) per render. However, with all that said, rendering at 4K is only realistic if your hardware can realistically manage it (e.g. 3090/4090). That is, assuming you're using Daz or Blender. If you're using HS/KK, I don't think 4K is really necessary at all. 1440p downscaled is probably more than enough. Hard to get any more specific without knowing what you're rendering with, though.

 

[Eezergoode]

Code-free/visual/node-based is ALWAYS going to be far more limited, and as stated above, you can easily make a basic VN in Ren'Py with knowing basically zero code. You can, in all honesty, just take the sample game provided in the install, and use that as a template for any basic, straight-forward VN. Yes, there is a LOT more you can do if you know the scripting and Python, but it isn't realy necessary for a basic VN.