Is there a recommended workflow for people just starting?

[rgmcl]

Been playing these kinds of games for a while and I'd like to try making one, maybe starting with a visual novel.

It looks like there's a lot of good stuff in this tutorial forum but I don't see a "How to start for a total beginner" thread anywhere. So....that's my question. It looks like there's a lot of programs and tutorials to work with, so to those who have been doing this for a while, what would you recommend I learn?

My preferred style is something like High Rise Climb or Being a DIK, with realistic looking models and environments. I'm willing to buy pre-made assets to save time, and I'm curious about using AI to generate artwork. I'm much more of a writer than an artist, although I want the art to look good enough that it properly supports the story.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[MissFortune]

My preferred style is something like High Rise Climb or Being a DIK,

High Rise Climb and BaD are made with Daz 3D. If you're looking to render near that level, you're probably gonna want a beefy GPU. Probably a 30 series, at this point. Neither have the most realistic renders, but they certainly have style. Specifically in BaD's case. Bright, poppy colors, barbie doll-esque figures, etc.

While neither have realistic renders, they've got a lot of practice rendering. They've been at it a minute.

I'm willing to buy pre-made assets to save time,

Daz basically is premade assets. Most people making games/VNs here aren't creating/modeling figures and props by hand - for the most part, at least.

You must be registered to see the links

.

I'm curious about using AI to generate artwork.

AI art is something of a legal gray area right now, as it's effectively public domain and not currently copyrightable in any meaningful way. I suspect that's going to change soon, as well. All of these generators are using stolen images, in so many ways, and now there's at least three current lawsuits happening with AI. The result of those are going to completely change the landscape of where AI goes, and I don't think the SD/Midjourney fanboys are going to very happy with the result.

And the fact that some of these generators are putting out identical images to what they're taking from

I'm much more of a writer than an artist, although I want the art to look good enough that it properly supports the story.

Maybe think about teaming up with a relatively capable Daz artist?

It looks like there's a lot of good stuff in this tutorial forum but I don't see a "How to start for a total beginner" thread anywhere. So....that's my question. It looks like there's a lot of programs and tutorials to work with, so to those who have been doing this for a while, what would you recommend I learn?

The first point addressed most of this. Daz 3D + Ren'py + Photoshop/Lightroom/GIMP are going to be the bare minimum. Having Blender installed for fixing little things and then bringing them back to Daz might not be the worst idea, either.

There's a couple '101' courses for Daz out there on YouTube.


Game Developer Training (second video) and WP Guru (first) go much further than beginner, as well as delving deeper into several other softwares. There's also a few that stick around more intermediate/sort of advanced stuff like

You must be registered to see the links

, or slightly more niche stuff like (self-plug warning)

You must be registered to see the links

. Then there's the paid stuff like Shift Art and Dreamlight.

So, in short, learn the software. See what the tool does and what you can do with it, progressively challenge yourself further with each new thing you learn. Again, having a higher-end GPU is going to make life a lot easier, but it's not the end all be all of it, either.

 

[rgmcl]

That's very helpful, thanks. I'll start playing with the tutorials asap.

High Rise Climb and BaD are made with Daz 3D. If you're looking to render near that level, you're probably gonna want a beefy GPU. Probably a 30 series, at this point. Neither have the most realistic renders, but they certainly have style. Specifically in BaD's case. Bright, poppy colors, barbie doll-esque figures, etc.

While neither have realistic renders, they've got a lot of practice rendering. They've been at it a minute.



Daz basically is premade assets. Most people making games/VNs here aren't creating/modeling figures and props by hand - for the most part, at least.

You must be registered to see the links

.



AI art is something of a legal gray area right now, as it's effectively public domain and not currently copyrightable in any meaningful way. I suspect that's going to change soon, as well. All of these generators are using stolen images, in so many ways, and now there's at least three current lawsuits happening with AI. The result of those are going to completely change the landscape of where AI goes, and I don't think the SD/Midjourney fanboys are going to very happy with the result.

And the fact that some of these generators are putting out identical images to what they're taking from



Maybe think about teaming up with a relatively capable Daz artist?



The first point addressed most of this. Daz 3D + Ren'py + Photoshop/Lightroom/GIMP are going to be the bare minimum. Having Blender installed for fixing little things and then bringing them back to Daz might not be the worst idea, either.

There's a couple '101' courses for Daz out there on YouTube.


Game Developer Training (second video) and WP Guru (first) go much further than beginner, as well as delving deeper into several other softwares. There's also a few that stick around more intermediate/sort of advanced stuff like

You must be registered to see the links

, or slightly more niche stuff like (self-plug warning)

You must be registered to see the links

. Then there's the paid stuff like Shift Art and Dreamlight.

So, in short, learn the software. See what the tool does and what you can do with it, progressively challenge yourself further with each new thing you learn. Again, having a higher-end GPU is going to make life a lot easier, but it's not the end all be all of it, either.