I've always wanted to make a VN but coding is draining. Any recommendations?

[Crescentdune]

As the title suggests I wanted to know if there are any recommendations or tips any of you would give regarding making a very simple game.

I've made two games on this site. One game was more of a test to see what it takes to make even just a few scenes and the other game was my second try into making a VN but as one person making it, the coding just drains the fun out if it.

Since then I've just been drawing and even made a mock up of a VN. I want to make it but just thinking about coding kills my mood.

And I don't have money to hire someone nor would I like to ask for money just cause 1. I want it to be made just for fun and 2. I don't want to take the responsibility of a fundedproject.

If any of you have tips it'd be much appreciated. Thank you and have a good day!

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

There are a bunch of WYSIWYG visual novel creators like Tyrano, Novelty, Visual Novel Maker, etc. Don't know if any of them are any good though.

 

[depechedNode]

AFAIK

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and

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are two of the easier game engines for who don't want to mess with coding. But no personal experience, only hearsay.

 

[Deleted member 5584840]

Like... your dream when you were a child was to make a VN ? Not write a book or draw a comic ?

 

[Crescentdune]

You're recommending general purpose engines that require real coding to make a visual novel. To a person who got burnt out in Ren'py, an engine where you can make a visual novel with zero coding.

Zero coding? When did they have that?

 

[depechedNode]

You're recommending general purpose engines that require real coding to make a visual novel. To a person who got burnt out in Ren'py, an engine where you can make a visual novel with zero coding.

Ren'Py needs coding, who said it does not need coding. I'm recommeding engines which supports almost drag'n drop level easy development, means no coding or much less coding or if you want full coding.

 

[Crescentdune]

Like... your dream when you were a child was to make a VN ? Not write a book or draw a comic ?

I wouldn't call it a dream more like I just want to give something back. But with a comic you'd have to draw a bunch of stuff to convey a scene while in a VN a single Panel could do the same (with some variations to it). And I mostly got here (this site) for the games not necessarily stories or comics.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

I think you probably have to code on any engine. The question will be mostly, how much.
Whenever i try another engine, i am overwhelmed. Mainly because it's new and scary.

But, if i would use one it probably would be RPGM. It's established and relatively easy.
RenPy seems natural to me. Yes, there is a lot of coding but it depends what you want to do with it. To me it's familiar now. Kind of like home.
Though if there were an engine that would not require coding but rather drag and drop style, clicking on actions, that would be probably nice. Though i never seen an engine like that. It's probably also very uniform.

 

[Deleted member 5584840]

I wouldn't call it a dream more like I just want to give something back. But with a comic you'd have to draw a bunch of stuff to convey a scene while in a VN a single Panel could do the same (with some variations to it). And I mostly got here (this site) for the games not necessarily stories or comics.

To give something back ?

For a comic, you'd have to draw ; for a book, to write ; for a VN, to code... If you do want to express something, then you'd have to go through it.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

But, if i would use one it probably would be RPGM. It's established and relatively easy.

The drawback being that lots of people despise RPGM games, me included. I have played a few RPGM games I enjoyed, but I would have enjoyed them more if they weren't on RPGM. For me to even consider playing your RPGM game you have to do a lot of work. Like hitting all of my kinks, having great art, good writing, etc. And even then I might go "it's too much work, I'll play something else."

Though if there were an engine that would not require coding but rather drag and drop style, clicking on actions, that would be probably nice. Though i never seen an engine like that. It's probably also very uniform.

There are quite a few like that, just google visual novel creator.

For a comic, you'd have to draw ; for a book, to write ; for a VN, to code... If you do want to express something, then you'd have to go through it.

That's like saying if you want to eat butter you have to churn it yourself.

 

[Deleted member 5584840]

That's like saying if you want to eat butter you have to churn it yourself.

To eat, you don't need to express.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

To eat, you don't need to express.

Expression in regards to VNs doesn't lie in coding. It's in the art and writing.

 

[GNVE]

The game you posted seems rather straightforward. Could you elaborate on what you dislike about the coding?
Are your plans very elaborate like wanting to make an open world game or something?
Do you dislike having to type everything in the rigid structure?
Is there something you find difficult?
If you are more specific we might help you find tools, rethink your design or whatever to help you.

 

[The Rogue Trader]

As the title suggests I wanted to know if there are any recommendations or tips any of you would give regarding making a very simple game.

I've made two games on this site. One game was more of a test to see what it takes to make even just a few scenes and the other game was my second try into making a VN but as one person making it, the coding just drains the fun out if it.

Since then I've just been drawing and even made a mock up of a VN. I want to make it but just thinking about coding kills my mood.

And I don't have money to hire someone nor would I like to ask for money just cause 1. I want it to be made just for fun and 2. I don't want to take the responsibility of a fundedproject.

If any of you have tips it'd be much appreciated. Thank you and have a good day!

I see that you already coded some renpy games, so your problem isn't horror vacui about learning the language: you know already all that you need to know. It's just plain boredom at writing mc "Hello world" and stuff.
I don't know any VN maker engine that hasn't been already suggested, but I want to suggest you an alternative route, you'll decide what suits you best.
You can put up an ad for a coder in the "Recruitment and Services" subforum.
Just take your time to make your project attractive, don't forget to write a Project Document where you detail your whole story: coders really appreciate those.
If you look for a beginner coder that needs a simple project to learn the ropes. your game is probably a good place to start.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

There are quite a few like that, just google visual novel creator.

Yes, i did. My answer was to that point.
Each engine requires you to get familiarize with it. So you always will have a learning curve just to understand what the engine can do and what you have to do so it does what you want.
The reason why i am stuck with RenPy is more or less, because i know it already. Not that i am super good at it but it's home.
Similar to an OS. You already know what it does and behaves.
Most of the engines did not make me switch.

 

[Rell games]

You can try to use GitHub Copilot. It is an AI for coding, it takes care of all repetitive stuff for you, a huge time saver, at least for me. You might need to install VS Code for this though.

 

[Saki_Sliz]

A C# programmer my self, I've only just recently dabbled with renpy programming. So far programming in renpy is way faster than anything I've done before, since its super high level stuff (as oppose to low level code, such as creating game mechanics). So I'm a little mystified by this post of yours. I will say programming in renpy is the most painful and frustrating programming I've ever done... when I'm actually doing programming, but doing general scripting is fine.

looking at your mock up, my only guess as to your concern with programming is if you are trying to get deep into tailoring the look and feel of the user experience by customizing the screens, animations, etc. I will say, I'm not a fan of having to 'hard code' in the behavior I want the game to have, as opposed to a custom game where if I wanted to animate the characters in a scene, rather than using transforms and commands, I would just animate it in blender as an FBX and run it in godot/unity. But setting that up can take a lot of prep work, one of the reason I started using renpy recently is I'm tired of 'designing' games and actually want to focus on making game/content, hence renpy's script focus design encourages content creation, I'll worry about customizing the UI another time.

 

[osanaiko]

I'm the exact opposite to OP:

I enjoy the writing and coding parts (excluding deciphering the hairy corners of renpy internals), but the prospect of creating the art (even daz3d gobbos) to a level that is good enough to reach my own standards simply is too exhausting to contemplate.

I've started multiple projects and even progressed a handlful to a few hours of play-time, but all are stuck with 99% placeholders instead of artwork.

More recently I am background collaborator (assistant?) to other developers who do have the energy/ability to create and create and create the endless artwork *and* write a story-line.

I guess different people just have different drivers to how they enjoy spending their free time.

 

[Crescentdune]

To give something back ?

For a comic, you'd have to draw ; for a book, to write ; for a VN, to code... If you do want to express something, then you'd have to go through it.

Oh sorry to clarify I meant to give something back to this site which I predominantly go for the games not necessarily the comics or novels.

 

[Crescentdune]

Do you dislike having to type everything in the rigid structure?

I think it's this. Unsure if were talking about the same thing but in essence it's having to repeat tedious lines of code to make a picture show two inches slightly to the right (to give an oversimplification)