Unless you're using Unity to render 3D scenes in real time, I wonder why you'd choose Unity to make a visual novel, given the number of alternatives besides RenPy.
I agree. It's a bit like using a jackhammer to drive in a nail - you can make it work, but there's a ballpeen hammer right over here that will do the job you are wanting to do with 1/10th the effort.
And that's really the best take-away for people: Game engines are tools, and depending on what you are wanting to do, you should select the right tool for the job.
If you've already mastered a game engine and using it is like breathing air for you, then sure, I can see that the learning curve may not make using another engine attractive for a new project.
Just read your post about the "list of engines" and I see you have strong feelings against Unity. I get it. The company hasn’t been winning any popularity contests lately. But as an engine, it has a lot to offer—an enormous community, tons of plugins that make development easier, and it’s pretty newbie-friendly.
I used Unity WAY back when it was fairly new - Unity 2.0 release was when I started messing with it, Unity 3.0 was when I got serious with it.
And even before the whole debacle of the company proving itself unreliable with licensing . . . the company proved itself unreliable with features.
I stopped using Unity because hardly any feature seemed to come out of beta or experimental. It's got a problem with there being far too many ways to do any given thing - one feature would still be in beta when they'd announce a new feature to do the same thing in a slightly different way, and a year later both features wouldn't be in any form of a finalized form.
I'll admit I haven't looked at it in like 3-4 years, but last I checked Unity was a boneyard of depreciated features still laying around.
One thing with RenPy that is a liability AND a strength is that all the coding and development is done by one guy, Tom. It does what it does very well and always has a clear goal and direction. It makes visual novels (and other stuff if you are clever and don't mind Python).
Sure, if you’re looking to make a visual novel, Ren'Py is the go-to choice. But learning Unity, Unreal, or other more versatile engines could be useful, say, if your ambitions grow and you want to add mechanics beyond just VN.
This I agree with. It's like programming languages. Once you become a proficient developer in one engine, learning another doesn't take nearly as long.
If someone is making a traditional visual novel, not using RenPy is madness for the added extra work they'll have to do in other engines.
Same way if someone wants to make a photorealistic realtime game with all the prettiness - not using Unreal is just asking for frustration.
I've been messing with Godot for the past year, and it is a breath of fresh air. It's so fast and snappy to work with. And I've only used it for 2D game dev so far, but man, the fact I can just play the game without waiting for the compile build that Unity does? Magnificent.
If you want to think i am stupid that is fine but that does not make renpy easy or good for people who don't know or new to coding.
OP said they are a programmer, so I don't think Python is going to be a stumbling block for them with RenPy if they choose to go that direction.
Relying on WYSIWYG editors or visual scripting like in Unreal is a handicap to ambitions IMHO. Take it from someone who spent YEARS trying to avoid coding . . . just learn to code. There are so many GREAT courses and tutorials online now for any language.
It can be very discouraging to have ideas for a game feature and not know how to implement it, but once you know coding, that stops being a roadblock and instead becomes a logic problem - you just list out what needs to happen in order, and then talk to your rubber duck.
