Which tools should I use?

[LfkCn]

Hi everyone. I want to make my own game one day, so i'm gathering information. I learned some programming in high school but i know nothing about modeling and graphics.

I want to make a simple visual novel without complex choices. I think the best tool for me is Renpy. What my game will look like is a mystery to me. There are tools like DAZ3D and Blender. And there are also options like Honey Select and Koikatsu. I like games made with HS and Koikatsu and from the tutorial videos i understand that they are much simpler than DAZ3D and Blender. BUT i have questions about the legality of these tools.

I saw Illusion's statement about HS "ıt's a game, not a tool. It's not legal to use it for game making". But still there are a lot of games made with HS or Koikatsu. How does this happen? Devs of these games have Patreon pages and they can make money. Why aren't their patreon pages shut down? Or is it okay as long as you don't sell it for money on Steam or something?

I'm willing to spend the time to learn how to make games, but I don't want to start a legally problematic business. I know they probably won't even know about my game, but these issues are important to me.

I read something like you need to buy a license to publish games made with tools like DAZ3D and Blender. I don't know if it's true. Do you know a tool that won't cause legal problems?

Sorry if I made the topic unnecessarily long. Let's say I'll use Honey Select. Renpy for programming and HS for graphics. What other tools do I need? I'm sure there are more than two tools in game making.

I apologize if some of my sentences don't make sense to you, English is not my native language.

 

[Winterfire]

You can use KK/HS2 as long as you won't sell the game, DAZ3D is free to use but each asset you purchase has a license which you need. Ren'Py and KK/HS2 are all the things you need, unless you also want to make music yourself as well... Of course you need a code editor (which Ren'Py suggests, I'd pick Visual Studio or Notepad++).

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

Hi everyone. I want to make my own game one day, so i'm gathering information. I learned some programming in high school
I saw Illusion's statement about HS "ıt's a game, not a tool. It's not legal to use it for game making". But still there are a lot of games made with HS or Koikatsu. How does this happen? Devs of these games have Patreon pages and they can make money. Why aren't their patreon pages shut down? Or is it okay as long as you don't sell it for money on Steam or something?

Steam is what stops HS/KK games. Illusion themselves never seemed to actually care. I don't think they actually went after a single game for using them.

 

[Nicke]

I want to make a simple visual novel without complex choices. I think the best tool for me is Renpy. What my game will look like is a mystery to me. There are tools like DAZ3D and Blender. And there are also options like Honey Select and Koikatsu. I like games made with HS and Koikatsu and from the tutorial videos i understand that they are much simpler than DAZ3D and Blender. BUT i have questions about the legality of these tools.

If you have the hardware and patience to learn either, I'd say Daz or Blender. Blender probably only if you're going to focus heavily on animation. And it's supposedly harder than Daz to learn - I don't know blender so that's hearsay.

 

[drapak12]

Licence depends more from models/assests less software. Blender is one of the best 3d soft, moreover it is free. Daz is free as well but it works with ready models (mostly expensive). Unfortunately Blender is very difficult.
Did you consider working with some free pictures and free AI software. There is serious problem because AI create beautifull faces and torso but always have problem with small body parts. Most people does not care. You can find here many AI images with 6 fingers on one hand or 4 labias, but they have very positive reviews. If you are smart enough you can create sexy images where hands, feets and/or genitals are invisible. Moreover most AI engines are quite easy.

 

[LfkCn]

Licence depends more from models/assests less software. Blender is one of the best 3d soft, moreover it is free. Daz is free as well but it works with ready models (mostly expensive). Unfortunately Blender is very difficult.
Did you consider working with some free pictures and free AI software. There is serious problem because AI create beautifull faces and torso but always have problem with small body parts. Most people does not care. You can find here many AI images with 6 fingers on one hand or 4 labias, but they have very positive reviews. If you are smart enough you can create sexy images where hands, feets and/or genitals are invisible. Moreover most AI engines are quite easy.

Yes, i thought about using AI, but i understand that most people don't like games developed with AI. I don't want to make a game to be hated. Still, i think AI technology is the future of this industry.

 

[Outsider04]

I'm also starting and I literally have the same doubts so why not try and help a brother out. I think you should try every tool and figure out which one you feel most comfortable with. Try to determine pros and cons of each software based on what kind of graphics you want your game to have.
Regarding to any other tools you should use, I'd say you probably will need a project management app like Trello.

 

[D.mon]

Regarding legality, you can't profit directly from copyrighted materials and intellectual property (models, designs, etc.), but I think there is a loophole, where you can share your work for free and be supported for your work trough patreon and other platforms alike. Technically, you're being paid for your service rather than your product. There's also parody law, but I don't think that applies to actual assets.

If you want to make a legitimate business from this, you should stick to royalty free assets or original work.

 

[Outsider04]

Regarding legality, you can't profit directly from copyrighted materials and intellectual property (models, designs, etc.), but I think there is a loophole, where you can share your work for free and be supported for your work trough patreon and other platforms alike. Technically, you're being paid for your service rather than your product. There's also parody law, but I don't think that applies to actual assets.

If you want to make a legitimate business from this, you should stick to royalty free assets or original work.

Doesn't the DAZ3D game developing license allow you to sell games that use assets from the store?

 

[D.mon]

Doesn't the DAZ3D game developing license allow you to sell games that use assets from the store?

I don't use DAZ3D so I couldn't tell you for sure. I'd guess they have some sort of licence in regards to selling product with their models in them.
If you go the legit route, it's always best to make sure and read up about policies regarding the "free" models and assets you plan to use.
Keep in mind, some may allow you to download assets for free, but may ask for compensation on products that make revenue. Like Unity, where you can use it and publish product up to a certain amount of revenue (don't know if they changed anything since the whole debacle they made with runtime).