#nanoreno 2018

[milkplusvn]

Happy New Yuri 2024 from milk+ visual!

What an active year 2023 was for us! With dozens upon dozens of devlogs and a whopping two releases (four if you count Soundless-related things), we shall pridefully shout to the world that we're back, baby!

To recap...

The start of 2023 was strong, with Three Lilies and Their Ghost Stories coming out in January.

We showed public progress on the Soundless art update and released Flotsam Song mid-year.

We launched a brand new Patreon!

We at last released the Soundless art update...

...and then released the Soundless Android port!

The sole loose end from last year is the Soundless digital artbook, which is currently in production. After that, what's next? That's simple!

What's next are two things:

1. The return of 7388, our 2018 NaNoRenO game, to active development.

2. A website overhaul...with a store. That's right. A store!

If you've been here a while, you probably know 7388 already; if you don't, the short of it is that it's a visual novel about two AI investigating post-apocalyptic Florida. You can play the proof-of-concept we released for NaNoRenO here!

We'll be gradually unveiling more and more of what we're doing with 7388 publicly. On Patreon, Patrons have already gained access to a couple of 7388 pre-production posts, so if you're interested in getting morsels now you can pledge today!

There'll be more this month, so stay tuned. And if you'd like, you can download this year's 2024 image and use it as a wallpaper! The full res is attached to this Patreon post.

[atelier-apricot]

I present you the cast of Bride of the NEET God, my entry for NaNoRenO 2018!

Follow pessimistic village girl Shiyun after she ends up in the divine realm as a sacrificial bride for the Volcano God. Or that’s how it was supposed to be, but lazy deity Mao has no interest on her, nor his duties, whatsoever!

Over the course of the story, it’s up to you to get him to work, and if you wish, maybe something more... Featuring all original art and soundtrack!

This is a short game (30 minutes ~ 1 hour) focusing on comedic dialogue. I’m a bit reluctant to call it otome, but it does have optional GxB romance. If that’s not your thing, though, it’s only 1 out of 3 possible endings, all equally good!

[december-snow]

Mint and Honey, my second short VN, is now complete and available on itch.io! Special shoutout to @matsu-rinrin for being my editor, if my writing makes even an ounce of sense, it’s all thanks to her. Thank you as well to @altereden who’s always been my fellow otome confidante. I hope this short story will be able to lighten up your day even a little!

[arizaluca]

Week 2: NaNoRenO Progress

- Sprites for one game I’m helping with = FINISHED!

- Sprites for another game I’m helping = FINISHED!

-  My own game = Story still in progress, about halfway finished.

- MCSM fangame = Code complete, still untested, sprites and bgs not complete

- Another game jam game = Due at the end of this week. Code complete and tested, sprites, bgs, and cgs needed.

- ANOTHER game jam game = Code complete and tested, sprites, bgs, and cgs needed.

[pkgamedev]

NaNoReno Progress Report: Day 6

Drew some sketches of Aria (top) and her mother (bottom). Didn’t get around to programming today due to being at work for a full day today.

I do weekly art streams on my YouTube channel, so every week until the end of NaNoRenO, I’ll be doing streams where I’ll be working on The Witch’s Black Cat starting tomorrow!

Stream will start on my channel PKLucky at 7:30pm CST

[saltysunberry]

NaNoReNo 2018: Luck and Key Progress Report 4 (April 2)

Hooray! The demo version is out!

Some confessions to make before I begin the playtesting questions: I had the next scene, Magia Classes and Summons, halfway in development, but because I have run out of time to complete it, there is but one scene in this demo. I cry.

____________________________

PLAYTESTING Q&A v4

List your associated role for this week:

Sunberry: Complete art design and release L&K Demo Version 1,0.

What tasks have been completed for this week? What tasks were incomplete and the reason for incompletion?

COMPLETE: For the final week of NaNoReNo, Sunberry was able to release a demo game and complete all sprite design elements. All four character sprites have been added into the game, plus a variety of expressions. Besides the main character, each of the three characters are in full body version.

INCOMPLETE: Sunberry was unable to add a third scene into the first demo due to time constraints, but the first scene plays for at least 10 mins, with a choice element implemented.

What playtesting has occurred as part of the process? What are the outcomes of playtesting?

Since the April 1st update of VN Maker, the choice branches have been moved to separate scenes. Once the player decides on a choice, there is the unfortunate bug of not being able to click anywhere else but the message box to proceed. A new fix for this must be found for the next demo.

How do these outcomes impact the schedule for game development?

The important aspects of gameplay (reading story, changing character expressions) are functional, but to avoid crashes and hassle, these bugs must be cleaned via Script UI. For future versions, these are Sunberry's top priority.

What (if any) has been changed about the game design and development concept/pitch?

It is debatable whether or not "Luck and Key" will be a main game, or a side game for a hopeful sequel idea that Sunberry has been developing along the way. More details will be revealed as development goes on.

What will be your task/s for the future and the resources you will use for playtesting?

Besides finding a way to fix the above bugs, these are what Sunberry hopes to implement by the next or future version:

Custom message caret animation.

Custom settings UI; away from VNM's default

Animated sprites, and different poses for each expression and changed outfits.

Custom backgrounds. The first two backgrounds used are default assets from VN Maker.

Hover sound + Hide Message Box properly implemented.

Second scene: Magia Classes and Summons, plus a bit more insight to L&K's hidden lore.

General comments on project progress:

Joining NaNoReNo 2018 was a great experience! (Sunberry says this as she types, almost about to fall asleep... ZzzZ)

I'm glad I persevered through it, and even though my input was not the ambitious full game or even demo I imagined. Regardless, I was able to challenge myself and I learnt many things - about VN Maker, rendering WBM files, how to make good lineart and project a person's personality into a first-person POV. I'm super excited to keep working on Luck and Key in the future! I feel more prepared with VN designing, but there is always more room for improvement :)

_____________________________________

I seriously hope you, dear reader, would give my first demo a try! And to all those people who joined NaNoReNo 2018 too: AWESOME JOB! I'll be giving a few of those submissions a go too! So exciting!

For April and May, I will be putting game development on hold while I finish the current trimester. Saint Killian, wish me Luck!

[archived-watercress-blog]

Cautionary Tale Interviews! Hoa the Writer!

Which one of the three games did you work on?

“If in Your Dreams; The Flood”, specifically Oliver’s route.

How did you get started in your field?

Well, in 2012 a certain visual novel was released and I had the bright idea of making a VN myself. I joined an IRC channel someone posted in a thread on 4chan and it was all downhill from there. 6 years later and I’m still writing VNs.

What was the most difficult part of the process?

GETTING STARTED. I’m so jealous of writers who can just pick up a pencil or open [insert favored word processor here] and just start writing. Occasionally I’m able to just go, but with “Flood” I wasted most of my time pulling my own hair out before that sweet sweet panic set in and I could get it done.

How are Visual Novels different from other forms of writing?

Well, for starters you shouldn’t really spend the time describing the scene in the scripts because you’re going to have backgrounds, sprites, etc. The whole “show, don’t tell” saying become much more important and you’ll be spending a lot more time than you think you will in non-script documents detailing assets. When you’re writing a VN you’re not just a writer; you’re the director of your section. Sprite poses, expressions, backgrounds, music, etc… that’s all on the writer to list and work with other people on. I didn’t know that coming into this and made a fool of myself more than once over it. (lol)

What advice would you give someone entering your field?

Turn your brain off and just start talking to the paper. The more you worry about the quality of your writing the more time you’re going to spend on just one page. Editing is for after you’re done, not during the process! It’s like pulling the dough out of the oven while the cookies are still baking.

What did you gain from the experience?

I wish I had done this years ago; there’s only so much you can learn going solo or with your own little group of devs. I’m coming out of this much more prepared to finish my own VN than I was coming in. I’m definitely doing another NaNoRenO project next year.

Where do you write your first drafts? Do you like to outline, or just head in blind? Do you have any sort of writing ritual?

I hate using googledocs so I use openoffice instead. Having other people watch me as I type or seeing my revision history kills me inside.

I like to jot down things about the story and characters before I outline. Once the outline is done I’ll start drafting the actual script.

A pack of smokes and my usual spotify playlists get me in the mood real fast.

Why did you dedicate so much time, effort, and passion to this project for no monetary reward? What fueled your creativity and drove you to keep pushing?

Truthfully, a good friend of mine died recently and I needed something to keep my mind busy. I couldn’t work up the energy for my own project (as an artist) so I figured I’d go back to my roots (as a writer) and just finish a game already. I’ve always worked on VNs for free, but one day making some money off it is my ultimate goal. I’m really happy that this is what I got to work on as many of the themes align with my current situation. Best therapy ever.

Which character is your favorite?

The ghost bees.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to do NaNoRenO for the first time?

Just do it and go with the flow. Collabing with other studios is a fantastic way to learn and make friends.

Like what you heard? Consider playing Cautionary Tale when it is released, or check out Hoa on twitter here or here! 

[madoka-ikaruga]

get a load of tHIS PURE BO Y!!!!

[dynamicupdates]

I’m teaming up with @macarthius​ to create a visual novel, and they will be creating the artwork! The first image is their sketches, the rest are mine!

The characters, in order (not including the first image) are:

Arquestchet (Arc): a vampire from ancient egypt

Kitsan: an urban god from toronto

Liphiem: a god of time

Thysiel: a calamity angel belonging to a calamity god

Zaecril: (not pictured) an alien

The game is called End of Eternity, and it’s about the above group of immortal creatures facing the death of their universe, and trying to find a way to survive.

We’re creating this for NaNoRenO this year, and will be releasing a demo for the event and finishing the game afterwards.

[englishotomegames]

A reminder that NaNoRenO 2022 starts in just over 4 days, on March 1st!

What is NaNoRenO?

NaNoRenO is an annual month-long game jam in which developers are challenged to make a visual novel from start to finish. It was originally inspired by the more famous NaNoWriMo (National Novelist Writer's Month, which takes place in November). There're no restrictions on content or genre*. All visual novels submitted for NaNoRenO must have been made exclusively in the month of March.

See a list of previously released NaNoRenO games here! Previous itch jam pages: 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020+ | 2021

This year's NaNoRenO illustration is by Cele.

The most recent phrasing of the NaNoRenO rules:

Takes place during the month of March.

Final visual novel must be finished on or before April first. The jam deadline is slightly longer to allow for internet outages or other emergencies that prevent you from uploading your finished visual novel.

You can only begin actual production of your game in March.

Allowed before NaNoRenO begins:

Brainstorming

Plot Outlining

Sketches that do not lead to direct production of assets

Team Building

Not Allowed until NaNoRenO begins:

Sketches of sprites, CGs, backgrounds, or anything else that leads to production of assets

Writing or coding any portion of the game

Production of assets to be used in the game

Use of Creative Commons material is okay.

There are no "winners" here. Everyone who manages to release their game has completed NaNoRenO!

You may release a buggy version of your game by the deadline and fix it up later or release a demo for NaNoRenO.

While other game elements may be present, the final piece should be largely identified as a "visual novel."

To learn more or to participate, head to the itch.io page here!

[pride-vns-blog]

LGBTQ VN Week: Day Two! (6/19)

Welcome back for my second day of LGBTQ visual novel recommendations! If you didn’t check out my first post, I recommend at least skimming the "One note before we get started” section to get a handle on what this series of posts is. (And especially, as the case may be, what it isn’t.)

Today’s topic is “crafty creative design”, so I’ve pulled out Marccus’s Eldet, Geek Remix and ChicMonster’s Pairanormal, and Team Rumblebee’s Love Is Strange to talk about their development teams’ ambition (and ability to deliver), followed by a discussion with Boys Laugh+ about their 2017 NaNoRenO entry, //TODO: today!

Keep on reading to hear about treasure hunts with hot guys, mysterious twists and turns, power in reimagined narratives, and why taking time to look for brand-new visual novels you’ve never heard of before can be worth your while!

ELDET (MARCCUS)

Kickstarter Tagline: "A medieval fantasy themed visual novel with emphasis on LGBT characters and people of color.” Genre(s): Historical fantasy. Release Date: July 1st, 2017(?) (updated demo); TBA (full version). Content Warnings: Fantasy violence.

When it comes to aiming for new heights with visual novel storytelling and art, Marccus’s Eldet is one of the most standout examples of ambition — if it’s a possibility or a feature you could potentially implement, you’ll probably be able to find a mention of it somewhere in Marccus’s Eldet development updates on Kickstarter. They’re jam-packed with information about ways he’s exploring different ideas for interlocking narratives, replay value, or using the absolutely gorgeous art to its full potential. If the final version lives up to even a tenth of what Marccus has demonstrated working to include over the past two years, that ambition and drive to see things through as much as possible will almost definitely provide one hell of a visual novel.

Strictly looking at the demo alone, though, still provides a uniquely detailed experience where focus on trying out new things that suit the story is crystal-clear. The writing is sharp and captivating, with an interesting plot and gorgeous scenery that’s complimented by a smart use of animated effects. There have been more and more visual novels that have branched into the use of things like Live2D or animated sprites, but for me as a player, it’s been interesting to see how far use of effects like that can go before they just plain old start to be distracting. Idle animations or things like blinking and breathing can be charming, but the uncanny valley is very real and very easy to dive headlong into if you’re trying to include as many of those as possible.

So Eldet’s demo is noteworthy to me not just for trying out all of the visual effects it can manage, but even moreso for knowing by and large where to place those effects and varying sprites for the best possible impact. Characters are integrated into different backgrounds for special conversational scenes, or specific parts of event graphics glow, and none of it — to my eyes, at least — felt overused or poorly-executed. In fact, it all seemed especially suited to the fantasy genre Eldet is fitting itself into, with all of the pieces working together to create a world that feels alive and breathing. And it’s a world that seems well worth waiting for a final version of!

Eldet’s demo is available now on Kickstarter; you can also keep up with the final version’s progress on its development blog, or follow Marccus on Twitter and Patreon (18+).

PAIRANORMAL (GEEK REMIX, CHICMONSTER)

Itchio Tagline: "Love is a mystery and so are ghosts.” Genre(s): Mystery, romance.  Release Date: April 1st, 2018 (Chapter 1); TBA (Chapters 2+). Content Warnings: Glitches and static (can be turned off); jumpscares.

There have been a couple "real person dating sim" visual novels in the past few years, but I've never really been all that interested in actually playing any of them; I can see the connection back to all those elaborate magazine quizzes about which celebrity you'd date, so I think they're interesting conceptually, but none of them have really pulled me in. I'm equally wary of the trend of Western visual novels from first-time developers that want to "subvert genre conventions" because of how many have fallen woefully flat of even understanding what that means beyond a very limited scope — I'm talking "oh, I don't really like or play any visual novels, the whole medium isn’t for me" visual novel developer commentary, here — so if an EVN promises a twist on a genre, or even if its players do, it's unfortunately a lot harder to sell me on it.

To my pleasant surprise, Pairanormal's demo sold me on both its "real person-inspired characters" aspects and its departure from the dating-based focus I'd been expecting into sharing space with another genre! I don't want to spoil anything about the plot, but upfront, the turn in the demo alone was a genuinely interesting look at a “blank protagonist” and well-served by being placed where it was. That’s to say nothing of the charming art style! Mechanically and visually, it's also one of the most interesting visual novels I've played; the character movement, the individual soundfonts, and the pacing of the dialogue all come together to work consistently well. (I love smartly-used soundfonts! Please give me all your VNs with good soundfonts!)

Even as someone who's watched a handful of YouTube playthroughs by two of the YouTubers being shown here, Mari and Stacey of Geek Remix, the writing in Pairanormal was sharp and fast-paced enough to actually make my brain draw a pretty easy divide between the real Mari and Stacey versus "Mari Sashimi" and "Stacey Croft". I'm sure there's plenty of rewarding jokes for their primary audience of a Geek Remix fanbase, too — but one of the strongest merits of Pairanormal for me as a player was the experience of having so little personal familiarity with most of the people these characters were based on and still finding the characters enjoyable, well-defined, and interesting.

Chapter 1 of Pairanormal is available now for free; you can also follow development of the coming chapters on Chicmonster’s Patreon, Twitter, and Itchio.

LOVE IS STRANGE (TEAM RUMBLEBEE)

Blog Tagline: "A fanwork based off of Life is Strange.” Genre(s): Slice of life, romance. Release Date: April 1st, 2016. Content Warnings: Drug use; underage drinking; mentions of severe bullying.

Do those characters and that title look familiar? If you’ve paid attention to the gaming scene at large in the past three years, you probably recognize the acronym "LiS” or Max Caulfield’s character design — Team Rumblebee’s 2016 debut project, Love is Strange, came to life as a Life is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment) fanmade visual novel! In Love is Strange, set a year later after the original game in a completely different timeline, protagonist Max never gained her canonical magical powers and many of the tragedies that gripped Arcadia Bay never came to pass. Instead, she’s given a week to team up with one of her four love interests — Chloe, Kate, Rachel, or Victoria — and win a photography contest together.

There’s a lot to love about it beyond any connection you may or may not have to Life is Strange itself — everything, from the art to the music to the writing, pulls together seamlessly. But the biggest strength of Love is Strange as a fanwork, in my opinion, is the way it’s not trying to totally remove itself from the original canon tonally or trying too hard to conform to that tone without it seeming natural. Max’s character arc is reflective of some anxieties she’d had in the original story, which goes doubly for the explorations of her love interests’ arcs, but it’s fundamentally a different story where her priorities are different. Love is Strange loses what isn’t necessary or what doesn’t help the story — including the teacher-turned-[spoilers] from the original series, Mr. Jefferson — then fills in a lot of the blanks with the same charm and same compelling characters that captivated fans in the first place.

My favorite example here is Rachel Amber, one of the four routes but the lone one who never appeared in the text of the original Life is Strange itself, and a route that felt as wholly comprehensive as the rest. Love is Strange takes the perpetually absent, long-since-departed Rachel and recreates her from whole cloth, giving her a distinctive speech pattern, a history, and a set of beliefs that all work together as a perfect answer for the void around her character in the original text. She feels as real and authentic as the rest of the pitch-perfect cast, a character it’s difficult to imagine the original Life is Strange without. So in both enhancing the original text’s characterizations without ever losing its charm and standing alone as its own thoughtful, genuine F/F dating sim that is just as enjoyable without any fondness for the canon, Love is Strange easily cemented itself as one of my favorite visual novels — so strongly, in fact, that I’m still planning to cheer on Team Rumblebee’s individual and collective outputs for years to come.

Love is Strange is available now for free on the development blog. You can also follow Team Rumblebee on Twitter, Tumblr, and Itch.io to be the first to know if they decide to release anything next!

//TODO: TODAY (BOYS LAUGH PLUS)

Itchio Tagline: "A visual novel about figuring out life with the help of an AI.” Genre(s): Modern sci-fi. Release Date: March 31st, 2017 (Part 1); August 2018 (Part 2). Content Warnings: Depictions of severe depression.

Player personalization is one of the more tricky things for developers, largely in part because there’s no way to write something every player will be happy with; while some people prefer being able to insert themselves entirely into a protagonist with minimal predefined personality and more vague actions, so they can headcanon more easily, other audiences would rather explore specific situations with a smaller number responses that each more clearly reflect the defined protagonist’s personality. It’d be nearly impossible to please both of those groups at once — and there’s dozens of other, more specific takes that other players can have on visual novel protagonists!

As someone in the latter camp out of just those two examples, I thought //TODO: today’s handling of their protagonist Teal (plus their love interests Joyce and Phoenix) was right up my alley, so I reached out to Felix and Rohan of Boys Laugh+ to talk about their work on its story!

IVAN: Pleasure to be talking to you both today! Can you give me the elevator pitch of //TODO: today that you might give to an interested attendee at a con? You're both free to answer this if you'd like, haha.

FELIX: Sure, thanks for having us! //TODO: today is a slice of life visual novel about the aspiring artist Teal who already struggles to make ends meet but things get a little more complicated when an AI suddenly appears in their computer, with the intention to help Teal get their life back in order.

Perfectly put! (I like the phrasing of "aspiring artist Teal", haha, I feel like I'm reading their Twitter bio.) The gender/sexuality/pronoun options (and what I've seen of the dialogue variations) for the protagonist plus the romanceable characters are comprehensive, but never in a way that feels insincere or bland. I really feel like Teal's character — and that of both love interests — shines through strongly no matter what! What went into designing the personalization system as it currently exists, and why did you choose to include it in the first place?

ROHAN: Haha, yeah, Teal is the type who's a bit insecure about their art. So it's easier to say "aspiring artist" even though Teal has been drawing for a while. :'D Although our protagonist has their quirks and own background story we wanted the player to be able to identify with Teal. The player can choose to change Teal's name in the beginning of the game too. And the gender and sexuality options are based on this idea. :3

Back when we were developing the concept for //TODO: today in 2017, we had a close look at other recent VNs. And Date Nighto's Hustle Cat got us thinking about using "they" pronouns then. Hustle Cat's protagonist "Avery" has a gender-neutral design too. That got the ball rolling for us to think how we could make the typical romance situation in //TODO: today inclusive and enjoyable for queer people as well!^u^

FELIX: We also tried to keep the additional work for this fairly small. For the three main characters all pronouns and their variations are stored in variables. That makes it pretty easy to use the same base dialogue regardless of the characters' gender. But in addition to that, we used conditional statements to add some custom dialogue whenever it made sense. The romantic preferences are pretty much the same. They mainly decide the gender of the romanceable characters but there are a few moments where dialogue varies depending on the preferences the player chooses.

That also means that there are some things that people will miss if they don't make a specific selection of gender or romantic preferences but we wanted to make sure that those choices are also part of the characters and the writing and not purely cosmetic. All in all we tried to make the game as inclusive of LGBTQ identities as we could without making the scope unrealistically big for a two person team.

I think you definitely struck a good balance there! If I'm not mistaken, the two of you work in Ren'Py, right? What kind of Ren'Py limits or perks do you take into consideration when working to augment a story with more complex pieces of code other than dialogue variables, like deciding what your upcoming project Defaction's cellphone (?) can do? Anything you've unfortunately had to give up on? (And are there any lines of dialogue or features you're especially proud of including in //TODO: today?)

FELIX: Yeah, we're working in Ren'Py. I can't really think of any limits aside from smaller issues where different systems and languages intersect but there have definitely been a lot of perks! I really like Ren'Py's screen system which is where at least 80% of the work for the phone in Defaction happens.

The python integration is also really nice. In //TODO: today I barely used any python aside from if-statements and variables but being able use custom code pretty much anywhere in the script makes the engine really flexible!

As for feature decisions, so far we mainly based them on what we wanted to include from a narrative design standpoint and then tried to figure out how or if we would be able to implement them. I can't think of anything we had to cut for technical reasons so I think it worked out pretty well so far :'D

//TODO: today was the first bigger visual novel I worked on and aside from the gender and preference options for the characters, something I'm pretty proud of are the optional work and gaming scenes. They are pretty much the first piece of non-linear writing I ever did and it was a fun challenge to make sure they make sense regardless of what in-game day the player sees them on.

ROHAN: I think the most obvious feature we're proud of are the preference options we included, haha. We really wanted to take a few steps aside of the otome or exclusively hetero male-oriented genres out there. And to make the experience feel tailored to the player there are the dialogue features Felix has described before in combination with the visual designs of Joyce, the AI, and Phoenix, Teal's bookstore co-worker.

It's integrated into the story that Joyce has been made just for the Teal. Other AIs in the world would look different depending on their owners. That's why you get a feminine or masculine looking Joyce that match the player's preferences.

Of course there are limitations, I mean, we can't read the players mind to know what they like. And we couldn't include too many unique character sprites due to the scope. But I'm very happy about how the different designs turned out in the end. It was generally fun to visually design the game. Cute colours everywhere! >u<

On another note I think what really went well, too, was how AI Joyce behaves. We took some liberties with sci-fi magic, but Joyce is a being with their own set of characteristics, goals and values. They were made to serve, yet they're on eye-level with Teal and you get some funny situations out of it.

That's right, I'd completely forgotten that the work and art contest scenes weren't confined to the story's timeline on any specific dates — they definitely always felt like they matched up. And I'm so glad you brought up the designs, Rohan, that was actually my next question! The overall world design and character stylization of //TODO: today clearly had a considerable amount of care put into making sure they all meshed well and looked good individually! Can you talk a little bit about why you settled on the design aesthetic you did and what influenced //TODO: today's style or character designs? (Also, who are each of your favorite characters out of the cast, visually or personality-wise?)

ROHAN: Ah, well. First and foremost we were under a good amount of time-pressure during the NaNoRenO '17. Thus I had to decide for an artstyle that I could pull off for the game's assets to be produced in time. There's no complicated shading, not too much intriciate line-work. It was also the first time for me to create art for a visual novel. I was mostly a concept artist before. So I wanted to play it safe. That's one part of the story at least.

The other thing was that by the end of 2016 a lot of artists have emerged online who experimented with reduced palettes, pastel tones and comic and anime inspired shading. I was really intrigued by the charm of this combination. I wanted to make myself feel okay that although I'm a guy I can express myself in shades of pink, haha. This kind of aesthetic also matches the overall cute but realistic story of //TODO: today. I wanted the reality of the game to feel like our world but with some intense photo filters on top, haha. And my favourite character(s)? As the artist who designed them, I'd say visually all of them! xD But character wise, I think it's a close head-to-head of Joyce and SuuJ. <3

FELIX: I think my favorite character is Snow. I also really like Zen's design and his relaxed personality, but Snow was really fun to write! They're reserved and don't show much about their insecurities or problems, but Snow is still fairly confident and mature for their age.

I think a lot of that personality was also inspired by the art. Snow's design really brings across how introverted they are and because Snow doesn't have a lot of facial expressions, this definitely influenced the way I wrote some of their dialogue.

As a big fan of pastels/pinks, I can definitely empathize with that desire to express it more in art regardless of gender, haha! If you could each add any one feature to your projects that's currently beyond of your technical/artistic capabilities, a "wildest dreams" kind of thing, what would those two features be?

FELIX: I'm really intrigued by the idea of procedural narrative. Not in the sense that a story is random, but rather that it's systemic and somewhat non-linear. That's not really something you can just add to any project though and it probably also involves a lot of trial and error before it works but maybe one day :'D

ROHAN: Oh, nice question! I think it would be super cool to have hand-drawn animated cutscenes in a game. But that's completely beyond our budget of...everything...right now. TuT

Haha, I would love to play a procedural visual novel with animated cutscenes! (Although those two things combined would add even more work to each other, huh? #gamedev!) One final question — do you two have any LGBTQ visual novel recommendations from any other teams or creators?

FELIX: Ladykiller In a Bind left a pretty strong impression on me. In general, Christine Love's visual novels are usually really interesting mechanically in addition to their LGBTQ themes.

Most people probably already heard of Butterfly Soup but I really liked how heartfelt it is and the way the story is told!

And we already mentioned Hustle Cat, which is interesting in the way the main story and the romance routes are intertwined in addition to allowing you to romance all characters regardless of gender.

ROHAN: Hahaha, just imagine creating cutscenes for every generatable piece of story. That would be a killer xD And yes, I'd agree with what Felix wrote. The games by Christine Love, are really well written. Butterfly Soup is a fun ride and way too relatable for people growing up with Asian families. I also play The Arcana on my phone right now. I don't like the payment system too much but the story and characters are well-developed. And the artstyle is just gorgeous!

But one should also keep an eye on indie devs who aren't too well-known. Visual novels seem to generally be on the rise right now and we'll surely find some nice surprises if we keep looking! :3

Definitely agreed that people can find some really pleasant surprises by doing deep dives into places like Itchio's VN tag — or hopefully even from my list and these interviews, haha! Thank you both so much for talking to me, Rohan and Felix, it's been a pleasure.

The first half of //TODO: today is available now for free, or you can follow Boys Laugh + on their Twitter and Itchio accounts to find out more about their progress on the second half!

[legendexgames]

Imre's Curse: The Prologue is a short kinetic novel about power, integrity, responsibility and love. It was made in a month for NaNoRenO 2018.  Download it here.

Genre:  Fantasy, Romance, Drama, Suspense

Synopsis:

There once was a time when gods and humans lived together as one. That peace was shattered long long ago. Now the gods and goddesses find themselves inhabiting the planet of Sanctum, while the humans are scattered across various planets.The two, never coming into contact with each other.  On Sanctum, the young gods and goddesses are tasked with helping their society function by being placed in a mundane job fit to their talents. Bored of this century old monotony, Imre wants nothing more than to be a caretaker of one of the worlds orbiting around Sanctum. Surely, humans are not as bad as her father, King of all gods, would have her think. Right?

Follow Imre through a tale of self discovery, friendship, love, political intrigue and much more.

Features:

Strong female protagonist

About 25k words

2 hours of gameplay

Original sprite art

Nameable world

Partial voice acting

Functional asset gallery

Music Room complete with soothing tracks from the game

Chapter Select

Interchanging start screen

5 CGs

Team:

LegendEx [Project Lead,Writer]

DahliaWilder [Sprite Artist, Logo Artist, additional graphics]

Bosinpai [Programmer, additional graphics]

DanSylverstere [Programmer]

LucentCatty [Script Editor]

Kazurenai [CG Artist]

Corinne Sudberg [Imre's Voice]

Allen Winter [Deren's Voice]

Walter Mack [Einar's Voice]

Ashe Thurman [Aenaris' Voice]

CaramelMoonMan [Celesteus' Voice]

Erin Evans Walker [Deren's Mother's Voice]

[Gui and textbox were made by potouto and modified by DahliaWilder and Bosinpai. We used CC BGs and music as well. See below.]

***For full credits please check the README in the zip file!***

[somethingventuredgames]

My game for NaNoRenO 2018 is now available to play! 

The Bare Escape is a super silly game about the heroine, Val (name changeable), waking up trapped in a tower with a couple of guys who seem to be missing their clothes… Good luck working together to pass the Tower’s tests to escape!

While still a WIP, you can play through the full routes of the two guys you find shirtless trapped in the tower with you!

Some screenshots below!

[arizaluca]

NaNoRenO Project-- FINISHED!

[pkgamedev]

NaNoReno Progress Report: Day 4

Managed to get some rough sketches of the game’s black cat, Whiskers.

Prior to the game, Whiskers was abandoned by his previous owner and stripped of his name. He gets taken in by the young witch Aria.

Tomorrow, I’m gonna script out the opening scene in Ren’Py and get some character sketches done for Aria.

[englishvisualnovels]

NaNoRenO 2018 Game Jam to Start March 1st

The Lemmasoft forum’s annual NaNoRenO 2018 game jam starts this year on March 1st and will end on April 1st.

Anyone can participate in NaNoRenO regardless of experience in game development.

Those participating who are unsure of which engine to use for their game, English Visual Novels recommends downloading the latest version of Ren’Py, a free and open source engine used for the development of visual novels. The engine uses a simplified form of Python, which is meant to make it easier for beginners to dive right into creating their games while those with advanced knowledge of the Python language can use Ren’Py to create much more complex codes.

Relevant Links:

itch.io  Event Information

Team Recruitment

Crowdforge Team Builder

Lemmasoft Recruitment Thread

Ren’Py

Download

Documentation

For those not familiar with NaNoRenO, here is an overview taken from NaNoRenO’s event information page from itch.io:

What is NaNoRenO?

NaNoRenO is a month-long game jam in which developers are challenged to make a visual novel from start to finish. It was originally inspired by the more famous NaNoWriMo (National Novelist Writer's Month, which takes place in November). There're no restrictions on content or genre. See a list of previously released NaNoRenO games here! See a compilation of previous years and threads here.

Do I have to sign up anywhere to participate?

No, you do not have to sign up to participate in NaNoRenO, though you will more than likely get more out of the experience by joining the Lemmasoft forums and sharing the journey with the fellow participants there!

Is there a prize or any sort of judging?

There is no prize or judging in NaNoRenO. The event is a challenge that the developers set for themselves and the prize is the magnificent sense of gratification you get after finishing your game. Completion is its own reward.

Is this a team thing, or am I supposed to do it on my own?

Whichever you like! You can seek out a team or go it solo.

Where can I find a team?

Crowdforge Team Builder

Lemmasoft Recruitment Thread

Why should I participate in NaNoRenO?

Sometimes we need a fire lit under our butts. It's hard enough to get through making a game from start to finish without a time limit, let alone with just a month to get through everything. Having a deadline will motivate you, help you prioritize your time, let you work on a project you know should be finished by a certain point, and let you explore something outside of what you usually do. It's the same reason developers participate in game jams: a bit of fun with some time management thrown in. If you've had a visual novel idea lurking at the back of your head forever but never had the kick to go explore it—do it now!

(mostly taken from this post)

The most recent phrasing of the NaNoRenO rules:

Takes place in March.

You can only begin actual production of your game in March.

Brainstorming, plot outlining, character sketches, and anything that does not lead to the direction production of assets is okay.

Sketches of sprite poses, backgrounds, and CGs is NOT okay.

Use of Creative Commons material is okay.

There are no "winners" here. Everyone who manages to release their game has completed NaNoRenO!

You may release a buggy version of your game by the deadline and fix it up later or release a demo for NaNoRenO.

I don't know where to start!

Want feedback on a work in progress?

Want a beginner's guide to using Ren'py?

Ren'py not your thing?

What is IntRenAiMo?

A concurrent jam for projects that started before March. Devs use the month to sprint to the finish and vow to complete a game by the deadline. Basically, if you started something already and you want to finish it up during this month, you can use this fancy tag so people know you didn't do it in a month. #intrenaimo2018

But what does NaNoRenO even stand for?

It's Japanese for "What- My..." (何ー　俺の。。。)