General Discussion

So I'm currently planning out a future Visual Novel, and I'd just like some advice and input from others with experience in this field, whether it be actually making visual novels or just making games in general. Advice from someone that knows something to a me, a complete noob.

I have a pretty good grasp on what I want for the story, characterizations, and all that whatnot, but what software should I use? (Things that might help: complex options, using variables based on very basic pre-determined stats and true/false variables, only the most basic knowledge in programming)

However, my most major concern by far is the cost. I'm not a very good artist, but the art style and character looks and aesthetics I'm imagining just can't be obtained through pre-made character models; I need them to be customized. (Things that might help: one animated cg for each route, although that isn't a priority and I'm more than happy to cut it out)
I'm not 100% sure what to do on music; generic, or otherwise? (Things that might help: want to give each character their own theme song with lyrics)
Advertising?
Distribution?
Voice Acting? Should I even have it?



To use for comparison: The Arcana uses completely original art and storylines, yet the music is straight from Kevin Macleod and there's no voice acting at all, yet it's absolutely gorgeous and amazing and wow I aspire for that level of beauty


In short, wow, the devs for Flight Rising are AMAZING.

Ren.py seems to be the engine for visual novels (actually, likely any will do but that one might have easier controls to make the kind of game you want without having to spend a lot of time learning the program)

Suggestion is to at least write out all the things you need and prioritize them from absolute needs to would be nice to have. Google the MoSCoW method to get an idea.

Then about the cost. Creating things has a cost. It's usually either time or money. You want to make this game, but you lack certain skills, so you would need to save money to compensate others for the skills they have acquired in their time, that you have not. People try to wiggle their way out of this often, but not wanting to compensate an artist is not respecting their time given to your project. Not saying you do this, but since it is not unknown for people to be harrassed to give away free work it's important to state again; if someone makes a project, they carry the burden of compensation and should at least offer to pay any outside contributors for their time and skillsets.

Don't forget to relax and take time off to step away from your project and look at it from a distance. Remember the goal. There will be dips in your project speed, keep going anyway.

Have fun and good luck!

@Aerisnoir

I've never heard of the MoSCoW method, but wow, definitely implementing that. Thank you so much!

And bruh, trust me on that, I wanna give adequate compensation for everyone I need. NOT paying for professional work should be one of the seven deadly sins.

Thank you so mucj for the advice!

For covering cost, you could try to do a Kickstarter. Though you will need to advertise it somehow. I'm working on a few games right now, and I might be doing Kickstarters for them eventually.

Advertising is actually something I'm still trying to figure out, but here's what I know so far:
1. Advertising is super important! No one will buy your game if they don't know about it.
2. How I've advertised so far: Posted on Facebook about my game, made Facebook page/Twitter, gone to a game design conference and brought my laptop to show off game, talked about game in front of my microbiology class, showed off game on STEM coding YouTube channel.
3.By the way, game design conferences are really fun, and you can generally get tickets for free if you volunteer at them.

For distribution-My games are on itch.io, I would recommend that, at least to start out. You can put games up there for free, and you can even sell them. Click on the link in my forum signature to see the itch.io page for my game.

As for general making-games advice: Keep your scope low! Some of the things you're thinking about- songs for each character, and animated cg will increase the money/time you need for your project, possibly beyond what you can handle.
So- make a Minimum Viable Project! That's the smallest possible thing that you would consider your "game". Then, once you figure that out, build on it. So for you, I would say, write all the dialogue/story, make some rough sketches for the pictures, grab some generic background music, and make your game! Then, once you have that down, worry about adding the songs for each character and cg animation that you want (and voice acting, if you decide you want it).

Also, check out the YouTube channel Extra Credits, they have lots of really good advice on how to make games.

@epicpython

Kickstarter's definitely an option, but I can wait until I finish high school for that... whoops.

Oooooh I've never even heard of them, but I'll definitely check them out! I am impressed of all the new things that I'm consistently learning.

So, a skeleton of the true entire product that's absolutely playable? I can get behind that.

Thank you so much for your advice too, my dude!

@Cuanman, am in a similar boat! I found Extra Credits helpful - they even have a nifty Making Your First Game playlist for noobs like us!

Have fun and happy game building!