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Planning

From VNDev Wiki

The planning stage is perhaps the most important stage in creating a visual novel, as all subsequent stages build on the foundation laid during this stage.

Below are some common activities and phases of the planning stage. These stages can be worked through in tandem or in any order, and it is common to go back adjust things. During the planning phase nothing about the project is set in stone.

Outlining

See also: Guide:Writing an outline

An outline is a plan for the story of your visual novel: it should include every major story beat and branching path as well as the endings they lead to. An outline is the roadmap that you or your writer will follow to write the games narrative.

Planning assets

Main article: Asset

An important part of any visual novel is the visual and audio assets that enrich the player experience. Before you start production it is wise to finalize a list of assets. A common pitfall for beginner devs is to focus solely on art assets such as sprites, backgrounds and Event CGs, but it is important to plan for other important features such as GUI, music and sound effects.

The more specific your asset list is, the better: are there any unusual expressions, or alternative outfits/poses you want the sprites to have? Do your backgrounds need day/night variants? Do you need a UI element that conveys a certain aspect such as the date, player status, or the number of days left until your final exam?

Recruiting or hiring a team

Main article: Development team

If you are planning a free project or a jam game, it is common to recruit a team first and then plan the game around your teams strengths. For example, if your teams main artist specializes in drawing cute girls and your main writer has only written high-school romance, you probably won't make a BL game about orc warlords and the cruelty of war.

Similarly, if you already have a strong idea for the type of game you want to make and the style of assets needed, you should seek out team members who specialize in these things. For this type of recruitment it is best to have a completed asset list beforehand.

Adjusting Scope

Main article: Scope

In the planning stage it can be easy to get carried away, eagerly planning the visual novel of your dreams. But whether it be due to a game jam deadline, budget, or simply the skills and availability of your team, you may end up with an outline and asset list that exceeds what you will realistically be able to create. Maybe you simply realise when you look at it all together, that some of these assets are not needed to tell your story.

Common tactics for adjusting scope

  • Cutting characters: Removing a love interest is a quick way to remove the need for countless assets
  • Removing backgrounds: Often some scenes can be rewritten to take place in another location that is more central to the story
  • Reducing branching: a linear story often naturally requires less assets than story that branches early and has many different endings

With clever planning it may be possible to reuse the same asset in multiple ways, cutting down on the amount of assets needed.

See Also