List of VN creation resources: Difference between revisions

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{{main|Visual novel engine}}
{{main|Visual novel engine}}


{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable";
|-
! Creator !! Link !! Price/<br/>License !! Programming !! UI !! Fonts !! Guide !! Tool !! Details
! Creator
|-  
! Link
| Jaime Scribbles || [https://jaimescribblesgames.com/2019/02/16/customizable-character-tutorial/ (Link)] || Free || Yes ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Tutorial on how to create customizable characters with layered images in Ren'py.
! Price/<br/>License
|-
! Programming
| Lovetospar || [https://blog.mbaas.nifcloud.com/entry/3630 (Link)] || Free ||  ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Screenshots of game UI.
! UI
|-
! Font
| (author) || [http://www.pentacom.jp/pentacom/bitfontmaker2/gallery/ (Link)] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Yes || Library of public domain/CC pixel fonts and pixel font creator.
! Guide
|-
! Tool
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/riomarmccartney/status/1135506279617638400 Twitter] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  ||  || An OFL (free) Japanse font compatible with Latin fonts.
! Details
|-
|-
| (author) || [https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/discourse-146948 Unity] || Paid ||  ||  ||  ||  || Yes || Unity narrative tool "Discourse".
|  
|-
|  
| FulminisIctus || [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9TzqNQBmr0 Youtube] || Free ||  ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Video essay on how to make dialogue mechanics more involved than basic skill checks.
|  
|-
|  
| minute || [https://twitter.com/minutekiwi/status/1131017572944678912 Twitter] || Free ||  || Yes ||  ||  ||  || minute's accessibility pack for Ren'py to include text, sound, and visual options.
|  
|-
|  
| BaiYu || [https://tofurocks.itch.io/renpy-gui-template Itch] || Free ||  || Yes ||  ||  ||  || A Ren'py GUI template.
|  
|-
|  
| (author) || [https://gitbook.com  Github] || Free/Paid ||  ||  ||  ||  || Yes || Github's documentation tool.
|  
|-
| (author) || [https://github.com/multimokia/MAS-Submods/blob/AutoWeatherChange/Auto%20Weather%20Change/game/Submods/Auto%20Weather%20Change/Utilities/awc_utils.rpy Github] || Free || Yes ||  ||  ||  ||  || Multimokia's DDLC mod that allows a Ren'py game to reflect the player's local weather and sunrise/sunset.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.woowahan.com/#/fonts (Link)] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  ||  || Korean fonts.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.google.com/get/noto/ Google] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  ||  || OFL Google fonts inclusive of 75+ non-latin based languages.
|-
| (author) || [https://github.com/multimokia/Renpy-Weather-Utils Github] || Free || Yes ||  ||  ||  ||  || Multimokia's utility that allows a Ren'py game to reflect the player's local weather.
|-
| (author) || [https://meettheipsums.com (Link)] || Free || Yes ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Themed lorem ipsum generators (tv, film, pets, food, industry buzzwords, etc)
|-
| (author) || [https://kopacurve.blog.fc2.com/blog-category-27.html (Link)] || Free ||  || Yes ||  ||  ||  || VN GUI. Site is in Japanese.
|-
| (author) || [https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/02/dos-and-donts-on-designing-for-accessibility/ (Link)] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || Posters with design accessibility guidelines.
|-
| (author) || [https://foleso.itch.io/bridal-style-visual-novel-ui Itch] || Free ||  || Yes ||  ||  ||  || Foleso's Bridal Style VN GUI.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TomGantzer/20200113/356281/Designing_Main_Menu_Screens_for_Visually_ImpairedGamers.php Gamasutra] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || How to design menu screens for visually impaired gamers.
|-
| (author) || [https://developer.apple.com/design/tips/ Apple] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || Apple's guide to UI design
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/everestpipkin/status/1238950933977010185 Twitter] || Free/Paid || Yes ||  ||  || Yes || Yes || Everest Pipkin's google doc/github list of open source, experimental, and tiny tools for game dev/design.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/love_hues_game/status/1262429130257076231 Twitter] || Free || Yes ||  ||  ||  || Yes || Oneirocritica Games' free Custom Pronoun System for Ren'py that prompts the player to customize their pronouns.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOCJRwpi5bc  Youtube] || Free || Yes ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Katy133's tutorial on creating noir lighting in Ren'py.
|-
| (author) || [http://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/ (Link)] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || The Game Accessibility Guidelines provide basic/intermediate/advanced suggestions to balance the development cost, gameplay improvement, and player reach of accessible game design.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwdweCX5aMI Youtube] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || "Make UI That Looks Good in Unity", a video on UI design/implementation in Unity. The broader design aspect is useful for non-Unity UI.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont (Link)] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  ||  || A free font by the Braille Institute with distinct characters and increased readability for low vision readers.
|-
| (author) || [https://github.com/SoDaRa/Kinetic-Text-Tags Github] || Free || Yes ||  ||  ||  ||  || Kinetic (moving) text styles for Ren'py.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/EddCoates/status/1334944704723623942 Twitter] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || The Game UI Database contains 30,000+ screenshots from 700+ games.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/npckc/status/1337529986484342784 Twitter] || Free ||  ||  ||  ||  || Yes || npckc's Pronoun Tool for Ren'py.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.angelcode.com/products/bmfont/ (Link)] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  || Yes || Open source Bitmap Font Generator creates bitmap fonts from TrueType fonts.
|-
| (author) || [https://github.com/shawna-p/mysterious-messenger Github] || Free || Yes || Yes ||  ||  || Yes || Shawna-p's "Mysterious Messenger", a framework for creating calls, texts, chatrooms, and emails in Ren'py.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/salinsley/status/1361784604714291202 Twitter] || Free ||  ||  || Yes ||  ||  || Boba Date, a cutesy font inspired by shojo manga.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/M_is_scared/status/1375892086910672897?s=20 Twitter] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || M.'s short video "How To Make Great Looking UI for Visual Novels" Part 1.
|-
| (author) || [https://r3dhummingbird.itch.io/renpy-rhythm-game Itch] || Free || Yes ||  ||  ||  || Yes || r3dhummingbird's "Ren'py Rhythm Game", an open source template for rhythm games.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/M_is_scared/status/1399016924835573763?s=20 Twitter] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || M.'s short video "How To Make Great Looking UI for Visual Novels" Part 2.
|-
| (author) || [https://ludowoods.itch.io/twine-to-renpy-tool Itch] || Free || Yes ||  ||  || Yes ||  || J Tuason's "Twine to Ren'py", a tool to convert a Twine html file into a Ren'py rpy file.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/ArcadeSpiritsVN/status/1134319941413326848 Twitter] || Free || Yes ||  ||  ||  ||  || Arcade Spirits' custom pronoun code.
|-
| (author) || [https://twitter.com/Sakeozo/status/1484693841471025152 Twitter] || Paid ||  ||  || Yes ||  ||  || Sakeozo's "Secret ASL Font" for personal use.
|-
| (author) || [https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/visual-novel-machinery Unreal] || Paid || Yes ||  ||  ||  || Yes || Unreal Engine plugin for a visual novel framework.
|-
| (author) || [https://newincreative.notion.site/newincreative/The-Vault-Nguyen-s-Design-Resource-stash-dd710673638a4c16a571574ff72d05f9 Notion] || Free ||  || Yes ||  || Yes ||  || Library of resources, articles, and videos about UI/UX design.
|}
|}


==Production, Business and Marketing==
==Production, Business and Marketing==

Revision as of 02:45, 18 July 2022

Game design, Writing, and General Resources

Creator Link Price/
License
Type C Type B Type C Guide Tool Details


Art, Characters, Backgrounds and Animation

Creator Link Price/
License
Sprites BG Animation Guide Tool Details

Audio, Music and Voice

Creator Link Price/
License
Music SFX Voice Guide Tool Details
(author) Soundcloud Free Yes Belgerum's CC partial VA samples.
FulminisIctus LSF Free Yes FulminisIctus' CC audio pack II
(author) (Link) Free Yes Kevin MacLeod's library of CC music.
(author) Itch Free Yes Custom voice lines of 15 voices with 100+ lines each.
(author) (Link) Free/Paid Yes Yes High quality stock videos, music, and sound effects.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Guideline for voice acting rates for indie games.
(author) Bandcamp Paid Yes Sam Haynes' royalty free horror/Halloween music.
(author) Youtube Free Yes ProZD's "How Do You Get Into Voice Acting", a video with his perspective on how to enter the industry.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Tom Lehrer, an American musician and satirist, donated all of his music and lyrics into the public domain.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Royalty free music library. Site is in Japanese.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Royalty free music of fantasy and modern genres.
(author) (Link) Free Yes 50+ GB of royalty free sound effects.
(author) Soundcloud Free Yes Royalty free metal, progressive, and alternative music.
(author) Itch Free Yes Itch devlog "The (Budget-Friendly) Journey to Get Good Music for an Indie Game and Our Experience with iLicenseMusic" by the Minotaur Hotel dev team about the pros/cons of various music licenses and services.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Yes Spreadsheet of audio plugins, SFX, and resources.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Sound Effect Lab's library of SFX.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Free SFX packs for explosions and guns.
FulminisIctus LSF CC Yes Yes Audio pack
FulminisIctus Patreon Free Yes List of public/free audio assets
Orpheo Fenn Soundcloud CC Yes
Jeff Penny Tumblr Free Yes Guide to audio files
Jeff Penny Tumblr Free Yes Guide to audio effects
Bensound Bensound Free Yes Royalty free music
Arthur Mostovoy Medium Free Yes Guide to optimize high quality audio for Unity.
midi.city midi.city Free Yes Online synthesizer with 100+ instruments.
Notion Notion Free Yes Yes Yes Notion page listing 80+ sources of background music, sfx, and VA tracks (with/without singing).
Patricia Taxxon Bandcamp Free Yes
Sideways YouTube Free Yes Video essay on how a a leitmotif can tell a story
Jake Butineau YouTube Free Yes Video essay on how glitched music conveys horror
Spotify Code Spotify Code Free Yes Yes Create codes that people can scan to instantly hear your VN's OST (if it's on Spotify)
Lee Rosevere Bandcamp Free/Paid Yes CC license varies per album
MAHO! Cody YouTube Free Yes Yes Working with Voice Actors as an Indie Dev (3-part video series)

Programming, UI and Engines

Main article: Visual novel engine
Creator Link Price/
License
Programming UI Fonts Guide Tool Details
Jaime Scribbles (Link) Free Yes Yes Tutorial on how to create customizable characters with layered images in Ren'py.
Lovetospar (Link) Free Yes Screenshots of game UI.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Yes Library of public domain/CC pixel fonts and pixel font creator.
(author) Twitter Free Yes An OFL (free) Japanse font compatible with Latin fonts.
(author) Unity Paid Yes Unity narrative tool "Discourse".
FulminisIctus Youtube Free Yes Video essay on how to make dialogue mechanics more involved than basic skill checks.
minute Twitter Free Yes minute's accessibility pack for Ren'py to include text, sound, and visual options.
BaiYu Itch Free Yes A Ren'py GUI template.
(author) Github Free/Paid Yes Github's documentation tool.
(author) Github Free Yes Multimokia's DDLC mod that allows a Ren'py game to reflect the player's local weather and sunrise/sunset.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Korean fonts.
(author) Google Free Yes OFL Google fonts inclusive of 75+ non-latin based languages.
(author) Github Free Yes Multimokia's utility that allows a Ren'py game to reflect the player's local weather.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Yes Themed lorem ipsum generators (tv, film, pets, food, industry buzzwords, etc)
(author) (Link) Free Yes VN GUI. Site is in Japanese.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Yes Posters with design accessibility guidelines.
(author) Itch Free Yes Foleso's Bridal Style VN GUI.
(author) Gamasutra Free Yes Yes How to design menu screens for visually impaired gamers.
(author) Apple Free Yes Yes Apple's guide to UI design
(author) Twitter Free/Paid Yes Yes Yes Everest Pipkin's google doc/github list of open source, experimental, and tiny tools for game dev/design.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Yes Oneirocritica Games' free Custom Pronoun System for Ren'py that prompts the player to customize their pronouns.
(author) Youtube Free Yes Yes Katy133's tutorial on creating noir lighting in Ren'py.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Yes The Game Accessibility Guidelines provide basic/intermediate/advanced suggestions to balance the development cost, gameplay improvement, and player reach of accessible game design.
(author) Youtube Free Yes Yes "Make UI That Looks Good in Unity", a video on UI design/implementation in Unity. The broader design aspect is useful for non-Unity UI.
(author) (Link) Free Yes A free font by the Braille Institute with distinct characters and increased readability for low vision readers.
(author) Github Free Yes Kinetic (moving) text styles for Ren'py.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Yes The Game UI Database contains 30,000+ screenshots from 700+ games.
(author) Twitter Free Yes npckc's Pronoun Tool for Ren'py.
(author) (Link) Free Yes Yes Open source Bitmap Font Generator creates bitmap fonts from TrueType fonts.
(author) Github Free Yes Yes Yes Shawna-p's "Mysterious Messenger", a framework for creating calls, texts, chatrooms, and emails in Ren'py.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Boba Date, a cutesy font inspired by shojo manga.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Yes M.'s short video "How To Make Great Looking UI for Visual Novels" Part 1.
(author) Itch Free Yes Yes r3dhummingbird's "Ren'py Rhythm Game", an open source template for rhythm games.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Yes M.'s short video "How To Make Great Looking UI for Visual Novels" Part 2.
(author) Itch Free Yes Yes J Tuason's "Twine to Ren'py", a tool to convert a Twine html file into a Ren'py rpy file.
(author) Twitter Free Yes Arcade Spirits' custom pronoun code.
(author) Twitter Paid Yes Sakeozo's "Secret ASL Font" for personal use.
(author) Unreal Paid Yes Yes Unreal Engine plugin for a visual novel framework.
(author) Notion Free Yes Yes Library of resources, articles, and videos about UI/UX design.

Production, Business and Marketing

Link Information Price Tags
DeviantArt Invoice Guide for PayPal Free
Shopify How to write a freelance contract Free
Youtube Portfolio Design - How to Build a Portfolio Free
Google Docs Spreadsheet of over 400 open calls, residencies, grants, galleries, etc. for creative endeavors (Source (Twitter)) Free


VN jam guides

Due to the popularity of jams, ideas, tips, or useful articles pertaining specifically to VN Jams have been created. These usually come in form of "how tos", or specific approaches on jam participation. Common themes include:

  • proper planning (including margins)
  • adjusting on the fly (e.g. cutting content)
  • smart use of resources,
  • pacing oneself
  • prioritizing finishing over perfection

Below are specific case studies or full guides designed to give insight and support with jam participation or some of its aspects, usually authored by single individuals.

Name Author Year / Update Description Link
Reflections: Developing for the Long-Term shibalist 2022 article discussing VN jams and their effect on long-term projects Link
The ultimate VN jam advice mikey 2022 short article about the concept of planning under the assumption the jam is half its actual length Link
How to survive NaNoRenO Vimi 2022 video showing two teams with different planning approaches and what happens when disrupting events occur Link
Enamored Risks Postmortem Arimia 2020 article detailing the planning, coordination, production and promotion of a NaNoRenO VN Link
The last-minute VN mikey 2015 article on how to create a very short VN by focusing on location first, and characters last Link