Finlam
2018-04-24, 03:32 PM
I made my first video-game this week!:thog:
DWARF ARTE ONLINE
http://purplelizardman.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/title-300x169.png
It's on the Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finlam.dao) and PC (http://purplelizardman.com/games/)
:elan:
It's a short Visual Novel (fantsy, parody) that draws inspiration from:
Tolkein
Log Horizon
Sword Art Online
Futurama
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Undertale
My Hero Academia (Hero Academy)
Various Memes
The far reaches of the 9 and 62 3rds realm of madness
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jzvDj1ruIUbxUeE8BOvamz7bVyVmVO8sZm1FguK4Hy2LL8880Q-Dd4gpnQNy8lTQ8qiJ=w720-h310-rw
--Technical stuff--
Using the RenPy game engine it took about a week to complete the game. 98% of this was due to all the dialog (somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 words).
The game was designed to take very little time to play; there's no monetization of any kind built in. My object, instead, was to test out the RenPy system and implement:
stats/inventory
event triggers
character expressions
scene changes
music
dynamic dialog options
smart menus that change based on events/inventory
scrolling credits
them music
multiple endings
branching storyline
and the results were *AMAZING*
The RenPy framework kicks ass!
I've used dozens of different frameworks in many languages, but the PenPy framework is the best by *far* in that it sets out to do one simple thing: help you make a visual novel game, and then it just ****ing does it. No got-ya moments, no obscure bugs, everything documented, everything simple to set up, easy to install, and quick to get started.
The dialog writing took about 95% of the time because I really, really got into it. Way into it...
...way more into that I was supposed for a short project that was just going to be a test of the RenPy framework.
But the results were GREAT! Characters with distinct personalities, vibrant and exciting dialog, references and parody to more varied sources than I even intended, all wrapped up in a whimsical hero's journey.
It came together nicely =)
Packaging it was easy too, thanks to RenPy. The only thing I had to manually install to build the APK for Android was the Java Development Kit, and it was even kind enough to link me straight to the site; everything else, every single little thing RenPy took care of for me.
It was actually more a pain to upload the app to the Play Store than it was to create the APK in the first place.
Anyway, this was such a fun project that I absolutely fell in love with RenPy and would recommend it to *anyone* at *any* level of technical knowledge who wants to make a Visual Novel style game.
To put my money where my mouth is, I'm writing a series of short tutorials (https://wp.me/p9P64a-hw) describing how to implement some of the features I listed above.
If there's anyone else on the Playground interested in making a visual novel style game (art, music, or technical), or if you want to know more about RenPy or why I positively *drool* over it, I'd love to answer your questions here.
:haley:
DWARF ARTE ONLINE
http://purplelizardman.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/title-300x169.png
It's on the Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finlam.dao) and PC (http://purplelizardman.com/games/)
:elan:
It's a short Visual Novel (fantsy, parody) that draws inspiration from:
Tolkein
Log Horizon
Sword Art Online
Futurama
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Undertale
My Hero Academia (Hero Academy)
Various Memes
The far reaches of the 9 and 62 3rds realm of madness
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jzvDj1ruIUbxUeE8BOvamz7bVyVmVO8sZm1FguK4Hy2LL8880Q-Dd4gpnQNy8lTQ8qiJ=w720-h310-rw
--Technical stuff--
Using the RenPy game engine it took about a week to complete the game. 98% of this was due to all the dialog (somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 words).
The game was designed to take very little time to play; there's no monetization of any kind built in. My object, instead, was to test out the RenPy system and implement:
stats/inventory
event triggers
character expressions
scene changes
music
dynamic dialog options
smart menus that change based on events/inventory
scrolling credits
them music
multiple endings
branching storyline
and the results were *AMAZING*
The RenPy framework kicks ass!
I've used dozens of different frameworks in many languages, but the PenPy framework is the best by *far* in that it sets out to do one simple thing: help you make a visual novel game, and then it just ****ing does it. No got-ya moments, no obscure bugs, everything documented, everything simple to set up, easy to install, and quick to get started.
The dialog writing took about 95% of the time because I really, really got into it. Way into it...
...way more into that I was supposed for a short project that was just going to be a test of the RenPy framework.
But the results were GREAT! Characters with distinct personalities, vibrant and exciting dialog, references and parody to more varied sources than I even intended, all wrapped up in a whimsical hero's journey.
It came together nicely =)
Packaging it was easy too, thanks to RenPy. The only thing I had to manually install to build the APK for Android was the Java Development Kit, and it was even kind enough to link me straight to the site; everything else, every single little thing RenPy took care of for me.
It was actually more a pain to upload the app to the Play Store than it was to create the APK in the first place.
Anyway, this was such a fun project that I absolutely fell in love with RenPy and would recommend it to *anyone* at *any* level of technical knowledge who wants to make a Visual Novel style game.
To put my money where my mouth is, I'm writing a series of short tutorials (https://wp.me/p9P64a-hw) describing how to implement some of the features I listed above.
If there's anyone else on the Playground interested in making a visual novel style game (art, music, or technical), or if you want to know more about RenPy or why I positively *drool* over it, I'd love to answer your questions here.
:haley: