A friendly hello everyone!
Right at the first real DevBlog after my little game presentation I get this bad news: All my data is gone !!!
Small fun, because what's really gone is just the engine used previously. Because although this short project (several episodes are planned, but each episode is somehow a project in itself) started with the RPG Maker MV, there were a few hurdles:
The RPG Maker is good at what it does (JRPGs), but inflexible for many other game Genres.
The effort to readjust everything for this short project in the style of a visual novel is great. Feasible, but large and the time-benefit factor is not given to me as an individual.
In addition to 2 .: There are features (such as a quick save or a skip function) that are not possible without great effort, but are standard in other engines.
Graphics if they are not standard (and I think standard is ok, but not optimal for a serious release) are expensive. But actually applies to every engine.
For a Visual Novel, an engine designed for this is more appropriate.
After much deliberation and consideration of the points mentioned, I came to the conclusion that I would change the engine. It still took some research (at this point a friendly shoutout to the artist Mashiro Jin (@twitter], with whom I exchanged ideas about the project) until I finally decided: The Tyranobuilder. As a foundation for my work and for only 14.90 EUR on Steam at the time of my purchase, I chose this VN builder.
As an alternative there was still the free and well known Ren'Py or the somewhat more expensive solution of the VN Makers. Both have their charms for me, but the handling with the Tyranobuilder has so far been quite good. It is quite intuitive and scenes are created fairly quickly. This should greatly speed up the whole restructuring of RPG Maker.
What I still have a problem with are graphics, especially if they are supposed to be reasonably good and appealing. I stocked up with a couple of backgrounds and character graphics at a fairly low cost. I admittedly have a problem: The best way for me to learn how everything fits together is through a visual presentation, and that helps me to understand my story better. Conversely, this unfortunately also means that without pictures it is difficult for me to recognize the big picture immediately. It is not impossible, but I like the development more.
Here is a first look at the new assets and a first arrangement.
image Rights: Minikle (Background) and Blue Forest (Char), made with Tyranobuilder
Incidentally, this was my first attempt with this software and I still have a lot to learn if the whole thing is to become something. I dragged the graphic of the unknown person further down. Yes, I've already done that. Is the SKIP button no longer slightly above the SAVE button in terms of the y coordinate? I've already adjusted that too. I'm still looking for a nice user interface (probably spending money again), but otherwise the first scenes have already been created. Do the graphics look a little familiar to you? If yes: From where?
The interesting question is what I invested in private time for this. Well... I also see this as a little practice phase for the Tyranobuilder. So it took me about 8 hours to install, add the builders and create the first scene, spread over a whole week. I need you a little more momentum and above all a little more practice, then the whole thing will go even faster.
That should now suffice as a small insight into progress. Next week you may be able to read something about me in this area. Until then: stay relaxed and in a good mood! Your
GameMaking-Code-breaking Dizzy
P.S. Did you know that you can get an exclusive look into the story as a spoiler? I have already partially done the project for me with the RPG Maker on itch.io. If you like spoilers and at least you want to have a look at the story, then just contact me. Do you like what you get to read? Then think about a small donation in my extremely charming "Donorbox".