Fifth Meeting

Not much happened this week. I consider it a mini break, but such periods of calm are common before storms. With all the research done, the only thing left is to go into full production on the storyline. Everything rests on my shoulders now. It'll be hard, but a complete intro should be done by next Friday. In three weeks, the entire project should be done in rough draft form. After that, we'll do revisions.

Time to hunker down and focus.

Fourth Meeting

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I first started this project. Back then, all I had was an idea, but now, we have a fully working prototype. It's lacking in content, but it has all the basic functionality I need to make a good visual novel.

It took me way too long just to make a placeholder character.

Third Meeting

I'm late on my meeting notes, but that's more of a reflection of the meeting content than my ability to quickly write up a summary. There's not much to say. We're working diligently to reach our "milestones." A lot of it really depends on me.

VN Prototype 2

[play music]

Where am I?

What is this place?

I'm looking around but...

Second Meeting

It was another productive meeting. There's nothing like coming together to share thoughts and ideas.  It really makes me feel that this project is truly a collaborative effort.

Visual Novel Prototype

Where am I?

What is this place?

I'm looking around but...

Nothing is familiar. The walls are blank, featureless, and gray. I feel the wall but it's perfectly smooth.

Above me, the ceiling is the same. Flat. And below me, there's no difference.

The only thing I can see are two doors against the wall.

One door to the left, and one door to the right.

Which one am I supposed to through?

(selection)
Left Door
Right Door

(Left Door):

I put my hand on the knob and twist. Light blinds me, engulfs me, and swallows me up. It's so bright...it's too brilliant!

All sounds fade away. I can no longer hear myself, my breathing, or my heartbeat. It feels like...I'm floating.

Things seem to dim.

I open my eyes.

I'm back home. In my bed, as if I just woke up.

Was it all...just a dream?

(Return to Main Menu)

(Right Door):

I put my hand on the knob and twist. It is pitch black. Complete darkness.

I am blind. It's like my eyes are closed, but they're wide open, and they see nothing. What is this? Where am I?

Cold grips me. My blood freezes. No...

Is this death? It can't be! My body...it feels number. It grows colder, weaker, number...until...

Nothing.

(Return to Main Menu)

First Meeting

This is going to be a record of my efforts to build a visual novel from start to finish. It should be fun to look back on. Who knows? Maybe this will become a valuable record of a man who went on to create big things. A man can dream can't he? On to the meeting notes!

So I corralled two of my friends for my project. When it comes to starting something as ambitious as this, it's best not to go at it alone. I called a team meeting on Friday and it turned out to be very productive. I explained to them my goals, what the project was, and why I needed their help, and they agreed.

We are now a three-man team. The only thing missing is a name for our "studio." I considered "Waypoint Studios" as a name, but it was already taken. I guess I should make it a priority to find another name for us. Trivial matters aside, I've filled in some very important positions. Since this whole project was my idea, I'm the so-called Director and Scenario Writer. I've tasked my good friend Z as the primary programmer, and my other friend R will be Co-Writer. I still have two open positions. One for art designer, and the other for sound engineer.

I can do the art myself, but I'd rather not. For the sound, it'll be really cool if I can get custom music and sound effects, but I'm probably going to have to rip some from public domain. I'm thinking of reaching out online to fill those positions, but I want a prototype to showcase before I start soliciting.

At this stage, my concept for the visual novel is just that, a vague idea with no shape or form. This is our research phase and I've created a tentative schedule. By next week, I hope to have a basic prototype running. The scenario is this: you're in front of two doors, and opening one of them will lead to either a good or bad ending. It's a low hurdle, but it should be achievable. Shooting for the moon tends to make one give up before takeoff.

With Z, I'm hoping to explore the possibilities of Ren'Py, the program we're using to build the visual novel. While most visual novels have branching paths, I wonder if we can have inventory systems or keep track of statistical variables (like "love points").

With R, we're going to be building the storyline, fleshing out the setting, plot, and characters. I've tasked him with playing a visual novel so that he can get used to the style and mechanics. We've had experience in building stories together, but this is the first time we're doing it for public consumption.

It should be fun.

Visual Novels

I've had my eye on a potential project for awhile, and it's to make a visual novel.


Visual novel is a niche genre that's slowly gaining popularity in the West, thanks to a couple key releases. It's just as it sounds: a story with images that a player can control, similar to a digital choose-your-own-adventure book. My experience with VN's is limited to 999, a DS game that really opened my eyes up to the possibilities of the format.


I've always wanted to make games, but I didn't possess the necessary programming knowledge and skills necessary to put something together by myself. Since Visual Novels rely on "story" more than actual mechanics, it is completely within my abilities.

Ren'Py, an open-source VN building program, seems like a good start. All I need is some extra help. Although I'm a decent artist, I would like a professional who can trace and color art assets. Although I can pull music from the internet, I would love someone to compose custom tracks for the scenarios I have in mind. Although I have a decent grasp of programming, I would prefer someone else to take care of the heavy lifting while I concentrate on the narrative.

Consider this an announcement of my intentions.

If anyone wants to help, please do.