Which Visual Novel Engine Should You Use? | So You Want To Make A Visual Novel? - Episode 1

[@777theultra9]

List of time stamps: 0:17 Ren'py 1:30 NaniNovel 2:27 TyrnoBuilder 3:22 VN Maker 4:05 Narrat 4:52 Conclusion and honourable mentions

[@Madochannel]

Thank you! I'll pin this for everyone's future reference.

[@narratgameengine7321]

wow! hi thanks for mentioning narrat :D

[@Madochannel]

It's a cool engine - how could I not mention it?

[@razielrazmataz6394]

NARRAT MENTIONED! Its my engine of choice and i can confirm its really user friendly, even for a first timer. Definitely recommend it, especially if you have some experience with web dev!

[@Madochannel]

Awesome, thank you so much! I do wanna try it out for myself, so maybe a future Mado Narrat game is in the wings...?

[@lutzlig]

Narrat is great : 3 It gets new features all the time, often really quickly after someone requests them... I love using it !

[@Madochannel]

Yahoo! Hearing all of the positive comments about Narrat makes me want to try it out more...

[@Arolgo]

Thank you Mado, I’ve recently been thinking of making a VN but gave up cause I didn’t even know how, BUT this video has reawakened that idea so thank you again Mado. You won’t go unappreciated

[@Madochannel]

Thank you so much! I hope my future videos can continue to help you with your VN developer journey... It's really, really fun.

[@SolCresta3405]

The one that makes the characters animated like you, Mado.

[@Madochannel]

I use Ren’Py for all my visual novels. :>

[@SolCresta3405]

@@Madochannel Good.

[@umbraemilitos]

VNs are cool ways to tell a story. It's nice to learn the tools and methods. Thank you.

[@Madochannel]

Glad to help!

[@fuzzyren]

i've started to use ren'py this year and i'm excited to use it again for my final year project's visual novel.

[@Madochannel]

Yahoo! I hope you can make something super cool...

[@tfw_thevoid]

There's a new engine in development called Novel Studio, it's another no-code engine that I think looks promising and might be worth a try!

[@dragonwuu7953]

Yeah, but a little expensive in my opinion😅

[@cheddyju]

Really good video! I was looking for a Godot option and found Dialogic, which seems really nice at a first glance btw!

[@Madochannel]

Thank you! I hope you have a good time with Dialogic. :>

[@Madochannel]

If you want another good Godot option, by the way - it might also be worth looking at Rakugo. That engine’s specifically built for VNs!

[@mokasips]

Great video! Didn't know about Narrat at all and I'll definitely be looking into it for future VNs :>

[@Madochannel]

Thank you! I’m interested in trying out Narrat too in the future…

[@Karma_komodo]

Very interesting watch! Thank you for making this and helping the VN community!

[@Madochannel]

No problem! Glad to help.

[@ScaerieTale]

"Visual Novel Framework" is one I've been meaning to look into. Downside is, it's an Unral Engine plugin, which makes it a steep learning curve if you don't already know Unreal Engine - not to scare anyone off from UE. It's just more intimidating than other options ☺ I've never heard of Narrate, so I will definitely be checking it out!

[@Terrorose]

Good

[@Madochannel]

Good to know! I'll consider this for future videos.

[@aljaylerios8007]

Thanks~ This vid is very informative and your voice is very soothing to listen at

[@Ninjacatmuffin]

Thank you for this video! I came in only knowing that Ren'Py existed, so it was cool to learn about other options. Narrat is the one I'm most interested in learning more about.

[@Madochannel]

Thanks so much! Glad this could help. :>

[@ickyalli]

im going to be using ren'py for a project in my class, thank you for sharing bc i never knew it existed !

[@ExtemporaneousnessOne]

Wow! This is amazing! Please tell me more to this series is incoming?! 🥺

[@Madochannel]

Yes, I do plan on it!

[@umbraemilitos]

​@Madochannel I sent this video to a friend who wants to get into Visual Novels.

[@Garfield_Minecraft]

this is my first project with some artists who want to make a visual novel game and I don't know where to start.. watching this video LOL

[@Psychospacecow]

I'm quite looking forward to this series. I found you through happenstance (Reese's Puffs Fate remix comment), and found core interest in this first video I see. Its something I've wanted to do for some time now but have been intimidated as I may have genuine trauma from trying to learn code back in the day. (Don't wanna make that call, I'm not a psychologist :P)

[@Madochannel]

Thank you so much! I’m glad I could introduce you to this series… For VNs at least, coding has become very simple and approachable (Ren’Py is super easy to learn, for instance). There are also plenty of engine options that don’t involve code whatsoever. :> I wish you luck in your gamedev journey!

[@MiloMingDev]

Godot game endine with Dialogic add-on ! Not sure if Until Then used dialogic or if they made their own dialogue system but they used godot and did awesome job (they actually won few godot engine 2024 awards too, íirc art, music and maybe some 3rd one.... was there story and/or narration award?). That game proves that you can make successful visual novels with the engine. The community is rather small but at least popular enough that dialogic is on version 2.0 now. There aren't many video tutorials but enough to get project started. I feel like i will go with that combination for my 1st visual novel game as i'm learning the engine for other types of games as well.

[@latohavoc6075]

Hey thank you for this it really gave me something to think about. I like using Ren but I need more options.

[@misschambers666]

Hi mado it's Lilith I can't wait for more of these :)

[@Madochannel]

YAHOO!!!! Thank you!!! I hope I can put more out soon...

[@MotivationDudeYT]

im thw 1000th like

[@jryprn]

Will there be an episode 2?:(

[@Lopson13]

Hey Mado, do you know if there are any articles out there on Ren'Py best practices?

[@Madochannel]

Hm, good question! I think taking a look at Fenik's Ren'Py tutorials and quizzes is a good way to go. feniksdev.com/navigation/

[@valentinoringo]

thanks mado

[@Madochannel]

glad to help!

[@valentinoringo]

@@Madochannel also there i a VN creator made by CN : GameCreator - AVG - 星之瞳 - Eyes of star (on steam)

[@those65]

Great vid thanks

[@kvuxrt]

Do VN games that use renpy also are available in mobile?

[@Madochannel]

You can port them to Android, as far as I'm aware!

[@kvuxrt]

@@Madochannel thank you so much!! I'm just a teenager, but I love making VNs, I wanted to make a VN to help my family financially. THANK YOUU!! (sorry for over sharing)

[@Madochannel]

@@kvuxrt no worries! i hope you can make something super awesome!

[@JAXTOY-c3x]

It won't let me download renpy because its uncommonly downloaded

[@lLeavyy]

thank u

[@777theultra9]

What engine would recommend for someone who already has some experience in game dev for non-VN or has any hands-on coding experience in general? I already had my answer, but I think someone else might have a similar question to this.

[@Madochannel]

I’d still say Ren’Py because of its affordability and ease of access!

[@zyat.6959]

What computer should you use to make A VN

[@Madochannel]

Any sort of computer works! Most VN engines are pretty lightweight.

[@dknown]

Can any of these be used for mobile game?

[@Madochannel]

Yes! Ren'Py has Android build capabilities.

[@Sitruskk]

If i already have VN maker is it a viable option?

[@suzupeco-g7v]

someone please port siglus engine to emulate on Android 😭

[@EUGHAEUGH]

erm btw ren'py caused me to download a trojan💗💗

[@nahida_tr]

Guys i know ZERO coding. Is there a program that never requires writing code?

[@CarlosSilva-bh4bi]

Mgl, RPG Maker MV or MZ is better for VN than VN Maker ngl

[@Crispx43]

As a beginner I wanted to start with an engine code free and was leaning towards Visual novel maker as it’s on sale- but your review flew me for a loop 🥲 I’m not sure what might be the best option now!

[@GlebLebedevOnSoftware]

Too bad this video didn't get next episode :-(

[@Madochannel]

I still plan to add to it! I've been on hiatus because I've been moving to another state and searching for work, but I am very keen on coming back to this.

[@GlebLebedevOnSoftware]

@@Madochannel good luck, I'll wait for the continuation, no worries.

[@corrocerous]

Tyranobuilder is straight up abandonware. From personal experience: unless it's a lineal/kinetic novel you WILL need to code and there's 0 documentation on it. It doesnt allow for much customization UI wise and when you do try to modify it you will encounter program bugs that have not been fixed and likely NEVER WILL. It is a shame bc you can easily add live2D stuff and mini games made in frazer but all that goes to the trash when the export for anything but windows just DOESN't work and changing the UI is almost impossible. I would say it's good for a MICRO game at best but if you have more than one ending or need routes you are doomed. The documentation is so poorly done it's almost a joke and the old documentation is just GONE, the only good thing are a few tutorials in spanish from several years ago in trash quality. From the bottom of my heart: do not use tyranobuilder. For all the good things it may have the headache it will give you is simply not worth it