There was a thread on this a few months ago and it died, but I thought the subject had potential. How come there aren't more horse-related VNs out there? I don't necessarily mean those huge, ambitious collaborative projects that get hyped for a few years and then abandoned or C&D'd or whatever, I mean just simple fangames.Visual novel games:>are easy af to make>require almost no coding >don't require expensive hardware to play>can be shared using basic file-hosting sites or even catbox if the size is <200 mb>can easily be made by one anon working alone>even long games with complex branching stories can be done by one person on a $500 laptopThey don't need to be super well-written or have original art. Anyone who can write a greentext can write a VN scenario, and there are plenty of character vectors and backgrounds available on the boorus if you can't draw. AI is also a good tool for making quickie art. There are plenty of free sound effects and BGM tracks out there. Most people browsing this board right now could probably whip up a simple VN out of the images in their downloads folder and the first idea that pops into their head. If you don't have an original idea but have a green or a fanfic you like, it could be easily adapted.For example, this game took me all of five minutes to put together:https://files.catbox.moe/uy8py8.ziptl;dr, more anons on this board should endeavor to make their own VN projects. Ideally I would like to have a dedicated general and probably a ponepaste repository for keeping track of projects that have been made or are in progress.VNDB list of pony-related games:https://vndb.org/g1813An interesting article from 2019 about pony-related VN projects:https://evnchronicles.blogspot.com/2019/03/my-little-pony-fan-visual-novels-part-1.htmlhttps://evnchronicles.blogspot.com/2019/03/my-little-pony-fan-visual-novels-part-2.htmlGame engines:https://renpy.org/ (free)https://tyranobuilder.com/ (paid)Resources for art, music, etc:https://novelai.net/imagehttps://pixabay.com/music/https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/boorus
>>42529579Most people on this site have completely burned out their brains chasing orgasm after orgasm. Whether its through looking at pony smut all day, toys, plushies, diapers or whatever, no one wants to sit down and commit to something productive. It's sapped anyone's desire to be creative. The few here that are creative, they know this. But preaching to this board is a lost cause, so they leave this place and only share their art or work with a tight-knit circle of productive non-coomer friends.
>>42529579>https://vndb.org/g181310/10 mythical gem of a game would play again mare approved.
>>42529588Yeah, I kind of understand that, but at the same time it's in the interest of the few creative types who are still hanging around to have some way to engage with each other and share what they make. Plus if there are at least a few people consistently producing content, then eventually it attracts an audience. I mean let's face it, if /mlp/ starts producing visual novels a fair chunk of what gets made is probably going to be porn, so it's not like the gooners will have anything to complain about.
>>42529588>>42529596My biggest frustration is that I actually enjoy pouring a lot of time and effort into creative projects. The problem is that once it's finished it's hard to find a place to publish it where anyone will pay attention. Especially something niche like a VN.
>>42529579Making things is hard and requires talent and patience.
>>42529607Well you got an audience here and i'd love to play whatever you are making
>>42529631This is the current batch of autism I've got going:https://mega.nz/file/yf5ggZTJ#Ws8WbHtKRMASv0sO2COsS0c6uUdJb_PQ6Dq3hnIbVxMIt's very shitposty but I think it turned out pretty funny. It's the first chapter of an ongoing story but it's a complete game, you can play through it in about 2 hours.
>>42529579There's an AI-driven VN game that is actively being developed right now in the /chag/ thread.https://equestrai-ponyponyparadise.neocities.org/
>>42529596>>42529607Read the post you're replying to again. Who's going to make these things if everyone is content gooning to AI art or whatever? Dopamine is so easy to get. Whatever ambitious dream people have isn't going to happen because porn will always be readily available for them, and will sap their imagination and creativity. And even if the few creative types do make something, just like art on the boorus or fimfiction, it won't take off in the current fandom unless it's porn. I've seen art, pony paintings with true color and depth demonstrative of an actual artist, somebody with real skill, peak at 140 upvotes on derpi, while aero and welost are the kings of trending art with four digit upvote counts.This is it. The twilight years of the human race. Enjoy it while it lasts.
>>42529669I found it hilarious. I think it would be funny to make the dialouge in comic sans after the brain damage device too for a bit
>>42529773Oh dang, I wasn't aware of this but it looks great. Just downloaded the current version.>>42529808Thank you. That's actually a pretty good idea. I like font-related gags.
>>42529897>Just downloaded the current version. I would follow https://rentry.org/sukino-findings#if-you-want-to-use-an-online-ai to get a free Gemini key, then read Doc 0 for setup.
>>42529790Yeesh, you're a bit of a Debbie Downer, aren't you? Here, have another silly screenshot from my game.>I've seen art, pony paintings with true color and depth demonstrative of an actual artist, somebody with real skill, peak at 140 upvotes on derpi, while aero and welost are the kings of trending art with four digit upvote counts.Yeah, I mean, I get it, but... this honestly just strengthens my resolve to keep making better and better stuff and putting it out there. Like, probably the best thing I ever wrote on fimfiction peaked at like 400 views, meanwhile all kinds of terrible fetish crap gets upvoted. That's just kind of how it goes, unfortunately, but I don't see it as any kind of reason to just abandon all my creative hobbies and live a life of empty self-gratification.
>>42529926Cute.
>>42529921Looks like getting the AI connection and all that configured is going to take a bit more mental bandwidth than I have right now, will probably have to set it up after I've had some sleep. But this is a really cool idea, I'm going to play with this some more tomorrow.
>>42529669do you have any other works anon?
>>42529579/mlp/ can never make a VN>Makes a VNThat doesn't count!!!Also how's the next game jam thread coming along? any plans for what games people will make this October?Last time they really wanted to make management and roguelike games. I wonder what everyone is craving for this next jam.
>>42530759>Also how's the next game jam thread coming along?It's over, anon.https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/42274221/#42274221
>>42530768There's a new one coming in October. A lot will obviously want to make another spooky themed gamejam again.
I liek dis thred. poke poke.
>>42529579Here a list of VN I know off, finished and unfinished.>Banned from EQDVery well known.https://pokehidden.archive.hexstream.net/banned_from_equestria_daily.html>Pony Waifu SimulatorIn progress but slow. There is a demo:https://www.ponywaifusim.com/>My Little InvestigationA very cool demo, but it's dead now.https://www.equestriandreamers.com/>Pony Tale AdventuresGot a C&D from Hasbro, but a small scene with Pinkie was released here for Hearts & Hooves Day, and it's apparently still being worked on.https://mega.nz/folder/JRF3FRbI#Qqy-H8tBLivwxRd40aD_Sg/file/lE8BHCjS>/chag/ VNAI powered.https://equestrai-ponyponyparadise.neocities.org/>Welcome to PonyvilleDead. Demo here: https://archive.org/details/WelcomeToPonyvilleAct1>Pony Amnesia: Love and MysteriesWebsite is dead, dead project, but a short demo was released:https://www.mediafire.com/folder/89545h726gve1/Pony_Amnesia_Demo>My Little Sweet Heart: Story of Double Diamond https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s0p1th6xn4o4hp2tj178c/?rlkey=w0602u3p326grwjfrhkwpok3g&e=1>My Little Sweet Heart: Story of the Mane6By a Thai team but translated to English. Human + Mane6 VN, finished apparently. I just remember cringing a lot when testing it, and I never got far.I'm pretty sure the full version was on their facebook but the link seems dead now.>Starswirl AcademyHumanized M6. Dead project but a demo.https://rosin.itch.io/starswirl
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>>42531292I’d be willing to take a crack at a game jam if there’s another one.
>>42530427Actually yes, I made this ridiculous thing several years ago if anyone wants to play it:https://mega.nz/file/eW52DIQZ#T-2EEC9f3e0VMgJTLI3aYMIlHTFkpR_d4W6_CMDmEwIit's pretty absurd but I've posted it before, and a couple of anons have told me they thought it was funny.Those two are the only visual novels I've ever made though. They were kind of done as experiments to see if I could actually make a game from start to finish. Now that I know how the engine works I kind want to try doing one that's a serious story, not just a zany shitpost.
>>42531921>My Little Sweet Heart: Story of the Mane6I was one of those that volunteered to have a look at the English translation. A lot of it was directly translated so the phrasing had to be fixed. I never played the game after seeing all that text. If you need a copy though, I can ask around for a copy.
>>42533843If you can, it would be great. I'm pretty sure a full version existed but I can't find it anywhere and all the links are dead.
id love to see a story where your trapped in the body of pre-reformed starlight glimmer and you have to avoid the mane six while pulling shenanigans
>>42533843Not that anon but that would be great.
>>42529579It's okay, she's black
I recently finished writing out a story for a VN but haven't started on actually making it yet.
>>42534040Ren'Py isn't hard, even if you're not a coder. If you have the story, you already have a lot of what it takes. The only other thing is the art, but you can use pre-existing vectors and backgrounds if that's not your thing.
i saw a game in the vnbd page linked in the op that caught my eye, part time job by ZB. the only link to it on the site was a dead link to a page on deviantart. miraculously, wayback machine had actually saved that page, which had a link to a file sharing site called 4shared, which apparently doesn't let you download files unless you make an account. and even after signing up and trying to download, it says that it's downloading it in the background, but actually what it does is send you an email with a link in it to a different part of the same site that actually has a functioning download link. and once i actually got the game i discovered that literally every file has a duplicate copy for some reason. for every single [file.file] there's also a [file (1).file]. the vn also wouldn't start, and while i couldn't entirely tell what the error message meant, i could gleam from it that it probably had something to do with all the duplicated files. so i deleted a bunch of them (not all of them, too lazy) and that actually made the thing work. throughout the visual novel itself, i also found four instances of things being broken. two instances of the script telling the game to take you to parts of the game that didn't exist, one of which directly prevented progress (fixed easily enough by changing the game script to have the correct names) one instance of the script taking you to the correct in game location, but at an earlier point in the story (fixed in a similar way to the previous two), and one case where a certain area didn't have a background. thankfully, it was in a maze that the files included a map for that had pictures of all the rooms, so i could see what i was supposed to look like. and while the correct image truly didn't exist, it was just a mirrored version of one that did, so i made of copy of that and mirrored it and gave it the name the game was looking for. hopefully that's all the bugs in the game and not just all the bugs i found.so that nobody else has to go through the many struggles i went through to play part time job the way it was intended, here's the fixed version i made. https://u.pone.rs/wgyycbac.zipand for the sake of preservation, and just in case anyone doesn't want to jump through the hoops of downloading it, but does for whatever reason want to jump through the hoops of fixing it, here's the original version as well.https://u.pone.rs/uisgidse.zip
>>42534276Downloaded. Thanks for your work.
This thread unlocked a memory I haven't thought about in foreverI remember like a decade ago I made a shitty unfunny VN/CYOA parody of My Little Dashie in renpyIt's lost to time unfortunately
>>42534311This?https://vndb.org/v24976
>>42529773fuck, this is neat
>>42534323No, I never posted it anywhere and the laptop i made it on is long goneIt was more of a shitpost loosely following the story than a faithful adaptation.I remember two of the "jokes"One in the beginning when you find Dash in the box. There's a second box next to her with a creepy guy in it. Choosing that box is a game overThe second one was you decide to play video games with Dash. You can either choose Metal Gear or Banned From Equestria Daily.
>>42534345That actually sounds pretty funny. Maybe you could recreate the game from memory?
>>42534638Eh, it wouldn't be the same.Early 2010s anon is a different, less jaded beast than mid 2020s anon.
>>42534682True, but you could salvage the parts you remember and take a second crack at the same concept. This board and 4chan in general has a tendency to mire itself in nostalgia and the idea that the old days were better, and our younger, more optimistic selves were better than the people we are now, and so on. To some extent it's true, but the flip side of it is that the "jaded beast" of 2020s anon probably has perspectives on life and the world that early 2010s anon wouldn't have had access to. If you're trying to write, even if its just a silly satire of a fanfic, that can be a pretty strong asset.
>>42529790BFED 2 failed numerous times complete with /g4r/ so apparently coomers can't even make their own porn , /mlp/ and the fandom at large has been dead since 2014 and only very select groups are still active and willing to produce content.
>>42535194This is how most fan communities are, unfortunately. A small number of people are productive, the majority just consumes content and complains about there not being more. The pony fandom has been something of an anomaly in that there was always a disproportionately high number of creators. Unfortunately that seems to have ebbed off as people either move on from the fandom or their productivity drops off. Not much anyone can do about it besides continuing to make stuff and hoping others follow suit.
My issue is justifying the size and existence of a VN in the first place, like what kind of story could be told this way that can't be done in green format? Maybe I'm just being too closed minded, but what I like about the VNs I played were the "routes" and that just sounds like it'd become a big project which defeats the purpose of "whipping up a simple VN"
>>42536195The graphics and music can add to the immersion factor, guess it kind of depends how much time and effort you want to put in. There are numerous greens I've read where I've found myself thinking it would make a good visual novel game.
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https://renpy.org/ https://tyranobuilder.com/Are these good if you want to make a DnD game with stats and dice rolls? I want to create a game where it actually calculates all the options I made and give me a score similar to a quiz.
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