Visual novel fans?

[StudioDahl]

Anyone here love visual novel games? BL visual novels are my latest guilty pleasure. I recently started playing Argent Games' Chess of Blades and Your Dry Delight. No spoilers, please, if you played them. I am currently playing CoB and am on Franz's route.
I used to play those Nancy Drew games and then discovered otome. Now, BL games. I have transcended... haha.

I would like to make a visual novel game, but would not even know how to start one. I am not a very good writer. I just like to create art (not very good at that either. ahaha).

Who here loves visual novels, especially BL ones? What are your favorites? Who here has actually made one?
I am looking for more to read this coming summer break, so if you have any recommendations, please post them.

[LostSpirit]

I remember those. I haven't played any in recent times, but I loved 999. Not sure if you can still get it, but it was out for the Nintendo DS way back in the early 2010s. I loved it through and through. Psychological thriller with nine different routes and endings.

I get the feeling. I would love for my story to expand into different mediums as well someday!

[StudioDahl]

I looked it up and it does sound interesting. Older and probably hard to get a copy of though. I like psychological thrillers!

[boniae]

Ohh cool, visual novels!! I love Chess of Blades, although you've reminded me that I need to pick back on playing it and finish some routes. I've always been a big fan of visual novels, and when I was first dabbling with webcomics my interests also leaned into visual novel development as well, so now I juggle doing both. I completed a visual novel back in 2014 called Forget-Me-Not (It's BL, 16+ in rating, but It deals with a lot of heavy themes though), and I'm hoping to release my next visual novel this year called Sagebrush, which is a drama/comedy with 3 love interests to choose from.

In terms of visual novels I personally recommend, here's a few BL/LGBT games to check out if you haven't seen them: (the ones with an asterisk are 18+ though!)
Togainu no Chi*, chronomuxed*, Where the White Doves Rest*, Metamorphoser* (first game is free, there's a remake that is in progress), Break Chance Memento, Yearning: A Gay Story (there's a sequel but I haven't played it yet), Coming Out on Top*, Butterfly Soup

Not sure if you've ever browsed the Itch.io site, but there's a lot of visual novels are on there for free or to purchase. You can scroll through the LGBT game tag and see if there's anything you like. And If you're ever interested in looking at upcoming BL projects, there's a twitter account that catalogs all the updates from game developers, and their tumblr has a list of projects to look through.

Since you mentioned wanting to make a VN someday, you could always join a project as an artist, usually during game jams is a good time to get with a team! This year there's a yaoi game jam, and usually the month before it starts you can find teams to collaborate with. There's also a huge visual novel game jam every March called NaNoRenO, and any genre can be submitted. I really hope more people can get into making VNs!! It's a really neat medium, and it's pretty versatile and engaging for storytelling.

[StudioDahl]

Thanks for the recommendations, boniae!
Metamorphoser and Break Chance Memento sound very interesting!

Your VNs look cool as well! Love the artwork!

Also, thanks so much for the Yaoi Jam link! I was wondering some time ago when it was going to come back around...

I actually purchased Argent Games' VNs on itch.io. I love the website. Mainly I was looking for recommendations because I do not have a lot of time to play many games because I want to create my own works. I am usually very selective about the games I play. I usually use them as a reward for getting something on my "to-do" list finished. hehe

I am currently collaborating on a comic with a writer and I hope to pick up another project in the future, preferably a visual novel, just because it is something different to do.

[boniae]

No problem! Glad you found some that caught your interest!! And ahhh thank you, I'm happy you like the art! ^o^
Ohh okay awesome, I didn't know if you used it since some people use steam too. Haha I'm actually the same way too, I don't get to play many games since I'm also working on a lot of stuff, so I go at a really slow pace and don't get to play a whole lot of them. There's a few other games I could recommend, it's just that I haven't gotten the chance to play them for myself (so their more like the kinds of games I add to my wishlist). Hopefully you can get a few more recommendations from others over here though!

Ohh cool, good luck with the comic, and I hope you get to work on a VN sometime soon! When you publish them totally hit me up, I'd love to check them out sometime

[StudioDahl]

Yes, I will definitely be checking some of these out, including yours.

I also use steam, though not as much as itch. I go rather slow as well when it comes to VNs, mainly for the same reason as you.

Thank you. It is fun and the planning stage is coming along nicely. My writer is great.
I hope so too. I think I might open a thread regarding getting a partner for the 2020 Yaoi Jam. It would be fun to put out a demo or something for the jam. Plus, two months to plan, so no need to hurry

I will be sure to let you know when they come out!

[GesuGesu]

Oh, the only BL games I played to completion were Dramatical Murder and Absolute Obedience.

DMMD was popular at the time, so I played, but some of the parts turned me off (mostly the violent parts since I squick at gore in general)

Absolute Obedience was a balance of hilarious situations, secret agent shenanigans, and actual angst story. I loved it. The secret ending route was very satisfactory as well.

I have the Japanese versions for Lucky Dog, but I never got around to playing it (plus I really don't want to struggle through reading the Japanese any time soon!)

As for creating visual novels, I've actually made a few test ones / short joke ones via Cloudnovel.com! It's a browser-based platform that allows you to create visual novels without any coding or programming knowledge! The CEO, Sonia, is often online and available to help you troubleshoot anything you need in their discord server.

There's a lot of writers looking for artists to collaborate with them in there!

[StudioDahl]

Thanks for that, GesuGesu!

I will look those games up. I have never heard of Cloudnovel before. I will have to check it out!

[akhayashiii]

I recently started playing visual novels and I like them a lot, especially BL! I played "Your Dry Delight" and downloaded "Chess of Blades" to play as soon as I have free time. Right now I'm following the work of Two And A Half Studios, they're working on "The Divine Speaker" and "Beyond The Abyss". The first already has a demo on itch.io and looks very nice so far!

I am also working on a VN using a story that I wrote for a BL comic some years ago. I never managed to do the comic because I don't have time to keep posting updates every week, so I think that a VN would be easier for me since I can work on it slowly. ^^ It's been very fun so far!

[SiriusLeeLost]

If you're keen on writing a visual novel, I can recommend a few programs to help keep track of all of your dialog and routes. It's always best to keep track of your map, specially when visualizing what goes where. I'm working on my own visual novel and how I map out my content is on draw.io

If ya ever want a chance to read up on an action pack fantasy novel, do feel free to check out my story, Regal Tails! It's still in development but we're going at a reasonable pace!

Regal Tails by Regal_Tails