Since VNs are a form of interactive fiction, any good “no coding” (so things like Ren’Py are already out) solution for making those?
I think you could approximate a visual novel with Twine, you’d basically just put images at the top of a page and text below. That would mimic the format, right?
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Unfortunately not mimic enough. But thanks for trying to help.
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I’ve seen people replicate VN layout in Twine, but it’s absolutely not “no-code.” (I mean, yes, technically what you write in Twine is markup, but I really, really doubt that someone who doesn’t want to do any coding would consider that a meaningful difference.)
It sounds like what OP wants is something that’s exactly like TyranoBuilder except that it doesn’t cost money, but I’m not sure that’s a thing.
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Thanks for mentioning that. That’s at least worth a closer look.
Yeah, it has coding, but it’s very minimal and mostly a visual editor. It’s about as retro as you can get.
Construct boasts about no code required for complex things so a simple slideshow with variable branching sounds like it should be a breeze. The free version has some “free-version” limitations, but because it’s designed for arcade-like games, I’m thinking it might be all you need. This is just a shot in the dark though.
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Honestly, I second Decker here. I didn’t have to write a line of code for the two things I made in it, and my latest work, ROGUE, mimics a proper visual novel format (linked so you can check the screenshots for what I mean). The thing is that your options for visuals are limited: anything you input will be dithered, unless you draw it in the program, which is also limited (though for me, it works in its favor). But yeah, it’s rather hard to find something that will fulfill all three requirements.
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It certainly looks extremely retro. XD
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Oh, Decker looks great, but I think the developer went on to mimic HyperCard a little too close and completely forgot that modern computers have this thing called “color” (seriously though, I’d kill for hypercard clone that works natively on modern PCs and has color, loved to play with it on an emulated Mac).
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It has colour.
→ https://harlequindiver.itch.io/fear-and-loneliness
I think you mostly see monochrome examples and work because that’s the “nostalgia” of the product.
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I actually have Visual Novel Maker which is expensive (~$60 USD) but I was able to fumble my way through making separate clickable regions on an image successfully and I’m utterly stupid about that sort of thing.
TyranoBulder is $15 on Steam. Sometimes if you need a thing to do a thing it’s worth paying for.
If you’re not as interested in coding or Python as in just getting your project done, TyranoBuilder may be more your speed. You need to know exactly zero about coding. It’s the fastest way to make a quick-and-dirty prototype, especially if you’re pitching a game or need a loose concept, but if you want to flesh the rest of your project out it can do that too.
That said, many of the more complex things you can implement in systems like Ren’Py aren’t possible within the confines of TyranoBuilder. After tinkering with the program for a while, I was able to get the skeleton of a visual novel up and playable in the span of 15 minutes, with some sloppy writing and artwork whipped up in MS Paint. It was quick and dirty as expected, but in many ways that’s what TyranoBuilder is for.
– PCGamer
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I didn’t even know Itch had a section for free visual novel tools.
→ https://itch.io/tools/free/genre-visual-novel
People will have to hunt to see if there are code-free options in the bunch, but I’ll be jiggered, there is a lot of stuff to sort through!
Update: Tuesday JS seems to provide a solid foundation.
→ https://kirill-live.itch.io/tuesday-js
…and it reminds me of Moiki. Which is another option for a codeless authoring environment. Moiki leans towards a mobile interface, but it will probably work well for desktop.
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Yeah, even the colour version still has those old 1990s pixelations and visual distortions, haha. I guess they had a theme and they stuck to it - nostalgia for HyperCard or old Macintosh computers? XD
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