Visual Novel Nodal Editor - new system

Technical Development Development Systems
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Hi everyone,

I’d like to share a development log for a tool I’ve been working on: Visual Novel Nodal Editor, a node-based authoring environment for creating visual novels and branching interactive narratives.

The software is currently Coming Soon on Steam and will launch in Early Access so I can iterate based on community feedback.

I may also release a demo version before or during Early Access. feel free to whislit & share

so here are my answers to the new dev system questionnary

Development

Where is the documentation for creating a game?
→ Documentation is under development, will be released in a few weeks
Is there documentation for how a programmer could extend the system?
→ No extension for the system actually.
Is there built-in support for managing extensions/modules/libraries?
→ No support for extensions/modules/libraries
How easy is it to pick up and use?
→ Will be avalaible on Steam soon.
What does the syntax look like?
→ Does Not apply, full interactive approach

Environment

Is development and hosting on the website only or is there a separate IDE?
→ It’s a full standalone software for windows actually
Can you save projects locally?
→ yes
Offline editing?
→ yes
If you have a WYSIWYG/no-code editor, can you switch between that and some sort of programming language/pseudocode?

→ No
Does it support spell check?
→ No

Exporting/publishing

Are games exportable as playable websites?
→ Only executables for the moment, I may study a webapp export soon
Can you download/play games outside the platform?
→ you can freely distribute an executable actually
Can you share the resulting game freely?
→ yes
What license do games made with your platform have?
→ it’s not a platform but a standalone software
Can people play without an account?
→ For editing, you need Steam account, but for playing executables no

Logic/mechanics

Are there ways to get complicated mechanics made (e.g. variables, functions)?
→ for the moment no variables (working on it for a future release)
How complex can the logic be?
→ For the moment it’s just normal story branchings
Random number generation?
→ no
Text input?
→ no (only on editing)
Random cycling text variation?
→ not for the moment
Repeatable choices?
→ no unless you connect a choice to a previous node
World model support?
→ no
Can you make relatively linear storylines easily?
→ yes, create nodes edit them , drag and drop connections between them

UI/UX

Is it easy to style your stories, without elaborate knowledge of CSS?
→ no CSS, replace the images or add new ones
Are there alternative color schemes for the site interface?
→ no color scheme for the moment

Platform comparison

What does it do that other well-known IF platforms struggle with?
→ fully graphical edition
What does it struggle with that those platforms do well?
→ no code at all, write your text, connect

AI

Was AI involved in the making of this system?
→ yes
Is AI a part of the features?
→ it is optional
(If the answer to these questions is “yes”, please add the ai tag!)
→ ai parts :

- you can connect to a local or distant Stable diffusion server

  • you can ask translations directly in the interface to google translation

Business model

Is it paid or free to play/write/use?
→ it will be pay for editing, free to play exported executables (I’m studying protection for authors that want to sell their exported novels)
If paid, how do you intend to attract paying readers?
→ if an author want to get paid, it will be it’s duty to attract readers
How does the monetization model compare to something like Itch?
→ No monetization system, only authors will choose where to sell her/his creations

Proof of concept

(Most people choose an IF platform by playing a great game from it first.)
→ Does not apply for the moment
Is there an example game written using the system?
→ there will be one or more small example novels
Which examples do you think best demonstrate its strengths?
→ just the examples for the moment

Accessibility

Support for languages other than English (possibly diacritics and non-Latin alphabets)?
→ yes, interface will be in english, french, spanish , portuguese, deutch, japanese
Screen-reader friendly?
→ not for the moment
Can any timed text/quicktime events be altered by the reader?
→ all text can be skipped, no quicktime event for the moment

some more details about this software

. Node-Based Story

Nodes are in the core editor interface allowing branching choices.

.Node-Based Dialogs

A nodal dialog editor interface allows as for the story to branch choices between nodes.
Each node represents a narrative unit (dialogue, choice, etc.), and connections define execution flow.

My main objective was to allow complex logic without requiring scripting knowledge, this will been soon fully achieved with variables and conditionning branching

.Menu Customisation

I made a menu editor, to change aspects of the novel menus

I focused on reducing friction during writing:

  • Fast text editing

  • Character assignment

  • Expression / asset references

  • Inline actions and events ( to come)

One ongoing question is how much information should be visible directly in the node versus in a side panel.

.Particles system editor

I made a simple particle editor, to create effects like rain, fire, snow, etc… imagination is yours

One of the harder problems has been balancing flexibility with usability — especially preventing users from creating inconsistent states.

Optional AI Integration

The editor can connect to external AI services (for example image generation), but nothing is bundled. Users connect their own Stable Diffusion server if they want to — the core tool remains fully usable without AI.

Feedback I’d Love

Since many people here have experience with IF tools:

  • Do you see advantages in node-based narrative authoring?

  • What features are essential for large projects?

  • What are your biggest frustrations with existing tools?

  • Would export to other IF formats matter to you?

  • Same question with imports?

I’m happy to answer any questions — technical or design-related.

Thanks for reading!
Filipe

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We’ve had a lot of posts like this recently; have you seen this thread?

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Also this thread:

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Ok thanks , I’ve rewritten the post following instructions on the thread you mentioned.

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Hello. Your system sounds interesting. I have been experimenting with node based VN production. I’m presuming you are “Red-Cyclops”;

The first thing i ran into with visual authoring is limitations in the diagram tools. There have been several attempts posted here with other systems and they share the same problem; node based editing gets fiddly fast!

For example, i found the following features essential before anything could be written:

  1. multi-select move
  2. multi-select cut & paste
  3. diagram layers
  4. the ability to disconnect links and remake them along another route
  5. changing the start node
  6. node resize
  7. putting the text in a node rather than a property
  8. spell checking the nodes with grammarly.
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Hi , thx for the message, yes “Red-Cyclops”

I’ll try to take in count your advices.
actually here is point by point what I can say
multi-select move

  1. multi-select cut & paste → partially working , wil be ok for early access

  2. diagram layers → I’ve got layers were you prepare assets and you they are callable via the sequence editor, but I don’t think that what in your mind I presume

  3. the ability to disconnect links and remake them along another route → yes actually you can delete branches/choice and drag & drop connection to where you want

  4. changing the start node → in devloppement, will be ok for early access

  5. node resize → not planned, but grouping with collapse and expand is planned on future releases - what node resize brings to you (visualising important scenes/node)?

  6. putting the text in a node rather than a property → nodes are support for multiple objects, you place a text sequence object, you can edit directly on the property, or if you double clic on it you have a dedicated window for inserting text, in the preview window will also able to resize and place text. when text is to long on playing novel it will be automatically split for continuous reading on multiple pages.

  7. spell checking the nodes with grammarly. → planned for future releases

Thanks for your constructive comment

Filipe

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what node resize brings to you (visualising important scenes/node)?

I realised you put most of your node content into a separate properties window. I don’t do that. I put everything in the node box. This is why i need to resize. I put the text there too. It’s just a different way to do it.

So here are my thoughts for consideration.

In view of the understanding this is a paid product, i think;

Build an impressive game in your system before you release it. This game needs to be more than a demo, but it can be a short game. A short story with a nice ending, featuring ~3 characters, interesting dialogue, several scenes and approx 1 hour gameplay.

Multiple deployment targets. You mention a self-contained EXE. That’s good. But also it should publish to OSX and the WEB. Possibly mobile too. there are a lot of free IF authoring systems out there, but they don’t publish neat binaries.

Consider targeting WEB also because people want to show others their work. Even if they’re making games to sell, building for web is really useful for beta testing. Also in general, persuading people to run a random exe nowadays is tough. For example, often you can’t even email them.

Have you considered different aspect ratios? Most laptops are around 16:9, desktops people tend to work slightly portrait. Mobiles are either severely portrait or severely landscape. Working well in all modes is a real challenge. For example, text placement.

I think a lot of your “partially working” bits will have to be more than just partly working before you should release even version 1. As bad user experiences stick around.

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Yes of course, i understand.
I’m keeping you advices on my possible future features, for the moment, I’m debugging and adjusting some little things, the demo and early access, will be certainly with some limitations, but as time and discussions will grow up i hope, some of your suggestion might come into the process developement.
thx a lot , :slight_smile: