How to develop the perfect Visual Novel game

Hi guys, this is Sayuui! I've been in the indie Visual Novel business as an artist since 2014. I've seen it all. In 2016, I talked to the developer of what would end up becoming the most prominent visual novel game in the west: Doki Doki Literature Club. I got rejected to be their artist. You can find my YouTube video about this story here. That's why I write to you now. If I was the artist of that game, not gonna lie, I wouldn't even bother. I would probably be relaxing, counting my dollars on a beach right now. But since I'm no Kardashian and no successful artist, I come here to talk to you like an old bearded woman, and I hope you at least get to enjoy my insight.

Through 14 years, made a lot of mistakes, friends, met a lot of and have seen developer's mistakes too. A LOT of them. And that's what we're going to talk about today.

It's not a get-rich-quick scheme. Humbleness above everything else.

Whenever someone has a story, no programming OR game development experience and wants to make a game, guess what genre they go to? Exactly, Visual Novel. People choose this genre to develop because it's "easy". Or, at least you thought so.

However, it doesn't end in a purchase or a download. You want your player to find out what happens at the end of your game, right? Keeping your reader's attention through a Visual Novel nowadays is going to be really tough.

For anything in life, the guy who's humble and aware of their flaws and limitations will go further than the guy who's convinced he has everything figured out.

If I were to make a VN myself, I would use the same resources that Youtubers use to keep video retention to keep people hooked on my VN, like sound effects. But that wouldn't be enough either.

There was this time I was addicted to Nier: Automata. I then messaged a colleage about their experience. He told me he got so annoyed at the camera for not being able to jump the cabins at the carnival, he simply unninstalled the game. Now imagine: they completely missed out on one of the greatest games ever made, because he got annoyed at a simple detail. In an era when people quit the most engaging, interactive games, what takes for someone to quit a well done visual novel?

It's not people's attention spans that are bad. You are competing with literally anything else in the past and present. If your player doesn't like your VN, they can turn it off and play a game from 10 years ago they know is good. Or just go on a walk to the park. You are competing against a book, a walk in the park, or any other hobby. Don't forget that.

Done is and will always be better than perfect

The mistake I see people make the most is to shove 50 characters in their first VN. All of them are extremely detailed, with extensive backstories. How are you going to get art for all of them? If you decide to do it with AI... Good luck getting readers.

How are you going to get people interested in them? Can you guarantee that they're not going to be superficial and bond with the player? Don't you think it's better to stick with 5 well-developed characters?

Besides, if you can't finish the game, it'll be the same as if you've never done it. Keep this in mind.

Take this as a means to self-development

One of my VN clients hired the whole team to make him the game, and I still have a hard time talking to him about my work. I spent most of my time explaining him the CG terminology, yet he doesn't seem to understand exactly what it is that I do, and it's pretty frustrating.

Your first VN is NOT going to be good, and you don't control this. You swear it's good, but wait just a few more years. If it was easy, it wouldn't be fun. It's NOT going to look good, either. Maybe your second or third will be.

If you want to become a game developer, embrace the humbling experience. Embrace your flaws. You are not exceptional, and it's ok. The fact that you're making it is what makes it fun. If you're making a game to sell rivers, maybe it's best to go with a gacha, not a VN.

Hire the right people

Hiring people without knowing how to do the job yourself should not feel like taking a weight off your shoulders: it should be terrifying. None of the VN devs that hired me for their first game have ANY idea how to hire an artist, how to give an artist feedback properly, what art looks better than what, what looks like AI or not. They were just going with the flow, and it suddenly became my job to explain that too.

If you want to know the basics of how to commission an artist, what to expect when commissioning an artist, process, and learn the basics of how to DIRECT a visual game, I have compiled a google doc with a series of useful links here. If you really watch the videos in this doc, you won't only be taking weight off your artist's shoulders, you'll be more ready to take the right decisions.

If you want to REALLY get into directing a game as an art director, I would recommend studying the art fundamentals and maybe drawing yourself. There are plenty of channels that teach fundamentals -- Proko, Swatches, Bobby Chiu, Modern Day James, Marco Bucci and others. And even though they don't teach Anime style, well, the fundamentals are the same for all art in the world.

Know your visual limitations

When choosing your artist, you intuitively know what looks better. When you're choosing from multiple artists, all you have to do is to put the work from their portfolios side by side to compare; Yet, most people don't do it. I like using pureref to easily drop images into, so I can quickly make moodboards and comparisons.

Another mistake I see devs make is: they're not aware they can use the "I am an artist" board on Lemma soft instead of making a random Reddit post looking for an artist. "But Sayuu, Lemma soft is so old!! This artist I really want to hire is closed, and their post was from 3 years ago!" It doesn't matter. If you find their email or any other kind of contact, get in touch with them. You might get surprised.

You will never get the best artist possible by making a Reddit post; most replies are desperate artists who don't even match what you're looking for.

Marketing starts on day 1

Marketing doesn't have to be a sacrifice. There are multiple ways to do it, and you don't have to do them all. Find a way of doing it that you enjoy. Maybe it's making YouTube videos with a call to action for your Steam page, or a Discord server, or an email list. Document your process, talk about your inspirations, why you love what you do, and more. Take people with you on a trip to your passion.

I really recommend the YouTube channel idea. But just ONE video isn't going to do it. Get your butt working.

Remember to back up your files

I've heard of horror stories of devs losing their games in the past. They say if you only have one backup, you don't have a backup. With how short backups last lately, it's best to have multiple backups and a backup routine. You'll thank me later.

If you're looking for an artist for your Visual Novel or anything related, check out my samples and prices here!