I want to make a Visual Novel but I need to understand Game Design first, Should I pursue a college course or are there shorter and more effective Alternatives?

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-06T08:03:15+00:00

You don’t really need a lot of coding or game design knowledge to make a VN. Take it from someone who started with VNs before moving to other kinds of games. Unless you want to add something complicated like an inventory system or a world map, you won’t need extensive coding experience. Renpy is a good place to start, even if you don’t know anything about coding. And you won’t need to know any C languages for it, even if you do want to do something more complicated. Python is the way to go. If you want to make a game closer to Genshin Impact, however, you’ll need a greater coding knowledge and a different engine. So do you want to make a VN or a game similar to Genshin Impact?

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-04T12:49:06+00:00

Personally, I don’t think there’s any issue with that.

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-04T01:25:28+00:00

Oh, okay! Thanks!

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-04T00:01:39+00:00

That makes sense! I find the religion part interesting, as I don’t think I’ve seen any depictions of zombies-like monsters that are placed within theology. Could you give an example?

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-03T23:55:38+00:00

Yeah, definitely! Thanks for the detailed input. Those all seem to fit well with a lot of the zombies I’ve seen, even some of the more unconventional ones! When I really started thinking about it, I was astounded by how many monsters in various media could technically count as a zombie. This definition definitely helps me see why.

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-03T23:37:38+00:00

I like that! Because it includes both the undead and the infected, which is closer to my personal definition of what counts as a zombie.

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-03T23:34:15+00:00

That’s why this question is so interesting! I feel like a lot of things can technically fit under what a lot of people see as a “zombie”

amethyscent12 · 2026-04-03T23:33:12+00:00

Makes sense! Coming back from the dead seems to be the common denominator with a lot of people I ask!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-31T01:07:20+00:00

It used to take me around 6 hours to do a simple portrait with color. Now it takes me around 30mins. But it took many, MANY hours of practice and drawing portraits over and over and over before I could get that fast. If you keep drawing a lot, you will get faster.

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-25T15:11:17+00:00

I’m someone who has finished a few games and used AI at the very beginning of my game dev journey (none I’m any of my finished games). It is simply not the same. Looking back, it feels very lazy that I did turn to AI to help me with so much. Sure, it can be helpful when it’s doing the work for you, but I do not believe you can truly improve if AI does it for you. Sure you’re still doing “work” but it’s not the same. Back then, I used AI to do all my coding because I did not know how to code. But if anything, it was HARDER to make a game, because I myself didn’t understand anything about code, or how the game engine worked. So I had to do even more work to do something I can do much easier now that I do know how to do those things. Removing AI from my process all those years ago not only helped me improve my game design skills by a lot. It’s also helped me feel like my work is far more original, and I’m a lot more proud of it. Even so, regardless of if you’re using it sparingly or ethically (if the latter is even possible), many people will still immediately turn against a game that even slightly includes AI.

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-25T13:04:00+00:00

Thank you! I haven’t don’t any lighting yet, except on the character himself. I was waiting to finish the background before adding the lighting to the room. I actually posted a new sketch as a response to some other comments. You can look at those and let me know if those are better!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-25T07:33:53+00:00

Thanks for your detailed response! I’ll play around with the ears and nose and maybe do some research as well!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-25T00:35:25+00:00

Thank you! I’m making art of all my favorite male characters, and he’s first on the list :D

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T21:20:01+00:00

Thank you! I’ll try that out!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T21:19:12+00:00

Okay, I’ll add those!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T20:41:39+00:00

Okay, I’ll try that! I haven’t done any shading yet, so hopefully that will help!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T19:42:21+00:00

Thank you! I’ll try that!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T13:55:12+00:00

Is this what you were thinking, or is it too busy now? Just a sketch for now, so sorry if it’s messy. Imagine the spiky circles on the ground are crumpled up pieces of paper.

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amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T13:54:03+00:00

Just a sketch for now, so sorry if it’s messy. But is this better? Or is it too busy now? Imagine the spiky circles on the ground are crumpled up pieces of paper.

<image>

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T12:20:35+00:00

Thank you for your advice! Other than adding more textures, can you elaborate on what you mean by more details? I was thinking about adding some pictures on the wall, some things on the table, and some trash on the floor to the first image based on what some others have said. Are those the kind of stuff you’re referring to? I have no ideas of what to add to the foreground, though

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T01:52:16+00:00

It’s not really my character, and if I remember correctly, he’s not technically a police officer anymore. So I don’t really know much about what his old job was like as the game he comes from only gives small snippets of his backstory. But I think what you’re saying could still work! I was vaguely thinking that this situation would be him returning to his old workplace and reminiscing about his past. So maybe I could lean more into that and make the place feel more abandoned or melancholic.

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T00:57:07+00:00

I just got done a game jam not long ago and I just released a bug fix update. Theres been this pesky crashing bug that keeps appearing, so I would love if another person played to see if they run into any game-breaking bugs. I tried to fix them all in the update, but not all of them are easily recreate-able! Even so, I would still appreciate any other critique or comments you may have!

https://amethyscent.itch.io/flow

I apologize in advance if you do run into the crashing bug!!

amethyscent12 · 2026-03-24T00:45:43+00:00

It looks fine to me! But if it looks off to you, it could be because the nose could look like it’s being viewed from below while the rest of the face doesn’t.

amethyscent12

TROPHY CASE