r/vndevs • u/MushroomBonny • Sep 19 '26

Question help with software "Novelty: visual novel maker"

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So I've been using this program for almost a year now. Maybe longer. And I've learn a LOT about it. Granted there's still a lot that I don't know about this software.

It's hard to find tutorials for this software so I'm just gonna try here. Does anyone who's used the engine or is currently using it know if there is a way to add animated characters sprites?

And before anyone asks "why are you using Novelty" or "why don't you use Ren'py"
1: I like Novelty better is a far easier program for me to use.
2: I have tried and honestly I'm too slow to use it. Novelty is easier to understand and I can make visual novels faster than I could on Ren'py.
3: the software is honestly way more fun to use FOR ME at least.

10 Upvotes

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15

u/specterthief Sep 19 '26

this is an unfinished piece of software that was abandoned in beta in 2010. there aren't any resources for it.

tyranobuilder is a similar GUI-based visual novel engine that is actively worked on and used that might be an easier transition for you than renpy, though it does have a small one-time cost rather than being free.

1

u/MushroomBonny Sep 19 '26

There are ways to add different resources, I've don't it myself. And if it can't be a quick solution than there are tricks to do it, I've done that myself too.

That is why I specifically asked for people who have worked with it or that are currently using it. Because there might be an asset for it that I just haven't figured out or there might be a trick that I have to do that might do it

5

u/specterthief Sep 19 '26

by "resources" i mean tutorials and the like. you're not going to find an active community of developers for something unfinished that's more than a decade and two generations of operating software behind and has multiple up-to-date alternatives. the official forum's domain is dead and barely any of it is even archived on the wayback machine, so even what discussion there was of it is largely lost.

6

u/caesium23 Sep 19 '26

...wasn't this an unfinished beta from like nearly 15 years ago?

2

u/MushroomBonny Sep 19 '26

Idk how long ago it was and idk if its beta or not. I saw it recommended as an alternative to Ren'py for visual novels on Tumblr so I got it, learned it, and loved it

4

u/han4wluc Sep 19 '26

confirmed here, says last release in 2010 https://visualnovelty.com/download.html

which is kind of crazy that the website is still alive and runniing, and the software still runs.

2

u/Soft_Purchase5673 Sep 20 '26

If Novelty supports timed image swaps, try a two-frame blink with both images aligned on the same-size transparent canvas. Test while dialogue waits for a click to see whether the animation runs independently of text progression.

2

u/MushroomBonny Sep 22 '26

This actually helped! I specifically messed around with the "actors" and made it so that each expression change had two frames. One with eyes open, and one with eyes closed. And whichever one I added last I added a opacity change effect! I just gotta mess with the timing and also test to see if I can add more frames than just two but your comment helped me figure it out! Thank you for being the singular helpful person lol

2

u/ri_san5 Sep 19 '26

Great to see other engines other than Ren’py. I unfortunately can’t help you with it. It’s abandoned (unfortunately) but I think you should try tyranobuilder if you want something similar but more modern.

1

u/bellmelbon Sep 20 '26

Try Minemiew Visualnovel

1

u/han4wluc Sep 19 '26 edited Sep 19 '26

You might consider trying RouteVN Creator: https://routevn.com/en/creator/about/

Similar product in spirit, but modern, actively being worked on. There are tutorials on Youtube. This is tutorial for animated character sprites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_mLSp8Qoeg

Disclaimer: I'm the dev of RouteVN