Visual Novel in Unreal Engine 5

[MarathonGuy1337]

So recently got myself a new PC, super fancy I'll link specs if anyone interested in said specs, and one of my first installs was Unreal Engine 5 along with other go tools like Blender.

Surprising my first instinct was to begin blueprinting a very basic Visual Novel within the engine, this early one I'm currently working on is heavily based on the tutorial by Poly Maniac over on YouTube.



Right now the goal is simply to replicate this system, but long term the goal is to incorporate this system into a larger game, something akin to an old CRPG or JRPG (Think Space Wreck or Sea of Stars)

How hard can this be...

 

[shihonage]

Do you really need UE5 for a visual novel? What's the appeal?

 

[MarathonGuy1337]

Do you really need UE5 for a visual novel? What's the appeal?

Well that's a more complicated answer for what is a simple question. Short answer no, ideally you wouldn't need to go to these lengths for a actual VN however...

This is more of a prototype, my actual game project is a CRPG, imagine Fallout or Arcanum Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, though more indie, thus since that game will be built in the Unreal Engine and this VN component will be used for the talking heads and in game dialogue, with some altercations to the presentation I figured I could learn how to make a VN in Unreal Engine saving me development time and money later.

I mean its not as painful as it seems...

(Me vs Unreal Engine 5)

But on a serious note Unreal Engine is pretty capable and I have other plans for this humble project, I looked into a bunch of other engines before; GoDot and Unity, but with the drama surrounding those engines Unreal seemed like a safer bet.

FYI I will be posting some code and stuff later its been a bit busy over the Xmas Period, hopefully though by new year everything gets more on track.

(Assuming nothing bad happens to the project anyway)

Until next time

 

[Eisen]

What about Ren'Py?

 

[MarathonGuy1337]

What about Ren'Py?

Its kind of the same deal as before, Ren'Py is good for strictly VN but the code used in this small project will be reincorporated into a larger project, a game projected that will be more akin to a CRPG or JRPG in school and complexity if that makes sense, so Ren'Py would be fine if the ambitions for the project ended with a VN plus Unreal Engine is a nice software to work with, it allows for things such as lighting, level geometry and particle effects all would advance to storytelling potential of the a average VN style IMO. Again this project is more of a test bed for a future as of yet unannounced yet eternally in my heart project.

Okay tea break over back to it

 

[Gahbreeil]

What is going on in this thread? Oh, I see. An altfest.

 

[MarathonGuy1337]

What is going on in this thread? Oh, I see. An altfest.

At least I started with an attainable project... Which is more than others can say?

What was it you were goanna make... oh yes a AAAA Game? Oh and you had a GDD without any coding experience was it?

(The look you get when your about to throw down)

 

[MarathonGuy1337]

So been a hot minute, the tutorial took longer than I'd have liked in all honesty, work stuff mostly so was sought of on pause of awhile but thankfully I'm about to wrap it up now. I think overall the project taught me a lot about the basics of coding in unreal engine blueprints, so worth while overall.

I'm probably gonna strip the default assets from the tutorial out and the dialogue used for the testing and make a very short little game, nothing big but more or less my own stamp on the project and then call that a wrap on this one.

(I promise to only trace my art form 80s anime no one has ever heard off JK)

The most important goal was learning the very basics of Unreal Engine 5 Blueprints and I think I've achieved that goal for myself.

(Self congratulations I know very humble)

I'll next be doing this course I got back late last year on Udemy which covers blueprints and developing different kinds of games including a 2D dungeon crawler.

I'll link that here;
https://www.udemy.com/course/ue5-ultimate-bp-course/?couponCode=2021PM20

 

[Cheesedragon117]

Unreal Engine 5 for a visual novel is like using an anti-tank missile as a cockroach killer.

At the very least, use an older version of Unreal like 4. Less stuff you have to turn off if you're trying to achieve an anime visual style. The engine seems to be moving away from NPR and more into hyper-giga-superealism with fancy movie effects.

 

[Eisen]

Unreal Engine 5 for a visual novel is like using an anti-tank missile as a cockroach killer.

At the very least, use an older version of Unreal like 4. Less stuff you have to turn off if you're trying to achieve an anime visual style.

He will incorporate the VN part to a big project(like a cRPG) but yeah, UE5 is heavy af