BackTo fulfill the full potential of Visual NovelsFeb 1, 2025A year ago, while searching for a meaningful project to work on, I found myself repeatedly drawn to building a Visual Novel engine. At first, I wasn't sure what form it would take, but through continuous iteration and reflection, the vision became clearer.What began as a simple engine has since evolved into a much broader exploration of Visual Novel tools, distribution methods, and reading experiences.Along this journey, I've analyzed the current landscape of Visual Novel creation and consumption, its challenges, limitations, and opportunities to bring the Visual Novel ecosystem to the next level.The Case for a standardized Visual Novel languageEvery year, dozens of new Visual Novel engines are created, many as open-source projects. Unfortunately, most fail to sustain development beyond a year or two, leaving only a handful of actively maintained engines. This leads to a wasteful allocation of development efforts.To solve this, there needs to be a specific language for describing Visual Novel content, much like how HTML describes content of a web page. With a standardized language, developers can focus on building engines that interpret this format, similar to how web browsers handle HTML.This approach allows multiple engines and tools to coexist, each offering unique features and advantages while maintaining compatibility. Even if an engine becomes inactive, its functionality remains usable as long as it adheres to the shared language.This would foster innovation and collaboration, enabling developers to build new, reusable features instead of constantly reinventing core systems.The Ideal Visual Novel Creation Tool: Visual and CollaborativeCreating a Visual Novel should not require a steep learning curve such as learning a programming language. Writers, artists, composers, should be able to focus on the creative part without technical barriers.The ideal Visual Novel creation tool should strike a balance of being simple enough for beginners to start creating immediately, yet powerful enough to support professional-quality productions.While visual no-code tools have inherent limitations, a well designed system could handle the vast majority of Visual Novel creation needs. For advanced users who require more customization, the tool should provide programming interfaces to extend functionality beyond the visual editor's capabilities. This hybrid approach ensures both accessibility and flexibility.Collaboration is another key aspect. While some Visual Novels can be solo projects, larger ones require a team of writers, artists, composers, voice actors, translators, proofreaders, testers, and directors. A creation tool that support multiple roles, making collaboration seamless can open new possibilities for Visual Novels.By making professional grade Visual Novel creation tools more accessible and easier to use, we can empower a new generation of creators to bring their unique works to life.A Decentralized and Interoperable Visual Novel MarketplaceIt should be easier to launch a Visual Novel store. More competition leads to better and more affordable services for consumers and creators.Multiple stores can better serve different regions and niches that require different approaches such as language, pricing, and content moderation.However, fragmentation is also a problem. If Visual Novels are scattered across different platforms without interoperability, it creates a bad experience for consumers.There needs to be a way for Visual Novels to work across stores, ensuring convenience and flexibility for users while preventing vendor lock-in on a specific store.Does All This Matter?I've laid out a vision for the future of Visual Novels. But those changes will take years of dedicated work. This raises an important question: Is this really how I want to spend my time considering all other issues that is going on in the world right now?Initially, I justified this work simply as a passion project. But over time, I've discovered a deeper purpose.Visual Novels like other forms of arts such as books, films, or music, can help bring people together and foster understanding.Many of the world's challenges that we see today are not purely technical, at their core they are human problems that require human solutions.Visual Novels are a powerful medium. Through rich storytelling, emotional resonance, and shared experiences, they have a unique ability to convey meaningful messages.This is why it is import for me to complete this mission: to fulfill the full potential of Visual Novels.Back to topThe Case for a standardized Visual Novel languageThe Ideal Visual Novel Creation Tool: Visual and CollaborativeA Decentralized and Interoperable Visual Novel MarketplaceDoes All This Matter?BlogHiringPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact