Making Stellar Incognita

STELLAR INCOGNITA is my first game and for a long time I was hesitant in trying to make a visual novel game, given how daunting it seemed to be, especially the coding part. But, I decided to give it a go on the understanding that it would be a learning experience for me - and have I learned a lot! As an added bonus, a game came into existence that scratched an itch I couldn't find in any other game out there!

Without writing an essay, I just wanted to describe the basic design process for STELLAR INCOGNITA:

1) First it's the development of the branching storylines. It starts with pencil and paper and I think of scenarios I would like to see and sketch that out in a decision tree. You can see that process expressed in the walkthroughs for every update.

2) Next it's selecting and developing the 3D characters, clothing, props and sets. It's all pre-made from various online marketplaces, but I do customize things to suit the story.

3) Next it is making the images based on the storyline. They are 3D rendered sequentially and then passed through a filter(s) to give it that distinct look. This becomes a kind of storyboard. The images are saved in either A, B or C folders, depending on the first choice you make in the game. Sometimes I create new image branches that weren't in the original storyline, because it just seems to fit. So some is pre-planned and some happens organically.

4) At this stage I still have no words. Using the game engine, I start writing the text and character dialog for every image in my storyboard. This is where I also add music, sound effects and decision menus. This is the most time-consuming of all the stages. This is also where I learn about how the coding works and how to best arrange the code so that the multiple story branches work and make sense.

5) Then I play through the work in the Ren'Py game engine and pick up on typos and add more music and sound effects in areas I think need a little more.

6) Finally the update is packaged up into playable files for PC, Linux, Mac and Android and it's ready for release. Ideally, I like to have about 2 releases in advance prepared just in case I need a buffer. I think it's important to release updates regularly - it's only fair to you, the player.

And that's about it in the most general sense.
Oh, and I do actually play my own game. As time passes, it actually feels like somebody else made it!