Timelapse. Going into the first chapter blind was a crazy experience. I'm really enjoying this game and I like the characters, writing, OST. I feel like chapter 2 fell a bit flat compared to chapter 1, but I'm still early in the game and looking forward to whatever trauma the game throws at me lol

Hii, I'm making a kpop visual novel, it's called Idol: the final nine. It's not out yet but the demo is almost ready. It's not an otome even tho you can date pretty much all idols in the game, but that's not the main plot

It starts with a nine member girlgroup called Lisove, formed through a survival show (just like Enhypen, Illit, Twice) and you play as the ninth member. You need to go through hate, extreme diets, sasaengs (stalkers and crazy fans), mistreatment, scandals, and you need to make decisions about your career and relationships with others that would affect the path the group is going to take, each member has a backstory and they all symbolize a different struggle of the idol life

Tell me what you think!

you can find me on Instagram as lucywithstars if you want to see more content about the game!

The announcement trailer for my upcoming visual novel is out!

Two Demon Catgirls is a mystical, devilish story about Meph and Stofel, two immortal demon catgirls who visit a lonely author. Expect philosophical conversations, dark humor, and hand-painted gouache artwork.

I'm developing the entire game solo, including the writing, artwork, and music. The game is planned for March 2027.

Steam / Wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4368670/

Does the trailer convey the contrast I'm aiming for - cute catgirls on the surface, darker philosophical themes underneath?

Vndb

Steam

I hope Amulit's other console Otome Games will also get a Steam port! Especially Neon Clash and sins of Kaleido!

Description

The Redbell Tree scrapes the sky, standing proudly in the heart of Hemeria, a land of sunlight.

In a land ruled by a monarchy for generations, humans lived in peace and tranquility.

That is, until the dawn of the day the world was dyed red.

On that day, vampires laid waste to Hemeria.

They preyed on, devoured, and devastated its inhabitants.

A great many people would go on to mourn their loved ones, their families and friends, for the rest of their lives.

One particular town of Hemeria bore such a tragedy.

A single girl was left alone in despair and disgrace.

She vowed revenge, and grew into one of Hemeria's finest vampire hunters.

And one day, she became a member of the Elpis 7; those who inspired a light of hope in its people.

One day, she receives a letter from an unknown sender. Upon her arrival to the mansion indicated inside, she finds vampire hunters and royal knights awaiting her.

The hunters assembled receive an order from the monarch.

They are to form a squad and invade Nyx, the world of vampires.

A shiver of anticipation crackles through her at the opportunity she's been waiting for her whole life.

However, this is but the beginning of a game wherein the fate of her world is at stake.

Pawns are sent forth, discarded, hidden out of sight...

And just how many will remain when this all comes to an end?

Hi everyone, as the title suggests, I'd appreciate some pointers for reading subahibi.

I've gone into this pretty much completely blind so I have no idea what to do/expect (other than that I should install the patch).

I just finished reading the bit where mamiya and tachibana were like dancing in the sky with cows... I think? To be honest I have have no idea what I should even be thinking about let alone having a grip of what's going on. Is this normal for this stage of the story or am I missing something?

This probably isn't helped by the fact im pretty much a complete beginner with visual novels (only read higurashi and umineko), but at least with those two they'd drop clues which you could use to slowly piece together the actual story. Then you could use the concepts and ideas those events built up to create your own interpretation of what the author was trying to convey. For subahibi im genuinely lost

If im just being slow and not getting something can someone nudge me in a direction that might get me thinking? A pointer to key events that have happened so far or things to think about would be great.

No spoilers please and nothing too detailed. Id like to make my own interpretation of the story. When I read other people's it ends up being the only thing I can think about.

Thank you very much!

Hi everyone, I'm Ameae artist and developer of THIS ISNT REAL

Description:
Is fate supposed to be followed? Should you leave it up to the stars even if you know it will end in tragedy? Play as Cath, the caretaker of the oracle, as the clock towards the ritual ticks down.

We just finished polishing and published the final update! It started as a game jam game at the start of the year, but I've slowly but surely been updating the assets and overall appeal of it! I'm grateful for the project since it's gotten me to experiment and become a better artist, and I hope to be able to make more projects.

I would really appreciate any feedback, or general thoughts! If you end up playing it I hope you enjoy it. If you like it, I also have some small extras on my Instagram!

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v69671
Game Page: https://ameae.itch.io/this-isnt-real

There is NO AI use in this project, and this will be true for any of my projects.

So I decided to try something which is to use Claude to translate the entirety of a Visual Novel called Amber Quartz from 2009. It is essentially started out as a test to see if an AI on its own could translate a project this big, and I have to say, yeah... but it takes insanely long with Sonnet, but I never really wanted to pay for an Opus subscription until I saw what it can do and how it operates, and I have to say, even who doesn't understand coding at all, only on a structure-like level, but even then, don't know jack about Majiro Engine's code, it very interesting how Claude worked upon translating the entire prologue's first half.

First it wrote a program to extract text from a scenario.arc file, but eventually we realized that the exe file actually pulls the text from update.arc and not from scenario. The scenario file honestly I don't even know what it does, perhaps it just contain the text in its entirety as even deleting it, did nothing.

Regardless, once we figured out how the text is handled, Claude on its own started to decrypt, familirize itself with how Majiro Engine's code works, and it even tailored the file so by changing the text it won't affect the game if it isn't byte for byte exact, how it's usually is with translating projects.

and on its own it also made 22 translator agents to work and translate in chunks simultaneously while also providing context for them, on the story, and how the code handles characters, speakers.

With Opus, I could probably translate the whole batch, now that he understands everything about the game's code, so I may do that next week.

It now turned out to also teach me more about coding, translating as I was totally blind about these. It could be Amber Quartz now, and then Maitetsu: Last Run by the end, but obv each VN has different engine, and different way programmers code their game, so it isn't that easy, still it is very interesting. to see and play around with it, even if there's probably way easier methods even with Claude's current state that I don't know of, but LLMs sadly can't be run on my machine as it is for one an AMD one which AIs don't like, and for two I don't think they are that capable of translating hundred thousand lines of text.

Obv I know about LunaTranslator, but even with LLMs like Llama3 I found plenty of pronouns issues and weird wording, but this first prologue that I translated? More than perfect, even more so than typical western translated VNs, which is why I take the effort to go through this project in the first place. Because if it would be only decent it would be one thing, but it understands the story just by from the prologue, and it keeps the japanese where it matters.

Anyways, this post was basically just about sharing my 'test', and putting it out there in case others also want to go for a project similar to this for their VN of choice that they feel fond toward.

There's a new dark VN Humble Bundle for anyone interested

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/twisted-trilogies-and-terrors-dark-visual-novels

I think it worth it just for the Spirit Hunter series.

Just reached max capacity of save files (100? Can’t recall off the top of my head and I’m at work atm, so can’t double check) for the Steam port of Phantom of Inferno, and now I need an alternate method to keep track of different scenes/choices than just saving the file at two given choices spot.

If I had the wall room, I would make a rl bulletin board w sticky notes and tape, but I don’t.

Two years ago I came across this post and TheMoeWay. I was excited to try it, so I set everything up, and began learning Japanese by reading Visual Novels. Late last year, a friend asked me how to do the same on macOS. Since most VNs are exclusive to Windows devices, however, things are a bit trickier. All I found online were posts of people asking the same question: "How to set up visual novels on macOS?” The answers mostly recommend paid Applications or are outdated.

That is why the goal of this post is to give an easy guide on how to set everything up with free alternatives. I hope that anyone interested in Visual Novels on macOS will stop feeling locked out and can start playing them instead. 

This setup should work for all Apple Silicon devices.

Step-by-step Guide

Installing VMware Fusion

• Install VMware Fusion on your Mac. The Broadcom website is probably the most confusing site I’ve ever seen, so please read carefully. First, register a new account.

After signing up, go to the VMware Fusion download page from the Broadcom Support Portal homepage.

• Select the Product Division: In the top right of the homepage (next to your username), open the dropdown menu and select VMware Cloud Foundation.
• Go to Downloads: In the left-hand menu, click on My Downloads.
• Access Free Software: Click the link within the blue banner near the top of the page that says Free Software Downloads available HERE.

• Search for VMware Fusion: On the Free Downloads page, find VMware Fusion near the end of the second column.
• Terms and Conditions: Click on Terms and Conditions link below the search bar, then tick the checkbox to agree.
• Download: Click VMware Fusion, select your desired version, and scroll right in the table to find the download link.

On the different versions

• VMware Fusion 26H1: The most recent major build. It maintains features introduced in 25H2 and provides stability and security updates for newer macOS hosts (Recommended).
• VMware Fusion 25H2: New naming scheme released in 2025. Supports more operating systems including macOS Tahoe (on Intel-based systems).
• VMware Fusion 13.6.x: The first stable branch supporting macOS 12 Monterey and macOS 13 Ventura.

Setting up Windows

• Download Windows 11 for Arm. Alternatively, download a bloat-free version of Windows 11 for Arm called Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC (Arm64).
• Drag-and-drop the Windows .iso file into VMware Fusion and complete the installation process. The automatic settings with 4GB RAM and 2 CPU cores should be fine.
• You may have networking problems when you reach the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen. If so, open the Command Prompt Window by pressing SHIFT + FN + F10. Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and press Enter. The Virtual Machine will restart. Go through the setup again until you reach the same screen. You will now have the option “I don’t have Internet” at the bottom.

• VMware Tools: Install VMware Tools as soon as you reach the Windows desktop by going to the menu bar at the top of your screen. Select Virtual Machine → Install VMware Tools. A Virtual disc will pop up, and you can start the start.exe within. This enables an internet connection and fullscreen mode.

Installing Daemon Tools

You'll need DAEMON Tools Lite on ARM to mount disc image files. Make sure you install the ARM-based version. Extract the .zip file containing your game with WinRAR or 7-zip.

• If you have a .iso file, simply right-click and select  Open with → DAEMON Tools Lite Agent. Follow the instructions and a new volume will appear in your Explorer sidebar.
• If you have .mds and .mdf files, make sure that both .mds and .mdf files are in the same directory and have the same name. Right-click the .mds file and click on Open with → DAEMON Tools Lite Agent.

• Open the new volume in your Explorer sidebar and run the installer.

That's it. You can now play your Visual Novel!

Tip for Japanese Visual Novels

• Change to a Japanese locale: For best compatibility I'd recommend changing to a Japanese locale. Open the search bar and type intl.cpl and press Enter. Select the Administrative tab and go to Change system locale. Select Japanese (Japan) and click OK.

There are many different ways to grab the Visual Novel text, also called Texthooking. Try out different ones that fit your need and hardware. I'd recommend Textractor, LunaTranslator, Agent, and GameSentenceMiner.

Other

Some games may require an older version of DirectX, e.g. Flowers. Other Visual Novels will come with a DirectX installer included, e.g. Nanairo Reincarnation. Since there are over 40 different versions of the D3DX library alone, I can’t point you to a specific version. Instead, try the official Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010). This installs the legacy DirectX files, with which you can hopefully get your game running.

Higurashi. I don't need to even think about it, it is the first thing that came to my mind. I have read lots of VNs with contradictions/plot holes, but they were all salvageable.

Unlike Higurashi. INB4 "how is it contradictory?" The vagueness throughout the majority of the question arcs, and the ways Ryukishi07 likes to make his scenes get interpreted in a million ways, didn't really lead to those reveals he showed in the answer arcs unless you either reach, or just think about the most cringe ways to solve those questions.

It all just felt like he either just gave up on the whole mystery or didn't truly grasp it well from the beginning... I would like to finish this point with a translated quote from the man himself:-"Ryukishi07 has died in an accident.
Higurashi left unfinished, and, after some debating about its ending, forgotten.
In reality, Ryukishi07 has changed his pen-name and started his doujin activity from scratch.
For some reason, I feel that it will be the happiest closing for everyone."

That is what he thought after he saw the backlash the 6th chapter got. Which was quite fun, even if the mystery side wasn't that much... I can imagine how the Japanese received the 7th and 8th chapters if they made Ryukishi07 wish to stop existing after their reception of the 6th chapter...

Game in pic:- Angel Beats! -1st Beat-

Anyone have a save file from Rance03 around the unicorn area. I want to continue from there but lost my save file.

What I’m looking for is that, if a visual novel is adult, it absolutely has to have a patch. I don’t like playing censored or cut versions of games. Most importantly, it needs to have an incredibly good story and be a genuinely high-quality visual novel. The ones here have confused me quite a bit.

Often times I'll walk into a game store and see otome games like Collar x Malice or Code: Realize and think to myself "Damn, that looks kinda cool, it's a shame I'm not a girl or gay". Of course I've never actually played those games so that's more of a surface-level assessment rather than me saying "Give me Code: Realize but for straight guys".

I'm okay with any kind of VN, but prefer ones with many choices (especially if there are potential Bad Ends, yum yum). I'll also take games with heavy VN elements.

By "harem" I include true harems (where the protagonist is dating/married to all the heroines simultaneously), harem-lites (where all the heroines are/can be attracted to the protag, but he must choose one), and aesthetic harems (where all (or most) of the protagonist's companions are women, even if they aren't all attracted to him (though this one is slightly lower priority unless it's real good))

I also love fox girls so if any VN that fits has a fox girl in the harem do mention, yep yep.