BROKVN - Visual Novel Engine
A downloadable tool for Windows and macOS
BROKVN is a free tool to make interactive visual novels, offering these features (and more):
- Play dialogue (up to 4 characters at once on screen)
- Make choices
- Manage variables and do checks ("choose your own adventure" style)
- Load / save, progress management
- Manage inventory
- Display text, images and backgrounds, move them, apply effects
- Import and display custom characters, with full body and animated eyes/mouth
- Create clickable areas
- Create re-usable functions
- Presentation:
- Chapter title
- Screen fade in/out
- Screen effects (shake, snow...)
- Ambient color applied to characters
- Dialogue log
- Move characters around
- Custom user interface and custom fonts
- Play music, sounds, ambient tracks
- Play voices with lipsync
- Mouse, keyboard, gamepad and touch support
- Translations support
- Accessibility support
- Export to PC, mobile and consoles
The engine works with plain text files and a simple syntax. As such, it is pretty easy to use. No programming knowledge required to start with it! It should also be possible to make simple 2D first-person point & clicks with it.
I created it when I realized that my game BROK the InvestiGator's code already contains everything needed for a visual novel. I provide with the engine a number of ready-to-use assets from it (and as such it's ideal to make "fan visual novels" based on BROK)
Let's be clear though: it can make any kind of visual novels - just create your own characters and backgrounds!
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HOW TO USE:
- Download the BROKVN_Engine.zip
- Uncompress it somewhere and launch "vnengine.exe"
- On first launch, it should automatically start with a basic example. Follow the instructions.
- Read the documentation inside the "BROK_VN_DOCUMENTATION" folder and start editing the basic example in "AppData/Local/vnengine/VN/" path to make your own visual novel.
- Check the more complete "VN_ADVANCED" example once you get the hang of it. (copy those files inside your VN folder)
- A pack of assets ready to use is also available to download separately on this page: BROK_VN_ASSETS.zip
For a real world example, you can also check out my BROK Natal Tail Christmas game, which was entirely made with it.
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To create the games: For now, this tool requires a PC (Windows, Mac or Linux). I may provide more platforms in the future.
To run the games: the engine is built on top of GameMaker code, so it can technically export to many platforms, including PC/Mac/Linux, Android, iOS and potentially even consoles! (Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox)
To get help: I will personally provide support during the development phase on my Discord server: https://discord.gg/brok
Consoles development is tough but I have experience (I have released 5 games on all consoles on the market) and I'm ready to help anyone with an ambitious project to port their game to consoles.
Published | 11 hours ago |
Status | In development |
Category | Tool |
Platforms | Windows, macOS |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 total ratings) |
Author | COWCAT |
Genre | Interactive Fiction, Visual Novel |
Made with | GameMaker |
Tags | Fangame, First-Person, Game engine, GameMaker, Meaningful Choices, Narrative, Ren'Py |
Average session | A few hours |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse, Xbox controller, Gamepad (any), Touchscreen |
Accessibility | Subtitles, Configurable controls |
Links | Discord |
Download
Install instructions
Windows:
- Download the BROKVN_Engine_WIN.zip file.
- Uncompress it somewhere and launch "vnengine.exe"
Mac:
- Download the BROKVN_Engine_MAC.dmg file.
- Drag and drop the vnengine icon to your Applications folder in Finder.
Linux:
- Download the BROKVN_Engine_LINUX.AppImage file.
- Run the AppImage directly, it includes most libraries needed. If needed you can also extract the files, it's a simple zip archive.
On first launch, it should automatically start with a basic example. Follow the instructions.
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