itch.io

Ah, in that case it would be outside of the jam specs.

ChatGPT or any of its ouput can't be used in-game. You can use it outside to generate ideas, but anything that winds up in the final game needs to be rewritten in its entirety by you or one of your team members.

Fangames are allowed, as long as you create the assets yourself (like redraw sprites) or use creative commons assets (there's a big list here including music). Using any assets from the original game is not allowed.

You absolutely may have other game elements if you like! The actual line is a bit fuzzy, but the general rule of thumb is that the "visual novel" component should take up more than 50% of the play time compared to the other elements (combined).

No age requirements for the jam itself, but the usual laws apply. Be sure to check if individual teams have their own requirements based on the content of their VN.

That's definitely fine!

That's a bit of a grey area. If you want to be entirely strict about the rules, premade assets are out unless they're CC. However, you are absolutely allowed to update your game afterwards with your GUI (which is gorgeous, BTW!), so nothing's stopping you from using a placeholder of the same size for the duration of the month.

If you're remaking all the assets, then go for it!

Hello and welcome to NaNoRenO 2024! If you have any questions about the rules to the game jam, feel free to ask them in this thread.

Premade things you can use for your games!

LemmaSoft CC Forum (lots of things in here)

https://itch.io/c/484684/visual-novel-assets-tutorials-and-tools

http://www.vita-chi.net/sec/voi/hora/english.htm

https://potat0master.itch.io/

Sprites:

https://liah0227.itch.io/

https://itch.io/c/2006928/my-free-visual-novel-characters-for-your-use

https://itch.io/c/228580/assets-i-created

https://itch.io/c/1115123/new-style-free-to-use-assets

https://banya.itch.io/free-sprites-vn

https://itch.io/c/698965/yume-series-free-to-use-assets

https://sutemo.itch.io/

https://chibi785.itch.io/

https://cucurbitapepo.itch.io/girl-sprites-for-visual-novel

https://dejinyucu.itch.io/

https://minttydrops.itch.io/

https://duokhay.itch.io/

http://tokudaya.net/index.html

Backgrounds:

https://itch.io/c/2006931/my-free-visual-novel-backgrounds-and-items-for-your-us...

https://katy133.itch.io/vn-asset-pack

https://tidalblossoms.itch.io/free-outdoor-visual-novel-backgrounds

https://noranekogames.itch.io/yumebackground

https://chibi785.itch.io/cafe-background

https://vision-renders.itch.io/

https://konett.itch.io/misc-visual-novel-background

https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=17302

https://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~osumashi/free_bg.html

Other images:

https://opengameart.org/

https://unsplash.com/

GUI:

https://thaumaturge-art.itch.io/assets-fantasy-ui

https://tofurocks.itch.io/renpy-gui-template

https://loudeyes.itch.io/dating-sim-ui-pack

https://florassence.itch.io/

https://lunalucid.itch.io/free-character-creation-template-for-renpy

Music and SFX:

https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Soundtrack/

https://cross-couloir.itch.io/beats-by-cross-couloir

https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48443

https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54072

https://lunalucid.itch.io/free-creative-commons-bgm-collection

https://mayragandra.itch.io/freeemotionalpianomusic

https://soundimage.org/

https://dreamer173.bandcamp.com/

https://www.sougetsu-on.net/

http://asobeat.com/

https://musmus.main.jp/english.html

Here's a suggested template for a recruitment post. You don't have to follow everything here, but providing more information will make it easier for everyone involved.

Thread Title

Include the kind of work you're looking for, and a brief description of the genre. Please keep it to one thread per project.

Examples:

• Seeking Sprite Artist for Harem-style  BxG Romance
• Need composer for Horror Game
• Looking for Programmer, Environment Artist, and Voice Actors for Cyberpunk Film Noir

Thread Content

A slightly more in-depth description of  the VN. Include any notes on content here.

Examples:

• A story about a guy who accidentally gets accepted to magic school, even though he has no magic. He develops two friendships and maybe some romance. Will include comedic light fanservice and one onsen scene. No sex.
• A horror game where the main character is trapped in a castle with a vampire and has to escape. Lots of blood.
• A cyberpunk film noir about a world where one can upload their consciousness to the internet. A PI has to solve the murder of someone who was killed while their consciousness was online. Multiple deaths including a bad end where the player dies.

Description of the work that would need to be done, including an estimate of how much, and references for the style if possible.

Examples:

• Two full body sprites of teenage girls with multiple expressions and two poses each. Will also need an alternate outfit in bath towels for the onsen scene. Looking for bright colorful art in the same vein as Rumiko Takahashi, but anything anime is fine.

• Six atmospheric tracks of varying intensity all with dark gothic vibes. At least one of these should have some serious pipe organs going on.

• Need programmer to create an in-game email system to communicate with other characters. Options should include sending, receiving, faving, re-reading old emails, and the option to select a reply to any emails that have been received.

• Need four-ish environment pieces with a cyberpunk feel - lots of rain and neon lights!

• VA: Rill - Adult female, mid 30s. Any accent. Wears sarcasm like armor. Incredibly smart and with a strong sense of self-preservation. Supporting character, will have about twenty lines. Looking for a voice type similar to Erica Lindbeck as Black Cat in Spider-man (2018).

• VA: D-Part - Any gender, any age. Standard American accent, or BBC English. The AI who talks to the PI. Unfailingly polite, but able to inject a sinister tone into innocuous phrases. Think HAL or GLaDOS. Line count unknown, but it'll be a lot.

How to submit one's portfolio.

Examples:

• Reply to this thread with samples of your art and the best way to contact you.

• Email me at [email address] with a link to your portfolio. If you prefer, you can also message me on Discord at [Discord Name].

• If you are interested in the role of D-Part, reply to this thread with your demo reel and the best way to contact you.

• If you are interested in the role of Rill, please record the following audition lines (filename: YourName_Rill.mp3) and email them as an attachment to [email address].
  • [Seething, offended] You think I don't know that? You walk in here acting like you're the only person in this room who has a clue because you have a fancy business card that says you figure things out for a living. Embarrassing. Everyone here was well aware of things long before you got here.
  • [Pensive, softening up] Listen, they weren't exactly the most popular person around, but they didn't deserve to go out like this. I hope you find whoever did this.

Any extra info about plans for the VN. Please note that like most game jams, NaNoRenO is largely a non-commercial event, and if you intend to make money off of the final product, you must be up front about this in your post.

Examples:

• This is the whole game! No pay. It will be released for free on itchio at the end of NaNoRenO.

• This is the whole game. No pay. It will be released for free on itchio, Steam, and the Android app store at the end of NaNoRenO. All team organization will be done on our Discord channel.

• This is a vertical slice demo for a much bigger game I have planned. Everyone involved will be invited to return to work on the full version, which I hope to sell on all platforms. Am willing to discuss compensation. Organization will be done via email.

This is a suggested template! You don't have to follow it, but doing so will make you much easier to find! Please only make one thread per person, even if you are offering multiple skills.

Thread Title

A brief description of what you do, and what you're looking for.

Examples:

• Kawaii Sprite/CG artist looking for a team to join!
• Unity Programmer, Writer interested in a small project
• Voice Actor (Adult M) Available!

Thread Content

A brief introduction with anything you'd like to share about yourself including interests, previous projects you've worked on, and what you're looking for in a project. Please note that like most game jams, NaNoRenO is largely non-commercial. If you would like to charge for your work, please be up front about that in your post.

Examples:

• I like to draw cute things and I love sweet romances. Was previously the sprite/CG artist for "Magical Catgirls in Love" and "Kissing my Girlfriend in a Cafe in a Another World." Looking to do sprites and/or CGs for a romance game if possible, but open to other genres as long as  they're cute! No nudity or gore, please!
• I'm mostly a Unity programmer, but I also know a little about Ren'py. I've never worked on a visual novel before, but I'm eager to learn. Would also be interested in joining a writing team and writing scenes based on the outline provided by the lead writer. Am fine with any genre, but historical fiction is my favorite, so if you're doing that, I'd be VERY interested.
• Textured, resonant voice type. Voice range goes from 20-40 for male characters. You can hear me as Graeme in "Lost in Circles" and I did a bunch of extra voices for "Magical Catgirls in Love."  I'm interested in any genre, and adult content is fine.

Your portfolio/demo reel/work samples if you have one.

Examples:

• I've attached the sprite art from the last game I did, and here's a link to my full porfolio.
• I don't have any programming samples available, but here's a link to my Wattpad with my writing.
• Here's a link to my demo reel, and here's a link to the last project I was in.

How to contact you. Seriously.

Examples:

• I don't check this forum very often. Please send a DM on my twitter account [link here] to talk!
• Email me at [email address].
• Reply to this thread with details about your project, and I'll get back to you!

I don't have an Apple developer account, but I will be able to make a web version so you can play it in your browser on itch!

Unsure, but hopefully I'll have it out next year. There was a LOT of custom code in the original that doesn't work with the updated engine, so I'm rewriting basically all of the coding.

Absolutely! Thank you for asking.

Thank you for playing! I'm glad that people are still enjoying it even now.

The bonus only unlocks after you get all the endings, including the two alternate "alone" endings. This is also built on an older version of the engine. I'll be upgrading it eventually, so that might help. But if you haven't gotten the alone endings, try those first.

That's very strange. This was built on a fairly old version of an engine, and I am currently working on upgrading it to the newest version. If you follow this game page, you'll get a notif when it's updated. Hopefully the new version will be better!

I don't see anything that would send the report to me, so go ahead and just drop a note on my twitter @sakevisual or email me soymilk.pudding@gmail.com.

If it was for a previous NaNo, it can't be submitted to a new one. But you should use the IntRenAiMo tag for yourself anyway! Hopefully we'll get enough traction on it that people will be able to search it.

Thank you for checking in first! The itch page doesn't count as a game asset, so you are totally welcome to submit still!

Totally allowed!

Theoretically, 11:59pm March 31st, wherever you are. The extra days are buffer for time zone, technical difficulties, life emergencies, etc.

I think it's not as common, but you are still welcome to enter it manually. If we get enough folks, it'd be a great tag to check out!

You are welcome to post demos or incomplete games as long as they are playable.

Backstage Pass is currently on an old version of Ren'py, so it doesn't run in itchio's management app. If you have the download from the download page, extract all the files into a new folder, and you should find an .EXE file in there.

Hello! The Switch version of Yousei is currently in progress and hopefully coming this year. The fourth installment for PC is also in progress, and we are hoping to release the console version very nearly after the PC version is out.

You can message me on Instagram or Twitter @sakevisual.

Kinetic novels are definitely allowed!

Any assets made with AI, even in part or edited afterwards are limited by our AI guidelines. The samples you've posted would not be allowed for this jam.

You are absolutely  welcome to post progress and updates on social media!

Fangames are fine as long as you are making all the assets yourself. (e.g. You'd be drawing the sprite, not just clipping it from an existing game or show.)

This is definitely a rule that will be reviewed more thoroughly as the tech and legal areas around it evolve. I like your suggestion, and I think it will likely be the one the community lands on.

Correct!

*Unless you own the training data in its entirety.

Ideally you would make a good faith effort to find the origin. If someone posted non-AI assets, but they were stolen, that would also be disallowed. Do your best, but we understand there's no accounting for duplicity.

Definitions will vary, but for this jam, any art style is fine as long as gameplay relies on majority interaction with narrative text and text options. If it feels like reading a very illustrated book, then it counts.

I'm sorry to miss your work this year, but I hope to see you next time!

Excellent question! Code, voiceover, etc. also count as game assets and are subject to the same rules. ChatGPT's training data is a black box, and is currently not allowed. I am having troubling finding provenance for Novel AI and DeepL models, so I can't say they fall inside the guidelines either. (If you have more info on them, would love to see.) It looks like Replica Studios has properly licensed and paid for their models, so that would be allowed. (Although if you have time afterwards, I'd encourage you to look for some free VAs for this anyway - I've been told they're fun people to work with.)

Excited to have you with us! If the training data were available with the explicit intention of modeling at one point, and just aren't around anymore, then you can use it. But if the usage rights of the training data are unknown, please go with the 2 build system. Thank you for checking in! I know this can be a sticky discussion, so I appreciate your clarity on what you're doing.

Absolutely! In fact, we encourage it!

As long as it fits the requirements, you are totally welcome to submit to multiple jams!