Hey, people! It's been a while since I've posted anything, but it's because I've been working my fluffy tail off working on a couple different projects, trying to split my time between them to get them all presentable and in beta stage. The first one that I finally got into beta stage is the Fennec Visual Novel Engine, or the "Fennec Engine" for short. :3
For those of you who saw the post I made back in the beginning of January, you'll know I've been working on this for a while. Since October, actually. That's because, unlike the other projects I've been working on, this is made completely for scratch for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) on Windows 10. While making apps and games for UWP is considerably easier than making them for Windows desktop, Android, or iOS, it's still a time-consuming process, and I've put a lot of effort into making this look as polished as possible for a first beta.
Those of you who saw that post in January will also know that I was planning on converting my Cub Club story with Jackie and Rory into a kinetic novel (a visual novel with no dialog choices), but I figured that, honestly, an NSFW debut for my app wouldn't be the best debut, and with how much time I spend working in public, it wasn't working out. XD So instead, I converted my story Kindergarten, which I'll leave a link to down below, into a kinetic novel, and that is the story that comes packaged with the beta.
If this catches on at all, I may use this to make other visual/kinetic novels to release in the future, and I'll probably convert this to desktop and possibly make it cross-platform at some point, but right now, since I am a one-fox army, it'll stay a UWP app for now. I know that's not exactly pleasing to a lot of people, but as an indie developer, it's the most logical choice for simple and straightforward app development.
As many of you may notice, the character art used is made with \r\n\t\t\t\t\t
| \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOob\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Unlike last time, I'll leave this software up with a link leading to it instead of just asking people to PM me if they want a copy since I actually packaged the app. This means that anyone willing to throw Windows into developer mode can try out my app. For right now, I'm not providing instructions on how to install it on mobile devices because it hasn't been extensively tested on there, but if you're willing to try it and you know how to sideload apps onto your Windows Phone, go right ahead and tell me how it works!
Since this is the first beta, I'd appreciate all the feedback I can possibly get. Bugs, even the smallest ones, should be reported to me, either via email or Telegram, which you can find both of on my profile page, or via PM, and I would love recommendations for features you might want added in, and criticisms for things you don't like are also welcome.
There will be verbose instructions written below on how to install the software, and there will also be a link to an annotated screenshot collection from my app as well as screenshots on how to install the software for people who are visual learners.
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TL;DR
I made a visual novel engine for Windows 10! Try it down below! :D
Installation Instructions - Verbose Version
1. Open the Settings app and open the "Update & security" category. Navigate to the "For developers" page and click on the radio button marked "Developer mode". Wait for Windows to fetch Developer Mode packages, and then restart your computer if needed.
2. Download the .zip file from the link below and unzip it to any location you like. You won't need to access this directory for anything more than installation.
3. Locate the file called "Add-AppDevPackage.ps1" and right click on it, selecting the option "Run with PowerShell" from the right-click menu.
4. When prompted by PowerShell, either type "a" for "Yes to All" or "y" for "Yes" to accept the signed certificate needed to run this app since it is not downloaded from the Windows Store. After this, PowerShell should install the app for you. If you get stuck on this step, please either contact me for help or try to search around for a solution. :)
5. Once PowerShell alerts you that the app is installed, either press Enter or close the PowerShell window.
6. The app should be in your Start menu/screen as "Fennec Visual Novel Engine - Beta".
Links
Screenshot Tour and Visual Installation Instructions
Fennec Engine Download - .zip File
Kindergarten - Original Story
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Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I hope you enjoy my engine! :D
-- CJ Roth / FennecFoxee