MY THOUGHTS ON CLOUDNOVEL: THE ENGINE
Hello everyone it's been a while since I've posted here. I wanted to discuss a new topic that I thought was interesting. CloudNovel (https://cloudnovel.net/) is a website/visual novel engine that I have used in the past. It prides itself on being the 'Easiest Visual Novel Engine' in existence and has over thousands of users daily. I guess you could call this a 'review' of the engine itself, but just keep in my mind that I'm no coding professional and that this is just a discussion of some sorts
Also I just want to say it now is that this 'review' isn't a personal attack on the creator, moderators or users of CloudNovel. Sonya (the creator) seems fun and I respect her for everything she has accomplished. But as an ex-CloudNovel user, I personally have issues with the engine and how it many not seem as user friendly on the surface
For the uninformed CloudNovel is a website that allows you to create visual novels that doesn't require any coding. It has a user friendly and easy to understand layout in which you can drag and place buttons, images etc. It's actually pretty neat and definitely the go to place if you don't want to learn code. But my main problem is that the engine just simply doesn't work. No like literally. If my memory recalls correctly, unless you have the premium version, you can't actually upload anything straight from your computer like you would with Renpy. No no, you have to use LINKS. And that's the problem. Links tend to expire over a couple of months and eventually everything in your library becomes broken. So when you run the game, it won't start and if it does it takes a CENTURY to load. Don't get me wrong, you can just replace the links and everything should be working, but if you're anything like me, you have the patience of a soccer mom waiting for her son to just obliterate the other team. Which is none. I understand that the premium version has the extract straight from computer feature because more people will pay more money, but I as a game creator feel that if an engine literally breaks your game and its months worth of work, then call me crazy, but I don't think it's a really good engine then
And it doesn't just stop in development. On the website, you can actually play other people's games like you would here on Itchio. And credit where credit is due, the community over there is really great and fun. There's so many talented artists, writers, voice actors etc. over there and they even have a public resources library where you can get beautiful art for free. But with the fact that you can play other peoples' games, even if the game was working before uploading it, it won't stay that long after it is. Nearly 50% of games over there are unplayable because the engine uses its dark magic to corrupt all your files. And because you have a life, you can't spend every waking hour of your life ensuring that your darling little project is working. And I feel as though that's really unfair to the creator because they pour so much love and tears and time into perfecting their projects (just like every other game developer) and then CloudNovel a few weeks later is like: "Yeah btw, we corrupted your files and made your game unplayable so now you have to reupload everything. Do it fast or else people won't be able to enjoy it. U mad bro?" (please tell me this meme isn't too outdated yet XD)
Finding an engine is difficult. What works for you will not work for another person. I've had a lot of relationships in my time. First it was Scratch, then it was Godot, then it was CloudNovel. There was also a fling with Twine that one time. Until I eventually found my one true love: Renpy <3
Yeah so there wasn't really a moral or lesson to this story. This is just me wanting to complain. CloudNovel is not the worst thing in the world and hey if it works for you it works. So yeah...
Have a great day!